Chris slammed the phone down and turned to pace across the room, wishing he still had his braids just so he could pull his hair out easier. He made his second turn and had to stop or run into JC. "Who was that?" the younger man asked.
"How's Joey?" Chris countered, not really wanting to answer the question. He was beginning to regret what he'd done, but shoved that feeling out of the way. He had to protect them from that much heartache. Joey couldn't take a second blow. And if the truth be told, neither could he.
"Sleeping." JC pointed at the phone. "The phone call?"
"Marissa," Chris said flatly, and turned away to pace some more, half contemplating crawling over the bed so he'd have more room. JC moved, giving him the space he needed.
"You said that to Marissa?" he demanded. "What are you, nuts?"
"Yes, fine, I'm nuts," Chris ground out. "Go away, JC."
JC watched him pace a little, then nodded and left through the connecting door into Justin's room. "Who was he talking to?" Justin asked without taking his eyes from the video game he and Lance were playing.
"Marissa. Do you have her number somewhere?"
Both of them forgot the game, turning around to stare at him. Justin scrambled to his feet and got his address book from his bag. "Under Bauer," he said, handing it to JC, who flipped it open. "He said that to Marissa?"
JC was already dialing. "I'm going to see how she's doing." The phone rang twice before it was picked up.
"Hello?"
"May I speak to Marissa?" He didn't see the two younger men inch towards the connecting door.
"Who is this?" Anika was sure Marissa didn't want to talk to anyone; she was still crying.
"JC Chasez. I just wanted to make sure she's all right."
"She's not all right!" Anika said indignantly. "He was cruel on purpose! That was just rude, and uncalled for!"
"I know," JC said, trying for calm. "Right now, none of us are happy with him. Can I talk to her, please?"
"Depends. Why?"
He sighed. "Mostly I want to apologize for him, or to at least try to right this wrong. The rest of us don't feel that way. Did she tell you what she said?"
"She barely managed to get out that he accused her of taking advantage of you."
"She's crying?" At her affirmation, JC covered the mouthpiece of the phone and swore. The two at the connecting door exchanged a glance, then Lance walked swiftly over to JC.
"What's wrong?" he asked. JC waved him away, and he rejoined Justin at the door with a shrug.
"Can I talk to her, please?" JC asked as the two stepped into Chris' room, carefully closing the door behind them. JC didn't even notice.
Anika covered the mouthpiece of her phone, and looked at her friend, who did seem to be calming down. "You want to talk to JC?" she asked quietly.
Marissa nodded, taking a minute to clean her face and blow her nose before taking the phone. "Hello?"
"Marissa, hi, JC. Are you okay?"
She gave a short laugh. "Not really, but I will be. He's in some kind of mood, I guess?"
"Yeah, it's been rough. Listen. The rest of us..." She could hear shouting come over the line, then JC stopped talking.
"What's that?" Marissa asked.
"It sounds like Justin and Lance are... talking to Chris." He really hoped they hadn't heard his comment about her crying.
"Stop them!"
"I don't know if I can." I don't know if I want to, he thought rebelliously.
"Let me talk to Justin. And call Lance off, JC. Chris doesn't need to be attacked."
JC sighed. And you did? he thought. "All right." He set the phone down and strode to the connecting door. It was a surprising sight when he got it open; Justin and Lance had Chris cornered and were yelling at him, fists clenched. Chris' face was pale, but blank. "Justin!" JC said, just loud enough to be heard. Justin turned, looking furious; Lance didn't turn. "Phone. Lance, you're next. Come on."
With a last glare at Chris, they both left the room. JC was not surprised to hear the connecting door lock from Chris' side.
Justin picked up the phone. "This is Justin," he growled.
"Justin, sit down, lean back and breathe for a minute. And tell Lance to do the same."
"But I don't...." he protested.
"Now, Justin." He blinked, surprised, then relayed the instructions to Lance and did as he was told. Lance followed his example. "Okay," she said after a minute, "I only want to say this once, so share the phone."
Justin sighed, feeling a little better. "Lance, she wants to talk to both of us."
"Who is it?" Lance asked as he scooted closer, shoulder to shoulder with Justin to share the receiver.
"Marissa."
Lance chuckled stiffly. "Okay, I'm here."
"Good. Listen carefully. I want you both to leave Chris alone."
They protested, and she let them talk themselves out. It took a while before they calmed down. "All right," she said, once they had, "let me tell you why. He's in a bad mood, and I don't want you making it worse. If you guys get into a fight over this thing with me, he'll end up hating me more, and I'd like to like Chris, if that makes any sense." She shrugged. "At any rate, I don't like the idea of people not liking me, so don't help him out with that. If your relationship changes over this, he'll blame me."
"He wouldn't," Lance protested.
"Are you sure?" Marissa asked gently.
"I wouldn't have thought he'd do this at all," Justin said slowly, and sighed. "All right."
