Chapter 77

Inner Reflection | home

Lance tugged at his shirt and made sure he looked at least a little decent before going down the stairs. He interrupted Lou's rant. "Well, now, you must be Lou...I've heard so much about you," he said, making sure to overdo his accent and holding his hand out. Chris slapped a hand over his mouth and Lance shot him a dirty look. "You ARE Lou, right?" Lance asked. "I mean, no offense or anything if I messed up..." he made himself blush, remembering that he wanted to be "shy."

Lou stopped talking long enough to nod. "Yeah, who are you?"

Chris stepped in. "Lou, this is our very good friend Lance. Lance, as you know, this is Lou."

Lance's shoulders shook with laughter at being introduced to a man he'd known for years, but he kept it silent and composed himself. "Oh, good, I didn't make an ass of myself," he said, still with the accent. "Nice to meet you, Sir." They shook hands and Lance fought the urge to wipe his palm on his pants.

Chris shook his head with a smile, but then Lou surprised them all by looking Lance up and down. JC stepped forward angrily, but Lance shot him a glance and Chris pulled him back. "Nice to meet you too," Lou replied, still looking at Lance. Lance tried not to gag and forced himself to blush again.

Chris saw the angry look on JC's face and decided to cut in. "Hey Lou, take a picture, it lasts longer." Lou looked at Chris and took a step backwards. That did it. Lance completely shook where he stood and he covered his mouth with his hand. JC just doubled over, anger slipping away. Trust Chris to do something like that...

Just then Justin walked in. "What's so funny?" he asked, observing the situation. Lance was shaking, JC was doubled over, and Chris was laughing. In the middle stood Lou, with an unreadable statement on his face.

"Chris was just kind enough to introduce me to Mr. Pearlman," Lance said, calming down.

"It's Lou," Lou said.

Lance turned his head. "Excuse me?"

"I said call me Lou."

"Oh, okay, Mr. Pearlman..." There were SOME things he learned from Nikolas, after all. A rule in pissing people off? Call them the name they didn't want to be called. It bothered Lance enough, and it seemed to have the same effect on Lou, though he didn't say anything about it.

"So how did you meet these boys?" Lou asked curiously.

The other three looked at Lance. They hadn't thought of this. Lance wasn't stupid, though, he hated to lie but he was pretty good at it, considering...and Lou wasn't always the brightest crayon in the box, either.

He cleared his throat. "Well, me an' Just are both from the South, I'm from Mississippi, you see...I took a trip through Tennessee with my family on our way to...well, here, when I was younger and we got stuck there...Car trouble, I reckon'." The others had to stifle laughter at Lance's emphasis on the accent and the overall southern sound his words had. They hadn't heard it in so long, but they loved it. And none of them knew the last time they'd heard him say 'reckon'.' "Somehow, I ended up in Memphis and somewhere I met Justin...we hit it off pretty good, I s'pose, cause we wrote back and forth for a few years..." he glanced at Lou out of the corner of his eye and noticed the older man wasn't paying much attention. He smiled and continued.

"And then he went to the Mickey Mouse Club and we lost touch for a bit...then I started gettin' letters from him again, him and Jay CE here...then when they told me about the group, I tol' 'em that I'd be out to visit as soon as we were both free, and here I am!"

Lou looked utterly bored. "That's great," he said.

Lance shook his head and tried not to smile. He continued on, switching topics easily. "I couldn't help but overhear some of your conversation," he said. "I didn't want to pry, but, I know Ken didn't exactly like me when we first met..." his face was a mask of innocence they'd ALL seen before, especially Joey, who had just come in the door and was being filled in by Justin. "Though I can't imagine why, I hope that didn't give you the wrong impression, Mr. Pearlman, because that was the last thing I'd ever want. I do try to be friends with everybody, and--"

Lou cut him off. "I'm really sorry, I have a meeting to get to...I just wanted to see how things were going, so I'll just...let you boys be..." Justin opened the door and Lou stepped through it.

"NICE TO MEET YOU, MR. PEARLMAN!" Lance called out. Lou waved his hand and Lance collapsed in a fit of laughter. The others soon followed.

"'I DO try to be friends with everybody, Mr. Pearlman...'" Chris mimicked, making his voice higher than Lance's had been. "I SO hope you didn't get the wrong impression! How the hell did you get him to believe that shit?"

"Lance, man, I think you...Jesus, you're my new IDOL!" Justin said.

Lance flushed a little bit and shook his head. He walked over to JC and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him up. "If you'll excuse us, we have some business to get back to," he said haughtily, dragging JC behind him.

"We'll try not to interrupt you this time!" Chris yelled. At the other's confused looks, he rolled his eyes. "What do you think they were doing earlier?"

