NSYNC Heartache
by Matt Morris
Warning This story contains a brief sexual act between consenting men, and if you are not legally entitled to read such material you ought not read it.
This story is not intended in any way to imply that any of the real people are actually gay and it is not my intention to offend anybody. If you find the idea of some of the NSYNCers being gay offensive then I suggest that you read no further. When someone is as gorgeous as Lance Bass however it is nice to dream.
Chapter 1.
Mark was walking along new street trying to avoid the rain. Foreigners were renowned for complaining that it rained too often in Britain, but Birmingham got even more rain than the rest of the country. He ducked into HMV and headed to the albums. He was going to an NSYNC concert the next day with Catherine and he thought he would get their album so that he at least knew some of the tunes.
About a year earlier it had emerged that he was gay. Mark wasn't particularly bothered that people knew, he had just never felt the need to make it public. It was in some ways a relief, but he was terrified that his parents would find out. While he was certain that they would be supportive, he also knew that it would destroy them. Ever since the door had fallen from his closet, Mark had found himself dragged out on a regular basis by Catherine. Whenever there was going to be a boy band in Birmingham she dragged him along. Her boyfriend was delighted as it meant that she could go to the concerts in company, but that he didn't have to go. In all honesty Mark quite enjoyed it as well. On the whole he liked the music and Catherine was great company with a bubbly personality and a smile to die for. He just complained for fun.
Mark didn't really know much about NSYNC, He had heard that they were similar to the Backstreet Boys which suited his tastes fine. Although he was fiercely patriotic in most respects, Mark was honest enough to admit that the American boy bands were on the whole better at singing than their British counterparts.
As he came out of the door, Mark noticed something which struck him as odd. Sitting on a bench in the pouring rain with his head in his hands was a young man who appeared to be about the same age as Mark. There was a crack of thunder, and the rain started to pour down even more heavily, but still he just sat there. Mark was worried, he never liked to see people sad and here was someone who seemed to be totally oblivious to anyone and everything and the fact that he was in grave danger of a cold at the very least. Mark walked towards him, and as he got closer he could hear sobs. He sat on the bench next to the wretched figure and said, 'Its probably not as bad as it seems you know.' he got no response and he decided to try again, 'I'm Mark' The young man looked up, but he looked straight ahead rather than at Mark. Mark was struck by how stunningly attractive he was, spiky blond hair and eyes to die for. Then he spoke, an American accent which surprised Mark a little and despite the sadness it had a rich deep tone which sent a shiver up his spine. 'You'll make yourself ill if you sit there in the wet you know.' he said. Mark looked at him and said, 'I guess we can keep each other company at the doctors then. I'm Mark, I'm sorry I didn't catch your name.' The young man looked up and quietly said 'Lance'. Mark was lost in his eyes which were a delicate shade of grey and drew his gaze deep into them. 'I'm sorry.' he said. 'My name, it's Lance.' the young man said.
Mark looked at him and said, ' So Lance what's so bad that you have to sit here in the rain and cry about.' Lance looked at him and said, 'It's sort of personal, I don't ...' 'Its okay, I just thought it might be easier to tell someone you don't know' Mark said, 'So what brings you to Birmingham?' Lance thought for a few minutes before saying, 'I'm just here for a few days with some friends. What about you?' 'I'm a student at the university.' Mark replied. The two of them sat and talked for about an hour, during which time the rain had stopped. While talking they had got to know each other quite well and it was surprising how much they had in common. Lance had been thinking about what Mark had said about talking to someone he didn't know, and he decided that he did know Mark well enough to talk to him, but as they would probably never see each other again anyway he was less concerned about him getting angry and never wanting to speak to him again. 'Mark, you know what you said earlier about talking to someone I didn't know.' 'Yeah' Mark said, 'If there's anything you want to say, don't worry about it, just say it.'
