mickeym

Title: Start At The Very Beginning
Pairing: (pre)Chris/JC
Rating: PG13ish
Disclaimer: I don't know them, this never happened, and I'm not making any money.
Notes: The first (stand-alone) bit from a much longer story that may or may not ever get finished. But I wanted to contribute something to TrickC day...because even if Supernatural has taken over my life for the moment, I will never, ever stop loving my pop boys. Hope y'all enjoy it.

"So? Whatcha think? Questions? Comments? A 'get lost'?"

Chris leaned back against the cool vinyl and watched the young man sitting across from him draw patterns in the ring of moisture on the table. He'd given his spiel, talked until he was blue in the face - metaphorically, anyway - and now there was nothing left to do but wait and see if this Chasez kid had any questions. Or any interest.

Justin assured him 'my friend, JC, from the Mouse Club', would be interested. Unlike Justin, JC wasn't actually here, local to Orlando, so the first conversation was over the phone, not a method Chris was completely comfortable with. But he trusted Justin; recognized the kid was someone who had more experience 'in the business' than Chris himself had, so he was willing to flex on this.

Not that he really had any doubts about Chasez. Not after the tapes Justin dug out for him to review. After viewing them, it'd only been a matter of having Justin call Chasez to see if he was willing to talk with Chris; willing to fly to Orlando to talk to Chris - and possibly Lou - in person. JC was on a plane just a couple days later, much to Chris' delight.

Justin was in because Chris liked the way he looked, the way he sounded, the way he moved on the tapes. He was in because he would appeal to the younger kids, would make the little girls swoon and wet their panties.

Chris knew he wasn't 'front man' material himself. But even at just fourteen, Justin Timberlake, as far as Chris could tell, was.

Chris wasn't sure what he thought about Chasez. The dude was weird. Kinda spacy-looking, really, with odd, blue-gray eyes that crinkled almost shut when he smiled all big and wide. Then there was his hair, all loose and floppy, falling down over his forehead into his eyes. He was…not tall, exactly, but gangly-looking. All loose limbs, and skinny. God, he was possibly skinnier than Chris.

But he had some sort of…something. A kind of charisma, if Chris were going to dig into his brain and use the dictionary that'd been dropped there at some point. When he smiled, his whole face lit up.

And he had talent. After watching the tapes, there was no question about that. The guy was odd; he laughed funny, and he seemed to get lost in the music, when it was a stage-performance type thing, but man. The talent just poured out of him. Chris knew he was decent, and Justin was really good, but there was…something about JC. A tangible something he couldn't quite put his finger on. But watching the taped performances left Chris with shivers.

He met JC at Justin's house. Lynn and Paul Harless had a garage they'd converted into makeshift reheresal space, and it was there JC 'auditioned'. Justin sat with Chris, smiling and tapping his fingers against his thigh, keeping time with JC's singing. They listened to JC sing some scales, and a couple riffs from some Temptations tunes, and then he blew Chris away with a jazzy, bluesy thing he said he'd written, called "Give In To Me". He blew Chris' mind again not five minutes later when he hummed the intro to an eighties hit by Soft Cell, and grinned and said, "Sing with me."

They sang "Tainted Love" a capella, and the hair on the back of Chris' neck stood up. When Justin joined them on the second verse, he shivered outright. The three of them harmonized almost perfectly.

~~~~~~

And now they were sitting in Denny's, just him and JC; had been sitting there for over an hour while Chris laid out what he wanted to do, his goals, dreams and ambitions for the group. How he wanted to see it come together. Lou's role in funding and promoting them. The one other guy - Justin - who was already in.

It'd been several minutes since he'd finished talking, and in that time all JC'd done was drag his finger round and round through the water ring. Chris actually shoved his hand down on his thigh a couple times to keep from jiggling his leg so badly. He wanted -- an answer. Preferably a 'yes' - who the hell didn't get excited and enthused about the idea of potential stardom? What was this kid's problem, that he couldn't at least ask a question or two? He cleared his throat and JC looked up immediately at him.

"So?"

"So. Yeah. Um. It sounds like a good plan and all, but. I kinda. I'd like to think about it, before I say yes or no."

There was something almost final about the way he said that, like he'd already decided 'no' but didn't have the heart to come right out and say it. Chris felt a prickle of panic race along his skin; he wasn't sure why, but he wanted this goofy, geeky-looking kid in with him. He curled his fingers into his palms, and tried to keep his voice light, unconcerned.

"You will think about it, though, right? Not just gonna do an off-the-cuff 'no'?"

Chasez looked a little surprised. "No way, man. I'll think about it. I just-I need a little time."

"Okay." He tried a smile. "Just-don't blow me off, okay? 'Cos I'd really hate that. If you're not interested in the gig, just say so."

"No blowing off, I promise."

Chris smiled. "We're cool then, dude. You got my number?" JC touched the pocket of his t-shirt and nodded. "Good. Give me a call; if I'm not home, talk to the machine. I'm working a lot right now, so, yeah. Talk to the machine. 'Kay?"

"I will." JC smiled at him and something rippled through Chris at the way his eyes crinkled up, at the way his face just seemed so-open. He watched JC slide out of the booth and realized he was staring, made himself look away. He was just a kid. A goofy, floppy-haired kid. Nothing special.

Nothing special at all.

But Chris really hoped he called back.

~~~~~~

He wished he could say he was surprised when several days passed and Chasez didn't call, but he wasn't. Something about those eyes, about the uncertainty in them…Chris was pretty sure he wouldn't hear back. And while part of him was pissed as hell about it, the rest of him admitted that was the way things went, and sometimes life sucked, so just deal and move on.

