Hi Everyone! Well, I certainly enjoy writing this story and I hope that I keep you guys entertained. Thank you to all those wonderful people who have emailed me and kept this story alive! All your emails were very much the climax of my day so thanks!
Disclaimer: I do not know the BSB nor do I know their orientation. Everyword written from here on is a figment of my imagination. All less than 18 years of age are advised to not continue reading as this piece of writing contains content of an adult nature.
Brian woke up the next morning to Nick's restless body movements. Brian felt the bed shift as Nick's body uncomfortably moved, trying to find a comfortable position.
As if on instinct, Brian placed his hand on Nick's shoulder, steadying the blond boy and easing his tension. Within seconds, Nick's body relaxed and he stopped moving his limbs. Brian smiled. His intuition was always accurate when it concerned Nick. With one little touch or word, he could always calm Nick down or relieve his stress.
Before Brian knew what hit him, Nick jolted from the bed, the impact making Brian fall off the bed with a thud. Brian rubbed his sore bottom and cringed. "Good morning to you too!" Brian said weakly.
Nick's expression was pure confusion as he suddenly registered that he had pushed Brian off the bed. "Huh? Oh . . . sorry Brian. Had a bad dream." Nick chuckled weakly, but amusedly as he saw Brian lay on the floor.
"What sort of dream was this I'd like to know since it obviously has a devastating impact on me?" Brian gazed at Nick curiously.
Nick scratched his head. "I don't remember, actually, but I feel so sore."
Brian laughed. "Were you working really hard in your dream?"
Nick pouted. "That's not funny, you know." He squinted and then lay back on the bed and sighed.
"Well, thank you for helping me up!" Brian remarked sarcastically.
Nick smiled and turned to face Brian, his head perched on his hand. "You're a big boy. Stop acting so childish. Honestly, you don't need me to pull you up, do you?"
Brian suddenly realized that he had been flirting with Nick and blushed from embarrassment. He had had a dream as well, but it was an erotic dream in which he and Nick consummated their loving relationship. It took him a few minutes to register the reality that Nick was not his boyfriend.
Brian frowned. It was a nice dream, though. If only it were true. Slowly, he picked himself up and lay next to Nick on the bed. "All right, what do you want to do today? We get only half the day off and then more promotional stuff."
Nick laughed. "Why are you asking me? What is it that you want to do?"
Brian grinned. "That's because you're always so opinionated. You always want to do something!"
"That's not true! It's because you never have an opinion!" Nick countered as his face became flushed.
Brian laughed. He always managed to get Nick flustered whenever he wanted to. "Be on the defensive now!"
Nick's face became a brighter red and he turned his body around so that Brian would not look at him. He pulled the covers over his body. From under the covers, he told Brian his plans. "Why don't we ask Kevin to come along with us to the park. I haven't been to one in a while. And I can make it up to Kevin for being late yesterday! Oh . . . and Frank too. We'll bring him along to save us from any dangerous females!" Brian could hear the mischief in Nick's voice.
"If you say so . . . " Brian was actually disappointed. He wanted some time with Nick alone. Why couldn't Nick understand that? Did Brian have to spell it out for him? Was the boy really that blind not to respond to Brian's feelings? But then again, Nick was only sixteen. His view of life was distorted.
Nick smiled at Brian. "Awe . . . I think you're glum because you've been isolated from society too much. We'll have tons of fun. Let's go on those paddle boat things! They're pretty fun. Kevin and Frank on one. You and me on the other!"
That thought made Brian perk up. "Yeah. That'd be cool!"
Nick laughed innocently as Brian jumped out of bed to get ready. "Well? Come on!"
Nick rolled his eyes and got off the bed before he stopped and looked down at his groins.
"What is it?" Brian suddenly stopped smiling and looked at Nick in concern.
Nick blushed. "I was so sure I had on a pair of boxers yesterday before I slept."
"And?" Brian urged.
"I'm . . . uh . . . not wearing any now," Nick said as his cheeks became red.
Brian's eyes directed towards Nick's thin pajamas, making Nick even more embarrassed. Brian tore his eyes away from the site reluctantly. "Well, maybe someone stole it." As much as he tried to lighten the mood, the atmosphere became filled with tension and his statement came out humorless.
"Maybe I forgot," Nick muttered quickly before heading for the bathroom.
Brian sighed. He had to be a little more discrete next time. He kicked himself mentally for being so obvious.
