< Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Justin stood at the front of the stage, eyes not moving from Chris, who surprisingly was watching him just as intently. With each song they played, the stronger Justin’s feelings got until he was sure he was going to explode with them. It was as if Chris was singing to him, playing for him and Justin supposed that maybe he was.

He’d never been more confused in his entire life.

The show was over too quick for Justin’s liking, and as excited as he was to find out if Chris had anything to say to him, and if he did, what it was, he was equally as nervous that he wanted nothing to do with him. Justin watched as girls and guys all rushed the stage, asking the members of the band to sign the CDs they were selling at the bar. Justin knew through Lance that they had managed to call in a favour and record a demo CD which had been sent around to record stations and companies. Figuring it would be a great way to make extra money, the drummer had suggested they burn extra copies and sell them at shows.

Justin’s was currently in his coat pocket at the table and he knew that when he got into bed that night, he’d be playing it in his disc man.

The feel of someone’s hands on his arm startled Justin out of the daze he was in and before he could fight, he found himself being dragged to a corner of the bar. When he finally could focus on who it was, Justin was startled to see Chris staring at him through hard, unforgiving eyes. The fact that they were outlined in eyeliner caused a ripple of arousal to spread through his body. "I ..." Justin started to say, afraid that Chris was mad at him. "Lance said you said..."

"Shut up," Chris growled, the snarl more pronounced. Justin wondered if he should be less turned on and more scared, but couldn’t help it. Angry Chris was sexy. Seconds later, Justin found himself being pushed into what seemed to be an empty closet and held against the back of the door, Chris’ body pressed against his. He wanted to ask questions, but Chris had told him to shut up.

Chris looked deeply into Justin’s eyes before taking in his appearance, everything from his afro like curls to his ivory white skin, to the crystal blue of his eyes and the preppy clothes that covered his lithe, athletic body. He was everything that Chris hated, but at the same time, everything that Chris couldn’t help but want. He wanted Justin and if nothing, he’d realized since Valentine’s Day that his life was boring and meaningless without him. That dependence made Chris vulnerable, which in effect made him just a little bit angry.

Chris was screwed.


"This is your fault," he bit at Justin. The teen only whimpered. "What are you whimpering at?"

"You," Justin whimpered again. He wasn’t fighting against the way Chris held his body to the door nearly painfully. He wasn’t fighting at all, but more so pushing against Chris, wanting the contact. His eyes fluttered shut as Chris’ breath fanned against his face.

"Why?"

"Because ..." Justin blushed as he admitted what was on his mind. "You’re so sexy."

"I’m not sexy," Chris argued with a growl. He leaned in to nudge Justin’s nose with his own. "Stop saying that I’m sexy."

Justin’s whimper was louder and he bit his lip erotically. "Yes, you are." His pulse was racing to almost dizzying degrees and Justin was starting to feel a little faint.

Chris could feel Justin’s erection harden against his thigh that was wedged between Justin’s legs and he stared down at it, further embarrassing Justin. "You’re turned on by this? By me?"

Justin’s lip was still between his teeth and he nodded his head, his eyes were still closed. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to form coherent words and sentences and was too embarrassed to look Chris in the eye.

"Why?" Chris needed to know. Unfortunately, Justin couldn’t provide him with the answers he was looking for.

"I...I don’t know. I’m sorry Chris, I don’t know why I find you so beautiful, so sexy. I want to kiss you so bad right now," Justin admitted. He opened his eyes and waited for Chris to yell at him again. Instead, he was surprised to feel Chris’ mouth on his. The kiss was hard and rough before quickly turning tender and gentle. Justin sighed when it broke. "Again," he pleaded.


Chris couldn’t help but comply.

"I should hate you," Chris spoke as their second kiss ended. He had rest his forehead against Justin’s, still holding him tightly between his body and the door.

"Do you?"


Chris shook his head. "I can’t. I’ve tried to ignore it, I've tried to convince myself that it’s nothing, but I’ve been miserable since I told you to stay away and you did. You weren’t supposed to stay away."

