DISCLAIMERS: All made up. Thanks to each other and to Katie and Pet.

AN ADULT OR SOMETHING

Joey needed furniture. Lance told him so every time he came over to Joey's barren apartment. "So you've upgraded, man, you're practically a yuppie," Lance would say, waving at all the space Joey had compared to his old rat dive studio. "Unless you're going for some kind of minimalist statement," and Lance would raise an eyebrow at the notion of Joey making any kind of statement with his interior design, "You should buy more furniture."

Joey knew that. He made enough now, he was a full-time first grade teacher and he didn't need to live like he was still a grad student and living off Ramen noodles. But it was scary to admit. Like he was an adult or something, someone who had an end table and a dining room table and someone who didn't have his TV on milk crates so it was off the floor.

Lance showed up one Saturday and just stood in the doorway. "We're going. We're going to buy at least one piece of furniture for this place. Get in the car." Joey laughed and let Lance drive.

"Where we going? Ikea?" Joey pushed a cd off the seat. He looked at the CD and snorted. "OutKast? Lance, you must be seeing someone new, 'cause I know this ain't yours."

Lance blushed. "Well, actually." Lance grinned and started driving. "I am seeing this guy, and his friend builds furniture. Like Aidan, on Sex and the City?" Joey laughed again. He didn't watch the show at all, but Lance assumed everyone did. "His friend just opened this store. I am taking you there. It's a win/win thing. You buy nice furniture, I get to score points with, well, yes, this new guy."

"What's this going to cost me?" Joey twisted around and pulled Lance's CD wallet from behind his seat. "Like, am I going to have to take out a second mortgage?"

"You don't have a first mortgage, Joe. And seriously, keep those in order."

Joey slipped Joni Mitchell's "Blue" out of the wallet and slid it into the CD player. "Tell me about this guy."

"I don't -- we've gone out, like, five times. There's really not a lot to tell."

"What's his name?"

Lance blushed again and his voice was quiet when he said, "Justin."

"And he likes OutKast and he knows some guy with a furniture store. Anything else, or is that it?" Joey tapped his fingers against the door in time with Joni singing.

"That's it for now. We're here." Lance parked and got out. The store was small, and off the main streets.

Joey stopped and looked at the rocking chair in the front window. "Wow. That's beautiful. I mean -- okay, shit, I can't believe I'm saying this about a chair, but, man."

Lance grinned. "Let's go in. And you don't need a chair, Joey, so stop gawking at it."

The store had a warm wood smell, and Joey decided furniture shopping didn't suck. He paused to run his hands over the smooth top of a table and heard Lance say, "Oh. Hey, hi. You're here."

Lance was blushing, stammering and running his hand through his hair. So the tall kid with the bandanna slouching against a counter and smirking had to be Justin. "Hey, Lance, who is this?" Joey tried to look innocent.

Lance coughed and glared at Joey. "Joey, this is Justin. Justin, this is Joey. Uh, Joey was getting his Masters when I was a senior -- a senior in college -- and that's how we know each other." Lance's hands fluttered between the two of them. Justin just kept smirking but he reached out and shook Joey's hand.

"Yo, you gonna buy something? C makes good stuff, I swear." Justin looked at both Joey and Lance, but he smiled at Lance.

Joey rolled his eyes a little and started walking around the store. He hummed "River" as he looked at coffee tables and nightstands and kitchen cabinets. Joey could smell the cedar and the pine when he walked past them. He could see this stuff in his apartment, Lance was right.

"So, how do I know what stuff costs?" Joey asked loudly.

Justin was seated on the counter and his head was bent down, close to Lance, but he looked up and pointed to the wall. "There's a list by the door."

"Thanks." He studied the prices and was surprised to find they were cheaper than he'd estimated.

"What are you looking for?" Justin asked.

Joey shrugged. "I'll take anything."

The bell on the door rattled and Justin hopped off the counter. "Fuck, C, finally. I almost started eating wood glue."

