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) Josh and Just (Duh!) Jamie's Romance (Justin) Brian and Me (Brian) <- Love this one, and love where it's going! Kevin and Dustin (Kevin) <- I just read this one, and I can't wait till the next instalment, I can't wait to see what happens! Tales of a Real Dark Knight (Lance) Under Management (Lance) Brian and Chance (Brian) Thieves (Lance) Lance and Martin (Lance) That's it, I know there are more I read that I haven't mentioned, but I can't remember them right now, sorry! Here is part one of Season Two - I hope everyone enjoys it, and I hope that I get lots of emails - come on people! My email is at the top of the page! Give me a shout out if you liked it or hated it...now here is part two!
On The Streets - Season Two - Part Two
Jared's Point of View<<<
"So, what do you want to do today? We've got that signing this morning, so you could come with us, or you could just walk around Boston, I'm sure there's some shops up here you could check out." Kevin told me. I was lying on the bed, watching him get ready. He was just pulling on a black short-sleeved shirt over a white undershirt, and buttoning it up.
"Umm, well, I'll come with you and if I get bored, I'll just wander around a bit."
"Ok, is your phone charged?" I glanced at the screen.
"Yep. Come on, let's go." I took a hold of his hand, and we walked out into the suite room. The other guys were already waiting.
"You guys ready now?" AJ asked.
"Yes, thank you!" I answered.
"Ok! Geez, I was just asking." He said with a grin.
"What are you doing this morning Jared? Coming with us?" Brian asked.
"No, well, I thought I'd come with you and then if I get bored then I could just wander off and have a look in some shops." I answered.
"Trust me, you'll get bored. Don't you remember doing these things last time we were on tour?" Nick asked. "It's just mind-numbingly boring."
"Yeah, I remember, but, as I said, I'll walk off if I get bored." Down in the limo, the guys' manager was already waiting.
"Ok, guys, you're here for an hour and a half, and then it's back here. You get to stop for lunch, and then you have a radio interview this afternoon." The guys all nodded, and then the rest of the journey was basically in silence.
At the record store, the guys were escorted past the fans who were already building up outside. I kept close to Kevin, as I realised just how close these people were to rioting. The security team was doing little to hold them back. Finally, the guys were seated inside the store, and a queue was formed that led to the tables where the guys were seated. The manager of the store stood by the queue with a loudhailer. "Will you please have anything you want signed ready for the boys to sign, as there are a lot of you, so please don't hold up the line, we'd like to get everyone through in the time the guys have here."
Well, that didn't work - the people in the queue just seemed to surge forwards, which was met by a push back from the security team. It was actually pretty funny - watching these five or six big - and I mean big - men pushing back about hundred or so teenage girls, and that was only the girls in the store - the queue left the building. I saw a few guys in the queue as well, mostly camp looking guys, but there were a couple who weren't bad looking. I decided to check out this store first, but after a quarter of an hour, looking at records and bands who I either worked with or had never heard of, I got bored, and went back down and stood behind the guys. As some of the good-looking guys approached Kevin, I took a step closer to him, so that they could see me there - I'm the jealous type, ok? That didn't stop them from flirting ridiculously with him. For God's sake - he's got an engagement ring on! I eventually gave up, and walked up behind Kevin.
"I'm going for a walk ok?" I told him.
"Ok, be careful. We should be done in about an hour or so." I nodded, and walked out the same way as the fans were leaving. Just outside that door, there were a lot of them standing comparing the stuff they'd got signed, and how many x's the guys had put under their autographs. A few of the male ones were there too.
"Hey! Err...Jared!" I turned, and looked at the guy who had called my name. There were about three of them, and they were coming towards me. I was close enough to the exit of the store that if they were troublesome I could run if I wanted to.
"Yeah?" I answered, waiting for them to say something.
"Are you and Kevin getting married?" One of them asked. There were three of them, one about 6'2", with brown hair. One of them was about my height, but smaller and had blond hair, and there was one who was a little shorter than me, with pale brown hair.
"Yeah, we are."
"Have you set a date yet?" The same one asked, with wide eyes.
"No, not yet."
"Wow, hey, could you sign this for me?" The tall one asked. I looked at him with a frown for a moment, but he was holding out a pen, and a poster to me. All of the guys had already signed it, each of them above their own picture. I was still confused, but took the pen, and signed just above and to the right of Kevin's autograph. "Thanks man."
