*That's right, we're back for some more Twist of Fate action! My apologies to you all for the delay, but I must remember that I'm a student first, and school does come first-this should be the rule that EVERY student follows! Anyway, I should have some time to write in the next few weeks, so the wait for the next chapter shouldn't be as long.
*While I don't get the chance to read a lot of the stories on Nifty, I'd like to really recommend "Common People" by Seth- he's a great guy that's writing a great story! I came across it when he first posted, and I can't wait for the next chapter. It's well written, very believable, and I think it'll turn out to be VERY romantic (my guess, at least). So for all you out there ready to pick up a fresh piece of quality writing, check it out!
*Props to all my new and old friends that I've made through the story... total props to Ad. and CrazyStar for being awesome people and a great encouragement to me!
*OKAY, here's the usual: While there's no naughty pelvic bumping in this story, it still deals with gay themes. If you're offended by these themes or if you're underage, OOPS! Go elsewhere. The story is fictional, and has no ties in reality to what 'NSync thinks or whom they'd like to do.
Any comments or thoughts can be sent to me at: Kaiser_goof@hotmail.com ~Jeff
Now for a peek at the LAST chapter of Twist of Fate:
We both walked towards the front of the bus holding hands. I knew it was going to be a challenge for us both, but I was ready to take it on!
A thought came to my mind, and I decided to start this tour off on the 'right foot' with Lance. As we got towards the door, I yanked Lance back to the back to tell him something important.
"Hey Lance, there's one thing I need to tell you... and you have to keep it a secret. It's important!" Lance's eyes grew full of concern, and he was ready to take on any challenge for me. Boy, was he going to be mad when he found out what it was! I gently grabbed his face, looked into his eyes, and quickly leaned in for a quick smacker on the lips. "YOU'RE IT!"
CHAPTER 14
My stuff wound up being on the next bus over. After getting changed and after I grabbed my portable med pak from my luggage, Lance dragged me back inside and took me to the dressing room. It took all our will power not to hold hands and kiss the whole time we were walking. I mean, COME ON, we hadn't been together for 2 months! But we survived. Just knowing Lance was there was enough for me.
"Hey hey hey, look what the cat dragged in!" Lance said as we both entered the dressing room. It took a few seconds for my presence to register, but I was greeted almost instantly with friendly, excited greetings from all the guys. Justin and JC rushed over, Chris pulled his headphones off and walked over, and Joey set down his gameboy to turn around on the couch so he could face us. All of 'em gave me hugs, even Joey-he grumbled about having to get up off the couch, but still was all smiles as we hugged. Man, what a GREAT group of friends I had found in these guys.
We talked for about 10 minutes about this and that, and I probably had the most interesting perspective, since I knew who 'knew' and who 'didn't know', and it was fun watching how they were all acting. JC and Chris were very cordial, but still acting a little funny... I think it was a good funny, though. Joey kept his distance during our chat, and had a 'I'm trying to figure you out' look on his face. Justin? Well, he was just a little ball of energy, laughing, bouncing around, and cracking jokes, like we had been best buds since the womb! Lance's behavior was the most interesting--he pretty much took Joey's approach by sitting back and looking at me, but with a smile hidden in his eyes. He was just letting me have my 'get to know you' time with the guys. What a pal.
KNOCK KNOCK. "Hello? Anybody in here?" We all glanced over to the door as Justin said,
"Come in!" Jessica poked her head in the door and said, in a very professional tone,
"Catering has been setup, and is now available on concourse B." We all nodded, and she turned to leave.
"Jessica!" I said, which stopped her. She looked back around.
"Yeah?" she said hesitantly.
"Have you met the guys yet?" Jessica took a deep breath and cautiously proceeded back into the dressing room.
"Well, being new and all, we've bumped into each other a few times, and I've talked with Lance a few times, you know, about regular business duties and stuff..." I could tell she was a bit weirded out by the attention, but I wanted to be sure she was at least introduced!
"Guys, this is Jessica. She picked me up today at the airport and she's really cool." The guys perked up and approached Jessica with handshakes and greetings. Jessica just beamed at the introduction and compliment, in conjunction with meeting 'NSync.
"Ya know what, we can sit here and talk, or we can go EAT!" Chris said, rubbing his hands together. All the guys agreed on the second option, and started filing out the door. Before we all left, Lance turned to Jessica and said,
"Hey Jess, um, would you like to join us for a bite?" Her smile grew even more, and she nodded.
"Sure. I'd like that. I'd like that a lot...... Give me a minute." It was agreed, and we all walked out of the dressing room to where the food was. Lance and I walked together, with Jessica falling back. I could faintly hear her on her radio. Even though I didn't see her, I could hear the smile in her voice.
"126 to 103... I'm going to take 10 for dinner!"
"Hey Curly, catch!" Joey grabbed a small strawberry and tossed it at Justin. Thing is, Justin had his hands full with a plate and a soda. What did Justin do? He leaned down and caught it--with his mouth! This earned him wild cheers and applause from the people around him. It was so cool, he tried a few more. None of them made it, of course, but Justin still retained demigod status because of his initial success.