Nick and Brian had barely stepped out of their room when they saw Frank in the hallway.
Nick smiled and ran towards the bodyguard with glee. "Frank! Just the man we want to see." Nick's face was full of joy and wonder.
"What is it, kid?" Frank smiled back, the events of the day before veiled by his deceptive eyes.
"We're going to the park today. Wanna help get Old Mighty Kevin to come with us?" Nick asked excitedly.
Brian had to laugh at Nick's excitement. He was so youthful and vibrant.
Frank looked sternly at Nick. "You may go, but you need to eat something before you do. Just look at you. You're all skin and bones." As Frank said this, he pinched Nick's arm to prove his point.
"Ow!" Nick cried out playfully. "All right!" Nick rolled his eyes before he finally headed towards the dining room with Brian at his heels.
"I'll get Kevin!" Frank called out to Nick as the blond disappeared down the hall.
Nick quickly entered the dining room and seated himself before Brian even made it to the room himself, his breathing jagged.
"Geez Nick, you didn't have to run so fast!" Brian plopped into a seat right next to Nick.
Nick grinned. "Are your joints still working, old man?"
Brian glared mockingly at Nick. "That's it! Is that your motto for the day? Everybody's ancient? Is that what you're trying to imply?"
Nick looked at Brian mischievously. "Mmmmmm. You make me sound so evil."
Brian rolled his eyes and held his tongue. He was already planning out Nick's punishment that day.
Before long, their breakfast was brought out just as Kevin and Frank stepped into the dining room.
Nick's eyes brightened at seeing them. "Frank! Kevin! We already ordered the food for you." Nick glanced unsurely at Kevin. "Kev?" It was as if he were a child afraid of an impending punishment by a parent.
Kevin looked at Nick and couldn't help but smile. He tentatively pulled a chair next to the other side of Nick while Frank stepped behind Nick's seat.
"Thanks Nick," Kevin said gently. He had regretted yelling at Nick yesterday. He always regretted it.
Nick looked unsurely at all three men surrounding him and felt a sudden chill. To relieve some of the tension, he simply picked up his fork and began eating. Brian smiled at the naive embarrassment in Nick's actions and too started eating.
Kevin was the next to speak. "What are you planning for today?"
"Just going to the park!" Brian answered while Nick was chewing the food. "Wanna come?" Deep down in his heart, Brian was afraid that Kevin would say yes.
"No." Kevin's answer was abrupt and curt, lacking the gentleness it previously had. "I wanted to stay here and figure a few things out."
Brian thought it odd, but didn't offer to change Kevin's mind.
To his horror, Nick made another attempt. "Are you sure? It would be fun. We were going to ride those paddle boats today? If you don't come, whose going to paddle the boat with Frank?" Nick remarked excitedly as he turned around to look at Frank.
Frank smiled. "Well, if that were the case, I'll help you paddle, Nick."
Nick smiled at the reply, but Brian frowned. Strange. Frank's voice made him queasy although he couldn't pin point the reason why.
Kevin smiled. "Well then, it's settled. I'm gonna stay here today. Why don't you tell me all about it when you get back."
Nick looked at Kevin with regret. "Are you sure? You might need some fresh air."
Brian held his breath. Please say no, he thought to himself. He knew it was rather selfish, but then again, he was human. It was natural to have these feelings.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Kevin looked at Brian knowingly. "I'm pretty sure." Brian looked at Kevin gratefully.
"Well then, it's just the three of us, right?" Frank nudged Nick's back gently.
Brian felt slightly annoyed by Frank's excess show of compassion, but as always, he suppressed his feelings. He felt bad for being so suspicious of everybody. He didn't want to make a habit of it.
"Yep!" Nick agreed as he sloppily chewed some more of his food. Brian grinned at Nick.
Nick grabbed his belly and laughed so hard his sides hurt as Brian told him jokes right and left. Frank was in the passenger's side next to the chauffeur, every once in a while looking at the back seat from his mirror, but always evading Brian's inquisitive looks.
It was a quick ride to the park and soon enough, Brian and Nick jumped out of the car and quickly headed for the pond with Frank trailing behind them. Finally, they were at the pond and awaiting their turn on the paddle boats. While Brian was paying, Nick slipped into the paddleboat anxiously. Brian couldn't help but smile at Nick's childish awe.
