Title:Before They Were Stars

Author:Jules

Part:1/1

Pairing: Kevin/JC

Rating:PG

Feedback:Is Sweeter Than Chocolate - mailto:slash_me_baby@yahoo.com

Disclaimer:I do not know either of these men, nor am I saying this was what happened. Just fiction.

Warning:Slash warning. Bigroupal warning

Notes:It's a little weird. Nowhere near what I thought it was going to be. So forgive me if it sucks! LOL

Before They Were Stars
by Jules

They had no idea how no one knew about them before that night. How anyone could miss it, but it wasn't anything they questioned. Moreso, it was something they were thankful for as it was just one less thing that they had to deal with on a public level. As much as they loved their lives, loved the fame and fortune that what they did provided for them, it was a burden at the same time. Because of it, they weren't afforded the same luxuries that other people got. Normal people. And they were both definitely on the farther side of normal.

They had met back in the early days. Early days of what, neither were all that sure of, but it was the early days. Before everything had set in and they became bitter and jaded. Neither of them would admit to being bitter and or jaded, but they were and secretly they knew it. It was what the industry did to them. To everyone. Some people learned it the hard way, some accepted it like they accepted oxygen, but for someone to go into the entertainment industry and not come out at least a little fucked up ...well they were all waiting with bated breath for that to actually happen. But it was in the early days at Disney that they first became friends. Kevin as Aladdin, Josh on the Mickey Mouse Club. Kevin had been doing his rounds of the park, entertaining kids, old and young, when they had first laid eyes on one another. It wasn't sexual. In fact, it wasn't even civil, it was just green eyes locking on blue, both men stopping for a fraction of a second while something passed between them. Matt and Dale had grabbed Josh, tugging him towards the Tea Cups before either could prolong the encounter.

The next time they'd run into each other was a few days later. Josh was alone and Kevin had just finished his shift and changed back into street clothes. They bumped into each other, both men smiling from recognition. "Hey. Aladdin."Josh commented, running his fingers through his dark locks.

Kevin laughed, blushing only slightly. "Yeah. You're a mouse."That had caught the younger man's attention.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, I mean you're on that show. Mickey Mouse Club."

"You know who I am?"Josh was shocked, figuring this guy had no idea who he was.

"Everyone here knows who you guys are. You're like ...famous or something."

They had introduced themselves to one another and Josh had fought not to find Kevin's accent adorable, while Kevin had to remind himself that the blush on Josh's face wasn't because of him but moreso because he'd spent too much time in the sun.

From there on they would meet up every once in a while just to hang out and talk. Josh was feeling that he spent too much time with the other guys from the show, never really meeting or getting to hang out with *real* people, and Kevin didn't get to spend too much time with anyone, let alone someone who was as passionate about music and performing as he was.

Their friendship was one that wasn't based on 'who knew who' but the fact that they knew each other and enjoyed the other's company. They could be who they were with one another, not having to worry about impressing anyone or being who they weren't. As time passed by, although neither would admit it, wondered if the other was their soul mate. It felt so strange, almost as if it were kismet. They were almost identical to the other, everything from work habits, to musical passions and even just the little things that seemed to drive other people crazy, but only they understood.

Josh, whom everyone had taken to calling JC, was the first person that Kevin told about his meeting with Lou. Lou was this guy who was starting a group with these three other kids. Kevin had said kids, because really, that's what they were. Granted, Howie was almost as old as he was, but Nicky and Alex were 13 and 15 respectively. Josh had hugged Kevin, telling him that he knew that whatever Kevin did, it would be amazing. He had a good feeling about this group and that Kevin should do it, follow his dreams.

When the Backstreet Boys had gone to Germany, Josh was sad, but happy at the same time. He was losing the best friend he never realized he'd had. It wasn't until Kevin was gone that Josh found out how close they were, how much time they spent together. He still did the show, finding that a whole new group of kids had joined the cast, one of those kids being some 12 year old child named Justin Timberlake. Josh wondered if he should have auditioned for Kevin's group when they said they were looking for a fifth. Of course, Kevin had called his cousin Brian and he'd made the group, but for a while Josh wished it had have been him.

