I don't know the Backstreet Boys, or N'Sync, nor is this story meant to imply anything about their sexuality, their private lives or their life choices. Please don't take any of this seriously, it is just a story, nothing more. Nothing in this story is real, it is the product of the author's imagination. That's enough disclaimers I think...
Now some suggestions, seeing as everyone else seems to be doing it. My favourite stories are: Forever (Kevin) My New Life (Lance) JC's Hitchhiker (JC) Get Another Boyfriend (Kevin) Whiplash (Kevin) Blind Date (Lance) My Surprise Romance (Lance) Josh and Just (Duh!) Lottery Winner (Joey) Jamie's Romance (Justin) Brian and Me (Brian) That's it, I know there are more I read that I haven't mentioned, but I can't remember them right now, sorry! Well, here's chapter 37...
On The Streets - Part 37
Last Time:
"Berg isn't called Berg. Berg is Leo Schemp. I met him in Rome, do you remember Kevin? When I had to go down to get a drink to get to sleep that night at the hotel, and I met that reporter? It was him, I knew he looked familiar!"
"That would explain why he was so nervous about meeting you, and why he seemed so relieved when you just said hello to him." I said to him. I fell back to crying again. I knew there was nothing we could do, and when I realised that Berg still had the negatives to these pictures, it just made the situation even worse. I didn't know what to do. I stayed at Jared and Kevin's that night, I was so tired after crying for several hours that I just fell asleep on their couch, and I think Jared probably carried me upstairs. I would have to speak to Berg again, to try to get those negatives off him, or at least persuade him not to do anything with them. But for now, I just needed to sleep, pray not to dream.
Now on with the Story:
I woke up that morning with a splitting headache, and as soon as I remembered the events of yesterday, tears stung at my eyes. I couldn't believe it. And now I knew - I'd fallen for Berg. He was wonderful, but I don't even know if anything he told me was the truth. How am I supposed to believe anything he says?
"Nick? You up?" Kevin's head poked around the door.
"Yeah, I'm up Kev. Come in." I sat up on the bed, my back resting against the pillow.
"I just came to see if you were alright and to see if you wanted any breakfast. Jared's cooking a load of food downstairs right now."
"I'm not really hungry, I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry for Nick." I knew he wasn't just talking about the breakfast. I so badly wanted to see Berg again, I just saw his face in my mind, his laugh, his smile, even his scowl. He was wonderful, I just wanted to talk to him again. I fell sobbing onto Kevin's shoulder, and when I remembered Berg's betrayal, and the picture or pictures he could still use against me, it just made my tears fall even faster.
"Thanks Kev." I mumbled as we pulled apart.
"Come on Nick, get up and we'll talk about what we're gonna do, and then we'll hang out ok?" Kevin said in a cheery voice. I really wanted to just lie in bed, in the dark, but I got the feeling he was gonna drag me out of there if I didn't come, and I was actually grateful to him for that. Kevin went downstairs while I got showered and dressed. As I was pulling on my jeans, the smell of bacon from downstairs permeated into my bedroom and filled my nostrils. It reminded me of my mum's cooking, and it actually made me feel a little bit better. I smiled at that, and headed downstairs.
Once I got to the bottom of the stairs, the doorbell rang, and me obviously being the closest person, I shouted out that I'd get it. I looked out the peephole, but couldn't see anyone. I opened the door a crack, and there was still no-one there. I stuck my head out a bit further, still no-one. That's when I looked down. There on the doorstep, was a baby carrier. It was Laura. I swung open the door, someone must have rung the doorbell right? I jumped over Laura who was sleeping peacefully enough, wrapped up in a big bundle of blankets, lucky considering it was January. I ran to the end of the driveway and looked around. I couldn't see Berg anywhere, and he's the only one who could have brought her right? I tried running up and down the street a bit, looking into various driveways. I hadn't seen anyone driving off, so I was guessing that he hadn't.
Finally I gave up trying to find Berg. He wasn't there. I walked back to the house, and found Kevin on the doorstep, holding Laura, and he had a confused expression on his face.
"Nick?" He called to me.
"Kevin, I don't know. I opened the door, and she was just there. It's Laura, I thought I might be able to see Berg if I ran out, but he's gone and I don't know why he'd do this. Laura was everything to him. Why would he give up everything?" I was close to tears again, thinking about what state Berg must be in to do something as desperate as this.
"Come on Nick, let's take her inside." We walked in, Laura had woken up, and was clinging to Kevin's shirt collar. Then a thought struck me.
