TOUGH MAMA

Justin likes to wear Joey's jeans. He borrows them and slaps Joey on the ass as he walks out, says, "You got a great body, man, you got some meat on your bones." Justin wears them with a belt cinched tight and they hang off his hips. When Justin wears Joey's jeans, Joey can always tell if Justin is wearing underwear.

Joey's tired of fucking around and he has been for a while. He doesn't think anyone else has noticed, besides maybe Kelly or Lance, but he is. It's been a while since he brought someone back to the hotel, or whatever. He wants something more.

Lance is on the phone with his "boyfriend," Chris always use the air quotes and Joey even thinks it now. Lance has the boy he calls boyfriend, some reporter from Entertainment Weekly, and he has his "friend," who travels with them and who Lance is fucking every night. Joey loves Lance, he's a great friend, but Joey'd ram a red-hot poker up his own ass before he ever slept with Lance.

"Asshole," Chris says. They all hate Lance's friend, but they don't say anything about it because everyone hated Bobbie and they didn't say anything then, so policy is set. "He's gonna end up selling our fucking underwear on Ebay, I fucking know it." Chris says it with a smirk, because he wants to be proven right.

"The thing is," Justin says quietly, "I think he's an ass, I think Corbin's an ass --" Corbin is Lance's "boyfriend," he calls a lot and he makes Lance unhappy. "Corbin's better than The Asshole, but when you get right down to it --"

Chris says, "When you get right down to it, Lance has fucking awful taste in men."

Justin sighs and JC rolls his eyes. JC says, "I've decided to experiment with promiscuity."

Lance is off the phone and he raises an eyebrow. "Experiment with promiscuity? You're just gonna try it out?"

JC starts to explain it, like it's a spiritual thing and Joey gets up to go to the bathroom. If anyone can make having sex with a lot of people a quest for enlightenment, JC can. Joey washes his hands and opens the door. He hears them all still talking, hears Chris say, "Ask Joey. Joey knows all about fucking around." Joey sighs.

Justin leans in the doorway. "You all done?" He's wearing another pair of Joey's jeans, and today his underwear is black.

Joey says, "Hey, what were you trying to say earlier? When you get right down to it?"

Justin glances back at the room and then says, "I was gonna say. When you get right down to it, we're all kinda cushioned from our bad choices. Because The Asshole is an asshole, but the PR people and all our people, they'll make sure he doesn't do anything too bad. And kinda the same with Corbin. So, I just think, Lance, he knows that and he's maybe." Justin shrugs. "He's maybe cavalier about things."

He is, Joey thinks. Joey says, "Yeah. But what can you do?"

Lance and Joey still share a bus, except this time around, sometimes there's Kelly and Brianna, which is great, and a lot of times there's The Asshole, which is not so great. Could be worse, Joey thinks. The Asshole is nice enough to Brianna and Kelly, it's just Lance he treats like shit. Joey doesn't say anything about it anymore, because he tried with the last Asshole Lance was sleeping with. Lance said, "Joey, I know he's not perfect, but it works for me right now, okay?"

It doesn't work for Joey anymore, but he makes his choices and Lance makes his.

They're finally alone, just the two of them. Lance says, "What are you looking for specifically?"

"Specifically? I don't have, you know, a list of anything. I just want something real."

Lance cocks his head. "Kelly was real."

"Yeah. But she's not. She wouldn't take me back. And it's okay, I'm kinda over her." They're just friends.

"Okay, boy or girl? You should narrow that part down." Lance taps his fingers on the counter. Joey wonders if Lance will make a spreadsheet for him.

Joey wants to say, "No one you would ever have sex with," but he doesn't. He doesn't want to be mean to Lance. He says, instead, "You know, it doesn't matter. I want, I'm ready for something of substance."

Lance is his best friend in the whole world, and Joey feels that all over again because Lance doesn't laugh or make fun of him. He says, "Substance. That's not so easy."

JC's experimenting in promiscuity, Lance and The Asshole like to party, Chris just wants to get out, Justin's broken up with Britney. So they go out a lot. Joey does a little, sometimes goes home early. He's happy spending time with Brianna, hanging out with Kelly. Justin stops by before he leaves, sometimes, and borrows Joey's jeans. One time he changes right in front of Joey, leaves his slacks on the floor. He's not wearing underwear and Joey just looks, doesn't stare. Justin grabs the slacks and says, "Whoa, don't want to be rude." He always returns the jeans after they've been cleaned.