Lance looked at Mark, and saw him watching intently. Lance could see the concern in his eyes and started to speak 'The problem is Mark that I'm ... I'm ... I'm g..g..' Mark could see the tears running down his cheeks and he placed an encouraging hand on his arm. He knew what Lance was trying to say, and he knew that if he were going to come to terms with it he had to say it himself without being pushed into it. Lance felt the hand and drew strength from it. Taking a deep breath he managed to say, 'Mark, I'm gay.' before he started crying again. Mark put his arm around his shoulder and gave him a hug. sensing that there was more to come however he sat next to Lance with an arm about his shoulder. Lance continued, 'This morning we went into Justin's room to wake him. He's usually the last to wake up so we were surprised that he wasn't in bed then he came out of the bathroom wearing absolutely nothing. I mean I always knew that he had a hot body, but he was obviously excited about something. Anyway he saw me staring at him because he said "hey Lance baby, you seein something you like." anyway the others all started to laugh at me. I can't remember if I said anything but I just left the hotel, and now they all know and they hate me.' Looking off into space Lance saw a tourist with a camera, but with the things running through his mind he wasn't thinking straight and he panicked thinking that it was a journalist who might get the wrong idea about him and Mark. Jumping up he started to run but in his haste he didn't see the taxi coming. Mark shouted but was too late, the taxi driver was slamming on his brakes but he still hit Lance and sent him flying. Mark ran over to where Lance lay, instinctively reaching for his mobile as he went. By the time he reached the unconscious body he had dialled 999 and requested an ambulance. As he knelt by Lance holding his bleeding head in his lap the driver of the taxi came up. There was no way that he could have stopped, the roads were wet and Lance had shot out in front of him from nowhere.
A few minutes later the ambulance arrived and the paramedics got Lance into the back of it. Bending down to scoop up Lance's mobile Mark jumped in just before the doors closed. 'Which hospital are we going to?' Mark asked. The paramedic looked up and said, 'Selly Oak, the A38's the only road that's not dug up at the moment.' 'Is it alright if I use this?' Mark asked indicating Lance's mobile. The paramedic nodded before returning to Lance's injuries. Running through the numbers programmed into the phone Mark found a name he recognised from their conversation, Justin. Mark remembered the conversation and wondered if Justin was the right person to call, but it was the only person he knew to even be in the same country. Pressing the call button he drew a breath.
Back in the hotel Justin's phone rang. Grabbing it he recognised the number and pressing to receive he shouted 'Lance, where are you, JC and Chris are looking for you and Joey's having kittens...' Mark interrupted him, 'Justin, you don't know me, my name is Mark. Lance has been in an accident.' pausing to allow the news to sink in he continued, 'Lance is being taken to Selly Oak hospital, you want the casualty department. okay.' Justin was silent for a few seconds before replying , ' We'll be there, thank you.' Turning he saw J.C. standing in the doorway. Without waiting for the question he said, ' Lance is in hospital, you get Joey and Chris and I'll arrange a taxi.
