"Where is he?"

Chris looked over at Lance, hearing the frustration in his voice. They were all at the recording studio for their meeting with one of the producers for the new album, all except one - JC. He was already twenty minutes late and despite the fact they'd called him several times, there was no sign of him. The four of them had already met with the producer and had apologized for JC being late. At first, they'd waited inside with him, but about five minutes ago they'd excused themselves and went outside to allow for some privacy for them to talk and hopefully spot JC pulling in.

"He'll be here," Joey said. "You know how he is."

"Yeah, but not with stuff like this," Lance replied.

Joey looked like he was going to say something else to try to relieve some of Lance's anxiety, but Justin spoke before he could. "He's right. JC is always on time for recording. Hell, he's usually the first one here."

"He might've overslept," Chris suggested. "Alice has exhausted him."

"Or maybe Beth only came this morning to pick up Alice, so he'll be here once they leave," Joey said.

Lance sighed, twisting the watch on his wrist - something he only did when he was stressed. "Regardless of the reason, he should be here."

"And he will be," Justin said. "Just give him a few more minutes." Lance frowned and Justin let out a sigh of his own as he reached into his pocket. "Let me call him again."

They all waited with bated breath as they watched Justin hold the phone up to his ear. Chris wasn't surprised when a few seconds later, Justin lowered the phone and shook his head. The tension in the air had a bit of a nervous quality to it. Could it be that something was wrong and that was why JC hadn't been able to answer any of their calls?

"I'll go over to his house and see what's taking him so long," Chris said, already pulling his keys out of his pocket.

Joey began to nod in agreement, but Justin held out a hand, signaling Chris to stop for a second. "This isn't some ploy to take off and go back to your own house, is it? Last time you said you were going to get something out of your car and then you never came back."

"I took JC and Joey with me," Chris said, smiling at the memory. It'd been back when they'd been in the middle of recording No Strings Attached and things had gone wrong from the moment they'd walked in the one day. The tensions had eventually gotten so high that Chris had stepped outside, initially to escape for just a moment, but then JC and Joey had followed him out. JC had been strung out far more than the rest of them, and Chris had deemed a break was necessary, resulting in the three of them leaving for a late lunch. They'd ended up calling Justin and Lance to get them to join them and the five of them hadn't gone back to the studio that day.

"And left me and Lance to deal with Johnny's wrath," Justin replied. He made a face as he likely remembered that day too. "I don't want to deal with that again."

Chris couldn't help but smirk in amusement at his youngest friend. "Don't worry. I'll be back here with Jace before you can say Jack Robinson."

Lance and Justin both rolled their eyes while Joey chuckled. Chris shot him a small smile before he quickly crossed the parking lot to his car, unlocking the door and sliding into the driver's seat. He started the car before backing out of the parking spot and pulling onto the road, trying to manage a speed that wasn't leisurely but that wasn't reckless either. There was nothing to imply that something might be wrong; JC could very well just have overslept and often nothing short of a bomb going off could wake him.

It was a fairly short drive to JC's house, and Chris immediately spotted JC's car as he pulled into the driveway. Once he parked, he jogged up the short walkway to the front door and promptly rang the bell. He frowned as he couldn't hear the usual chime and pressed the small button once more only to have the same results. The doorbell must be broken or out of batteries or something.

With a bit of apprehension, Chris reached out to test the doorknob. It didn't turn and he nearly sighed in relief. That had to be a good sign because, worst case scenario, if someone had broken into JC's house to kidnap him or murder him surely they wouldn't care about locking the door. And as he fumbled with his key ring to look for JC's key, he silently vowed that if JC was just sleeping in his bed he was going to kick his ass.

Chris unlocked the front door and stepped inside. He immediately did a sweep of the first floor even though he had a feeling JC wasn't down there, and he was right. The only sign that JC had even been downstairs was the kitchen that was in disarray with a number of dirty dishes on the table and island with pots and pans in the sink. It was an usual sight as it was no secret JC sucked at cooking, and the most he would ever cook for breakfast was a Poptart in the toaster.

Shaking his head, Chris turned his back on the mess and headed up the stairs. He reached the top of the landing when he heard voices. As he turned the corner and headed towards the guest rooms, they grew louder and the one most definitely belonged to JC. Almost instantly whatever residual tension that'd wrapped his stomach in knots disappeared.

"Alice, honey, please get dressed," JC was saying as Chris approached the guest room Lance normally took when they stayed over. "Please."

