Looking for Love in all the Right Places - Chapter 1

Looking for Love in all the Right Places
By Dream Howler

Standard Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction and is not intended to imply anything about the true sexuality of the celebrities mentioned or with any personal knowledge about their private lives.

Author's Note: This is a re-write of the previous version of LFL. I found a old notebook with some of my previous story ideas that I really thought I should have used. So my ideas for the story have changed and my writing has evolved and the rewrite reflects this. Also people who read the first version will recognize some changes. I am approaching it differently in the fact that I took out several characters that didn't do much for the story. I also changed the beginning to reflect this change, so don't expect the rewrite to be a carbon copy of what came before. There will be different things, tweaks to the story line, and multiple stories instead of trying to do everything at once.

Therefore, the first story will focus on things that happen to Aidan and Josh. I felt that these were the main characters to begin with, and they should be the main focus. My next story will be Kent and Lance, as they have an interesting struggle for them both. After that, if I am not totally burnt out, I will start writing some of the other parings, or I might just write a bunch of epilogues or short stories. You will have to let me know what you want to see.

If you are interested, you can view the previous version on my website: http://lfl.citadelofthewolf.com/.

Story Notes: I also decided not to hide the identity of CMajor from my readers this time. The majority of the readers of this story have read the original, so there wasn't really a point to keeping it a secret unless I was going to change the identity of CMajor. I will be keeping quite a bit of the conflicts, but I am condensing several chapters into several larger chapters here, so it will be largely different. There are characters that either have changed partners from the original version, or have disappeared. While trying to fix the plot holes, I had to move several people around.

Beta Thanks: I really have to thank my editor, Dawn for all her help with this story. Even though she doesn't know the fandom of some of the stories that I write, she is always more helpful than she knows. She always makes me think about things I have written, and helps me improve the story in ways that I wouldn't have thought of before. I also would like to thank Jayson and Draeconin for doing some editing on this chapter, and Rob for his past editing of this story, and for both of them being my sounding boards for years who have helped me improve LFL as well. Thanks guys!

Dream Howler Contact & Story Information:

Cast Pictures: Click Here.  Link also has pictures of cast vehicles, tattoos, and eventually pictures and floor plans of houses.

Join my Mailing list: Click Here
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E-mail: dreamy@rqarchive.com

Chapter 1

Date: September 16, 1999

They say that it only takes one small flap of a butterfly's wing to change the path or speed of a tornado, to change the world. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings at that particular moment then the tornado's affect might have been very different. One person's decisions are completely changed by a single action of a single being that made a different choice. Today was one of those days for Aidan, who thought that he was embarking on a typical day at college.

However, luck wasn't with Aidan today, even though when the day was over, he certainly wished it hadn't been one of those days. The day had started out nice enough; classes went well, followed by a good lunch. However, bad luck suddenly plopped right into his lap, and changed his view of what was wrong in the world.

Aidan was on his way back to his dorm from his last class of the day, mentally going over a list of things he had to get done that evening after his normal exercise with his best friend. As he entered his building and started walking up the stairs, one of his floor mates, Jeremy, stopped him in the halls.

"Hey, Aidan, be careful up there. Scott's gone on a rampage. No idea what set him off. He's been yelling his head off on the phone, slamming doors, and just being a general all around asshole," Jeremy divulged in a worried voice. "You okay, buddy?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." Aidan blinked, his deep hazel eyes flashing more green than his normal blue as he came back to awareness after several minutes of standing in shock on the stairwell. He immediately understood what had happened, and sighed softly, suspecting that the football team had found out that he was gay, and was forcing Scott, his roommate, to do something about it if he wanted to keep his scholarship. It really wasn't fair of them to do it, but who was he going to complain to?

Aidan had heard several weeks ago, through several concerned acquaintances, that the quarterback and team captain were homophobic and that he should be careful around his roommate. They even encouraged him to move out as soon as possible; however, Aidan assured them that he could take care of himself. The majority of the football team probably felt that their star running back shouldn't be rooming with a gay man. The odd thing is that Aidan knew several of the men on the team were gay, or at least bisexual. It was safe to say that they were firmly in the closet.