Meanwhile, he had a group to put together. There was a kid who worked the Universal park; Chris knew him fairly well, had heard him sing a few times. He had a good voice and a flair for performing - necessary, considering he did the Beetlejuice Revue. Chris made a mental note to ask Justin if he knew Joey Fatone, since Justin seemed to know everyone, and Chris knew from conversations with Fatone that he'd hung around the Mouse club quite a bit. And maybe Justin could offer some other suggestions for tenors; kind of the point behind inviting him over for the day: a brainstorming session, hopefully guaranteeing results of some sort. He was getting twitchy, waiting for something to happen.

He waved when a familiar car pulled into the parking area in front of his apartment; it was a mark of how much time he and Justin spent together now, that he knew Lynn Harless' car by sight.

"Justin! Up here, dude." Chris waved until Justin waved back, then headed inside to grab some sodas. They could sit on the steps and talk for now; it wasn't too god-awful hot yet, and it'd be nice to get some sun.

He turned around and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the other person with Justin.

The one he'd given up hope on hearing from; it'd been over a week since he'd done his pitch to Chasez, and he'd heard nothing – which was always an answer in and of itself – but there he was, standing right behind Justin, looking around curiously. He turned toward Chris and flashed those blue-grey eyes at him, along with a big smile, and it was just like that last meeting: there was some unfathomable connection. Chris sighed. He didn't get it.

Chasez wasn't anything incredible; he was exactly the same as Chris remembered from the last meeting, skinny, kinda geeky looking, with floppy hair, and a goofy grin…and a glow that came from inside him, lighting his face up. He smiled broader, right at Chris, and his eyes did this…crinkle-up thing.

Chris thought he was maybe the prettiest boy he'd ever seen.

Something clenched tight in Chris' stomach, and he swallowed, forced himself to keep walking toward the pair. He grinned at Justin and bumped fists with him, then looked at JC, and tried to keep his tone, his words, light. "Thought you went back to Bowie, dude."

A flush worked over JC's face and he shook his head. "Not yet," he said softly.

Justin stepped forward and grabbed one of the sodas still clutched in Chris' hands. "Y'all need to talk, yo. I'm just gonna sit outside and catch some rays."

"Hey-think about tenors, dude!" Chris called as the door slammed shut behind him. Whirlwind Timberlake, come and gone, with nothing the same after he'd been through. Chris blinked, then focused on JC, still standing awkwardly in the entryway.

"Dude. Mi casa es su casa. Or, y'know. Whatever." He gestured toward the living room, waited while JC plopped down on the couch. Fortunately, the springs held. Chris wondered for how long, then shrugged. He was moving in with Justin and Lynn in another week and a half, when his lease was up, so it wasn't really an issue. Belatedly, he remembered the can of coke in his hand, and tossed it casually to JC, who caught it easily.

"Thanks."

"No prob." He sank down on the other end and looked at JC. "So. Um. You never called, dude. Said you would…but by now-I just kinda figured you weren't interested."

"Sorry about that." Chasez shook his head. "I'm—interested. I just. I had to think about it." He was stiff on the cushions, nothing relaxed about him. When he tipped his head forward, his hair flopped into his eyes. Chris had the absurd urge to reach over and push it out of the way. "See, I did-this thing. I went to LA, after MMC folded." He studied his feet so intently Chris nearly looked down to see what was so fascinating. Instead, he made himself watch JC, watch those eyes that seemed to hide and show so much, all at the same time.

"Yeah?" He asked finally, when JC didn't seem like he was going anywhere with that. "How was that?"

JC turned and met his eyes. "It wasn't. It was…well. Yeah. Not so good. I went and hung with J in Memphis for a couple months, then went to Nashville for a bit before going home. And I was gonna go back to school, man. Gonna go to college. And then you called." His mouth curled, but it wasn't quite a smile. Chris wasn't sure what it was. "My dad said…I can go to college any time. That I should do this, give it a shot. If it doesn't work, no harm no foul, but if-if it did, and I didn't go for it, I'd regret it forever."

Chris nodded. "You might." He shifted around so he could see JC better, folding one leg under himself, and nearly bumping heads with JC when he did it at the same time. They ended up staring at each other, until Chris sighed. "So-you're in, then?"

There was a long moment when he still wasn't sure the answer would be yes - in spite of what Chasez said his dad said. The moment strung out, something intangible, yet there, growing between them. Chris could read so much in those eyes, things that'd happened, that JC saw, did, and didn't want another soul to know about. Chris understood that; he had things he felt like that about.

"If you-if you still want me in, yeah."

If? "Dude." Chris blinked. "Absolutely. I wouldn't've asked you before if I didn't." He winked and smiled. "And, y'know. Just 'cos you totally blew me off when you pinky-swore on your great-great-aunt Mathilda's horse's dog's grave that you'd call-" JC blinked at him, then blinked again, a slow grin spreading across his face.

His eyes crinkled again, and Chris had the sudden realization he'd do anything to make that happen again, to see it as often as possible. Do, say, whatever. Anything, just so long as he got a big grin like that. Yes.

"You," JC said softly, "are an absolute nut."

Chris nodded solemnly, then grinned. "I am."

"I like that." JC stuck his hand out. "So…in?"

Chris reached out, then hesitated. "You gonna pinky-swear on something not to stand me up again?"

JC laughed. "Yeah. I'll swear on… hmm. Minnie Mouse's brother's gopher's lucky ears."

"Deal." He stuck his pinky out, and shivered with delight when JC did the same. "All right, dude. You're in. I guess that makes three, then."

"On our way to superstardom." JC's eyes glinted.

Superstardom, and the beginning of what promised to be a great friendship. And possibly other things he wasn't going to let himself think too much about. Chris nodded again. "Dude. Absolutely."

~fin~