There was no denying the desperation in JC's voice, but Alice was completely unmoved as she said very petulantly, "No."

Chris stopped in the doorway and he cursed when he saw that not only was Alice still in her pajamas but JC was too. "Jesus, you're not even dressed yet?"

JC jumped in surprise and he looked towards the door. He cursed and met Chris's gaze. "How late am I?"

"Half hour so far," Chris replied. JC let out a puff of air, something between a sigh and a sound of aggravation. "She's not coming then?"

Chris purposely avoided saying Beth's name because he wasn't sure how Alice would react to it. Surely she had to be missing her mother given it'd been a couple days since she'd last seen her. Hell, as far as Chris knew, she hadn't even talked to Beth since JC had taken her.

JC knew exactly what he was asking and he shook his head. "I called her last night, but she didn't answer."

Chris frowned. There was no denying the tension in JC's face, and he felt some of his own worry for Beth even though he didn't know her. JC hadn't heard from her at all since he'd taken Alice for her, which didn't seem right. If Alice were his kid and he'd left her with someone for a couple days - even a friend - he'd definitely be checking in whenever he could. Why hadn't Beth done so?

"So what happened this morning?" Chris asked, forcing himself to get them moving. He'd promised the guys he'd bring JC so they could get to work. If he didn't, there was no doubt Johnny would hear about it and be furious. It was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

"We overslept." Chris gave JC a look and JC rushed to continue, "We had another rough night. We were up half the night and it was so late when I finally got her to go to sleep. Then I woke up with only a half hour to get me and her ready and I tried to make her breakfast, but she wasn't interested in anything. So I gave up and have been trying to get her dressed, but she refuses until I French braid her hair. But I don't know how and I've tried telling her that, but-"

Chris held up a hand, effectively cutting off JC's rambling. "Whoa, JC. Take a breath before you pass out, will you?"

JC was winded, his breathing heavy and irregular. He did take a deep breath though and released it kind of shakily, trying to get his breathing under control. "Sorry," he said. "I just-"

"I know," Chris said, interrupting him again. JC didn't need to say anything; he could read everything on his face. "I'll get her dressed. You go get ready."

"No!" Alice protested loudly like she thought they'd forgotten she was in the room. Her face was a cross between a pout and a scornful expression.

JC hesitated, looking very much like he wanted to go get ready but also that he had to take care of Alice. But Chris could handle her so he told JC, "Go. I got her."

JC looked back at Alice once more like he was going to say something to her, but after a second, he got to his feet and sluggishly left the room. Chris shook his head as he left, knowing by the way he was moving and his attitude that the studio would be a struggle today. But they wouldn't even get there if he didn't get Alice dressed.

"Come here, Miss Alice," Chris said, beckoning her over to him. He knelt down so he was more at her level.

Alice shook her head. "No!" she protested again. "Not getting dressed."

"You told JC you'd get dressed if he French braided your hair. He may not know how, but I do."

Her face softened. "You do?"

Chris nodded and this time when he gestured for her to come here, she immediately went to him. Her turned her around so he had easy access to her hair and quickly parted her long hair, twisting the three different strands around each other. He finished, but found he had nothing to secure the end of the braid.

"Where's-" he started to ask, but Alice held up one of her little hands that was holding a pink scrunchie. He thanked her as he took it from her and quickly secured her braid.

Once he was finished, she demanded to see it. He lifted her up and moved her in front of the mirror above the dresser so she could see herself. She smiled, showing that she was satisfied and after he put her down, she immediately ran over to her bag and pulled out some clothes.

She basically dressed herself with just a little help from him. He was helping her tie her shoes when he sensed JC come in. As soon as she saw him, she jumped up and cried "JC!" before running over to him. He bent down and picked her up, settling her against his side as he let her gush about her hair and what a good job Chris did.

"You look beautiful, honey," JC told her when she'd finally stopped talking, his voice lacking the enthusiasm he might've had if he'd been more rested. Though he did try.

Chris rose from the floor and walked over to JC. Now that he was face to face with him, he could see just how much he was affected by the little sleep he'd gotten. His eyes were bloodshot and kind of puffy, his color a bit paler than normal which made his dark circles stand out more. He looked tired and Chris felt sorry for him, but they had to go.

"We better go," Chris said. "Before everyone thinks we played hooky again."

JC's lips twitched just slightly, and Chris knew he was remembering that day they'd blown off recording with Joey. He could only hope that today's session didn't warrant a break like that. He wasn't sure how it would go given JC's mood and their little guest, but he knew he'd run interference if he had to.