"You'll keep writing us?" Lance asked.
"Of course! Just... don't tell Joey about this. I hear he's not doing very well. It must be horrid."
"He's taking it hard," Justin agreed.
"I'm sorry about that. I wish there were something I could do." She paused, trying to come up with a tactful way to say what she wanted to. "Hey, um... I guess I can't tell you how to handle Chris, but certainly don't let some weird pseudo fan come between you, okay? And tell that to JC."
"All right," Justin sighed.
"Pseudo fan?" Lance laughed.
"Hey, it's a valid word. I'm a college graduate."
"Marissa."
"Yes, Lance?"
"If JC called you, does that me you got an...."
"Don't even go there!" she yelped into the phone. "No, most definitely not!"
"But it was Justin's fault, not mine!"
"What was my fault?" Justin demanded.
Marissa chuckled. "As if that would make me change my mind. Let me talk to JC."
"Hey, Sleepy, she's yours," Justin said, holding the phone out. JC took it.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"One, I'm not yours. Two, Sleepy? What are you, five of the seven dwarves? And does that make Justin Dopey?"
JC laughed. "They think I sleep too much. I don't know about Dopey, but it does make Chris Grumpy half the time and Happy half the time. What did you want?"
"Mostly to apologize for the grilling. Anika did the same to Chris on Thanksgiving."
"Hey!" Anika protested. Marissa grinned at her.
"Not a problem," JC said. "Friends like that are rare."
Marissa sighed softly. There was that word again. "I know. I'm lucky. Be nice to Chris, okay?"
He sighed. "All right, all right. You're okay?"
"I'm fine, JC, thanks. I'll talk to you later."
"All right. Bye." He hung up and looked at Justin and Lance, who still sat shoulder to shoulder on the bed. "You two look like you're planning something."
"Nope," Justin said, and got up. "But what was my fault?" he asked, turning to Lance.
Lance laughed. "You'll never get it out of me!" He got up and dug his key card out of his pocket. "I'm gonna check on Joey."
"Don't wake him up," JC said, and Lance gave him a look that plainly said "duh."
Justin followed him out. "What was my fault?" he demanded again as the door closed behind them. JC chuckled and walked over to the connecting door.
His knock brought only silence. "Chris, they're gone. Open up."
"Go away, JC," came the mumbled reply.
JC sighed. "All right," he murmured, and left Justin's room for his own. Oh, yeah, this trip was going to be fun.
When they gathered for dinner, Chris was quiet and kept to himself. Joey noticed his haunted eyes as he watched them banter back and forth; Justin had been trying to get something out of Lance since they'd woken him up for dinner. He got up and went to sit next to Chris.
"Hey, you okay?" he asked. Chris looked at him.
"Fine," he shrugged. "You?"
Joey grinned, a little sickly. "Hey, there's food in front of me. All's well with the world." It sounded forced to his own ears, and he hid a wince.
Chris' chuckle sounded just as forced. "I should have guessed."
"What is Justin bugging Lance about?"
"I have no idea," the older man said. "Have you asked?"
"He says ‘I'll tell you when I know,' then goes back to pestering Lance."
Justin turned around. "I am not pestering Lance!" he protested.
"Says you," Lance said, grinning. "Give it up, Justin."
Justin sighed. "Fine, I give up. For now."
JC laughed. "Good. My turn. What were you talking about?"
Lance looked like he'd been clubbed, jaw dropped, pale green eyes wide. Joey and Chris lost it completely; Justin chuckled, shaking his head, and JC leaned back in his chair, arms folded, a smug expression on his face that resembled the one on Marissa's face that night in the club.
"I'd say Lanceten was feeling a little picked on," Joey finally gasped out.
Lance's jaw snapped shut, and he grinned. "Comes with the territory."
They retired early that night; Justin approached the still locked connecting door between his room and Chris' with some trepidation, and knocked. "Chris, can I talk to you?" he called when there was no answer.
"Depends." He sounded less angry than he had been; he sounded just tired now. "Are you going to yell at me?"
"No." It took a minute, but the door finally opened. Chris leaned on it, hiding the rest of the room from his view. "Um. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for coming down on you so hard earlier," Justin said.
Chris regarded him for a moment, then nodded. "Thanks." He smiled almost hesitantly. "I was beginning to think I was going to be shunned for the rest of the tour."
"I won't say it didn't cross my mind," Justin said, then grinned. "But that would be really stupid of me." He paused. "Um. Are you going to lock that door again?"
"Not if you promise I won't wake up with some sort of practical joke."
Justin stepped back warily. "Should I be locking my side of this thing?"
This time the grin was real. "Probably wouldn't hurt. I think I have a stash of spiders somewhere."
Justin shuddered. "You wouldn't." The grin turned evil. "Yes, you would. I'm locking it. Good night, Chris." He firmly closed the door and locked it, turned the light out and crawled into bed. It took him a long time to get to sleep.