"You're not eating much," I pointed out to Lance after taking an inventory of his plate. Some celery sticks, some cheese squares, a little bit of ham.
"Come on Lance, I've had more food stuck between my teeth!" Lance looked up and shrugged, smiling half-heartedly.
"I'm not really that hungry. It's not like I do anything all day except sit on a bus, sleep, and hang out in the dressing room." I knew this to be a lie, because I've SEEN the work he does on stage. I picked up a handful of finger sandwiches and dumped them on his plate, then served myself from the bounty in front of us. We all crashed on some tables that were set up, but no one started eating. I looked around at the table, and everyone had their thumb sticking up, and they were looking at me. It freaked me out.
"WHAT?!" I asked, trying to get an explanation.
"Oh yeah, newbie," JC said. "Last one with his... or HER thumb up," making reference to Jessica, "says grace." Instantly, Jessica stuck her thumb up.
"So I guess it's me," I said, catching on to the little game. "All right. Cool!" Everyone bowed their heads and I said the blessing. "God, thank you for friends and the chance to spend time with them. Please bless this food to our bodies and give us the energy to perform our jobs tonight. Amen." A round of 'Amen' came up from the table, and the feeding frenzy was on. I felt Lance's hand pat my leg under the table, and I looked over to see his smiling face. He was proud of me. I smiled back, and dug in.
The food was so good! All of us went back for seconds--except Lance. I came back with a plate of fruit and pudding and glanced at Lance's selection, only to find he still had his first plate, and he had hardly touched it. I gave him a 'happy look of death', glaring back and forth between his plate and his face, showing him that I wanted him to EAT! He rolled his eyes and nibbled on one of the finger sandwiches, but it was clear he wasn't interested in eating. I grew a touch concerned, but wrote it off by convincing myself he had eaten a big lunch or something.
Towards the end of the meal, a man walked in wearing jeans, a polo shirt, and a sports coat. He was probably 35-40, and from the looks of it, he looked like he was IN CHARGE. He walked right over to our table and said,
"Hey guys, backstage tour is coming back in 15 minutes. You want to do this thing in the dressing room?" The guys looked around, and nodded their agreement. "Great. I'll let security know." This man started to walk out, but looked straight at me, stopped, and said, "I... don't think we've met."
"I'm um... Billy Wilson, I'm the new EMT." He started nodding, and a smile came on his face.
"Ah yes, Billy. I've heard a bit about you. My name is Roger, I'm the road manager for the tour. It's nice to finally meet you."
"Oh, YOU'RE Roger! It's nice to meet you, too!" It's always good to meet one's boss, and I felt that this was a positive first encounter.
"Well guys, have a good show. We'll chat later." With that, Roger was gone.
"We better split," JC said as he slid his chair back. The rest of the guys and Jessica followed suit, and I was the last in the pack to get up. The clan started for the door, but Lance fell back to talk to me.
"Hey... I gotta go. In about 15 minutes, I'm going to be surrounded by 20 teenage girls whose daddies bought them backstage passes to meet with us. Better get ready. I'll see you after the show? Or maybe before?" His eyes were begging, and I could tell he already missed me. Oh how mutual those feelings were!
"Yeah, I better go find Victor and get ready for the show. I'll see you later."
"Bye."
"Bye." He started walking away, but we kept eye contact for a few seconds. You see, most people want to hold hands. Lance and I were holding stares. To me, that's just as exciting.
Who would have thought that I'd be able to stand on the sidelines at an 'NSync concert?!? I mean, I had gone to the concert back in San Diego, but that was from the audience, and I was wowed at that. Now here I am, sitting on the side of the stage, watching the opening acts for 'NSync, and getting paid for it! Well, actually, I'm not getting paid yet--I still have to work off my med training. But you'll hear no complaints!
"Give it up for ATS!" The 'big booming voice' came on after the opening act and the crowd went wild. The group's name was ATS, and I think the letters stood for something, but I wasn't sure. I'd heard of them vaguely, but they were REALLY good, so I figured they were getting big. They all came off the stage my direction and passed me--everyone except the guitarist.
"Hey, are you the new nurse?" He asked me. He had the cutest Australian accent.
"Me? I'm the new medical technician. What can I do for ya?"
"Oh eh. Was wondering if you had a bandage or something for my hand. I didn't like any of my picks, so I just strummed on a lot of songs. It's a great sound, but murder on the fingers!" I took a look at his right hand and sure enough, he had rubbed a considerable amount of skin off of a few of his fingers. I immediately pulled on a pair of gloves and went to work. A little gauze, a little Betadine, some bandages, and a little TLC, and he was good to go.
"Okay, you need to take care of those fingers. It's not like we get to take time off for body parts to heal! Keep the bandages on tonight, change them in the morning, and stop by tomorrow and I'll tape them up for you if you'd like."