Noone spoke during the ride to the hospital. They were all worried for Lance, and with the exception of a few ideas flashing in and out of Justin's head nobody knew why he had disappeared that morning. Hopping out of the taxi Justin just handed a few notes to the driver and ran after the others. He still wasn't used to the notes and he didn't want to hang around to work it out. JC. went straight to the desk and said, 'Excuse me, we're here to see Lance Bass, we understand he was brought here.' The woman looked up and said, 'There was a Lance brought in, he was hit by a car. The man who came in with him didn't know his last name, or any details. Does your friend have blond spiky hair?' 'Yes' Justin said, 'Look you said someone came in with him.' 'Over there.' the woman said pointing to Mark who was sat in a corner thinking. Justin said to JC. 'you fill them in on his details and I'll go find out what happened.' He walked over to the corner where Mark sat and said, 'Excuse me. Mark?' Mark looked up and immediately did a double take. Standing in front of him was a face he recognised from the cover of the NSYNC album. 'Your one of them aren't you?' he asked realising as he said it how stupid he must sound. Justin looked at him in surprise. 'Which other Justin would be here with Lance?' he asked cursing himself for being so abrupt. 'I'm sorry' he said, 'I'm just worried about Lance.' Mark looked up and said, 'I didn't recognise him, he looks so much different to the album cover.' Justin and Mark talked for a bit about what had happened. Mark outlined the events taking special care not to mention the topic of the conversation. Justin realised that he wasn't hearing everything, and he said, 'What were you talking about that made him just run off?'. Mark was uncomfortable because he didn't want to lie to Justin, but he was saved by a doctor coming over and saying, 'Mr Bass regained consciousness a while back and he has been answering some questions so that we could ascertain the extent of his injuries. I'm pleased to say that apart from some bruising and a minor knock to the head, Mr Bass was not seriously hurt and he should be able to participate in tomorrow's concert as long as he doesn't over exert himself. I would however like him to stay here overnight so that we can keep an eye on him to make sure that there are no serious problems. Oh he was asking if there was a Mark here.' Mark looked over and could see that Justin looked upset. 'Don't worry,' he said, 'He probably doesn't know you're here. I'll go and tell him. I'm sure he'd far rather talk to you than me.' It was with some relief that he followed the doctor. He had hated concealing things from Justin, but he didn't feel that he should be the one to tell them about Lance, and despite Lance's earlier fears, Mark was quite certain that Justin didn't know.
When Mark walked into the room Lance was gazing out the window, and Mark slowly walked over to the bed and said, 'feeling any better?' Lance looked round and said, 'Mark, the doctor said there was someone waiting and I thought it must be you.' Mark replied 'your friends are here, they're out in reception.' Lance looked up again, 'They came? I didn't know if they would.' Mark laughed and said, 'I don't think they have any idea. Justin didn't seem to know.' Lance said,' You didn't tell him did you?' seeing Mark shake his head he continued, 'I want to tell them, would you mind being here when I tell them?' 'Of course I wouldn't. I'll go and fetch them.'
Mark stood at the back of the room but made sure that Lance could easily see him so that he knew he wasn't alone. Lance took a deep breath and said, 'I have something to tell you all. I'm Gay.' He was about to carry on, but was silenced by the rapid departure of Justin. JC. was about to run after him but Mark said, 'wait I'll go. You all have a lot to discuss and there might be some harsh words needed. If Justin takes it badly it would be better for him to hate me than any of you.' JC squeezed his shoulder and then went to sit next to the bed. Chris and Joey were still too shocked to say anything. After searching the hospital for almost an hour Mark found Justin sitting in a corner of the cafeteria crying. When he first left Lance's room he had been livid that Justin could just walk out on a friend, but as he had been walking round the hospital he had started to get worried. When he saw Justin crying he felt for him, and sitting opposite him he reached out and took his hand and said, 'he's still the same person you know.' Justin looked up and said, 'When you saw him this morning you didn't know who he was did you?' Mark laughed before saying 'No. He looked a lot different to the picture on the album. You are the only one who you would recognise without knowing.' A thought occurred to Justin and he looked at Mark with a distinctly worried expression. 'You won't tell anyone about Lance will you?' he asked. Mark looked at him, slightly hurt, and said 'never.' Justin looked out the window and said, 'When I ran out, it wasn't that I love Lance any less, he's like a brother to me and he always will be, its just that I'm gay, and I've had a crush on Lance for ages. When he said that he was gay it came as a shock. You don't think that he's going to hate me do you.' Mark smiled, 'Never. The biggest worry Lance had this morning was that you guys would hate him. I think you just need to go in there and tell him that you still love him. It might help if you told them all how you feel. I think that at the very least you should tell Lance.' 'I will, but I don't know if I can tell the others now. Will you be there when I tell him?' 'If you want' 'Thankyou. You were saying about the pictures on the album. I can get you some tickets to the concert tomorrow if you would like, maybe some backstage passes.' 'I was already coming to the concert, but if you could get me a couple of backstage passes Catherine would go wild.' 'Who's Catherine? your girlfriend?' Mark laughed uncontrollably for a few minutes before recovering, 'She's just a friend, a very good friend but a friend.' 'So have you got a girlfriend at the moment?' Justin asked. 'No. I'm not really a girl guy, at least not like that.' 'You mean your gay right?' Justin said. 'Yeah, just don't spread it around' Mark said before continuing more light heartedly 'Why whats it to you. You some queer bashing redneck or something?' Justin laughed. 'So you don't like people to know' Mark considered for a moment before saying, 'I don't mind people knowing, I just don't feel the need to tell people.' 'Cool' was all Justin had time to say before they arrived back in Lance's room.
