“Have you seen my shirt?”

Joshua Chasez, known as Josh, looked up from the book he was reading to stare at his boyfriend, who was clad only in a pair of boxers and a wifebeater.

“Which one?” he asked with an amused grin. “My black one. You know, the one I -work- in?” Josh grinned and said, “I know, it’s in the laundry room,” before turning back to his book.

“Is it clean?”

Josh shrugged. Lance sighed in exasperation, heading for the laundry room. After a moment Josh could hear him yelling, “It’s not! What am I going to do?” Josh chuckled to himself before saying, “Wash it, maybe?”

Lance returned to the room with the shirt in one hand, shooting Josh a look that the older man found so adorable because Lance was trying to look angry while he was in boxers and a wifebeater.

“You are not helping me, and stop enjoying this so much,” Lance said, throwing the shirt at Josh and exiting the room again.

Josh turned back to his book and a few minutes later, Lance walked back into the room, wearing a pair of worn khaki pants and a different black shirt, one that clung to him tightly and showed the outline of his muscles.

“Is that mine?” Josh asked, indicating the shirt. Lance nodded, looking around for his wallet, finding it on the table. “Don’t worry, I wont stretch it, I’m not -that- fat,” Lance said with a smile. Josh rolled his eyes. “Not even close. I just... you look really hot in that shirt, and if I think so then someone else is probably going to think so, and-”

Lance had gone over to Josh while Josh had been talking, and silenced him with a small kiss on the lips. “Aww, my Joshy is getting protective.”

Josh rolled his eyes again and turned back to his book. “Not even. I just hope some horny body builder doesn’t come in the restaurant and hit on you.”

“You mean Ralph? Oh, he comes in every Monday night, did I not tell you?” Lance laughed and the car horn outside told him that Joey was there to pick him up. He kissed Josh on the top of the head and said, “See you tonight.”

Josh nodded and continued to read his book.

“So, any plans this weekend?” Joey asked as he stirred the spaghetti sauce. Lance shrugged. “I’m not sure, probably just spend a lazy weekend with Josh, as usual.” “Well, we should do something. Check out a movie, maybe.” Lance nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

They heard soft giggling coming from where Britney was washing the dishes, and saw that she and Justin were engaging in a fight with the suds. “Remind me again why your dad hired him,” Lance said, and Joey chuckled. “Well, he was here so much it was like he already worked here. Plus Britney always skipped out to be with him, so my dad just hired him. They act good around him.”

Britney giggled again and Lance and Joey just shook their heads, amused.

“Ahh, to be in love,” Joey said after a moment, looking back at them, seeing that they had moved on from flirting to kissing. “Do tell me what it’s like.”

Lance blushed and looked down for a moment. “It’s... well, it’s probably different for everyone, but for me, it’s like... nothing in the world matters more than being with Josh. He -is- my world.” Lance smiled, a dazed look forming in his eyes, and Joey knew he was lost in his own thoughts about Josh.

“Come on, we’ve been walking all day, my feet are killing me. This place looks good, why don’t we just go in here?”

Dan sighed. “All right, Chris, we’ll stop here just so you’ll quit complaining.”

Chris Kirkpatrick didn’t understand why he was still with Dan. Dan, who used to be one of his psychiatric patients. Dan, who loved to complain and think about himself. Dan, who had been dating someone when he cheated on him with Chris, and Chris had felt guilty ever since. The guy-- JC-- sounded like he was really nice, Chris had even briefly met him once.

“Fatone’s? What kind of name is that?” Dan asked as they walked through the doors, noticing that the place wasn’t too busy. “Italian, Danny,” Chris said. “Don’t call me that, you know I hate it,” Dan muttered as he saw a waiter coming to seat them.

“Hey, my name is Lance, I’ll be your waiter this evening, do you want smoking or non-smoking?”

“Non,” Chris said, before Dan could say anything. Lance smiled at the two, his smile automatically making Chris feel better, more welcome. Lance sat them down at a booth and handed them both menus. “I’ll be back in a moment to take your order.”

After he was gone, Dan looked at his watch impatiently. “We better not take too long here, we still have to find him.”