Scott was very proud of his record as the team's star running back, and was constantly talking about the great plays he made in a previous game, though after several months of careful observation, Aidan suspected that his roommate wasn't as straight as he pretended to be. He'd often caught Scott staring at him lustfully when he was getting dressed in the morning or when he went to bed, in the barest of clothing or nothing at all.

Arriving inside his dorm room, he saw the room was in a state of total chaos; his clothes thrown everywhere, the closet door was off the hinges, and his posters were hanging half off the walls. He turned to look at the clock, and noticed the time. Scott should be at the gym right around now, so he was safe for the moment. Aidan had no doubt in his mind that Scott was responsible for their room being trashed. While assessing the damage, Aidan noticed that the light was flashing on the phone. When he checked his machine, he found an urgent message to call his friend, Kent Stone.

Picking up the phone, he called Kent . Most of the students on campus called him Stone, a fact that caused Aidan endless amusement. Kent had always been teased about the large size of his dick, and that it was as hard as his last name. Aidan always found the explanation funny. He was supposed to meet Stone at the pool at 2:30 for their daily swim. Normally, the pair swam earlier in the day; however, Aidan always had a late class on Tuesdays, so they had a different schedule that day. As he dialed, he wondered if the urgent phone call had to do with their afternoon activities or his rampaging roommate.

After several seconds of listening to the phone connecting, Kent 's answering machine picked up with an odd new message. "If this is Aidan, get out of the dorm right now, and meet me in the normal place. I will explain when you get here. Hurry."

Aidan figured that with that cryptic message, his roommate was out to get him. Somehow, he couldn't help but be a little disappointed that Scott had bowed to the evils of peer pressure. However, Scott and Aidan hadn't been very close to begin with, so it wasn't as if he had lost a friend.

Shrugging his shoulders, Aidan walked over to the large double-paned window overlooking the courtyard. He found it soothing to watch the various people going about their lives. Subconsciously biting his lower lip as he searched for any sign that his roommate was in the immediate area, he stepped outside his room and asked one of his floor mates, Jake, to warn him if he saw Scott coming up the stairs.

Thinking of the urgent message that Kent had left him, he decided to pack a little bag of essentials just in case he needed to crash elsewhere. Grabbing a large sports bag, he shoved in his book bag, his clothes, and several important keepsakes, pushing them down in the middle of his clothes to make it all fit in. Luckily, he had his laptop with him in class to take notes with, so it was safely secured in his backpack. That meant that Scott hadn't had a chance to do anything to it. Considering several of his posters were ripped to pieces, he shivered at the thought of what Scott might have been able to do to his laptop.

Having completed his hastily packed getaway bag, Aidan glanced out of the window again, trying to see if Scott or any of his teammates were around. Seeing no one and feeling secure for the moment, Aidan decided to change straight away rather than wait until he got to the pool.

Quickly changing out of his clothes, he walked to his dresser and opened the drawer. Several moments later, he pulled out a very tight pair of blue Speedos that showed off his great tan, which enhanced his natural dark skin tone, gained from his mixed Italian and Cherokee heritage to a golden glow, and put them on. He pulled out another drawer and pulled on a pair of tight, black biker shorts, and a gray wifebeater leaving his wolf tattoo exposed on his smooth muscular upper arm. He debated putting on his boots again, but thought better of it, put on his running shoes, and stuffed the boots into his bag. If the team got to him before he could escape, he could always make a run for it to his motorcycle.

The pool was two and a half blocks away, and it usually gave Aidan the opportunity to work out further. Aidan worked out quite regularly in the gym, and did a lot of swimming and running to keep in shape. His dedication to his physical training was something that he prided himself in.

After one more glance out the window, he grabbed his bag, opened his door, and carefully scanned the corridor as he did so. Double-checking that the coast was clear he hurried towards the back stairs calling out "thanks Jake" to his lookout as he went.

Once outside and a block away, it occurred to Aidan that he was tired of living in a dorm anyway. All Aidan seemed to get was homophobic roommates that left just as quickly as they came. He had originally decided to live in the dorms because they were closer to the gym and the pool. It wasn't as if he couldn't afford to get a place or a high-class gym, he just didn't feel like wasting his parents money on things that he didn't need for the long term.

As Aidan walked, he decided after several moments of contemplation that he would call the housing office after he was a bit calmer and complain about his roommate tearing up his stuff. Luckily, Scott seemed to be smart enough not to smash anything expensive. However, he still had to be dealt with.