"Hey could you do mine too?" The other two both had posters, and both offered me pens. I signed them too. "Hey, do you want to go get a cup of coffee or something?" The blond one asked. Well, I didn't have anything else to do.
"Sure." I replied. I explained how I had nothing to do till Kevin was done, and we set off for the closest coffee shop. I think we passed three Starbucks before we came to the one the guys wanted to go into. I would actually call this a cafe though - it actually could have fit right in back in Europe. I was really surprised by how good the coffee was, and by the fact that the three guys paid for mine. We sat down together, and I found their names were Dylan, Jacob and Matt, Dylan being the tall one, and Matt the shortest one. They started asking questions. Apparently they had all rushed out once they saw us on TRL and bought a copy of the Advocate we were featured in, and they thought the photos were great. I think I saw a slightly, well, lustful look in their eyes. They were grinning at one another when they talked about those.
"We've got a video of that TRL at home. It's funny how much you blush when you're brought out in front of the camera." Jacob started laughing, I couldn't help but join in. That's when I noticed the poster hung over his head. It was Britney, wearing something very skimpy, with bright colours swirling around her head. Underneath were written various dates, and times.
"What does that poster say?" I couldn't read it, I didn't have my glasses with me.
"Oh it's about those Britney Spears concerts in Albany and NYC." Matt answered. "Hey do you know her too?" I nodded.
"When are they?"
"This Tuesday in Albany, and then Thursday through Saturday in NYC." Matt answered. I nodded. Might have to pay a surprise visit to Britney sometime soon.
After about twenty minutes just sitting there with those guys talking, my cell phone rang and I answered.
"Hey Kev." I answered, having checked the caller ID.
"Jared. Where are you?"
"Errr, some coffee shop, why? Are you done?"
"Yeah, well, we're just finishing up, we can't be more than another five minutes."
"Ok, well, I'll head back."
"Ok, see you soon." We both hung up.
"Well guys, guess that's my cue to go, thanks for the coffee, and the company." They all stood up and shook my hand, and then I left them in there. I walked out the coffee shop and turned left, and headed back to the store. A second later, I felt a hand on each of my shoulders. I turned to see the three of them standing there. "What's the matter?"
"Jared, you don't have much of a sense of direction do you?" Dylan asked.
"Why?"
"Well, the record store's that way." He replied, pointing in the opposite direction down the street.
"Ah." I could feel my cheeks reddening.
"Do you want us to take you back?" I blushed even redder, and then nodded sheepishly. "Don't feel too bad, I remember once when Matt was visiting New York..."
"Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up!" Matt instantly shouted out. The other guys started laughing, and so did I. It was obviously a sore point for Matt. We were back at the record store in no time. There was still quite a few people waiting outside, and I wondered why Kevin had said they'd only be five minutes. I said thanks again to the guys, and said goodbye to all of them. I walked in through the exit doors, and the guards moved out the way to let me through. The main doors to the store had been shut with people still standing outside, and the guys were just dealing with the ten or so people left inside. Finally they were done with them, and they stood up and started leaving. Kevin came over and put his arm around me.
"God, that was boring." He said with a grin.
"What about all those people waiting outside?" I said with a frown.
"We can't sign everyone's stuff Jared, it would take us too long. Plus the publicists say it looks better if we only sign for some people, that way the papers report that a lot of people didn't get in. It's just a big publicity stunt, it makes us look even bigger."
"You have hundreds of people waiting outside. That's not big enough?" I asked incredulously.
"It's just a gimmick Jared." I shook my head, and let him put his arm around me, and we walked out the store. There was now two columns of people waiting on either side of the exit for the guys to come out. They all had Backstreet Boys merchandise in their hands, and they were all waving stuff trying to get it signed. "We'll just sign a couple more things as we go past." Kevin said quickly, then directed me to the limo that was waiting. They were busy dealing with the fans holding out CDs and posters and stuff, and I headed towards the open door of the car. Just as I was about to climb in, I noticed a bedraggled looking women probably in her late-thirties, holding by one hand a young girl of maybe six or seven. The young girl had a CD in her hand. I could see what was going to happen, the guys were going to rush through a couple of autographs up there, and then hurry straight into the limo once the security felt they couldn't hold the fans back any more.
"Excuse me?" I said to the woman.
"Yes?" She said, looking at me, trying not to look exhausted.
"You're standing a bit too far from the exit of the store to get your stuff signed, would you like me to take something up for them to sign?" I asked. The woman looked at me sceptically for a moment, then pulled her daughter by the hand so that the little girl now stood in front of her. "Would you like me to just take her up?" I asked the older woman.
