DISCLAIMER: This story is not for those under the age of 18 years (21 in some areas). It could include discriptions of male/male sexual acts. This story includes celebrity persona; however, it is not meant to imply or suggest the sexual orientation of those celebrities.
------------------- Getting Reaquainted ------------------- by Neil My e-mail address is SilverNeil@hotmail.com ICQ # 49278358
Part XVIIII -----------
I wake up of my own accord. No sunlight, no alarm clock, no ringing telephone. Thank goodness. Hhhmmm...we go to Salt Lake City today. A good 8 hour bus trip. I get up and shower, shave, brush my teeth, and do my hair. It doesn't take all that long to pack since I didn't really unpack. As I am zipping up my last bag, there's a knock at my door. A guy with food carts.
"I wasn't aware I was getting food."
"The guy who called from 411 said to deliver the food here."
"411...AJ. Okay, thanks." I take the trays and close the door. I call each of the guys' rooms to tell them breakfast was ready. Moments later, they are all in my room, stuffing their mouths.
"Alright! Who is ready for the bus?" Nick asks with fake excitment. Howie and AJ moan, and Kevin shakes his head. Brian just continues eating.
A couple minutes later, Brian asks, "Chris, you mind if I use the bathroom?" In a quick decision, I just dismiss him with a wave of my hand and look away. In the corner of my eye, I can see him get a confused look.
Once he's in the bathroom, Kevin asks, "Chris, what's up with you?"
Loud enough for Brian to hear me (but not loud enough that he'd know I wanted him to hear me), I say, "Well, last night I was laying in my bed, thinking about all this shit that's happening. Then it really hit me how fucking mad I really am. I mean, to be hurt like this by the person I love and trust most in the world. I was stupid, thinking I could just ignore the problem or act like nothing happened. Looking back, I could have slapped myself yesterday. 'just get past it'. Bullshit. Now I'm mad at myself and him." The guys all get shocked looks, and Nick gives me the 'ssshh' signal. I just roll my eyes.
A minute later, Brian comes out. He looks scared of me...good. So I'm going to give him what he wants: I'm going to be mad at him. AJ says, "Uuummm....well, I guess we should be headin' out." Everyone gets up from the table, puts their plates on the tray, and leaves.
Except Brian, he didn't leave. He says, "Chris, can we talk for a minute?"
"Now's not a good time, Brian. I have to make sure all our bags get down, then I have to call the bus driver, then I have to call management to clear everything for this trip and the next show, and just everything. So now is not a good time." I say it as I roam about the room, gathering up some stuff and looking as busy and irritated as I can.
"Oh...well...it's really important, are you sure"
I interrupt, "Brian, we can talk on the bus. I said I don't have time. Now, if you'll excuse me...."
"Uh yeah, sure. See ya on the bus." He opens the door. I raise my hand in something that is supposed to be a goodbye gesture. He walks out and closes the door. AH! That was the hardest thing to do! I hate doing this. I don't even know why I'm doing it anymore. This is insane.
We all climb onto the bus. "Wow, plush."
Kevin says, "It has to be, with all the traveling we do on it."
"Can I get a grand tour?" I say, smiling.
Brian says, "Yeah, I'll show you around." I drop my smile and nod slightly. I can see this hurt him, and I know I can't do this much longer.
We all move into the second area of the bus, which is like a living room. Howie, AJ, Nick, and Kevin take seats and start talking. Brian shows me that they have a tv, refrigerator, and other stuff here, then we move into the back part of the bus. He pulls back a curtain to give us some privacy. "These are the bunks." He points to each one, naming it's owner. I see mine is in the middle on one side, across from his. "Chris, would you sit down for a minute?" I take a deep breath and sit on the lowest bunk on one side, Kevin's. He sits opposite me, on AJ's bunk.
"What?"
"I can tell that you're really angry at me. It's, like, totally different than yesterday. Yesterday, you were all willing to move on, and today you're...you're just different. What did I do?"
I look him in the eyes and say, "You're actually asking me that question? What did you do?" I look down, shake my head, and chuckle a little.
"No, I know what I did. Just...What made you like this?"
I think for a minute. "The realization that this is a normal relationship. So we're both men. So you're world famous. That doesn't matter one bit. We're in a relationship. And if this had happened to anyone else, they would have been mad. And when I thought about that, it made me mad. I guess that's it."
He lets the information sink in. "Alright, I can understand that." He stands and turns to the curtain. "It was just weird, the difference between you yesterday and today." He walks out into the living room area. I get up and go out as well.
For about an hour, we all talk about nothing in particular. I can just tell that the others are very curious as to what happened between us, and what my problem is. It's so weird. Well, after that, we decide to lay down for a while.
Oh yeah, I'm going to hate travelling on this bus. I wake up with a sore neck and an aching back. I slide out of the bunk and stretch. Little popping sounds send a wave of pleasure down my back. As I start to pull back the curtain, I stop because I hear voices.
Kevin: "No, I don't think he's going insane."
Brian: "Well, something's wrong."
Nick: "Yeah, I noticed. You shoulda heard what he was saying this morning." The little fink!
Brian: "I did hear it."
