Obligatory warnings and disclaimers:
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If reading this is in any way illegal where you are or at your age, or you don't want to read about male/male relationships, go away. You shouldn't be here.
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I don't know any of the celebrities in this story, and this story in no way is meant to imply anything about their sexualities, personalities, or anything else. This is a work of pure fiction.
Questions and commentary can be sent to "kdawg96@hotmail.com".
http://jcv.5u.com/all/worldofslash/ - Jayson Vascardi's website and also Dream Slash, at http://www.geocities.com/dreamslashuk/, that features my story and many other slash fiction stories. Go check it out.
Don't forget to check out these fantastic authors as well: My buddy ND, author of 'Nick and Ashley', and my friend Joel, author of 'JC's Hitchhiker'. This chapter is dedicated to these two guys. Thanks for all the support you're both constantly giving me! I couldn't do this without you!
Alex, author of 'Fame, Love and Reality' has approached me to write a sideline chapter for his excellent story. That should occur within the next month, so go check his great story now! Also, ND and myself have begun working on an idea for something else, so expect something from the two of us shortly.
Don't forget to go and vote for the BBSA awards before voting closes!
Thanks for all of the feedback on chapters 12 and 13! To further discuss any and all questions, comments, suggestions and remarks please email me at kdawg96@hotmail.com! Now lets get back to what you came here for.
*** Encountering Nick - Chapter Fourteen
"Alright. Yes, I understand. So the busses will be here at ten after nine? Okay. Yes, I will notify everyone. Yes, yes, I know. Goodbye." Ending the call on his cell, Kevin stepped onto the balcony of his hotel suite. He took in a deep breath of the fresh Atlantic air as a swift gentle wind drifted past him.
"Who was that?" Kristen asked as she stepped onto the balcony to join her adoring husband.
"Oh, just management again." Kevin said letting out a sigh.
"Something wrong honey?" Kristen asked as she stepped behind Kevin to hold him in her arms.
"Exhausted I guess." Kevin said leaning back against the embrace of his beautiful wife. "I'm just glad we're finally heading home tomorrow."
"More like relieved." Kristen remarked. "You always overwork yourself on these tours. I worry about you."
"Thanks hun, but you don't have to worry. I can take care of myself. Still," Kevin said turning around to face his wife, "You and I both know I couldn't do this without you though. Just you being here with me gives me the strength and determination to go on. I love you so much."
Kristen smiled and leaned in closer to her husband. "And I love you too." She said as she pulled him closer to share a passionate kiss. "Listen," she said after breaking the kiss, "I'm also exhausted. So if you don't mind, I think I am going to head off to bed now."
"Alright sweaty." Kevin said giving her another quick kiss. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight. Come to bed soon." She said stepping back into the room.
Turning back around to face the city, Kevin took in the view of the stunning Atlantic nightlife spectacle. Staring out from the top floor of the Atlanta Capitol Plaza he reflected on how the city was so alive below him. It was quite warm out and the gentle wind drifting through the air was so soothing. The night sky was clear and filled with billions of glimmering stars. It truly was a magnificent sight.
"I better get a hold of everyone before it gets too late to call." Kevin said to himself while pulling out his cell phone again. He dialed the first number and then waited while it rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey Bri. It's Kev."
"Oh, hey Kev." Brian replied.
"I just called to remind you that you have to be ready to leave for Orlando tomorrow morning at nine. The busses arrive at ten after, but I am asking for everyone to be down at nine. Cool?"
"Sounds good." Brian said in a subdued manner.
"Yea. So Bri? How are you handling things?" Kevin asked him, fully aware of what had happened with Brian and Nick yesterday.
"Not good Kev." Brian said sadly.
"I'm sorry Bri." Kevin responded desolately, although a smirk had cynically formed on his face. As much as he felt sorry for the pain his cousin was suffering with, he knew it wouldn't last long. Nick was in pain as well, and sooner or later they would be there for each other. They will get together and then his plan would be successful. He had already gone far enough to virtually break up Nick and Geoff after yesterday's events. After what Geoff had seen last night, Kevin knew even Nick wouldn't be able to patch things up with him. Kevin didn't like to see his friends in pain, but he truly believed he was doing what was best for the both of them.