"Would you? She's been out here for about six hours now, and she's just been dying to meet them." The fans were starting to squeeze into the sides a bit, so I quickly picked up the young girl, and assured the mother I'd be right back. I made my way back to where the guys were. I tapped on Howie's shoulder first.
"Howie, would you sign this?" He finished with the girls he was dealing with, and then turned.
"What's your name?" He asked the little girl in my arms.
"Emily." She said quietly.
"Ok Emily. There you go." He said as he signed the album sleeve of the CD she was holding. I turned to AJ who was the next closest. He did the same, smiling at Emily as he passed her back the CD. Nick did the same, and even gave Emily a kiss on the cheek. She turned bright red.
"Brian, would you mind?" I said, handing him the CD. Emily had been too shocked by the kiss to take it back from Nick. Brian signed it, and smiled at Emily as well. Finally I got back to Kevin, he was always the furthest back, I guess the security reckoned that he could handle himself, being the biggest. "Kevin." I said, getting him to turn around.
"Hmm?" He looked at me with raised eyebrows.
"Could you sign Emily's CD for her?" I asked him.
"Errr...sure. He said with a confused frown on his face. After he signed it, I made sure that the slip was back inside the album, and gave it back to Emily who looked at it proudly. Then we walked back to her mother, who had been watching tiredly.
"Oh thank you so much." She smiled at me gratefully. "Emily, what do you say?"
"Thank you Mr. Healey." Emily said, then, once I'd put her down on the ground, she took a hold of her mother's hand.
"Here Emily, let me put that in my purse in case you drop it." Emily handed over the CD and her mother put it in her bag.
"Thank you very much again." She smiled at me, and then hoisted her daughter up so that they could make their way back through the crowd.
"It's ok, bye Emily." Emily waved at me and then leant her head on her mother's shoulder. She was apparently as tired as her mum looked. Finally, the guys were almost done, I sat in the limo and shoved over so that the guys could get in when they arrived.
AJ was the first to get there, and he sat opposite me, then Howie, then Brian. Nick joined us about a minute later, then Kevin climbed in, having checked everyone was in there, and saying a few words to one of the security guys. He shut the door behind him, and we drove off.
"Who was that little girl Jared?" Nick asked.
"I don't know, just some girl who was hoping to see you guys, but I knew that you guys would only say hello to the people closest to the store, cos the longer you were standing there, the more, well, rowdy the crowds were gonna get. She was standing with her Mum almost right next to the limo, so I figured, what the hell, I asked her Mum if it was ok, and then I picked her up and brought her up to meet you guys."
"Oh, ok." Nick said, I looked around. Howie was just looking at me with a smile on his face. So was Brian. AJ was playing with one of the buttons on his jacket. When I saw Kevin though - he was just looking at me. He didn't have any expression whatsoever. I looked away, and when I looked back, he was smiling slightly.
Kevin's Point of View<<<
I can't really explain it. I felt...proud of Jared. If one of our publicists had been there, they never would have thought of doing something like that, of helping that little girl. In fact, it probably would have looked better if they'd got pictures of the little girl crying after she missed us. That would have probably made a major news story: "Backstreet fans distraught after missing boys" or something cheesy like that. Jared had thought about the little girl first, and I thought that was just...amazing. Every time I looked at him, I swore I was falling in love with him again. I know, sounds cheesy doesn't it.
Back at the hotel, we went up to the room, and I kissed Jared, hard, on the lips. When we pulled apart, he looked at me, as he run his tongue over his bottom lip, feeling the swelling I could feel on my lips already. "What was that for?" He didn't sound annoyed, just very curious.
"For being you." I replied with a grin. He smiled, but with a frown, and shook his head. He didn't realise that I meant it was for doing what he did with the little girl. That was just who he was.
"When do you have to be at the radio interview?"
"Not till about three. You coming?" He just shrugged. "So do you want to order up some lunch?"
"Sure. What'll we have?" He reached behind him, and there on the table was a menu for room service. "Mmm, tomato salad, that sounds pretty good, and err, some chicken pasta." Then he passed the menu to me.
"What did you say you'd have for starter?"
"Tomato salad." Jared said again.
"Hold on, don't English people normally say 'tomato'?" I said, trying to make it sound English with the long 'a'. Jared opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again.
"Hmmm, I guess so, but you say tomato right?" He said it with the short 'a'.
"Yeah."