"You're right on. Cheers, mate!" With a smile on his face, the guitarist left. I glanced over to Victor, and he gave me a cold look. 'Oh well, I guess I can't win them all,' I thought.
The crowd was in intermission after ATS, so that meant BUSY time backstage! Stagehands were rolling equipment, set pieces, drum kits, microphones, and smoke machines all OVER the place in preparation for the band's final opening act, Mandy Moore. I didn't see any more action at my station, but I did get a pretty good eyeful of all the insanity and chaos that goes on behind the scenes. It's amazing that it all fell together after 20 minutes, and the show went on! I was standing watching Mandy on stage, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked over to my left, only to find Lance standing there, looking on stage as well.
"Hey!" He glanced over, as if he'd been standing there the whole time.
"Whoa! When'd you get here? I've been here the whole time! How'd my hand get on your shoulder? Weird." We both laughed at the strange humor, and I reached over to punch him playfully on the arm. He grabbed his arm and yelled, "OW! Medic!"
"Right here, at your service!" I said, trying not to giggle to loudly. We both busted up, and I reached over to cover Lance's mouth. Mandy was singing a slow, quiet ballad, and the sound of two guys squealing from off stage would have been really bad!
"Achem" We both sobered up to find Victor behind us, staring suspiciously at our antics. He had run to the bathroom, and had impeccable timing upon his return.
"Sorry," was my only response, along with a shoulder shrug.
"Hey, I'll be right back," Lance said, and I watched as he disappeared around the corner. He returned moments later with two water bottles, presumably from a cooler somewhere. He opened one and handed it to me. Awwww, what a sweetie.
"Thanks Goof."
"Aye aye, Captain!" I smiled at his gesture, but I was soon to discover that our time together was to be short-lived. "Hey man, I gotta git. With this new tour, we enter through trap doors in the stage. My entrance is in a few minutes." How cool would that be to see?
"Rock on! Can't want to see it. Break a leg," I said as I extended a hand.
We shook hands, and it was a weird feeling because our contact was never this formal!
"Don't jinx me!" He said as he walked away. "That's JUST what I'd need right now--exhaustion AND a broken leg!"
"Well, you'd have a medic here to help!" I could see him shaking his head as he disappeared around the corner. Hehe. I think my purpose for being here was to tease Lance incessantly.
Mandy finally finished her set, and the crowd went wild, knowing what was coming next. These huge audience abuse lights kicked in, blinding the crowd, making them even crazier and LOUDER. My heart was going a million beats per second, just by standing here ON STAGE. This was MUCH bigger then the entrance that I saw back at home! A funky computerized ladies voice came over the sound system.
"Presenting... 'NSync". I glanced to the stage, and saw five single lights from above illuminating five empty spots on the stage. All of a sudden, there were five simultaneous explosions on stage, causing me to jump. Then the coolest thing happened... Each of the guys popped up through the stage on a lift that looked like a piston, right behind the pyrotechnics. They were standing on square trap doors that were hydraulically powered, and each took about one second to ascend to stage level. Chris came up first, closest to me. Then Joey, Justin, JC, and Lance. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen, and I'm sure the crowd agreed with me, based on their response! My only complaint? Lance was the farthest away from me. BOO HOO!
"IIII-I-I-I-IT'S TEARING UP MY HEART... when I'm with you......" A really cool flange harmony version of the song kicked in and the show was on! About 15 seconds into the song, the group of dancers that had been standing with me off stage ran on stage and started getting their funky little groove on... it was SOO cool!
The concert was fabulous! They pulled out a few new songs that no one had ever heard before, saying they were from some new unnamed album that would be out at the beginning of the new year. They also did pretty much their whole old album, along with some awesome a capella numbers, including the hymn 'Amazing Grace'. That was SWEET. They were called back for two ovations, both of which included all the acts that night, including ATS and Mandy Moore. I couldn't believe I had a job where I could sit and watch this every night!
"Thank you, thank you! Good night, Minneapolis! We love you!" These were the last words heard by the crowd before everyone exited the stage, both left and right. I had about 25 people stampeding towards me, but I only had my eye on one of them. Lance made a beeline directly for me, and his face was glowing, though tired at the same time.
"You did a GREAT job," I said as I shook his hand firmly. "I LOVED the show."
"Well, I hope so. You'll get to see it many... MANY MANY MANY more times." Lance ended his sentence with a sigh, and I could tell he was tired. I wanted to keep him forever, but I knew I had to let him go back to the dressing room, get changed, get some WATER, and get ready to hop on the bus.
"You better go. I'll see you later?" I said, almost asking on the second half. I got a reassuring smile, and Lance said,
"Definitely. You can COUNT on that."
"The back isn't usually too crowded with stuff, so I can fit most of it in," Victor said, explaining where he puts the medical supplies, backboards, and stuff. He was less than enthusiastic about having to train me about this aspect of the job, and was pretty condescending whenever he had to explain something like this to me. I just kept grinning and bearing it. Eventually, I'd be doing this without Victor. Until that day, we still had to work well together, and I convinced myself I would be responsible for making it as amiable an experience as possible. I packed the remaining supplies into the van.