With three big strides, he jumped into the paddle boat next to Nick with Frank quickly on his heels. However, there was not much room left. The paddle boat owner stopped Frank in his tracks. "Sorry, you won't be able to fit. There's no more room."
Frank looked at the man and then at Nick and Brian and smiled. "All right. I don't want to be the one sinking this little ship. Fine. I'll get another paddle boat."
Nick's cool blue eyes turned to look at Frank apologetically. "Sorry Frank."
Frank laughed it off, holding in his slight distaste at the situation. "No. Don't worry about it kid. I'll be close by your side."
Brian had to interject at this point. "Don't worry about being close by. I mean, no girl is gonna catch us here in the pond. So go ahead, enjoy yourself."
Frank smiled at Brian, again hiding his disdain. "Oh I will."
With that, Brian gazed at Nick. "Shall we?"
He had barely said anything when Nick simply started paddling eagerly. Brian smiled. This would be one crazy hour.
Nick and Brian made it to the middle of the pond with Frank nowhere in site. Nick fumbled to try to get Brian wet, but it was useless. Brian was too quick and agile. Brian, on the other hand, had much more luck. Nick was soaked from head to toe.
"Stop!" Nick laughed.
"Awe come on ya little baby." Brian couldn't stop. It was way too funny. Before long, they weren't even paddling anymore. They had stopped moving as their paddleboat hit the island at the center of the pond.
Before Brian had the chance to push the paddle boat away from the small island, he remembered that Nick's punishment for that morning still awaited him. He debated whether to leave Nick stranded on the island or to throw him into the waters. Brian smiled slyly.
He grabbed Nick excitedly. "Hey, wanna step onto the island for a few minutes?"
Nick looked at Brian strangely. "Why?"
"Oh come on, where's your adventurous side?" Brian urged.
"I have none," Nick replied without shame.
"Awwww. Just for a few seconds." Brian gave Nick his puppy dog eyes.
Nick looked at Brian amusedly. "Don't do that. I'm warning you."
Brian's eyes widened even more. "Please?"
Nick rolled his eyes. "Oh, all right. But you'd better stop that grimace of yours."
"Grimace?" Brian felt insulted. Here he was giving Nick his most gentle, cute look, and Nick called it a grimace? That's an extra five minutes for him on the island. Funny how Nick's view was so distorted from the rest.
Nick quickly crawled out of the paddle boat onto the island. He had barely put his hand on the island when it started to sink into the ground. He pondered whether to tell Brian, but decided against it. He didn't want Brian to laugh at him because of something as silly as his hand being sunk under the ground. The strange thing was that originally, the ground was hard, not mushy or soft. Why did his hands sink down like that?
Quickly, Nick pulled his feet onto the island, hoping that that would give him some leverage. By now, his elbows were deep into the ground. To his horror, his feet had quickly started to sink, too. Still, he didn't tell Brian. His blond hair started dangling over his eyes, preventing him to see around him clearly.
Nick started to panic, but couldn't cry out. Something was clinging on to his vocal cords, preventing him from making any noise. He tried to turn around to cry out for Brian, but he heard the paddleboat moving away from the island. What was going on? Why was Brian leaving him here?
His chest was now in the ground. He tried to arch his bottom up, although he didn't know why. It wasn't helping him much. Soon, his whole trunk was buried under the dirt and the only thing that remained was his head. His jaw started to move down. Then his mouth. His lips could feel the warmth of the sand around him. Then his nose. He would suffocate!
But he didn't. The warmth of the soil engulfed his entire face and before he knew what was going on, he slipped into oblivion.
Brian was about 15 feet from the island when he decided to look back and see what Nick was doing. The little boy didn't even cry out for his name. Brian turned to look at the island, but to his dismay, Nick wasn't there! Was this some joke? Maybe Nick just wanted to scare him?
But that was not Nick. The Nick he knew would start to cry out and panic. His Nick never knew how to play tricks on him. Brian pondered whether to go back to the island to find out what was going on. So what if it were a joke of Nick's. He was starting to get worried.
He began paddling when a voice ruined his concentration.
"Brian!!!" It was Frank. He sounded frightened. Brian looked up to see Frank peddling his way at a ferocious pace.
"Brian! Where's Nick?" Frank cried out.
Brian looked at him with fear. "I . . . I . . . "
"Brian, something's in the water. Someone's in the water!"