"I must have picked it up from you."
"Must've." I replied. While I was looking down at the menu, I started thinking about it - I had never actually noticed Jared's accent - he's English right, but I don't remember him ever sounding really English. It was like he always imitated me, ever since we met. "Jared, did you actually copy my accent, did you try to like suppress your English accent?" I asked him. He looked confused for a second.
"At first, I guess I copied the way you said a couple of words, but I think since I've been over here, I've just picked it up a bit more." He said with a slightly confused expression. I just nodded and went back to reading. I couldn't help but think about it though - his accent had actually changed, just from being around me for a few months. He'd had an English accent for years, and then suddenly it changes?
"Did you force it to change? I mean did you copy the actual sound of my voice or other people's voices over here, so that you sounded more American?" I just couldn't get this, how could his voice change so much so quickly. I started thinking what it was like the first time I met him - how he sounded like a Londoner, pure English, and now, well, he wouldn't be out of place just about anywhere in America.
"I don't know Kev, look, I did start to copy you, yes, with certain obvious differences. I stopped calling elevators lifts, sidewalks pavements, that sort of thing. But the actual accent, I probably picked up subconsciously, you know, trying to fit in? I'd have to carry on repeating myself anyway if I spoke with my London accent. I always got Americans complaining that I didn't say half the consonants in everything I said, when I was back in London." Jared said.
"Oh." I went back to reading the menu again. It must be hard to change what you sound like to fit in better.
"Hey you know Britney's in Albany on Tuesday?" He asked me.
"I didn't know, no, why, do you want to go see her?" He shrugged his shoulders.
"I was just thinking it might be something for us to do. I rearranged all my sessions, so that I was free until Wednesday morning, I figured that once we got back to Orlando we might want a day together, but we could fly back Tuesday night instead." Jared looked at me hopefully.
"Sure, we'll go see her together." Great, I thought to myself. My first Britney Spears concert. I couldn't help but laugh internally at the thought.
Nick's Point of View<<<
"Who's a beautiful girl?" I said in a baby voice. Laura was getting bigger every day. She looked so adorable lying there with her arms and feet in the air.
"Haven't you got her in bed yet?" Leo asked as he came out the bathroom. I looked up at him, and he had a grin on his face. I was sitting on the bed next to her, and she was just lying there naked. I hadn't had a chance to get her ready for bed yet. She had such a big grin on her face. Leo came and sat down next to me. He leant over and kissed me. I turned to him and blushed slightly. It was great - the longer we were spending together, the more he was doing that. We were great together, and I loved being around him, and Laura.
"Look." I said to him, pointing at Laura. Laura had managed to get one of her feet into her mouth, and was sucking on her toes, like some sort of contortionist. We both laughed, and Laura let go of her toes and started giggling too.
"Come on, we'd better get her ready, it's already, oh god, it's an hour after her bedtime!" Leo said, shaking his head.
"Oh sorry, I just caught up." I said. I grabbed the talc and a diaper. After we got her ready for bed together, we laid her down, and she literally rolled over and went to sleep. It must have been further past her bedtime than we thought. We climbed into bed together, and quickly fell asleep too. Laura only woke once during the night.
The next morning, we were up early. 4 am to be precise, as that was the time that Laura ordained we should get up. It was Monday, so we were flying back that day. Laura seemed to be wide awake, even at this early hour - because she'd only woken up once, this was like one of her longest sleeps ever, and so she was gurgling happily on her changing mat as I removed the soiled diaper. Amazingly enough, I didn't actually have much of a problem with this - Laura was easy enough to change. I remember my Mom telling me how when she used to change me, I would crawl off, and one time I almost fell off the table she used to change me on. Fortunately we changed Laura on a bed, so there was less chance of her falling off, but she didn't squirm about much anyway. By 6 am, Laura, Leo and I were sat in front of the TV in our suite, watching some mindless cartoon.
About an hour later, Kevin and Jared came over. We'd got into this routine - they knew we'd always be up early anyway, because of Laura, and seeing as we had the baby, they'd given us the largest suite, so they came over and would order breakfast. Then we'd just sit around talking or whatever until the other guys got here for breakfast.
"Good morning." Kevin said as he walked in the room.
"Hey Kev, Jared." I said as they both walked in.
"Morning." Jared nodded his head. After they'd said their good mornings to Leo and Laura, they set about ordering breakfast for everyone. Once they were done, they came over and sat around with us.
"How's Laura doing?" Jared asked Leo.
