"Jayce. Are you there? I know you are. Just pick up the damn phone. Yeah, yeah. Waiting. Waiting. Okay, you're not there. Call me the instant you get this. I'm, like, going insane here."

JC thought that sometimes it didn't pay to return Justin's frantic telephone calls. Usually they involved random clothing issues, or highly indignant babbling about things that JC didn't quite understand. He stared at the answering machine, hating the flat little red light.

He picked up the phone and dialed.

"Yo."

"Yeah. S'me. What's wrong now?"

Justin spluttered, and JC flopped down on his couch, holding his phone away from his ear, catching the gist of the conversation through the "ungrateful bitch" and "now what's. After Justin had yelled enough to speak in complete sentences and at a reasonable tone, JC switched the phone to his other ear.

"So. You rented an entire beach, as a surprise for Britney, and she's busy?"

"Like shopping is a reason to pass up a weekend with me!"

"Yeah, well."

"And so you're coming with."

JC thought that next time he'd wait for at least forty eight hours before returning a frantic Justin phone call. He heaved a sigh. "When do we leave?"

JC stomped into the foyer of the bungalow. Justin trailed behind him, looking half apologetic but the other half was far too satisfied. JC thought that Justin really should have been more conciliatory after the long, turbulent flight followed by the short, miserable powerboat trip.

He was ready to start exploring, purposely silent, when Justin laid a hand on his shoulder and swiveled in front of him. "You're not really mad, are you? I mean. This will be fun, promise."

Stronger men had buckled before a sincere Justin. JC thought that he really wasn't very strong, even with years of exposure. He smiled reluctantly. "Yeah. Peaceful, right?"

Justin nodded, dropping his bags and grabbing JC's hand. "Sure. Yeah. Really, um, quiet. And you can, like, write!"

JC just stared at Justin. "Not a chance in hell, right?"

"Nope."

The bungalow was more primitive than JC would have picked. He generally chose well populated, cultured areas to vacation in. Museums, opera houses, even historical cathedrals were his preferred vacation destinations.

Wandering through the four rooms, he wrinkled his nose. "It smells, man. Like. Musty or something. I think you got ripped off." Wandering through the huge bedroom, plucking at the sheets of material hanging down from the beds, "This is the funkiest mosquito netting I've ever seen."

Justin just laughed. "I didn't rent it for the furnishings, dude." He wiggled his eyebrows, "It was all about the privacy."

"Yeah. It's private enough. Cause no one would want to come here."

Justin walked over to the window, looking out at the setting sun. "It's pretty enough out there, yo. A little sun, a little ocean, a little sleep. You're acting like I brought you to Siberia or something."

JC walked over, just scowling enough to make Justin fidget and try just a little too hard, fighting to hang onto his crabby mood. When Justin slung an arm around his shoulders and tugged on a curl, pointing out the colours, JC shrugged, but finally gave up and smiled.

"Yeah yeah, coulda been worse."

"Wanna skinny-dip?"

JC laughed. "Don't push your luck, Infant."

They had sandwiches for dinner, Justin proudly pointing out the refrigerator stocked with all sorts of food. "They, like, asked what I wanted and I said everything!" JC nodded and smiled, and they cleaned up in silence.

There were hammocks outside, and JC sat outside in the twilight, eating a peach that was soft and ripe and dripping juice down his hand. Being Justin's friend didn't seem like a bad thing then, when he could smell the ocean, and there was nothing but silence and crashing waves.

Justin came walking out with an apple, and he looked calm and quiet when he climbed into the hammock beside JC.

"Glad you came?"

JC shrugged, before realizing that Justin couldn't see him. "Yeah. It's nice. Not as bad as it could be I guess."

"Joey would hate it here."

JC laughed softly. "Yeah, well, so would Lance. Joey would be bitchin' about parties and Lance would be wandering through the house trying to find the best area for cellphone reception and complaining about the roaming charges."

Justin settled down into his hammock. "Chris would have had us all in the ocean by now."

"You miss him?" JC laughed a little. "Sorta funny, you get used to all being together."

Justin sighed. "We're boring, you know that?"

JC just smiled, and they watched the moon glint on the ocean.

It was nighttime, and that meant sleep. JC was unapologetic when he stumbled off the porch into the bedroom, slapping at a bug. "Night, J. Don't you dare wake me up early."

Justin mumbled something nonsensical, a dreamy look on his face as he watched the waves tumble in and tumble out.