Kevin and Nick: "You did?!"
Brian: "Yes...and I guess I can't blame him. I'd be mad too. I just don't understand all of this."
Someone puts a hand on my shoulder, scaring me. I whip around to see AJ smiling. "Naughty, naughty, Chris. What do you think you're doing?"
"Ssshh...I'm only pretending to be mad at Brian. How could I stay mad at a face like that?" I smile big, and AJ laughs.
"What do you hope to accomplish by doing that?"
"I don't know, but it seems like he wanted me to be mad at him. So I am." The bus makes a turn. "What's this?"
"Lunchtime, I guess. Wonder where we are?" I leave the bunk area while AJ wakes Howie.
I see Kevin and Nick putting on their shoes. "What's goin' on, guys?"
Brian answers, "Time for lunch. And lookie where we are." He smiles and points out the window...to a McDonalds.
I look and frown. I turn back to him and say, "You just enjoyed that way too much."
After lunch, we were headed out again. We played some video games and watched a movie. Just when the movie ended, there was a big jolt on the bus. It knocked me over, and Kevin almost came crashing down on top of me. Howie yells, "WHAT HAPPENED?!?" The bus pulls to the side of the road. The driver gets off, and we follow.
He says, "Uh-oh, guys, looks like we have a flat tire. Suppose I could get a little help?" So we helped him change the tire. Then we boarded the bus again. As we were walking into the second part of the bus, we hear the driver start the bus. Or rather, try to start the bus. There's a loud squeaky noise. The driver gets off the bus again and pops the hood. A large cloud of smoke comes rolling out. We get off of the bus, again. The driver says, "Hhhhmmm...this looks like trouble. The jolt must've done some damage in here."
I say, "Oh great. Have any idea where the closest service station is?"
"I saw one a while back."
"How long is a 'while'?"
"Oh, about an hour."
"Well, what do we do now? We don't have anybody to call."
"I guess we have to wait for someone to drive by." Now, this is one of those areas you see on tv, where there's a desert, and only one car passes by per day (slight exaggeration).
So we waited for an hour, then finally someone came by and stopped. She was a nice woman, probably in her mid- to late-20's. She knew that there was a station about 10 miles down the road, and she offered to take a couple of us. Kevin, who wore his disguise and told me to call him 'Scott', and I went with her.
When we got into her car, 'Millenium' was in her CD player, and "I Want It That Way" was playing. Ke...I mean Scott, groaned. She says, "I take it you're not big Backstreet Boys fans." I just laughed.
Scott says, "Oh no, they're alright. I just...." He didn't know what to say.
Kathy (her name) puts up a hand. "Well, you're riding with me, so you're going to have to listen to it. This is my favorite song! Besides, just hearing Kevin Richardson's voice makes me all mushy inside." I could see Scott tense up in the passenger's seat. I cover my mouth to stifle the laughter. He whips around in his seat, and I'm sure he gave me quite a look (He had sunglasses on).
When we got to the service station, we told them about our problem. They sent a truck to the bus, while Scott, Kathy, and I waited at the station, making small talk. About 20 minutes later, the truck came back. The rest of the Boys were in it, all wearing hats and sunglasses.
David, the mechanic who went to check out the bus says, "We can't get that fixed tonight. You're all going to have to spend the night at the motel a few miles down the road. We can take you in the van."
I sarcastically say, "Wonderful, just wonderful."
Kathy says, "Well, Scott, Chris, it's been a blast, but I must be on my way."
Scott shakes her hand. "I don't know how to thank you."
I say, "I do." In one quick motion, I remove Kevin's hat and sunglasses. He makes a grab for them, but fails. We turn back to Kathy to see her totally shocked.
"Ah...I....you're....huh.....um....I....oh my gosh, I am so embarassed!" She turns a nice shade of red, and covers her mouth with her hands.
I ask her, "Is this sufficient payment? Or is he going to have to hug and kiss you?" He turns to me, first with a look of anger, then a smile cracks.
He gives her a hug and whispers, "Thank you so much for helping us, Kathy." She is in tears. The other Boys have taken off their disguises by now. He kisses her on the cheeck.
She says, "Um, I know this is going to sound stupid, but I can't let this chance go by. Would you sing a part of 'I Want It That Way'?"
"Sure." He starts to sing, "Now I can see that"
But she interrupts him, "No, I'd really like it if you sang Brian's part instead." She smiles. Kevin is confused at first, but he smiles when he realizes why.
Kevin takes her hands, takes a step closer to her, and looks into her eyes. "You are my fire, the one desire. Believe when I say, I want it that way." Kathy squeals excitedly, more tears coming to her eyes. Then Kevin shows her to her car, being a gentleman by opening and closing her door for her. When he comes back, he says, "Chris, I could kill you."
Nick says, "Nah, you know you enjoyed that, Kev. We could tell." I called the Boys' management and told them about our ordeal. They said we'd move the concert back one day (to what was supposed to be a free day), so I informed the guys. They didn't like the idea, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
The guys from the service station took us to this small motel/lounge that they told us about. I walked to the counter to get our rooms. "Do you have 6 rooms available?" The lady behind the counter checked.