"Dude, lunchtime crowd. I did the best I could." He pulled fries and a sandwich from one of the bags and handed them to Justin. "And if you'd just eat the fish sandwich with the tartar sauce on it, my life would be so much easier. Hey, Lance."

"Hi, JC." Lance smiled and sipped from Justin's Coke.

JC shrugged out of his jeans jacket. "Are you picking Justin up?"

"He's shopping," Justin said around a mouthful of fish and bread. "He brought that guy by the TV things."

"Armoires, Justin."

Justin offered some fries to Lance. "Whatever."

Joey walked up to the counter. "Joey Fatone," he said, extending his hand. "That Guy."

JC grinned. "Welcome to my store."

Joey thought JC was too skinny. Built, a little, but skinny. Attractive, he guessed, though he usually had to check that kind of stuff with Lance. Joey tugged at his sweatshirt, suddenly sweating a little. "You, uh, do you actually make all this?"

JC nodded and started eating his fries. "Yeah, I make it all. I used to work at another store, but then, yeah. So it's all mine."

Joey nodded again and turned around. He didn't want to keep looking at JC. Which was weird. Joey didn't want to think about it. He wanted to buy something and get Lance off his back and leave. And maybe get JC's number. He rubbed the side of an armoire. He didn't want JC's number. He just wanted to leave. "Lance, help me out."

Lance walked over and tapped Joey on the shoulder. "Okay," he hissed. "I realize you feel compelled to demonstrate your straightness, but. You can choose furniture on your own." Lance looked back at Justin for a second and then at Joey. "He's cute, isn't he?"

"He's not," Joey hissed. "And fuck, how would I know?"

"Uh. You're not blind. And seriously, you're telling me Justin's not cute? No one with eyes would think that." Lance crossed his arms and looked back over at the counter. Joey kept his eyes on the armoire, tracing the grain with his fingers.

"Oh. I misunderstood. Yeah, sure, Justin's cute." Joey rubbed his stomach and jammed his hands in his pockets. "Let's get this and go. Okay?"

JC said, "You like it?" He was suddenly standing right next to Joey, smelling like fries and cedar and something else. He had an eager grin and Joey wondered how many sales the guy was making.
 
"Yeah. I'll take it."

He nodded at the wood. "I have that in cherry, too, if you like a darker wood."

"This is fine."

"Oak is sturdy, you know, solid. But if you do like it dark, you could stain it, too."

Justin snorted. "Dude, he said he'd buy the damn thing."

JC bounced on his toes. "Sorry. I just, you know. You really like it?"

Joey looked at the floor. "I really do."

Justin cleared the food off the counter and Joey wrote the check for the armoire before it occurred to him that it wouldn't fit in Lance's car.

"Doesn't your friend Chris have a truck?" Lance asked. "You could call him. He might let us use it."

"Dude, don't worry about it." JC grabbed a pair of keys off the wall. "I can drive you home."

Joey raised his eyebrows at Lance. "Uh, no, that's not necessary. I'll call Chris. Do you have a phone I could use?"

Justin pulled a cell phone from his pocket, but JC waved it away. "It's not a problem. I've got this van, you know, for moving lumber and stuff, anyway. Come on."

Joey told himself he was acting like an idiot. JC was nice, clearly a nice guy. And there was no reason for Joey to be sitting in the passenger seat of this nice guy's van, sweating and nervous. And certainly no real reason for Joey to practically jump like a little girl when JC tapped him on the knee.

"Sorry," JC said. "Uh, directions. I need to know where to turn." JC looked over at Joey for a second and then back at the road. "Maybe we should have had Lance lead the way instead of following us."

Joey laughed. "Uh, sorry. I'm sorry. Turn here. Right. I'm at the end of this street. And, man, I don't think Lance has even left your shop yet. If we'd waited for him to finish up with Justin, we'd still be back there."

JC laughed, too. Nice laugh. Nice guy, nice laugh, nice arms. Joey shook his head. He clenched his hands into fists and looked out the window. JC was talking, and Joey concentrated on the words. They pulled into the parking lot of Joey's apartment building. "Yeah. Justin's nice, though. I mean -- he helps out at the counter during the day and I can't even pay him really, since I'm not that solvent yet." JC paused. "I'm just babbling here. Right? I do that a lot."