JC stripped down to his boxers, and he had the mosquito netting all draped around the bed, shaking his head. "Shoulda told him to be careful with the netting." He shrugged and pulled the covers up, snuggling down into sheets that smelled like they'd been dried in sunlight.

It seemed like only ten minutes later that Justin was crashing into the bed beside him, clutching at his arm, "C! C! Wake up up up!"

"What the fuck." JC rolled over, peering blearily at his wrist. "You'd better have a good reason for waking me up at, um, 12:47 in the morning."

"The lights went out, dude. Like. It's pitch black everywhere."

"Go to sleep. It's supposed to be dark when you sleep." JC shifted, punching the pillow into a comfortable ball.

"It's freaky dark though."

JC sighed. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Can I sleep here? I mean, I'm freaked, dude. It's like. You can't see your hand if you hold it up."

"Justin. Why do you need to see your hand?"

Justin whimpered. JC caved. "Okay, yeah. If you'll let me go back to sleep, you can sleep here."

When Justin leaned over and hugged him, he shifted backward, and purposely didn't think about a couple very interesting ways that Justin could pay him back for unnecessary protection.

JC didn't like mornings, generally didn't do them. When he woke to Justin draped over him, one hand resting delicately on his stomach, and his leg twisted between JC's legs, it was even worse. Awake, Justin was beautiful, but asleep, his face slack and his lips barely open, he looked like an angel. This morning wasn't any better.

Huffing a quick breath out, he extricated himself from Justin's clutches, musing momentarily on possible song writing extravaganzas to be found in waking up in the clutches of your mostly straight best friend. Turning his back on The Bed, which his mind insisted on thinking of in capital letters, he headed to the kitchen, bemused by the fact that every single light in the house was blazing.

"Guess he really was freaked." JC shook his head, picturing Justin running through the house clicking every light switch on, hoping that one would work. Sighing, he walked back to the bedroom.

"Justin. Justin! It's morning, man."

He thought that Justin even woke up prettily when Justin's eyelashes swept his cheekbones, fluttering and he sat up fluidly, clutching a pillow to his chest as a slow smile crept across his face.

"You're up before me, C." Justin sounded inexplicably charmed, and JC shook off the smile.

"Yeah, well. We better take advantage of our day in paradise before the sun's so hot that we can't be outside, sunblock or no."

"Thirty five minutes. I don't care if I have to sit on you."

Justin flounced, at least as well as he could, sprawled out on a huge bath sheet. "That's an old wives tale, ass. No one ever got a cramp and died while playing in waves." He grabbed the sunblock lotion, splashing some on half heartedly. "I'm not swimming laps in the freakin' ocean, yo."

JC checked his watch. "You've got ten more minutes, dude. Use them wisely and actually put some of that lotion on. The sun's wicked strong here."

Justin bounced his leg, a petulant scowl on his face. "You're worse than my fucking mother."

JC checked his watch again. "7 minutes left. I never woulda thought you could bitch for 28 minutes straight." He paused. "Who am I trying to kid. Of course I would have."

Justin snorted.

JC waited.

"Yeah. Go to it, young man. Just remember the buddy system. And for the love of god don't forget to put more sunblock on."

JC had inherited the task of grilling steaks since Justin was busily anointing and re-annointing himself with the aloe vera freeze spray that JC had thoughtfully packed. He flipped the steaks, sneaking a glance at Justin.

"You're barely pink there, Jup. Stop being a whiner and set the table."

Justin sniffed at him. "I'll have you know that my skin is very sensitive."

"You're such an ass. You know tomorrow you'll be all golden and shit, and we mortals will be eclipsed once again."

Justin put the spray bottle down. "It was fun though." He stared off into space, plunking the plates down onto the table and slamming the silverware down beside them. "Those jellyfish were freaky."

JC just giggled. "I almost thought you could run on water, Infant."

The steaks were sizzling and perfect and they ate outside, quiet again, watching the sun dip back down over the ocean.

"I almost wish we didn't have to go home tomorrow."

"Yeah. Brit missed out big time, right C?"

JC was silent.

Nighttime found them in the hammocks again, Justin babbling about nothing and JC listening. He thought that they could have been anywhere, and it almost felt like Chris could come flying out of the doorway and knock both of them out of their seats. And then Lance would lug his laptop out and sit on the step and bitch about work until they took the computer away and forced him to have fun.

"Truth or Dare."

JC snorted. "Doesn't work with two of us, Justin. Especially if we're not drunk."