Hurrying down the sidewalk towards the pool, he reached the locker room just as Stone walked into the room. It was a typical locker room that was filled with rows of yellow and black lockers that matched the school colors. They were rather gaudy in appearance, but they were functional.

"Thank God you're okay! I see you packed a bag, good. Let's get it out to my car, and go talk. I don't think it's a good idea for you to be seen at the moment." Kent spoke softly.

Aidan nodded, quite puzzled as he wondered what was going on, but if there was one person, he trusted absolutely, it was Kent. They had lived next door to each other since birth, and had been best friends long before they could walk. Quietly following him out the back door of the gym, the two men crossed the parking lot towards Kent 's car, a blue 1999 Dodge Viper with silver racing stripes. Despite Aidan being 6'0" tall and two inches taller than his friend, Kent still made every effort to shelter Aidan from the sight of the other people around them.

Kent gently pushed Aidan in the direction of the passenger seat, and stowed Aidan's things in the trunk. He slid into the car, and pulled the car out of the parking lot. In his rear view mirror, Kent could see the football team rounding the back of the parking lot. It seemed that they got out of the area just in time. Kent shivered slightly as he recalled what Rick, the assistant football coach, had told them the team had planned to do to Aidan. No one should have to go through something like that.

After several moments, Kent cleared his throat and began speaking. "Aidan, I know most of the time you can handle yourself, but from what Rick told me, five or six of the bigger members of the football team were going to..." Kent trailed off, letting another shudder pass through him. "They were going to jump you, beat you up, and dump you in front of the dorm with a sign saying that, `This is what happens to faggots'."

Aidan looked startled. "Why in the world would they want to do that? What did I do to Scott that was so bad? I hardly saw the guy!"

Kent sighed. "It seems he told the football team that you came onto him, and acted like you were about to rape him. He told them that he got away from you just in time, so they were going to make you pay for trying to force yourself on him."

Aidan sighed softly, shaking his head in disbelief. "I can't believe he'd do that to me. If they had tried something I could have them expelled. However, as it stands, it's their word against ours. I don't know what I did to make him do this to me, but thanks for your help getting me out of there."

Kent grinned. "That's what best friends are for, right? I mean if we don't protect each other, who will?"

Aidan nodded and replied, "I agree. I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes, Kent. Though how are we going to get the rest of my stuff before Scott destroys it? I mean I could always buy new stuff, but having to go out and buy a new wardrobe would be a pain in the butt. And really, why should I? I love some of that stuff – it's comfortable."

Kent nodded in agreement. Gay they might be, but they were not avid clothes shoppers unless they needed to be. Kent sat pondering the problem as he pulled into the driveway of his house, wondering how he could get Aidan's stuff back unharmed. Finally, he realized that he could probably get the assistant football coach, Rick, to run interference and keep Scott and the rest of the team at practice a little longer this afternoon, so they could sneak into the dorm room.

"I think I can talk Rick into calling an extra practice tonight, and he can give us the all clear to go get the stuff. The last time Rick called extra practice, the whole team had to stay. Since they just lost a game, and have a new game soon, it would be a good cover."

Aidan smiled. "That sounds good to me. It's a good thing that you're friends with him, or we'd have some major problems right about now."

Kent concurred. "Yeah, it's lucky that Rick and my uncle were best friends in college. I think that's the main reason he looks after me. He knows we're friends, so I think he just doesn't want me getting hurt by association."

Aidan agreed. "Well, that could influence his decision. That, and the fact he's gay."

Kent chuckled. "Yeah. I often wonder why he decided to be a coach. I mean, I understand the attraction to cute muscular football players, but if they found out he was gay, his career would probably be over."

"Well, not really: unless he was doing something he shouldn't. Besides, it's not as if he really needs the money, anyway," Aidan said with a laugh.

"True: like I said, I think he likes the scenery. Anyway, let me call him quickly, here, and we'll head back to your dorm, file that report, and get back to my place. You can move in with me; I have plenty of room."

Aidan grinned at his friend and nodded. "Yeah, thanks, Kent . Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Yeah, yeah, you said that already. Let's not get mushy like a bunch of girls, okay? We may like men, but let's not become women, all right?"

