JC wasn't even sure when it had started. He just knew that he liked it when he got to share the two person bus with Lance, those nights when Joey decided to go clubbing and Lance was buried up to his neck in contracts and emails and wouldn't appreciate being woken up at 4 am. .

He never passed up an opportunity to switch buses, and maybe even get a good night's sleep. Lance wasn't the quietest person in the world, none of them were, but JC liked Lance's noises. Switching buses meant staccato snatches of words as Lance talked to his laptop, rumbling bits of song in the shower. .

Lance was definitely the most private of all of them, hooded eyes and silent laughter, willing to listen to the raucous storytelling, but not to add any bits of his own. Maybe that was why glimpses into his life were so fascinating. He'd listen, shrouded in darkness and learn that Lance thought that this person was a freaking genius or that this contract was bullshit. .

There'd be bits of laughter at funny emails or Lance's voice as he dealt with one more emergency with a new recording artist. JC would fall asleep and not dream, not wake until the morning, when Lance would be smiling over the breakfast table and pouring coffee, cheerful and accomplished and ready to share what their plans were for that day. .

He didn't mean to listen the first time he'd heard the rustling. He'd been sleepy and yet not, lying there just thinking, considering waking up for real and maybe seeing if Lance wanted to cook some food and watch one of the DVD's Joey had bought at their last midnight stop at Wal-Mart. .

He'd listened to see if Lance was still up, and heard only silence. He told himself that it was better that he get a good nights sleep, flopping over and tucking an arm under his head. .

Then the noises started, nothing ostentatious, and maybe that's why he kept listening. Jerking off on the bus was nothing new, but he wasn't used to this sort of silence. Justin was always so awkward about it, trying to be quiet and always failing miserably. Chris never cared. Thirty's too old for him to worry about whether anyone cares that he's getting off five feet away from them. .

Lance started sounding intent though, like maybe he'd forgotten that JC was there. JC thinks that if Lance considered him at all, he probably figured that he was sound asleep. He had been, but now he was wide awake, struck with the realization that he wished he knew what Lance was thinking about. .

Everyone else joked about their current lust objects, so it was obvious to assume that Justin was thinking about Britney or that Chris was imagining one of the roadies on his knees. Joey was a little harder, no pun intended. It was safe to say that there was a blond or a brunette or a redhead in his head. Male or female was anyone's guess, but it was Joey, and there was no mystery there. .

If Lance did hook up, there were never messy morning tangles. JC didn't remember ever seeing a sullen and disappointed fan being escorted out, so either Lance was charming enough to sneak out during the night or he spent a lot of nights curled up in his bunk. He wouldn't know, because Lance never got involved in the locker room talk that that permeated the buses some mornings. .

So JC was left to wonder who was starring Lance's private theater, not really examining why exactly he cared. He wasn't flipping over again in annoyance, or rolling his eyes or even just falling back to sleep. Instead, he was listening to Lance's breathing change into little gaspy puffs of air and he almost believed that he could hear a slick squelch mixed up in the muffled movement. .

Shifting, jarred out of his reverie, he realized that the speculation and sound effects had taken effect, and he was uncomfortably twisted in the sheets and his pajama bottoms. Lance made a little mmm sound and shifted again, and there was a little exhale and the room grew silent again except for the monotonous hum of the bus's engine. .

After a minute or two, JC forced himself to turn over as quietly as he could. Shrugging off arousal, he allowed the familiar hum and Lance's regular breathing lull him back to sleep. .

~end~.