Author's note: Hello everyone! This is the chapter sixteen. As always (and forever!) thanks to everyone who read my story and another thank to all people who send me mail in addition! I LOVE YOU ALL!!! ;D
You know that thing: I don't know any of the BSB, Backstreet Band, Firm... and I don't know their sexuality and yadi yadi yada.... Don't read if you aren't older enough to, and if you don't like homosexual stories... are you lost or silly?
I know that I like many stories but I can't help it! Anyway, I advise you these ones: "Nick and Brian", by JC Vascardi "Open Arms", by Carter "Because I love you", by Lucas Thompson "The Body Switch with Nick Carter" by Sher "The Project" by Adam "Any Path", and all the sequels, and "Interludes" by Dara Lynn "Star Crossed", "Sucks to Be You" and "I Need You Tonight" by Jo Beth Hill "It's Gonna Be Me" by Jamie "Say my Name" by Jo Beth Hill and Colleen "Heaven in yours eyes" by Beck "Chances are" by Red "Josh and Just" by AJ Shukla "Just One Call" by Sarah "Tearing Up My Ass" by Rick Chasez "Kevin and Dustin" by Nick Moore "Little White Lies" by Elly Iles "Calming Waters" and "The Debt" by NCfan "Devotion" by Angel1313 "The Real Nick" by Kevin Michael "God Must Have Spent" by AJ B. "Secrets", "Hands Of Time", "The Call" and "The Shadow's Riddle" by Kit. She had also written another one with Lum called "Through Another's Eyes". Check it out. "Shape Of My Heart" by MJ "Loneliness Knows Me By Name" by Cody "Before The Storm" by Gking "Blood Angel" by Nathan Wolf and "Backstreets" from Nike (go and see his great site too! www.geocities.com/writer_nike/)
You can also check out my other stories "Together Again" (net chapter on Tuesday), "Porcelain" and the second part "Send Me An Angel", "Earth, Wind, Sun", "The Snow Will Be There", "Whispering Wind" and "Happy Birthday!"
Remember that English isn't my first language! So sorry for the errors that I may did!
Fate Will Gather Us Together Chapter Sixteen By Sophie V. (wind_phoenix@hotmail.com, wind_angel@myplace.com)
"I wonder if it's going to work."
"Look, do what I said, I don't care about your comments!"
"Listen, I know you're very upset but... do you really think it will work?"
"Look, I'm sure that there's hope... There must be hope!!"
"Nick..."
"Listen, do what I said and if you don't find him until we left, I want Saw to be fired!"
"You can't do that!"
"The hell I can't do that!!" screamed Nick on the phone. Then he heard some noise from the other side of the bed. Brian wasn't really awake. He had to speak lower.
"Calm down, we're gonna do that. Just send me his picture."
"No problem, I'll ask Gene to give it me, or he'll do it. This picture had two years old, but for what I saw and heard, he didn't change too much... well, he didn't change, actually."
"Good, it will be much easier. Bring me the picture soon, okay?"
"No problems... Thanks a lot, Luck." said Nick "I hope it's gonna work."
"I hope too, son. See ya later."
"Later." said Nick as they both hang up. He turned around and saw Brian tiredly opening his eyes.
"Morning, Brian." said Nick as he lay beside him on the bed.
"Morning, babe." said Brian as he yawned. "Why were you screaming?"
"Sorry, but I was talking to Luck. I decided to give him the picture of Jeff and I also told him to show it to everyone else in the security team. So that if they find him tonight at the concert, Gene and him will be together again." he said, smiling, proud of his idea. Brian smiled a bit too.
"It's a good idea but what if he doesn't show up?" he said as his smile faded.
"Justice will be done." said Nick "Sam will be fired."
"What?!"
"I'm gonna said that to Peter, later." said Nick "He won't refuse."
"But Nick, it won't be fair to him."
"No, Brian. Gene is more important than him."
"Nick, I know how angry you are at him, but he didn't know Jeff."
"I don't care, he'll have his punishment!" said Nick as he got up. Brian got up also and put his arms around him.
"Please, Nick, you have to forget him." said Brian "Jeff will be found by another way and then..."