Chris sighed. Dan had dragged him all the way back to Orlando to get something important back from his ex-boyfriend, or so he said. Chris wasn’t really sure how much of that was just Dan wanting him back. Chris had known that his relationship with Dan was falling apart for some time, he was just thankful he had never fallen in love with him. And if Dan wanted to go back to JC, that was fine with Chris. Although Chris highly doubted that JC would still be pining over Dan, no matter how serious they had been.

Lance returned to their table, pen and pad of paper in hand, a warm smile on his face that made Chris want to be friends with him. Chris needed a good friend. No lovers, no attraction, just a friend. Besides, Chris knew someone with the looks of Lance couldn’t possibly be single, and it seems as if his personality matched is outward appearance.

“Yeah, I’ll have a cheeseburger, everything on it, with a side of fries,” Dan muttered, practically throwing the menu back at Lance. Lance nodded, writing down the order, and then he turned to Chris.

“What would you recommend?” Chris asked, and Lance smiled.

“Today? Try the spaghetti. Joey’s been working on it all day. He makes the best spaghetti.”

“Joey sounds like a great chef,” Chris said, handing Lance his menu. “He is,” Lance said, his warm smile still on his face. “You wont regret it. Would either of you like something to drink?”

“Water’s fine,” Dan said, the words coming out in a grumble.

“I’ll just have water too,” Chris said, and Lance nodded, taking their menu’s and walking off.

“Maybe now that you’re done flirting with the waiter, we can talk about how we’re going to find JC.”

Chris sighed. “I wasn’t flirting with him, we were just being friendly.” ‘Something you could learn,’ Chris added silently.

“Too friendly, if you ask me, but we’ll talk about it later. What are we going to do? I went to our old house, and he had moved out.”

‘Yes, I know all this. I knew it the first time you told me,’ Chris thought. “And he’s not listed in any of the tri-county phone books. What if he moved out of state? I need to get my things back.”

“What exactly did you leave with him?” Chris asked. ‘Your heart?’

“He just has this box of things that belonged to me. I stored it in his closet and I forgot about it when I moved in with you. It had things like some pictures of mine, my watch, a family ring, really important things. No matter how angry or hurt he was, he wouldn’t have thrown them away. JC isn’t like that.”

“Yeah, according to you, JC is perfect,” Chris whispered under his breath.

Lance was almost back into the kitchen when a pair of hands slid over his eyes. Lance grinned. “Hmm, I wonder who it could be?”

Josh laughed and turned his boyfriend to face him. “I was bored so I decided to come and harass you at work.”

Lance laughed and took Josh’s hand in his, leading him back into the kitchen. Joey was working on another dish, and Britney and Justin were still washing the dishes, since they hadn’t exactly gotten it done earlier.

“Hey Josh,” Joey said with a wave and a mouth full of pasta.

“Joey, that’s nasty,” Lance told him, hitting him with a dish towel. Joey just laughed and swallowed. “It’s good,” he said.

Josh looked over to see that Britney and Justin were kissing.

“Whoa, do they do that often?” he asked.

Joey sighed in exasperation. “Not again!”

“See, if you worked here -we- could do that all day,” Lance said with a grin.

“Getting paid to kiss you all day? Sounds like the best job their is.” Lance and Josh grinned at each other and started to lean in to kiss each other, but Joey said, “Please, there’s already too much cheese in the pasta, we don’t need even more from you two.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “That was lame, Joe. Come on,” he said, to Josh. “Where are we going?” Josh asked.

“We’re going to see if this couple I’ve been serving needs anything else. One of them looks like he’s miserable, so I’ve tried to be as nice as I can to him.”

Before they could get to the table, someone ran into Josh, prying his and Lance’s hands apart.

“I’m sorry,” the person, a man, said.

“No, it’s... Danny?”

“JC?”

“Oh my God.”

Lance looked back to see Josh and the guy from the table he had been waiting on, the one with the attitude, hugging each other.

“How have you been?” Dan asked as Josh pulled away from him.

“Okay. How about you?”

‘Okay, he’s just been okay?’ Lance thought to himself.

“Good, I’ve been good.”

“That’s good.”

Lance heard someone approaching him from behind, and he looked back to see the other guy from the table, the nice one, approaching them.

“Man, it’s been a long time. What are you doing here?” Dan asked.

“I live around here now.”

‘Yeah, and you’ve got a boyfriend,’ Lance said in his head.

“What...what are -you- doing here? I mean, you moved to Miami, didn’t you?”

