| Fates3 |
| The roar of the crowd always amazed the group, especially Lance. He never imagined this was the way his life would go. He figured he'd attend college after high school, marry the girl next door, and settle into a very happy, but very normal, life. He waved to the crowd one more time before running off stage and into the waiting security. A towel flew at him and he grabbed it, wiping his damp head. He handed his shirt to the wardrobe assistant and hurried to the waiting tour bus. He was happy that they would be in this city for a few days, for the charity game, and for a series of shows. That way, he could relax, enjoy some down time, catch up with some phone calls, maybe even go out for an evening. A smile spread across his face as he hopped the stairs to the bus. "What the hell are you grinning about?" Joey asked, gulping a soda. Lance shrugged. "Not much. So what's up for later? We going out or what?" Justin tilted his head in surprise, and tugged at his ear. "Did I hear right? The great Lance Bass wants to party? Holy shit!" He peered out the window into the dark night. "Did hell freeze over and I missed it?" Lance whipped his towel at Justin, cracking him with it. "Shut up!" he laughed. Justin grinned. "Alright, well if Lance wants to party, then party we will!" Chris leaned back on the couch as the bus lurched forward. "I'm out, I'm tired. Bed time for me." Joey smirked. "You ain't tired, you're just whipped." Chris opened his eyes quickly, feeling embarassed. "I am not whipped," he declared. "I'm in love, but that's not why I'm not going out! Believe me! If I wanted to go out, I'd go out!" His voice strained a little too much, and he knew he was overcompensating. After all, he was practically engaged to his girlfriend, and going out just wasn't that much fun when he had to stay away from the women. He didn't want to admit it, but the temptations were too much sometimes. In typical guy fashion, he had to say he was tired, anything else sounded, well, sounded like he was indeed whipped. Lance laughed over at his friend. "Chris, man, you are sooooo whipped. Geesh, just admit it!" "I gotta say, I agree," JC piped in. "Dude, it's over for you now!" Chris shot his friends the finger before retreating to the saftey of his bunk. Justin cracked up. "Please God! Don't ever let me get that way over a chick!" The bus rolled into the hotel, and the guys eagerly exited the tiny space, anxious to get settled into their rooms which would be home for the next week or so. Lance grabbed his key and took off. Once in his room, he jumped in the shower and tried to calm down from the show. It always gave him a huge adreneline rush and he could never fall asleep afterwards. Hearing the phone ring, he blinked the water from his eyes, and reached for a towel, covering himself. The bathroom had an extension in it, luckily, so he hopped out and picked it up. "Yeah?" he asked, feeling a small pool of water gather under his feet. "We're out of here in like 10 minutes," Justin said. "You're still coming right?" "You know it!" Lance returned, "I'll meet you at your room. Just finishing my shower. You should try it sometimes." "Screw you," Justin laughed, hanging up. Lance shook his head, and hopped back under the warm water, rinsing the soap from his body. He thought about the upcoming week and the charity game. He felt that strange feeling again, and grabbed onto the side of the shower, steadying himself. His stomach knotted again, and his head grew dizzy. "What the hell is going on?" he said aloud. Clutching his midsection, he shut the water off and stepped out of the tub, pausing to sit on the toilet seat. "Shit," he hissed, as his vision blurred once again. Remembering a medical show he'd once seen on fainting, he placed his head between his knees and waited. He thought about how funny he must look, and what the media would give for a naked N Sync member with his head between his knees, sitting on a toilet. He stifled a laugh, trying to regain his composure. He had eaten, so he was sure it wasn't lack of food causing this. Everytime he thought about the charity game, he felt lousy. It made no sense. A loud knock interuppted his thoughts. "Lance, move it pretty boy!" Joey was pounding louder and louder. Carefully, Lance stood up, wrapped a towel around himself, and slowly made his way to the door. His temples throbbed suddenly. "If you call me pretty boy once more," he grumbled, "I swear to God, I'll knock you on your ass." Joey feigned hurt. "So sorry. Geesh, man, take a joke!" Upon further