Some Kind of Bliss

Some Kind of Bliss

Introduction:

OK, I'm gonna pare this intro back to the bone. I just get a bit chatty. Sorry, but this is my soapbox! Anyhow, remember, I'm not Jane Austen so don't expect perfection, hopefully you'll enjoy what's below and will send me a mail to indicate so. :) Again, if you're looking for sex, move on people, there's nothing to see here (yet).

Part 3 - and here's where it gets a little tricky. I still want to tell the story in the first person, but there are some important actions that will happen when Drew just isn't there. So, if you can forgive my cheating, for those scenes I will go to a third person narrator arrangement.

My authorial recommendation goes straight to 'Brian and me' by DLS. It really is an excellent story, by far the best around IMHO. I am honoured to share the same directory as him. Go read it right now.

Don't forget to email me with any suggestions/comments/helpful criticism. Or to enter the Interactive promotion. Or just to say hey. (One for Kylie fans). The address is braan90@hotmail.com

Rick: You'll notice that your word doesn't appear in this episode. I'm still working on it, and I can guarantee I'll work it into Part 4. For all those who are curious, his word is synecdoche. :O This week's winner is Julius, the winning word: magnanimous.

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. It is not meant to imply anything about the sexuality of Nick Carter or anybody else you care to name, myself included. If you are under 18 etc. then sorry, kids, come back later. If you are offended by material of this nature, go away, but there isn't anything offensive in this story just yet anyway. Except for some fairly gratuitous swearing.

Some Kind of Bliss 3

I was in the back seat of a taxi rather than in a car for two reasons, the first trivial, the second potentially life-changing: firstly because I didn't have a car, secondly because I was going to meet the Backstreet Boys at the airport for the start of their Australian tour, and would therefore be travelling to OUR hotel in their limo. As the taxi sped through the city streets, I reviewed the events of the past three months. As Nick had sagely foretold, they had flown by.

The day Nick left, I felt kinda empty and aimless once again. The day before had been such good fun, and I had had a purpose: to make sure Nick saw Sydney. Now it was like I was set adrift again, with no compass, and only the vague, mirage-like promise of touring with the Backstreet Boys in 3 months time. 3 months.....it sounded so far away.

Then a couple of days later a package arrived from Kevin. It contained lots of stuff, mainly papers which defined the kind of tasks I would do - they were pretty easy really, just be an information source for places to visit, stuff to do, maybe some history if it came up. It was also my job to organise `excursions' for the guys to go on when they had time off and wanted to get out. The documents assured me that I wasn't going to be fired if I screwed up, as long as no-one was hurt. I hadn't actually thought about this, and I suppose it was a bit of a relief, but it did make me wonder about some of the people who previously filled my shoes.

The papers also set out my pay for the tour, a figure which had me whooping in delight. I went out the same day and bought a gym membership and a whole pile of new clothes. I figured if I was going to be on a busy tour for a month I was going to need the energy, and didn't want to look like a slob when I was hanging around the guys.

Next I went to the supermarket where I work to apply for leave for when I was to be on tour. As I expected, it was refused outright. I pretended like it didn't bother me. Then, ten weeks later, I walked into the office and gave two weeks' notice, the minimum I was required to give. Even thinking about it now sends me into paroxysms of evil laughter. Ahh, the sweet taste of revenge upon a criminally inflexible employer.

The day after I received Kevin's parcel, Nick called me, waking both me and my sister up at the middle of the night. Man, was my sister pissed! I was great to hear his voice again though, to know he was doing well, to be reminded that he would be back in Australia in an ever-shortening length of time. Each time we spoke, an event that occurred about every week, I guess, I was reinvigorated merely by the sound of his voice. I spoke briefly to each of the other guys once or twice, but never for long enough to get a decent impression of them. They sounded pretty cool, but I was going to have to wait till we met at the airport.

