Chapter 39

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Chapter 39

*~*JC's POV*~*

I woke up at God only knows what time with the worst headache. What the hell happened last night? I just wanted to roll over and die. I knew I hadn't had enough to drink to forget about what had happened, I never did (unless last night was an exception...) but for some reason, I can't remember anything. Lance's bed was empty, as always, and I think I the shower's running. Maybe that's just the pounding in my ears. I still don't even want to start thinking about getting up, but that was before I saw our hotel room.

It was trashed. There was a deck of cards on the floor...although it looked like we'd been using about 6 decks from the amount of cards I could see. There were bottles and glasses all over the place. I suspect that Lance picked up most of it, but there's still a lot still there. Which brings me to the first question again. Just what the hell happened last night? Little bits and pieces started coming back...did I really dare Lance to stand outside in the hallway for two minutes? Just then he came out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist. Oh my Lord. "Hey Lance," I said. He looked over, seemingly startled to see me up.

"Um, morning," he said. Was that nervousness? "How do you feel?"

"Like I've just been hit by a truck," I said. He laughed.

"Serves you right. Gosh you guys made a mess."

"How come you don't feel like shit?"

"Because I didn't get drunk off my ass like the rest of you. Buzzed, but not drunk."

"Bastard," I muttered and he laughed again. "Hey," I asked. "Did I really dare you to stand outside in the hallway for two minutes?"

I thought he was going to die laughing for a second there. "Yeah," he replied.

"Oh God...how long did you REALLY stand outside?"

"Oh, about...15 seconds." He started laughing again. Then he quieted down. "What else do you remember?" he asked. Was he really nervous or was I just making that up?

I frowned. "Umm...not much. Drunk old maid? Does that ring a bell or am I imagining things?"

"Oh, no, we played that. Thanks to Chris," he chuckled. I went into the bathroom and got some aspirin, and when I came back, he had pants on. Damn! Oh well. He laughed at me. "Headache?"

"Just a bit," I said sarcastically. "Why didn't you stop me?" I knew I wasn't as drunk as I'd acted, but why couldn't I remember anything?

He looked offended. "Excuse me? I DID try. But we couldn't listen to ME, now COULD we? Kind of hard when the four of you are drunk off your asses, and I'm trying to be the moderator."

"Um...sorry?"

"Sorry is right," he snorted. "You even..." he stopped and bit his lip.

"Never mind," he said, pulling a shirt over his head.

"No, tell me," I said, curious. "What did I do this time?"

"Well, Joey dared you to..." He started chewing on his lip again.

Just then, as if on cue, Joey burst into the room. "I am HERE!" he said cheerfully.

"Shut up," I said, the aspirin starting to kick in, but not completely yet. Maybe it would clear up my head a little and I could remember what happened...that's what it did for me, oddly enough. Whatever. Joey yelled and my head hurt.

"What happened here?" he asked, looking mischievous.

Lance turned around, his back to me, and probably shooting daggers at the poor guy. "What the hell do you THINK happened, Joey?"

"Um...whoops?"

"Whoops my ass! Do you know what the hell I've already cleaned up? Thank goodness I kicked you out before, or you would've been puking on my floor too!" Just then, through the walls, we heard that distinct sound. "Just like Justin over there," Lance said, rolling his eyes.

"Wait," I said, "Who gave Justin alcohol? He's 18!"

"You guys did," Lance said. "I TOLD you not to, but why listen to the sober one?" he muttered, picking up the rest of the bottles and putting them in a plastic bag. "What does Mr. Lance know about anything?" Then he turned to Joey. "Hey, what do you remember? I know you can hold your liquor best out of all of us."

"Truth or dare," he said simply. "I stuck my head in the minibar...that dare sucked, by the way. And..." he stopped to think, and his eyes widened. "I dared you to..."

"JOEY!" Lance said, turning red.

Joey laughed. I was bewildered. "Huh?" Maybe there WAS an explanation as to why Lance seemed so nervous around me. Wait...hadn't Joey dared us to...

"Joe, don't even," Lance said.

Joey started to leave the room. "I'm gonna go hang with Chris," he said with a smile. "By the way, JC," he said, ignoring Lance's glare and look of embarrassment. "I dared you to kiss Lance last night...for thirty seconds...that baby lasted for at LEAST a minute!" he burst out laughing before shutting the door behind him.

Lance suddenly turned an even brighter red.