When Brian called Kevin last night he sounded very distraught.
"Hello?" Kevin said answering his cell.
"Kev? It's Brian."
"Brian, what's wrong?" Kevin asked, taking notice of the despair in Brian's tone of voice.
"Everything!" Brain exclaimed. Kevin was able to hear his cousin sobbing on the other side of the phone.
"Brian, Brian what happened?!" Kevin asked frantically, becoming very concerned and anxious as a result of Brian. He was beginning to think that perhaps something awful had happened. The thought had crossed his mind that possibly someone was in the hospital, or worse.
"It's Nick..." Brian uttered as his feelings overwhelmed him that he was unable to finish his sentence and instead burst into further tears.
"Oh God..." Kevin said as dread overcame him. Images of Nick injured in the hospital, bleeding and bruised practically to death flooded through his head. Nick was like his little brother. Kevin wouldn't know what to do if Nick wasn't a part of his life anymore. "Brian, you have to tell me what happened! What happened!?" Kevin began to bellow.
"Geoff..." Brian began but again couldn't emit the words.
"Geoff?! What about Geoff!?" Kevin shouted. He always knew Geoff couldn't be trusted. He always had this bad intuition about him. Kevin began to beat himself up inside for not doing more about his suspicions.
"He saw us!"
Now confusion overpowered Kevin, as he really had no idea what Brian meant. "Brian? What do you mean he saw you?" Kevin asked, no longer yelling.
"He saw us..." Brian said and paused for a second, "together... sexually."
Stunned, Kevin nearly dropped the phone. 'I can't believe it actually worked.' He thought to himself. His plan had practically succeeded.
"Kevin?" Brian asked after a few moments of silence.
"Yea sorry," Kevin apologized. "I'm just a little taken back by all of this, that's all."
"Nick won't talk to me! He left soon after Geoff discovered us, and hasn't said a word to me since!" Brian cried out. "What do I do?!"
"I don't know, Bri. Just give it time." Kevin said reassuringly.
They went on to talk for a while longer and Kevin convinced his cousin that everything would turn out all right, especially if things turned out the way Kevin expects them to.
"Listen, Bri," Kevin said as he stopped recalling last night's conversation and continued to the one he was having now. "I was wondering if you'd call AJ and Howie and tell them about tomorrow's arrangements. Don't worry about calling Nick. I'll do that. And I'll get a hold of everyone else as well. Do you mind?"
"No, not at all." Brian said.
"Thanks!" Kevin said with enthusiasm. "I owe you one Couz!"
"Don't worry about it Kev."
"Okay, bye!" Kevin said as he hung up.
Looking at his cell phone, Kevin was unsure of whom to call next. He decided that he'd get all of the dancers out of the way first and then give Nick a call. Maybe he'd be able to patch things up between him and Brian.
Kevin dialed Geoff's cell but it went straight to his voice mail. 'He's probably already on the phone. I'll just leave a message.' Kevin thought to himself.
"Hey Brit." Geoff said to his best friend, while sitting in a local restaurant, unaccompanied and on his cell.
"Hey Geoffy! It's great to hear from you. It's been quite a while." She said.
"Yea, I know. I'm sorry. I've just been preoccupied with everything lately, you know?"
"Completely..." she assured him. "So how's the boy?"
Geoff remained silent for a few seconds before answering her. "I don't know."
"What?" She asked puzzled.
"I don't know." He repeated emotionlessly. "I walked in on him and Brian yesterday. They were... they were..." he began but couldn't finish. Tears welled up in his eyes and his throat closed up. The words just wouldn't come out.
"Oh no," Britney gasped, predicting what her friend would say. "Is it what I think?"
"Most likely." Geoff wept.
"Oh Geoffy! I'm so sorry! What are you going to do?"
"I don't know," Geoff said, sniffling a little while holding back the tears. "I've been avoiding him ever since it happened. I'm not ready to talk to him yet. But I still love him, with all my heart. I just wish there was a proper explanation for all of this!"
"Maybe there is?" She suggested.
"I should have known this would happen." He said bleakly.
"Why would you say such a thing?!" She demanded.
"'Cause my life always gets fucked up, no matter where I go!" Geoff exclaimed.