Aidan chuckled softly. "Whatever you say, buddy. Whatever you say."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Luckily for Kent and Aidan, Rick and their quarterback, Joe, had already called an extra practice for that evening, since the Yellow Jackets were playing Central Florida in a couple of days, and they had lost their last game to Florida State the previous week.

Kent and Aidan called the police to take their statements, and made a formal complaint against Scott and the team. They informed the officer of the overheard conversation to beat him up, and Kent told the officer about the incident outside the school's pool. After getting the officer's okay, they were accompanied over to his old dorm so that they could take pictures of the damage, and collect the remainder of Aidan's belongings: those that were intact or repairable, anyway.

During the ride back to the house, Kent asked, "How about we take a swim once you drop your stuff off in one of the rooms? We never did get to take one, today. Then we can grab a drink, and something to eat!"

"Yeah, sounds great. I need to work off the tension, anyway."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Later, after a great stress relieving workout in the pool, Kent pulled himself out of the pool, dried himself off, unselfconsciously displaying his six-pack abs, and long lean quads. He walked inside to sit on the couch across from Aidan, who was already dressed again, having found it difficult to concentrate earlier.

"You know, I don't know why we didn't decide to be roommates a long time ago. At least you could swim all the time and wouldn't have to worry about going to the public pool. I mean, I didn't have to go to the public pool; I did that for you. We could have been here the entire time."

"I know. I'm sorry about that," Aidan replied, tossing back his chin length, jet-black hair, gleaming almost blue in the sunlight streaming in from the window. "Well, now that I'm going to be living here, I suppose I should go over to my parents' house and get my regular car instead of my motorcycle. It's a good thing that Scott was smart enough to not mess with it. Considering the lack of money his parents have, he probably couldn't afford to pay for it."

Kent started laughing at that statement, his amber eyes sparking in amusement. "Yeah, I can imagine that's probably the only reason it wasn't trashed. Didn't you say that the only reason he can actually stay in school is because of his scholarship?"

"Yeah, I heard him on the phone with his parents a couple of times. It seems they're really stretched for money, and wanted to know if he could find a cheaper place to live, or get himself into a place with the rest of the football team. I just had no idea the lengths that boy would go to get himself a new place to live. I suppose I should have seen it coming, but I was completely surprised."

"Well, once the team is served with the restraining orders and they find out the truth, they probably won't be helping him out much longer. It would be interesting to see the look on their faces when they are told." Kent replied.

"Yes, I can imagine the reaction won't be good for Scott. Maybe we'll both be lucky and he'll be kicked off the football team. It would be a just punishment in my mind. Heck, if they kicked him off, I'd happily drop the charges for the money he owes me. Not like I really need the money, right?" Aidan smiled and winked at his friend. It might not be such a bad day after all. He had a better place to live, he might get his jerk of an ex-roommate kicked off the football team, and knock him down a few pegs in the process.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Josh was on the road again, which was normal for him these days. He never imagined that the group would take off so well that they would be singing for sold out concerts almost every night.

Thinking about the night, several months ago when he'd met Aidan in a "gay and single" chat room, he decided to check his email and see if his friend was on-line. So he settled his long lean frame more comfortably into his seat, pulled out his laptop, and turned it on. Whilst his machine was loading, Josh remembered the first time he talked to his 'Wolf', and chatting about shared interests as well as personal preferences. Running a shaky hand through his shoulder length hair, he blushed, staining his pale cheeks a mortified pink as he thought about how he had confessed that he had only dated girls up to this point, and he actually found it hard to find someone he really clicked with.

They started a very easygoing friendship over the last several months. Feeling safe in the anonymity of the internet, he had been mostly honest with Aidan. However, he hadn't told him that he was a member of *NSync. Josh thought of telling him several times, especially since one night in September while he was traveling to Boston for a concert, the group was mentioned in the chat room, and Aidan had asked who they were. Checking through the messages from his family, he reflected on his feelings of mild guilt that he was keeping something this big from someone he'd come to think of as a good friend. However, being very honest with himself, he acknowledged that he still wasn't quite ready to reveal that particular secret, enjoying the knowledge that he was liked for himself rather than who he was. Just as he was about to log off, his instant messenger went off.

Wolf: Hey CM! How are you today?