The other two nodded. Then Justin shook his head. "I don't even wanna know where he pulled that story of us meeting out of. He's a genius, you know that?"

Chris shook his head. "Hey," he said, changing the subject, "When were we gonna tell Johnny again?"

"Couple weeks, I think," Justin said, scratching his head. "The one who knows is otherwise occupied. But I do know he wanted to announce the split sometime after the VMAs, so..." he shrugged.

Joey was still shaking his head over Lance "meeting" Lou. "I didn't know angels could lie so well."

Justin had a basketball in his hand and was twirling it on his finger when they heard a thud from upstairs. His eyebrows raised. "Think we should interrupt?" he asked devilishly.

"Justin," Joey scolded. Justin smiled innocently. Joey sighed and grabbed the basketball away. "Come 'ere, Curly, let's see if I can't kick your ass on the court."

JC rubbed his butt from where Lance had pushed him off the bed. "What was that for?" he asked with a pout.

Lance giggled. "To give them something to talk about," he said.

JC's brow furrowed in confusion before his eyes widened. "You jerk!" he yelled, scrambling back onto the bed.

Lance ducked out of reach, still giggling. "Josh, it was a joke," he whined. His eyes widened when he realized what JC wanted to do. "Uh uh...no no no no...Josh, please...I love you?" JC shook his head. He tried switching tactics. "If you REALLY loved me, you wouldn't do it?" JC shook his head again evilly. "Come on...no...Josh...HELP!" he shrieked in a last-ditch effort to keep JC's fingers away.

"No one can hear you," JC said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. "You can't be saved."

"Who says I wanna be?" Lance said with a grunt, grabbing JC's wrists and trying to hold his hands away. "Get off me, you punk."

"But I'm a lovable punk."

"I don't...ugh...care! Josh, get your knee out of my stomach before I use MY knee somewhere that'll hurt a hell of a lot more than the stomach."

JC jumped up. "Happy, sweetie?"

Lance smiled sweetly. "No." He flipped JC over and tickled him mercilessly, until both were out of breath. "Now I'm happy," Lance panted out, collapsing next to JC on the bed.

"Jerk," JC managed. Lance stuck his tongue out. JC looked at him for a moment, watching the blond catch his breath. "Where are your wings?" he asked suddenly.

Lance looked at him, a little surprised at the question. "Huh?"

"I asked where your wings were," JC repeated. "In my dream...well, I guess it wasn't a dream, so when I was with you...you had wings and we flew..."

Lance smiled. "I couldn't very well be down here with wings, could I? So Nikolas...well, he did something and they're gone."

JC's brow furrowed a little. "So you gave up your wings for this?"

Lance shrugged. "Sure. I'm gonna get 'em back when I go back up there, so...it's no big deal."

JC turned his head and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. "It's not just that, though...you gave up heaven, forever...everything to come back here..."

"And be with you," Lance finished quietly. He turned his head to look at JC.

"You know, Josh, when I was there...I didn't WANT to be there. I wanted nothing more than to be here with you and the other guys." He gave an ironic laugh. "I don't think anyone wanted to be in heaven less than I did. Weird, isn't it? The first time I was there, I didn't think I belonged, then I went back and didn't want to be there. You were down here, and you didn't know who I was...the world didn't know who I was...and then you started to remember me..." Lance shook his head. "It made me want to be there even less. And you know what that made me think of? The song from that City of Angels movie with Meg Ryan. By the Goo Goo Dolls. I was ready to give it all up the minute I got the chance, kind of like what's-his-face in the movie, Nicholas Cage's character. Only you ain't gonna die now...You know how the song goes?" Lance softly started to sing the first verse. "And I'd give up forever to touch you...'Cause I know that you feel me somehow...You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be...And I don't want to go home right now..."

JC wiped away the tear that had forced its way out of his eye and continued it. "And all I can taste is this moment...And all I can breathe is your life...'Cause sooner or later it's over...I just don't want to miss you tonight..."

Lance smiled and intertwined JC's hand with his own before singing again. "And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand...When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am..."

JC looked at Lance then at the ceiling, continuing it again. "And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming...Or the moment of truth in your lies...When everything feels like the movies...Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive..."

Lance took JC's chin in his hand and looked him in the eyes before singing once more. "And I don't want the world to see me...'Cause I don't think that they'd understand...When everything's made to be broken...I just want you to know who I am..." JC couldn't take any more and the tears overflowed.

"Shhh," Lance said, leaning down and kissing him. "Shhh, it's all right, I'm here now and I'm never leaving you, I promise."

"Look at you, look at what you're doing to me...you're turning me into such a sap," JC said with a weak laugh.

Lance smiled. "You already were a sap."