"We...wait...you...we...he..." I stuttered. I vaguely remembered that...but hadn't it been some kind of dream? Or something? Lance bit his lip and nodded, looking at the floor. I couldn't believe it. We'd kissed? Sure, it was a dare, but...then suddenly, it all came rushing back. "Oh God," I said, realizing what else had happened...and realizing what I'd been thinking last night. "I don't...we kissed again though? I kissed you?" Lance turned even redder and started kicking at the floor. He nodded again. Was he mad at me? Or..."Are you..well...are you mad at me?" I finally asked.

He looked up. "No!" He said it so loudly that I had to smile. Then he looked even more embarrassed. "Well...I mean...you were drunk, and I didn't...well...um..."

"Lance."

"I didn't NOT like it or anything...I...um...I mean...well, what I mean...uh..."

This was so cute. I've never seen him this nervous in all the time I've known him. Not even close. "Lance!"

He stopped rambling. "What?"

"I wasn't as drunk as you thought I was," I said, grinning devilishly. He looked up, startled. I'd known that if I wanted anything to happen (and I realize that, yes, I do...) I'd have to make the first move. Confidant as he's become, he was still too damn shy to. I took a step forward. He looked at me and I couldn't read his statement. Fear, maybe? Apprehension? "You know," I said. "I remember what I said. Most of it anyway. And I meant every word, and..."

"So when you said you got jealous..." I nodded. "And the...the more than a friend or brother or...that thing..." I nodded again, smiling as he tried to think of everything I'd said. He was so cute. "And..."

"When I told you I wanted to kiss you again," I said, stepping even closer, "I meant it. And I want to ask you something," I whispered, right in front of him now.

He looked up, but didn't meet my eyes. "Go ahead," he whispered back. I took his chin in my hand and raised it upwards to look in his eyes. "I wanted to ask you," I said again, "If I could try it again."

He looked at me and just nodded. I smiled and leaned forward, and our mouths met for the third time in two days. I felt like I could never get enough of kissing him. Maybe that's because this is the first time I'd kissed him while...relatively sober. His movements were tentative and unsure, and his eyes were closed. I shut mine as well, and briefly wondered if he'd ever kissed a guy before me. We were suddenly interrupted by a loud knock on the door. I felt him groan against my lips before we pulled apart. He put his head against my shoulder and sighed.

"What?" I asked the intruder, frustrated. I felt Lance laugh against my shoulder. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," he replied.

"It's Chris!" the irritating interrupter replied. "I'm coming in!"

"No, don't..." I began as Lance pulled away from my shoulder.

Chris burst in anyway, and then he started laughing. I glared at him. "I hope I wasn't...interrupting anything," he managed, then he turned to Lance and handed him a cellphone. "It's your phone. I think I took it last night by mistake. It's for you."

"Who else would it be for?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

Chris left and Lance sighed. "I'll get off ASAP," he said apologetically and I nodded. We had to talk. "Hello? Oh, Danielle, hi!" he said, his tone brightening a little as he sat down on the bed. I frowned. "Yeah, I do," he said. He opened up the drawer and took out some papers. Then he read off flight information. He sighed. "Yeah, the local newspaper is gonna be there doing something on the airport...how convenient that your flight is coming in then, don't you think?" he asked sarcastically. "Then the next day, we're gonna..." I sighed, figuring that we probably wouldn't be able to talk, so I started to leave. "Hold on a sec, Danielle," he said, covering up the mouthpiece. "Where you goin'? Get back here!" I smiled in response and walked over sitting down next to him on the bed. He grinned, but then looked down at the piece of paper and it disappeared. "Yeah, we're going to the mall on Wednesday...it's a half-day at the local schools...uh huh, yeah," he said, motioning to his lap. I put my head in it, and he smiled and started running his fingers through my hair. Felt nice. "Yeah, because...they want to make sure we're..." he searched for the right word. "Seen. Basically, yeah, they want us mobbed." I looked at him. Were they really setting him up to get the two mobbed? "Yeah, you're gonna have to be careful... apparently, all the future Mrs. Basses out there don't like you... Of course I like you!" he laughed. The smile slipped from his face. I looked to see what he was holding, and he let go of it so I could see. I sat up from his lap and looked it over, semi-listening to the conversation going on next to me. Wait...this was...a schedule? They actually scheduled places they had to go together? Management really wanted this to work, didn't they? Lance apparently decided it was time for a change of subject. "How's Jordan?" Jordan who? He smiled. "That's good...I can't wait to meet him. Wait, he doesn't like hate me or anything, does he? I mean...okay good," he said with a laugh. "Tell him I think you're beautiful and all, but I'm not really interested." She must have said something else, because he laughed again. "You're welcome." Then he looked back at me again, and I'm sure I had a confused look on my face. "Hey, Danielle...I gotta go, JC's here and we're gonna..." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "No, Danielle," he said, then he smiled. "Bye Danielle. Tell Jordan hi for me. I will. Bye." He shut the phone. "Danielle says hi."