"Nope, only 5."
"Okay, 5 is good. Just one night." After I pay the bill, she hands me the keys. I go back outside to find the guys just roaming around the parking lot, lugging their baggage behind them. "Here we go." I hand Kevin, AJ, Nick, and Howie their room keys. Then I say to Brian, "And here's your key to our room." He starts to smile, but fights it. I guess he doesn't want me to see how happy about it he is. We all go to our rooms.
Once Brian opens our room and steps in, he says, "Well, this place looks....."
I follow him in. "Eeewww....don't even bother finishing that thought." We put our bags on the bed (yes, one bed) and took seats. I grabbed a flier that was sitting on the table. "Hey, Brian! They is havin' karaoke at the lounge t'night!" I did my best to sound like a hick.
He laughs. "I guess we'll just have to go. Not that there's much else to do here." He turns on the tv, and we watch basically nothing for an hour. Then it's time for dinner/karaoke. We leave and round up the other guys. We find a booth near the back of the lounge. Brian, Nick, and Howie sit on one side, with Kevin, AJ, and I across from them. The waitress takes our orders a couple minutes later.
I grab a list of songs from the center of the table. "Let's see what we have here." I start flipping through the pages.
AJ asks, "You're not seriously going to, are you?"
"If I find something I like, sure." I laugh. "You can't come to a karaoke joint and not sing. Duh, what are you thinking, AJ?" I laugh more.
The waitress came back with our food. We didn't talk a lot while we were eating. We watched the other performers. Some of the people were pretty darn good; others...well, weren't. After we were done eating, Brian excused himself to the restroom. I say to the others, "Alright, let's go."
Nick asks, "Go where?"
"Up on stage. You're all going to be my backup."
Kevin protests, "No, I don't think so."
"C'mon, I want to do this for Brian. Now come on before he gets back. Pleeeeeeaaase?" That got'em.
When Brian came back from the restroom, he found only a note at the booth. "Sit back and enjoy the song for once." He thinks to himself, 'What is that supposed to mean?' He slides into the booth. Seconds later, familiar opening chords begin to play. Looking at the stage, Brian sees five very familiar-looking people, who at that time sing the line "As long as you love me...."
I take center stage and sing the song: "Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine, I'm leaving my life in your hands. People say I'm crazy and that I am blind, risking it all in a glance. But how you got me blind is still a mystery. I can't get you out of my head. Don't care what is written in your history, as long as you're here with me." The other Backstreet Boys, who are still wearing hats to disguise themselves, join in on the chorus: "I don't care who you are, where you're from, what you did, as long as you love me. Who you are, where you're from, don't care what you did, as long as you love me." Then just me again: "Every little thing that you have said and done feels like it's deep within me. Doesn't really matter if you're on the run, it seems like we're meant to be." Chorus again. I had avoided looking at Brian until this last part, but then I sing it directly to him: "I've tried to hide it so that no one knows, but I guess it shows, when you look into my eyes. What you did and where you're coming from {others: I don't care} As long as you love me, baby." I knew he was getting the message; this song is very appropriate.
We finished up the song, and the crowd cheered for us. We file back to the booth. And this time, I scooted in beside Brian. He said, "Chris, I did not know you could sing!" Nick and AJ added similar comments.
"Well, when we first moved to New York, one of my mom's 'social elite' friends gave voice lessons. Mom must've figured it was a good way to suck up to her, because she enrolled me. I took those lessons for almost five years."
Howie says, "They certainly paid off. You were great!"
"Thanks."
We paid for our meal, and we decided to call it a night. Brian and I walked back to our room, both of us smiling. He walked into the room first. I wrap my arms around his waist from behind him and rest my head on his shoulder. We stand there for a few seconds, cherishing the feeling of being back together. "I love you, Brian."
He brings up an arm to put his hand on the back of my head. "I love you too, Christopher." I kiss his neck, then suck his earlobe. He moans. I stop and turn him to face me. I step closer to him and put my hands in the small of his back. He puts his hands on my shoulders and steps even closer, so that we're pressing up against each other from our chests to our thighs. We both lean in for the kiss. When his lips touch mine, I feel my whole body light up with an intensity. I put all of the love I can into this kiss, and I can feel him do the same. It feels like the world could explode, and I'd die happy, just being in this moment. I clasp my arms around him tighter. A moment later, we break the kiss, and I am surprised to see tears in his eyes. He suddenly grabs me and hugs me tight. He says, "Please don't ever leave me again." This comment makes me start to cry too.
"I won't leave you, Brian. I love you so much." We hug for a minute, then I take his hand and lead him to the bed. He lays down. I take a moment to take off my shoes, and I remove his as well. Then I get into the bed next to him. We just snuggle up close to each other, holding hands and looking into each others' eyes. I lower myself on the bed so I can lay my head on his shoulder, and I drift off to sleep.
-----The Dream-----
It's changed this time. Brian is yelling at me! I try to move, but I can't. I realize that I am the statue this time. Remembering what I did from before, I manage to look over to the brick wall. The brick is missing, and I can see Kevin looking through it. He looks sad.
To Be Continued....