**************

When Justin woke up, he felt a bit disoriented. It took him a second, but he quickly realized he was lying on his couch. He'd pretty much immediately retreated to it with a wet washcloth that he'd run under cold water that he'd placed on his eyes in attempt to get rid of the pounding that was behind them. The session at the studio hadn't gone very well, and the stress of it had made his already existing headache worse.

When Chris and JC had finally shown up, there'd been a bit of relief as a small part of them had begun to fear that something had happened to JC. They'd all been surprised to see Alice with them, and Justin had even felt kind of annoyed. Obviously JC couldn't just leave Alice alone and it wasn't like anyone else could watch her, but he knew she'd be a distraction to them in the recording studio. And she had been.

She'd been quiet for a while at the beginning, but then she'd started to complain that she was hungry. JC had snapped at her that if she'd eaten breakfast like he'd asked earlier, she wouldn't be hungry. This of course had made her upset, and Chris had quickly jumped in, offering to take her to the break room as there usually was some donuts or muffins in there. JC's mood hadn't improved much from that point on either - not that he'd been in a great mood to begin with.

JC was always unbearable when he was in a bad mood, but that was never more true than when he was in the studio. For some reason he became even more controlling, his perfectionist side demanding everything be done exactly how he wanted and up to his standards; it didn't matter if it was his place or not. And that was exactly what'd happened today.

They'd decided to start with one of the songs Justin had written, and JC had asked for Justin to sing one of the lines in the bridge a different way. It hadn't been a terrible suggestion, but he hadn't appreciated it just the same. He hadn't asked JC for his opinion, and it sure as hell wasn't his song for him to critique. Something he'd made sure JC was aware of.

"That line is fine the way it is. I'm not changing it," Justin said from inside the recording booth, letting the intercom carry his voice into the room on the other side of the glass.

"I'm not asking you to change it necessarily. I just want to see what it'd sound like this other way," JC replied.

"That's not your call. You're not the writer or the producer, and you're wasting everyone's time."

"By making a suggestion?" JC frowned at him through the glass. "I thought recording was a collaborative process?"

Justin couldn't help but snort at that. "Like you're open to collaboration when it's your song. And just because you're playing around producing for up and coming groups doesn't mean you're good enough for this yet."

JC's piercing blue eyes met his own, and Justin instantly felt guilt when he saw the pain lurking there. His anger and frustration had made him say something he hadn't really meant, and now he couldn't take it back. Without another word, JC stepped back and sat down, joining Lance and Joey on the small couch as Chris and Alice had yet to return from their search for a snack.

Justin knew he'd gone too far and he regretted what'd been said. He did. But JC wasn't innocent in this whole thing either. Before they'd gone on break, they'd had a fight about the material for the upcoming album. He'd mentioned he wanted to write with Wade, which JC had thought was ridiculous, saying that Wade was just a choreographer and had no business writing songs or being in the studio with them. Justin had disagreed and told him he was being a selfish prick, and that'd been the last they'd really spoken, not talking much at all during the break. Even now, not much had been said between them, and if Justin was honest, their fight was the real reason he hadn't talked to JC about his breakup with Vicki.

He would have to apologize for what he said because he knew recording this album would become unbearable otherwise. They wouldn't be recording again for a couple days though so he had time. Enough time that he didn't feel particularly rushed to make amends even though the sooner he'd get it done, the better it would be for everyone.

With a sigh, Justin removed the now nearly dry cloth from his eyes with the intent of rewetting it and resuming his prone position. His head wasn't pounding nearly as bad as before, but it was still enough of a nuisance that all he wanted to do was go back to sleep.

As he opened his eyes, he saw nothing but darkness. He frowned, wondering just how long he'd slept. It hadn't seemed like he'd slept long enough for it to get this dark, but then again, he hadn't exactly slept well in the last week. He gave his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkened house, but his vision remained completely black.

His stomach churned nervously as he brought his right hand up in front of his face, hoping that maybe it was just so dark in the house that he could only see what was right in front of him. But that was quickly shot to hell as he waved his hand back and forth just inches from his nose and saw nothing. He could feel the slight wind that was created from the repetitive motion, but nothing about his vision changed.

He was blind.

"Oh my God," Justin said shakily.

This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. People didn't just go blind for no reason. And yet...here he was, unable to see a damn thing. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

He was on the verge of panicking, but he did his best not to give in to those feelings. Freaking out wouldn't do him any good - it wouldn't help him figure out just what the hell happened and how to get his sight back. If he could even get it back, he thought to himself before he could stop it.