Chris breaks up with the dancer he's been dating, and he sleeps with one girl JC just slept with, and then a girl that JC sleeps with the next night. Lance catches The Asshole selling Justin's underwear on Ebay and finally gets rid of him. It takes him a week to get a new "friend," but he does and it takes the guys two days to dub this one The Jerk. Lance doesn't have a specific physical type these days but all his "friends" are well hung. Joey remembers what that's like. He used to look for the girls with big tits, not implants, or boys who were well hung. He was always nice, like he knows Lance is nice, and now it makes Joey feel old to even try something like that.

He finds out that Lance and Justin slept together from Lance. Sort of. He comes into Lance's room early one morning, because they have to go soon and Joey sees his own jeans on the floor. He says, "Justin's borrowing your jeans now?"

Lance says, "No. He left those here." Lance is just waking up. He says, "I guess he walked back to his room in his boxers." Lance gets out of his bed and he's naked. Joey looks away.

After soundcheck, Justin comes into the quiet room where Joey is reading a book about raising girls so they have good self-esteem. Justin is wearing Joey's jeans, a pair he hasn't returned. Justin is happy. He sings, "Tough mama, meat shakin' on your bones," and taps on Joey's book.

"What's that song?" Joey puts the book down.

"Something I heard in some coffee shop. I dunno. I just remembered that line." Justin grins.

"Why'd you, uh, never mind." Joey doesn't really care. He doesn't think he does, anyway.

"Why'd I what?" Justin leans his head on Joey's shoulder. Joey thinks about when Justin decided to break up with Britney, how he talked on to his mother for hours on the phone and asked all the guys what they thought. Justin still loves her, just not that way.

Joey says, "You, uh, and Lance."

Justin shrugs, his shoulders pressing against Joey's for a brief moment. "Oh, that. It wasn't. I thought it was something to try, maybe. You know, it wasn't the best idea I've ever had. But he's, you know. He's pretty good at that."

"I don't know about that," Joey says. "I could guess, but I don't know it from personal experience."

Justin's silent for a moment, still leaning against Joey. He says, "You ain't been getting much lately, have you? I mean, it seems like you want it that way. Changin' your ways, right?"

"Yeah." Joey sighs. "I'm tired of it. I want something more than that now."

Justin doesn't say anything and he falls asleep against Joey's shoulder.

JC talks about all he's learned from his promiscuity. He says it's opened his eyes even more to the beauty of the body and how everyone can express joy and even ecstasy through movement and motion. Joey guesses that's one way to look at it. Lance ditches The Jerk for two weeks because Corbin travels with them. Corbin spends a lot of time making fun of Lance and he says On The Line is the worst movie ever made. He doesn't want Lance to go to space. Behind him, sometimes, Chris mimes strangling Corbin.

Justin sits next to Joey before a show. He's wearing his own jeans, and Joey can't see if he's wearing underwear at all. Justin says, "So you want something more, huh?"

Joey nods.

Justin says, "What qualifies?"

Joey laughs, watches Corbin and Lance in one corner, kissing and talking quietly. Joey says, "I'm kinda thinking, you know, what Lance has? Not that. None of that."

"Yeah. Me, too."

"You're not happy right now?" Joey really looks at Justin, Justin with his serious face on now.

"Well, see. I want someone with meat on their bones and something real, something real in their heart. Does that make sense?"

Joey laughs. He says, his voice nervous, "You broke up with Brit cause she's too skinny?"

Justin's still serious. "I broke up with Brit because I won't ever marry her. She's, you know, I don't think I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with, well, with someone who doesn't have a dick."

Joey says, "You, uh, trying to get in my pants here?"

Justin smiles. "I've been in your pants, man. I like the way they fit." Joey tries to laugh, because it's funny. It's really funny, and there's no reason he suddenly has this low feeling in his stomach. Justin hooks his finger in the belt loop of Joey's jeans. He says, "I'm trying to get you out of your pants. For real, and for, uh, more."

Joey smiles. "Good. That's really good." This he can do.

THE END.

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