He's watching some interview with Britney which, inevitably, ends up being some interview about Justin. Because that's the way interviews with people who used to know Justin go these days. Lance learned his lesson, he doesn't give interviews anymore, ever. JC might do the odd interview, a random show, but Britney is the only one of them that is still actively performing. Britney has a tour schedule and a personal trainer, she doesn't have a choice whether or not she wants to talk about Justin every single day.

Britney is saying that she talked to Justin just last month, he called her and they talked about her new record, about family and friends. She's saying that they stay in touch, and Lance is hitting 'record' before his brain engages.

He doesn't want to call her but after that, he has to and she's barely even said hello before Lance says, "He's called you?"

"No, I'm sorry, no. It." And Lance, immediately, sighs in relief because Britney is in the time warp of his television even now, time of taping to time of airing and it was a lie anyway. He bets she sleeps with all her windows and doors open, doesn't even realize what that means. Britney is apologizing, says she lies sometimes about talking to Justin because Jive sometimes asks her. Britney was farthest away from Justin, once he started changing his sound, and she may be thirty now but Cher was thirty and still doing the same thing.

Britney is doing the same thing, and Lance knows her patio door stays unlocked. Lance hangs up, because she has no more information to give. The VCR keeps recording, but Lance isn't listening. Britney's eyes look a lot like JC's.

He's got that on tape too, somewhere: JC saying into the camera, "Well, yes, sometimes, I mean, often, yeah. You know, the world isn't a safe place. Sometimes, it's. I find that sometimes I can't sleep at night, and I'll lay there and just think about all the things that could happen to me. And in a way, I welcome it, but it's scary."

"You get frightened?"

"Well," and every time, every single time, JC looks into the camera, staring at something far off, squinting. "Not really frightened. Just, wary. I can get wary, easily."

Lance can picture JC, lying in bed with the covers over his head, as a grown adult. He'd done it at nineteen and he was still probably doing it now, trying to block out the things he could imagine happening to him.

Justin scared JC, Lance knows. In a way, he always had. JC used to picture all these things that Justin could do, come into his room, loom, say nothing. Say anything. It alternately thrilled and terrified JC, the idea that Justin would burst in some time. He always wanted it, still does -- thinks maybe, if he waits long enough, Justin will.

Lance feels perfectly safe at night. He rarely even checks to make sure his dead bolts are locked

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