"You guys have a schedule?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yup."

"Who's Jordan?"

"Danielle's boyfriend." Oh yeah. I remember him saying something about that now.

"Oh...I wanted to ask you something," I said. I'm sure he was wondering if it was the same as the LAST question I'd asked, but that wasn't really what I had in mind...for now. He raised an eyebrow in response. "Well...have you...you know...kissed anyone before me?"

He turned a little pinkish and seemed to be counting. "Four times."

That was it? "How many were Danielle?"

He blushed. "Three times."

"How many were on the lips?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He blinked. "One time."

Oh wow. "How bout a guy?"

"Three times."

"How many of those were me?" I asked, knowing the answer, but thinking he was being cute anyway.

"Um...three times," he said with an embarrassed nod.

"So that was your first time kissing a guy?" I asked.

He nodded again. "How about you?" he asked, finally saying a sentence without some form of the word 'time' in it.

I laughed. "What, kissing or kissing a guy?" He shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, obviously...I've kissed girls...lots of them...done a little more too..." I said, turning red, though the fact that I wasn't a virgin wasn't really a secret. "But guys?" I paused. "Nope. I've been kissed on the cheek by a guy before, but..." Then I thought of something. "What...what, exactly are we now?" I asked.

He bit his lip and his eyes darted around the room. He was looking everywhere...except me, and he looked worried all of a sudden. It was amazing, the way they were moving, really. Back and forth, back and forth, up and down...right, left...up...right...down...right...back...forth... I shook my head to snap out of it. He started saying something...well...trying to say something. "I...don't...I mean...I'm not...sure..."

I put a finger on his lips to shut him up. "Listen, I was just curious," I said. That wasn't exactly true, but... "So...we're just friends that have kissed, all right?" He looked around the room again. "I like you, Lance...but I'm not sure how far that feeling goes. So we can just wait and see." I looked at him for his approval...which I received in the form of a big, beaming smile accompanied by a nod.