CMajor: Doing okay, I was just looking to see if you were on, actually.

Wolf: Oh really? Well, it's nice to be wanted. *chuckles*

CMajor: Yeah, wanted: that must be a nice feeling. I'm tired of being "Wanted" by the wrong type of people. Know what I mean?

Wolf: You're preaching to the choir, C. I had a girl that came up to me all the time trying to ask me out. Finally, I just said. I'm sorry; I don't think my boyfriend would like that. That certainly shut her up. However, that might explain my recent problems.

CMajor: What kind of problems? Are you okay?

Wolf: My ex-roommate decided to tell the football team that I was gay, and they were going to jump me. It seems he told them that I had come on to him and tried to rape him, but he was embarrassed and didn't want the cops involved. I would never do that to someone.

CMajor: Are you okay? They didn't get to you, did they? When did this happen?

Wolf: I'm okay - just a little frazzled. It happened a couple of hours ago. We got to Stone's house; you remember I mentioned him before, my best friend. Anyway, he told me what was going on, and as we were pulling out of the parking lot, the group of them were rounding the corner. I would have to say it was a narrow escape. We just finished with the campus cops and the police department about a half hour ago. I am certainty glad that I may be graduating early. I had to put restraining orders on the group that Stone saw. Luckily he hangs out with some of the team occasionally, and knew which ones they were. Dang ex-roommate tore up a bunch of my stuff, too; the campus cops and the police escorted me back to my dorm to get the rest.

CMajor: Wow, talk about an eventful day. I wonder what set him off.

Wolf: I have no idea. I learned a long time ago that my luck with roommates sucked, and that I should just keep to myself: which I did. I don't know why I decided to live in the dorms, anyway. I could have gotten something off campus; I mean, rent is probably the same amount as dorm fees.

CMajor: Well, maybe you just liked the convenience? I mean, didn't you say that you were only a couple of blocks from the pool and gym? If you lived off campus, you'd probably be further away from the gym, and you'd have to pay a lot of money. Didn't they have rooms where you didn't have to room with anyone?

Wolf: Yeah, they did, but they were usually rare. I could have probably paid double rent and got a room to myself, but I was in college and just wanted to have a normal college experience. Silly, huh?

CMajor: No, that's not silly at all, actually. I sometimes wish that I could have been able to go to college myself. Of course with my career as it currently stands, it would be hard to take classes. I have tried to take several on-line classes, but it's hard to meet deadlines.

As Josh was waiting for Aidan's response, the bus pulled to a stop. He sighed, and looked back at the screen. It was probably one of the guys wanting to stop for dinner, even though they had plenty of food in the refrigerator. The most likely culprit would be Justin, with his nearly bottomless pit of a stomach. He never understood where he put it all.

Wolf: That's sad, but you said that you love what you do, though you still haven't told me what that is, which means you are luckier than most people. I mean, my father wanted me to go into the family business, but I surprised him and applied to Georgia Tech. I wanted to actually go to college; I wasn't interested in his business at the time. I mean, I could have started at the company like my dad wanted, but I wanted to know the business before I started working. I didn't want to get in there and not know what I was doing and make wrong decisions. So, when I got into Georgia Tech, dad made me compromise and minor in Business Management, and I could major in what I wanted to. I had to take summer classes and everything to graduate early. If everything goes according to plan, I should graduate around the end of the year.

CMajor: What are you going to do after you graduate? It's great that that you are graduating early. You know what? I just arrived at a rest stop, and my friends want to stop. Can we talk about this later? On the other hand, you can email me your response, I can hear them yelling at me now to hurry up. *chuckles*

Wolf: Okay, have fun! Talk to you Saturday at two.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Date: October 17, 1999

Andrew Wolcott, Production Manager and VP of Wolf Sound Records, sighed as he looked over the paperwork for the upcoming acquisition of Jive Entertainment. He couldn't believe the number of groups that didn't have any talent whose contracts were clogging up the system. He had been going over the contracts for the last few weeks when he found two new ones. Finally, some names he had heard of. It seemed that they were currently on tour together, and were coming through Atlanta in a couple of weekends.