JC jumped up as they entered the room. 'Hey Justin, are you alright?' 'Yeah fine. Can you leave us for a minute please.' JC paused for a minute before nodding and heading to the door followed by Joey and Chris. Looking back he saw Mark standing at the foot of the bed while Justin stood at the side holding Lance's hand. JC started to talk, 'Mark' but Justin interrupted him, 'No, JC, I asked Mark to stay.' JC frowned but went to join Joey and Chris in the waiting area. Justin just stood there holding Lance's hand for about five minutes before starting to speak. 'Lance, about earlier. I'm sorry for running out on you like that. When you told us it startled me. Lance I want you to know that nothing you could say would ever stop me from loving you. You're like a brother to me and I don't want to lose you.' Lance lay there tears running down his cheeks. Justin didn't know what to make of it. Seeing his confusion Lance said, ' It's alright Justin, I thought I'd lost you. I'm just so glad you're still here for me.' 'Lance, there's something else. I never had the courage, the courage you showed earlier, to tell any of you this. Lance I'm gay as well. I was afraid to say anything because I thought you all might reject me. It's just I'm not ready to tell the others yet.' 'Its alright Justin, we can tell them when your ready to.' 'Thanks Lance. There's just one other thing.' Mark knew what Justin was about to tell Lance, and he didn't feel comfortable being in the room to hear it. It was something personal between the two of them, and Mark decided it was time for him to step out. 'I'll just go and see how the others are.'
Walking into the waiting area Mark spotted Joey sitting on his own. Walking over he said, 'Where are JC and Chris' 'They went to get something to drink. What was wrong with Justin.' 'Nothing, he was just taken by surprise. He's in there talking to Lance now.' 'I know how he felt. When Lance told us I didn't know what to say or think. I hope he realises that we still love him.' 'He does now.' 'I want to thank you Mark. Lance told us what happened this morning. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there for him.' 'Hey, I guess I'm just a sucker for people in tears.' At this point JC and Chris walked up and sat down next to Mark and Joey. JC looked at Mark and said, 'Mark, I want you to know that we're very grateful for everything you've done for Lance, but I have to ask this, do you know who we are.' 'I do now, but I didn't know I saw Justin.' seeing that JC looked confused Mark took the cd out of his rucksack and pointed to the pictures on the front. 'They're not exactly flattering any of you. Justin's about the only one who's recognisable.' JC laughed and showed the cd to Chris who laughed and said 'Did we really look like that, what were we thinking?' JC handed the cd back to Mark and said, 'I know this probably sounds bad but I have to ask you to promise not to tell this to anyone.' 'You have my word.' Mark replied. 'Is there anything we can do to thank you.' JC asked, 'We can get you tickets for the concert if you would like.' 'Its alright, I already have tickets, and Justin has already said that he would get me some backstage passes.' Mark replied. JC said 'Good. How can we contact you to let you know where to collect them.' Mark gave JC his phone number and they sat chatting for a bit.