I told a couple of my friends about what had happened, and what was going to happen, since the papers from Kevin didn't say I couldn't tell. At first they couldn't believe it, then they were really happy for me. Not because they were big Backstreet Boys fans, in fact quite the opposite, but because they realised this could be my big chance, working with `celebrities' in the music industry like I had dreamed of for so long, maybe even becoming famous myself.

Hell, even I hadn't been a fan of the band until I listened to the CDs Kevin had included in his parcel. Now that I had heard their music beyond the single releases from the radio, I realised that there was indeed a depth there. Not only were the songs themselves good, but the singing was phenomenal. In particular, '10,000 Promises' quickly became a favourite, as did 'The One'.

The weeks verily flew by, until I had worked my last shift in the deli, a cause for some celebration. I made it just a quiet night out at a pub with a couple of long-time colleagues, and when I finally told them why I was leaving they were not far short of exploding with envy! We had a few drinks then I left for an early night, since the next morning I had to meet with the security team the guys would be using and have a look over the hotel. For me it was just for familiarisation purposes, but for the security guys, and especially for Julius, the head of the team, I knew it was serious business.

An entire floor of the Regent Hotel had been reserved for the band (and me!) and it certainly didn't disappoint me in the slightest. All the rooms were big and bright, oriented to take advantage of the harbour views that each window offered. All the beds were very comfy (I tested them all myself) and everything else looked to be in order. Not that I really knew how everything should be, I just liked to pretend I was a connoisseur. I sussed out the immediate vicinity of the hotel, and found a couple of restaurants worthy of a test-run.

And so here I was, pulling up to the airport. I paid the driver, then walked in and found Julius, who escorted me past already-thick crowds of young girls, hoping to see the objects of their desires, to where I would meet the guys once they got off their plane, due to land any minute now.

Meanwhile, in a pressurised cabin thousands of feet above Sydney......

"God, Nick, are you gonna sit still or am I gonna have to tie your ankles to....hmm, there isn't really anything suitable actually. But you're really pissing me off! Just sit still, we'll be there soon." Kevin had just about reached the end of his tether with Nick, who was never a good flier but was unusually jumpy this flight.

"I'm sorry, Kevin. It just feels like we've been up here forever, and you know I don't much like flying at the best of times. I just can't wait to get on the ground so I can introduce you all to Drew. He's gonna be so cool, I know you'll love him." Nick tried to calm himself down. In his mind he reviewed the past three months.

He had arrived in Houston feeling pretty awful, something both he and the other guys put down to jet-lag. However, when he was still feeling (and obviously looking) terrible after a couple of days, the others were understandably concerned.

Brian waited till he and Nick were alone, then asked: "Nick, what is wrong? I've known you long enough now to know when something is up, and we're all of us worried about you. Did something happen in Australia? Whatever it is, you know you can talk to me, to any of us, about it."

Nick looked at Brian. "The problem is, I don't know what's wrong. I was fine in Sydney and I slept most of the flight back, it was just when I woke up I had this kinda empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. I can't explain it."

"Do you want to go see a doctor?"

"No, Brian, really, its not that bad. I'm sure I'll get over it soon. Hey, I'm gonna take a shower now, OK?" Nick went back to his own room and closed the door behind him. Instead of heading to the bathroom, however, he walked over to a bag and pulled out a piece of paper, then went to his bed and sat down. Staring at the paper, he reached out his hand absently and found the telephone. Dialling the number in front of him, he lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling, waiting for the phone at the other end to pick up.

"Ugh.....hello?"

"Drew?"

"Yeah, it's me. Who is this?"

"Drew, it's Nick calling. Are you OK? You sound ill or something."

"I'm sure that could have something to do with the fact that it's 1 o'clock in the morning! Anyway, I'm here now. How are you? It's good to hear your voice."

"Yeah, likewise. I'm, uh, I'm OK. I've been a little zonked these past few days, I guess its all those flights. What have you been doing?"

Some minutes later, Nick hung up, smiling, and had a long, hot shower. When he was done he dried and dressed and opened the door to go find the others. Brian was just walking by his door, deep in thought. Startled by the opening door, Brian jumped nearly out of his skin, causing Nick to laugh.