Dan nodded and said, “Yeah, it’s nice down there.”

“Do you know that guy?” the man from the table asked Lance in a whisper. “Is his name Josh?”

Lance looked at the man with a quizzical expression. “How did you know that?”

The man nodded to himself before clearing his throat, loud enough for Josh and Dan to hear. They looked over and it was like they had just noticed, or remembered, that anyone else was there.

“Oh God, this must look so weird,” Josh said. “Lance, this is Danny. Danny, this is Lance, my boyfriend.”

Dan looked sharply at Lance, and Lance smirked. “I believe we’ve met. How’s the food?”

“It’s excellent,” Chris said, and Dan turned to him. “Oh hey, did you finish your food?”

“No, I just came to see where you were,” Chris told him.

“Oh, well, I think you two know each other,” Dan said, looking from Josh, to Chris, back to Josh. They both nodded.

“Hey JC, why don’t you join us? Chris and I were just in the middle of eating dinner,” Dan said. “Your friend here is our waiter, I’m sure he wont mind if one more person joins our party. Right?” he asked, looking at Lance.

Josh looked over at Lance for a moment before turning to Dan. “I’ll be there in a minute, okay?” Dan nodded and walked off, Chris following him.

“Who is that? And why did he call you JC?” Lance asked.

“That was Danny. You know, the guy I was dating before I met you. I told you about him, remember?”

Lance was silent. He didn’t know what to say, the situation had just become ten times more awkward for him. “And JC is what I used to go by when we were dating. You know, Josh Chasez, JC...”

“Yeah, I got it,” Lance said, more sharply than he had intended to.

Josh sighed and took Lance’s hand in his own. “I know this must be awkward for you, it is for me too.”

Lance nodded. “Have you already eaten or do you want something?”

“I’ve already eaten, but,” Josh said, pulling Lance closer to him and pressing their foreheads together, “I would like some coffee. You know what kind I like.”

“No. Actually, his ex decided to eat here tonight, and right now? Josh is joining him and his boyfriend.”

“Ouch,” Joey said, while Lance tried to get the machine to work. Joey could tell his friend was frustrated and gently pushed him to the side, pushing the button gently. Coffee started to flow from the machine, and Lance sighed. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Seriously, though, Lance, I’ve seen you two together. Josh loves you. He’s crazy about you. Head over heels, man.”

Lance sighed again. “I know that I shouldn’t be worried, or jealous, or anything like that, but this guy, Danny, he... he was Josh’s first serious boyfriend. He was in love with this guy and they... he was Josh’s first.”

“Well, it’s not like you and Josh haven’t... you know... slept together.”

“I know, but I mean, your first... you never forget your first. They have so many things that tie them together, and what if this guy wants to get back together with Josh?”

“I thought you said that Danny had a boyfriend.”

“He does, but the guy looks miserable. Danny probably came here to dump him and try and get Josh back.”

“He’s not going to leave you, Lance. He‘s not.”

Lance just looked away, and Joey could tell that he didn’t believe it.

“So, where do you work?” Dan asked as he took a bite of his cheeseburger.

“I‘m still over at the Middle School, teaching music.”

“Well, that always was your passion,” Dan said, giving Josh a smile.

“I’ve always been interested in music. If I hadn’t gone into psychology, I would’ve liked to have gone into the music field of business,” Chris said.

“I’m sure JC doesn’t care about that, Chris,” Dan remarked.

“No, I do. And I go by Josh now,” Josh told him, turning back to Chris. “So, who’s your favorite artist?”

Chris saw the scowl that crossed Dan’s face and he smiled inwardly. “Well, Janet for one, is awesome.”

“Dude, no way! I love Janet, she’s like a music evolution man!”

“I know!” Chris exclaimed, finally glad he had someone to share this particular interest with.

“Okay, the Backstreet Boys. Lame or not?” Chris asked. “Oh, so lame,” Josh said with a laugh, and Chris could feel some of that energy he used to have come back to him. “Yes! You rock,” he said. Josh just laughed again, and Dan’s scowl grew.

Josh found it odd that he was feeling more and more at ease with the situation, seeing Dan again, by just talking to Chris. Someone he was supposed to hate. But how could he hate the person that made it possible for him to find Lance? It was like Dan was old water under the bridge, and Josh could just act like a friend around him.

