For Christmas I received the Clay Aiken CD, and for whatever reason, the first time I listened to it I kept getting JC/Clay visions. Well, I was talking to my friend Jenna on the phone one evening and happened to mention those visions to her, to which she replied, 'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, and in case you didn't hear me let me just say again, NO!'
In other words, you can blame this on her.
Many thanks to Karey and Cooper for reading this even when they had no clue what they were getting into. *hugs* And to Missy, for the beta and the patience, because the good Lord knows I try it often enough.
Premise: JC thinks Clay Aiken is cute, Chris objects.
Rating: PG for some language.
Idol Fascination
“No.” Chris gave JC a look that was remarkably like one that Bev would give him when she was at her wit’s end. “No, no, no, and just in case you didn’t get that, NO!”
“He’s cute.”
Chris threw his hands up in the air.
“Joey, back me up here.”
“No.”
“Justin.”
“I’m sorry, C, but no.”
“Lance?”
“I’m not saying a word.”
“Wuss,” Chris taunted, but then JC sighed and drew his attention away from Lance.
“Why not?” JC asked, no, whined.
“He’s weird.”
Lance snorted at that. “Pot and kettle, Chris. Pot and kettle.”
“I thought you weren’t saying a word?” Chris snapped.
“I’m just saying-“
“Well, do us all a favor and stop.”
“You wanted my opinion.”
“What I wanted was for you to say no. You wouldn’t, so now you can just sit there and shut the hell up.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
Chris scrubbed a hand over his face. “Now, JC. I’m sure he’s a really nice guy.”
“He is,” JC perked up. “He’s sweet, and funny, and…”
“No, JC. Just no.”
“But Chris,” JC was all out whining at this point, but he didn’t care. “I like him. He’s nice to me and we have a lot in common.”
“He’s weird.”
“There’s that pot and kettle thing again,” Lance snickered.
“Shut. Up.” Chris shot Lance a look that would have had Justin cowering behind Joey; Lance merely raised an eyebrow and flipped Chris off.
“He’s not weird,” JC squirmed a bit under the intensity of Chris’ stare, but he wasn’t backing down, not this time. “He really is a lot of fun, and he’s a great guy. You just haven’t given him a chance.”
“JC, no one, and I mean no one, is that…that…that aww shucks humble. Not genuinely, anyway,” Chris mumbled, but JC caught it.
“You’re just jaded. Well, I’m not going to be like that. Clay is that humble, and I’m going out with him.”
JC folded his arms over his chest and nodded as if to say, so there!
“C.” Chris was desperate now, because he knew JC and when JC got that look, there was no budging him. “Have you looked at him, really looked at him,” Chris stressed, “because he’s, it’s,” Chris swirled his hand around his head, “his hair, C. The dude has really odd hair.”
“Pot,” Lance coughed. “Kettle.”
“Who invited him?” Chris whirled on Justin, who shook his head vigorously as he retreated to the opposite side of the room. “Joey?”
“You invited me, you dumb ass.” Lance grinned, thoroughly enjoying Chris’ misery.
“Well, I’m disinviting you.” Chris stomped over to Lance’s chair and began to tug on his arm. “Get out.”
“You can’t kick me out, this is C’s house.”
“JC,” Chris turned, Lance’s arm still firmly in his grasp. “Make him go home.”
“No.” JC smirked at Chris. “No, no, no, and in case you didn’t understand me the first time, no!”
“Go, JC,” Lance murmured and got a smack for his effort.
“Shut. Up.”
“Make me.”
“Children, children.” Joey quickly stepped between the two men. “Let’s behave, shall we.”
“He started it,” Lance grumbled, but subsided back into his chair.
“I did not,” Chris protested.
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
“Too.”
“Not.”
“Too.”
“That’s it!” JC’s bellow had a shocked silence descending on the room. “All of you get the hell out. I don’t know why you’re here anyway. I’m twenty-seven years old and perfectly capable of deciding who I want to date without a fucking committee.” JC paced, tugging at his hair. “I can’t even believe the four of you had the nerve to come over here thinking that you could tell me what to do.”
“Hey-“
“I didn’t-“
“Chris was the-”
“Shut the hell up. All of you. I don’t know why I put up with you, I swear I don’t. It’s a damn good thing that I love y’all because otherwise – and you.” JC rounded on Chris. “Where the hell do you get off talking about Clay like that when you’ve never even met him. Yeah, so he has wacky hair, so what? He’s a nice guy. He’s kind to people,” JC gave Chris a look that suggested he was anything but, “and he doesn’t want a damn thing from me but my company. He doesn’t need my help jump-starting his career; he already has one. He’s not looking for me to give him a foot in any door; he’s already opened them all himself. All he’s looking for is someone to have a little fun with, who gets where he’s coming from, and he thinks I’m that someone, and you know what, Chris, I think he might be that someone for me, too.”
“I’m tired of being alone. I want someone just for me, and I’m sorry if you don’t like my choice, Chris, but I don’t see you offering me any other alternatives.”
Chris stood through JC’s tirade without saying a word. When he was sure that JC had finished, he turned to the others. “Could you guys give us a minute?”
They all shuffled out, each offering JC a touch or a smile as they passed. When the room had cleared he turned to Chris.
“Chris, look, I know you mean well, but-”
“Just hear me out for a minute, C.”
“Fine, but you’re not going to change my mind.”
“You’re not alone.”
JC blinked. “Huh?”
“You said you were tired of being alone. You’re not alone. You have me.”
“Chris, I know that. All of you guys are here for me and I appreciate that. I do, but that’s not what I meant.”
“I know what you meant.”
“You,” JC’s brow wrinkled. “But. Oh.” JC looked at Chris, really looked at him. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
JC eyed Chris, his expression blank.
“You could say something any time now,” Chris growled.
“You’re an ass.”
“Okay.” Chris smiled slightly and took a step forward. “Now maybe you could say something else.”
“I haven’t been waiting for you.” Though he had been, for years, for a lifetime, and they both knew it. “Why now? What’s different now than five years ago?” JC demanded, flushing in embarrassment at the memory of how he’d practically thrown himself at Chris all those years ago, and how Chris had, gently, turned him down.
“You weren’t ready, and,” Chris confessed, “neither was I.”
“You’re ready now?”
“I’m here aren’t I? That was me making a complete ass out of myself here not that long ago, wasn’t it?”
“Why didn’t you just say, ‘Don’t date Clay Aiken, JC, date me?’
“Because I wasn’t sure you still felt the same.” Not at first, not until JC had made his little speech and had looked at everyone but him. Then Chris had been sure. Then, he had known that he wouldn’t be making the same dumb ass mistake he’s made five years ago.
“Look, JC, maybe back then I could have handled things better, but you were young and I was stupid. I’m still stupid, but I figure you know that already. What you don’t know is this,” Chris stepped forward and took JC in his arms, “I love you. Not like a brother, not like a friend. Like a lover.”
JC hid a smile at Chris’ obvious discomfort over what he would consider to be a mushy declaration. That he’d given it anyway, said everything JC needed to know. Still…
“You want to be my somebody?”
Chris stopped with his lips halfway to JC’s. “Don’t push your luck, Chasez.”
JC grinned before diving into the kiss and a lifetime of weird-, no, Chris-ness, “Just checking.”