"I'm sorry, Brian. Didn't mean to scare you like that."

"It's OK, buddy. I know you didn't. Hey, you look a lot better."

"Well, that's good, cause I feel much better," Nick replied.

"Nick, can I come in?" Brian asked.

"Why?" Nick asked back, defensively.

"Well, I'm a curious guy by nature, you know that, and I'm just dying to see this shower that's brought about this miracle cure. I mean, is there something I'm missing? Come on, come on, show me!"

And so the tour went on. Most days were busy enough that Nick was either working, sleeping or eating the whole time, and on those days he felt fine. Whenever they had a couple of days off, though, Nick got that same feeling in his stomach. When it got so bad the guys commented, he knew it was time to call Drew. Talking to Drew always made Nick feel better. There was something about him, his innate cheerfulness, his raw enthusiasm, the excitement always in his voice that made him feel better straightaway. Nick was conscious of the fact that he was pretty much keeping Drew to himself, in fact he only ever called him when he was alone in his room, and the few times that someone had walked in on him, Nick had felt embarrassed. When the interrupter asked to speak to Drew, Nick couldn't really refuse, but he made sure it was only for a short time.

Somehow Nick knew that it was no ordinary friendship he shared with Drew. He knew he couldn't keep him to himself, he didn't even want to. All he wanted was to be back with Drew, so that feeling wouldn't be there and he wouldn't have to ask himself about it's cause.

Meanwhile, was this plane going to land or what?

Down in the terminal......

God, were they ever going to get here? I'd been waiting for nearly an hour, sitting on the floor since there were no seats nearby. The only thing keeping me awake was the buzz coming from what must have been a thousand fans gathered, and that racket was beginning to give me a headache.

I surveyed my surroundings for the hundredth time. Opposite me was the door through which the guys would be coming. On either side there was a rather ragged-looking potted kentia palm, and next to each plant stood a bulky security guard, earpiece in, and wearing the requisite navy blue uniform. There was a kind of-wall separating the area we were in from the rest of the arrivals hall, where the fans were waiting.

I sighed and rested my chin on my knees. As I was closing my eyes I saw one of the security guards touch his earpiece, then speak into his sleeve. I snapped my eyes open again and noticed the other guard was looking alert as well. Hurrah! The plane might have landed now!

In fact the plane had landed some time ago, as evidenced by the sudden appearance of the boys in the doorway. I struggled to my feet on the slippery floor as Nick spotted me and called out, running across the room.

"Drew! Hey man, it's so good to see you! We're finally here!"

"I know, I can't believe it either! How was your flight?"

Nick made a pained face. "Awful. I was getting so frustrated, I think Kevin was about to sedate me or something. Ah, the beautiful terra firma!" Nick exclaimed, stamping his feet. By now the other guys were standing behind Nick, waiting. AJ coughed demonstratively. "Oh, of course, introductions. Guys, this is Drew Campbell. Drew, this is Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough, and AJ McLean."

I stepped forward and shook each of them by the hand. Even after an exhausting flight, they all had a firm grip, good eye contact, and an appropriately formal smile. I was very impressed by them all.

"It's great to meet you, Drew," Brian spoke for everyone. "Nick has told us.....well, very little about you, actually, but it was all good. We're all really happy you're touring with us."

"Not half as much as I am that you've given me this chance to tour with you. I have to thank you before you take another step, this means so much to me, I can't tell you. By the way, expect to hear me say that at least daily for the next month!"

The guys smiled at me. What a photo op!

"I love the accent, by the way," AJ said.

"Yeah, well, you know what they say. I don't have an accent, it's you guys who have the accents!"

"OK, guys, let's do it. Sooner we get past the fans, sooner we get to our hotel." Kevin urged.

"And I have tested the beds in all your rooms, I can tell you they are remarkably comfortable," I interjected. The guys laughed. "Man, there's gotta be a thousand people out there!"

"No way, I'd say at least 1500," Howie declared authoritatively.