"But..."

Chris was too lost in his own thoughts to acknowledge Justin’s.

"Or maybe you were and I just wasn’t supposed to care. But you stopped leaving me pixie sticks, jaw breaker candies, those chocolates... I didn’t realize how much I liked finding your notes and gifts, not to mention seeing you every once in a while until they were gone." Chris took a deep breath and Justin could feel him trembling. It only made Justin love him more to know how scared he was, that Chris cared about him that much. "There’s so much you don’t know."

"Then tell me," Justin raised his hands so that he could cup Chris’ face. He stood slightly taller than the senior, but the height difference didn’t seem to matter as they fit so perfectly together. "I want to know everything."

"Do you..." Chris leaned in to kiss Justin again, relishing the way it made his whole body tingle. "You said that if I told you to leave me alone, at Joey’s, that I couldn’t change my mind. Do you think that maybe ...you could rethink that ultimatum?" Chris was more nervous than he’d ever been. He had never cared about anyone the way he seemed to care about Justin, and laying his heart down on the line, that same heart that he’d kept so carefully hidden behind thick concrete walls.  It scared him down to his soul.

The corners of Justin’s mouth twitched and he let the smile that was threatening appear. Justin kissed Chris gently and tenderly before rubbing their noses together playfully. "I thought you’d never ask. God, staying away from you has killed me. I was so sad that you said you didn’t want me around, that you wanted me to leave you alone.


Chris shook his head sadly, he regretted wasting so much time and hurting Justin so needlessly. "I lied. I didn’t want you to leave me alone, I just ...was scared and thought that it would be better."

"This is better," Justin argued as he hugged Chris to his body. He buried his face in the crook of Chris’ shoulder as he bent down to embrace him tightly. A sudden thought occurred to Justin and he pulled away just enough so he could look into Chris’ eyes. "This means we’re together right? Like, I’m not going to come to school and find you holding hands with someone else and have you tell me that we’re just friends who can kiss? Because that seems to be what’s going on with Nick and Kevin and that would kill me. If I saw you with someone else..."

Chris could tell that Justin was starting to work himself up. He held Justin’s face in his hands and leaned in to stop him from talking by kissing him. Justin’s lips kept moving against his until he fell into the kiss, their tongues dueling playfully. When he was sure Justin had stopped talking Chris broke the kiss so he could reassure Justin that everything was okay. "No, you won’t see me with anyone else," Chris said.

He was still, after everything Justin had said, surprised that the younger boy felt this strongly about him. He was used to being the invisible one, the one that was tolerated because of who his friends were, and Chris knew from hearing people talk at school that a lot of girls were in love with Justin. He could probably have anyone he wanted, and still he wanted Chris. Chris’ stomach did a few somersaults at that thought and he refused to start to freak out.

Justin’s face broke out into a dreamy grin and he nodded. "Okay, good. As long as we’re clear. You’re all mine." Justin let out a long sigh and let the excitement chase away the remainder of the anxiety that was lingering. "So," he said softly. He took Chris’ hand in his own and thread their fingers together. "You said there was a lot I don’t know, make me understand."

Chris raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Are ...you sure?" Justin nodded.

"I want to know why you thought I wouldn’t want to be with you. Why you thought we shouldn’t be together." Justin could see how hesitant Chris was and he hugged him reassuringly. "If you don’t want to tell me, I just thought..."

Chris did want to tell Justin, but he didn’t want it to be the thing that caused for him to run. But the more Chris thought about it, the more he realized that Justin wasn’t like any other person he knew. From the beginning, Justin had sought him out, had been the one to express his interest and Chris could see the innocence in his eyes that told him Justin wasn’t playing any games. Finally he sighed and gave a nervous smile.

"I’m not ...like you all. I don’t have as much money as everyone else." Chris’ hands were trembling and Justin took them in his own.

"I don’t care about money Chris," Justin argued. He was slightly offended that Chris would think he was that shallow.