Nervously, Brian looked down into the water and immediately jumped when he saw a blue, dead face staring back at him. Before long, Frank was by Brian's side and too looked at what Brian was staring at. It was a body . . . a tall thin lanky body with eyes that were sunken into the sockets.
Frank quickly climbed into Brian's paddleboat and reached his arm down to pull up the body.
"What's going on?" Brian asked worriedly. "I left Nick on the island . . . he . . . " Brian's face was full of fear.
Brian looked at Frank nervously. Frank's arm was still in the pond. Neither were prepared when a foul-smelling, blue, wrinkled hand reached out from under the water and clasped Frank by the arm. Brian held onto Frank desperately. Frank pulled hard, yanking the dead body up from beneath the water.
Both gasped. Brian was the first to say something. "He's . . . he looks familiar. We . . . we saw him the day of the photo shoot, I think."
Frank shook his head. "The body that was stolen. This is the body that was stolen from the cemetery. It can't be. Can it?"
"What can't be?" Brian gazed at Frank intently.
Frank quickly tried to unclasp the dead boy's hand from his arm and finally settled with ripping the dead boy's arm from the body. While he was trying to pull off the hand, he and Brian quickly paddled towards the island.
The soil was sifting around Nick's body. And then, he felt that he was surrounded by darkness. However, it was excruciatingly cold. There was nothing his body could hang onto. He was floating somewhere, but he couldn't see where.
He slowly drifted downwards. His body felt so heavy. But he couldn't feel his body. It had to be hours, and even his sense of time became distorted. Finally, he saw a little glitter of silver. His body slowly stopped drifting and started heading towards the silver. As he neared it, he started to see now . . . the body of water that surrounded the silver gates. He could see it now . . . the silver gates.
For the umpteenth time in his life, he felt scared and helpless. He thought about the dead body that had followed him for the past few days. Then he tried to put warm thoughts of Brian into his mind. However, even that did nothing to relieve the coldness within him.
"Brian?" Nick whispered in a hushed voice. All he could hear was the echo of Brian's name. He remained hovering in front of the silver gates, waiting for something bad to happen. Nothing ever did. He waited and waited. Soon, everything became dark and his consciousness was lost once again.
It didn't take long for Brian to spot Nick's fragile body on the island. He lay in the warm sand motionless but covered in dirt.
"Nick!" Brian cried out as he jumped off the paddle boat and onto the island. He hugged Nick's body for warmth. His lips found their way to Nick's forehead and Brian went crazy giving Nick little kisses. Frank wasted no time in grabbing Nick.
"Brian! This is not the time for relief. We must quickly take Nick back to the hotel where the doctors can look over him." Frank grabbed one of Nick's hands, ready to carry him off the island when Brian stopped him.
"No! I want to do it." Brian tried to retrieve Nick's limp arm from Frank.
Frank looked rather agitated. "Brian, as a bodyguard, I don't want you to do anything to hurt yourself. Let me carry Nick, and after this, you can spend all the time you want by his side, okay?"
Brian stopped. "All right. Fine." Dejectedly, he let Frank carry Nick's limp body. The only thing that made him feel good was that Frank took a lot of care to get Nick back to land with minimal trauma.
As they stepped off the paddleboat, though, a little glitter of silver caught Brian's eye and then, Brian noticed the small trail of blood that was making its way down the back of Frank's shirt. Brian shrugged it off. He was thinking too hard, being too paranoid. Maybe Frank got the cut while struggling in the pond or while he was trying to carry Nick's body back from the island.
But just as he was about to get off the paddle boat, Frank turned around, and it was then that Brian didn't recognize those eyes. They were tinted with a little red and revealed a sinister malice about them. Frank smiled at Brian, but the smile was not familiar, not natural. Brian gulped.
"Shall we get in the car, Brian?" Frank asked, smiling.
Brian's voice failed him. Apparently, they would not be heading back to the hotel.
Brian stepped into the car. What more could he have done? Apparently, he could not estimate the danger that he and Nick were in, nor could he tell anymore the engines that were driving Frank's mentality.
The doors were locked, but to Brian's surprise, Frank had not flicked a finger. The only relief that Brian had was the fact that Frank had placed Nick's limp body on Brian's tense one.
As Frank drove to who knows where, Brian held onto Nick for dear life. The only thing that comforted him was the fact that Nick was still breathing against his ears. Brian gazed into his beautiful face for comfort, and strangely, he felt the strength from within. That was when he realized it. All he needed in his life was Nick, no more no less.