"S'okay. It's fine. And yeah, Justin. Uh, what does he do? Lance is being all discreet or something." They'd parked in front of his apartment and were standing outside the van.

"Oh. Justin's in a band. They do weddings and parties and stuff. Covers. Which is where he met Lance." JC looked at the van, looked at the door. "Do you live on the first floor, or where?"

Joey lived on the third floor but between the two of them they got the armoire into the elevator and then into Joey's apartment. JC leaned back against the armoire, a fine sheen of sweat on his face and arms. "You need more than just an armoire, dude. Not to, uh, well. Anyway. Where do you want this?"

Joey gestured, tried to think. "Uh, just against that wall. That should be fine. I don't want to keep you."

JC smiled at Joey and Joey tried hard not to smile back. JC stopped smiling. "Uh, no problem." They shoved the armoire into place and JC left, with a bright wave and another sweet smile.

Lance showed up an hour later. "Hey, that looks good." Lance nodded approvingly at the armoire and grabbed a beer from Joey's refrigerator.

"I'm not even going to ask where you've been."

Lance took a long drink and didn't look at Joey. "Nothing happened."

"Whatever. I don't wanna know." Joey tugged at his baseball cap. "What do you think about JC?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. What do you think about him?"

Lance sat on the couch. "He looks like a stiff wind'd blow him right over, but really, he's been nothing but nice to me."

Joey looked at the armoire and noticed that his apartment was beginning to smell like JC's shop. "Okay."

"Why?" Lance smirked and took another drink. "You have a crush on the guy or something?"

"Fuck you, Lance."

"You haven't dated anybody since Kelly, man. I'm just saying."

Joey met Kelly at a Phi Delt party when he was twenty. They fucked that first night on the stairs and she wrote her number on his hand with a Sharpie. More than once, he thought of buying her a ring. It lasted for three years, until she made him chicken Marsala and said that she'd slept with a guy from her office named AJ. It didn't mean anything, she said, and Joey threw his plate against the wall. He left and didn't go back, and that was the night he slept with Lance.

"I don't have a fucking crush on the fucking carpenter. Just -- he's friends with your boyfriend and I'm friends with you, and if I'm going to have to hang out with this guy, I want to know what his deal is."

"Do you want me to ask Justin, find out for you?"

Joey sighed and took the beer from Lance's hand. Condensation dripped from the can onto his jeans. He gulped what was left in the can. "Forget about it." He stood and walked towards the television. "Get your ass up and help me put this in the armoire."

*

Joey did crazy things when he was drunk. Like sleeping with Lance, which, thank goodness, hadn't wrecked their friendship. And sleeping with other guys, back in college, when he was drunk. Joey hit the steering wheel with his head and turned up the radio loud. He needed to remember not to get drunk around JC.

He pulled into the school parking lot and sat in his car. He did need more furniture and the stuff at JC's was good and cheap. He'd go back again, he decided, maybe not bring Lance and just go and get the rest of what he needed. Just get it over with. Decision made. Joey got out of the car and walked into work.

"Yo, Mistuh Fatone!" Chris grinned from the doorway. "Lunch?"

Joey nodded and pointed the side of his desk. "Pull up a chair, shorty. Eat with me."

Chris plopped down in one of the kid's small chairs and opened his brown paper bag. "Okay, dude, met the hottest girl over the weekend. At the laundromat. Do you believe it? I thought that shit only happened in, like, Cosmo articles."

"I only read Cosmo for the articles, man." Joey grinned back at Chris. "She got a friend? I haven't gotten laid in ages. I want a hot chick."

"Waa waah. Whine away, Fatone. Here's a tip. Don't spend every weekend hanging out with your gay best friend." Chris took a sip of his Coke.

"You got a problem with Lance?" Joey put his sandwich down.