Looking over his and Dom's schedule, he noticed that that weekend Dominick, his business partner, already had something scheduled on the day of the concert, so Drew had to find someone else to go with. He could call his sister, but she was on a modeling assignment. After several minutes of contemplation, he decided to call his younger cousin Aidan to see if he and his friend Kent would like to go with him. There could at least be solidarity in numbers, as there would probably be very few men at the concert.

Drew had made it a policy to listen to all bands under contract with their label. It had served them well over the years. Leaning forward, he picked up the phone and dialed Aidan's number. After several rings, he heard the operator say the number had been disconnected, which worried him. Hanging up the phone, he dialed Stone's phone number. After a couple of rings, Aidan answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Aidan? This is Drew. Are you okay? I called your number, and it was disconnected."

"Yeah, I had a bit of trouble with my roommate; he wanted to get me beaten up. I had to get the police involved, and they advised I move out."

"Police? What happened? Are you living with Stone, now?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. I'm okay, but I'm having some rough days. Don't really want to talk about it at the moment. Can we talk next time we get together, though?

"If you're sure you're okay, then we can talk about it later. Tell me this, though: no one got hold of you, did they?"

"No, luckily Kent overheard a conversation about what they were going to do, and got me out of there. I'm just fine."

"Thank goodness you're safe. Make sure you stay that way. Hey, listen, the reason I was calling is that I was going over some of the groups that we're going to get from Jive, and there are a couple that are on tour. Problem is that they're a couple of those boy bands, and I really don't want to face a group of screaming teenage girls alone. As you know, I like to be in the action in the front row to get the fan reactions and I would really like your opinion, since you're closer to their age group than I am. You can even grab Kent and see if he wants to go with us? I don't mind."

"Well, which groups are they? There are so many groups with all men these days. I don't even know if I've ever heard of half of them."

Drew laughed, "It's the Backstreet Boys, and *NSync. They're coming to Atlanta in a couple of weeks, and I thought maybe we could go."

"Well, someone mentioned them in a chat room a couple of weeks ago. Apparently they're supposed to be cute, and gay men are supposed to love them," Aidan said with a laugh.

Drew chuckled. "That's what they tell me, too. At least I heard of them before their contract change to Jive, but I haven't really listened to their music. Apparently *NSync is following the Backstreet Boys to Jive. They already have a signed contract on the table; I just need to do the final approval. I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and listen to both of them at the same time."

"Oh, that's right; I forgot WS bought Jive recently. I bet you're having a grand time going through contracts, huh?" said Aidan.

"Oh, yes; it's a barrel of fun. I've gotten rid of like twenty contracts so far. I don't know who was signing these groups, but they need to get a new pair of ears."

"Really? Well, that shouldn't be surprising. That was why you were buying them, right? Some great groups, but the management sucked?"

"Yeah, apparently they've taken to tearing several of their groups apart by offering some of the member's solo contracts. I understand that they think that they should have them, but they should have at least waited until the group was no longer possible. I even found a memo in their files where they planned to take Nick from the Backstreet Boys, and Justin from *NSync to offer them solo careers. Considering how popular they are, I predict that if that happened, it would be the end of both bands."

"Wow, that's just low. I mean I could understand wanting to make as much money as you can, but breaking up popular bands doesn't seem like the right way to do it."

"Yeah, you're telling me. Needless to say, it isn't going to happen if I have anything to say about it - unless the group as a whole sucks."

"Well, you're the new ears, and part owner, I think you can figure out who needs a solo career and who doesn't, right?"

"True.  Well, anyway, what do you say? You want to go with me? I have passes to go backstage after the show so I can meet my new groups. You could check out some hot looking men; that's always a plus, right?"

"Alright, I guess so. I'll ask Kent and get back with you. He's in a class at the moment."

"Okay, well let me know as soon as you can so I can arrange the proper tickets."

"Cool. Talk to you later."

"Bye, Aidan; take care of yourself."

"You too, Drew."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Later that evening, Kent agreed to go to the concert, and Aidan called Drew to let him know the arrangements. After that, Aidan pulled out his laptop and logged on to his favorite chat room. Less than five minutes later, he saw a familiar name pop up.

< Wolf > Well, if it isn't the ellusive CM! How you been?

< CMajor > Doing okay. Working my butt off, but okay. How about yourself?