"I didn’t say that you do," Chris argued back. "I just need you to know, so if ...when" he corrected himself, "..when you’re ever at my house, you’re not surprised when you see where I live. How I live."

"That doesn’t change who you are."

Chris gave a sharp shrug of his shoulders. "Some people think that it does. Some people think that because I don’t have as much money as other people, I’m not as good as them, that I don’t deserve to be in their presence."

"Who?" Justin had a feeling that Chris was talking from direct example and not in general. He was frustrated when Chris only shook his head.

"It doesn’t matter, I just ..needed you to know. I live with my mother and my seven sisters. We have a small three bedroom house by the tracks." Chris gave a sarcastic laugh that was hard and biting. "So when people use the phrase, wrong side of the tracks, for me it’s actually literal."

Justin did the math, surprised when he realized how small the house probably was for Chris’ family. "Eight of you share two bedrooms?" Justin asked softly. He gently ran his fingers as much as he could through Chris’ spikes. When that didn’t work, he went back to stroking Chris’ back comfortingly.

"No, I have a bed downstairs in the basement. I get my own room since I'm the only boy, but the three bedrooms are split up by my mom and sisters. Three in one, three in the other while my youngest sister sleeps in my mom’s room." Chris felt slightly nauseous for having to tell Justin this, but he continued. The sympathetic and loving expression in Justin’s eyes was giving him the strength to continue. "We ...don’t have a lot of money. That’s why I need this record deal to go through. So I can get out of here, make some money and finally let my mom have some rest. She’s been taking care of all of us since as long as I can remember. She works two jobs while trying to take care of us." Chris took a deep breath before continuing. "Kevin, Joey and Brian have known me since kindergarten, so it doesn’t really phase them, but other people aren’t as quick to befriend me when they find out how poor I am."

Justin leaned in to press a kiss to Chris’ lips. He wanted to take the pain out of his boyfriend’s eyes and try and erase some of the lines that had appeared on his forehead. Thankfully, Chris let him comfort him. "I don’t care about any of that," Justin whispered, voice trembling. "I care about you and if you want me to do anything, just let me know."

Chris pulled away sharply but Justin wouldn’t let him. "I didn’t tell you so that you can do something."

"I know." Justin could see Chris starting to get defensive and so he held his ground. He’d learned a lot from Lance about Chris knowing that if you pushed back just as hard, Chris would back off. His anger was his defense mechanism, and while before Justin would have retreated, he knew he couldn’t. Finally, Chris’ face softened and he frowned.

"Okay. I’m sorry."

"Don’t be sorry. I’m just saying, if you need anything, let me know. I want to be here for you, help you."

Chris nodded. He tried to calm himself and took a few cleansing breaths. They still had so much to talk about but knew they’d been gone for quite some time. "Come on, lets get out of this closet and go inside. They’re going to leave us here if we don’t resurface."

Justin let Chris lead him out of the supply closet and back towards the main room where the party was still going strong. When they reached the table where Nick, Kevin, AJ and Lance were all talking they received knowing smirks. "Nice of you two to join us again," Kevin snickered. Chris flipped him off.

"Fuck off. We were talking.


"And?" Nick asked, wiggling his eyebrows at Justin. Chris couldn’t help but laugh causing the whole table to join in.

"And he’s my boyfriend. I’m his boyfriend and if any of you have anything to say then you might as well do it now," Chris narrowed his eyes as he looked from each individual sitting at the table, waiting for just one of them to say the wrong thing. It was Nick who made the first move. He sighed in relief as he leaned back in his chair.


"Thank god, I thought you were never going to get your head out of your ass."

Everyone’s eyes went wide as they turned to Chris whose face went red. Justin started to snicker causing Nick to laugh. Lance jumped to Nick’s defense.

"He’s got a point Chris."

After a few moments of silence, Chris couldn’t help but nod. "You’re right, so I won’t have to kill you. But you better watch yourself Carter."

Nick only winked at Chris as he blew Justin a kiss. "Your boyfriend won’t let you hurt me, so I’m safe."