As we walked over to the final doorway, it suddenly struck me that I would have to walk through all the fans as well. As Kevin walked through the door, the scream, and that's what it was, one single scream, arose, and I froze to the spot. Beside me, Nick noticed and without stopping, reached out and pushed me forward with the palm of his hand between my shoulders.

I wanted to walk as fast as I could to get through the crowd, but Brian had stopped right in front of me, so I had to stop. All around us were hundreds of faces, screaming, shouting, crying. I felt so completely out of place, but I don't think the fans noticed me beyond being the object partially blocking their view of Nick. I stood gazing around me, while the boys smiled and waved to their fans. I must have looked pretty stupid, standing there dumbly, but at least I couldn't see myself. I must have also totally lost track of time, as the next thing I knew Nick had slapped me in the back again and I realised that Brian was a long way in front of us. I set off with Nick next to me, and if anything the crowd was even more desperate now. The security guards were trying to keep people behind the barricades, but I could tell that wasn't going to work much longer. I suppose I would have know exactly how long, if I had looked, but I was intent only on getting to the limo.

When we got to the limo, Kevin was holding the door, waiting for us. I jumped straight in and hopped over to the other side, Nick was right behind me, and Kevin closed the door behind himself. Sitting opposite me was AJ, next to him was Brian, with Howie sitting furthest from me. AJ broke into a smile.

"Hey, Drew, man, you're as pale as hell. Something spook ya?"

"Uhh, yeah, it was the crowd back there. I've never had to deal with that kind of thing before."

Brian took up AJ's thread. "What, that little gathering? Come on, that was nothing! You wait until you get to one of our concerts! Then you'll have something to get nervous about!"

"Actually, I can't wait for the first concert. First because it's been ages since I've been to a concert at all, second because everything I've ever seen or heard about you guys says you're excellent performers, so I know it'll be a great show."

"Gee, Nick, I like him. He's free with the empty flattery. That's a definite advantage in a groupie." AJ joked.

"Hey!" both Nick and I protested.

Everyone else cracked up at this, and Nick and I did too a moment later.

When we were all done, and after only a moment of silence, Howie said:

"Man, I can't wait to get to a beach. What's the best one, Drew?"

I considered a moment before replying. "Well, the best-known is Bondi, of course. That's where they're having the Olympic beach volleyball. I've gotta thank you, as Americans, for getting that sport in the program at Atlanta. One of your finest moments." The guys chuckled. "Cronulla is another popular one. It just won Sydney's best beach in a radio station poll. It's a long way from the city, though. I don't get to the beach that often, but my favourite would be.....

Nick interrupted me. "Drew's favourite is Manly." I looked at him, wide-eyed. All the others turned their heads to Nick quizzically. "We went there for lunch when I was here before." This seemed to satisfy everyone but me.

"Yeah, Nick's right, it's Manly..... I just can't believe you'd remember something like that. But I am biased a bit, I live in northern Sydney so I reckon all the northern beaches are pretty good, and way underrated."

"Well I might maybe have to try a few of them. You wanna come with me, Drew?" Howie asked.

"Yeah, of course! Like I said, I don't get to the beach that often, but as long as there's someone to go with, I'll be there! When did you wanna go?"

"How about the day after tomorrow? I most likely won't feel like doing much tomorrow, so the day after would be great. You OK with that?"

I nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan, guys. Mind if I tag along?" Nick asked.

"Hey, it's fine with me. Howie?" I asked, looking over. Howie nodded his head and looked out the window. "Well, I guess that's a yea vote. So it's a threesome then. Any other takers?" I appealed to Brian, AJ and Kevin.

"NO, thanks," they all replied straightaway.

"Oh, OK then." That was strange. Did I miss something? "What about tomorrow? What do you wanna do? Do you want me to organise anything?"

Kevin took that one. "Well, we'll eat out for dinner. Can you think of somewhere good?"

"Ooh, pressure.....Oh, hey! Um, I've never been there myself so I don't know what it's like, but what are your thoughts on digesting while describing circles in the air at an altitude of 1000 feet?"

