Golden Phoenix
Disclaimer: Completely fictitious.
Rating: NC-17 just to be safe.
~Golden Phoenix II~
As the cab round the corner toward the hotel his bandmates were staying, all
Lance could see in the distant night were flashing lights. The cab drove closer
and all Lance could hear were the sinister sirens. Lance rushed out of the cab
and all Lance could sense was commotion. An ambulance was parked in front of
the hotel and Lance swiftly maneuvered his way through the crowd in time to see
Justin being hauled into the waiting ambulance. He ran toward the ambulance, but
he was too late as the doors slammed shut.
"Step away from the vehicle, Sir." The EMT told him.
Lance whirled around in search of his other friends. What happened tonight? He
needed answers. In the corner of his eyes, he saw JC storming towards him.
Chris not far behind. JC didn't appear to see him as he walked right by him to
the front of the ambulance. Lance had to clutch onto his arm to stop him from
getting away.
"What happened, JC? What happened to Justin?" Lance was breathless, spitting out
his questions.
"Your fuckin' boyfriend raped him. That's what happened." JC pried off his
fingers and pushed him to the ground and then he left. The ambulance left.
Everyone left, leaving Lance numbed of feelings on the dirty ground of the San
Diego streets.
"It can't be true. It can't be true." Lance kept repeating, shaking his head.
But it was true. The next ambulance carried a beaten Joey to the same hospital
Justin was taken. Joey was beaten by JC because he had touched Justin. JC,
generally a well controlled man, would never resort to violence unless Justin
was involved. And he would never hurt any of his friends unless something
terrible had happened to Justin.
"Why? Why did this happen?" Lance cried into Chris' chest. "When I left
everything was fine. I just had to meet with a client."
"I don't know." Chris assured him. "Joey was drunk and Justin just happened to
be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"How bad?"
"Who?"
"Both of them."
"Justin...there was a lot of blood. Plus, since he was ill and dehydrated, it
just made matters worse. As for Joey, he'll be alright. Todd and Dre got there
in time to stop JC from killing him." Chris explained, hugging his best friend
even tighter.
They finally gathered their composure and joined the others in another vehicle
en route to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital, they found JC
slumped in one of the chairs. His head rested on the palm of his hand. He
lifted his head upon hearing his name.
"JC, how's Justin doing?" Chris asked, sitting down next to his best friend to
provide some form of comfort.
"They're giving him some IV fluids." JC said, exhaustion evident in his voice.
"He's in a lot of pain. They had to knock him out to insert the tubes."
"Everything's going to be alright, Jayce." Chris assured him, patting him on the
back.
Lance stepped a little closer to JC, still afraid of his best friend. But he had
to know. He had to know how his boyfriend was doing. He took a deep breath and
took another step toward JC.
"And Joey, how's he doing?" Lance whispered, softly, as if afraid to let anyone
hear him.
"What?!" JC vaulted out of his chair in a hurry. "You're asking about him. He's
the fuckin' one who caused all of this!"
"That's enough, JC." Chris said. "It wasn't Lance. He didn't do anything
wrong. And you know Joey would never touch Justin if he were sober."
"That's it, Chris." JC abandoned Lance to lash out at Chris. "He's always
causing trouble when he's drunk. We told him a million times to fuckin' get his
act together. And now, and now...Justin is lying in that hospital bed with a
tube attached to him because Joey was a little too drunk and he hadn't fucked
anyone so he went after his very sick kid brother who couldn't defend himself."
"I know. I know. You don't think I know all of this?!" Chris shot back. "But
there's no point in assigning blame. Justin is hurt. No matter what you do now,
you can't change the past. Joey has a problem. He has a major problem. We can't
abandoned him while he's in need. I love Justin. Hell, I adore the kid. He's my
baby brother, but I love Joey, too. He's my little brother, also. So, let's all
calm down and when Joey is awake, we'll talk to him. When Justin is healed,
we'll help him get through this hell of a life he's led. We have to be strong
for them, both of them."
"Fine." JC sighed, returning to his seat.
Lance mouthed his thank you to Chris who simply shook his head and then sat back
down. Instead of sitting with his friends, Lance opted to sit beside his
bodyguard Randy, who was so kind to give him the much needed hug.
"It's okay. Everything will be okay, kiddo." Randy whispered soothing words into
his ears.
But would everything be okay? Lance did not know. And he was unsure if
everything would be okay, again, if Joey did not seek help for his problem.
Nothing would be the same, again.
The morning sun finally arose from sleep to greet the *Nsync family as they
opened their eyes to another day. Chris was the first to wake up from slumber.
He found JC's head positioned in an awkward position on the arm of the chair.
Carefully, he shifted JC's head to lean against the chair. He got up on his feet
and let out a quiet yawn. He turned around to fetch some coffee for everyone
when he noticed Joey limping into the lobby.
"Joe."
At the immediate mentioning of Joey's name, JC perked up. He rose to his feet
and without much thought and consideration to the patrons of the hospital, he
charged Joey, dragging him by his bandaged arm further inside the lobby.
"Let go of my arm!" Joey shrieked as JC pushed him onto the seat.
Joeys' shrill prompted everyone to their feet and they all gathered around him
except Lance who chose to stay in the background with Randy. Joey glared into
each of the accusing eyes as they stared down at him with fueling anger.
