Chapter 9

It was amazing how fast time flew. Usually, when you are watching the clock, time seems to slow down to a near crawl, but it was the exact opposite for Justin. He figured that Nick was probably going up to sleep and was fully prepared for Nick to not show up. It was just after 8 am that he looked up to see Nick's personal assistant Chris in front of him, smiling down at him. Chris wasn't all that tall, but he made up for his height with an intimidating air about him.

"Justin." Chris' tone was serious yet there was a warmth in his demeanor.

"Yes Mr. Kirkpatrick. Is there anything I can do for you?" Justin's palms were sweating and he could hear the tremble in his voice.

"Nick will be down by 9, he doesn't want you to think he's asleep or has forgotten. I don't even think he's gone to bed actually."

That couldn't be true. Nick and Lance had come in around 3 am, it was after 8. It didn't make sense for Nick to have stayed up all night. He focused his attention back to Chris who was still talking.

"But anyways, he'll be down soon. He just wanted you to know that. Oh, and Lance is feeling much pain." Chris let out a deep laugh, which Justin joined in on.

"Is there a reason why you don't spend any time with Nick?" Justin questioned. It was weird how Chris was there with Nick, but they didn't keep the same schedules. In fact, Justin hadn't seen much of Chris all week.

"Besides the fact that I spend TOO much time with him normally?" They both laughed at the lack of enthusiasm in Chris' voice. "No seriously. I've got a business on the side that I'm a joint partner in and we have an office here in Toronto. It's a clothing line and when I'm able to, I like to come and do things myself, see how things are going. I've got someone who runs it here, but it's like my baby so.."

"I understand completely." Justin excused himself to answer the phones while Chris waited patiently. When he was finished, he resumed their conversation. "Well good luck with the clothing line."

"Thank you. I just wanted to give you this. I was going to have Nick give them to you, but knowing him, he'll lose them or forget." Chris handed Justin an envelope which he opened immediately. "Now I hear that you do have tickets for the premiere on Saturday night?"

Justin nodded. "Yes. My manager got me a single ticket and gave me the night off."

"Well there are two extra tickets for your friends. JC and AJ? And then you are all welcome, of course, to the Premiere party afterwards. It is being held at the Windsor Arms Lounge."

Justin felt the butterflies in his stomach and had to breathe calmly to calm his nerves. Not only was he going to the movie, but they were invited to the after party as well. He knew that as soon as the week was over, he was going to wake up and this was all going to be a dream, but at the moment he didn't care. It was everything he would have hoped for but never expected to happen.

They spoke for a few minutes longer until Chris' car arrived taking him to his office. Justin checked his watch to see that he would be off in less than 20 minutes and Nick would be on his way down at any time. Those last 20 minutes seemed to crawl, taking longer than the previous 7 hours and 40 minutes. As soon as the elevators opened and Nick stepped into the lobby, Justin could feel him. It was like his body reacted to Nick being close to him, hell, being in the same room even. As Justin's gaze fell on the tall blonde, he felt the breath knocked out of him. Nick was wearing a pair of loose fitting jeans with a tee shirt, a pair of flip flops, with sunglasses and a hat. Even dressed down he was breath taking, Justin's whole body reacting. Nick smirked, giving him a slight nod before going to sit down in a plush chair to wait for him. As soon as his replacement arrived, Justin rushed back to his locker to grab his bag, not even bothering to change. They were just going to go back to his place, and he di dn't want to waste time changing when he could just do that at home.

"Why are you wearing that? Aren't we going for breakfast?" Nick asked as Justin joined him, motioning for him to get up.

"I thought we'd cook breakfast at my place. I mean, I've got a fridge full of food, seems silly to eat out when we've got the apartment to ourselves."

They headed to the driveway where Nick's driver was waiting for them with the car. Once they were safely in the Expedition on the way to Justin's house they continued their conversation. "Good point. You don't have a roommate?"

"Yeah. I do. Erik. He's pretty cool. I tried living with Aje and Jayce, but we don't live well together. TOO much togetherness ya know? Erik was looking for somewhere to live and Aje hooked him up with me. Sometimes

he's a bit of an idiot, but he's usually pretty cool."