< Wolf > I'm doing a bit better. My ex-roommate was kicked out of school. The cops pressured him a bit and he told them that he had lied about me to the football team. He's probably very upset that I called the cops. Not really my problem, now.

< CMajor > Well, great. I'm glad that he can't bother you anymore. That must have been very stressful for you. At least it's over, now. Did anything happen to the football team?

< Wolf > Well, once the dean found out that they were persuaded into it with lies, he suspended them from a couple of games and told them to stay away from me. They did send along a nice apology through the dean. They claim that they were going to make sure I wouldn't rape anyone, but I'm not sure that I believe them, especially considering I was told: that they were going to dump me with a sign that said, 'this is what happens to fags'. I don't think they were trying to make sure I didn't become a rapist. *chuckles*

< CMajor > Well, as long as you're okay, then that's all that matters. Keep out of their way, though; they might want payback. I was worried when you told me about the whole thing.

< Wolf > You were worried about me? That's sweet. If there hadn't been so many of them, I could have taken care of myself, but even if I hadn't, I think they would have gotten as good as they gave me.

< CMajor > *smiles* I am sure that you could. I know you keep running off to swim and to the gym all the time. I'm sure you must have a good body.

< Wolf > Well, that's what they tell me. *laughs* I have this one pair of jeans that always seems to attract eyes. Tight black jeans that looks like they've been painted on me. Although I have been persuaded to wear them to a concert swarming with girls, so that's going to be rather troublesome.

< CMajor > Concert? All girls? What concert you going to? Cher? *chuckles*

< Wolf > No, I am definitely not going to see Cher. My older cousin Drew talked me into going to see this set of bands that he needs to listen to for his business. He asked Kent and me to come with him to help fend off the screaming females. I should have told him that three hot men going to a concert would probably scream gay to them, but hey! I get a free concert!

< CMajor > What kind of business is he in? And yeah, if three gorgeous men go to a concert with all women, it probably would be assumed that they're gay. It may not be true, but still.

< Wolf > Drew and his friend Dominick are buying a new record company. The deal is mostly finalized now, but they have a policy about listening to all the bands of the label to make sure they are worthy of the transfer. It normally means they have more quality clients than other companies. They've already gotten rid of quite a few contracts, so it will be interesting to say the least.

< CMajor > That's interesting. What happens if they just had a bad night, though? I mean everyone has those kinds of nights once in awhile.

< Wolf > He can usually tell a screw up from bad singing. He's very good at his job, trust me.

< CMajor > So what record company did they buy out? Or can't you tell me?

< Wolf > I'd rather not, right now. Maybe after everything is finalized. It's a large company, and my cousin would kill me if he finds out that I leaked it to someone. It's not that I don't trust you; I just promised to keep it quiet.

< CMajor > No problem. I completely understand. So, what else are you going to wear to the concert? Something hot, I hope, if you're going to meet the band, right? I mean who knows? Maybe one of them is gay.

< Wolf > Well, that's an interesting dilemma. I'm sure that Kent won't let me out of the house without my hottest outfit on, anyway. He has this thing about making sure everyone looks their best all the time. I could care less what I wear most of the time; I just throw on a pair of jeans and a shirt, and go. Who has time to look their best when they're trying to graduate early from college?

< CMajor > Well, I am sure that looking your best for the concert is a good idea. I mean, who knows? You might meet the man of your dreams!

< Wolf > *laughs* Sure, that's likely to happen. However, I guess you're right. I think I'll wear the jeans I mentioned earlier with this navy wifebeater I have. I get a lot of compliments with that outfit.

< CMajor > Mmmmm, sounds good to me. I bet you do look hot in it. Well, its time to go practice, so I'll have to let you go. Talk to you later!

< Wolf > Okay, talk to you soon. I'll tell you how the concert went after I go.

< CMajor > All right, I look forward to hearing your opinion on who's the best looking.

< Wolf > *chuckles* You're obsessed with that. Do you have a wager on which I think is hot, or are you fishing for a compliment or something?

< CMajor > Well, I was trying to figure out if you would think I would be hot by comparison? I mean I have no idea what you look like and you have no idea what I look like. So if I know what you think is hot, then I can see if you would like me when we meet. *chuckles*

< Wolf > Ahhh, see, I knew there was a catch. I'm sure you don't have to worry about that, anyway. I mean you did describe yourself to me, and you sound rather nice, unless you were lying, or something. I do like long hair on men, as I have it myself, so that's a plus in my book.

