"I just wanted to say how much it sucks that they're dumping on you like this. I've heard some of your stuff and, I mean you don't deserve this. If I'd known, I'd've made 'em hold mine off the radio a week or two. You been workin' your ass off, you didn't need me stealing your show." Justin stopped,a little out of breath and aware he was starting to sound kind of lame. But he'd needed to get that off his chest for weeks now, had to finish before Nick could get out an insincere smile and brush him off.

As the silence stretched he realized Nick was staring at him. He looked up, expecting embarrassment, or maybe relief on Nick's face. Instead he found... amusement.

Nick's eyes twinkled as he took in Justin. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards. Finally, he spoke.

"How long you been practicing that one, Timberlake?"

He flushed hotly, embarrassed. "It wasn't a speech, okay? I meant it, I'm sorry!"

Nick laughed, a real laugh, no tinge of bitterness.

"God, Timberlake, you're a piece of *work*." He slung a friendly arm around Justin's shoulder, pulling him to Nick's side. "I'm going to tell you a secret, something Kevin told me when I was a kid." He leaned in close, his breath tickling Justin's ear. "You're not the centre of the universe, J-man." He drew back looking expectant, still grinning broadly.

Suddenly Justin wanted to laugh. Nick was happy as a clam. He didn't give a fuck that Justin's solo debut had been a performance on the MTV VMAs while his had only been presenting at the Latin Grammies. He'd been apologizing for the competition they'd been forced into and here *he* was the one keeping score.

He shook his head and smiled ruefully. "God, you must think I'm an ass."

"Hell no," Nick applied pressure to Justin's shoulders, guiding him expertly through the throng of after-partiers. "I think you're the only one here that ain't speaking Spanish. I also think you owe me a b-ball game, but nobody's gonna find us a court tonight."

"So what you got in mind?"

"I'm thinking limo, I'm thinking English-speaking clubs, I'm thinking... I'm thinking that there's my babysitter and I gotta get some sleep tonight." Their progress halted abruptly as Nick sighted one of his minders. "Shit. We ain't had a chance to really talk in a long while J."

"Walk you out?" Justin offered, strangely disappointed. It wasn't like he needed Nick around to have fun.

He was decked out all in shades of beige. On anyone else it would have looked boring, but even in the semi-darkness of the party, Nick glowed. Justin took in the slightly worn look of the cream pants, the suede jacket - was it really suede? His fingers reached out to touch, meaning only to brush the cuff. It was soft and luxurious against his palm. He stroked upwards. Warm. Firm. That wasn't the jacket, that was Nick's bicep underneath.

Justin wasn't sure how he'd gone from brushing fabric to squeezing Nick's arm, but it felt pretty good. He checked with Nick. Piercing blue eyes were watching him, intent. Justin swallowed hard.

"Y'know J," Nick teased, his voice low, "You look pretty tired yourself."

Justin's mouth went dry as Nick's speculative gaze travelled slowly down Justin's body. After a long moment, Nick arched an eyebrow, expecting an answer. Justin couldn't remember the question.

"Uh..."

Nick grinned, amused and feral. Justin felt a little trapped.

The limo pulled up, saving him from having to answer. Nick's body language shifted, the sexual invitation replaced by an open, friendly manner. "C'mon J," he invited, nodding towards the inside. "We can talk about old times."

Nick smiled a full-on Backstreet smile, reminding Justin they were in public. He shook himself and slid in after Nick.

"Hey, I meant to say. The VMA's? That was some good shit, J-man. I was impressed."

"You were there?" Justin frowned, trying his best to swing with the sudden change of pace. Nick chuckled.

"I got a TV, dog."

"Oh. Right."

"Probably should've left the hat off," he advised blandly.

"Hey, I liked the hat. " Justin scowled. "It was a tribute to Sinatra."

"Dude, Robbie Williams' last album was a tribute to Sinatra," Nick rolled his eyes. "That was pure King of Pop material and if you didn't mean it that way, fire your stylist."

Justin pouted a little. The guys had all told him it rocked. That it was brilliant. Even Chris, whose usual stinging barbs he'd been braced for, had given him the thumbs up. What did Nick know anyway?

Nick poked his knee, grinning conspiratorily. "How much did it kill you to have to lip synch, huh?"

Justin stared at him for a second, remembering how he'd ranted and raved over that while Joey, Chris and J.C. had all offered soothing words until it hadn't seemed so bad. Lots of soothing, positive words that night.

"God it sucked!" he exclaimed, and something inside of him came loose. "I'm going up there, trying to prove I can sing by myself and MTV won't turn on the damn mic 'cause it's too fucking expensive. Music Television my motherfucking ass. It was like being in Germany back in the day. I can't believe I caved."

"Hey, you're not Justin Timberlake of NSYNC anymore," Nick reminded him, exasperation written on his face. "You're just Justin Timberlake. It's a whole new ballgame."

"Funny how they'll say that to my face and then call me "Justin Timberlake of NSYNC" in promotion."

"Oh yeah," Nick nodded sagely. "Very weird. They wouldn't be hypocrites or anything."

"Welcome to my humble abode," Nick said, closing the door behind him.

The room was humble by the hotel's standards. It was one room instead of Justin's suite, with a few basic furnishings. The bed, a king size by the look of it, dominated the room. Nick's knapsack lay half open in the middle of it, socks spilling onto the bedspread.

"You... uh, haven't turned it down, yet," Justin said, sounding lame to his own ears. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the bedspread.