"Woah! Chill, Joey. Chill. I like Lance. I'm not coming out to you as a big friend of Fred Phelps or some kind of homophobe. Just, you know, you'd meet more girls if you didn't spend so much time hanging out with someone who doesn't like girls." Chris sat back and chewed on his lunch.

"Lance likes girls. He just doesn't want to have sex with them." Joey shook his head. "No, no, I know what you mean. Sorry for freaking there." Joey sighed and then took a bite of his sandwich. "Tell me about your hot chick. Tell me if she has a friend."

*

Justin looked up with a smile when Joey walked into the store that night. "Hey. Is, uh." Justin paused and picked at his teeth. "Good to see you, man." Justin looked back down at the magazine spread in front of him, trying to appear nonchalant.

Joey laughed. "Lance isn't with me this time, Coolio."

Justin rolled his eyes. "Fine. Fine. I just, you know, didn't want you telling him I was all psycho stalker girly thing after, like, maybe six dates."

Joey started looking around. End table, dining room table, dining room chairs. He could use all of those things. Like in Lance's apartment or something, where no one ever ate sitting on the rug.

JC said, from behind him, "You're back!" When Joey turned around, JC was, of course, wearing that big beaming smile and bouncing on his heels. Boy was certainly enthusiastic.

"Well, you were right. I need even more than an armoire. And I figure, get the good stuff before you wise up and start charging what this is all actually worth." And of course, JC smiled even more at that and even blushed a little.

He bought a dining room set and an end table for his living room. JC insisted on loading everything up in his van again and delivering it. After they had lugged everything inside and put it in its place, JC was sweaty and Joey couldn't not offer the guy a beer or something to drink.

"Water's good, actually, if you have it."

Joey reached for a glass and turned on the faucet. "Looks like I do."

"I meant bottled."

"Oh."

"But tap water's fine. Really." JC took the glass from Joey and smiled. "I'm not picky."

Joey noticed that JC's hair was curlier now, that little strands of it were sticking to his forehead and his neck. He briefly wondered if JC's skin would taste like dust. "Do you -- are you hungry? I could make you a sandwich." Joey opened the refrigerator door and remembered that he hadn't been grocery shopping for two weeks. "Okay, so that's not true. But we could get a pizza or something. I mean, if you're hungry."

JC took a sip of water and smiled again. "Sure. You like mushrooms?"

They ate the pizza and talked about stuff. JC wasn't so much into politics, but neither was Joey. JC did like sports, but Joey didn't so that petered out quickly. They both liked music though, and Joey didn't even realize it was getting late until he looked up at the clock. "Dude. I've kept you, fuck, like three hours. I'm sorry."

JC laughed. "It's okay. Justin knows how to close the store. " JC left soon after that, though. Joey leaned against the door for a minute or two after he left and rubbed his arm where JC had grasped his arm in some kind of almost hug. Joey shook his head. He went to bed.

"Joey, it almost looks like a full-grown person lives here." Lance surveyed the new furniture and smiled.

Justin leaned against the doorway and grinned. "My man C, he makes good stuff."

Lance smirked at Joey. "You, sir, should have a party. Celebrate this place looking almost good."

Joey sat on the couch, nodded. "I guess I should. I've only had it a few days, and I'm liking it. Nice chairs, you know."

Justin walked in and hugged Lance from behind. Joey looked away as Justin said, "And they're all well made and stuff. Seriously, JC is very serious about that crap. He only lets me have the rejects, never, you know, someone who pays money."

Lance sounded happy and he said, "Justin's apartment is five times smaller than this one and has five times more furniture." Joey looked up and saw Lance turn a little so he could kiss Justin. "And Justin has this amazing bed that JC made." Lance grinned and they kissed again.

Joey coughed and walked to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator door more roughly than he intended and heard the beers in the door clang. He grabbed one and turned around. Justin was sitting on the floor, looking away from Lance and Lance was glaring at Joey.

"So are we all still going to the movies, or have you changed your mind?" There was an edge in Lance's voice and Joey looked at the floor.