Meanwhile back in Lance's room Justin had plucked up the courage to finish his confession to Lance. Holding firmly onto Lance's hand he said, 'Lance, it's not just that I'm gay. Ever since we met I've had a major crush on you.' Lance didn't say anything, but sitting up he pulled Justin to him and started to kiss him. As their tongues danced in their mouths Lance started to fumble with Justin's belt and then the buttons on his jeans. Reaching out he slid his hand into Justin's boxers and rubbed his hand over Justin's hard member. At that moment they both pulled back and simultaneously said, 'I'm sorry. I can't do this.' Looking into Justin's eyes Lance said, 'I'm sorry Justin, I can't get over thinking of you as a brother. I just can't do this.' Justin leaned over, kissed Lance on the forehead and said, 'It's ok Lance. I feel exactly the same way.'
Back in the waiting room Mark looked at his watch and swore. JC looked up and said, 'What's wrong?' 'It's 5 o'clock already. I have to go. I'll just go and say goodbye to Lance and Justin' 'Right. We'll see you tomorrow then.' JC said. Chris and Joey were both asleep. Walking through to Lance's room Mark was sure that he saw Justin doing up his belt but he felt it better not to say anything. 'I'm off home.' he said. Lance looked up, 'Mark, I don't know how to thank you. I understand we'll be seeing you again tomorrow.' Justin said, 'That's a point, how should I contact you about the passes.' 'JC already got my phone number.' 'Great, one of us will be in touch tomorrow.' 'See you then.'
Mark left the hospital. He was glad that he hadn't driven in that morning, It was a pleasant evening and the half hour gentle stroll home gave him an opportunity to think about what had happened. Arriving home at about six he went straight to dinner, and then going back to his room he started to record his thoughts on the days events in his diary. As he was doing this the phone rang. wondering who would be ringing him this evening he picked it up. 'So the wanderer has returned.' Catherine said. Laughing Mark said, 'So what's got you in such a fine mood?' 'I've been ringing most of the day to try and sort out what we're doing tomorrow evening.' 'I don't know yet. Look Catherine, I'm trying to arrange a surprise for you. I'll ring you at some stage tomorrow and let you know.' 'Ok, you'd better. Just you remember who has the tickets.' Both of them laughed and hung up. Mark put the cd on and listened to all the songs before he went to sleep. He was struck by the variety of the songs and was looking forward to the next day immensely. turning his alarm off he went to sleep. The next morning Mark woke to the sound of his ringing phone. Jumping up he ran over to the phone and picked it up. Glancing at the clock he was amazed to see that it was already 11am. 'Hello.' he said. 'Mark, is that you?' he recognised Justin's voice. 'Yeah Justin, how are you?' 'Fine thanks, Yourself?' 'Yeah Great.' 'What can I do for you?' 'I was just ringing about later.' Justin replied, 'We wondered if you and Catherine wanted to have something to eat with us before the concert.' 'I would love to,' Mark replied, 'and I'm sure Catherine would be amenable.' 'Great, you can either meet us at our hotel, or we can send the limo to collect you.' Mark thought for a moment, imagining the looks on his friends faces if a limo pulled up to collect him, and decided that it probably wouldn't be a good idea. 'We'll come to you.' he said. 'Which hotel are you staying at?' 'The Hyatt.' 'What time should we be there?' 'Come for about five. One of us will be in the lobby waiting for you.' 'Ok I'll see you then.' Mark hung up and called Catherine. 'Hello.' 'Hi Catherine, Mark. Can you be ready to leave by four?' 'Four? It doesn't start till 7.30.' 'It's part of the surprise I was telling you about. Just be ready ok, you'll love it.' 'Ok, but if I didn't know better I'd think you were trying it on.'