"How can you forgive him like that?" said Nick, a bit angry "He had hurt my brother! I know he never meant to do it, but he did! Gene is my brother, he'll take his revenge!"
"Nick..."
"And I'm sure that you want Gene to be happy too! Come on, you even were his lover."
"Nick, I do want Gene to be happy, but you have to forgive Sam. Please, he just didn't want anyone of us to be hurt, and he had NO idea about Jeff."
Nick thought about that and sighed. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Brian was right. It wasn't really his fault.
"You're right Brian." he said, sighing. "After all, it's my fault, not his."
"Nick..." said Brian, shocked "I already told you that it wasn't your fault!"
"But..." he started to say when Brian silenced him with a kiss.
"It wasn't your fault, or Sam's fault... nobody is responsible, you have to understand that... and if we don't find him tonight, then it will be no one's fault too."
"Yeah..." said Nick softly "But still... I don't know if I'm gonna forgive myself until we find him..."
"Oh sweetie..." said Brian as he hugged him "Everything will be okay... You found your brother so why he wouldn't find Jeff?"
"I only hope he won't find him in 20 years..." whispered Nick as he hugged his boyfriend tightly. He felt so safe in his arms... He really hoped that Gene would be safe in someone's arms too.
"Maybe I wasn't destined to find him..."
"Why are you seeing that? You only missed him last night."
"But what if I don't see him anymore? Oh... Mark, I want him by my side."
"And he'll be by your side, kiddo." said Mark "We'll just have to find a way to find him quickly before, during or after the concert."
"We leave tonight." said Fred.
"What?"
"I said we leave tonight. We leave after the concert tonight. Peter phoned me earlier and told me to tell you so. I'm sorry, Gene."
"Oh god..." sighed Gene "That give me less time."
"Come on! We're not gonna stay here at this hotel until tonight!" said Mark as he got up. "We'll just have to fine a way to find him."
"We can searched in all the hotels." proposed Gene.
"We already did that yesterday!" said Fred "And beside, he could have used a false name. His real name wasn't in any of the hotels."
"We can ask the security to find him." proposed Mark. "You said that you have a picture of him and you, right?"
"Yeah, that's right!" said Gene as he got up and searched in one of his bag "I should have thought about it earlier."
They waited patiently and after a few moments, Gene found an old picture of him and Jeff, which was taken two years ago. The two boys were sitting against a tree, their arms around each other, smiling.
"Ooooh..." cooed mark "Look at Gene, he's so cute."
Gene couldn't help blushing as the others looked at the picture and smiled too.
"No doubt, you're exactly like Nick two years ago." said Mark "A pretty innocent blond boy."
"Come on, man." said Gene as he took the picture from his hand "Be serious, please."
"I am." said Mark, winking at him, causing Gene to blush even more "Aw, sorry, man."
"So, now that we have the picture, what do we do?" asked Denis.
"Well, Gene, you're gonna see one of the bodyguards." said Mark "Luck will be the best choice."
"Luck?" said Gene "Funny name."
"He's Nick's bodyguard. This isn't exactly his real name, Nick named him like that cause he was always there to protect Nick and helped through very hard situations... I'll have to talk to you about that, you're gonna laugh!" said Mark, giggling.
"Okay..." said Gene, smiling for the first time this morning. "And where's he?"
"If I remember correctly, he's in the room 427, not far from Nick and Brian's one."
"Okay..." said Gene as he walked toward the door "I'm gonna talk to him."
He exited the room and wanted straight to the room. Being on the same floor, he knew it wouldn't take too much time. He soon arrived in front of the room and as he was about to knock, he heard a door opening. He looked at his right and saw Nick exiting the room. As he closed the door, he saw him in front of Luck's door and immediately went toward him and hugged him.
"Bro! You're okay?" he asked worriedly.
"I'm fine, Nick, don't worry." said Gene as he hugged him back. "Just a bit tired. I don't sleep too well last night."
"Really?" said Nick "You're sure you're gonna be okay?"
"Yes, Nick, I'm sure. I was about to talk to Luck. We found a way to find Jeff."
"I was about to talk to you about it." said Nick "What do you have in mind?"