"I'm gonna go upstairs, see if I've got Berg's phone number, I'll try his home." Kevin nodded, and took Laura into the living room where he unwrapped the blankets from her, and took off the winter clothes she was wearing, leaving the normal baby clothes underneath. I grabbed my mobile from my bedside table, and opened it up. I scrolled through to Berg's number, and pressed the button. I held it to my ear and listened. There was ringing, a whole lot of ringing, no answer machine. Then it cut off. I had Berg's cell number. I pressed the button again, and listened. It started ringing, and then I realised - I could hear the tune playing. I could hear it when I held the phone away from my ear. My bedroom window overlooked the side of the house. There was about forty feet between Kevin's house and the next one, and there was a large rhododendron bush right below my window. I heard the tune play for a second, then the bush shook suddenly, and it cut off. I hung up the phone and shut it quietly. I leant out a bit further. I could hear sobbing. I jumped up from where I was sitting by the window, and ran out my room, down the stairs, and out and around the house. I dove under the bush, and there was Berg. He was curled up in a ball hidden under the bush, and squashed flat against the wall. When he saw me, he tried to stand up, the bush was large enough underneath to allow that. He actually slid himself up the wall, his shoulders were hunched over, and his tears shook his body. His mouth was creased up.
"Berg." I said to him.
"I'm sorry Nick, I'm sorry."
"Berg, why'd you do it?" I heard Kevin's voice call my name, he must have heard me run out the house. I saw Berg's eyes flick in the direction of the voice too.
"I'm so sorry."
"I don't want to hear you're sorry, I want to hear why you did it."
"Because you can be a better father than I ever could." He broke out in a fresh round of sobbing, and his wails brought Kevin around to us, and he pushed through the branches to see me standing over Berg, who was kneeling on the ground about two feet in front of me, shaking violently.
"Berg? Nick? What's going on?" Kevin questioned.
"We need to get him into the house Kevin, I don't know what's up, I think he's depressed about something, I don't know." I'd never had to deal with anything like this. I was lost, but I helped Berg up, and supported him while we walked into the house. We got him into the living room, and upon seeing Laura again, he burst out in tears again. We sat him down on the sofa, and he instantly curled his feet up into a foetal position, and wouldn't move. Jared came in just then.
"Berg? What's he doing here?" Kevin took Jared's arm, and they went into the kitchen, I was still looking down at Berg. Laura woke up fully and was now obviously hungry. She opened her mouth and started bawling. Berg almost immediately sat up straight, and looked up at me with tears in his eyes.
"Do you have any milk?" He mumbled. I nodded, and went to the kitchen door. Pushing it open, but scarcely taking my eyes off the back of Berg's head as he sat on the couch, I called to Kevin or Jared. I explained we needed some milk. Kevin said he'd get some, and went away. I went back to Berg.
"Are you gonna tell me what's up now? The guy who I knew would never have done something like this. This is your child Berg, the one you love more than anything, you said that. Unless that was a lie too." He looked up at me with pain in his eyes.
"I didn't lie that much Nick, only enough to...to get my story." He finished. "But please stop calling me that."
"What?"
"Berg. That's not my real name. It's Leo, Leo Schemp." He looked up at me again. I suddenly despised him, he even lied about his name? How could he do that? He worked his way into me, into my heart, and he couldn't even tell me his name?
"Fine. Leo it is. Will you tell me what's going on?" He hesitated, then nodded. I sat down next to him, and Kevin came in. He had a bottle in his hand, I had no idea where he got it from, and he handed it to Berg, sorry Leo, who started feeding Laura who was now in his arms.
"Nick, I don't know if you can understand everything I'm going through, but I'll try to explain. Nick, I'm 22." Kevin sat down opposite us at that point. He obviously wanted to hear this story too. "I never finished college, because Laura came along, and all that stuff happened with my ex, and I had to run. I have Laura to look after, I don't have a proper job, I've been running around trying to get celebrity sleaze to make a quick buck from a few tabloids, but it's never enough." His tears were coming strong down his face. "Nick, I don't care about myself. It's Laura, I know that you could give her a better life than I ever could, and you're the first person I think I've ever met who I'm absolutely sure wouldn't turn her over to the state authorities or something." He paused and took a ragged breath. "Nick I was gonna kill myself." I heard Kevin gasp, and my stomach tied itself in knots. This was terrible, I had to do something, but what?
"But...why? What you said, your problems, they hardly justify killing yourself, I mean you still have somewhere to live, you have people who care about you."
"Yeah? Who?" He looked at me expectantly. "I have no parents Nick, I spent most of my childhood in foster homes between here and LA. I have no brothers or sisters, and no other family. My wife wants to kill me and my child, and what's a real joke is that the one person who I'm now claiming to trust completely, I was gonna rip off and out him to the public, to make some money." Leo reached into his pocket, and pulled out the negatives that I had been so worried over. He handed them to me. "I forgot about them, I meant to put them in the baby carrier with Laura, but I just forgot, that's why I was hanging around outside, I was waiting until I thought it was safe and then I was just gonna put them in your letterbox or something." He cradled Laura in his arms, and just looked down at her. One of his tears fell onto her face, and her face temporarily screwed up. He wiped it away with his finger, and it appeared his contact made her feel better.