"She's doing great. I think she's happier now she's not always changing hands with babysitters and whatever, and Nick seems to be having a good influence on her." He said with a grin towards me.
"What do you mean?" Kevin asked.
"Watch this. Nick do that thing you were showing me yesterday." I sat Laura down on her playmat in front of the couch, and got her to look at me.
"Ok Laura, eyes!" She quickly brought her hands up and held them over her eyes. "Ok Laura!" I got her attention again. "Hands!" She held her hands out in front of her, almost as if she was praying. "And Laura, feet!" She leaned forwards, and grabbed a hold of her toes, rolling onto her back as she did. The guys all laughed, even Leo.
"How old is she again?" Jared asked.
"She'll be eleven months in two days." Leo answered.
"Isn't that a bit advanced for her then? I thought up to the age of one most children could only understand basic things, like Mom and Dad?" Leo nodded.
"Last time I was at the paediatrician, there was a chart showing the developmental stages of the baby, and according to that, a baby shouldn't be able to recognise body parts till about 15 months. She's advanced for her age. She's also walking very well, which puts her at least four months ahead of what's expected." Leo seemed to glow with pride as he said it. Laura was saying basic words, but they were getting more advanced, and she was imitating people when she heard people talking. She was putting two words together like "dad stop", which was incredible for a child of her age. She was very advanced, and Leo seemed to take great pride in her for this. But I also felt proud, I know, I haven't been around her as much, but I've spent the last three months with her, and when you consider she's only 11 months now, well, it's quite a lot. I'd like to think I had something to do with it, Leo seems to think I'm the reason she's so advanced, but I know it's mostly him. I like to think of Laura as mine as well though.
"Guys, Jared and I are staying up here until tomorrow evening. We're going to see Britney in concert, tomorrow night. She said that we're all welcome to come if we want." Kevin said. I turned to Leo, but he was preoccupied with Laura for the moment.
"Err, no thanks Kev, it's ok. We'd just like to get back home I think." Kevin nodded, and when I turned to Jared, he was still watching Laura on her playmat. Just then, a knocking came at the door, so I got up to answer it. It was Howie, Brian and Leighanne. I didn't even know she'd come up. Brian explained to everyone how she'd come up last night: she'd been in New York, so she figured that they could fly down together. When AJ arrived, Kevin explained to everyone else how they weren't going down to Orlando this morning, they were going to wait till tomorrow. Everyone else agreed that they'd rather go down instead of waiting to see Britney.
Jared's Point of View<<<
We saw everyone off at the airport that morning, all the bodyguards left too - their job was done whether Kevin stayed up here or not. Then Kevin and I spent the rest of the day doing as little as possible. We spent most of the morning in front of the TV, then before lunch we went and laid in the hotel Jacuzzi for about three-quarters of an hour. After lunch, we laid on the poolside, just enjoying the spring sunshine. The pool was in a kind of glass-house on the roof of the hotel, so it was warm, and the sun was shining outside anyway. We went in the pool for about an hour in the afternoon, not swimming properly or anything, just to enjoy the water. Kevin arranged for us to eat in the hotel restaurant, I was glad I had packed my suit, and we went to get ready about 5.
"I need your brother's number, I couldn't find it on the rolodex." Kevin said as we were just deciding on what to eat.
"Ok, I'll add it when we get back. Why do you need it?"
"Hmm? Oh, to make preparations for the wedding, I wanted to know if they've got anything important coming up that will stop them being there at any particular time." I nodded, then went back to choosing what I wanted.
"Are you planning on having this soon?" I asked him, he sounded like he was getting ready for something within a week or two. He looked up at me.
"Would it bother you if it was soon, like, really soon?" Kevin asked me. I thought about it, but it didn't take long.
"No, I don't suppose so. So, how soon are you talking?"
"As soon as possible. Jared, I love you. I know you're only interested in this wedding cos I wanted it, but it does mean a lot to me, that I'm going to marry you." I looked into Kevin's eyes, they were shiny. "Jared, I love you so much, I've never felt like this before. Just being in a room, you make me feel like a better person, and I love you for that, for making me want to a better person for you." Kevin's lips shut, and he just watched me, I was completely and utterly speechless. Kevin grinned. "Err...Jared, you can close your mouth now." That's when I realised my jaw was hanging open.
"Wow." I said as I shut my jaw and swallowed. "I really mean that much to you?"