"No! Not the med pak!" Victor yelled. EXCUSE ME! "You need to keep that on you at all times. Like it or not, you're always on duty. You have to be ready to take care of someone 24/7. This box is your life."
"Okay, OKAY. Nobody ever told me. I have no problem carrying it. Gotcha, gotcha." I didn't know how much more time I could spend with Victor, and I was dreading the prospect of having to ride on the staff bus with him. Our working relationship would really not be very good if I was constantly around him like this!
I placed the last piece of our equipment into the van, closed the door with my butt, and sighed, leaning backwards on the van for support. I was beginning to feel the day begin to wear on me... I hadn't slept well the night before, I had gotten up early, I had been on a plane for 4 hours, I had gone through the whirlwind tour and introductions, I worked my first shift, and I had to deal with VICTOR. I was pooped! I was looking forward to getting on the bus, getting changed, and taking a snooze. I only wish I could have Lance with me, too. Lance! Where's Lance? I picked up shop and headed inside, looking for any sign of my boyfriend. I'm sure he'd have to be around somewhere.
I trudged outside with my stuff to the reserved parking and found all three buses. Wait a second... WAIT A SECOND! There were four busses this afternoon! ONE HAD LEFT! My spirits dropped as I realized that Lance had taken off without me, or at least without saying goodbye. SIGH 'Is this how every day on tour would be? I see Lance all of ten minutes per show?' I frowned to think about how that might be the reality. 'This is not what I expected!'
KNOCK KNOCK. That was an interesting experience. I've never had to 'knock' on a bus door to get in. I guess it was a little chilly, though, so I can see why they'd want to keep the door shut. I reached up to rub my eyes, when the door decided to open. I got out of the way just in time, blindly stepping to the side.
"Oh, there you are!" I yanked my fingers from my eyes, and saw Justin standing in front of me, inside the bus. My eyes popped open even wider.
"Wha huh? You're here? I thought you left?"
"Nah. Mandy and the dancers already took off. We're still here! We came over here to this bus looking for you!"
"Oh, really? Wait... you said, WE?!?" The possibility that Lance was still here shook me awake and got my heartbeat going. "Is Lance still here?!?" I asked excitedly, but in a whispered tone. Justin gave me a warm smile that said, 'I know why you're asking', and nodded.
"He's right in here. Come on in." I leapt into the bus, passed Justin, and walked into the little living room area, only to find all the guys, Jessica, and Peter sitting on the couches, benches, and floor in the mini-room. They all looked up and smiled.
"Hi Billy, we were just talking about you," Peter said. "We're trying to decide on sleeping arrangements. Each bus can sleep nine. The band bus houses the band and myself, that's six. This staff bus already has eight staffers. Instead of maxing this bus out, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind riding with the band until another bus frees up or something." I couldn't believe Peter was actually asking my PERMISSION to ride on the band's bus. It was my dream and ULTIMATE desire! I looked over at Lance, and he had a straight face, but had a magical smile dancing around in his eyes. That little devil! I KNOW he had something to do with this!
"Um, sure. That would be fine. I'd have no problem riding with the band. I just hope none of y'all snore."
"Y'ALL?!" the crowd said in unison. "Did you say y'all?" WHOOPS. I guess my contraction wasn't taken too seriously, and I was now the focus of the laughter coming from the staff bus.
"You've been hanging around Lance a little too much there, Billy," JC said in between laughs. While this was probably true, I didn't want to let on the REAL reason we had been hanging out.
"Aw, come on. I've been saying that since I was a kid. I've got an uncle from Texas, and he always talks like that." My excuse didn't work.
"Uh huh." "Yeah right." "Excuses excuses." Varied responses came from everyone on the bus. I just blushed.
"Rollout in 5 minutes!" The bus driver said as he stepped onto the bus, killing the joke. I hadn't even met the bus driver, but he was my savior at that moment! I grabbed my Samsonite bag, and the other guys grabbed the rest of my stuff. We carried it all over to the band's bus, and within minutes we were on the road.
"Hit me," I said. Joey passed me another card, and read outloud my hand.
"Twenty. Good move!"
"I'll stay." Joey nodded and moved to the next player. It was Justin's turn. Justin stared at his hand and scrutinized as if he was making a decision about major surgery."Come on, Curly. The dealer's showing a 5, so you have to assume he has 15," JC said, giving his friend some advice. "You only have 12, meaning he'd win." Justin pursed his lips together, and finally said,
"Alright. Hit me." Joey picked up another card, looked at it, smiled, and dealt it to Justin.
"A Queen. That would be... 22. You bust," Joey said as he collected Justin's cards.
"WHAT THE... I'M GUNNA KILL YOU, JC!" He leaned over and started punching JC in the arm, and JC tried to block the attack.
"HEY! Hey! I'm sorry, hey! What are the chances of busting on a 12? I'm SORRY!" The rest of us just laughed. This was hilarious.