"Berg, I mean Leo, I don't know what to say. I'm still really pissed at you for lying to me so much, and wanting to out me to the public." I paused, and saw his face scrunch up with more tears. "But I don't want you to die, I...I really like you Leo, even if I don't know everything. I was sure you weren't the same person I thought you were when Laura showed up on our doorstep, but obviously, you are. You care about nothing else but her, to the extent of taking your own life." I looked over at Kevin, and saw his lips turned up at the corner, in a sympathetic smile. I took Leo's hand in my own. I paused before turning back to Leo. A thought came to me. "Leo, I'll help you." His face took on a confused expression.
"Nick." Kevin said in a warning tone.
"What Kevin?"
"Nick, can I talk to you?" He said as he stood up. "In private?" He was using that voice. The voice you didn't argue with. I stood up in a huff, and followed him into the kitchen. "Are you mad Nick? That guy outed me, just about did the same to you. He tries to dump his only child on our doorstep, and plans on killing himself and you're just gonna what? Throw money at him?" Kevin asked me. I swallowed hard.
"No Kevin, I'm gonna help him. I'm not a little kid anymore, let me make my own decisions. I am gonna help him out of the mess he's in, maybe then he won't be quite so fatalistic about everything, and I'll help him and his daughter out. What can be wrong with helping someone who's in need?" I asked him.
"A lot, especially when they're someone who's done so much wrong to you."
"He lied to me? So what? I can forgive him."
"I wasn't talking about that." Kevin replied.
"You mean him outing you don't you?" I asked. He nodded.
"Kevin, have you looked at the popularity ratings recently?" He nodded. "So what are you so pissed about? You're more popular than ever." I asked him, not understanding what the big problem was.
"Look who it's among Nick. I only have fans among gay people because of him." Jared chose now to step in.
"Nick. Go talk with Leo, I'm sure he's feeling pretty down at the moment. I'll talk with Kevin about this." Kevin's head spun around.
"But Ja..." Jared clasped a hand over his mouth, and told me to leave. I walked back into the living room with Leo. He had put Laura back into the baby carrier, and she was asleep. He was looking down at her, still with tears in his eyes, and his hands were clasped in his lap.
"Nick, umm, maybe I should go. Kevin obviously wants me to go, and I don't feel too good about being here." He started to stand up, but I just pushed him down by the shoulder.
"Siddown and listen to me." I told him. "I'm gonna help you, even if it means just giving you some money. But I don't want just that. Someone told me once that I forgive people too easily, and it's one of my biggest faults, well, frankly, fuck it. I forgive you Leo. And to tell you the truth, I don't just want to give you money. I want to get to know you. I really liked you on our dates, and if even a quarter of what you said is true, then I like you Leo. I want to get to know you again, and this time for real. If you need help never worry about asking, and no matter how our relationship turns out, I will help you, ok?" Leo looked there with a stunned expression on his face. Then I saw a couple more tears work their way down his cheek. I was standing a few feet away from him, and he was still sitting on the couch. Just then, he fell off the couch, and was on his knees, and he wrapped his arms around my waist, and just sobbed, his tears and wails causing Kevin and Jared to come from the kitchen, and I looked up with a concerned look on my face. Leo was holding me so tightly I couldn't move, then I felt him twist his head around to look up at me.
"Thank you Nick, thank you, thank you." He said, breaking down into tears again. Kevin looked over at me, and we just stared at one another for a moment. Then he semi-grudgingly nodded at me. I was elated - even Kevin accepted him, and he'd had the most wrong done to him by Leo. I looked over at Jared, I wanted to run over and hug him for whatever he'd said to Kevin. But Leo held onto me. I realised my t-shirt had ridden up a bit, and my midriff was exposed, and that's when I realised he was kissing me. Well, kissing my abs at least. I picked him up by the underarms, and I looked into his eyes. He looked back at me, and I swore, I saw a child's eyes. His eyes are very big, and round, and when he looked at me, I saw a child. I fell in love there and then. I was his, and from the complete love I saw in his eyes, I got the feeling that the thoughts we shared were mutual. We wrapped each other up in an embrace, and we stayed there. I know Kevin and Jared left at some point, but I don't know when. It was at least an hour before we separated, and I could tell that Leo was tired.
"Do you want to go to bed?" I asked him. Then he did the most adorable thing, he had a pout on his lips, and he reached up and rubbed his eye with his fist. My view of him as a little child just furthered a little. I took him upstairs, I noticed he grabbed Laura on the way up, who was still sleeping, and I laid him down in my bed. I pulled up the covers, and went to turn off the light, and leave.
"Nick?" He asked from the semi-darkness. I turned back. "Please don't leave me." I walked slowly back to the bed.