"Yeah, you know, I have this thing with Chris. His new girl is having a barbecue for her friends from work or something. And it starts after the movie and stuff, but I dunno. I should shower. I got up late and shit." Joey looked at his beer, swirled it around. "But we should definitely do the party thing. I should have one, I mean. And you guys and maybe JC, too, right? I mean, is, uh, next weekend good, you think?"

Lance said okay in his pissy voice and grabbed Justin's hand as he left.

Joey sighed and watched them leave. He took a shower and dressed, then went to the liquor and bought a case of beer and a bottle of cheap tequila to take to the barbecue. He meant to drive to Chris' but he ended up at JC's shop.

The front door was open and Joey stared at it for a minute, then thought, fuck it, and walked inside.

"Joey!" JC was smiling and bouncing and Joey thought, seriously, fuck it.

"What's up, dude?"

JC folded his hands. "I sold a whole set of cabinets today!"

"Good for you, man!"

"They were for a small kitchen so the set was only three cabinets, but still." He grinned at Joey. "How are you?"

"I'm good, you know. Yeah." Joey tapped his fingers against a desk. "I was -- I'm on the way to a barbecue and it's, like, my friend Chris is having a barbecue." He looked up at JC. "What time do you close?"

Chris's new girl, Britney, was bright and had a loud laugh. Chris looked at her with the same sort of bewildered tolerance and affection with which he viewed his fourth graders, only more of a leer. Other girls milled around, leaned over and licked their lips when Joey mentioned he was a teacher, too. Girls, girls, girls. Joey drank too much and waited for JC to show.

Joey came out of the bathroom and walked into JC. JC stumbled back and said, "Whoa, I was looking for you. That Chris guy? He's funny."

Joey nodded. "Born to teach small children. Cause he's about at their mental age, anyway, just more info in his tiny, tiny head."

JC laughed and he looked like one big smile with crinkly eyes and little blush. Joey licked his lips and tasted beer and tequila. Drunk. Joey was definitely drunk. He leaned over and kissed JC. JC made a little noise of something, surprise maybe, against Joey's lips. Joey opened his mouth and pressed his tongue against JC's lips. After what seemed like hours, JC opened his mouth and Joey was in. Joey loved French kissing, had loved it since the first time when he was only twelve and Howie from two houses over had decided to show Joey how it worked. Dueling tongues, and open mouths, except with JC there wasn't any kind of duel, just sweet, sweet pressing against each other.

JC broke off the kiss and put his hand to his mouth. "Joey. I didn't think you --"

Joey grinned. "You're pretty fucking hot, C."

JC rubbed his forehead. "Thanks. Do you wanna --"

Joey smiled and grabbed JC's hand and pulled him outside. Joey looked around and then pressed JC against JC's van with another kiss. JC grabbed Joey's ass this time as they necked. Then JC laughed as he broke off the kiss and pushed Joey back a little. JC kept laughing, almost little trills as he unlocked the back of van and pulled Joey in.

There was padding all over the inside of the van and they fucked right there. JC found lube and a condom jammed underneath the front seat and he said, "I'm never letting Justin borrow this van again," as he put them in Joey's hand.

Joey licked a trail up JC's neck, lewd, with his tongue fat on JC's skin. He pulled the condom on and rubbed some lube on his fingers and then slid them into JC. He had this beautiful fucking man all splayed out in front of him but it was the booze talking and he said, "You've done this before, right?"

JC dug his fingers into Joey's hips and pulled them to him. "But never with you."

It was light and as beautiful as JC's furniture but whatever spell was cast when they kissed and fucked was broken by a pounding on the van door. "Move your van!" Joey recognized the voice as Kevin, the science teacher who scared all the kids because he was so dark and quiet. "I gotta get my car, man, come on."

JC laughed a little and tugged on Joey's lip with his teeth. Joey dressed as quickly as he could and waited until five minutes after Kevin's car disappeared around the corner before he climbed out of the van and into his own car.

JC called twice the next day, but Joey didn't answer his phone. He deleted the messages when he checked his voice mail. He needed to quit drinking, he decided. Quit drinking.

