Hey everyone! Yep I'm back again with a new chapter, the story does continue! Really I would just like to say once more that continuing this story wouldn't be possible with out my readers. You guys are my inspiration for writing more chapters, some of you have emailed me and given me positive feed back and I thank you for that. If you are a new reader to the story, please feel free to write to me and tell me what you think, I enjoy reading you comments. Anyways, let's get on with the story!
My email: all-star07@hotmail.com
When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that I was in a room that I didn't recognize. I tried to sit up but felt a sharp pain shoot up my back and decided against it. As I strained and searched my memory, it all slowly came back to me, the phone call, the stairs, the intense pain, but what I remembered most was the sound of someone shrieking. That horrible sound seemed to echo in my head, and gave me chills just thinking about it.
I wanted to sit up, and try to gain some sort of perspective as to where I was, but every time I tried, the pain in my back just got worse. It was pitch black out side and the lights in the room were off; I was slowly beginning to panic.
"Relax Brian, it's alright, I'm here."
"Drew?" I asked, a bit uncertain.
"Yeah, it's me. Are you okay?"
"No, I feel like shit."
"That's kind of expected after a fall like that, what were you doing?"
I really wanted to tell him about the phone call, since my first instinct had been to run to him, but then I started wondering if it was such a good idea. Who ever this person was seemed to have been watching me all the time and I couldn't afford to get Drew into danger just by telling him about this guy.
I tried to think of a lie to tell him. "I...I thought someone knocked on my door, when I went to go see who it was I lost my footing and fell."
Yeah, it was a really bad lie, but I couldn't tell him the truth, no matter how much I wanted to. He looked at me questioningly, as if trying to see if I was lying. Then he just nodding, accepting what I told him was true, and then got a wet cloth and put I to my forehead, as he did I felt a really bad sting.
"Ow."
"Sorry, but your head is bleeding, you don't want to get it infected do you?"
"No, but it still hurts."
He just smiled at me, removed the cloth from my forehead and then leaned in and blew on the cut, trying to make the sting go away. When he did this, my heart skipped a beat and I suddenly got very nervous again. Then he leaned back and got another wet cloth and started to wipe the blood away and clean my cuts.
I felt sort of foolish, kinda like a boy who went to his mom when he scrapped his knee. I really felt stupid when I thought about my fall and how he was here trying to make me get better. But when I looked at him and he smiled back, I knew that he didn't mind and I got the impression that he wanted to take care of me.
"Okay, I think I should probably head up to my apartment now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I don't want to put you out anymore than I already have."
"Can you even sit up?"
"Yeah, I think so." I tried once more to sit up and again the pain shot through my back and I let out a wail in pain.
"Whoa there, no you're not going anywhere. Here, put your arm around my shoulder."
I did what he told me to and then he picked me up and carried me to his bedroom and lay me down on his bed.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"You're staying the night."
"No, I can't..."
"Hey, you're in no condition to make it up those stairs, and after what happened tonight there is no way I'm going to leave you alone. You're staying here and you're sleeping in my bed, I'll take the couch."
"I can't let you do that, Drew."
"Well good, cause you're not. It's my decision."
"You can't just force me to stay here."
"True I can't. Fine, go ahead and go home, I won't stop you."
I just stared at him with a `are you dumber than you look?' expression on my face.
"You know damn well that I can't."
"Exactly, so like I said, you're staying here."
"Do I even get a say in this?"
"Nope." He said, and started to turn down the bed, fluff up the pillows, then helped me out of my jeans and under the covers. When I laid my head on his pillow, I could smell the faint whiff of the cologne he used, surprisingly being in his bed felt like being home. And that's how I looked at it, I wasn't in Drew's apartment or in his bed, I was home.
"Okay so like I said, I'll be out on the couch, if you need anything, don't hesitate to holler at me okay?"
"Sure thing, don't worry, I'll be fine but before you go..."
"Yeah?"
"Can you check the closet for monsters? And leave the door open a crack? I'm scared of the dark." I said with a smile creeping to my face.
"Oh shut up and go to sleep." He said, smiling a bit himself. Then he leaned down and kissed my forehead before saying goodnight and shutting off the light. He did, actually, leave the door open incase I needed something, and as I lay in bed, I peaked out through the crack and saw him getting ready to lye down on the sofa to sleep.
For the most part, I just stared up at the ceiling letting my mind drift a bit. I began to puzzle over who this mysterious person on the phone was. And as I lay there puzzling, thinking, and replaying the conversation over and over again in my head I began to put the pieces together. I had a good idea of who the person was, and first thing tomorrow, I was going to pay him a little visit.