"That's not true Geoffrey! You know that's not true!" Britney declared.
"Yes it is!" He tweaked. "My parents get killed by some damned drunk driver! I become depressed and nearly suicidal! My former best friend and the first man I ever loved rejected me and also got me fired! In addition to that, now the second man I ever loved cheats on me! I can't take this anymore! I just can't!" Geoff wept, breaking down again.
"Geoff?" Britney said, also crying because of the pain her best friend was in. "Geoff, please be strong. You'll get through this. I know you will!"
"It's so hard!" He bawled.
"I know it is. But, if I believe correctly, you once told me everything happens for a reason." She stated, "So that means there is a reason behind this. We just don't know what it is yet. Possibly you'll be able to find out what it is and your relationship with Nick can be saved. Don't give up Geoffy!"
"You're right," Geoff said regaining control of himself. "I don't know if I'll be able to do this alone though."
"Do you want me to come over there? Because I could grab the next flight and be over there in..."
"No, no don't do that." Geoff interrupted. "I appreciate the offer, but you have already disrupted your tour once for me and I don't want you to have to do it again. I'll have to try and do it by myself. And as much as I'd love to see you, I'm pretty sure that we hit the road again tomorrow anyways. So there is no point. Besides, Justin will probably get jealous of all the time you'd be spending with me instead of him." Geoff laughed.
Brit said nothing and Geoff caught on quickly that he had said something wrong.
"Oh no, Brit, what happened?" Geoff asked as the tables turned. Now Geoff was to be the one sympathizing for Brit.
"I thought you had probably already heard about it on the news, or Entertainment Tonight, or something." She assumed.
"I don't get a chance to watch much television. What happened Brit?"
"Well, we were on our way to lunch a while ago in Orlando. I had flown up there for the weekend to visit him, since 'Nsync were stationed there finishing up some leftover vocals in the recording studio for their upcoming album." Britney began, with bits of fury in the tone of her voice. "Lately Justin and I had been experiencing some difficulties in our relationship. As you're well aware of, Justin is bisexual."
"Yea, I know." Geoff said. Justin had actually told him that before him and Britney became officially exclusive. Knowing Geoff was gay, Justin came to him as a friend for some advice. He had told Geoff that he had been with guys before, but he still had a strong attraction to girls as well. He was very confused back then. Yet however confused he was, he told Geoff that he had very strong feelings toward Britney and said he was beginning to fall in love with her. Geoff had encouraged him to act on those feelings, which he had done.
Britney continued, "And I am completely accepting of his sexuality and told him it wouldn't affect our relationship whatsoever, as long as he remained loyal to me. Recently, though, he had begun to pay more attention to random guys and girls rather than me, and I was beginning to get fed up with it. And then on the way to lunch that day I confronted him. We were standing outside a local Wendy's restaurant when I told him that if he didn't start paying more attention towards me I would leave him. One thing led to another and I ended up discovering that he'd been cheating on me throughout the relationship! He'd been sleeping with these random guys and also JC!"
"JC!? Yea right!?" Geoff asked amazed.
"Yea. That's when I slapped him, got back into the car and sped off out of the parking lot in a fury, leaving him stranded at that fast food restaurant all alone."
"Wow Brit," Geoff said, "I'm so sorry."
"That's alright. Don't worry about me. I'm over it." She claimed.
"Alright Brit. Anyways, its getting late and I think I am supposed be up early, so I better head off to bed. I love you and I better not have to wait as long as I did this time to speak to you again!"
"Same goes to you buddy!" She joked. "But in all seriousness, I wish you the best of luck with everything and hope it all works out for the best. Keep me updated, alright?"
"Will do sweaty!"
"Good!" she said. "Bye! Love ya!"
"I love you too! Bye." Geoff said before ending the call.
Looking down as his cell, he noticed he had four missed calls and four new messages. Checking them he discovered that three of them were from Nick, begging Geoff to call him back and repeatedly apologizing for his actions. The fourth message was from Kevin, reminding Geoff to be down by the busses by nine-o-clock tomorrow morning. Heading back up to Greg's room, one of the dancers who had kindly allowed Geoff to stay with him instead of having to go back to his and Nick's room and face their dilemma, Geoff realized that tomorrow he would have to stop being worried and talk with Nick at last.