“So, Jace, how long have you been dating that waiter?” Dan asked, cutting into the conversation Josh and Chris had been having about Madonna.

“Lance? We just had our six month anniversary last week. He‘s really great.”

“So, how did you meet him?” Chris knew when Dan was jealous, and at that moment, Dan was jealous. And he was going to try and ease that by asking questions about Lance, trying to find some flaw or imperfection about him. “I need to use the restroom,” Chris muttered, getting up.

“I met him here, actually,” Josh replied after Chris had left. “Right after... you know, you left.” The air suddenly became thick with tension, but Josh continued. “He basically picked me up when I was down. He was there for me.”

Dan let out a low whistle. “Man, you’re pretty blunt, JC.”

“You broke my heart,” Josh said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Dan reached over across the table and rested his hand on top of Josh’s. “I’m sorry,” he whispered softly.

Lance sighed again and wanted to scream out and kick the dishwasher, which wouldn’t turn on.

“If you’re not careful, it’ll break,” came a voice from the doorway.

“Hey, Mr. Fatone,” Lance said, standing up. “The washer isn’t working?” Mr. Fatone asked, and Lance shrugged. “It’s probably just me, I’m too... I don’t know.”

“Why are you still here, Lance? We closed an hour ago.”

Lance sighed. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Wasn’t Joshua here earlier, I was back in my office and I thought I heard his voice.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, he went home. He had to get to sleep early, he’s got classes to teach and then he’s meeting someone for lunch.”

Lance still remembered it in his mind. Dan and Chris had finished their food, and they were about to leave, Chris thanking Lance for the dinner, and Dan eyeing Lance in a way that the young blonde really didn’t like. Then Dan had asked Josh to join him for lunch the next day. Chris had just looked away, and Lance would’ve felt more sympathy for him if he hadn’t been feeling it for himself when Josh agreed.

“Just someone?” Mr. Fatone asked, and Lance wished that his boss didn’t know him so well.

“His old boyfriend, actually. The one he had before me. His name is Dan, and he’s in town.”

Mr. Fatone nodded, stroking his moustache as if he was trying to find the solution to some great mystery. “You shouldn’t worry, Lance. I’ve seen Joshua around you. You’re his world. You mean absolutely everything to him. I can tell just by the way he looks at you. I think you should just go home, wake him up, and tell him you love him too.”

“He hates to be woken up,” Lance said with a small smile.

“Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.”

Lance was really surprised to see that all the lights were on when he got home. He thanked Mr. Fatone for the ride and went inside his house to see Josh pacing around the living room.

Josh looked up when he heard the door open, and he was over to Lance in two strides, hugging him tightly.

“God, when you didn’t come home, I thought... I thought that something had happened to you. I tried calling the restaurant, but no one answered the phone, and Mr. Fatone wasn’t answering the phone in his office...”

Lance pulled away and looked into the concerned eyes of his boyfriend with a smile. “Then I thought you were mad at me for the whole Danny thing, and you have every-”

He was cut off by Lance’s lips on his own.

“So,” Dan said, taking a sip of his Coke, “you love that Lance guy?” Josh and Dan were out eating Lunch at a tiny restaurant near Dan’s hotel, and Josh wished he could be anywhere else, preferably with Lance, than where he was.

“Yeah, I do,” Josh said.

“How old is he? He looks a bit younger than you.”

“He‘s 21,” Josh told him, a hint of irritation in his voice. “So almost three years younger, huh?” Dan remarked, and Josh glared at him. “It’s better than cheating on your lover for someone who’s five years older than you.”

Dan sighed. “Look, I feel really bad about what I did Josh, okay? I mean, all I came here to do was get a few of my things I left with you. Maybe make amends, and hope that we could still be friends.”

“You came hoping for something that was a long shot,” Josh said.

“I know, but I took the risk. Doesn’t that say something?”

Josh was silent. He wasn’t sure exactly how to respond.

“Things between Chris and myself are kinda on the rocks. I knew that was pretty obvious last night. The thing is, I don’t want to lose him the way I lost you. Sometime next week, how about you and Lance come to dinner with us, and we can all just start over.”

Josh thought about it for a second, before replying, “Fine.

“Okay, then how about Saturday?”

“Sounds good.”