"Alright, dealer's hand." Joey turned his covered card over, and revealed an 8. "Dealer shows 13. Dealer takes a hit." Joey dealt himself a 3. "Dealer shows 16. Dealer takes a hit." I was SURE Joey was going to bust, and I would win. I mean what could beat a twenty in blackjack? Joey dealt himself a 5.
"Twenty-one. Dealer wins." Everyone at the table lifted their cards up at threw them at Joey. "HEY!! It's not my fault! It's in the cards!"
"Yah yah..." was the only response he got from his disgruntled players.
"Hey Peter, why aren't you playing?" Joey asked. Peter, who had been sitting off to the side, looked up from a notebook.
"Wha? Oh, maybe later. I'm just trying to brainstorm some ideas for some stuff, like the upcoming tours, the new album, stuff like that."
"New album? HA. How about 'NSync: Worked to the Bone'," JC piped up. His comment earned understanding groans from all in the bus.
"Hehe... while realistic, I don't know how many albums we'd sell with a name like that... actually, they'd all think it was some porno CD or something!" Peter's comment got roars from the guys.
"What would the album cover look like? I don't want to pose for that!" Chris said, earning even more laughter. When the laughter calmed down, Peter finally said,
"Um, I better figure this one out myself." They all nodded and turned back to the table. During the laughter, I had grabbed the cards and shuffled them, ready to do one of my favorite card tricks. Turning to Lance, I fanned the cards and said,
"Pick one." He did, looked at it. "Show it to everybody," which he did. He then placed it back on top. I cut the deck, cut it again, and placed it on the table. "You've all seen the card, so now I'm going to go through the deck and pick it out. Prepare to be amazed!" I started flipping through the deck one-by-one, turning the cards over. "Nope, not yet... I'm getting closer... Hmmmm... warmer... yup, I can feel it... AH HA!" I flipped over the 8 of hearts and said, "THIS is your card." The guys' jaws dropped an inch, and they just stared at the card in my hand.
"How'd you do that?" Lance asked.
"Silly question... A magician can never reveal his tricks!" I replied.
"That's impossible!" Joey said.
"Nope, I just did it."
"You've got cards hidden up your sleeves or something, don't you," Justin said, trying to tug at the sleeves of my sweatshirt.
"Haha.. nope, haha sorry. It's genuine magic. No strings attached."
The guys all suddenly got quiet, and all eyes were on me. WHAT?
"What did you just say?" Peter said as his head popped up and looked at me.
"I said 'It's genuine'."
"Nonono, after that." Peter seemed poised. WHAT?!
"Um...... no strings attached?"
"No strings attached......hmmmmm..." He seemed deep in thought, and I couldn't figure out for the life of me what was so profound about those three words. He then scratched down something on his pad. "Okay, sorry. That just sounded really interesting. Nevermind me. Go on with your game."
I shrugged, and shook off the weird feeling that everyone was still looking at me. I showed the guys a few more card tricks and promised to teach them all tomorrow night. JC ripped a yawn and looked at his watch, and judging by his reaction, it was getting late.
"Holy crap, it's 3am guys. I'm going to bed!" The guys all agreed, and got up from the table in unison--except Lance and I.
"Do you always stay up this late?" I inquired.
"Well, it's hard to calm down and unwind after a concert. It usually takes a few hours. This is pretty normal, actually." I nodded and logged that piece of information for future reference. "Hey, I'll get you set up on a bunk," Lance said, and I gladly followed him towards the back.
Upon walking into the sleeping area, I was blessed with the sight of Justin in boxers, JC in an undershirt and shorts, Chris in sweats, and Joey... well, Joey was in the bathroom, but still!! I smiled to myself, but couldn't look away... this was too nice a peep show. I hope Lance wouldn't get jealous--he was the most beautiful, anyway. Lance dragged me through to the back and pulled the curtain back on a lower bunk to reveal a mattress, blanket, and a pillow.
"Not the Marriott, but it's wonderful if you're really beat!"
"Well, that I am. THAT I am." I rolled into the bunk to check it out, and almost immediately passed out. It felt so nice to actually be horizontal for once today.
We all took turns getting in and out of the bathroom, and we finally got into our respective bunks. Out of fear of getting caught, Lance and I restricted our goodnights to manly pats on the back. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't show him my love in a more substantial way, but HEY.. I COULD have been on the other bus right then, so I had no room to complain!
"Good night, everyone." I said, feeling as if someone had to say a closing remark after the lights were turned off and the curtain closed.
"Good night, Billy." Everyone said in unison.
"Welcome to the tour, Billy," JC said.
"Thanks." It seemed like a nice place to end conversation, so no one said anything else. Although the bus was bumpy and noisy, and the mattress wasn't the most comfortable, I still managed to doze off to sle........................
A hand on my chest pulled me from my slumber, and I opened my eyes enough to see Lance kneeling on the floor. I wasn't sure how long I'd been asleep, but I didn't really care, because Lance was here!