inspection, he noticed Lance had that same glazey look he'd gotten on the bus, compounded with a pasty white complexion. "Shit, you're sick again?" Lance shook his head, and walked back to the bathroom, ignoring Joey's questions. He pulled on some clothes to go out and ran some gel throught his hair. "I'm fine, let's go," he mumbled. "You're not fucking fine," Joey growled, yanking Lance hard. "What the hell is going on?" Justin and JC poked their heads through the door. JC checked his watch. "Man, at midnight I turn into a pumpkin so let's....." his voice trailed off when he saw Lance. "You okay man?" Lance rolled his eyes, biting back a sarcastic comment. "Stop it! Guys! I'm fine, I just want to go out. Now who's coming with?" Joey shook his head, and crossed his arms over his chest. "He's not fine. He just got that same look that he had on the bus, like when he fainted. Lance shot him a look, mad that he'd mentioned it at all. Justin chewed on his fingernails, a forever annoying nervous habit he'd picked up recently. He didn't like the way Lance looked. JC stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Lance, what's up?" "Oh for the love of.....I just got a bit queezy is all. I'm okay now." He hated to lie, but wanted to go out. Deep down, he didn't understand what this feeling was, but hoped it was just a 24 hour bug. "Come on," he pleaded, dragging Justin to the door. "I'm okay." JC nodded, reluctantly. "Okay, lets hit. But, " he warned, "if you feel sick, right back here, okay?" Lance smiled weakly. "Yup, fine." The four of them took off for the waiting limo, stopping briefly to sign some autographs. Security piled in the car with them, and they took off for Club X. Once inside, Lance thought he felt much better. He watched as his friends scattered. Not one to usually go out, he ordered a beer at the bar, got carded of course, and settled on a soda. He would get Joey to buy him a beer later on. Sliding into a small booth near the dance floor, he looked around. It was a typical club, loud music and smoke hanging thick in the room. Several people around his age were laughing and having fun. His temples still ached, but not as badly. He stared at the dance floor and noticed Joey and Justin tearing it up with several girls. He laughed out loud, and saw JC approach. "Lance you okay?" He sat next to his friend and sipped his beer. Lance nodded, staring woefully at his soda. "I'm okay. Hey, buy me a beer?" he asked hopefully. JC smirked, and rose to go to the bar. Lance continued to look around. Suddenly, his heart leapt into his throat, and his chest tightened. He spotted a woman near the dance floor with her friends. His stomach churned and his heart pounded wildly. She was beautiful, but Lance had seen many beautiful women in his line of work. There was something so familiar about her. He blinked hard, unable to tear his gaze away. JC returned and placed the beer in front of him. "Lance, here's your....." JC noticed the look in his friend's eyes. "Hey, what's going on?" He waved a hand in front of his eyes. Lance didn't move, he barely drew breath. His eyes were glued on this woman. She stood average height, maybe 5'5", with shoulder length blonde hair and catlike green eyes. Her body was athletic, feminine but strong. She glanced his way and caught his eye. Her expression turned from laughing to utter confusion. Lance could see her friend's follow her stare to him. He tried to get his legs to move him, but they felt like jello. He didn't understand what was happening to him. JC shook him hard. "You're scaring me, man. Come on." JC looked at the woman looking back at Lance. They had similar expressions on their faces. "Do you know her?" he asked. When Lance shook his head no, JC grew more perplexed. "Then why are you staring at one another like that?" "I don't know. I feel funny. I...." his deep voice ended when he saw the mystery girl being pulled onto the dance floor with her friends. Abruptly, Lance stood up, knocking the table to the side in a frenzied panic. His trancelike state caused JC to follow, calling after him. "Where? I don't see her." He clutched onto JC's shirt, and stood on tip toes, scanning the huge dancefloor for her. JC looked as well, but didn't see her. "JC, we have to find her, you have to help me!" JC nodded dumbly, completely confused, but concerned with the out of control tone in Lance's voice. "Calm down. I'll get her. I'll help." He took off into the massive sea of bodies, Lance trailing behind him. He caught a glimpse of her, entering the