Behind His Smile---JC Chasez Fanfiction

Thirteen

It was way too cold.  JC's eyes forced themselves open. What the...

JC got to his feet, shivering and made his way to the air conditioner. Who had set it so low?  This room was about to become the Artic Zone.  Not to mention it was 4 in the morning, and Joey had stolen all the blankets for himself.  JC eyed his snoring band mate for a quick second, then shook his head and went into the tiny restroom.  Maybe he could get a hot shower...

JC put his hand on the cold shower knob to turn it on, but then a sound caught his ear.  He cocked his head. It was a voice, but it wasn't Joey's.  It was coming from....JC squinted at the bathroom wall. It was. It was definitely coming from the other side of the wall.  He quietly dropped his hand from the knob and crept closer, putting his ear against the wall.

"I've told you a hundred times, NO! The guys have a tour coming up and they don't have time for your stupid talk shows.  Ask me after the tour! End of discussion!"

There was no mistaking it was Lou Pearlman's voice.  JC bit his lip.  Who in their right mind would be having a phone call this time in the morning? And with a talk show host? He smirked a little then went back to the shower.  Let Lou do his stupid things, I'm gonna get warm...

"There is absolutely no reason for you to be checking up on us. I've got everything under control." Lou's voice seemed louder. JC stared at the wall, listening for every word.

"Lance is in his own room as he always requests, I put Justin and Chris in a room, and Joey and JC are beside me in another room."  Lou made a sound as if he were blowing his nose. "We go over this every time, Arty, I'm sick of it.  You think I can't take care of my boys?"

JC shook his head and looked at the white tile floor.  My boys.  Suddenly he was super glad he didn't actually have Lou to call his dad.  As if....

JC finally turned the knob and a gush of cold water hit his arm.  He waited until it got warm and then hot.  When he was satisfied with the temp, he carefully undressed, laying his sweat pants and t-shirt on the counter.  He sighed inwardly as he examined every purple and blue spot on his body.  A few red marks too, from something he couldn't remember.  The scratches were a deep red, as if threatening to spurt out blood any second.  There was that one almost-black bruise on the left side of his waist.  It was the most painful.  It was from when Lou had grabbed him...

JC took off his undies and sighed loudly as he stepped into the shower, closing the curtain behind him.  For a few minutes he stared at the shower wall as the warm water rained on his achy back.  Life didn't make sense right now.  Being in the band was supposed to be fun, right?  He was supposed to be having the time of his life right now.  Right? But he wasn't...

JC turned his head quickly when he heard the door to their room open up. He shoved the curtain open and noticed he had left the bathroom door open.  Shit. He grabbed a towel off the counter and wrapped it about his waist then made his way to the door.  At the same time, he listened to see if he could still hear Lou talking in the other room.  He didn't hear a thing. 

Shit shit shit. JC closed the door and locked it, breathing hard.  Maybe it was just Joey going out to do something??

JC almost scoffed at himself.  Joey wouldn't leave the room . Not at this hour. Without even thinking, he took action and shoved a small shelf in front of the door, jamming it under the door knob. No one was getting in. 

After taking a few minutes to calm himself, he got back in the shower. What was it with strangers creeping on him at odd morning hours? Well, the stranger being Lou....didn't need much of an explanation.  

JC eyed the hotel-provided shampoos and body wash on the shower shelf.  Nice.  He was going to go out smelling like a soapy flower. He grabbed a small white bottle of cherry blossom scented body wash and squirted a bit on the sponge.    

After about fifteen minutes, JC turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, grabbing the towel.  He dabbed around his bruises carefully, wincing at the pain.  He noticed a few scratches had opened up.

Great.  JC opened several of the cupboards, looking for band-aids.  There were none.  Oh wait.  His eyes caught a shiny pink box and he reached in to grab it.  Just his luck.  As he opened it, he found out that it was a first aid kit, left behind by a previous guest.  Or maybe the angels had put it there for him.  

They could've at least put in nude-colored bandages, JC thought.  He sat on the floor and began to unwrap a neon green Band-Aid. The scratch on his stomach was small but deadly painful.  A small amount of blood stared at him from there.  JC applied the bandage, then opened another one for a scratch on his chest. 

Suddenly the door jiggled and the shelf fell over, as extra soaps and lotions and numerous other things crashed to the floor.  JC held his breath, but then Joey stuck his head in, his eyebrows knitted.

"Uh, just so you know, this door isn't burglar-proof," Joey remarked. JC smiled a little, then looked down at the bandage he was unwrapping.

"What're you doing?" Joey inquired.  "And why did you have the shelf in front of the door, and why are you taking a shower this early?"

JC eyed his curious friend. "Are you done yet?" he asked.  Joey snickered.

"I was cold. You stole all the blankets," JC explained to him.  

"That didn't answer any of my questions," Joey replied.  His eyes observed the large bruise on JC's side. "Who's been beating you up?" he asked casually, knowing he wasn't going to get a straight answer from JC anyway. 

"It's just a bruise," JC replied, putting an orange Band-Aid on his chest. 

"You look like the Band-Aid clown," Joey said, smiling widely.  JC didn't think it was funny.

"What happened right here?" Joey said, pointing to another bleeding scratch on JC's thigh.  JC moved away slightly.  

"It was just a scratch, but they came open in the shower."  He put a blue bandage on that one.  Then he stood and grabbed his undies and sweatpants and put them on.  Joey leaned against the counter.

"Buddy you know you can tell me anything--" he began in a friendly voice. JC's blue eyes met his brown ones. 

"Uh, yeah I know that," JC said as he slipped his t-shirt over his head.  He picked up his towel and moved past Joey. "Next time, don't take all the blankets."