Kevin was the first person Josh called when Lou came back to the States looking for the next Backstreet Boys. By this point, JC had been hanging out with a few other guys, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, and the three of them along with Justin were going to make their own singing group. They needed a fifth, because Lou was convinced that it only worked with 5, and by outside help, they found a fifth member, Lance Bass. He'd wanted to warn Kevin that Lou was going behind his back and recruiting new talent.

That was the first time they had fought, but definitely not the last. It wasn't Josh that Kevin was angry with, it was circumstance. Circumstance that Lou was the sneaky, lying bastard that he'd heard he could be. And for the fact that he was afraid, afraid more than anything that this was going to tear them apart. That Lou would do what it took to get the two groups against each other, play them off of one another in order to make himself richer. Josh was angry because Kevin didn't believe in their friendship. That he had so little faith in the bond that they had that they would let something like this come between them.

They didn't talk for a few months after that. Both just a little mix of hurt and angry, at each other and themselves. Because their biggest fears were coming true, but it was wrapped in their wildest dreams. Neither were sure where to go from there.

It wasn't until the two groups met up in some hotel in Germany that they saw each other. It took maybe 10 minutes for them to breach the distance that had come between them, vowing never to let anything like this happen again. Nothing was worth losing friendship over, especially a fat old man with the tendency to steal what wasn't his. Only at that point, they had no idea what that fat old man was capable of.

Time passed and as both groups became more and more successful, their friendship got stronger and stronger. They knew that the other would understand what they were going through, because they were going through it as well. Kevin could call Josh at any hour and he knew the younger man would listen. The same was for Josh.

The rivalries were fabricated. For the most part. Sure, Justin and Nick were always fighting with one another, but it wasn't as bad as the media liked to portray it. In fact, it was mostly in fun and Kevin was convinced that there was a lot of pent up sexual tension where the babies were concerned. Chris and Howie were good friends, but that was from before the groups as well so no one really paid much attention to them. It just seemed that because they both had five members, both sang and danced and were both under Lou's umbrella that they hated each other. It made for interesting interviews and publicity and neither group thought too much about it.

Josh was there for Kevin when they decided to leave Transcon and told his guys about Kevin's warnings that Lou was probably doing to NSYNC what he was doing to Backstreet. Chris had mentioned that perhaps they wait it out to see if it was true before causing as big a ruckus as Backstreet. Unfortunately Kevin had been right and when NSYNC jumped ship, following them to Jive, Kevin was there to lend them support and any type of assistance they may have needed. In the music industry, if the artists couldn't count on each other's supports to battle the evil suits, then they had no hope of surviving.

Their first kiss was unexpected. It wasn't anything either had been planning. In fact, it wasn't something either had actually put much thought into. They knew the other was bi. You didn't know someone for so long without finding almost everything out about them. But, for them to actually pursue something with the other was a thought they hadn't entertained. Until they were at Tony's Christmas party in 1999. Tony was Josh's other best friend, had been long before Kevin had come into the picture. Not that it was a bone of contention between them, in fact it was the opposite. Tony and Kevin got along well. Sometimes too well for JC's liking and he'd always wondered if more had ever gone down between them. The reason for his jealousy wasn't anything JC had ever put much thought into. Tony had been his boy since the early MMC days and Kevin almost as long. But it was always there. That night, Kevin had been standing under the mistletoe without even realizing it and Josh had been talking to him. It was then that Tony pointed it out that they were under the green plant and there were rituals that went along with it. That's when it happened.

The kiss.

The kiss that changed their lives without changing a thing.

According to Tony, they'd been together for 8 years already, they just hadn't realized it yet. When he'd told JC and Kevin that a few years after the kiss, they couldn't help but laugh and ask why he hadn't told them that sooner. Tony figured they already knew. Everyone else did.

He was wrong, no one else knew, but Tony wondered how they couldn't, Kevin and JC's emotions were clearly displayed on their faces whenever they were in the same room together. Hell, even when they were in the same country.