“You don’t have to work at all tomorrow, right?” Josh asked Lance on Thursday night. Lance smiled. “Nope, the restaurant’s closed.”

“Why is it closed on a Friday night?”

Lance shrugged and reached over Josh to set the alarm clock on the older man’s nightstand. “What time should I set it at?” he asked.

“Why are you setting it at all?” Josh asked softly, moving his lips to Lance’s neck and gently sucking the flesh there. Lance grinned and leaned into Josh’s touch. “I mean, since neither of us are working tomorrow, we could stay in bed until noon, doing nothing but being together.”

“Mmm, sounds wonderful,” Lance told him, and Josh wrapped his arms around Lance. Lance laid his head on Josh’s shoulder, and their hands locked together.

“You never told me how your lunch with Dan the other day went.”

“There was really nothing to tell. Oh, did I mention that they invited us to dinner Saturday night?”

“What?” Lance asked, not sure he had heard right.

“I didn’t tell you, did I? We’re going to dinner with Danny and Chris tomorrow.”

“Well, this should be fun,” Lance remarked sarcastically.

“Lance, come on, Danny’s not so bad.”

Lance let out a little noise of disbelief. “Not that bad? Try putting yourself in my place. Your boyfriend’s ex comes into town, then boyfriend spends a lot of time with him, and I’m not supposed to feel anything towards that? Not to mention the fact that he not only was your first serious boyfriend, but he took your virginity. Honestly, I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t jealous.”

Josh sighed, tightening his hold on Lance’s hand. “I’m not going to lie to you, it’s been nice to see Danny again. I had a lot of great times in my life with him, and it’s hard to forget that. You have to remember, though, that I’m also not lying when I say that my heart belongs to you. I love you, and only you, okay?”

“I think he came here to get back together with you, Josh,” Lance said.

“What? Why would you think that?”

“Oh, come on. It’s only obvious. He was practically holding your hand at the restaurant, he asked you and you alone to lunch, and now he’s invited you to dinner. I’ll bet you money he asked questions about me when you two ate lunch. Sizing up the competition.”

Josh made a little incredulous snort. “God, do you really not trust me that much?”

“It’s him I don’t trust,” Lance muttered. “And I remember what you were like when he left you. I saw how you two were together at the restaurant. You’re still in love with him, aren’t you?” Lance asked softly.

Josh pulled away from Lance, their hands coming apart, and looked at his boyfriend with wide eyes. “How can you say that? After everything that’s happened between us?”

“Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t have feelings for him,” Lance whispered.

Josh moved over to where Lance was on the bed, pulled his face into his hands, and said. “What do I have to do to get you to see how much I love you, how much you mean to me? You and you alone, baby, that’s all I need.”

Lance looked at Josh, trying to find any hint of untruth in his eyes, but he couldn’t see it. All he could see was Josh’s soul mirroring his own.

Josh snorted. “That’s because all your exes are losers.”

“Oh, and Dan’s not,” Lance muttered, but Josh still heard him. Laughing, Josh pecked the younger man on the cheek. “Besides, you don’t even know my exes,” Lance said as the elevator came to a stop.

“They aren’t me, they’re losers, end of story,” Josh said, grinning.

“Oh, I don’t know, you’d probably like Nick. He was into basketball and music, like you. Although he was blonde and kind of whiny. He was really cute though, when we were dating. He was nicely built, skinny, looked decent. I don‘t know where he went wrong.”

“So, what happened?”

“We broke up and he got chubby. He lost his sense of style. His hair was just...”

“That bad, huh? Think he did the whole ‘depression, eating ice cream, gaining weight’ thing?”

Lance shrugged as they got to Chris and Dan’s hotel room. Josh knocked and grabbed Lance’s hand.

“If he starts flirting with you-” Lance started, and Josh smiled at him. “I know, I know.”

Chris answered the door and grinned when he saw Lance and Josh. “Hey, come in. It’s messy, neither of us are very tidy,” he said with a laugh.

“Yeah, Danny never could keep our place clean,” Josh chuckled, and Lance had to bite his tongue from saying something sarcastic.

“Are they here, Chris?” came a shout from the little bathroom in the back of the room. “Yeah,” Chris replied, inviting Lance and Josh to sit on the bed that hadn’t been slept in.