"He's not home?" There was a hint of hope in Nick's voice as it lowered slightly. Justin shook his head as he felt Nick's fingers dance down his arm to his hand. As Nick grabbed his hand, Justin gripped it tightly and brought it to his mouth, opening his lips around the tip of one of Nick's long fingers. Their eyes were locked on one another and Nick's breathing was shallow, a visible reaction to what Justin was doing with his hand. His tongue circled the tip of Nick's finger as he lightly scraped his teeth along the sides. Moments later a soft moan escaped Nick's lips and Justin glanced down to see a bulge showing in Nick's jeans. "You have to stop Jus." He warned, sending chills down Justin's spine. Nick's voice was low and strained as his head dropped to the seat behind him.

"Do you want me to stop? Are you sure?" Justin asked, moving in closer so he was speaking directly into Nick's ear. He'd removed his fingers from his mouth and placed their hands on the seat between them. He was powerless when Nick lifted their hands and placed Justin's on top of his growing bulge.

"Does it feel like I want you to stop?" Their lips were barely brushing one another as they spoke, both breathing shallow and laboured. Justin shook his head as it was clear that Nick was enjoying the attention. Taking a chance, he squeezed Nick's bulge firmly, pleased with the grunt that resulted. "But as much as I want this to go further. We can't. Not here."

Again, Justin was reminded of where they were and the fact that they weren't alone. There was something about being with Nick that made him forget everything around him. "Sorry," Justin mumbled, blushing profusely. Moments later he felt Nick's hand on his face, turning them towards one another.

"Don't be sorry. I'm not complaining, I just think we should put a hold on it until we're alone and don't have to watch what we do and say."

The driver dropped them off in front of Justin's apartment, Nick informing him that he would call again later as to when he should return to pick them up. The ride up to Justin's floor was quiet yet comfortable, neither man touching one another but the electricity between them present. Justin unlocked the door and walked in, checking to make sure that they were indeed alone. Thankfully, there was a note from Erik saying that he'd gone away for the weekend and he'd see Justin on Sunday when he got back. Motioning for Nick to enter, he set his stuff down in the hall. He was slightly nervous for Nick to see their apartment. It wasn't shabby, just probably not what Nick was used to.

"Do you want a tour?" He asked nervously, playing with the hem of his tee shirt. He felt Nick step in closer and put his hands on his waist.

"Yeah."

Justin raised his eyes and their gazes locked. He saw nothing but acceptance in the blue eyes staring at him and any nervousness vanished. Leading Nick through his apartment, he showed him the kitchen, the dining room and living room which they'd decorated tastefully, the bathroom and finally the bedrooms. Justin had taken the master bedroom since it was his apartment and Erik had simply moved in when AJ had moved out. He was thankful that he'd cleaned up at least a little before leaving for dinner the night before, not wanting Nick to see what a slob he could be.

Nick walked around Justin's queen size bed, checking out the pictures in the frames as well as the little knick knacks he'd collected over the years. Justin watched him pick things up and set them back down, amazed at how natural it felt for Nick to be there. He'd taken his hat and sunglasses off as soon as they'd entered the apartment, the sunglasses replaced with a pair of wire rimmed prescription glasses.

"This room is totally you Jus." Nick commented, turning around to face him. They stood there for a few moments, both simply watching the other. It was clear that they both were waiting for something, but neither wanted to be the first to move. Justin's stomach growled breaking the silence.

"I guess that's a hint huh?" He laughed, blushing.

"You're really hot when you blush you know!" Nick strode across the room, stopping directly in front of Justin, their bodies touching slightly. His hands went immediately to Justin's waist, as Justin's reached up to rest on Nick's arms. Justin could feel the heat from Nick's touch through his tee shirt and relaxed into the semi embrace, gripping Nick's shirt tight. Their foreheads moved together and rested against one another as they looked deeply into each other's eyes.

"I just want you to know..." Justin started, moving his right hand from Nick's bicep up his shoulder to his neck, cupping the back of his head. "That you're hot. You know ..like all the time." He felt Nick's hands move from his hips to snake around his back, resting right above his ass. In that one move, Nick pulled Justin closer so that their bodies were pressed together tightly.

"Oh I wasn't saying you weren't. I'm just commenting that it's even hotter when you're blushing. It's like you're

always hot, but *really* hot when you blush." Nick's lips curled up in a smirk as he leaned in and placed a soft kiss on the corner of Justin's mouth. Justin let out a tiny whimper and felt his knees shake. "What are you thinking right now?" Nick whispered against Justin's mouth. He didn't kiss him, but didn't pull away either.