JC pulled Lance's head down into another kiss, sucking his lower lip into his mouth. "God, I missed you so much."


	Inner Reflection \| home back to Sent From Above Chapter 77 Lance tugged at his shirt and made sure he looked at least a little decent before going down the stairs. He interrupted Lou's rant. "Well, now, you must be Lou...I've heard so much about you," he said, making sure to overdo his accent and holding his hand out. Chris slapped a hand over his mouth and Lance shot him a dirty look. "You ARE Lou, right?" Lance asked. "I mean, no offense or anything if I messed up..." he made himself blush, remembering that he wanted to be "shy." Lou stopped talking long enough to nod. "Yeah, who are you?" Chris stepped in. "Lou, this is our very good friend Lance. Lance, as you know, this is Lou." Lance's shoulders shook with laughter at being introduced to a man he'd known for years, but he kept it silent and composed himself. "Oh, good, I didn't make an ass of myself," he said, still with the accent. "Nice to meet you, Sir." They shook hands and Lance fought the urge to wipe his palm on his pants. Chris shook his head with a smile, but then Lou surprised them all by looking Lance up and down. JC stepped forward angrily, but Lance shot him a glance and Chris pulled him back. "Nice to meet you too," Lou replied, still looking at Lance. Lance tried not to gag and forced himself to blush again. Chris saw the angry look on JC's face and decided to cut in. "Hey Lou, take a picture, it lasts longer." Lou looked at Chris and took a step backwards. That did it. Lance completely shook where he stood and he covered his mouth with his hand. JC just doubled over, anger slipping away. Trust Chris to do something like that... Just then Justin walked in. "What's so funny?" he asked, observing the situation. Lance was shaking, JC was doubled over, and Chris was laughing. In the middle stood Lou, with an unreadable statement on his face. "Chris was just kind enough to introduce me to Mr. Pearlman," Lance said, calming down. "It's Lou," Lou said. Lance turned his head. "Excuse me?" "I said call me Lou." "Oh, okay, Mr. Pearlman..." There were SOME things he learned from Nikolas, after all. A rule in pissing people off? Call them the name they didn't want to be called. It bothered Lance enough, and it seemed to have the same effect on Lou, though he didn't say anything about it. "So how did you meet these boys?" Lou asked curiously. The other three looked at Lance. They hadn't thought of this. Lance wasn't stupid, though, he hated to lie but he was pretty good at it, considering...and Lou wasn't always the brightest crayon in the box, either. He cleared his throat. "Well, me an' Just are both from the South, I'm from Mississippi, you see...I took a trip through Tennessee with my family on our way to...well, here, when I was younger and we got stuck there...Car trouble, I reckon'." The others had to stifle laughter at Lance's emphasis on the accent and the overall southern sound his words had. They hadn't heard it in so long, but they loved it. And none of them knew the last time they'd heard him say 'reckon'.' "Somehow, I ended up in Memphis and somewhere I met Justin...we hit it off pretty good, I s'pose, cause we wrote back and forth for a few years..." he glanced at Lou out of the corner of his eye and noticed the older man wasn't paying much attention. He smiled and continued. "And then he went to the Mickey Mouse Club and we lost touch for a bit...then I started gettin' letters from him again, him and Jay CE here...then when they told me about the group, I tol' 'em that I'd be out to visit as soon as we were both free, and here I am!" Lou looked utterly bored. "That's great," he said. Lance shook his head and tried not to smile. He continued on, switching topics easily. "I couldn't help but overhear some of your conversation," he said. "I didn't want to pry, but, I know Ken didn't exactly like me when we first met..." his face was a mask of innocence they'd ALL seen before, especially Joey, who had just come in the door and was being filled in by Justin. "Though I can't imagine why, I hope that didn't give you the wrong impression, Mr. Pearlman, because that was the last thing I'd ever want. I do try to be friends with everybody, and--" Lou cut him off. "I'm really sorry, I have a meeting to get to...I just wanted to see how things were going, so I'll just...let you boys be..." Justin opened the door and Lou stepped through it. "NICE TO MEET YOU, MR. PEARLMAN!" Lance called out. Lou waved his hand and Lance collapsed in a fit of laughter. The others soon followed. "'I DO try to be friends with everybody, Mr. Pearlman...'" Chris mimicked, making his voice higher than Lance's had been. "I SO hope you didn't get the wrong impression! How the hell did you get him to believe that shit?" "Lance, man, I think you...Jesus, you're my new IDOL!" Justin said. Lance flushed a little bit and shook his head. He walked over to JC and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him up. "If you'll excuse us, we have some business to get back to," he said haughtily, dragging JC behind him. "We'll try not to interrupt you this time!" Chris yelled. At the other's confused looks, he rolled his eyes. "What do you think they were doing earlier?" The other two nodded. Then Justin shook his head. "I don't even wanna know where he pulled that story of us meeting