"Okay. Truth or Truth."

"Yeah, like that's a good idea."

Justin giggled. "Truth or Truth?"

"Truth."

Justin sipped at his juice. "Did you really hate being here? I mean, with me?"

"Nah. S'fine. Had fun, even."

He laughed. "Your turn, Jayce."

"So, yeah, um. When did you start being afraid of the dark?"

"Always have been." JC could almost see the sly smile in the dark. "Especially since you're so comfy to sleep with."

"Well, uh..." JC hated his voice when he got breathy. "Look at the stars. All clear and not covered by smog or clouds."

Justin looked at the sky and pretended he didn't notice the game ending, but when JC looked at his watch and grunted "It's 11. Time for bed", he followed JC into the bedroom.

"Can I sleep with you again? I mean, just in case it gets all scary and dark again?" Justin batted his eyelashes at JC, the corners of his mouth just barely tilted up.

"I repeat. Night is dark, although I don't quite know about scary." JC turned away from Justin, stripping out of his clothes into a clean pair of boxers and pretending like he didn't care whether Justin was watching.

"Yeah, but it's really dark here." Justin let his voice climb into a register that was perilously close to a whine. "I'll be your bestest, best friend ever."

JC flipped the covers up. "Yeah yeah, whatever. You'll be my best friend til Chris gets a new game or you need Lance to do your taxes."

Justin laughed delightedly. "You're all my best friends." Clambering into bed, he squished up against JC, sucking a breath in when he felt JC stiffen and angle his body away. He didn't move fast enough and Justin felt something sharp and hard against his hipbone.

"C?"

"Yeah?"

"Truth?"

"Justin. I want to sleep. Now." JC could hear the annoyance threaded through his voice, but he couldn't stop it. He wished idly that he was capable of saying no, on any level, to Justin.

"Truth?"

"Yeah. Whatever. Just let me sleep."

"Do you want me?"

"Justin. Go to sleep. Or else get out of the bed. We're not having this discussion."

He could hear Justin moving, the sheets rustling, and he sighed, snuggling into his pillow. The prospect of sleep seemed likely and then in the morning they'd swim again and in the afternoon they'd go home and to their separate houses, and he'd get control of his hormones and... And then Justin's hand was trailing over his boxers and he was arching into the petting, even as his mind said 'what the fuck, what the holy fuck.'

And Justin was suddenly licking at the corner of his mouth, and sure they'd done this before, a long long time ago, but it had been forever, and he'd forgotten how Justin kissed. He'd thought that forgetting had been fine, because they were all friends, no matter if they fucked or not.

Justin was sighing into his mouth, rubbing against his thigh. It was hot and JC thought that he felt like he was about sixteen again, because there was no way that this was lasting, no way at all and he didn't care, especially when Justin's mouth was hot and slick and they were tangled together, clothes yanked off and skin filmed with a sheen of sweat.

When Justin came, whimpering and squirming, JC swallowed the whimpers and let himself go. He thought that maybe he screamed a little, but he wasn't surprised at all.

Even the sheets seemed like too much weight and they lay there, hot and panting, Justin's arm thrown over JC's stomach as he pressed his face into the pillow. JC concentrated on breathing, not really daring to look at Justin's arm. He huffed out a sigh. "Jup. You up?"

"Yeah. Tired though."

"Truth?"

"Yeah, whatever, man."

JC thought that this time Justin sounded annoyed. He also thought that was tough shit. "Did you wish that Britney was here?"

"Nope. She came up with the idea."

"Wha..." There was another question in there somewhere, he just didn't know how to phrase it.

"Yeah. I got mad acting skills."

"You set me up?"

"Truth?"

"Yeah."

"Do you really care?"

JC sighed, thinking that basically kidnapping him and dragging him to a deserted island was just the sort of odd plot that Justin and Britney would have come up with. "It woulda been just as easy to say 'hey there big fella' and kiss me, y'know. Not to mention cheaper."

Justin shrugged, a smile sliding over his face. "You're welcome."

"I never said thank you." JC was very very sure of that.

"Oh. You will."

Justin with a fresh wind was a daunting thought. JC thought that, yes, he probably would, and idly wondered about the whole idiotically romantic notion of sex on a beach.

Justin propped himself up on one elbow and watched the play of expression across JC's face. "Nope, not gonna happen Sand, Jayce."

JC debating thanking Justin, and then he thought that maybe he'd send Britney a fruit basket. She deserved a little thanks too.

~end~