"Yes! Don't you get it yet Jared. Every time you see a new side of what I've got, my possessions, whatever, it means nothing to me. You Jared. You are everything, I love you."
"I love you too Kev." My voice had gone up about three octaves, and came out as a squeak. I cleared my throat while Kevin grinned at me. "I love you Kevin." I said in my normal voice. He reached across the table, and held his hand open, and I slid mine into his.
"Thank you for being mine Jared." Kevin said, the shininess in his eyes getting worse.
"I'm always yours Kev, I love you." I said, I guess I'm not as eloquent when I speak as Kevin, cos I couldn't think of anything as romantic as he just said to come up with in reply, but I got the feeling that was ok, as Kevin had to pull a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his eyes with.
"We'd better order." Kevin called the waiter over, and we sat in relative silence for the rest of the meal. Boy was Kevin going to get lucky tonight.
The Next Day - Tuesday 15th April 2003, Albany
Kevin and I went along to Albany early in the morning, and arrived there before 10. We went straight to the hotel, and we were allowed straight up to see her. Apparently she'd just woken and ordered room service.
"Hey I heard there was some princess staying in here, I guess I was wrong, look at the mess!" Kevin said as we walked into the suite room of Britney's suite. That was something I noticed about Britney - she, and her dancers all shared a suite, whereas the guys almost always had separate suites, or at most two of them sharing.
"Kevin! Jared!" We heard Britney say, almost in surprise, although she knew we were coming.
"Jared!" I heard a few of the dancers say. They were all still wearing their nightwear, Britney was dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of cut-offs. We all exchanged greetings, and once Kevin knew the dancers, we all went and sat down.
"So how has your publicity tour been?" Britney asked, talking to Kevin.
"Tiring, boring, same as usual. The real tour starts in about two months, so that'll be more interesting. But we've got about six weeks off now, so we can relax and do nothing!" Kevin said, sitting back on the couch, with his arms hooked behind his head.
"Bastard!" Britney muttered under her breath. "So your coming to the concert tonight right?" She asked with a touch of fake cheerfulness.
"Yep." I answered, Kevin nodded too.
"Great, um, Kev, would you come here a sec?" She stood up, and after a moment Kevin followed. They went into what looked like a kitchen area of the suite, and started talking. The other dancers all started talking to me.
"So, how have things been?" Jake asked.
"Good, hey, I was going to ask you guys about something - you know that night, when I was with you in Atlanta?" They all got grins on their faces, and Brandon started talking.
"Jared, don't worry, you didn't do anything too bad." They all started laughing.
"What did happen though? I can't remember past when we left the venue!" That caused them all to laugh even more.
"Well, let's see, we went to a club, and you drunk a little bit too much, then we came back here, and you drunk a little bit too much, and then you dirty danced with Jake, and Britney separated you two, then we all danced together a bit more, then you started falling over, so Britney took you to her room, and locked the door!" One of the girls said. I nodded my head, wow, Britney actually really looked after me, I was really grateful.
"Don't worry Jared. None of us would have let you get too far with Jake." Jake was blushing a deep red by now, and he turned towards me. He was grinning.
"What?" He asked unbelievingly. "So I get a little randy when I get drunk!" We all started laughing again. Britney and Kevin came in with grins on their faces.
"What's up with you two?" I asked.
"Nothing, now, everyone go get dressed, Jared and I are taking you out for lunch, I know this great little restaurant." Despite the fact it was only 11:30, and the breakfast plates were still on the table, there was suddenly a mad scramble to get out of the suite room and into the respective bedrooms. Britney headed into her own room. Shortly afterwards, calls of 'where are my socks' and 'Brandon did you hide my shirt?' came from the rooms, and Kevin and I started laughing. A few moments later, Britney came out looking great as usual, and another ten minutes later, a very frustrated Britney shouted out something along the lines of 'if you don't get your butts out here right now, then we're going without you and I'll cancel all room service!' That caused the activity to speed up. At one point one of the girls ran out and ran into one of the guys rooms, and she came out carrying a skirt I think, with a very annoyed expression on her face. Kevin and I looked at each other, but just left it at that. After another five minutes, they were all assembled in the suite room, looking like, well like they'd got dressed in about two minutes rather than twenty. You ever want to know how celebrities get that 'devil-may-care', unkempt look? Well, take the time it takes to get ready in the morning, and divide it by four. That should get about the same effect. Jake had his shirt buttoned wrongly, one of the girls had put on the skirt she'd grabbed from the guys' room, but it was askew, and none of them looked like they'd brushed their hair. The only noticeable thing was that their skin and teeth looked perfect, apparently that was what they spent all their time on.