"That I can't believe that you're here. That you're here and totally just about to kiss me." Justin's other hand went to Nick's head and he ran it through the matted down spikes, feeling it's silky softness. "This is something I've only ever really dreamed about. Hoped for but never thought would happen.

Justin's stomach rumbled again between them, causing them both to giggle softly. Justin's eyes fluttered open to see that Nick's were still closed, a dreamy expression on his face. Before he could stop himself, Justin placed a feather light kiss on each of Nick's eyelids and then his nose while his fingers stroked Nick's scalp tenderly. "We should get you something to eat." Nick's voice was forced and Justin could feel the erection pressing against his own between them.

"You never told me what you were thinking!"

Nick smiled and placed his mouth directly next to Justin's ear, whispering seductively. "How bad I want to kiss you. Taste you. Show you how real this is." When he pulled away, all Justin could do was stare at him, amazed at the lust in his voice. "But first we eat, then we can see where things go."

"You're such a fuckin tease Carter," Justin groaned, following Nick out of his bedroom into the kitchen. His response was a grin. As much as he wanted something to happen between them at that moment, at any moment, the thrill of the chase made things considerably hotter between them. There was always the promise that when it did happen, it was going to be orgasmic, the chemistry that strong.

They made breakfast together, working extremely well together in the tiny kitchen. They made small talk, getting to know each other better and thus creating a wider comfort zone between them. They ate leisurely, yet the scene in the bedroom wasn't far from either of their minds. Both men had started to yawn, and watching Nick's eyes droop slightly reminded him that Chris had said he hadn't slept. "Why did you stay up all night?"

Nick blushed, scrunching his nose up. "I didn't mean to." When Justin gave him a confused look, Nick continued. "I was going to get a bit of sleep when I got back, but Lance wanted to talk so we talked. There were some things we both needed to get off of our chests, and it was the perfect time for us to talk. And by the time that was done I was going to take a nap, but then I started playing my PS2 and ...well I lost track of time. The next thing I know it's morning and I figured that if I went to sleep then, I wouldn't get back up. So I had some breakfast with Chris and talked to him and then came down to meet you."

Justin smiled, watching Nick yawn again. He was absolutely beautiful, and wanted him. That part always seemed to baffle Justin.

"Plus I knew you were gonna sleep for most of the day, so I figured why not join you." It was an innocent statement, but the expression on Nick's face, the fire in his eyes revealed how not innocent it was. Justin felt a thrill run through his body. Nick took a deep breath and began to bite his lip, something Justin noticed he did when he was nervous.

"What's up Nick? What's on your mind?"

Nick shifted to make himself comfortable and Justin realized that they could be having this conversation somewhere else. Standing up he motioned for Nick to give him his hands. Pulling the blonde to his feet, Justin led him down the hall towards his bedroom, closing the door behind them. Silently they began to prepare for bed, Justin stripping down to his boxers and a wife beater, Nick simply wearing his boxer briefs. They both took a moment to appraise each other's bodies, smiles covering both of their faces. Once Justin had pulled down the sheets and climbed in, Nick followed and they made themselves comfortable. Justin on his right side, facing Nick, Nick on his left facing Justin. They each curled one arm under their heads and shifted so that Nick could slide his leg between Justin's. Finally, Nick threw his free arm over Justin's waist

protectively as Justin's hand went to Nick's bare chest, touching the soft skin gently. "Now. Tell me what's on your mind."

"Have you ever met someone and just in that first 10 seconds knew, this is it. This is them?" Nick's voice was hushed, as if he were telling Justin something no one else was supposed to know. He nodded and Nick continued. "I felt that. When I met you before I'd even seen the bracelet. I knew we had some connection, but I wasn't sure if you felt it too."

"I did."

