| Great Outdoors [seven] by Destiny Joey hummed softly to himself as he wandered down the path. Sunlight streamed in from various angles and he paused to take a shot of Jack Daniels. The alcohol burned a steady trail down his throat and he scrunched his face up briefly. "Shit that's good!" he gasped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. The woods were quieter than Joey had realized. Stillness and silence were always a problem for him presenting him with too much idle time to reflect on his life. A bird swooped down nearly knocking him in the head. "Dammit!" he hissed, ducking out of the way. He glanced up to see the momma bird squawk at him. "Aww, got you a nest do you?" He peeked up at the tiny birds chirping hungrily for food. The mother bird took another shot at him and he ran. "Fucking critters. All trying to be nice to ya and you wanna attack me. Well, fuck you then!" Lance looked up. "Did you hear that?" he asked. "Hear what?" Justin sighed. He rested his head in his hand and picked at a wildflower. Lance sniffled wiping his nose on the back of his shirt. "I thought I heard Joey." Justin hopped to his feet and his face brightened. "Joey!" he called out, dashing into the woods. Lance rolled his eyes as he took off after him. "Don't you learn Timberlake? God! Stay put!" Justin was off, however, screaming Joey's name as loud as he could, not caring if he strained his vocal chords. He wanted out of being lost and out of the woods. No friendship was worth this hell. "Joey? Talk to me man!" Lance tripped over a rock and sprawled to the ground. "Shit!" he screamed in pain as his bad ankle gave out twisting to the side. "Goddamnit!" Justin licked his dry lips as he turned. "You okay?" he asked vaguely, still scanning the thicket for signs of Joey. "My ankle," Lance grunted. "My bad ankle." Justin's shoulders slumped. "I still don't believe you fucking got hurt doing a skit for SNL. Unbelievable." Lance snarled as he rubbed the tender joint. "Coulda happened to any of us." Justin tracked backward and knelt down next to him. "No, shit like that only happens to you." He swatted Lance's hands away and unlaced his sneaker. "Don't do that," Lance warned. "It'll swell and I'll never get it back on." "Stop being a wimp ass." "I'm not." "Yes, you are," Justin sighed. He pulled the white sock off Lance's sweaty foot and grimaced as he saw the immediate swelling. "Yup, it's re-injured." "No fucking shit." Justin rubbed the bridge of his nose, so not into the shit going on. "Well, FUCK THIS ANYWAY!" he hollered as loud as he could. "And fuck your ankle!" He slumped down next to Lance on the cold ground and laughed bitterly. "Go," Lance dared him. "Go on. I'll be fine. I don't need you to babysit me." Justin wrinkled his nose and grabbed Lance's face staring into his eyes. "You're fucked up right now aren't you? I can tell!" Irritation surged though his blood as he patted Lance down. "Where is it? Hmm? Where's your stash you fuck!" Lance squirmed backwards to get away. "Leave me alone!" he cried. "Just leave me be!" Justin grabbed the back of Lance's shirt and held him down. "I'm not leaving you alone in the woods while you're high. No! Now give me what you have! Now!" His azure eyes darkened as he tightened his grip on Lance. "I'm not moving and I have a lot more patience than you do." "Why do you care?" Lance whimpered shamefully, dropping the vial into Justin's waiting palm. "I have no clue," Justin replied stiffly as he twisted the cap off and let the white powder scatter to the wind. He heard Lance moan a bit at the loss then heard nothing. "There, problem solved. I'm going to find Joey." He threw the empty vial in Lance's face. "I guess you'll stay here." Lance scowled as Justin tromped off into the woods. "Prick!" Joey slumped against a tree and slugged a few more shots of Jack. Kelly flashed into his mind, how her face had fallen when she realized his indiscretions were still continuing. They'd worked so hard on trust and faithfulness yet he couldn't keep it going. It was the same thing, time after time. Stay faithful for a bit, revel in the pure love that was pregnant Kelly, then wander off with the first pretty girl that gave him an interested look. "Joey? You hear me?" Joey squinted into the trees. "Jay? Man, that you?" Justin barely made out the figure through the forest's darkness. "Hey! Thank God!" He bounded back onto the path with a relieved sigh. "Dammit we were lost!" Joey laughed as he handed the bottle to Justin. "Told them. I told JC and Chris you were lost." Justin sipped the alcohol gingerly not wanting to upset his stomach. "Where are they?" he asked as the liquor scratched his already sore throat. "Camping," Joey replied with a chuckle. "Or digging through my shit