He ignored Lance's call, too, the one on Sunday night where Lance sounded casual and the one on Monday night where Lance sounded concerned. Joey thought about answering his phone on Tuesday night, but then JC called again, sounding almost hurt and Joey decided he could wait another day.

He went to work and he didn't think about it.

*

Chris stopped by for lunch again on Wednesday, frowning as he walked in. "What's up with you, Fatone?" Chris sat down in front of the desk on one of the tiny chairs.

"What?" Joey pulled a sandwich out of his desk. "Nothing, man."

"Bullshit." Chris looked around quickly, but the door was shut. "You're off, Joe."

Joey took a big bite and then another, thinking that the faster he ate, the sooner Chris would leave.

"You've been acting all a-fool since the barbecue," Chris continued.

Joey swallowed. "The fool. The expression is, 'acting the fool.'"

"Fool, tool, whatever, whoever, it's you."

"You think you know what's up with me?" Joey finished his sandwich in two more bites.

"I think. Dude, you want my honest opinion?" Chris frowned.

"Okay. It's better than your dishonest opinion, I guess." Joey braced himself.

"Look, man, I heard things. I've seen things. So I'm not just pulling it out of the thin air, but you know, I look at you now and I think. I think, denial. And also? Ain't nothing wrong with being bi."

Joey stood up and said, "What the fuck do you know? And I'm not."

Chris stood up and backed away. "Yeah, sure. I know you fucked that guy at the barbecue, that one you invited. And I heard things, man. He's not the first. You're such a tool. Just stay away from my gay friends, man, I don't want you dicking them over." Chris slammed the door as he walked out.

Joey rubbed his head and waited for the kids to come back from lunch.

Lance was sitting by his door when Joey got home from work. He was casually sipping a bottle of Evian. His neck was long and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. Lance watched Joey walk up and his expression didn't change. He didn't move from in front of the door, either.

Joey cleared his throat. "I got yelled at by Chris of all people, man, I've heard it, okay?"

Lance said, "I'm not going to yell. I mean, I would have done that years ago, you know, when you did this to me."

"I didn't -- we're fine, we're best friends." Joey backed up against the wall.

"Well, yes. Thanks to a big effort on my part and your usual repression. But it's not like I wasn't in love with you. It's not like you didn't break my heart. But, yeah, we're fine now. It's just. It's really tiring, Joe. You're a fucking adult." Lance stood up and walked away. Joey watched him go and couldn't think of a thing to say.

Joey thought about Kelly and about the things he'd wanted her to say after she cheated on him. Apologies, mostly. And then he thought, oh.

JC's store was a twenty-minute drive away, but the weather wasn't too hot and Joey thought he should walk to, like, punish himself for being such an asshole. Penance. Joseph Anthony Fatone, you go to your room and think about what you've done.

When he got to the store, he stood on the sidewalk and looked at the window. The rocking chair that he saw when he and Lance first visited wasn't there anymore. Joey guessed someone bought it. There was a pretty bookshelf in the window now with a sign leaning against it that said, "Assembly Required. Instructions are inside. Just ask!"

The door to the store opened and Joey was attacked by one of his students, Katie Robson. "Mr. Fatone!" she squealed, and hugged his waist.

"Hello," Katie's mother said and put her hand on Katie's shoulder.

"Hi, Mrs. Robson." Joey patted Katie's head. "If I'd known the PTA meeting was here, I would've worn a suit or something."

"We bought furniture!" Katie said, drawing back and smiling. "My mommy's having a baby, and we bought a bed for it!"

Joey looked at Mrs. Robson. "Congratulations!"

She rolled her eyes, but grinned. "Thank you. We're not really telling people yet, but Katie's old crib is in terrible shape."

Joey nodded. "The stuff here is really good. Really. JC's great."

Katie said, "There was a boy behind the counter, he's so pretty. I'm going to marry him. He said it was okay. He would wait for me."

"JC said he would wait for you?"

Mrs. Robson laughed. "No, no, the boy behind the counter is Katie's new husband to be. She has one a week."