Justin gritted his teeth, doing his best to force the thought out of his mind. Instead, he took a second to try to remember what he'd done with his phone - his cell phone or his home phone. He closed his eyes and suddenly he was able to recall tossing his cell phone onto the coffee table beside him before he'd lied down in attempt to get rid of his headache.

He opened his eyes, more out of habit than anything as it was completely pointless at the moment, and blindly leaned forward, his hand searching the coffee table for his phone. After a couple seconds of mindless groping, his fingers closed around it and he picked it up, quickly realizing his next dilemma. How was he supposed to call anyone when he couldn't see the keypad? His best bet was to scroll through his contacts, but of course he didn't remember who all he'd put in his phone which made it impossible to know who was in what position in the list.

As Justin blindly began to move down his contact list, he cursed himself for not having set up his speed dial. He was trying to navigate to his mom's number - the one person he counted on to fix just about anything. It was hard to tell where her number would be in his list though because he wasn't sure just how many people were listed before her alphabetically in his contact list. Finally when he felt like he'd reached the point where her number would be, he stopped and after hesitating only a second, he managed to hit the button that started to connect him to hopefully his mother.

He listened to the phone ring anxiously. After a couple rings, the line was opened and a deep voice said, "Hello?" Lance. It wasn't his mother, but he could deal with Lance. He would know what to do just as much as his mom.

"Lance," Justin said and the anguished tone sounded so foreign to his ears. He never liked to come across weak, especially now that he was older and he avoided it whenever he could. But given the circumstances and the fact that he was about two seconds from freaking out, it was understandable.

"Justin?" He could practically hear Lance frowning. "What's wrong?"

"I..." Justin took a shaky breath. "Can you come over? I can't...I don't want to talk about it over the phone."

"Of course. I'll be right there."

"Thanks," Justin said quietly. "And Lance? Just let yourself in, okay?"

"Sure," Lance replied, the concern clearly evident in his voice. "I'll see you in ten."

What that, the call was disconnected and Justin dropped the phone beside him on the couch. He forced himself to sit still, afraid to move at all given he had no idea where anything was in his house. Sure, he had a general idea of where all the furniture was, but it wasn't like he'd ever had to pay close attention to exactly where everything was and how many steps he could take before running into something. Not to mention, he wasn't exactly the cleanest person and he could easily trip over something and end up breaking his neck. It was certainly the last thing he needed and why he'd asked for Lance to let himself in.

The next ten minutes were the longest ten minutes of his life. He did his best to keep a hold of his emotions and his body shook from the effort of keeping them at bay. When he felt his control slipping, he bit his bottom lip, hoping that would help. But ten minutes of sitting in silence allowed for his mind to go wild with the possibilities of what was wrong with him, what'd caused it and it just further freaked him out. And in the end, he lost the battle and began to cry as his terrified emotions took over.

Lance arrived a few minutes later as Justin could hear the front door unlock before opening. He did his best to calm himself and wipe his tears away, but he knew he was unsuccessful as he heard Lance call his name just seconds before he came into the room. The footsteps paused for a second before they hurriedly crossed the room and Justin could feel Lance standing next to him.

"Justin, what's wrong?" he asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Justin turned his head towards the sound of Lance's voice and said, "I can't see."

An involuntary gasp escaped Lance's lips, and Justin could practically feel Lance's gaze boring into his eyes, looking for any kind of reaction. A hand was placed gently under his chin and made him turn his head from side to side. Finally, the hand dropped and Lance let out a shaky sigh.

"What happened?"

Justin shook his head, turning his head away. There was no point in looking at Lance when he couldn't see him anyway. "I don't know. I took a nap to try to get rid of a headache and when I woke up..."

"C'mon," Lance's hand wrapped around his bicep while the other was placed on his back as he gently tugged him to his feet, "we need to get you to the doctor."

Justin didn't protest at all. This was what he'd been hoping for - someone else to take charge and tell him what to do because he was in too much of a state of shock to consider his options. He allowed Lance to lead him, listening to his quiet instructions as he helped him navigate past furniture and clothes and shoes that were strewn about the floor.

After what felt like forever, they'd made it to Lance's car and Lance carefully helped him into the passenger seat. Justin sunk into the soft cotton, feeling completely spent from the short trek. Though he knew it had a lot more to do with the emotional roller coaster he was going through than the actual distance they'd crossed from his living room to the driveway where Lance's car was no doubt parked.