"I'm gonna give him a picture of Jeff and I, so that he can search him tonight with other guards." said Gene as Nick smiled.
"I had the same idea." said Nick "I'm sure it's gonna work."
"I hope so..." said Gene as he knocked on the door. A few moments after, a tall and strong man opened.
"You have the pic, Ni..." he stopped to talk as he saw the two faces of Nick and Gene. He put his hand on his face and grimaced. "Oh shit... remember not to drink beer in the morning."
"Come on, Luck, this is only Gene!" said Nick, laughing a little. Luck looked at Gene and frowned.
"Oh... I thought you died your hair, yesterday."
"I did. But I washed my hair this morning." he explained "I use a colorant which isn't very strong."
"I see... so..." he said looking at them. "You're here for the same reason?"
"Yeah." said Gene as he gave him the picture of him and Jeff "Show him to everyone and the security team, please."
"No problem." he said, looking at the picture "I hope we'll find him..."
"Me too." said Nick "You mustn't miss it."
"I know. But Nick?" he said, a bit hesitant "Are you serious about firing Sam?"
"What?!" said Gene, shocked as he looked at Nick "You want to fire him?!"
"Well, not anymore. I finally understood that it wasn't his fault..." said Nick, a bit ashamed.
"I'm glad you did, Nick." said Luck "You know it would have been a mistake."
"He's right. He didn't know about Jeff and I." said Gene. Nick looked at him and nodded. He was amazed by his behavior.
"That's my brother." he thought, smiling.
"Okay, I'll do anything I can." said Luck. As he was about to close his door, Gene stopped him.
"Luck?"
"Yeah, Gene?"
"After tonight, you'll give me the picture back." said Gene "It has a strong meaning to me."
"Of course, don't worry." said Luck, smiling. Gene smiled too and walked away with Nick. He closed the door and looked at the picture.
"Why does it have a special meaning?" he asked himself. He looked at the picture intently and turned it. He then saw something writing:
'Everytime you'll need me, You know I'll be here, By your side, Inside your heart. Jeff, 1998'
"Very sweet, I understand what he meant." he said. "He must be a great guy."
He sighed and put the picture on his bedside.
"Don't worry, kiddo, he'll be here soon." he thought as he went in the bathroom to take a shower.
"... And he wrote a message on it." said Gene "It had a great meaning to me. It said that everytime I need him, he'll always be there."
"That's sweet." said Nick "You're lucky to have someone like that."
"Why? Brian isn't like that?"
"No, that's not what I mean, Brian is great." said Nick, smiling "I hoped that Jeff would be like that."
"By the way, where's Brian?"
"Outside, he had some stuff to do." said Nick "I don't what exactly, he didn't tell me..."
"Jeff was like that sometimes... but it ends up being a good surprise for me. I only hope that I'll find him." said Gene, sighing "I really don't understand one thing."
"Which is?"
"How did he survive?" he wondered "I mean, the storm was strong and he fell in the water..."
"Perhaps he found a piece of the boat and use it as a float or something like that..."
"Yeah, it's possible..." said Gene as he sat on a chair in the hall of the hotel. He sighed and looked at his watch. 10:25. A long time before the concert. Nick saw his face and spoke up.
"We can speak about something else if you want." said Nick "How about our family? I want to know a bit more about your family."
"I already told you everything earlier Nick." said Gene, smiling "How about you speak about your family... OUR family."
Nick smiled and sat beside him, putting his arm around his shoulder.
"Well, there's plenty much things to say." said Nick "How about we talk about it while playing basket ball?"
"Sure why not?" said Gene as they got up and went toward one of the doors, which lead to the basket court just behind the hotel. "I'll have to teach you how to play soccer too."
"I know how to play soccer." said Nick
"Uh uh." said Gene, shaking his hair "I'm speaking about REAL soccer... not American one."
"Oh." said Nick as he grabbed a basketball in the closet beside the court door. "Well, sometimes me and the guys play, but not very often."
"You'll learn quickly... unless you're really dumb." said Gene, laughing as he ran in the court.
"You'll see who is the dumb one!" said Nick as he ran after him.
Later...