"Shhhhh..." Lance shhh'ed with his finger over his mouth. He slowly and cautiously started climbing into the bunk with me, and I gladly moved over to accommodate him. When he was in, he pulled the curtain closed. Lance whispered, "I couldn't stay away. Sorry. Is it my fault I'm addicted to you?"
It was pitch black in that bunk, and Lance and I just sat and held each other in a close, silent hug for many, many minutes. This was definitely the best time we had shared so far on tour.
"What about the other guys?" I finally asked, concerned.
"Oh, them? I'll cuddle with them after you." HA!! Lance had to cover my mouth with his hand... I mean COVER IT... to keep me from laughing out loud.
I would have been ROARING if Lance hadn't plugged me up! It took me about 30 seconds to finally calm down and come off my giggle spell before he took his hand off.
"Ouch.. ouch... heheHEHE... ouch... my side hurts from laughing... ouch....HAHAHA..." I whispered into his ear, since it was so close on the pillow. He was grinning beyond belief, too. Oh man, the trouble we could get into! When we both FINALLY calmed down, I repeated my question again, and Lance answered.
"Well, I waited about 30 minutes before I came down. That's usually enough time for everyone to fall asleep. I couldn't fall asleep, though. I'm addicted to you!" I smiled and whispered back,
"You're so sweet, you know that?" We paused for a moment, and I continued. "Lance, I need to thank you for something."
"What's that?"
"Thank you for making me laugh. I don't know anyone who has ever been able to make me laugh like you do. You always seem to know the perfect thing to say to make me laugh my brains out. I don't know how you do it, but don't stop. I love it." I aimed blindly and leaned up to kiss him on where I thought his forehead would be, but Lance must have moved his head, because upon contact, I found nothing but lips. Lance's lips. No complaints from me, though. We shared a nice little kiss there in the bunk, in the dark. Something about Lance's kisses were so relaxing, and I just became jelly in his arms.
"Thank you for taking this job," Lance said as he broke the kiss. "I think I've found what I've need to re-energize me... it's you."
"Lance, I only want to encourage you! I'm always here for you, and I want you to remember that. I'm not cool unless your cool, okay? If you need anything at all... anytime, anywhere, you holler. I'll be here." My statement was followed by a silence, until Lance whispered back a choked-up response.
"Thank you, that means a lot to me...... especially right now. How did I get so lucky to find you? That means so much..." I reached up to hold his face and neck with my hand, and a planted my head on his chest, showing him that I was there for him. That's right, I was there. I was there with my boyfriend. I was there, sitting with my boyfriend, making him feel good, feeling better about myself in the process.
When Lance called me the night before, he had said that the first day would be 'our day'. Ask me before I got on the bus, and I would have said it was ANYTHING but 'our day'. With the exception of a few minutes at dinner and a minute before his show, I didn't see him at all! It's just by some twist that I was able to be on the same bus as him! However, the last 30 minutes of sitting, talking, BEING with Lance in that bunk changed my perspective. I realized that Lance and I didn't need to be connected at the hip. I realized that love transcends time, and more importantly distance. Even though Lance and I couldn't spend every moment together, the fact is that Lance could still feel and be encouraged by my love, and I, also, by his. That first day on tour was the first day of our new life together. Yes, Lance WAS right. That day had indeed turned out to be 'our day'.
"Billy, wake up. We're at the hotel." My eyes were still closed, but I smiled, hearing a familiar voice. I finally opened my eyes, and I found myself face to face with... Peter.
"Wha?" I sat up, frantically trying to cover up the fact that Lance was lying there with me. I glanced down, left, right. AHHH?! No Lance. Where'd he go!? Still in a daze, I asked Peter, "Hey, where's La.. um, the rest of the guys?" Peter looked at my funny, but still answered me.
"They're... up already. Just getting their bags to take 'em into the hotel.
Come on..." He prodded me, but in a kind gentle way. My head was still in the clouds, and I was still confused about where Lance had gone, but I knew we hadn't gotten caught, so I wasn't going to let on to Peter that I was acting guilty. I hopped out of bed, looking at the clock on the wall. 6:10am. Yikes! I had still gotten 3 hours of sleep! I stumbled over to my suitcase and med pack, grabbed them, and got ready to disembark the bus.
It could have been 6:10am or 2:10am... I couldn't tell the difference. The sky was still dark, and I was tired. All I wanted to do was get into bed and SLEEP. Peter walked over to me and gave me my hotel room assignment there in the lobby.
"You're in with Victor, room 945. Here's a key." He handed me the key with one hand, and patted me a few times on the shoulder with the other. I woke up a little bit at that point when I realized who my roommate would be. "Victor? Where are the other guys?" I asked, as nonchalantly as possible.
"Oh, I don't know. Down the hall, I suppose. Why do you ask?" He got a funny look on his face, and I diffused any possible suspicions.
"Oh, no reason. Just wondering." Had I been awake, I would have been pretty putout that I wasn't rooming with Lance. But again, DUH... band rooms with band, production staff rooms with production staff. I had to remember that!