Katie pulled at her mother's dress. "No, no, Mommy, this one's forever. He's the handsomest boy ever. Ever. And he seemed really smart. My husband has to be really smart. Because he needs to be able to read and write and maybe be smart like a college professor. Like that smart, but Justin, he's that smart. Smart like you, Mr. Fatone." Katie looked over and smiled her gap-toothed smile.

Joey didn't feel very smart. He felt like a fucking idiot. He looked down and patted Katie's head. "I gotta go inside now; it was nice seeing you two."

Mrs. Robson led Katie away and waved.

Joey looked at the bookshelf again and saw JC standing behind it, holding a rag in his hands. JC blinked and then walked away.

Joey went inside but only saw Justin behind the counter. To his credit, he didn't sneer or say anything about how much Joey sucked. Of course, that kind of served to make Joey feel even worse than he did before, but that was probably part of the point. "Good to see you again, man."

"You, too. I ran into your future wife outside."

Justin straightened a stack of bookshelf instructions. "She said she goes to Wright Elementary. Do you know her?"

Joey nodded. "She's my best student, as a matter of fact. Favorite, too, even though teachers aren't supposed to pick favorites."

Justin laughed. "I'm sure it's okay as long as you don't, you know, like, tell the other kids." He paused. "JC's in the back, by the way."

"Where --"

"Right through that door." Justin pointed.

Joey stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Thanks."

The back of the place was bigger than Joey thought it would be, almost bigger than the actual showroom. JC was standing behind some kind of saw, wearing safety glasses and working on a table leg.

"Here," he said, without looking up, and threw a pair of safety glasses at Joey. "You have to wear these if you're going to be back here."

"Thanks." Joey put them on. He said, "I'm sorry."

JC shouted, "What?"

Joey sighed. He shouted over the saw, "I'm sorry."

JC stopped the saw. "Okay."

"See, it's like this, I'm not. I'm not the best at this. You know. I'm still figuring things out and I know that sounds lame from someone my age, but some things they take time --"

JC waved his hand. "I get it. It's fine."

"I'm trying to explain, you see --"

"No. I don't need an explanation. We fucked. There you go. I've done that before, you've done that before. You're acting, man, you're acting like I'm all sad and heartbroken. We slept together, you didn't call. Thanks for apologizing. You're kind of stupid. I figured that out. Do you have anything more to say?" JC bent over his saw.

"No." Joey took off the glasses and put them down. "Turns out not." He turned around and left the store.

Joey went home and got drunk. Like, disgustingly drunk, which didn't make any sense because being drunk was what got him into this fucking mess in the first place. But he did, he pulled whatever he could find out of the stupid cabinets that JC didn't make, and drank it all.

He'd fucked things up with JC, which bothered him, but he was more bothered by the fact that he seemed to have no idea what he wanted. His dad always said that a person's true personality came out when he was drunk. Apparently Joey's personality liked to have sex with men. Joey remembered the way JC's skin felt and thought maybe his personality was right.

He called Lance. "Dude, I think I'm gay. Or bi. I'm a homosexual."

Lance said, "You're what?"

"Are you gonna make me say it twice?"

"I thought you said you were a whore-a-sexual. I mean, Joey, everyone likes whores. That's not an orientation, that's a given." Lance giggled.

"You know what I mean."

"Yes. And yay for you! I'm very proud."

"You could come over here. We could fuck. You know."

Lance laughed. "Oh god, you're drunk. You're a drunk and an asshole. Okay, first off, it's pretty fucking rude to hit on me, over the phone, right after I said, I said things to you. Two, I have a boyfriend. A boyfriend who didn't take twenty-five years to figure out he likes guys. Who loves me, maybe, and doesn't just hit on me when he's fucking drunk."

"Sorry."

"Yeah, fuck you, too. Call me when you're sober, you asshole." Lance hung up.

Joey jerked off thinking about JC and fell asleep on his couch. He woke up with a horrible hangover and a crick in his neck. He was almost late for work, but he took a five-minute cold shower and thought that would make things mostly okay.