"Come on, Nick, let's play." said Gene, smiling. "I'm only winning 83-69!"
"Come on, bro." said Nick sitting on the ground, trying to catch his breath "I'm tired... and you're too fast for me!"
Gene giggled and looked at the street. It was deserted, even if the weather was fine. He sighed and looked at a dark spot. Then, he saw a man holding a camera. He seemed to have just taken a picture of him. He frowned and started to walk toward them. This man saw him walking toward him and ran away.
"HEY!!" Gene screamed as he opened the door of the court, the one that led to the street, and ran after him.
"Gene!!" screamed Nick as he got up. He wanted to run after him but was too tired to. He just quickly went toward the street, just in time to see his brother disappearing, running after someone.
The man was fast and despite the fact that Gene ran fast too, he couldn't catch him. Beside, he couldn't run as much as he wanted, because of his game with Nick. He didn't know who this man was but was pretty decided to catch him. They continued to run in the streets and the stranger ran across a street, without looking at his sides. Cars abruptly stopped, almost hitting him. Gene ran too and avoided just in time several cars too. He was lucky that the cars had braked and that he ran quickly. Otherwise, he'd have been violently hit. The scene shocked several persons, who were walking in this street, but Gene didn't care and continued to run. As the man ran, he caught a quick look behind him and saw that Gene was still after him. He looked back and then knocked into someone, causing them both to fall on the ground and his camera to fall too. Despite the shock, he quickly got up and ran away. Gene wanted to run after him but stopped when he recognized the person this stranger ran into.
"Brian!" said Gene, as he helped him to get up "You're okay?"
"A bit hurt... but I'll be okay." Brian asked, grimacing because of the pain, as he got up, holding his stomach. The man had knocked into him pretty hard. "Who was he?"
"I don't know, Nick and I were playing basket ball and then I saw him spying us." he said. He looked at the street and saw the camera. "And he seemed to have took picture of us."
Brian walked beside him and Gene took the camera. He inspected it but didn't see where he could find the film.
"How are we going to open it and took the film?" asked Brian.
"Easy." said Gene, shrugging. He then threw the camera with all his strength on the wall of a building beside them. The camera crashed into million pieces, and Gene finally found the film through the fragments.
"There!" he said, holding it proudly.
"You have special methods." said Brian, giggling, as he looked at it. "But what we do, now?"
"We must know what pictures he took... probably some of me and Nick."
"And it would be too risky to tell the world about you." said Brian. Gene nodded and him and Brian took also all the fragments of the camera and put them in a dustbin. They walked back at the hotel, the film in Gene's pocket.
A few moments later, they both arrived at the hotel and saw a worried Nick in the hallway.
"Gene! Brian! You're okay? What happened?" he said as he ran toward them and hugged them.
"Don't worry, Nick, we're both okay." said Gene. Then he showed him the film. "He ran into Brian and lost his camera... And I have the film."
"But who was he?" asked Nick
"Probably a paparazzi who wanted pictures of you and Gene."
"He knows about me and Gene?!" said Nick, shocked "But how?!"
"He knows for sure, but I think he tried to have pictures of you both so that he can send them to some papers." said Brian, sighing.
"But how could he know?" asked Nick.
"No idea..." said Gene "But I think I have to be more discreet."
"We both have to." said Nick. He then took the film from Gene. "Are you sure there're pictures of us?"
"I'm not sure, but it's very possible." said Gene as Brian nodded. "Do you know a way to see these pictures?"
"Yes, I do." said Brian "We can asked our photographer to develop them."
They all nodded and went into Nick and Brian's room. Brian quickly called him and five minutes later, John, their photographer came to take the film, saying that he'll have them in a few hours. Then, everyone went back in their own rooms, tired by what happened. With Jeff's problem and this mystery man, the situation was getting hard.
"Please, tell me that you're kidding!"
"I'm sorry but it's the true, he was nowhere in sight. We searched before, during and after the concert and he wasn't here."
"No! You must have missed a place!" said Nick, getting angry. "He must have been somewhere! You must have..."
"Look, Nick. I swear that we searched everywhere!" said Luck "Even when the fans entered in the hall for the concert, we looked each fan but we didn't see him."