Lance didn't say anything until the car was moving, Justin assumed, out of his gated community and onto one of the main streets of Orlando. "I'm gonna call Chris and let him know what's going on."

Justin said nothing, just tried to focus on his breathing. He was trying keep some semblance of control. Plus, he was afraid that if he let his thoughts go wild that the anxiety and stress of it all would make his heart race much too fast, causing him to pass out. Being unable to see anything was bad enough, but he'd be damned if he was going to let himself be wheeled into the hospital unconscious and not having a clue what was wrong with him. Whatever the doctors came up with, he wanted to hear it firsthand.

He tuned out Lance's conversation with Chris until he heard him say, "Okay, you call Joey and JC, and I'll-"

"No!" Justin objected, jumping up slightly and being restrained by the seatbelt across his chest.

Something in the air shifted and he could picture Lance staring at him with a look of total surprise. "What? What's wrong?" he asked.

"Don't call JC."

"Justin..." The way Lance said his name told Justin he thought JC had a right to know. Whatever had happened to him was serious and JC had always been the one to take care of them when something was wrong. But that wasn't what Justin wanted. Not now.

"Please," Justin pleaded. "Not yet. I can't deal with him right now."

There was a long pause and Justin could hear Chris's muffled voice through the speaker of Lance's phone. Though, he wasn't able to make out what was being said. Finally, Lance sighed - one that signaled he was relenting - before he told Chris to hold off on calling JC. It was at that point that Justin stopped paying attention again and went back to focusing on his breathing.

When the car stopped and the engine was turned off, he realized they must have arrived at the hospital. He could hear Lance's door open and he fumbled for his own door handle. It took a couple seconds, but his hand managed to locate it and wrap around it. He pushed the door open and started to rise only to once again be restrained by the seatbelt. Annoyed, his hand searched for the release button and quickly pushed it once he found it. He maneuvered out of the seatbelt and cautiously got to his feet, stepping out of the car. Almost immediately Lance's hand wrapped around his arm.

Justin wanted to snap at him and shake off his hold, not wanting to be led around like a child and who knew who might be around to see this. It wasn't like he had a choice though. Being unable to see anything left him pretty damn helpless and he would just make a bigger fool of himself if he tried to navigate through an unfamiliar area by himself.

"I called ahead and had a private waiting room set up for us," Lance told him quietly as they slowly and carefully walked towards what Justin assumed was one of the hospital entrances.

Justin said nothing again. He could practically feel Lance's unease, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. The closer they seemed to get to the hospital, the more his stomach churned, making him feel nauseous. He wanted to know what the hell had happened and what was wrong with him, but at the same time, he was almost afraid to know. What if it was something that couldn't be fixed? What if he was permanently blind?

It was a thought that haunted him as he sat in the room that'd been designated for them. For as still as he sat in his own house, he was even more rigid as he waited with Lance for the doctor to be available. Part of being a pop star was that the scenery was always changing so the familiar places were few and far between. But being in a strange place without the ability to see where you were or what was around was downright terrifying.

Justin wasn't sure how much time passed before the door opened and for a second he thought it was the doctor finally ready for him, but then he heard the hurried footsteps just before both Joey and Chris's voices spoke at once. He shook his head, allowing the simple action answer both of their questions. He wasn't okay and he refused to talk about what happened - it wasn't like he even knew himself.

"You got here fast," Lance said, obviously speaking to their two older friends.

"We were close by checking out that new restaurant," Joey replied.

Someone stepped closer to Justin, but before anything else could be said, the door opened once again and this time it was a nurse telling them that the doctor would see them now. Justin practically jumped to his feet, but somehow in his anxiousness to get this over with his feet had gotten caught on one another and he stumbled. He probably would've face planted if it hadn't been for the strong, steadying grip on his arm.

"Easy, I got you," Chris's voice told him quietly.

Justin relaxed and allowed Chris to lead him out of whatever room they'd been in and into what he was sure was an examination room. When they stopped, Chris backed him up against something and told him to hop up. He did so and heard sharp crinkling as he sat on the surface, and it was a sound he'd heard quite a few times before. He was sitting on one of those examination tables with the thin paper on top. Now that he was about to be checked over by a doctor, he felt his nerves skyrocket and he let out a shaky breath to try to calm himself. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand wrapped around his shoulder.

"Hey, relax," Chris's voice said immediately, and Justin could easily hear the concern. "It's still just me. I didn't go anywhere."

