Nineteen

The days turned into weeks and before we knew it we were seated in our hotel room getting a prep talk from Johnny before our release party.  The album was coming out next week, along with the press conference, and, what everyone knew accept for Jive, was Lance and my decision to come out about our relationship.  What Lance also didn’t know was that tomorrow morning while everyone was sleeping from partying too much, Justin and I – hangovers and all – were going shopping for two gold bands.  The night of the press conference I was proposing to Lance.  The trickiest part to this whole equation?  Tuesday night was the press conference.  Tonight – Saturday night – is our release party.  Tomorrow is shopping and recovering.  So guess what Monday is?  Joey-keeping-Lance-busy-day because I’m doing something that’s going to take every bit of courage I ever had.  I’m going to ask Lance’s parents for permission to marry their son.

I took a deep loud breath even thinking of it.

“JC, do you have some input?”  Johnny asked, a bit irritated; I must of breathed more loudly that I thought.

“No sir, sorry, just nervous.”

Lance patted my leg.

Johnny knew the minute we made our little announcement at the press conference Jive was going to freak.  That’s why we decided to do it the night of the album release.  Let them get all of their stupid first day sales and then let us have what we really want – freedom.

I closed my eyes and shook away all my nerves as much as possible.  Tonight was suppose to be nothing but pure, crazy, FUN.  Time to get wasted and have fun with our friends and everyone else in the business.

Once we were excused from everything Johnny had said, I stopped in the bathroom to check the way I looked.

Lance came in, his arms wrapped around my waist.

I smiled as I fixed my curls.  “What do you want fishy?”

“Nothing, just like hugging my boyfriend, is that okay?” he winked.

“More than okay,” I turned around and kissed him briefly.

The party that night was amazing.  The record company, though we’ve had some issues, always does the best for us.  Which we deserve, we put a lot of work into our albums.

I saw a lot of familiar faces, shook a lot of knowing hands, but there was one person I kept trying to make my way back to and it was Lance.  We got caught up so many times with so many people wanting to talk to us and a lot of fans who had won passes stopped us for pictures.  Lance and I kept glancing at each other and shrugging with a smile.

The night was long, but fun.  Chris ended up passing out in our bed and I had to laugh because half his body was sliding off the bed, but he managed to stay on it somehow.

At nine I slid out of the room and went down to Justin’s.

He glared at me with red eyes when he opened the door, then let out a moan.

“Remind me why I’m going engagement ring shopping when you both are men?” he sighed, rubbed his eyes and then shot a look at the lights in the hall evilly.

“Because I want to have something in my hand to show him when I ask.  Come on J, I’m nervous as hell, you gotta help me.  I’d do it for you and Brit,” I whined.

He growled at me and told me to wait while he grabbed a beanie and sunglasses.

Once we walked into Tiffany’s we had to respectively pull off our gear so we didn’t look like hoodlums.  Funny what happens when you roll out of bed after a night of partying in some fucked up looking outfit and then walk into Tiffany’s.  What always amuses me is they think we’re just going to rob the store, but we both have enough money to buy the store.  I laughed to myself and Justin to himself.  We did look pretty fucked up.

“Can I help you?” the older lady looked down the long bridge of her nose at us.

“Where’s your wedding bands?”  I asked stupidly.  I had no clue what I was doing, but I didn’t care.

The lady showed me many, many rings.  But when she pulled out one of the displays, that’s when I saw it.  The perfect band.

Justin knew it too, he smiled at me.

It was a gold band, but on the front of it there were five diamonds cut like stars embedded in it.  Stupid, ironic, and sentimental, but it was something that was perfect.

“Do you have two of these ma’am?” I asked.

“Let me go look,” she left us at the counter.

I pulled out the price tag, Justin look over my shoulder at it.

“Phew, hope he’s paying for the wedding,” Justin joked.

“No you were going to, remember?”  I laughed.

Justin jumped on my back and began beating me up.

“Jup get off me, you’re bigger than me!” I laughed.

The clerks in the store looked completely apauled by our actions, and had we not been buying, I was sure the big burly security guards would have kicked us to the curb.

“You’re in luck Sir, I do have another one.”

I watched her package them up and I stopped her.

“Can you place the rings in one box together?”

She went and pulled a bigger box to hold both and looked at Justin and I oddly.

As she rang up the bill Justin socked me in the arm.

“Haha C, she thinks we’re a couple,” he snorted.

“Shut up or I’ll tell her that,” I winked.

Justin looked at me like a child and went to look at necklaces for Britney.

I stared at the rings and smiled brightly before I handed them to Justin.

“Thanks for holding onto them for me, I know Lance will find them if I put them in our hotel room,” I gave him a hug and left.

“Where’ve you been,” Lance smiled coyly as I walked in.

“Went to breakfast with J,” I shrugged and smiled as I saw he was getting ready to get into the shower.

“Justin’s awake already?” he laughed, “that’s amazing to me.”

“He’s getting wise in his old age.  Now forget Justin, what are you doing?” I began fiddling with the towel as a smirk plastered my face.

“Ah-ah, not in here, Chrissofer is still sleeping,” he laughed.

“Into the bathroom Mister Bass,” I ordered.

“Yes Chasez, whatever you want,” he hopped in there.

I phoned Stacy the next morning to see if she could check and make sure that Diane and Jim would be at home that day, and sure enough, they would be.  I’d left Lance about seven that morning, leaving him a note, telling him that Chris and I were going birthday shopping for him.  Chris promised not to be seen all day and Justin and Joey took Lance out on the streets of New York to do one of Lance’s favorite pastimes – shopping.

My flight left at 9 for Mississippi.  It was a little after eleven by the time I got there, my flight not leaving again until 4.  I figure if I couldn’t convince them by 4, then it wasn’t worth my time.  I was willing to marry Lance with or without their permission, but I figured that it was right of me to ask and at least try to make them understand that I do love their son with all of my being.

My finger pressed the doorbell lightly, my finger shaking with fear.  I was so nervous I wasn’t even sure if I did exactly ring the doorbell until Jim answered.

He blinked a few times as he stared at me.

“Dear who is it?” I heard Diane, and then saw her peek past him down the hall.

“Josh?” she asked.

“Hello Mister and Misses Bass,” I took a deep breath as I replied.

Twenty