We took them out for lunch at this place Kevin knew, although they didn't actually have a table for nine, so they were pushing tables together, which made for a slightly uncomfortable squeeze. After lunch, which took over two hours for us all to get through, they had to get to the venue for sound check, so Kevin and I decided to join them. Once there, Britney went out on stage with her dancers. We actually sat on the very edge of the stage, and watched from about six feet from her. It's quite disconcerting actually, and the full effect of the choreography is lost from this distance.
"You know, we probably shouldn't watch this now, seeing as we're watching it later tonight?" Kevin said into my ear.
"No probably not, why, you want to go for a walk or something?" Kevin nodded, and we stood up. When Britney had finished the song she was on, we just told her we were going for a walk, and then we left. We walked around the stadium, and walked through the catacombs and the back passageways of the venue, stopping occasionally at benches or stairs we would just sit down on. It was a nice day outside, so we walked around out there, taking everything slowly. Finally, we came to the entrance to the stadium, and it had been over an hour and a half.
"We should get back inside, it's been quite a while." Kevin said looking at his watch. I noticed he'd been doing that a lot while we were walking. Once we reached the stage again, all the dancers came running off the stage and sort of grabbed me, and took me backstage. They wanted to show me their 'playroom' where there was a TV and couches and stuff. It was exactly the same as the room backstage that the guys always had while they were on tour, and I couldn't understand why'd they'd brought me back here. After five minutes, I noticed Brandon looking at his watch.
"Ok, shall we go back now?" They all stood up, and we went back to the stage, where Kevin and Britney were talking about something. They stopped talking when I approached.
"What are you two up to?" I asked them.
"Nothing." They both replied simultaneously, they were so obvious it was unbelievable, but I left it. The rest of the afternoon we spent hanging around the venue. The dancers had to carry on practising almost constantly, but Britney got some time off, so we hung out together in one of the back rooms. Turns out Britney was going through a 'ping-pong' phase, and even had a table set up in one of the back rooms. That was fun, but after an hour it got pretty, well, repetitive. Finally the time came that Britney had to go and start getting ready. Kevin and I remained in the back room.
"What were you and Britney talking about this afternoon?" I asked Kevin as we were sitting on one of the couches in the back room.
"Hmmm? Just wait and see Jared." Kevin grinned at me, then some of the dancers came in already changed. I looked at my watch and it was later than I thought. The opening act must've already been on stage. About ten minutes later, Britney came in, heavily made up, wearing some flimsy piece of material wrapped around her in a sexually revealing way.
"Everyone warmed up?" She asked the room, a round of 'yeses' came from around the room, so Britney started stretching her arms and windmilling them to get the blood moving. She started singing a few scales and things. I love listening to people sing, even if it is just a few notes. "So what time are you guys heading out, tonight right?" She asked us.
"Yeah, our plane's at 11." Kevin answered. She nodded, then went back to warming up.
"Ok! Is everyone ready?" The yeses came again, and she looked at Kevin who nodded. I was getting really suspicious now. "Let's go!" She headed out, her dancers followed her like ducklings, and we came up the rear. Britney literally headed straight out onto stage from the back room. she never stopped practically running all the way there, it must be her way of getting psyched up. Kevin and I stopped just off stage, and we found a couple of seats, so we sat to watch, Kevin sitting in the seat further from the stage. The screaming of the crowds hit fever pitch, and I thought I was gonna go deaf, even behind the edge of the set. I wondered how Britney managed to stand it. It sounded louder than when the guys went out on stage.
She started singing, some quiet song first, presumably to get everyone to calm down, and she just went from there. It was similar to her last concert. A lot of the stuff I didn't like, it sounded too, well, 'girly', but I guess that's her style! Then about twenty minutes before the end of the concert, Britney ran off stage while her dancers were doing some complicated routine. Her exit from the stage didn't seem to cause any decrease in the level of screaming. She ran up to one of the stage hands, nodded a few times, said a few words, then ran back on, but not before whispering to Kevin. I was getting really, really suspicious now. What was going on? I watched Kevin and Britney really closely. She ran back on, and did another number. Then the music cut, and she started talking.