In the bathroom, Dan made sure he sprayed just a little extra cologne. ‘I wonder what Lance is wearing...’ he thought, before mentally berating himself. It was Josh he wanted, wasn’t it? Although Dan had to admit, Lance had a nice ass...

Coming out of the bathroom, Dan flashed his best smile and said, “Are we ready to go?”

The three men nodded and they left the hotel room.

Josh slouched even further in his chair, a pout forming on his lips. The night was not going like Dan had said, and it wasn’t going at all how Josh had imagined it. He had pictured awkward silences, him and Dan catching up, everyone being civil, and then going home and pulling Lance to him and never letting go.

He hadn’t pictured Dan flirting-- hitting on was more accurate-- with Lance so intensely. He hadn’t pictured his boyfriend not picking up on it because he was too caught up in getting to know Dan. And the thing that had come as the most shocking surprise to Josh was that Lance and Dan were actually starting to like each other.

He wasn’t sure if he liked that or not.

“So JC and I were like, ‘What the -hell- are we gonna do?’ So JC looks at me and says that we need a distraction, and I couldn’t think of anything, and these guys are getting closer to us. So JC does the only thing he can think of. He pulls down his pants and flashes them! They were just like, ‘What the holy hell?!’ And of course, Jace and I run like mad, laughing the whole way home.”

Lance laughed and even Chris found the story funny, even though he knew Josh wasn’t having a good time because apparently Lance was the only one who didn’t pick up on Dan’s blatant (and lame) flirting.

“Josh, I find it hard to believe that you used to be so wild,” Lance said with a chuckle, rubbing Josh’s arm.

“Yeah, well, I was stupid,” Josh grumbled.

“Yeah, you and Danny seemed to hit it off great,” Josh muttered, opening the door and stepping inside.

Lance looked at Josh incredulously before letting out a little snort. “Ha! Now who’s jealous?”

Josh turned around to face Lance. “You know what? You’re right. All night all I could think about was the fact that Danny was flirting with you so blatantly. Did you even -know- he was flirting with you?”

“I didn’t grow up in a box, Josh, I knew he was flirting with me. Did you see me -once- flirting back with him?”

“No,” Josh muttered.

“The other night you were asking me if I trusted you. Well, do you trust me?”

“Yes, of course I trust you. You’ve never given me a reason not to.”

“So we’re not jealous anymore?” Lance asked with a smile.

“Oh no, he stares at your ass one more time and I’ll kill him.”

The sound of the doorbell rang throughout the house, and Josh hurried to the front door.

He opened it and saw Dan standing there. “Hey,” Dan said softly.

“Hi.”

They were silent for a moment before Dan asked, “I came to get my box of things.”

Josh opened the door and let Dan enter the house. “Lance here?” he asked, and Josh’s face hardened. “No, he’s working.”

Dan nodded and Josh said, “I’ll be right back,” before heading to the stairs.

A moment later, Josh returned with a box in his hands. “Here you go,” he said, unceremoniously handing Dan the box.

“Thanks,” Dan said, and Josh nodded.

“You know, I regret leaving you. It was the worst thing I’ve ever done,” Dan said slowly, setting the box down.

“I’m not,” Josh replied. “Yeah, it hurt, but if you hadn’t left me, I wouldn’t be with Lance now.”

“Is he really all that great?” Dan asked.

“He’s better than you’ll ever be.”

Dan was silent for a moment. “Ouch,” he whispered softly.

“If you came here to try and make amends with me, you’re wasting your time, because I stopped loving you a long time ago.”

“Chris dumped me. He said that he knew I would never stay faithful to him, and that he didn‘t want to tie me down from what I really want.” Dan said.

“So that’s it? He dumped you and so you think I’ll take you back? I say good for him for seeing through you before I could.”

“You don’t hold anything back, do you?”

“I tell it like it is.”

“You really think you and Lance are going to stay together? Jace, you can do so much better than him.”

Josh looked at Dan sharply and said, “There’s nothing better than Lance.”

“I didn’t deserve you Josh. You’re the one that’s better.”

“I think it’s time for you to leave now,” Josh told him.

“So this is how we’re going to leave things between us? I’m pouring my heart out to you, JC, and you’re trampling on it. Please, all I want is one more chance.”

Josh stared at Dan for a long moment, and Dan was trying to read the emotions in his eyes, but he couldn’t.

“Well,” Josh said finally, “I guess now you know how it feels.”