Chris looked at Justin who nodded. "He’s right." Justin shrugged apologetically. Chris only scowled which caused Justin to lean in and kiss the scowl away. "Sexy," he whispered into Chris’ ear when the kiss broke. Despite himself, Chris had to smile.

"J," Nick said looking at his watch. "We’ve got to get going."

"But Chris and I still have to talk," Justin realized he’d said the wrong thing when everyone broke into laughter.

"If you weren’t talking in there all that time, what were you doing?" Lance giggled, ignoring Chris’ death looks.

"We were talking," Chris growled. "We just need to talk a bit more."

AJ licked at Lance’s jaw playfully. "Can we talk too? I could use some power talking right about now."

"GUYS," Justin whined comically. "We were talking."

"Well, if we want to get home before curfew so Lance’s mom doesn’t kick our asses," Nick said standing up, "you’ll talk tomorrow."

AJ snickered causing for Lance and Nick to look at him curiously. He shrugged and snickered again. "I’m picturing Lance’s mom kicking your asses. Literally." He flinched when both Lance and Nick punched his arms simultaneously.

Justin turned to Chris and looked at him seriously. "You’re not going to freak out between now and then are you? I don’t want to see you or talk to you tomorrow to find out that you’ve changed your mind."

Chris shook his head, solemnly promising that he wouldn’t change his mind. He pulled Justin close and kissed him passionately, only stopping when Justin had gone boneless in his arms. "I promise I won’t change my mind, Justin."

Justin grinned as he stole another kiss. "Okay, call me tomorrow, we can talk then. I’m staying over at Lance’s so I should be home after lunch." Chris nodded and gave Justin one last kiss before they were separated by Nick and Kevin.

"Come on," Nick sighed as he pulled Justin towards the door. He have Kevin one last wave and smile before they headed towards AJ’s car. It was when they were safely tucked into their sleeping bags in Lance’s basement that they finally were given a chance to talk about their nights. This time, Nick went first.

"What did you and Kevin go outside for?" Lance was laying on his side, head propped up on his hand. He smiled when Nick blushed.

"We went outside to talk." Nick pointedly looked at Justin and stuck his tongue out. "Real talking, not fake talking."


"We were talking," Justin whined as he began to laugh. Both Nick and Lance rolled their eyes.

"But yeah, we went outside to talk about you actually," Nick nodded in Justin’s direction. When Justin’s jaw dropped, Nick nodded. "Yeah, we talked about you and Chris. He said how much Chris likes you and how he’s just scared."

Justin nodded. "Yeah, that was what Chris said when we talked. That he was scared."

"We talked about you both and how he thinks you’re good for Chris. And then we talked about him. I asked him what he wanted and who he wanted."

"AND?" Lance asked, nearly falling over onto his stomach he was leaning over so much. It was amazing to see how much Nick had matured regarding Kevin over the course of the past few months. He could vaguely remember how Nick had been in September and October when he’d met him, jumping up and down at the prospect of Kevin walking down the hall past him, and now he was having conversations with him and actually friends with him.

"And he wouldn’t tell me."

"He won’t tell you because it’s you," Justin said smartly. "He regrets not taking you up on your offer on Valentine’s Day and now he thinks that he’s lost his chance."

Nick shook his head. "He knows he hasn’t. I keep telling him that when he’s changed his mind, I’m still waiting for him." He watched Lance frown and shrugged. "What?"

"I don’t know if that’s the smartest thing to do Nicky, waiting around for him? That’s not fair to you."

"But there’s no one else I want right now, so if I haven't found anyone else, why not let him know I still like him?" It hurt Nick flirting with Kevin and having him so close but out of reaching distance for what he really wanted, but as long as Kevin was going to continue paying him attention, he was going to take it. He didn’t care.

"Well, I still think that it’s you he wants," Justin yawned. His mind was constantly wandering to Chris and their kisses in the storage closet. He couldn’t wait until tomorrow when he knew Chris would call and they could get together again to talk some more. If he could, he’d be with Chris all day every day.