out of. He's a genius, you know that?" Chris shook his head. "Hey," he said, changing the subject, "When were we gonna tell Johnny again?" "Couple weeks, I think," Justin said, scratching his head. "The one who knows is otherwise occupied. But I do know he wanted to announce the split sometime after the VMAs, so..." he shrugged. Joey was still shaking his head over Lance "meeting" Lou. "I didn't know angels could lie so well." Justin had a basketball in his hand and was twirling it on his finger when they heard a thud from upstairs. His eyebrows raised. "Think we should interrupt?" he asked devilishly. "Justin," Joey scolded. Justin smiled innocently. Joey sighed and grabbed the basketball away. "Come 'ere, Curly, let's see if I can't kick your ass on the court." ***** JC rubbed his butt from where Lance had pushed him off the bed. "What was that for?" he asked with a pout. Lance giggled. "To give them something to talk about," he said. JC's brow furrowed in confusion before his eyes widened. "You jerk!" he yelled, scrambling back onto the bed. Lance ducked out of reach, still giggling. "Josh, it was a joke," he whined. His eyes widened when he realized what JC wanted to do. "Uh uh...no no no no...Josh, please...I love you?" JC shook his head. He tried switching tactics. "If you REALLY loved me, you wouldn't do it?" JC shook his head again evilly. "Come on...no...Josh...HELP!" he shrieked in a last-ditch effort to keep JC's fingers away. "No one can hear you," JC said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down. "You can't be saved." "Who says I wanna be?" Lance said with a grunt, grabbing JC's wrists and trying to hold his hands away. "Get off me, you punk." "But I'm a lovable punk." "I don't...ugh...care! Josh, get your knee out of my stomach before I use MY knee somewhere that'll hurt a hell of a lot more than the stomach." JC jumped up. "Happy, sweetie?" Lance smiled sweetly. "No." He flipped JC over and tickled him mercilessly, until both were out of breath. "Now I'm happy," Lance panted out, collapsing next to JC on the bed. "Jerk," JC managed. Lance stuck his tongue out. JC looked at him for a moment, watching the blond catch his breath. "Where are your wings?" he asked suddenly. Lance looked at him, a little surprised at the question. "Huh?" "I asked where your wings were," JC repeated. "In my dream...well, I guess it wasn't a dream, so when I was with you...you had wings and we flew..." Lance smiled. "I couldn't very well be down here with wings, could I? So Nikolas...well, he did something and they're gone." JC's brow furrowed a little. "So you gave up your wings for this?" Lance shrugged. "Sure. I'm gonna get 'em back when I go back up there, so...it's no big deal." JC turned his head and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. "It's not just that, though...you gave up heaven, forever...everything to come back here..." "And be with you," Lance finished quietly. He turned his head to look at JC. "You know, Josh, when I was there...I didn't WANT to be there. I wanted nothing more than to be here with you and the other guys." He gave an ironic laugh. "I don't think anyone wanted to be in heaven less than I did. Weird, isn't it? The first time I was there, I didn't think I belonged, then I went back and didn't want to be there. You were down here, and you didn't know who I was...the world didn't know who I was...and then you started to remember me..." Lance shook his head. "It made me want to be there even less. And you know what that made me think of? The song from that City of Angels movie with Meg Ryan. By the Goo Goo Dolls. I was ready to give it all up the minute I got the chance, kind of like what's-his-face in the movie, Nicholas Cage's character. Only you ain't gonna die now...You know how the song goes?" Lance softly started to sing the first verse. "And I'd give up forever to touch you...'Cause I know that you feel me somehow...You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be...And I don't want to go home right now..." JC wiped away the tear that had forced its way out of his eye and continued it. "And all I can taste is this moment...And all I can breathe is your life...'Cause sooner or later it's over...I just don't want to miss you tonight..." Lance smiled and intertwined JC's hand with his own before singing again. "And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand...When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am..." JC looked at Lance then at the ceiling, continuing it again. "And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming...Or the moment of truth in your lies...When everything feels like the movies...Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive..." Lance took JC's chin in his hand and looked him in the eyes before singing once more. "And I don't want the world to see me...'Cause I don't think that they'd understand...When everything's made to be broken...I just want you to know who I am..." JC couldn't take any more and the tears overflowed. "Shhh," Lance said, leaning down and kissing him. "Shhh, it's all right, I'm here now and I'm never leaving you, I promise." "Look at you, look at what you're doing to me...you're turning me into such a sap," JC said with a weak laugh. Lance smiled. "You already were a sap." JC pulled Lance's head down into another kiss, sucking his lower lip into his mouth. "God, I missed you so much."