"And god, you just came out of nowhere and hit me like a fucking ton of bricks. And I said to myself I wasn't going to do anything about it, that there was no chance. But then you were there at the Nike Store so I knew that it was fate. I knew that something was throwing us together so I had to try. But I was a chicken shit and

didn't do anything. It's how it always is.. I see something I want and I'm too afraid to do anything about it. Bri and Lance told me I should just be honest, tell you how attracted I am to you. How beautiful I think you are, but I wasn't sure if you were feeling it too, or I was just out in the middle of nowhere. And then Tuesday night we went out and I drank a lot. Fuck... More than I think I've ever drank in my life and I was ready to tell you. Oh god... I was going to walk back to the hotel from the club where I was, just to tell you how much I wanted you, what I wanted to do to you and have done by you." Nick stopped to look into Justin's eyes for a few minutes, trying to conv ey how important telling him this was. "I didn't care who knew, I just needed you to know that I thought we had something... But the guys told me that I should maybe sober up, not do it when I was so drunk I couldn't stand."

Justin let out a sigh of relief which garnered a raised eyebrow from Nick. "I thought you'd picked up that night. That you'd met someone and gone home with them. THAT'S why I was so pissed the next morning when you came in." Nick giggled and Justin couldn't help but join in.

"THAT'S why you were mad? Oh fuck I had no idea."

"Yeah. I was so jealous..." Justin inched closer, he could feel Nick's breath on his cheek. "So where did you go?"

"Well Brian's staying at the Weston Harbour Castle, and we were down at the Docks, so instead of me coming all the way up here and making an ass of myself, I crashed at his place. I had never been so thankful in my life that he stopped me from doing what I was going to do."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't want to tell you that way. I didn't want the first time you heard how much I wanted you to be when I was drunk and have you question it. I wanted you to be able to look into my eyes and see the honesty there, the genuine feelings."

Justin let out a deep yawn, followed by Nick. Both men slowly falling asleep.

"Jus? I want you to be my date on Saturday night. We're having a dinner before hand and I want you to come with me. And then come with us to the movie and after party. I know Chris gave you, AJ and JC tickets to go, but I don't want it to be a 'I'll see you there' type of thing. I want you to BE there with me."

Justin's jaw dropped and his body went stiff. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, of course we'll all be together, them, Lance, us.. But I want us to be together within our group. Like if someone asks me who I'm there with, I'll point to you and say 'him, that sexy bitch right there.'" When Justin didn't answer, Nick leaned in and softly pressed their lips together, keeping their eyes locked. "Please." He whispered kissing Justin again, this time moving his mouth slightly and opening his lips enough for his tongue to graze Justin's mouth.

"God yeah," Justin groaned, tightening his fingers in Nick's hair and pulling him closer, deepening the kiss. Their tongues darted out, meeting in the middle as the kiss intensified, moans echoing through Justin's bedroom. Once the kiss broke, several smaller kisses were shared as Justin nibbled on Nick's lower lip and Nick's tongue lapped at the roof of Justin's mouth.

"Thank you Jus."

"No, thank you Nicky."

It was the last bit of conversation between them before they both succumbed to the sleep that had been threatening both since they'd met up that morning.

Justin woke up unsure of where he was. Well, it wasn't that he didn't know where he was, but moreso of who he was with. It had been quite some time since he'd woken up with anyone, and the fact that there was someone spooning behind him, their arms around his waist and legs tangled with his own threw him off slightly. Disoriented, he stretched and yawned, hoping that would wake him up a little. Hearing them snore softly, Justin craned his neck

enough so that he could see blonde hair sticking up everywhere, plush lips slightly parted and a hint of pink on his tanned cheeks.

And then it all came crashing back to him. Nick Carter was in his bed. With him. Sleeping. They'd come back to his apartment after his shift and had breakfast. Nick had confessed that he was attracted to him and wanted him. He'd asked him to be his date for the movie premiere on Saturday night. Then, they'd finally kissed and Justin wondered if anything else had ever felt so wonderful, tasted so sweet. And then they fell asleep, holding each other in their arms. Justin had to fight from jumping up and down on the bed, squealing like a little girl. Instead, he simply tightened Nick's hold on him and snuggled in closer, enjoying the feeling of

sleeping in Nick's arms. Their bodies fit perfectly together and Justin had never felt so safe, so secure as he did right then. The clock flashed 5 p.m., Justin knew that he should wake Nick up and see if he wanted dinner or anything, but the last thing he wanted to do was get out of the bed, leave Nick's warm embrace. He felt Nick shift behind him and sigh, tighteni ng the hold on him. Nick was hard against him, the bulge nestled tightly against his ass and Justin held back a moan, hoping that whatever Nick was dreaming about, he was there. 'I'll just close my eyes and stay for a few more minutes,' he promised himself, feeling sleep once again take over him.