"Well, we talked about him and then I kissed him."

That broke Justin from the daze he was in. "You what?"

"I kissed him."

"Tongue?" Lance asked with a grin. The grin turned into laughter when Nick nodded.

"Totally tongue. He’s such a good kisser, I can’t believe Gretchen Saunders treated him so badly. If he wanted to go out with me ..." Nick sighed. "I wouldn’t let him go for the world." Nick let the rest of his fantasy play out before changing the subject. "So, what about you guys?"

Lance waited for Justin to speak. Justin was silent so he spoke. "AJ and I..."

Nick sat up, remembering that he’d wanted details of why they had been so late picking him up, and why neither would look him in the eye. "Speaking of you and Aje," Nick said. "What took you two so long tonight?"

Justin sat up as well, nodding his head. "Yeah!"

Lance blushed and pulled his sleeping bag over his head in embarrassment. He felt his cheeks heat up and his stomach tingling at the memory.

"Oooh, you were too busy making out," Nick teased lightly.

"What happened?"

Lance sighed. He took a few deep breaths before starting. "So we were making out right, just kissing and stuff."

"Yeah?" Justin and Nick asked together.

"And ...it was so good. He kisses me and I can’t even think. Well, I don’t know what it was but I was so ..."

"Horny?" Nick asked. He wrinkled his nose, a grin on his face. When Lance only blushed further he giggled. "You were. You were horny."

"I’m always horny when he’s around," Lance admitted. Nick and Justin both gave understanding nods. "So I was really hard and horny, and suddenly it wasn’t enough."

"You didn’t?" Nick asked, eyes wide and jaw slack. "Do IT did you?"

Lance blushed and shook his head violently. "Oh my god, no. Are you kidding? I’m so not ready for that."

Nick breathed a sigh of relief and nodded for Lance to continue.

"Well, we were kissing and I started to undo his pants." He paused at the sound of small gasps from Nick and Justin. "Yeah."

"Wow."

"What did AJ do?"

Lance sighed as he remembered it perfectly. "He made this sexy whimpering gasp noise and thrust his hips against me. So I kept going. I unzipped his jeans and slid my hand in and touched him through his underwear."

Neither Nick or Justin could help the way their own groins started to harden at the thought of Lance and AJ making out and Lance sliding his hand slowly into AJ’s pants. Nick replaced the vision of Lance and AJ with him and Kevin, not stopping at his pants but his underwear too. Justin’s fantasy contained him and Chris, but it was Chris’ hand down his pants as well, both of them touching each other together.

"That is so hot," Nick whimpered as he crawled back into his sleeping bag and discreetly palmed his growing erection.

"What are you doing?" Justin asked his best friend breathlessly. Now he was having images of Nick jerking off across the room in his sleeping bag and his erection throbbed.

"Nothing," Nick said softly. "I just don’t want you to see.."

"How hard you are?" Lance asked. His eyes were closed and he had his hand down his own pajama bottoms. He wasn’t doing anything, just holding himself but the moment was still sexually charged.

"Yeah," Nick admitted, not half as embarrassed as he thought he should have been. "Are you hard too?"

"Yeah," both Lance and Justin replied.

They were all silent for a few minutes before Nick spoke. "Did you make him ...you know ..."

"Come?" Lance asked. His voice was slightly deeper than normal, a sign of his arousal.

"Yeah."

"No, we had to pick you guys up."

"How did it feel?" Justin asked, genuinely curious. All the times he’d kissed Chris, he could always feel the older boy’s erection against his stomach or his thigh and he’d always wanted to know how it would feel in his hand, but hadn’t had the courage or opportunity to find out. Out of everyone he knew, Lance had gotten the farthest so he would have to find out through him.

"I’ve felt it before," Lance admitted shyly. "We’ve been over the clothes touching for a while. He likes it when I stroke him, when we grind against each other."

"Do you like it?" Nick asked.

Lance could tell that Nick’s face was half pressed into the pillow and he was slightly embarrassed to be asking such personal questions.