Nick looked at him helpless and looked at Gene and Brian. Brian was cursing a little under his breath and Gene just looked down, looking very disappointed.
"It's okay..." he said as he looked up at Luck "Thanks for searching."
"Gene, I'm very sorry. Believe me, I am."
"I trust you, Luck... I... just hoped that we'd have more chances..." he said, sighing. Nick went beside him and pulled him in a hug. He felt really bad for him. Gene just sighed and hugged him back.
"Guys, it's time to go on the plane!" said Peter. They walked outside the airport and spotted the Backstreet Plane, not very far from them. They all walked toward it and Nick looked at Gene sadly. Since the end of the concert, they didn't have a single chance to search Jeff and were forced to go to the airport immediately. It was dark and a bit cold outside. Gene couldn't help shrugging. He stopped walking and looked at the airport. He knew that he couldn't go back.
"Please, give me a sign..." he whispered as he looked up at the sky "Anything... just a sign..."
But nothing happened. He sighed and started to walk back to the plane when he heard his name being screaming. He turned around but saw nothing. He was about to continue to walk when he heard his name one more time. He looked up and finally saw someone. It was Luck.
"What is it, Luck?" he asked as Luck ran toward him.
"We found him!" he said, "Jeff is in the airport!"
"What?!" said Gene, shocked "But how?! Where?!"
"He said that since he thought he couldn't talk to you at the concert, he decided to wait at the airport." he said as he gave the picture to Gene. "No doubt, it's him, I'm sure. He's like on the picture."
Gene took the picture and looked at it. The familiar picture. He looked up and his mouth went wide opened. Luck looked behind him and saw Jeff walking toward them. He then walked away toward the plane, wanting to give them private time.
Gene continued to look at Jeff who stopped walking at a few feet from him. He was paralyzed as he looked at him. He was beautiful... exactly like he was in the past. He could feel his heat beating quickly and a big fire burning inside his heart. He missed him so much...
"Jeff..." he said as he looked at him, his voice cracking. All he wanted to do was to hug him tightly and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. But because of the shock, his body refused to bulge.
"Gene..." Jeff said, his own voice cracking too "My god... I missed you so much..."
This voice... God, he missed this voice. He had no doubt now. But he knew it way before he finally found him: He still loved him. Tears were streaming down his face as he slowly raised his right hand toward him. He wanted him to join him. Jeff walked toward him, took his hand and they both fell in each other's arms. Gene was now crying hard, his head buried into his shoulder.
"Jeff... my Jeff..." he moaned as he hugged him tightly. Jeff had also tears streaming down his face. They both wished for this moment for so long... and now, it wasn't a dream. It was true.
"Gene, my darling... oh god, I missed you so much... I love you so much." said Jeff as he kissed his head. Gene looked up at him and pulled him in a very passionate kiss. It was the first kiss they shared since what happened two years ago.
"This isn't a joke?!" said Nick, shocked "Jeff is really here?!"
"Yes, I left him with Gene, I assumed they wanted some time alone." said Luck as he walked in another room of the plane. Nick immediately exited the plane and tried to find Gene. Since he didn't see very well without his glasses and that it was getting pretty dark, he couldn't see them.
"You heard Nick?" said Brian as he joined him.
"Yes... oh god, that's great!" he said as he hugged him tightly. He then kissed him passionately, pushing his tongue in his mouth. Brian was taken by surprise and pushed him slightly away, having to catch his breath.
"Whoa!" he said, smiling "Calm down."
"I can't! My brother is finally happy! Isn't that great?!" said Nick, a grin on his face. He then hugged Brian tightly, as if he was going to disappear. Brian just smiled and hugged him back. They just continued to hug for a moment when they heard someone calling them.
"Guys!" they both looked behind them and saw John "I've got the pictures... you really should see that!"
Nick looked at each other, a bit worried, and followed John inside the plane...
**************************************************************************** To be continued! As always... feedbacks are welcome! :) E-mail: wind_phoenix@hotmail.com OR wind_angel@myplace.com (write FWGUT or the entire title, as you wish) See ya! :) Sophie V.