	Inner Reflection \| home back to Sent From Above Chapter 39 ~JC's POV~ I woke up at God only knows what time with the worst headache. What the hell happened last night? I just wanted to roll over and die. I knew I hadn't had enough to drink to forget about what had happened, I never did (unless last night was an exception...) but for some reason, I can't remember anything. Lance's bed was empty, as always, and I think I the shower's running. Maybe that's just the pounding in my ears. I still don't even want to start thinking about getting up, but that was before I saw our hotel room. It was trashed. There was a deck of cards on the floor...although it looked like we'd been using about 6 decks from the amount of cards I could see. There were bottles and glasses all over the place. I suspect that Lance picked up most of it, but there's still a lot still there. Which brings me to the first question again. Just what the hell happened last night? Little bits and pieces started coming back...did I really dare Lance to stand outside in the hallway for two minutes? Just then he came out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist. Oh my Lord. "Hey Lance," I said. He looked over, seemingly startled to see me up. "Um, morning," he said. Was that nervousness? "How do you feel?" "Like I've just been hit by a truck," I said. He laughed. "Serves you right. Gosh you guys made a mess." "How come you don't feel like shit?" "Because I didn't get drunk off my ass like the rest of you. Buzzed, but not drunk." "Bastard," I muttered and he laughed again. "Hey," I asked. "Did I really dare you to stand outside in the hallway for two minutes?" I thought he was going to die laughing for a second there. "Yeah," he replied. "Oh God...how long did you REALLY stand outside?" "Oh, about...15 seconds." He started laughing again. Then he quieted down. "What else do you remember?" he asked. Was he really nervous or was I just making that up? I frowned. "Umm...not much. Drunk old maid? Does that ring a bell or am I imagining things?" "Oh, no, we played that. Thanks to Chris," he chuckled. I went into the bathroom and got some aspirin, and when I came back, he had pants on. Damn! Oh well. He laughed at me. "Headache?" "Just a bit," I said sarcastically. "Why didn't you stop me?" I knew I wasn't as drunk as I'd acted, but why couldn't I remember anything? He looked offended. "Excuse me? I DID try. But we couldn't listen to ME, now COULD we? Kind of hard when the four of you are drunk off your asses, and I'm trying to be the moderator." "Um...sorry?" "Sorry is right," he snorted. "You even..." he stopped and bit his lip. "Never mind," he said, pulling a shirt over his head. "No, tell me," I said, curious. "What did I do this time?" "Well, Joey dared you to..." He started chewing on his lip again. Just then, as if on cue, Joey burst into the room. "I am HERE!" he said cheerfully. "Shut up," I said, the aspirin starting to kick in, but not completely yet. Maybe it would clear up my head a little and I could remember what happened...that's what it did for me, oddly enough. Whatever. Joey yelled and my head hurt. "What happened here?" he asked, looking mischievous. Lance turned around, his back to me, and probably shooting daggers at the poor guy. "What the hell do you THINK happened, Joey?" "Um...whoops?" "Whoops my ass! Do you know what the hell I've already cleaned up? Thank goodness I kicked you out before, or you would've been puking on my floor too!" Just then, through the walls, we heard that distinct sound. "Just like Justin over there," Lance said, rolling his eyes. "Wait," I said, "Who gave Justin alcohol? He's 18!" "You guys did," Lance said. "I TOLD you not to, but why listen to the sober one?" he muttered, picking up the rest of the bottles and putting them in a plastic bag. "What does Mr. Lance know about anything?" Then he turned to Joey. "Hey, what do you remember? I know you can hold your liquor best out of all of us." "Truth or dare," he said simply. "I stuck my head in the minibar...that dare sucked, by the way. And..." he stopped to think, and his eyes widened. "I dared you to..." "JOEY!" Lance said, turning red. Joey laughed. I was bewildered. "Huh?" Maybe there WAS an explanation as to why Lance seemed so nervous around me. Wait...hadn't Joey dared us to... "Joe, don't even," Lance said. Joey started to leave the room. "I'm gonna go hang with Chris," he said with a smile. "By the way, JC," he said, ignoring Lance's glare and look of embarrassment. "I dared you to kiss Lance last night...for thirty seconds...that baby lasted for at LEAST a minute!" he burst out laughing before shutting the door behind him. Lance suddenly turned an even brighter red. "We...wait...you...we...he..." I stuttered. I vaguely remembered that...but hadn't it been some kind of dream? Or something? Lance bit his lip and nodded, looking at the floor. I couldn't believe it. We'd kissed? Sure, it was a dare, but...then suddenly, it all came rushing back. "Oh God," I said, realizing what else had happened...and realizing what I'd been thinking last night. "I don't...we kissed again though? I kissed you?" Lance turned even redder and started kicking at the floor. He nodded again. Was he mad at me? Or..."Are you..well...are you mad at me?" I finally asked. He looked up. "No!" He said it so loudly that I had to smile. Then he looked even more embarrassed. "Well...I mean...you were drunk, and I didn't...well...um..." "Lance." "I didn't NOT like it or anything...I...um...I mean...well, what I mean...uh..." This was so cute. I've never seen him this nervous in all the time I've known him. Not even close. "Lance!" He stopped rambling. "What?" "I wasn't as drunk as you thought I was," I said, grinning devilishly. He looked up, startled. I'd known that if I wanted anything to happen (and I realize that, yes, I do...) I'd have to make the first move. Confidant as he's become, he was still too damn shy to. I took a step forward. He looked at me and I couldn't read his statement. Fear, maybe? Apprehension? "You know," I said. "I remember what I said. Most of it anyway. And I meant every word, and..." "So when you said you got jealous..." I nodded. "And the...the more than a friend or brother or...that thing..." I nodded again, smiling as