There was a moment's silence. I looked at each of them before Kevin spoke what each of them were thinking: "Do you come with subtitles?"

I blushed. "Ah, of course. There's a rotating restaurant up in Centrepoint Tower, which is, Nick.....?"

Nick smiled. "The tallest building in Australia."

I laughed. "Very good. So, yeah, I've never been there, but it might be fun. What do you think?"

"It sounds OK, but if the food stinks, you're the one paying for my McDonalds," AJ warned.

"Deal!" I laughed. "So I'll get a table for 6 then? What time? 7.30 OK?" I saw no opposition. "Alrighty then! What about earlier in the day?"

Again Kevin set the agenda. "Well, I for one don't plan on getting up til at least 10. So that's when y'all are getting your wake-up calls. You too, Drew. I'll order us up some breakfast. Then.....I don't know. You wanna show us around a bit? How about a walking tour?"

"Oh, goody! Backpacks and hiking boots, everyone!" I cried. There was a silence. The blood pounded in my ears as I was met by five blank stares. "Um, that was a joke. Feel free to laugh when it suits you." Five nodding heads. "Whew! It's warm in here, isn't it! Mind if I put down the window?" I didn't wait for approval, just hit the button and stuck my head out into the cooler night air. We were stopped at a traffic light on a wide street.

My head was only out the window a few seconds before I heard a voice yell:

"HEY BABY! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKIN' AT?"

I turned towards the voice and in doing so noticed the huge flashing neon Coke billboard that is a feature of King's Cross. One by one, the mental dominoes toppled. Coke sign, wide street, gruff voice.....Oh my god, we were here?

I yanked my head back in and hit the button to put the window up. Now of course the damn thing wanted to take it's time, but finally the window was up, and at the same time, the driver pulled away from the lights. Noticing my reaction and what must have been a pretty significant blushing, Brian asked:

"Drew? Are you OK?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, thanks Brian. Just a little....shocked, I guess."

"At us? Come on now, if we were gonna kill you we would have done it already."

"Uh.....I guess that's a comfort? But no, I wasn't shocked at you, it was at the.....uh.....the transsexual prostitute back there."

"Wha?" I had five full attentions now.

"Yeah, you'll have to forgive my white, middle-class upbringing, but I do shock easily sometimes. This is William Street, where the uh......transsexual prostitutes, there, I can say it, hang out. Of course I didn't know that before he.....she......uh....whatever..... called out to me. There, did I manage to get through that without offending anyone?"

AJ laughed aloud. "Yeah, I think you managed it neatly."

I heaved a sigh of relief. "Well at least I know we're not far from the hotel now. And not before time, either. I'm feeling uncomfortably warm again."

The guys chuckled as we felt the limo pull up to the hotel. We piled out, and I spoke.

"Well, load me up! My bags are already up there, I might as well give you guys a hand with yours."

The guys just laughed and walked off to the entrance. I looked behind me to see three hotel staff putting a mountain of luggage onto a trolley. I rolled my eyes and turned and ran to catch up with Nick.

"Well, porters, eh? La de da. Sorry for being so `below' you as to not realise!" I was joking, but Nick turned to me to say:

"Drew, you know that's not true. We're just ordinary guys, same as you are...."

"Nick.....Nick? JOKING!" I interrupted. "Is this how it's going to be then? You can laugh at me all you like but not vice versa?"

"Drew, that is so not true. I won't say any more except just hang around a day or two and you'll see you could not be more wrong about that."

Just then a piercing whistle hit us. We looked over to see AJ holding the lift doors for us. We jogged over and got in, the doors closing behind us. We rode in silence for a moment until Brian started laughing softly behind me, obviously laughing at me. I turned around and stared into his eyes.

"Well?" I demanded.

"Well what?" he continued laughing.

"Care to share the joke with the rest of us, Mr. Littrell?"

"You said to laugh when it suits me. Well, it suits me now. Backpacks and hiking boots....man, that's a good one." Brian joked.