I walked to the front of the bus and joined the other guys. I lightly bumped hips with Lance when I was sure no one was watching, and he turned to smile at me. Looking at my face, he KNEW I wanted to know what had happened with the whole bunk thing, but he also knew that we couldn't discuss it right now.
"I'll call you," he leaned over and whispered. I nodded and smiled. Steve, the assistant head of security, had poked his head into the bus and have beckoned Peter over to him. After a quick conversation, Peter turned around and said,
"Okay, we're ready. On three... One... Two..." THREE!
BOOM! We were out the door in a flash. Well, the guys were at least. I was still trying to manage my luggage, which was getting a bit awkward. I got out the door and saw that we were around the back of the hotel, or so I supposed. There were a few security guards around, and no fans, but that didn't stop the guys from zipping right along inside the hotel. For the most part, Lance and I stayed together, yet it's hard to do when you're jogging with 50 pounds of luggage. When we got inside, I saw Victor over to the side, waiting. He looked much more rested than I. Errr... Oh well. He didn't get to hang out with HIS someone special last night. Neiner neiner! Another look at Lance was the look of goodbye as security carted the band off to their rooms and we were left to fend for ourselves. Surprisingly, I smiled at their treatment... they had BETTER take care of my Lance!
"You ready to hit the room?" Victor asked. I nodded a very conspicuous nod.
We took the elevator to our floor, and eventually crashed in the room. It was about 6:25am. Victor immediately walked into the bathroom, while I dropped my luggage. Lance said he'd call, but when?
RING RING. Nevermind. I walked to the phone and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Good morning, sweetie."
"Sorry, you must have the wrong room. No sweeties here," I joked.
"Very funny. I'd have to argue against that! Hey, can you talk?"
"Yeah, Victor is in the bathroom. Soo... What happened this morning!?? I was about to piss my pants when Peter came and woke me up!"
At this point, my luck changed and Victor walked out of the bathroom. Nuts.
"Yeah, Joey's in the bathroom, too. Well anyway, you just clonked out, but I was still sorta awake. I knew it would be a problem if I was found there in the morning, so I slipped out and went back to my own bunk. I hope I didn't wake you up!"
"Um, no. Not at all," was my simple response, since I now had company.
"So how's your first day? Sick of it yet?"
"Oh, no. Get some sleep into me and I'll be good to go!"
"Sleep? HA! That word has been removed from my vocabulary. On THIS tour, at least. I'll get a little more today, but it's still not the same."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I better crash, too. I'm about to pass out."
"Alright, Billy. I'll see you later today. I'll miss you." Glancing over at Victor getting ready for bed, I decided to choose my words carefully.
"Uhm, me too."
"Have a good sleep. I DO love you." Another glance to Victor. GRRRRR!
".........me, too." There was a pause, and Lance said,
"Can't you say you love me?" Another glance to Victor.
"Well, I can but...... well,......"
"But you've got company." Relatively long pause. "Yeah," I said, feeling my heart drop into my left shoe. I hated the fact that I couldn't show Lance my love the way I wanted and NEEDED to! I had to shake his hand the night before to wish him good luck, and now I couldn't say those three little words that meant so much to both me AND him! Another short pause. "I understand. Don't worry about it. I know, anyway. Bye Billy." I sighed and responded,
"Bye, Goof." CLICK. Lance didn't seem hurt, although I think he shared my frustration. It was that frustration that I took to bed with me that morning.
The next morning was anything but relaxed. 9:45am rolled around and we got our wake up call. I was still groggily sitting in bed, but Victor was getting showered and running around like he was in some contest to see who could get ready the fastest. I managed to get myself up and ready after a while, and we rolled down to the busses around 10:30am. I've never thought that 10:30am was THAT early in the morning, but it seemed unbearable considering the way I had slept that night.
"Rolling out in 5," the bus driver from the crew bus said. I nodded and dragged my stuff on the band bus. I wonder if Lance got himself up alright?
Eh, I'm sure I'd see him soon enough, anyway.
"What are you doing?" Victor asked as he saw me headed into the band bus.
"Uhm, I'm putting my stuff on the bus. Is that wrong?" I asked, wondering where the question had come from.
"Well, I figure you want your med pak with you, versus sitting on the bus all day." I was really getting confused.
"But I'm taking this bus!" I tried to explain. Victor seemed to know more.
"Um, not right now you aren't. The band is already gone. THIS bus doesn't leave until they get back." Where had the band gone?
"What do you mean GONE?" I asked, really getting curious about where the guys were.
"I dunno. They left early for something... an interview, maybe. Point is, if you want to get to the arena, you need to be on THIS bus," He said as he indicated to the crew bus. I nodded slowly and drudged over to the other bus. Where had Lance gone?
"Hey Jessica, what is the band's plan for this morning?" I asked as soon as I arrived at the concert venue. I wanted to nail down this thing before it bugged me. She looked over and smiled.