he tried to think of everything I'd said. He was so cute. "And..." "When I told you I wanted to kiss you again," I said, stepping even closer, "I meant it. And I want to ask you something," I whispered, right in front of him now. He looked up, but didn't meet my eyes. "Go ahead," he whispered back. I took his chin in my hand and raised it upwards to look in his eyes. "I wanted to ask you," I said again, "If I could try it again." He looked at me and just nodded. I smiled and leaned forward, and our mouths met for the third time in two days. I felt like I could never get enough of kissing him. Maybe that's because this is the first time I'd kissed him while...relatively sober. His movements were tentative and unsure, and his eyes were closed. I shut mine as well, and briefly wondered if he'd ever kissed a guy before me. We were suddenly interrupted by a loud knock on the door. I felt him groan against my lips before we pulled apart. He put his head against my shoulder and sighed. "What?" I asked the intruder, frustrated. I felt Lance laugh against my shoulder. "What's so funny?" "Nothing," he replied. "It's Chris!" the irritating interrupter replied. "I'm coming in!" "No, don't..." I began as Lance pulled away from my shoulder. Chris burst in anyway, and then he started laughing. I glared at him. "I hope I wasn't...interrupting anything," he managed, then he turned to Lance and handed him a cellphone. "It's your phone. I think I took it last night by mistake. It's for you." "Who else would it be for?" I asked, rolling my eyes. Chris left and Lance sighed. "I'll get off ASAP," he said apologetically and I nodded. We had to talk. "Hello? Oh, Danielle, hi!" he said, his tone brightening a little as he sat down on the bed. I frowned. "Yeah, I do," he said. He opened up the drawer and took out some papers. Then he read off flight information. He sighed. "Yeah, the local newspaper is gonna be there doing something on the airport...how convenient that your flight is coming in then, don't you think?" he asked sarcastically. "Then the next day, we're gonna..." I sighed, figuring that we probably wouldn't be able to talk, so I started to leave. "Hold on a sec, Danielle," he said, covering up the mouthpiece. "Where you goin'? Get back here!" I smiled in response and walked over sitting down next to him on the bed. He grinned, but then looked down at the piece of paper and it disappeared. "Yeah, we're going to the mall on Wednesday...it's a half-day at the local schools...uh huh, yeah," he said, motioning to his lap. I put my head in it, and he smiled and started running his fingers through my hair. Felt nice. "Yeah, because...they want to make sure we're..." he searched for the right word. "Seen. Basically, yeah, they want us mobbed." I looked at him. Were they really setting him up to get the two mobbed? "Yeah, you're gonna have to be careful... apparently, all the future Mrs. Basses out there don't like you... Of course I like you!" he laughed. The smile slipped from his face. I looked to see what he was holding, and he let go of it so I could see. I sat up from his lap and looked it over, semi-listening to the conversation going on next to me. Wait...this was...a schedule? They actually scheduled places they had to go together? Management really wanted this to work, didn't they? Lance apparently decided it was time for a change of subject. "How's Jordan?" Jordan who? He smiled. "That's good...I can't wait to meet him. Wait, he doesn't like hate me or anything, does he? I mean...okay good," he said with a laugh. "Tell him I think you're beautiful and all, but I'm not really interested." She must have said something else, because he laughed again. "You're welcome." Then he looked back at me again, and I'm sure I had a confused look on my face. "Hey, Danielle...I gotta go, JC's here and we're gonna..." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "No, Danielle," he said, then he smiled. "Bye Danielle. Tell Jordan hi for me. I will. Bye." He shut the phone. "Danielle says hi." "You guys have a schedule?" I asked. He nodded. "Yup." "Who's Jordan?" "Danielle's boyfriend." Oh yeah. I remember him saying something about that now. "Oh...I wanted to ask you something," I said. I'm sure he was wondering if it was the same as the LAST question I'd asked, but that wasn't really what I had in mind...for now. He raised an eyebrow in response. "Well...have you...you know...kissed anyone before me?" He turned a little pinkish and seemed to be counting. "Four times." That was it? "How many were Danielle?" He blushed. "Three times." "How many were on the lips?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He blinked. "One time." Oh wow. "How bout a guy?" "Three times." "How many of those were me?" I asked, knowing the answer, but thinking he was being cute anyway. "Um...three times," he said with an embarrassed nod. "So that was your first time kissing a guy?" I asked. He nodded again. "How about you?" he asked, finally saying a sentence without some form of the word 'time' in it. I laughed. "What, kissing or kissing a guy?" He shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, obviously...I've kissed girls...lots of them...done a little more too..." I said, turning red, though the fact that I wasn't a virgin wasn't really a secret. "But guys?" I paused. "Nope. I've been kissed on the cheek by a guy before, but..." Then I thought of something. "What...what, exactly are we now?" I asked. He bit his lip and his eyes darted around the room. He was looking everywhere...except me, and he looked worried all of a sudden. It was amazing, the way they were moving, really. Back and forth, back and forth, up and down...right, left...up...right...down...right...back...forth... I shook my head to snap out of it. He started saying something...well...trying to say something. "I...don't...I mean...I'm not...sure..." I put a finger on his lips to shut him up. "Listen, I was just curious," I said. That wasn't exactly true, but... "So...we're just friends that have kissed, all right?" He looked around the room again. "I like you, Lance...but I'm not sure how far that feeling goes. So we can just wait and see." I looked at him for his approval...which I received in the form of a big, beaming smile accompanied by a nod.