Dan looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back up at Josh and nodding slowly, biting his lower lip. He picked up his box and went to the front door.

“I’m sorry Jace,” he said softly. “For everything.”

He turned and left, shutting the door softly behind him.

“Do you care?” Joey asked with a grin, and Lance laughed. “He was nice, I guess. When we went out to dinner, we got along. He was flirting with me all night, I think to make Josh mad at me. Too bad it backfired on him.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.”

“I guess I don’t care too much, I mean, he’s Josh’s ex, it’s not like I’m rooting for him to get what he wants,” Lance said, and Joey chuckled.

“Are you two alone tonight again?” Mr. Fatone asked, coming out of his office. “Yeah, Justin and Britney split. Again. I don’t know why you let them work here Dad, they never do any actual work,” Joey said.

Mr. Fatone shrugged. “I love all my employees, and I just couldn’t fire two kids as sweet as them.”

“You’re too soft, Dad,” Joey said with a laugh.

Mr. Fatone turned to Lance. “So, where is Joshua this fine evening?” “He’s preparing a lesson for his students tomorrow.” Mr. Fatone nodded and said, “Well, if he comes by, let me know, I’d like to ask him about that dishwasher.”

“Oh yeah, because he fixed our coffee machine that one time, huh?” Joey asked, and Lance nodded. He heard the ding of the bell on the front door, signaling that a customer had just entered, and he left the kitchen.

“Hi, welcome to Fatone’s,” Lance said, not looking up until he was done talking. “Chris?” he asked.

Chris smiled. “Hey Lance. I was wondering... well, I saw the sign in the window when Dan and I were here that one time, and I was wondering if you still needed someone to work here.”

Lance grinned. “You want a job here? Of course. Follow me,” he said, leading Chris over to a small table. “Sit down, I’ll go get the employee form for you to fill out. I’ll have to interview you, of course, but trust me, the job’s already yours.”

Chris smiled and Lance disappeared to go get the papers. He came back and after Chris filled them out, Lance asked him a few questions, and then Lance’s boss, who he introduced as Mr. Fatone, came out and asked him a few more questions.

“Well,” Mr. Fatone said, “you sound like you’re just what we need. Welcome aboard.” They shook hands and Lance was grinning behind Mr. Fatone. “You’re going to love working here,” Lance said, as Mr. Fatone went back into the kitchen.

“Just wait here while I go help Mr. Fatone process those papers, and then I’ll give you a tour of the restaurant and show you how everything works.”

Chris nodded and Lance disappeared back into the kitchen. After a moment, Chris heard the door to the restaurant open and saw Josh walk in.

“Hi,” he said in greeting, and Josh was a little surprised to see Chris there. “Hi Chris, what are you doing here?”

“I work here now, I was just hired.”

Josh smiled. “You’ll like working here, good people are here.”

Chris nodded. “Yeah, I could tell when I first walked in here.”

Josh laughed. “Same here. The first time I ever entered this restaurant, I could tell it was one of those places where everyone remembers your name, and makes you feel welcome.”

They were silent for a moment before Chris spoke up, “I’m sorry for what I did to you. For taking Dan away from you. I knew you two were dating and I let him cheat on you with me. I let him move in with me. I’ve always felt bad about what I did, and I’m so sorry.”

Josh smiled at Chris. “I’m not. In fact, I should thank you. If you and Dan hadn’t gotten together, I would’ve never been able to be with Lance. And I love Lance so much more than I ever loved Dan.”

Chris smiled. “I can see that.”

Lance walked out of the kitchen, and Chris saw his face brighten at the sight of Josh. “Hey Josh, I was just about to show Chris around. Want to join us?”

Josh nodded and the three men disappeared behind the swinging doors.

“Hey Josh?” Lance asked.

“Yeah baby?”

“Can you take a look at the dishwasher? Mr. Fatone thinks it’s broken.”

Josh laughed and Joey looked over. “Hey,” he said to Chris, extending his hand. “I’m Joey.”

“Chris.”

They shook hands and Joey said, “You can meet Justin and Britney when they get back. You seem like someone who’d get along with Justin pretty well.”

“Yeah, maybe he’ll stop making out with Britney if he makes a new friend,” Lance joked. Chris laughed lightly, feeling--oddly enough--that he belonged.