"We're all here," Lance felt the need to remind him.

Justin nodded, taking another breath to try to get his nerves under control. He could hear a set of footsteps as someone moved closer. A second later a man spoke, introducing himself and then explaining that first he was going to do a couple of quick tests with his pen light. It seemed pointless to him. He'd told the doctor he was blind and he had to have noticed it as soon as he'd walked in, so he didn't understand why he needed to run tests to confirm what they already knew. But he didn't say anything, allowing the doctor to do whatever he felt necessary.

"Have you had any trouble with your eyesight prior to this?" the doctor asked.

Justin could feel all eyes on him and he shifted uncomfortably on the table. "Yeah, sort of. My eyes have been hurting and my vision has been blurring off and on. A couple of times it happened while I was driving..."

There was a sound of surprise and it sounded like it came from Lance. "Justin..." Chris started, but Justin quickly cut him off.

"I didn't know. I just thought it was because I was tired." He turned his head in the direction of where the doctor had been standing and said, "I haven't been sleeping well lately."

Justin was cursing himself for that now. Maybe if he hadn't been so determined to write it off as nothing, he wouldn't be blind. What had seemed so insignificant before now seemed like warning signs that'd been screaming at him that something was wrong. He wished he'd listened before it got to this point.

"Have you done any drugs recently?"

Justin's head snapped up at the doctor's question. "What?"

"What kind of question is that?" Joey asked, sounding indignant that the doctor dared to ask such a question.

"I only ask because some drugs have been reported to cause problems with eyesight and even temporary blindness."

Justin was silent for a long moment. As soon as the doctor had asked the question, his mind had flashed back to Vegas when he'd been partying with Trace and their mutual friends. It hadn't been just alcohol that'd been easily accessible at those parties and he'd been guilty on a couple occasions of allowing one of his friends to provide him with something a little stronger than alcohol that would take the edge off more. He didn't want to admit it though. He didn't want to admit that a bad choice had gotten him to this point.

"Justin," Lance began, snapping him out of his thoughts, "you need to answer the question. No one will judge you, but in order for the doctor to help you and figure out what's wrong, he needs to know everything."

Justin hesitated for a moment longer before he sighed and nodded. "I took some with a few friends in Vegas. I don't even know what it was though. It was just being passed around at some of the parties we were at."

"How long ago was this?" the doctor asked.

Justin shrugged. "A couple days ago."

There was a scratching noise and Justin furrowed his brow as he tried to place it. Then suddenly it hit him - it was the sound of someone writing. The doctor must be taking notes on what they'd discussed.

"I'm going to order a number of tests. Based on what you said, I'm not sure drugs are the cause behind this as it's been at least several days since they've been ingested. I'm not writing off anything though."

"Okay," Justin said, swallowing down a bit of the nerves he was feeling. "Do what you have to."

The doctor said he'd put in the orders for the tests and be right back. Once he left the room, a heavy silence hung over the four of them until Lance cleared his throat. "I think we should call JC now."

"No," Justin said immediately. "I don't want him here."

"Why?" Joey asked.

Justin paused, wondering what he was going to say. Part of why he didn't want JC there was because of the fight they'd had earlier, but that wasn't the main reason. "You know how he gets," he said. JC had a tendency to be overbearing when one of them was hurt or sick, and considering he was barely holding it together as it was, JC freaking out was the last thing he needed to deal with.

"He still needs to know," Lance said.

"I'll call him," Chris offered just as a nurse came in informing Justin that they were ready to begin some of the tests.

Chris hadn't removed his hand at all through the doctor's initial examination and it was only when he stepped away from Justin that he realized just how much Chris had helped to keep him grounded. Fear tore through him and he desperately reached out, latching onto Chris's arm.

"Stay. Please," Justin said. He knew he was on the verge of begging and he hated that he sounded so weak, but Chris provided a strength then that he was unable to attain himself right then.

"Sure. I'll stick with you the whole time, okay?" Chris returned to Justin's side and Justin allowed himself to relax just slightly. He was still terrified, but he knew Chris would never let anything happen to him - he'd step in if something didn't seem right or if Justin got too overwhelmed by whatever tests they had planned.

"Joey and I will be in the waiting room," Lance said. "And I'll call JC."

Justin just nodded, thankful they were there, but also needing some space. Their footsteps faded and he forced himself to listen to the nurse as she explained some of the tests. He prayed that it wouldn't take too long and that they'd know what was wrong with him by the end of it.