Then as midnight started to approach, I slowly started to drift off to sleep, but the last image that came to my mind wasn't of the mysterious person on the phone, or of me falling down the stairs. It was Drew and he was smiling down at me as he kissed me goodnight and tucked me in to bed. Then, with one last quick glance through the door at Drew's sleeping body, I lay my head back and drifted off to sleep.
"Brian? Briaaaan? Wake up. Wakey wakey."
"Go away."
"Nope, it's time to get up, now move your ass out of that bed."
"Are you always up this early?"
"Generally I am, now get up, I want to see how you're feeling this morning."
"Five more minutes."
"Okay, five...four...three two one. Times up."
"That was five seconds, not minutes." I said, rolling over to face him.
"I sped up time, but hey as long as you're up," he said with a huge grin on his face. "Happy Fourth of July."
"Awwww, how sweet." I said, returning my grin back at him.
"Yeah, okay now enough with the sweetness, how are you feeling this morning?"
"Okay I guess."
"Your cuts look good," he said, lifting up my hair to see my forehead. "What about your back? Can you sit up at all?"
"I could try."
"Take it easy though, don't strain yourself." He said as he placed his hand underneath me for support.
Then I started to sit up, it was a bit painful, but not like it was last night. Every now and then I winced from a sharp sting of pain and Drew looked at me with a concerned look on his face, but I assured him that I was fine and I kept on trying till I was sitting up in bed, looking him in the eye.
"There, I did it." I said with a grin on my face that a little boy always had when he accomplished something major.
"Yeah you did, do you feel okay?"
"You ask that question a lot," I grinned. "Yes, I'm fine."
"Well I want to check you out anyways, see if you really are okay."
He started to run his hands down the side of my bare chest, the feeling of his palm on my bare skin sent shivers up my spine. He seemed to notice this but just smiled and carried on like he hadn't. Every now and then he would pause and squeeze my side a bit and then continue, asking every time he squeezed if it hurt or not.
"Well you don't seem to have anything broken; I think you're gonna live." He said, pretending like he knew what he was talking about."
"Ya think?" I said giggleing. "Hey Drew? I have a question."
"And I have an answer."
I just rolled my eyes at his witty little comment. "How do you know so much about medical things?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well how did you know how to check me out, see if I was fine, and all?"
"Oh, well I used to be an EMT up in New York once upon a time ago, that was before I became a singer at these small town gigs and all."
"So why did you leave to be a singer?"
"Well, I had some friends who wanted to start a band, a boy band actually with four guys, kinda like 98 Degrees. We were good, real good actually. We played at clubs all over the city and people loved us. We even came close to having a record label."
"Wow, that's way too cool."
"I know right? I was having the time of my life out there performing for the crowds and having that record label laid out for us was a dream come true for me."
"So what happened?"
He hesitated a bit before answering, like he wasn't sure whether or not to tell me.
"Well, after we were told that we had a record label lined up for us, we all went out to celebrate. We went to this bar and stayed there for hours drinking and joking around, my brother; my older brother actually, was the designated driver so he just had sodas all night.
"It was about four in the morning when we decided to call it a night, me and my friends were pretty wasted. We got out into the parking lot and one of my friends kinda lost his footing and fell on the pavement, me and my other friend stopped to help him up but my brother just kept walking to the car getting ready to unlock the doors."
He had tears in his eyes when I looked into them, and he ducked his head down and wiped them away before facing me again. When he spoke, his voice almost cracked. "Some two guys were waiting in the shadow of the building, with a switch blade and a gun. When my brother got to the car they approached him, acting like they needed directions. Then they pulled the knife on him and demanded he give them his wallet and valuables. He was a fighter and he pushed them off and tried to take them on, one guy took the knife and drove it into his stomach.
"When I looked up at him from across the parking lot, I saw him kneeling on the ground holding his stomach, and then the other guy took the gun and shot him in the head. The last thing I remember doing was screaming, as loud as I could and running to his side. The guys took off running when I got to him."
He paused, letting his tears flow this time; I just sat there with my hand over my mouth and my eyes wide open. He took a long breath before continuing.
"After that, none of us were the same any more. We didn't perform anywhere; we barely talked to each other. Our band broke up basically and we never made it to the big time. My brother always encouraged me to live my dreams, and when I realized how much I loved singing, I decided to leave New York and travel, start performing at small gigs, see if I could get discovered. So far, no luck, I was about ready to give up, and head back home, but I changed my mind."
It took me sometime to finally ask. "Why?"
"Because." Was his only answer. I decided to not push him on it and just let it go, he was crying a bit when I wrapped one arm over his shoulder, then the other and held him tight against me till the tears stopped.
"Anyways, I have to be downtown in a bit for sound checks and last minute rehearsals, why don't you go get showered up, you can come with me if you want."
"I wish I could, but I have something I have to do today."
"I understand."
"But hey, I'm defiantly going to be there tonight, first row."