"Leo, I'll never leave you. But I've gotta go some sort some stuff out, ok?" He nodded slowly, and laid his head into the soft pillows. Just as I was walking out the room, I could've sworn I heard him mumble something like 'I love you Nick', but I wasn't sure. It brought a smile to my lips either way. I went back downstairs, and Kevin and Jared were sitting on the couch in the living room, kissing, quite passionately at that. Jared moved down to Kevin's neck, and that's when he noticed me, and patted Jared's back. Jared pulled back, and turned to me with raised eyebrows.
"I need to find Leo somewhere to live." I told them.
Next Day >>>Jared's Point of View<<<
Kevin and Nick had gone out this morning, and I was left in the house alone. Leo had gone back to his apartment - Nick had told him to pack up all his stuff cos he was moving, but he wouldn't tell him where to. I knew - he was going to ask Leo to move in with him. Nick's apartment had at least three bedrooms, maybe four. And, that's why he and Kevin had gone out - to get some decorators to sort out one of the rooms into a nursery. They had taken Laura with them, I'm pretty sure they were worried what Leo might do if they left him alone with her, but I wasn't too sure. Leo was still a bit of a mystery. Did I trust him yet? No. Did I want to? Definitely. Nick meant a lot to me, and if he thought he could find happiness with Leo, then so be it. I was sitting in the living room watching some of Kevin's videos. Kevin had hundreds of videos it seemed of every aspect of his life, documenting everything he did with the Boys, and on his own. I'd worked from the beginning (the videos had dates on them), and got up to just under a year ago. There was a charity dinner that he went to, and it was actually one for his charity. The title at the bottom of the screen said "Chicago Dinner - JWR work - 2/02" That was just finishing when I heard Kevin and Nick pull up outside. Normally I turned off the TV when I heard Kevin came home. I didn't want him to know that I wanted to know everything about his past now, did I? But I just wanted to see what was coming up next. So, I fast-forwarded through the minute or so of blackness, and the TRL credits started up (yes, after a month in the US, I actually knew what TRL was), and I remembered hearing that he'd presented this, someone had asked him while we were on tour if he wanted to fly back and do it again, but he'd refused. His face flashed on the screen just then, and I froze.
"Hey Jared we're home." Kevin called from the hall. "Jared?" I heard him come into the living room. "Jared? What're you watching?" I turned and looked at him, then looked back at the screen, then couldn't help myself, I started laughing.
"You...you had a mohican?" I asked him. Then I started cracking up again. I stopped the video, then stood up. I stood right in front of Kevin, and put my hands into his now long hair, and grabbed the ends on the sides. I held it high above his head, then just started laughing again.
"HEY!" Kevin shouted. I looked up in surprise. "It was a mistake ok?" I couldn't help but smirk.
"Well, I guess you did look pretty cute with it anyway." I smiled at him, then I kissed him. He pulled back, and scowled at me, then his smile broke through, and he kissed me back. "But I'm glad it grew back." He shook his head at me, then stepped back again.
"Oh yeah, I got a phone call while we were out, it turns out I'm gonna be on the front cover of Advocate." Kevin told me.
"Of what?"
"Advocate, you know, the gay magazine?"
"Oh. Ok." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Yeah, um they're coming over tomorrow, to take a few pictures, and to do an interview sort of thing. If it's ok, they'd like to get some pictures of both of us together." I nodded, and we went back and sat down on the couch, then Nick came in carrying a large box. It was a baby's crib and he put it down in the hall. Leo was due here soon, and I got the feeling Nick was going to ask him to move in with him tonight. I was getting less and less sure about this - how could Nick trust him completely so soon after what he did? I guess Nick's a grown man, he can make his own decisions.
I had completely forgotten to phone Britney like Justin asked me to, so I phoned her later on. I'd told Kevin what I was doing, and he left me in peace in the living room. He had some work to do in the music room anyway.
"Hello?"
"Hey Brit, it's Jared."
"Jared? Did Justin tell you to call?" She asked me. Wow, she was good.
"Ummm...well, sort of, yeah, he asked me if I would." I answered her. I got the feeling that she didn't appreciate this.
"You know he got every N'Syncer to call me, and half of my dancers who were on his tour before, and now you. What did he tell you to say?"
"Nothing. He just told me you had a fight, and that he was stupid for being so over-possessive." I told her what Justin had told me yesterday.
"Oh. Well that's a turnaround. So far he's just been trying to get me to agree with him."
"Well Brit, you know he must be pretty desperate to have asked me, he doesn't particularly like me. So, maybe he's just realised he was wrong. He really wants you to phone him." I pleaded quietly that she would agree.
"Ok. I'll phone tonight. So, what have you been up to?" Now, what do I tell her? Nick's new boyfriend turned out to be a backstabbing reporter, but deep down he was really nice, and right about now Nick's probably asking him if they can move in together, no.
"Well, Kevin's appearing on the front of some magazine, the photographers are coming here tomorrow, and they want some pictures of both of us together, and they want an interview or something. Oh yeah, I've got an interview with some fitness magazine at the end of next week. I think that's it." I told her.
