Pairing: Chris and Howie
Words: fatigue; acquiesce; Wade; cutting
So, the thing is, Chris hates Wade.
The guys all think they know why. They're wrong. Lance thinks Chris hates Wade because Wade's a slavedriver, but Chris doesn't hold that against him, despite the condition of his knees. Yeah, Wade could go easier on him, make up moves that aren't so hard, but they do dance music. Wade's not evil; he's a choreographer. Although even Chris admits there isn't much difference some days. Justin thinks Chris hates Wade because Wade's taken over Chris' spot as Justin's best friend, but that isn't strictly true, because Chris is used to sharing Justin's attention with Britney and Trace, not to mention the music idol crushes that Justin gets. Joey thinks Chris is jealous that Wade got his songs on 'Celebrity' when Chris didn't. JC thinks Chris is just plain jealous, that Chris wants to be the one in Justin's bed instead of Wade.
What they don't know is that Wade is screwing Howie on the side.
Chris doesn't know where Wade finds the energy, frankly. Okay, so he's ten years older than the kid, but Wade does just as much work in rehearsals as they do, he's writing music, and he's fucking Justin. Chris is practically considering a Worker's Comp claim for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Wade bounces in every morning like he's spent the last week sunning himself on a beach in Hawaii.
All right, so maybe there's more than one reason Chris hates him.
The real question is: what to do about the Wade Situation. Can't kill him -- Lance had called dibs. Can't fire him -- Justin was sleeping with him, and the idea that Wade might have grounds for a sexual harassment suit made Chris' skin crawl. Can't bribe him -- if there's anything on Earth more seductive than fame and money topped with Justin Timberlake and Howie Dorough's naked bodies, Chris certainly isn't going to give it up just to get rid of Wade.
Really, that only leaves one option. The direct approach.
Chris doesn't like to admit that it's pretty much the approach he would have used anyway, even if he hadn't thought it all out first. It makes him seem un-subtle, Joey-like, when in fact Chris is a cunning predator capable of surprising and taking down even that most difficult of prey, the sly and devious Lance.
He waits until after the first break the next day, and interrupts Justin talking to Wade, cutting in on a discussion of some new rapper that Justin thinks is all that.
"Hey, man, can I talk to you?"
Wade raises an eyebrow, mostly because it's something Chris normally would have said to Justin, accompanied by a head noogie. "Sure, what's up?"
Chris checks to see where Justin is, and relaxes when he finds that Justin's already halfway to where Joey and Lance are sitting, drinking bottled water like Lance bought stock in the company (which he probably has -- Chris is fully aware of Lance's longterm plans to take over the world).
"I hate you, I know about Howie, and I want you gone. Or dead. But I'll settle for gone."
And Wade fucking giggles.
All right. So Chris didn't expect him to immediately acquiesce, to give in and say, 'You're so right. I'll pack my bags and be gone, never to trouble you again, tra-la-la', but he did expect some anger. Or denial. Not this, like it's the funniest thing Wade's ever heard.
"Want to tell me what's so hysterical?" Chris asks, angry.
It takes Wade a second to calm down, and if it weren't for how Chris is always making people laugh, even Wade, the guys would already be heading over to see what's going on. "Chris. Dude. I'm straight."
"Are not."
"Am too."
"Don't even start that Bugs Bunny shit with me. You most definitely are not straight. You're fucking Justin and Howie. How the hell do you call that straight?"
Wade snickers. "Easy. Because I'm not. Britney would cut my dick off and mail it to my sister."
"You and Britney?"
"Dude. Catch a clue. You've got to be the only person who doesn't know about that."
"So what's... what are doing with Howie? Because I know you're doing something, and you can't tell me otherwise."
Wade rolled his eyes. "Well, you see, he's in this band. They're called the Backstreet Boys. Have you heard of them? They do this thing called dancing, and since I know a little bit about that, they asked me to help them out."
"So you're not...?"
"I'm straight. I like to sleep with girls. Blonde girls. With... but then, you probably aren't interested in that, are you?" Wade smirked at him.
No, he wasn't interested in the details of Wade's kinky sex life. Especially with Justin's putative girlfriend. Chris shook his head and backed off. Only a few minutes left to rest and suck down fluids before the next part of Hell Week began. By evening, he'd be piling on icepacks and whining about joining 98 Degrees where no one could dance, and they just stood around and sang ballads, even though giving up NSYNC was the last thing he'd ever do, right after saving lawyers from drowning.
It's at the end of the day, when Chris is sitting against the wall, gathering up his energy for the drive home, that Justin corners him, grinning. Chris looks up at Justin's tall form, and can almost resent him for being so young and energetic, except that he might need Justin's help to get out to his car.
"What's with you, J?"
Justin's grin gets wider. "So, Chris, I was talking to Wade--"
"I can explain that."
"Really?" Justin sounds intrigued, and his eyebrows lift. "'Cause he says you're jonesing for my hot body."
"Um. Maybe I can't explain that." Chris knows he needs a glib remark here, but it's late and he's tired, and he has nothing.
Justin doesn't stop smiling, and the smile is one Chris has never seen directed at Wade. "No problem. I'll explain it to you."
He swallows hard. Maybe he was wrong about that whole hating-Wade thing. "You do that."
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