At four o'clock precisely Mark knocked on Catherine's door. He was somewhat surprised when her boyfriend opened the door. They sat and joked for a bit while waiting for Catherine to finish getting ready and when she eventually came out at half past Mark said, 'typical woman to make us late.' Catherine smiled and said, 'Watch it mate or I'll beat the crap out of you.' Mark often laughed about Catherine being intimidating despite her short stature, and they all laughed. Heading to the door they said goodbye and started on the short walk to the hotel. 'Good job I allowed plenty of time for you to be late.' Mark said. Catherine mock punched him in the arm and said, 'So why are we so early.' 'I told you, its a surprise.' 'Well it had better be good.' As they walked into the Hyatt at 5.02 she said, 'Why are we at the Hyatt?' 'You'll see.' Just then the lift door opened and out stepped JC. Walking over to them he said, 'Hi Mark, and you must be Catherine.' 'Surprise.' Mark whispered to Catherine, but she didn't hear him as she fainted. JC caught her before she hit the floor, and turning to Mark he said, 'You didn't tell her did you?' Mark replied, 'I thought it would be a nice surprise. I didn't know she was going to pass out on me.' JC laughed and they sat Catherine down. A receptionist came running over with a glass of water and they soon had Catherine awake and she was laughing about the whole thing. 'We'd better be off' said JC. 'Follow me.' They followed him through the lobby and into the dining room where the others were waiting for them. Mark made sure he was standing behind Catherine and when she commented on this he said, 'Can't have you collapsing on us again can we.' Sitting down with the others they chatted over a light dinner and Mark was pleased to see that Catherine was getting on really well with the guys. 'So how do you know him?' she asked, pointing at Mark. Lance proceeded to give her a pretty thorough description of the previous days events, omitting only the fact that he and Justin were gay. While he did this Justin lent over and said to Mark, 'I told the rest of the guys about myself last night.' 'I'm pleased.' Mark said. Standing up JC said we have to leave for the arena now. Glancing down at his watch Mark noticed that it was already half past six. Standing up Justin said, 'come on, you two are coming with us. Oh and before I forget.' and he handed them each a backstage pass. Catherine screamed with joy. JC laughed. 'You really didn't tell her anything did you.' 'What and miss all this fun' Mark joked. 'If I wasn't having so much fun your life wouldn't be worth shit' Catherine snarled.
Piling into the limo which had pulled up outside the hotel they drove to the arena chatting on the way. The Limo pulled up at the front of the arena to drop Mark and Catherine off. As they got out Lance said, 'If you wait for the crowd to dissipate a bit at the end, and then head towards the stage. Show the passes to one of the security guards and they will give you directions on where to find us. The limo pulled away and Mark and Catherine joined the queue waiting to get in. Finding their seats they sat down to watch the show. The warm up act was dire but when the guys came out they joined in the cheers. The show was amazing despite the fact that Lance had to spend the whole time sat on a stool. Just before the final song, Justin walked to the front of the stage and said, 'You may be wondering why Lance hasn't been dancing tonight and the truth is that he was involved in an accident yesterday and has to take things easy for a bit. Don't worry though, its nothing serious and he will soon be back to his normal self. This last song is dedicated to a good friend of ours out there in the audience. You know who you are and we just want to say thanks for being there for our Lance.' As the music to Everything I Own started to play Catherine put her arm around Mark's shoulder and gave him a quick hug. 'How did they know that that was my favourite?' he whispered in her ear. 'I don't know.' she said, giving him a butter wouldn't melt grin.
After the concert finished they did as Lance had said and waited for the crowds to die down before heading backstage. They chatted for a bit before heading out to the limo. Mark and Catherine were about to find a taxi when Lance said, 'Hey we'll give you a lift. We've had enough taxis round us recently. The Limo dropped them off at Catherine's, where Mark had parked and before leaving they exchanged e-mail addresses and the boys signed their passes as souvenirs. As the limo sped off Catherine gave Mark a hug and said, 'Thank you, that was marvellous.'
Authors notes:
1.) Mark is a friend of mine. He's about 6' tall with copper coloured hair and is to the best of my knowledge straight. (unfortunately)
2.) Catherine is an acquaintance, but she has the type of personality I wanted so I went with it.
3.) I know some of you will be pissed at the lack of sex, but having read a lot of the stories here I reckon that the best ones are those which don't have people fucking every five minutes.
- If you have something to say, e-mail me. Anything constructive, whether positive or negative, will be welcomed (please bare in mind that this is my first attempt.)
Matt. (e-mail matt_morris_uk@hotmail.com)