"What magazines are they?"
"I think mine's Men's Fitness or something? And, Kevin's is Advocate. I've never heard of either of them, so..." I trailed off.
"You've never heard of Advocate?" She asked me. I answered in the negative. "Jared, you're gay! Get with it! It's like the biggest selling gay magazine!" She practically screamed down the phone. Then I heard what sounded like a fight on the other end.
"Hello?" A male voice said into the phone, the fight was continuing.
"Hello? Who's this?"
"My name's Jake. I'm one of Britney's dancers. I just wanted to say hello." Ok this was weird.
"Err...hello. Can I speak to Britney please?"
"Sure. Here you go." The fighting stopped, and Britney's voice came back on.
"What was that?" I asked her.
"Well, it appears Jake here saw that press conference you did with the guys when Kevin came out, and guess what? He's got a crush on you!" She giggled down the phone, and I heard Jake say 'Hey!' in the background. She laughed at him.
"Hey Britney!" I heard her quieten down. "If you're not careful and don't stop taking the piss out of the gay guy, then I'll tell him who else, as Justin puts it 'finds me very attractive'." I sniggered as I said the last bit.
"You wouldn't!"
"You'd better believe I would."
"Fine, I'll shut up." I heard her talking to someone else for a second, then she came back. "Err...Jared? Jake wants to know when the issue of Advocate with you and Kevin in comes out?" Just then, the house phone rang, and I heard Kevin pick it up.
"I'm not really too sure Britney, I'm presuming it's either the next issue or the one after?" She told Jake and then I heard him leave in the background.
"So are you coming to my concert?" I heard her ask.
"What concert? Aren't you up in New York?" I asked her. Well, I knew she was, so I wondered why she would ask if I was coming to the concert.
"No, I have a concert in Atlanta next Friday. N'Sync are coming, I was hoping you would too. You can drag along Kevin and the guys if you want?" She asked me.
"I'll ask them, I'll definitely try. I've never really heard your music, except for those people who sung those songs at the wedding. I shivered at the memory. They had taken karaoke versions of Britney's songs, and got the worst singers to do poor copies of them up on stage at the reception.
"Well then, this will be the perfect opportunity won't it?" She paused. "I'll sort out tickets and everything for you guys, all you've got to do is get up to Atlanta, ok?"
"Ok, and don't forget to phone Justin tonight ok?" I asked her.
"Ok! I promise, god, you sound like my mother! I'll speak to you soon Jared, and phone me! God it seems like ages since we last spoke!"
"Ok Brit, I'll talk to you soon, bye!" She shouted 'bye' into the phone as we both hung up. I went in search of Kevin to tell him about Britney's concert. He was just hanging up the phone in the hall as I turned the corner.
"We're going out next Friday." We both said at the same time. We looked at each other suspiciously for a second before Kevin broke the silence.
"Where do you think we're going?"
"Britney just invited me to her concert in Atlanta. What about you?"
"Well, AJ wanted to go to some show, he says it's the last chance he'll get before we start the promotional stuff for the new album."
"Oh, well I guess we could do that?" I told him.
"No, no, I mean we could go to Britney's concert..." Kevin cut in.
"Well, AJ's thing is kind of a one time thing, I can always go see Britney some other time."
"No, we'll go to Britney's concert, she invited you right, AJ will have the other guys to go with he'll be fine." Kevin said. We were walking through to the living room, and sat down on the couch as we spoke.
"Ummm, I don't mean to sound nasty or anything, but, it is just one evening, we could do different things?" I said to him.
"Sure, I guess, do you think you'll be ok getting up to Atlanta though?" Kevin asked me.
"Well how would I get up there? I doubt I can drive. I'd get lost." I said quietly.
"You can fly. It's quicker, and easier. Then you can get a cab at the other end."
"Ok. Well, now we've sorted that out, what time is that photographer coming tomorrow?"
"About 10:30."
"In the morning? It's a Sunday!" I objected.
"I know, I'm sorry Jared, but it was the time they suggested and I didn't want to be rude, for all we know these people might have families, they want to get back to in time for lunch." I nodded, and sighed, thinking of the lost lie-in that I had been looking forward to.
Kevin's Point of View - the next day<<<
I was up by 9:30 that Sunday morning. Jared had been right, it was way too early, we'd been getting up early all week, and now to get up early on a Sunday too! Anyway, I woke Jared, hoping he'd be a little more agreeable this morning than last night when I'd set the alarm clock. He wasn't. He carried on groaning, and rolling over. He never used to sleep this much, I used to be the one who rolled over and went back to sleep when I was woken up. I guess Jared was changing, as he got more and more used to living here. I smiled at that thought. Eventually, I had to pull him out of bed at quarter to ten.
"Come on Jared, wake up! I can't drag you around all morning, you're too heavy."