He smiled half heartedly at me. "Thanks."
I smiled back and hugged him and he got up and helped me into the shower. I stood there, letting the water run over me, just thinking of what Drew just told me. He had it hard, losing his brother and the chance to live his dream. No wonder he never stayed anywhere very long, or talked about his family much.
When I got out to dry off, there was a towel and a spare change of cloths waiting for me. I dried off, changed into his cloths, which fitted me quite nicely, and headed out to find Drew, but instead I got a note. Dear Brian,
Sorry I couldn't wait around for you, the festival coordinator called and they wanted me in for some technical problems to work through before tonight. Help yourself to anything you want to eat; you can stay here all day if you want. I can't wait to see you there tonight, don't forget about our date. I'm really looking forward to it. Meet me backstage after the show. See you then,
Drew.
I smiled at his thoughtfulness and re-read the note at least twice before putting it in my pocket. Instead of going to look for something to eat, I went to the phone and dialed a number I knew so well.
"Hello?"
"Hey Brytany, it's me, listen..."
"BRIAN! What the fuck! I can't believe you just hung up on me like that! Oh when I see you, you had better run cause I'm so gonna..."
"Bryt! Shut up and listen for a sec." I felt bad about being so mean but this was important.
"Alright, you got two seconds."
"I need your help."
"With what?"
"With a stalker."
"What!? Brian what's going on?"
So I told her everything, about the mysterious phone call, my fall down the stairs, and my night with Drew, only I left this morning out of it.
"Oh my god, who is he? Do you know?"
"No but I have a pretty good idea. I need you to be waiting outside, cause I'm coming to get you."
"Alright, but hurry."
I hung up and started walking to the door and stopped and looked back into Drew's apartment. I felt bad leaving like this but this was something I had to take care of. Incase Drew came back at some point, I left him a note saying where I was and left him my cell phone number just incase he needed to get a hold of me. Then I locked the door behind me, and ran up to my apartment to get my car keys, and then slowly walked back down, not wanting a repeat of last night.
When I got to my car, I practically tore out of the parking lot and onto the street. Since Brytany lived further west then me, it took a while to get there. But with my speeding, it took almost no time at all.
I got to her apartment and just like I told her, she was waiting outside for me. She practically jumped into the car and I sped off towards down town.
"So where are we going?"
"You'll see."
"You know who it is, don't you?"
I didn't answer; instead I just pushed the gas petal harder and sped through a few intersections. I arrived outside my destination in about ten minutes.
When I got there, I didn't bother trying to find a parking space, just let the car sit right in the middle of the lane as I ran inside. Once inside the doors, I shouted as loud as I could, not caring about all the faces staring back at me.
"MIKE!"
He appeared right from the back room.
"What!? Oh Brian it's just you...wait...hey! What are you doing?" he asked as I pushed him into the back room, away from everyone else.
"It was you." I said, with a tone of hostility in my voice.
"What are you talking about?"
"I know it was you, god damn it!"
"Brian, what the fuck are you talking about?"
"Last night you idiot! The phone call."
"I didn't make any phone call to you!"
"Bull shit Mike! Cut the crap alright, and explain to me what your problem is."
"You're delusional, I told you, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about!"
I knew he was lying, and in a spell of frustration, I back handed him right across the face. He looked at me a bit surprised, and then a grin spread across his face, an evil one, one that made me very self conscious about how strong he was and how weak I am. Maybe I didn't quite think this through.
"You wanna know why? You really want to fucking know why!? I'll tell you why, you don't get to quit on me like that. You don't get to just walk out and embarrass me like that in front of my customers and friends!"
He now got my shirt in the fists of his hands and threw me against the wall.
"So yeah, you deserve what you get, you fucking faggot!"
"Bite me you son of a bitch, you can't stop me from doing anything!"
"You wanna bet?"
He threw me across the room and I landed on the floor, hard. The pain from my back again returned and I was in no means necessary to fight anyone. Mike came at me, picked me up and raised his fist, just as I thought he was about to hit me, some one intervened and Mike went flying back.
"Get your hands off of him!"
Up until this point, I thought Brytany was still in the car, actually I had totally forgotten she was with me, but thank god she was. She had come in and kicked Mike hard in the chest, he was about to get up again when she walked over and slapped him, hard.
"You ever touch him again and I swear to god you will regret it!"
Then she walked over to me, stretched out her hand to help me up, and we both walked out to the car.
"Have I ever told you that I love you?"
"Yeah a few times actually."
"Huh, you'd think I would say it more often."
"Yeah, especially after I just saved your ass, again."
"Whatever, hey you up for a concert tonight on the river front?"
"Who's playin?"
"Drew."
"Oh god, you're kidding right?"