"Yeah, I do. It feels really good to touch him," Lance said. I like how hard it is and how it twitches when I rub it. I really like it when he touches me too, the first time he did, I came all in my pants."

Justin whimpered softly, the sound turning into a giggle. "This is so weird," he said honestly. "I feel like we’re doing something wrong."

Lance shook his head. "Not wrong, weird yes. But not wrong."

"Do you mind telling us?" Nick asked, this time his voice was clear and Lance could see he’d taken his face off of the pillow and was looking at him.

"No, I've wanted to tell you before, but was too embarrassed. I’m glad that you’re not grossed out."

"I’m so horny," Justin admitted with a blush. "Chris made me so horny earlier and now, listening to you talk Lance."

"What I’m saying?" Lance asked, surprised when Justin shrugged.

"That’s part of it, but your voice is so sexy. Just hearing you say all that stuff, about stroking AJ and touching each other, but in that low voice."

Lance blushed but as he turned to look at Nick, the blonde was nodding in agreement.

"Your voice is totally sexy."

"That’s what AJ says too," Lance admitted shyly. "He likes when I whisper stuff to him."

"He’s pretty kinky, huh?" Justin asked in awe. He wondered if Chris was kinky and hoped that he was. Lance’s answer was a blush and a slight nod.

"Kinda."

"I hope Chris is kinky," Justin voiced dreamily. That brought them to the events occurring between Justin and Chris earlier that night.

"Speaking of Chris," Nick cleared his throat. "How was that?"

Justin’s smile said everything. "Oh my god, he spent the whole concert staring at me. It was like he was playing for me, and singing to me. After, he pulled me down the hall and shoved me into a storage closet or something. There he pretty much told me that he didn’t want to like me, but he did. He couldn’t stop it and he was tired of trying to fight it. He asked if he could change his mind about wanting me to leave him alone. I said he could and he kissed me." Justin gave a soft cry of excitement.

"Wow!" Nick said, impressed.

"HE KISSED ME! He’s never kissed me before. It’s always me kissing him, but he did. He pulled me close and kissed me and then did it again."

"And?" Lance asked. He was happy to see Justin so happy. He was also pleased to know that Chris had finally decided to stop fighting the obvious chemistry that was between him and Justin and let the younger boy love him.

"And, well we talked about why he didn’t think we should be together." Justin then took a few minutes to share the information Chris had told him about his home life. A brief fleeting thought of whether or not he was at liberty to do so crossed his mind, but he knew that Nick and Lance wouldn’t say anything, and it would only be a matter of time if Justin was over at Chris’, that they would be too. They listened with sympathetic ears and Justin could tell that they understood the weight of what he’d just shared with them. "And then we agreed that we were going to be together. I told him that I don’t want to see him with anyone else though, that it would kill me."

"He’s never with anyone," Lance pointed out. "Unless he’s with Kevin, Joey or Chris, he doesn't really talk to anyone else."

"Well, you never know. Someone else could have just been waiting for that moment to try and reel him in, and he’s taken. I just wanted him to know that." Justin argued. His lips formed a grin. He fell back and gave a dramatic sigh. "I love him so much. Did you see how sexy he was tonight? That snarl, that angry look he always has on his face. He was snapping at me tonight, all mean and I swear, I just wanted to tell him to do whatever he wanted with me."

Nick and Lance exchanged sleepy looks before giggling. "Umm, I think you’re kinky enough for the both of you," Lance pointed out. Justin only flashed him a confused look. "Kinky, that’s kinky." Lance explained.

"What is?"

"Finding force and rough behaviour sexy."

Justin shook his head. "He doesn’t have to force me. And he wasn’t rough, he didn’t hurt me."

Nick shrugged. "But, you were turned on when he was being dominating and forceful. What would you do or say if he had have held your arms over your head until you couldn’t move and kissed you hard and rough."

Justin closed his eyes and pictured the scene, his groin throbbing deliciously. He hadn’t even realized that the whimper and moan escaped his lips until he heard Nick and Lance giggle. "What?"