"I'll work you harder in the gym next week, then you'll be able to carry me when we have to get up so early." He said with a grin on his lips. Harder? Maybe I'd better just leave him where he is. Finally, he got up and grinned at me. "Come on, let's go get ready." He pulled me into the bathroom, and we got in the shower together. I just held him in my arms, I loved how warm he was, and I could feel my cock stiffening slightly, but we didn't really have time. We kissed some, and the water cascaded over us, it was really time we got our hair cut, we were getting through a bottle of shampoo every week or two. Finally, we finished, and dried each other off. We got dressed casually, the people at Advocate said they wanted to pick our clothes for the photos, so it didn't matter too much what we wore. At 10:20, we got downstairs, and we each had a cup of coffee, while we waited for the people to arrive. Finally at 10:45, the doorbell rang. Feeling a bit annoyed that they were late (both Jared and I are always early if anything, for everything), I went and answered the door, and let them in. There was the interviewer, a very err...stereotypical gay male, wearing a tight black t-shirt that really didn't suit his body type. The photographer was a surprisingly normal looking guy, dark blond hair, kind of boy-next-door looks. We sat down in the living room after the introductions and everything, the interviewer was called Caleb, and the photographer Matthew. After offering around refreshments and everything, I sat down next to Jared. He was noticeably uncomfortable, once again he was being asked questions about where he came from, that sort of thing, and he didn't appreciate being made to lie so much.
"So, changing the tack a bit, Kevin, what first attracted you to Jared?" Caleb asked me. Oh dear. What do I say? Everything? His dick? Cos that was definitely one of the first parts which I paid much attention to, maybe his body? Oh shit, he's looking at me expectantly.
"I love everything about Jared. I can't possibly narrow it down." Caleb got this almost teary look on his face, and released a sigh like a woman reading some romance novel. "There's one thing I can't stand though, the way he snores."
"I do not snore!" Jared shouted, and pushed my arm.
"Yes you do!"
"I do not!" Jared jumped on me, and had me pinned, on my back on the couch in three seconds flat. Because of the angle we were facing, Jared's butt was now poking straight in the direction of Matthew, and I heard a low whistle coming from his direction. I stuck my head out from Jared, and I saw him spin his head in the younger guy's direction, and we both grinned at him. Then Jared climbed off of me.
"And you Jared? What first drew you to Kevin?"
"His money." Jared replied without hesitation. He saw my shocked expression. "I'm kidding! God, you're so gullible sometimes! Kevin's hair was the first thing that caught my eye, but once we got to know each other, I found he was just as beautiful on the inside as he was on the outside." Caleb sighed again at Jared's words, and despite his little excursion into the land of 'Ha Ha I'm not funny', it was a sweet thing to say.
"What do you mean his hair?" Matthew asked.
"Kevin had cornrows when I first met him. I'd never met a white guy with cornrows before." Jared told him. I leant over and kissed him for his earlier remarks about me being beautiful. Another twenty minutes later, Caleb wrapped up the interview, and said we just had to get the pictures taken. He suggested we get some around the house, seeing as the interview was supposed to be about us. He asked if it would be ok if he took a look around while Matthew set up the one set he wanted to have set up properly. It was the set for the cover photo. Matthew handed me some clothes while he was setting up, and when I looked inside, I groaned. It looked like typical boy-band stuff.
"What's the matter?" Matthew asked.
"Oh nothing, I was just hoping not to have to wear, well, boyband stuff." I pulled out the first thing, and it was a shirt, but it looked just like the one I'd worn in the 'More than that' video, and I even noticed him picking up a cowboy hat. He thought I hadn't noticed and when I said that I didn't like this boyband stuff, he hid it behind his back. He wasn't very subtle. I held my hand out to him, and when he just looked at me, I clicked my fingers. He blushed, and handed over the hat. I heard Jared stand up behind me. He took the cowboy hat out of my hands, and put it on my head.
"Very nice." He said with a grin on his face which I thought looked so sexy. I took off the hat, and put it on Jared's head instead.
"Even better." I heard Matthew say in a slightly breathless voice. I turned to him, and raised an eyebrow. He blushed quite red, I was worried that he was gonna pass out with all the blood rushing to his head. "I've just had a thought. Hold on a sec you guys." He went running through to the dining room, where we'd seen Caleb run to a minute before. Then we heard them whispering loudly in there. We looked at one another with confused faces.
"Oh god, look at this shit." I picked up another couple of shirts, wifebeaters, leather pants? Oh god.
"Looks fine to me." Jared said calmly. I just sighed, I didn't want this boyband stuff all over the front of a magazine with me. We were trying to get rid of that image.
"Hey guys, would you be interested in posing together for the front cover?" Matthew asked as he ran back in. I looked at him with a frown for a second, then turned to Jared.
"Your choice, do you want to be on the front cover of a nationwide magazine?" I asked Jared.
"Errmmm...international actually." Caleb interrupted as he walked in. I turned back to Jared, and he shrugged his shoulders.