The rest of the lift burst out laughing, and though I tried to remain stony-faced, the smiles surrounding me were too strong. "Bite me!" was all I managed before I too burst into laughter.

We arrived at our floor and spilled out into the corridor, still chuckling.

"Sorry to be anti-social, guys, but I am totally beat. I'm just gonna head to bed now," Brian said.

"Likewise," Howie yawned.

"Drew, what about you? Have you had dinner? We ate on the plane, but you need to eat....."

"Kevin, thanks; now stop before you sound too much like my mum. I'll just go out for a burger or something. Anyone wanna come with me? You can't all have eaten airline slop, can you?"

"I'll go with you. I'm not hungry, but I'm not sleepy either. God, it's only 9pm," AJ offered.

"Damn straight. Good to see there's at least one man amongst you kids......I mean, amongst my beneficent and magnanimous employers," I added, noticing a few raised eyebrows. I turned back to AJ. "Do you wanna go now? Or I can help you unpack, if you like?"

"No, let's get me outside before I begin to feel sleepy. See you in the morning, guys." AJ pushed the button to call the lift.

"Yeah, see y'all tomorrow," I smiled, entering the lift behind AJ.

AJ laughed at me. "You know, you really should give the American accent a miss. You do it so badly. Just you stick with the cute `Ossie' accent," he reasoned, doing his appalling attempt at an Australian accent.

"You know, you're not the first Backstreet Boy to tell me that!" I laughed back. "Besides, unless you're coming onto me, my accent is merely alluring. I prefer that term to `cute'."

AJ leaned against the lift wall casually, adopting a male model syndrome pose.

"So....." he said, trying for a sexy tone, "is my accent alluring?"

I was reasonably certain he was joking, so I laughed. "No, yours is just.... boring. Now Brian, his accent is alluring. You know, that whole Southern thing."

The lift reached the ground floor and the doors opened. We walked out into the lobby, where there were still a dozen or so people about. In a calculated voice, AJ announced to all present:

"Oooh! Drew thinks Brian's accent is cute!"

I stopped and bit my lip as AJ skipped off to the door and everyone turned to look at me. I regained myself and replied in an equally loud voice:

"No, I said alluring!" I then walked off calmly, hoping my total embarrassment didn't show too keenly. A pretty poor reply, but better than none at all, I thought.

We headed down the street and stopped at a cafe a couple of blocks down. I ordered an open burger while AJ just got a mug of hot chocolate. We got into a getting-to-know-you conversation; you know, family, friends, likes, dislikes, that kinda stuff. I was really hungry so I was nearly finished my meal when AJ drained the last of his hot chocolate. Despite the interesting conversation, I could see he was really flagging. I finished up quickly and called for the bill. Paying, I got up and helped AJ to his feet.

I smiled at him. "Think you can make it back without falling asleep?"

"I guess I can try," he replied seriously.

We made our way back slowly, my hands steering his shoulders when necessary. We arrived at our floor and AJ mumbled something about seeing me in the morning before he disappeared into his room. I smiled and went into mine. It was only just after 10pm, so I read for a while before Letterman came on. He was, as always, hilarious. I played along with America's fastest growing quiz sensation and stuck it out to the Top Ten before switching off the TV and falling asleep after just a few minutes of pleasant thinking. How lucky was I! This was so cool. You couldn't have wiped the smile off my face if you tried.

###Well, that's part 3. What are your thoughts? I'd love to hear them. As usual, comments, suggestions, entries in the Interactive Promotion, help with Australian locations, and cash can be sent to me at braan90@hotmail.com. Please do write! Enough of this silent majority stuff!

By the way, ARE there any Australians reading this? The response has been, well, a little underwhelming. I refuse to believe that in a nation of 19 million people the only people reading these stories are Allan (Backstreet Bet) and myself. So if you live in the same great nation as I do, get off your lazy ARSE and write me something! Sledge me, if you like, just as long as it's an Aussie sledge, it'll be worth it.