The next morning one by one everyone began to gather downstairs. The busses were packed and all set and one or two things were just being taken care of before the band set off on their way to Orlando.
Jack, after throwing his bags onto the bus, headed off to the washroom, knowing that the few things that had to be taken care of may take a while. On the way back from the washroom he overheard Kevin talking with management at the side of one of the busses. Inconspicuously, he crept up closer to them to pry in on their conversation.
"Kevin, I don't know how much longer we can keep on doing this." Jesse, one of the guys on management, commented.
"What do you mean Jesse? I'm not asking too much of you?" Kevin said not hiding the frustration in his voice. "All I'm asking is to continue booking promotional events for Nick and Brian to take care of."
"But why?" asked Amy, another management official.
"Because I am asking you to!" He said grimly.
"Listen Kevin, this is beginning to become unreasonable. For the past two weeks you have been altering the band's schedule just about every day just so you could purposely put Brian and Nick together incessantly. Up until now we've been extremely forbearing of your actions, but enough is enough. Now if you don't give us a suitable explanation for all of this, I'm afraid we are going to have to put a stop to your conduct." Jesse declared.
"You can't do that." Kevin objected.
"Yes we can Kevin, and we will." Amy confirmed.
"Now tell us, what's with all of the scheduling adjustments?" Jesse asked sternly.
Kevin sighed and then pretended to confess, "They asked me to."
"What?" Amy asked confused.
"Both Nick and Brian," Kevin said evenly, "They asked me to do this for them."
"Why would they do that?" Amy questioned.
"And why wouldn't they come directly to us?" added Jesse.
"I guess they're embarrassed." Explained Kevin. "You see Brian is in the midst of getting of divorce, which really wasn't my place to tell you, but I feel I had no choice. Nick, being his best friend, wishes to console and give support to his friend in his time of need. I don't think that is such a bad idea, do you? And they were hoping, since I do just about as much of the management work around here as the two of you, that I would be able to grant them this diminutive wish. Now am I going to have to go back and tell them otherwise, or will you cooperate with me on this one?" Kevin said confidently. By the look on Jesse and Amy's face Kevin knew he had won this battle.
"Of course we will!" Amy said feeling somewhat discomfited herself.
"Yes, yes. Don't worry. We will make all the necessary adjustments as soon as possible." Jesse approved.
"Good to hear." Kevin said through his smile. "Now let's get everyone on these busses and get out of this fuckin' city already!"
"Alright." Jesse laughed. "Thanks for your time Mr. Richardson."
"No problem guys." He said as he headed towards his bus.
Jack, remaining not easily seen, snuck back to his bus as well. "Idiots." He muttered to himself. Being an avid liar himself, he's able to spot another one a least a mile away. Jack was positive Kevin just duped those two imbeciles just so he was able get his way. Jack does it to people constantly. Yet he couldn't help but wonder what Kevin's motives really were. Moreover Jack couldn't help but wonder how he was going to use this newfound information to his advantage.
Geoff stepped onto the bus and took a seat. Looking around he saw only a few people on it so far. AJ and Jenny were in the back, cuddled up on the couch together, and Kevin was at the front of the bus giving the bus driver some specific directions. Geoff was kind of relieved that Nick hadn't arrived yet. He'd been avoiding him for the past two days. Luckily, this morning, when Geoff snuck into the room he had shared with Nick in order to acquire his baggage before they left, Nick was in the shower. Geoff was able to quickly pack up his things and get out of the room undetected before Nick had gotten out of the shower.
But there would be no avoiding him on the bus. Geoff knew this and was prepared, but still fretful. He really did still love Nick, and more than anything he would love to just forget all of this had happened and just start over; but he can't. Nick had betrayed the trust Geoff had bestowed upon him, and that is reprehensible. It is going to take time, effort and a hell of a lot to earn that trust back.
Suddenly someone took a seat next to him. Geoff looked over and anxiety permeated him. "Nick." Geoff said softly.
"Geoff. We need to talk."
End of Chapter Fourteen Please e-mail me with all questions and comments at kdawg96@hotmail.com - and I'm always open to new and fresh ideas. I look forward to hearing from all of you. Check back soon for Chapter Fifteen!