"Great!" Matthew cheered a little too prematurely.
"Hey, there are a few things I want to say, we get to approve the photos, I want to see them first." Matthew nodded quickly, and I smiled. "So, how do you want us?"
"Would you guys mind taking your tops off?" He asked as calmly as he could. Jared had his off before I even turned around to see if he was okay with it. He flexed his pecs, then bounced them alternately, and I shook my head - he was just doing it to show off to the other two guys in the room, same way he was now flexing his abs, deepening the ridges, it still got my mouth salivating, I couldn't imagine what it did to the other two guys. I soon got my answer when I turned around - they were both 'rearranging' themselves. I stripped out of my top too, and we both stood there side by side. I raised an eyebrow at Matthew, but he wasn't looking in my direction.
"Hello?" I said loudly.
"Hey?" Jared repeated slightly louder. We both looked at each other, not quite believing that these two were still staring at our bodies.
"HEY!" We both shouted together. They both shook themselves, and looked up at us.
"Ummm..ok, let's get started. First shot, Jared, would you take one end of this?" He handed Jared one end of a long white sheet. "Kevin would you take this end?" He motioned for us to stand a distance apart. "Now, tuck it under your arm, and sort of roll towards each other." He directed us as we rolled ourselves up in the sheet, spinning to wrap it around us. We ended up facing each other, the sheet completely binding us. "Perfect, now just move over there." We shuffled over.
Matthew started snapping pictures of us. He told us little directions, like 'show more teeth', 'big grins', 'pout', or 'snarl', I didn't quite get the last one, but Caleb certainly seemed intimidated when we both growled at the same time. It felt quite strange, wrapped up in this toga-like thing and having Jared right next to me, and having this guy we didn't really know taking pictures of us topless. I think the next few moments though were possibly some of the most embarrassing of my life. Jared was warm, well I don't know how to explain it, but Jared's body heat, plus the fact I was a bit hyper from getting to do my first photo shoot with Jared got me, well, excited. I started getting hard. This guy was snapping away at us, and my cock was getting hard in my jeans. We had just taken a picture of both of us flexing our biceps for the camera over the sheet, and suddenly Jared turned to me with a shocked expression on his face when he felt how I was hard. Then he pulled apart slightly, and looked down, seeing the folds of sheet bunch up on top of my hard cock.
"Brilliant!" Matthew said when he saw Jared's expression as he looked down. He though Jared was just playing around, and pretending to find me excited, truth was, I really was excited! I could feel the blush rising in my cheek. Jared looked up at me, and I put a pout on my face, and Jared had an exasperated expression, but with a slight smile. I could imagine how it must have looked: like a parent telling off their child. Matthew carried on telling us how great we were doing, if only he knew what was really going on behind the sheet! "Ok! Enough with the sheet, let's get you lying down on your fronts together ok?" Matthew said suddenly. I stiffened, well the rest of me stiffened at his suggestion. Jared realised my trepidation.
"Err...you guys, would you mind turning around for just a second?" They both looked at him confused, but turned around anyway. Jared suddenly put his hand in my pants.
"Hey!" I shouted. Then I realised what he was doing. He rearranged me so that my cock was 'strapped down' by the waistband on my boxer-briefs. Good plan.
"Ok. You can turn back." Jared stated. They turned around, and we dropped the sheet. We turned so that we were facing front. "So how do you want us?" Jared asked. That's when I noticed Matthew and Caleb were both looking at the front of my jeans. I looked down and realised, not only was my cock not particularly well hidden by the fact it had been partially restrained, but also there was a sizeable wet spot on the front of my jeans. I spun around quickly, and then made a dash for the stairs. Just as I started up them, I heard Jared start cracking up. Bastard.
Five minutes later, I came back down in fresh boxers and jeans. "Ok, can you guys lie down there together?" There was a black satiny blanket laid out on the floor with cushions underneath it, and Jared jumped on it. I lied down next to him, about a foot away, I wasn't sure if I was comfortable having these people see us lay together. "Could you move a bit closer together?" Matthew asked after he took a couple of test shots. We shuffled closer. After a couple more shots. "Could you move closer? You're not even touching." So we shuffled so that our shoulders were touching. Finally Matthew let out a sigh. "Are you guys not very comfortable doing this shot?" He asked exasperatedly.
"No, I'm fine. Kevin?" Jared asked if I was ok.
"I'm not too sure." I said after a pause. "I don't know, I just feel kinda tense doing a shot like this." Matthew paused for thought, and in that time, Jared's hand was resting on my ass. Then he moved it lower in my inner thighs, and started rubbing around. "Hey! Stop that! I don't wanna have to go change my pants again!" I shouted loudly. Then Jared jumped on me, and started tickling me, hard. I had tears running down my face in no time, and I was desperately trying to fight Jared off.