Nick draped himself over Justin's back, leaning his head against Justin's cheek, trying to see what Justin saw. One of his big hands pressed firmly against Justin's abs.

"Turned what down, J?"

The hot breath against his ear had Justin biting back a whimper. Nick's hand moved in slow strokes, up and down Justin's torso, the pressure never letting up, never drifting below Justin's waistband. Justin felt his cock making an attempt to meet Nick's hand.

"Not gonna turn down anything you wanna give." Nick's voice was gentle if husky. Justin remembered the predatory look in Nick's eyes before the limo showed up and felt a little disappointed.

"Thought you were going to do the taking, Nick?" he challenged, willing his voice not to shake.

"Would have," Nick agreed easily, nudging at Justin's neck, taking one fast, warm lick upwards. "Mmm. Definitely would have. You, me, a dark corner in a dark club..." he nudged his hips forward, thrust once against Justin's ass. "I'm taking a raincheck on that one, Timberlake."

The mental image made Justin shudder.

"But tonight..." Nick turned Justin to face him, slipping both arms around his waist. There was something serious, something warm and wise and generous underlying the desire in his expression. It made Justin want to curl up and be petted. "Tonight I pretty much got what I needed just by leaving the party. What do you need, Justin?"

He needed to stop seeing those eyes. He needed to step in close, press himself tight to... oh. Nick was hot against him, even through both their clothes.It was electrifying. Justin rubbed himself against Nick's body, head arching back, hands sliding around and under, caressing the burning warmth at the small of Nick's back. He almost purred when Nick bent his head to suck on his exposed Adam's apple.

"Mmmm..." Someone was going to object if Nick left a hickey there, but Justin found that he didn't care much. What he did care about was the fact that Nick's hands had hooked themselves under his thighs and Nick was *carrying* him to the bed. It was so hot, he barely noticed when his back connected with Nick's knapsack. Nick helped him move to the head of the bed, sweeping the mess onto the floor with one hand.

When he was lying back, looking up at Nick positively looming over him, Justin finally realized that for once in his life he was in bed with someone *bigger* than him. He sucked in a breath as Nick lay himself down like a blanket, covering Justin in a full-body embrace. Yeah. That was what he needed. Comfort and arousal both seeped through him. He felt the loss keenly when Nick knelt back, but the heat in Nick's eyes helped. He watched as Nick stripped off his tshirt and jacket, then reached down to tug at Justin's shirt.

"Does this come off?"

"Uh huh." He lifted his arms and let Nick pull it off him. The resulting warm licks up his abdomen were very gratifying. He arched up, and large hands pinned his shoulders to the bed. Justin let out a long, shuddering moan at the sensation, whimpering a little when Nick ducked his head and rubbed soft hair across Justin's sensitive skin.

"God, Nick..." Nick rubbed his way up Justin's body before diving in for a kiss. It was hot and hard,everything Justin had wanted it to be. With Nick's hands still on his shoulders there was little he could do but lie back and surrender.

Nick kissed him so thoroughly that Justin didn't notice one of Nick's hands had left his shoulders until he felt his fly open and callused fingers surround his welcoming cock. Justin's hips decided that surrender was definitely overrated. He thrust desperately into Nick's hand, nearly coming when Nick growled in reply. He stilled himself with an effort.

"Not... like this," he panted.

"Well then," Nick's hand tightened a little. "Tell me how."

"Lube." Justin's eyes widened when Nick dug a tube and a condom out of the back pocket of his pants. "Uh..."

"Never know when you'll need 'em," was the curt explanation. "On you or on me?"

"On me." Justin thought of ice, snow and the smell of Joey's socks as Nick rolled the condom on to his eager cock and prepared him. Nick thoughtfully removed the rest of his and Justin's clothes before returning to his position for further instructions.

Justin licked his lips. "Let me watch you."

It was, as Justin had suspected, the hottest thing he had seen in a long time, to watch Nick's thick, rough fingers disappear into his own body, to see his face twist with pleasure. Nick's cock bobbed against his stomach, leaving a thin trail of precome. It was almost enough to change Justin's mind, to make him dive in for a taste. Instead, he croaked out, "Ready?"

"Ohhhh yeah." Nick removed his fingers and crept forward on hands and knees, positioning himself. Justin grabbed Nick's hips and guided him down, slowly. Nick was tight, but his body adjusted easily, taking Justin all the way in. They rested for a moment, joined, until Justin couldn't wait another second. He was in control now, thrusting up and pulling Nick down, enjoying every grunt and groan he elicited from Nick. The sounds, and heat, and beautiful friction were just what Justin needed and he came with a shout, Nick following close behind.

They were hot and sticky but Justin was too sated to give a damn. He let Nick take care of things, removing condom and pulling both of them under the covers. He curled up close, finally getting the petting he had wanted.

"You know what I needed?" he asked slowly.

"Company?" Nick asked back.

Justin grinned at him. "That's the cool thing about this whole thing. You know exactly where I'm coming from."

Nick kept stroking Justin's hair, but his eyes turned sad. "I can guess. It's different for you, Justin."

"Not so much. Different styles, that's all."

"More than that."

Justin stretched, feeling sleep creep up on him. "You telling me you wouldn't have rather done another Backstreet album this year?"

"It would've been cool if I could've done both," Nick acknowledged. "But I needed to do this. I needed to prove I didn't need to lean on them, that I can do it completely alone."

"Maybe someday man," Justin yawned. "Right now, I so can't. I'm not an alone type of person, you know?"

"Yeah." Nick dropped a kiss into Justin's hair. "I know."

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