The only thing that changed was they kissed a lot more. But that didn't take much since they went from never kissing to kissing whenever the urge came over them. Kevin wondered if Josh had always been this graceful, this beautiful and JC wondered how Kevin would feel, thrusting in and out of him slowly and passionately. They still saw other people, Kevin going as far as getting married to the 'only woman he ever thought he could love', all the while their friendship still stronger than ever. While neither wanted Kevin cheating on his wife, on his vows, there were just a few things that one could not avoid. And each other happened to be one of those things.

Time continued and Backstreet went on hiatus. Nick did his own thing, AJ went into rehab and decided to get married, Brian started a family. Leaving Kevin alone with nothing to do for the first time in 9 years. It was during that time he'd realized what a mistake he'd made in getting married. His marriage worked wonderfully when he was on one continent and his wife was on the other, but when they were both home together, it was a recipe for disaster. So with an amicable separation, they decided to call it quits. Divorce, although neither had expected things to end that way, was the only resolution for both to be happy, and that was all they wanted. For the other to be happy. Kevin just had to figure out what that was, the thing that would make him ultimately happy.

During that time NSYNC had also gone on hiatus. Joey did Rent. Justin did his solo thing, and surprisingly enough, sought out Nick for support, ending in the two of them succumbing to the sexual attraction they'd been fighting for years. JC gave his shot on a solo effort, finding that he had moved past the performing stage in his life and wanting more of a behind the scenes hand in things. That brought them to the point in their lives that seemed to have taken forever to get them to. It was a hard, long road, but both Kevin and Josh knew that no matter what happened, they always had each other.

It was one of the biggest parties of the year, held at JC Chasez's spacious mansion in LA. Everyone who was anyone was there, all to celebrate North America's newest recording label, headed by the evening's host. It had taken time, effort and money to get things to where it was now, but JC had worked his ass off to make this work. He had a line up of artists working on their albums, and the first CD from the label ready to be released the next day. Josh Chasez was on his way. And a few hundred of his closest friends were there to celebrate with him. The only thing was, that there was only one person he could see. His soul mate.

"You having a good time baby?"Josh asked, pulling his lover tight against him, their hands locked.

"Wonderful. Did I ever tell you what a great party you throw?"

They both chuckled as a quick kiss was shared between them. They knew that the industry had always questioned their sexuality, ever since the beginning. Questions were dodged and lies were told, but never to each other. And never to themselves.

"You're just saying that because you did most of the work."Blue eyes met green and another kiss resulted.

"Yeah."Kevin stepped back so that he could look deep into Josh's eyes, seeing everything he loved about the younger man. It had taken them a long time to get to where they were now, but he wouldn't change any of it. It was all a learning experience. And he cherished what they had now more because of it. He knew what it was like before he had Josh in every part of his life, and that wasn't something he wanted to have to do again. "You know, everyone's probably talking about us. Wondering..."

Josh laughed, looking at the curious eyes around them. He never could understand how people had been so blind for so long. It had been 6 years since Kevin had divorced his wife. It had taken them a year after that to get their shittogether and realize what was right in front of them for the past 15 years. For five years they had been this big secret, although they weren't the ones keeping it. 'Good. It's about fucking time."

Now that they weren't in the spotlight as much as they once were, it seemed to be okay. People were more accepting. The girls who had once lusted after them were all married, living lives of their own. NSYNC and Backstreet were but a memory, all 10 men moving on to bigger and better things. Living their lives for themselves, not everyone else. It took only 10 minutes for someone to approach, the first in many both men anticipated for the evening.

"Congratulations on your record label JC."JC nodded his thanks in reply as the woman kept talking. So, JC, Kevin? You both look very cozy."She was a friend of a friend, and both Kevin and Josh recognized her as a

writer for one of the big magazines. Could be Entertainment Weekly, could be People. Neither were really all that sure.

"We are. Thank you."Kevin replied, polite as ever.

"If you don't mind me asking, how long has this been going on? How long have you two been together?" When neither man replied, she blushed and averted her eyes. "I'm sorry. Perhaps I'm out of line. Are you together?"

JC flashed a wide smile and nodded his head. "Yes. We are together. Thank you."

Relief flooded her face and she let out a deep sigh. "Oh good. I mean ...well you understand. How long?"

Kevin and Josh turned their heads to look at one another, a look of absolute love passing between them. Their reply was instantaneous and said in unison. "Since before we were stars."

Finis