"Ok! How many of you have heard of some guy called Kevin Richardson?" She paused as some cheers rose from the auddience. "I think he's from some little band called the Backstreet something-or-others?" She was keeping up the act pretty well, and the cheering had gotten louder. "Oh, so you've heard of him then. Well, at least you guys know him!" A few laughs came from the audience. "Please welcome Kevin from the Backstreet Boys!" She swung her arm out to the side of the stage, and Kevin half-jogged, half-walked onto the stage, with a big grin on his face. He walked right up to Britney, and they hugged, for the crowd's sake, and kissed one another on the cheek. I was really shocked, I hadn't expected this at all. What was he doing?
"Do you like Rock'n'Roll Kevin?" Britney questioned him once the cheering had died down some.
"Sure do Brit, why, you got something in mind?" Kevin asked, still with the grin on his lips.
"Well, I was just thinking, well, would you like to sing a song with me? Perhaps about how much we love rock'n' roll?" Britney's smile was obvious by her voice. Kevin grinned back, then turned to look at me.
"Well sure Brit, I'd love to, but I was wonderin', would you mind if I dedicated it to someone?" Kevin asked. I got a grin on my face, and I got an idea that I knew who he was going to say. "Now, my boyfriend is standing just offstage here, and I know that he wouldn't really like to come onstage to join us in a song, seeing as he doesn't like to sing." Kevin looked at me again and grinned, I just shook my head, and couldn't help but smile back. "However, I'd like to clarify something." His accent was coming through thicker than normal, it's funny how it got like that when he was performing. "Jared, isn't my boyfriend." The crowd was silent for just a moment. "He's my fiancé. And we're getting married, very soon." Kevin said with a big grin. "I just wanted to tell y'all that." Clapping started from Britney first, and then the audience joined in, and Kevin was grinning, really broadly. He looked back at me and smiled, well, I guess that's one way to make the announcement. "Now, Brit, what was it we were planning on singing?" Britney grinned and answered.
"I love Rock 'n' Roll!" She said in a slightly croaky voice as if she was actually singing the song. It sounded surprisingly like when Nick sings along to his music.
"Let's go then!" The band started up, and just for a moment as all the instruments came in, they were louder than the crowd. Then they died down and headed into the song, and the crowd reasserted it's dominance.
"I love rock 'n' roll!" Britney and Kevin both practically screamed out. They were both running back and forwards along the stage, singing out as loud as they could to beat the crowd. They were jumping up and down and dancing with one another, and they were shouting to the crowd to 'jump' or 'clap your hands' or any other number of things. Soon enough though, the song was over, and I could hear both of them panting faintly through the microphones.
"Thanks Britney, did everyone enjoy that?" Kevin shouted over the microphone. A resounding 'yes' seemed to be the only response. Kevin waved goodbye to everyone, and hugged Britney again for the audience, and jogged off stage. Britney's act took up again. I took Kevin's hand, and we walked along to the back room where we could talk.
"Why didn't you tell me you were gonna do that?" I asked him.
"Hmm, let me think... 'Jared, tonight I'm gonna do a duet with Britney, and I'm going to dedicate it to you in front of tens of thousands of people'. Hmmm, you ok with that?" Kevin asked with a raised eyebrow. He knew perfectly well that I wouldn't be. "I didn't think so."
"Ok, I get your point." I said softly. "And, there was one other thing. You said we're getting married, very soon. How soon did you mean?" Kevin grinned.
"We'd better get out there, I'd hate to miss the end of the show." Kevin grabbed my hand and dragged me back out to the wings, I couldn't keep my eyes off him, even when we were making the final applause for Britney.
"Thanks again you guys, for coming tonight. And stop worrying so much Jared!" Britney said as she kissed us goodbye before heading off. We were leaving by plane whereas she had to head for her last two concerts this weekend in New York. We kissed her back, and left for the airport. I slept on the way there, and Kevin only woke me up cos he needed help with all his tour bags. I fell asleep on the plane back too, and once we arrived in Orlando, Kevin had to wake me again. Unfortunately that day was Tuesday, and I had to work, but I'd got enough sleep between the car and the plane. I left Kevin in bed, after kissing him goodbye, and went to work.
TBC End of Chapter Two
Man, I need a cliffhanger!!! lol, I don't know what's up, but all my episodes seem to be getting really boring and uneventful, can someone please email me and tell me if that's true? I just want to know if the story is stagnating a bit, and if it is, then I'll...spice it up a bit! Anyway, apart from details I think I have about the next thirty years of Kevin's and Jared's lives planned out in my head, so, I just need to know how exciting you want me to make it - do you want the children's petting zoo version, or do you want the runaway train version?