"Well, good morning Billy. Let's see, they had a radio interview at 10am, then they're off to an autograph signing at noon, then here around 2:45pm for an immediate sound check," Jessica said, reading from her clipboard.
"They had an interview at 10am?!" I asked, shocked that they were up before I WAS! "That means they got, like, NO sleep!" Jessica sadly nodded and said,
"Yeah, well, that's the life out here on the road. Touring has its energizing moments, but they're quickly zapped away by the schedule. Have you had breakfast?" I shook my head in bewilderment to the terrifying schedule of the tour, but Jessica took it as a sign I needed to eat, so she carted me off to the catering room for a bite. Although I was hungry, Lance and his health were starting to press on my mind.
The rest of the morning was spent setting up the med station on stage (trying to avoid all the stage hands walking all over the place). I also observed the amazing transformation of an empty, all-purpose sports arena into top-notch concert hall--right before my eyes! Truckload after truckload of equipment came in--stage risers, lighting trusses, sound equipment, set pieces, a million boxes of cable--it was incredible! After a quick bite for lunch, my lack of sleep really hit me, and I decided it was time to take a nap. After checking out with Victor and Jessica, I decided to hunt around for the guy's dressing room. Finding it in a set of portable trailers outside, I stepped inside and found a couch. 'I'll just take a quick snooze, and the guys'll wake me up when they get here...'
I was awoken by a swift swat in the side of the head. Opening my eyes, I saw Justin with a pillow, prepping to hit me with it again. Suddenly becoming awake, I rolled out of the way just in time. Phew! I grabbed one of the throw pillows from the couch and tried to defend myself, but I took some pretty big hits and wound up surrendering. It just wasn't a fair match!
"What's wrong, Billy? Can't defend yourself like a man?" Justin said. He thought he was 'all that'. Ha. Time to change that.
"What's the matter, Justin? Have to wait until someone's disarmed and asleep before taking a sucker shot at 'em? Sounds like something my SISTER would do!" A chorus of OOOOOHHH's came up from the guys, and we went back and forth for another minute before we all just started laughing. I liked having these guys to sharpen my smack talk.
"Hey, we gotta run. We've got sound check in about 10 minutes," Lance said, looking at his watch. All the guys groaned, but decided that it WOULD be best if they all started to head back into the arena. JC and Joey hung back to go to the bathroom, but the rest of us started to walk in. Lance and I fell back, as usual, and we finally got to talk.
"How are you today?" I asked, interested in his answer, but more concerned about his sleep; or lack thereof. He smiled and said,
"Me? Oh I'm wonderful as usual." His mouth told one story, but his face told another. His expression seemed to have lost a bit of that charismatic energy. His skin was a touch paler than I seem to have remembered it, and it almost looked like his face was a little skinnier. Those perfect puffy cheeks that WERE Lance were suddenly not as pronounced as they had been before. However, his eyes still showed a sparkle and desire, and I could tell it was from his drive to continue doing what he was doing... performing for the fans. In just that split second, I made some important observations that would keep my mind going about Lance for a long time.
"That's good," I responded, snapping out of my stare. "How much sleep did you get?"
"Well, we had a radio spot at 10am. Man, I've never gotten ready so quickly!! They had coffee and donuts, so that helped wake us up. Justin was really hurtin', though. You've never seen HIM in the morning!" he answered with a laugh. I stared for a second and said,
"Um, you didn't answer my question. How much sleep did you get?" Lance stared back, shook his head and said,
"Oh man, I guess not enough. Um, well about two and a half on the bus, two and a little bit at the hotel, so.. mmmm......maybe about five hours." I shook my head, ready to scold him for not sleeping, when Chris and Joey walk up from behind and grab Lance.
"Hey, sorry to take your pal, but sound check is ready to start!" We both knew he had to go, so we bid each other a quick farewell, and he was carted off by his bandmates to the stage. SIGH.
I found Jessica talking with someone backstage, and decided to tag along. Her conversation over, she quizzed me on all the normal first day stuff.
"How do you like tour?" "Are you finding everything okay?" "Do you need anything?" "Did you sleep well?" Blah blah blah. We had a good little chat, and I was about to excuse myself from her, when her radio went off. I had expected a regular calm voice to speak, just like all the other radio calls I'd overheard. Instead, it was someone frantically yelling. It was crackling at first, but then cleared up.
"...a medic on the stage. We need a MEDIC ON STAGE!!! SOMEONE'S BEEN HURT.
I REPEAT, WE NEED A MEDIC ON STAGE!!"
I didn't even think. I took off towards the stage. I tried to review all the things I had learned in my EMT class, but my mind quickly became clouded from the adrenaline in my system. Oh boy! Here's my big chance! As I was running, however, I stopped dead cold in my tracks when it hit me. The band was on stage doing a sound check. The person that was hurt? It could be Lance!
*"How COULD YOU?!!?" I know, sorry. I look forward to finishing the next chapter, just so I can find out who it is, myself!! Hehe *See you all next chapter!
kaiser_goof@hotmail.com ~Jeff