ladies room. "Over there," he pointed. Lance shoved him to the side, and tore off in that direction. Justin saw the commotion and joined JC. "What's up?" he asked, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. JC rubbed his chin. "Come on." He motioned for Justin and Joey to follow him. They did so, unwillingly, wanting to stay and keep getting their groove on with all the girls, but knew better than to mess with the look on JC's face. When the exited the dance floor, they found Lance standing by the ladies room door, twisting the ring on his finger nervously. JC grabbed his shoulder and leaned in. "Man, what is up with you? Let's go! You're not right!" Lance pushed his hand away. He couldn't focus. All he knew was he needed to see that girl again, meet her, or find out who she was. There was a strange familiarity about her, a connection that scared him. Justin leaned into JC. "Okay, want to let us in on what's going on now?" Joey scratched his head. "Is he going mental or what?" JC's forehead creased with sheer concern for the medical saftey of his friend. "Lance, now!" he demanded, pulling him by the elbow toward the exit. "Now!" His blue eyes met Lance's green ones with force and seriousness. Suddenly, the door to the women's room opened and the mystery girl came out, running right into Lance. "I'm sorry," she said looking up. She felt her smile turn to something else, and it shook her. Her friends were right behind her, and shoved her gently to the side, so they could get out. "Olivia, let's roll. Come on," one of her friends said, grabbing her hand and pulling her away. "Olivia," Lance repeated, placing his hand on her arm. His mind swam, trying to remember if he'd met her before. She yanked out of her friend's grasp, and touched his hand, feeling an incredibly freaky jolt flow from him into her. Lance gulped, unable to speak, unable to move. He didn't understand anything, just that he couldn't let her go. His life depended on it. The friends of both Lance and Olivia stood there, each trying to pry them apart, feeling a bit scared by the entire thing. Finally, a bouncer came by, breaking it all up. "You all can't block the ladies' room," he said firmly, pushing the guys out of the way. Olivia held onto Lance's hand, and felt it slip from her grasp as he was forced back into the crowd. "No," she whispered. Her friend's grabbed her and pulled her back through the dance floor, more than just a little annoyed at the entire situation. Lance tried to force his way back to where he'd seen her. JC kept a firm grip on him, guiding him to the club exit. "We are leaving right now!" he snapped. "No, we can't," Lance cried. "Joey, stay with me! I have to find her again, please!" His frantic eyes pleaded with Joey's. Joey ran his fingers through his hair and looked at JC for help. "Lance, we are going right now, I swear if I have to carry your ass out!" JC motioned for their bodyguards to come assist. Justin noticed a small group of people forming around them, and tried to calm Lance, who was growing increasingly agitated. Justin forced a smile, and pushed his group of friends toward the door, resisting the urge to smack Lance for causing such a scene. Once inside the limo, Lance became angry with them. "What the fuck did you guys do to me?" he screamed. JC pointed his finger in his face. "I have no idea what is wrong with you, but this shit needs to stop. You need some medical help man!" Lance's eyes grew wide. "What?" he yelled. Joey looked out the window. JC was on a tear, and there was no stopping him. Justin stayed silent as well, unwilling to side against his best friend. Lance pulled on the door handle, trying to open it, willing to jump out if he had to. A large hand pulled his hand back. He looked into the eyes of his paid bodyguard. "I have to go back there," he whimpered. JC crossed his arms over his chest. "The only place you're going is back to the hotel and to bed. I have no idea what is wrong with you, but I'm calling a doctor to come check you out!" He stared at his friend. Lance's face fell. His heart slowed down, and his temples began their rythmic throb. He slumped in his seat and felt miserable. He couldn't place Olivia. He was sure he must have met her before. The feelings he had frightened him a lot. There was something going on inside his body he couldn't explain. The only thing he knew was that he had to find that girl again. He felt as if it was a life or death choice for him. His eyes closed tightly and he didn't open them again until he was at the hotel. |