"Nope, and hey, go easy on him. You're going to have to let what he did on our first date go. There's more to him than you think. He's a really great guy... you know what? Meet him yourself, and see what you think."
"You know what? I will."
Me and Brytany ended up spending the rest of the day together pretty much doing nothing. We hit a few stores, walked around a bit, and talked for most of the day. By the time it was nine, the festival was starting and we headed down to the river front to see Drew perform.
When we got there, the place was crowded, majorly crowded. We walked around trying to find the right stage he would be performing on, and ended up walking around for an hour.
"Bryt, I think we're lost."
"Yeah, ya think?"
"I can't miss this Bryt."
"Don't worry, we'll find it."
And then, out of no where, came music which seemed familiar and a voice I instantly recognized. I turned around and what at first glance I thought was a dark corner was now a fully illuminated stage. There was a full band on it, drummers, guitarists, back up singers. And there in the front of it all was the man I was crazy about.
"Bryt! That's him!" I said, pointing to the stage.
I grabbed her hand and started making our way through the crowd to the front of the stage. He was up there, singing. The first time I ever heard him sing and I certainly wouldn't forget it. His voice was soft and deep, and flowed along with the music and I was instantly entranced by him. He was towards the end of `God Bless the U.S.A.' a song always performed at this festival, and he was ready to start some others.
Time flew by and he gave a small, yet very pleasing concert. Singing some songs from famous artists to songs he wrote himself. Then he left the stage as someone else took to it, and I made my way back stage to meet him.
"That was amazing!" I said, running up to him when I spotted him. He barley had time to say a response when I greeted him with a huge bear hug.
"Thanks, Brian. I'm so glade you made it."
"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it! You were awesome up there Drew; I loved every minute of it."
He smiled a smile that lit up his face before he grabbed me into another hug.
"Ahem." Brytany coughed behind me, obviously reminding us that she was still there.
"Oh, sorry Bryt, Drew this is my closest friend Brytany. Brytany, this is Drew."
"Good to meet you, Brytany."
"I know it is, right? Yeah. Hey, awesome concert, but you know, you weren't all that."
"Brytany!" I said, wishing she would just shut her mouth right then and there.
"Oh come on Brian, you know I was joking."
"Yeah, okay."
Drew just seemed amused by her comment and laughed a bit.
"Brytany," I said. "keep it real, or keep quiet."
"Oh you just want to make out with him." She shot back.
"Brytany!" I shouted, hoping she would just be quiet for one second.
"What!? You know its true Brian."
I must have turned five shades of red, I was so embarrassed. I was never taking my friends to meet my crushes ever again. Drew however, just seemed amused by it all and laughed.
"I like her, she's funny."
"Oh yeah, a real crowd pleaser." I said, rather sternly.
"Oh well you two are boring, I'm gonna go chill with some peeps, talk to you later Bri. Good to meet you Drew."
"Back at cha!" he shouted back.
"I am so sorry about that, she really doesn't know how to shut up."
"Don't be," he laughed again.
There was a bit of awkward silence between us, but just as the girl on stage was finishing up, the firework show was about to start and I grabbed his hand and lead him to the best spot I could find.
The fireworks lit up the night sky; they were big and bright, and beautiful. I looked over at Drew who had an awe inspired look on his face. The fireworks seemed to reflect in his eyes as he stared up at the sky. Then he turned and looked at me right in the eye. He reached for my hand and I took a step closer to him. Without even thinking, I leaned in and kissed him and he kissed me right back.
There was no awkwardness between us this time. As I leaned in closer to him, he put his hand on my cheek and I put mine on his back. We both started to get into the moment as I opened my mouth and let his tongue slide in over mine. We stood there making out as the fireworks went off over heads.
When we finally broke apart, the only word I could bring myself to say was...
"Wow."
"Yeah, wow."
We both stared at eachother; our kiss was intense but passionate. I reached out for his hand again.
"Here, follow me."
I lead him through the crowd towards the bike path. We followed that until we arrived under the bridge. I stopped and turned to face him, kissing him again once more. When we broke apart again, the firework show was just about over.
"Brian?"
"Yeah?"
He hesitated before continuing, obviously nervous.
"This time we spent together so far, has been amazing. I really like you, Brian and I guess what I'm trying to say is that, well...I want to be your boyfriend."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. I know I barely know you but, Brian..."
"Yeah?"
"I think I might be falling in love with you."
He looked at me and then down at his feet, wondering if that was such a smart thing to say or not. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. What he said to me was completely unexpected. But instead of saying that his feelings were wrong, I just lifted his chin and kissed him just as the grand finale of the firework show went off. We stood there, making out. Totally lost in one another's' embrace. When we broke apart again, I leaned in and whispered in his ear.
"I think I'm falling in love with you too."
To Be Continued...