"Guys, look!" We both heard Matthew shout. Jared was on top of me, on top of the black blanket. I tipped my head back, and Jared tipped his head up, so that as Matthew took the shot, my head was upside down and Jared's was the right way around. "I think we've got our cover shot." Matthew said with a proud grin. After a few more shots, Matthew told us to stand up again.
"Exactly how much would you guys be willing to reveal?" I turned to Jared, who had a sheepish expression on his face, I could still remember a couple of stunts while we were on tour that highlighted Jared's exhibitionist side.
"I have a feeling Jared would be willing to show more than me, why? What did you have in mind?" I asked Matthew. He looked at me, then at Jared.
"Well, to start with, maybe a couple of shots in just your underwear?" He asked. Before he'd even finished the sentence, we'd both shucked our pants, and were standing there, unfortunately, in identical boxers. "Perfect!" Now put your arms around one another." He carried on with the little directions. "Jared, could you lean over Kevin's neck, yeah like that, just as if you're nuzzling his neck. Perfect!" Matthew carried on snapping away, and I could see Caleb sitting off to the side, eyeballing both of our packages. Perv. "I don't suppose either of you would be willing to do a butt shot?" He asked inquisitively. Jared and I whispered for a second, he asked me if management would bitch about it, what could happen, that sort of thing. We worked out we'd be ok with butt shots, just no frontal.
"Ok." I told Matthew. "But I'd prefer if Jared did it, not me." We'd talked about this, we'd decided it was probably better for my career anyway.
"Ok, Jared would you mind?" He motioned towards the boxers. Jared bent over and pulled down his underwear, and as he stood up, I saw Matthew and Caleb stare for a moment, then look at each other, wide-eyed. Jared was blessed, no doubt. Matthew coughed for a second, then asked Jared to turn around. I bet it's the first time he's ever been asked that! I shouldn't think like that though. "Ok, will you face Kevin head on, and then rest your head sort of just on but like leaning over Kevin's shoulder." He did. "Ok, now Kevin, I'm not sure about where you want to put your hands, but if I may suggest..." he trailed off, as I grabbed Jared's ass hard, and squeezed. I had a smirk on my face at the expression Matthew wore, he gulped, and rearranged himself again. He'd done that a hell of a lot of times during this shoot, I got the feeling this was almost as good as a porn movie for him. He started taking a load of shots, and moved to slightly different angles. After a minute, my hands got tired, and I let go.
"I've got an idea for a shot." I started. "It's just an idea - if I don't like how it comes out, you can't use it, ok?" Matthew nodded. Then I turned away from them, and removed my boxers too, revealing my butt to them, they both sharply inhaled, just as they had done with Jared. I stepped into Jared, so that our hips were touching, and so that both our cocks were obscured by our legs, then I put my hands on his waist, and he did the same to me, and we kissed. The flashes started going off like crazy. Jared and I tipped our heads this way and that. Finally, I'd had enough of posing, and pulled back. "Ok? Can I see the test shots now?" Matthew quickly arranged all the Polaroid shots he'd taken at random while we were posing, and started showing them to me. I approved of most. I didn't particularly like the ones where I grabbed Jared's butt, but Matthew persuaded me that it would make an excellent centrefold. I didn't realise they were putting so much emphasis on us in the magazine.
At around 5 o'clock, Matthew and Caleb left. It's funny how close you can feel to an interviewer after spending a day with them, on the way out, they were joking and laughing with us, though Matthew was still a little flustered from seeing so much of our flesh. He was kinda cute when he blushed. We shut the door.
"So what did you think of today?" I asked Jared as we sat on the couch together.
"It was kinda fun actually, the photo shoot was easily the best part, though I have to admit if you'd carried on kissing me for much longer, I think we both would've had a problem pulling apart." We both laughed.
"Well, that's good cos you got the same thing on Thursday." I told him.
"Huh?"
"Yeah, you know, the fitness magazine shoots. Admittedly, I don't think they'll ask you to strip down, but they'll still want photos to go with the article."
"Oh yeah, I guess. I guess I just hadn't thought about it. They're coming into Jive to do that aren't they? They're not doing it here?"
"No, they'll meet you at the offices. You don't have to do anything, your schedule will have been cleared for you, and they'll call you up when the interviewers arrive. You might want to have some of that paperwork handy, you know all our diets and workout records, that sort of thing, so that you can show them what you've been up to though." He nodded. We both spent the rest of the night on the couch, watching TV. About 9:30, we both headed up to bed. After all, we had work the next day - didn't want to be tired now did we? We still fooled around a bit of course - we were still both a bit turned on from posing nude I think.
"Good night Jared."
"Night Kev." He mumbled, then fell asleep.
TBC End of Chapter 37
Hope everyone enjoyed that. Sorry it's taken me so long to post, and it's probably gonna be a while before I post my next one - I'm in the middle of my final exams, so I should be working on those. So, I hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter for about two weeks probably. Thanks for reading!