< CMajor > Well, that's true, and no I didn't lie about my looks. I'm just new to flirting with men, that's all. I've never admitted to anyone else that I'm gay, and it's almost as if it's harder to deal with. Anyway, I have to go. Talk to you soon.

< Wolf > See yah!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As Josh logged off, he was conflicted. He knew that Aidan lived in Atlanta, and that there wasn't another band scheduled to play there this month except for their concert. Therefore, it was very possible that Aidan was coming to his concert, and he would be there with a record executive. Josh had heard rumors that Jive was being bought out, but he had no idea if Aidan was close to the owners or even if this was the same label *NSync was to be signed with. Whatever the situation was, though, he needed to tell the guys that it was a possibility, and if they wanted to keep their contracts, that they better perform their hearts out in Atlanta.

Josh walked out of the hotel room he was sharing with Justin, walked over to Lance's door, and knocked. After several moments, Lance answered the door, looking a bit ruffled and clearly fresh from sleep. Josh had to admit that his friend looked pretty good, all messed up like that. The urge to ruffle his hair was strong, but he resisted.

"Lance, we need to talk for a minute. Are you okay to have a serious conversation?"

"You should know by now, JC, that I am always ready for serious conversations. What's up?"

"Well, you know that guy I talk to on-line all the time? Wolf?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"Well, I was getting up the nerve to ask him if he wanted to meet when we're off, when he tells me he's going to this concert with his older record exec cousin. I think they may be coming to our concert. Apparently, the cousin has a policy that they need to listen to all the bands they're acquiring to make sure that they are worthy of their label. I have a feeling that rumor that Jive is being bought from Sony is true. We need to do our very best at that concert. Our contract with Jive isn't completely finalized yet."

"Wow. Well, at least we got a 'heads up'. It's a good thing you met him, though you don't sound sure. It's a possibility that he won't be there and we won't have a problem with this. I mean we would be one of the biggest acts for the label! They'd be nuts to cancel our contract."

"True, but from what Aidan says, they've already let go of a lot of contracts. Of course if they're the bands I think they are, they aren't losing much. I think Jive was trying to find a way to get rid of them, anyway. They were hired by that crazy guy that they fired a couple of months back."

"Yeah, well, we always do the best we can, but let's tell Kevin and make sure that both bands do the best concert ever. Maybe we can talk the tour manager into letting us do an extra special performance for the concert: something we haven't done, before."

"Well, anything is possible. Let's go try to find Kevin. I think he's either down the hall, or in the gym. The way that boy works out sometimes, it's just unreal! Not that he doesn't have a great body: he does. I think he only works out to make sure that he can eat anything he wants," Josh said with a laugh.

Lance laughed as well at the thought of Kevin only exercising to make sure he could eat pizza when he wanted. It was rather funny. "Okay, let's go find him."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As Aidan logged off his computer, something struck him as odd. That was the first time that CMajor had mentioned "Practice" as if he was on a team, or perhaps even in a band if the nickname was anything to go by. Maybe he's in a band and was thrown off by the whole record company talk. Hopefully Aidan wasn't talking to a band member of one of the twenty or so contracts that his cousin had dumped.

'Well, if he was, then he wouldn't have told me he needed to go practice. He would have probably said something derogatory and log off, never to talk to me again,' he thought.

Aidan got up from his laptop and walked out to the living room. The concert was next month. Maybe during that time Aidan would be able to figure out what was wrong with CM. Maybe he was just in a hurry. He wasn't usually so flighty.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Author Notes: Well, what do you think? Was the new re-write of the story worth the wait? I have chapter two back from the betas, and will be doing finishing touches this weekend. (May 1 - 3, 2009) I am tweaking chapter three before sending it off. I also have chapters four and five started pending tweaking, and I have started writing on six. I look forward to seeing what my fans think of this new direction. Hopefully, you will like it.

Also, though the pictures of my characters are available, their profiles are no longer up. I decided to just make a picture gallery since the information will be likely to change quite often. There are a few new pictures on the page, as well as pictures of the tattoos, cars, and eventually houses that they end up buying.

Dream Howler

Updated: 05-03-09