"What the fuck happened last night?" JC interrogated him.
"What happened last night?!" Joey responded with a question.
"You don't fuckin' know what you did last night? You fuckin' raped Justin. What
is it, Joe? You couldn't find someone to fuck for the night, so you decided to
go after Justin?"
Flashbacks of the night before bombarded Joey. He remembered now. He remembered
drinking at the club. He remembered Bartender Mike. He remembered Dancer
Blondie. He remembered Cab driver Tom. He remembered Justin now. He remembered
all the screaming. He remembered the struggling. He remembered all the tears.
God, he remembered raping Justin as he begged him to stop. He cried out,
holding his head in his hands.
"I need to get an advil. My head hurts." Joey stood up, pushing aside everyone.
JC quickly went after him, slamming his broken body hard against the wall.
"Where the fuck are you going?" JC glared into his eyes. His crystal blue eyes
cold as ice.
"To get a fuckin' advil!" Joey cried out. When JC did not budge and continued
with his verbal assault, Joey pushed JC off of him and shot back angrily. "So
what? I fucked Justin. He's a fuckin' whore anyway. He was fucked once already,
so what's the big deal that I fucked him?"
"You fuckin' bastard!" JC punched Joey in the face, sending him to the ground.
"What is it, JC? You pissed that it wasn't your cock ramming into his tight
ass?!" Joey challenged.
"Fuck you! I love Justin. Sure I want to fuck him, but I'm his friend. And if I
hear you call him a whore one more time, I swear to God I'll fuckin' kill you.
Justin did not ask to be raped by that fat bastard who claimed to be our father
figure and he sure as hell did not ask to be raped by his big brother. Burn in
hell, Joey. You're nothing but a worthless piece of shit."
JC spat on Joey, before stepping over him to find Justin's room down the hall.
Lonnie quickly followed suit. Chris just shook his head in disappointment as he
joined JC and Lonnie. The others all stepped over him, ignoring him for fear
that they could not control their anger. And soon, the once filled lobby was
completely empty save for the pair of legs standing on the ground before him.
"Lance."
"Get up."
Joey struggled to his feet on his own. He leaned against the wall for support.
Ashamed to look at his boyfriend in the eyes, Joey focused on the leather shoes
instead.
"We need to talk. Outside. Now."
Joey merely nodded. He limply followed Lance's lead. He kept his eyes on the
ground, never once looking up. He did not want to face his boyfriend. He could
not face his Lance.
For the first time in days, the sun was out. It had been raining, Joey
remembered. Whenever it rained for some reason, Joey felt he needed to drink to
pass the time. Then again, he always drank. The weather outside did not dictate
his drinking habits. He would always find some excuse to drink. The wine bottle
he carried with him all the time was his one true friend, who always accepted
him for who he was, Joey Fatone, an alcoholic.
"What's wrong with me?" Lance suddenly asked.
The question took Joey by surprise. Why was Lance asking him this question? Did
he not know that the third best thing in his life was Lance Bass, the Christian
boy from Mississippi?
"What?"
"You heard my question. Look at me." Lance gazed into his eyes. Their eyes
locked. "What's wrong with me? What's it about Justin that made you go after
him? You know how insecure I feel when it comes to Justin."
"Oh, Lance." Joey was at a lost for words. How could he explain his actions from
the night before? "It wasn't Justin. It could have been anyone. He was just
there."
"Okay." Still not satisfied, Lance probed further. "Do I not satisfied you
enough? Is that why despite the fact that we've been together for two fuckin'
years, you still need to fuck every walking person that cross your path? What is
it, Joey?!"
"Nothing! Nothing!" Joey grabbed Lance by his wrist, pulling him closer to him.
"Nothing is wrong with you. I was drunk, okay. I was drunk. And when I'm drunk,
I do stupid things. I can't help myself. This is my fate, Lance! This is what I
am. You knew about me when we first got together. It didn't stop you from
crawling into my bed. You knew that I can't live without sex. You knew that I
can't live without my alcohol."
"I guess you can live without me, then." Lance dislodged himself from Joey's
bear hug and began his trek inside the hospital once more.
Joey silently cursed himself. What the fuck was he saying? He quickly shot to
his feet and intercepted Lance's path. He pulled Lance to the side of the
building and planted a kiss on Lance's lips. Lance did not return the kiss.
"I love you. You mean the world to me. It's just I can't help myself from
drinking sometimes. I know that I have to stop, but I can't bring myself to put
that glass down. Lance, you know me. My father's an alcoholic. My father's
father's-"
"I know. Your father's father's an alcoholic. Your father's father's father died
after drowning himself in wine. I fuckin' hear this excuse a thousand times I
can recite it by heart. You were dealt a bad card. But I have news for you,
Joey, you are not your father. You are Joey Fatone. You can carve out your own
destiny. You don't have to accept this fate. If you can't see that your
drinking problem hurt Justin, then I don't know what will. What will it take,
Joe? You want to hurt me, too, before you seek help?"
"No. God, no." Joey shook his head, holding onto Lance's hands. "I love you."
"Sometimes love just isn't enough." Lance said softly.
Joey let his hands fall out of grasp. He watched as Lance walked past him. He
watched as Lance ran his fingers through his spiked blonde hair. He watched as
Lance disappeared into the hospital.
"I still love you, baby."
(c) 2001 Aphrodite for Friends & Lovers