He had a pounding headache and his class was loud, louder than normal. He yelled at them, which he never did, and the kids spent the next two hours looking at him like he was a monster from a Disney movie. He nibbled at his sandwich, alone, since Chris had gone out with Britney. He popped two more Advil and was extra nice to the kids for the rest of the day.

When school was out and Joey had finished up his lesson plans for the next day, he picked up what seemed to be the world's heaviest briefcase and walked out to his car. JC was standing next to it.

Joey squinted and put on his sunglasses. "How'd you know which one was mine?"

"The only other car in the lot has one of those 'Baby on Board' things in the back window." JC crossed his arms and looked down at his sandals. "I took a lucky guess."

"I'm, I'm still an asshole, in case you were wondering," Joey said.

JC looked at Joey like Joey looked at his students when they did something kind of stupid. "Look, I don't know how many different ways I have to say this. We're casual acquaintances, we had casual sex, and then you wigged the hell out. You're a nice guy, Joey. Lance says you're a nice guy, but I can't deal with closeted guys. I did that years ago, man, and I know, I know you can't put a timetable on somebody else's sexual identity, but I wish we'd met when you knew what the hell you wanted, cause I think we could've had a lot of fun together, man."

Joey put his briefcase on top of his car. "Okay. But you know, how about you give me a chance. I am a good guy. Mostly. Not so much lately. But I am."

JC said, "What grade do you teach?"

"First."

"Why?"

"Uh. Well, I like little kids. I like teaching 'em. I like, you know, being that guy. The first person that convinces them that they're smart, that they're special. Besides their parents. Although, you know, sometimes the parents are pretty shitty. That's the worst part, when you get these kids and they're just amazing and their parents are such assholes." Joey rubbed his chin. "Um. So."

"When did you figure out you wanted to do that?"

"Wow, um, when I was in college, I think."

"So, yeah." JC looked over at the school. "So it's been a while."

Joey sighed. "Look, I get it. I do. But you're, uh. Does it count that you're that special guy that helped me figure all this out? I think, I think we have a connection. Or something. Or I really like you. I'm always happy when you're around. And when I'm not being an asshole, I'm good at that. I'm good at making people happy. Seriously."

"We could, I mean, we could be friends." JC raised his foot and flexed his toes so that his sandal flapped against the sole of his foot. "I don't mean that in some 'trying to put you off' kind of way. Because I might be selfish or something, but it's too hard to date crisis/confusion man."

Joey sighed. "You did say that, I remember."

JC reached out and briefly touched Joey's arm. "I'm sorry. There was more I was going to say. Which was, I think we'd be good as friends and I think that would give you time to figure things out. Not that, I'm not being all war movie girlfriend or whatever, I'm not going to wait for you or something, but I think sometime in the future, we could try the sex again." JC smiled.

Joey said, "Okay. Okay. Cool." He smiled back.

JC said, "You have a great smile." Joey watched JC walk away, because JC had a great smile and a great body.

He called Lance and apologized. He even went with Lance to one of Justin's performances, crashing some very lame wedding, so he could apologize to Justin for hitting on his boyfriend. Justin grinned and nudged Lance's leg. "Dude, he's hot. I mean, seriously, look at him."

Joey said, "Definitely."

Lance blushed. He said, "Fine, fine, we're all fine."

He told Chris the whole sordid tale over another lunch and Chris gave him a bunch of rainbow stickers. "Dude, you teach first grade! No one will suspect."

"Shouldn't, you know, recognizing my orientation mean being out? Not worrying about things like that?"

Chris said, "Dude, you teach first grade. Keep the gay pride under your hat a little, okay?"

Joey nodded. He toyed with his stickers and thought about calling JC. Just for a movie. Maybe one with Matthew McConaughey. Joey thought he was hot. He grinned and put one of the stickers on the window of the classroom. He put another on his TV at home and stroked the wood of his armoire. Pretty like the man who made it, Joey thought. And then, "in the future, we could try the sex again."

THE END.

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