again. Where's Lancers?" "Oh Christ, he twisted his fucking ankle back there. Come on." Justin yanked at Joey's arm annoyed at Lance for even coming after him in the first place. He was sure Lance was just bad luck. "Stop pulling me!" Joey complained. "Will ya stop?" "Fine!" Justin spat back. "Just hurry so I can get the fuck outta this hell." He trailed back into the woods with a confused look. "I think he's just over this clearing." Joey followed but no Lance. "Which way is he?" Justin paused to wipe a few beads of sweat from his forehead. "When'd it get so hot?" he muttered, pausing to jerk his shirt off over his head. He rested it over his shoulder and pressed on. "You can get ticks like that," Joey reminded him. He laughed when Justin flashed his middle finger up behind him without breaking stride. Ten minutes later and Justin was lost again. "For the love of God!" he grumbled. "Where is he?" Joey was contentedly sloshed and tripping over his own feet as Justin's body blurred before him. "I love her man," he slurred. "What?" Justin said, scratching his head. If the stream was now on the right side of him, that had to mean Lance was near, right? "Kelly and the baby. I love her, them, whatever." Joey sighed as his lids became too heavy to keep open any longer. He wandered to the stream and sat on a large rock. "Love her. Wanna be faithful. Don't want my dick sucked by strange girls." He burped loudly and sniffled feeling quite emotional. Justin shook his head. He didn't understand where he'd gone wrong. "Lance?" He'd called out several times to no avail. "Lance where are you?" He spun around in angry circles with his arms outstretched. "I HATE THIS FUCKING PLACE!" ****************************************************************************************************************** JC opened the cooler and pulled out some hot dogs. "Jesus, I haven't eaten a hot dog in years." Chris laughed. "I had one at Shea when we were doing the Anthem for the series. Damn thing gave me gas all night." JC chuckled. "That's why you were singing like that!" He ripped the package open happy to be laughing with Chris. They'd never forged a great bond with one another. Their personalities were so different. JC was so responsible, almost stodgy while Chris was immature and playful. Their friendship had been the first to break down. "Should we call the rangers?" Chris asked as he handed JC a stick to spear the hot dog with. "It's been over thirty minutes." "Yeah," JC said quietly staring into the jumping flames. "Let's find them." Chris quickly roasted his hot dog while JC tucked the food away. "Can't be far down the road right?" he asked aloud. "Nah, no more than a mile." Chris gasped. "Do you have any idea how long it's been since I walked a fucking mile?" JC wiped his grimy hands off on the legs of his jeans. "It won't kill you. Come on." Tinkly laughter emerged from the shadowy road and Chris grinned. "You think it's them?" He licked his lips suggestively as JC groaned. "Please don't embarrass me!" he pleaded, remembering Jessica and her peach. Chris frowned as he shoved the rest of his hot dog into his mouth. "When do I embarrass you?' he garbled as some of the food spilled out. JC threw his hands up. "God help me!" "JC that you?" Jessica broke off from her band of friends and sauntered into their campsite. "Hey, what's up?" she smiled. "Any idea where the rangers are?" he asked, jumping in front of Chris who was trying to manage a 'hello' with his cheeks full. "Yeah, everything all right?" she queried, scanning the area for the missing three. "Uh, not really." JC slapped his hand to his head as the words tumbled out. What was it about this girl that made him open up? "Well, kind of." Chris swallowed and pushed JC aside. "We lost Lance and Justin. Joey went to look for them and do you even know who we are?" JC's ears burned as Jessica's eyebrow raised. "Yes, I know who you are," she replied with amusement. "And it's getting dark. You may want to head to the station now especially if the guys don't know their way around." "Do you?" Chris asked with a wink. JC sighed. "Ignore him, please. He's on some kind of hot dog trip. Can you show me where the station is? Do you mind?" She shook her head. "Of course. Its not far. Let me tell my friends and I'll be right back." "Bring friends here!" Chris cried after her as JC landed a solid elbow in his gut. "Oww, what'd you do that for?" "Because this isn't supposed to turn into an orgy. We're here to discuss us as a group and work our shit out. You wanna do that with giggling girls around?" Chris rubbed his stomach absently and took a deep breath as if in thought. "Yes," he answered, jogging after the girl. JC gritted his teeth. "I swear to God...I'm going to kill someone." |