"Would you let him.." Lance giggled softly before finishing, "...spank you?"

Justin pictured Chris all in leather, his black studded collar and wrist bands, pushing him over a table or his knee to spank him. When vision Justin looked over his shoulder, he could see Chris snarling at him but with love and tenderness in his eyes and he whimpered. "Yes," Justin whispered before covering his face with his hands. "Oh my god."

"It’s nothing to be embarrassed about," Lance admitted comfortingly. "I love it when AJ grabs me, when he squeezes my ass and pinches it as we’re making out."

"Isn’t that weird though?" Justin asked, embarrassed. "Me wanting Chris to hurt me?"

"You don’t want him to *really* hurt you," Nick pointed out. "You just like it when he’s all mean and angry and sexy."

They were all silent for a few minutes until Justin had to say what was on his mind. "You guys are the best friend’s ever."

"Thanks," Lance said. He felt the exact same way. "You too. I could never talk to anyone else about this stuff."

Nick nodded. "Me either. I can tell you stuff that no one else would understand, and you don’t make me feel stupid."

"You’re telling me," Justin said with a laugh. "How could I ever say to someone else, ‘hey, I love it when I think about having Chris throw me against a wall and kiss me until my legs give out. And if he’s willing, he could spank me a few times’?" The three teens giggled, which soon erupted into full blown laughter. It was the sound of someone knocking on the basement door that caused them all to suddenly be quiet. Moments later, Diane Bass was standing at the foot of the stairs, the room filled with fake snoring.

"Cut out the crap boys," she said. "You’re not fooling anyone."

"Shhh," Justin snickered. "We’re trying to sleep."

"Justin Randall," Diane warned which elicited giggles from Lance and Nick.

"Ooh, she used your full name."

"James Lance," before Nick could say anything, she continued. "Don’t even think about it Nickolas Gene."

"I didn’t say anything!"

"That was for what you were probably about to say." His silence spoke volumes. "I came down for a glass of water and could hear you laughing all the way up the stairs. "I don’t know what’s so funny, but cut it out."

"It’s not a school night mom, we don’t have to be up early tomorrow." Usually they didn’t have to be asleep by a certain time and he wondered why she was being so strict.

"You can stay up all night if you’d like," Diane corrected him. "But just keep it quiet. When I can hear you through this door, through the kitchen and halfway up the stairs you’re too loud. And by Jesus, if you wake Stacey up and I have to hear about it, you’ll all be grounded."

Justin was just about to point out the fact that she couldn’t really ground him or Nick. He hadn’t been given the chance.

"And you just try me Justin Randall. You’ll find that I have more pull with your mother than you do."

Justin wrinkled his nose in response, he knew she was right. "Yes ma’am."

"Good," Diane sat down on the chair next to the desk in the corner. "So, did you boys have a good night? It must have been if you’re still awake and talking about it."

The three boys looked at Lance’s mother and smiled. "Yeah, we had a great night mom."

"Did that boy ...Christopher? I think his name is. Did he finally get his act together Justin?"

Justin glared at Lance who only shrugged, unapologetically. "She’s got these powers man, she finds out everything."

"Yes, everything’s awesome," Justin admitted shyly.

"Well, good." Diane gave a giant yawn before standing up. "Okay boys, if you’re going to stay awake, keep it down. Stacey’s a beast if she doesn’t get her beauty sleep. Good night."

"Night mom," Lance called.

"Night Mrs. Bass," Nick and Justin echoed.

When they were sure she was gone, they all broke into hushed laughter. Nick had to push his face into his pillow to dull the sound. "Oh my god, how funny would that have been if she heard us."

Justin groaned. "I would have DIED!"

"YOU?" Lance softly squeaked. "I’m her son!"

Nick yawned as he made himself comfortable. He could feel himself falling to sleep. "Well, I had a great night. I’m glad we went."

Lance and Justin agreed, with sleepy nods of their own.

"Night," they all called softly before succumbing to sleep.


End Chapter 36


Chapter 37 >