Disclaimer:
The following story is the twenty-sixth installment in an on going series about Stephen Gately from Boyzone and what I imagine to be the story behind the beginning of his relationship with Eloy de Jong from Caught in the Act. I have no contact with either person, nor know any of the members of either group.
As you can no doubt figure out from the email address above, I've changed my email, having lost my email on my subdimension account. Hopefully this one will prove a bit more stable. I beg the forgiveness to those people who have written to whom I haven't had a chance to reply. When the server lost the email, I also lost my addresses. I do apologise. In the meantime, please enjoy the next installment of my story.
Cheers,
Musicfan
It took a few days before Ronan was able to get everyone together as he had promised Stephen. One night they all sat in the bar together and talked about what they all wanted to do. No one really questioned Ro taking charge without Louis, but they went along with it.
"So, who gets to tell him?" Mikey asked as he looked up from his pint. Wry smiles greeted him and they all turned to look at Ronan.
"Why me?" Ronan asked, feeling a bit cornered. Four pairs of eyes stared at him.
"Why you, Ro? Because the sunshine blows out your arse where Louis is concerned." Keith said reasonably. "He'll take it better coming from you."
"Yeah, true enough," Shane said as he lifted his drink. "Besides, it was your idea." He finished off his glass with one gulp.
Stephen didn't say a word, though he did glance out the corner of his eye at Ronan now and again as the conversation continued. In the face of that hopeful look, Ronan knew he had to push forward and tell Louis. For Stephen's sake, if nothing else. He had promised, after all.
"All right, I'll do it. Louis is a pussycat anyhow." Ronan said as he drained his own drink. Keith called for another round and they toasted their resolve together. After a few moments Stephen excused himself to go to the loo and left the table.
"Stephen's looking a lot better than earlier this week," Mikey said quietly. Shane nodded thoughtfully, his gaze following Stephen to the back of the bar.
"Yeah, had me a mite worried, he did." Keith said as he took his drink from the barman and drank. "Guess he wasn't sleeping too well."
"That was part of it," Ro said quietly. When everyone looked at him he shrugged. "Ah shite, you might as well know. The reason why I took this break thing into me own hands was for him." He looked around the table to gauge their reaction. Shane was nodding as it something suddenly made sense to him. Keith was looking a bit befuddled, but Mikey had caught on immediately, too. "Steo's gone and fallen for someone. He's missing the lad terribly and that's what the problem has been. He was really counting on Louis to make good on his promise, but Louis just forgot about it once we got into the studio. He was miles ahead working on the next thing. Can't blame him on that, but it was a bit thoughtless. So there Steo was, missing his fella while we were all off doing our own thing." Ro took another swig of his drink and sighed.
Keith looked a bit worried. "Shite, I never thought about it, you know? And Lisa 'n I asked him out to dinner with us. No wonder why he didn't feel up to it."
"Don't worry yourself about it," Ro said, patting Keith on the shoulder. "You didn't know. None of us did. Hell, up until the other day, I just thought he was in one of his moods. You know how he can get. But when he started dossing in the studio, I knew something was up. That's so unlike him to do that." The others nodded. They knew that when it came to working in the studio, Stephen was usually all business. To think of him just scoffing off like he had made them realize that none of them had been watching over him.
"So, what did he say?" Shane asked as he kept one eye towards the men's room door. He was kicking himself for not forcing the issue earlier. Barrie had warned him something was up, but as they got busy, he had forgotten about it.
"That he's missing his fella and he needs to be able to plan some time for when they can get together. I felt right awful, I'll tell ya." Ro said. He broke off the conversation because he could see Steo heading back. "Anyway, I told him I'd deal with it. That's what this is all about. He's finally found someone, and its about high time he gets to enjoy it." The others nodded and Keith lifted his glass in a salute as Stephen came around the table and sat back down again.
"What'd I miss?" he asked as he pulled his chair up to the table again.
"We're up 4 to 2," Shane said with a nod to the tv in the wall opposite them. Stephen shook his head, not bothering to watch the game. He had never been a big one for sports at all. They passed the rest of the evening enjoying one another's company, telling jokes and slagging off some of the other customers in the bar to each other.
That night was the first night that Stephen had been able to sleep comfortably in a long time. He made his nightly call to Eloy to keep him up to date on what had been going on, and said he'd let him know when things got settled.
Ronan made good on his word the next day, ringing Louis up and telling him that they all needed a break. Louis was back in Dublin, and deep in his plans for something else, so he gave Ronan an absentminded all right for them to do what they wanted.
The minute he hung up the phone, he headed out of his room and down the hall. He knocked on doors as he passed. One by one, Mikey, Shane and Keith all stuck their heads out of their rooms and heard Ro calling them together. At the end of the hall he knocked on Stephen's door. By the time Stephen got there, the rest had straggled along after him.
"Yeah?" Stephen said, looking blearily out at Ro. He had been awake for a little while, but just had been too lazy to get out of bed right away. It was Ro's knock that had dragged him out and into a pair of jeans before opening the door. "What's up?"
Ronan pushed his way past Stephen and beckoned the others to follow him. Stephen watched with bemusement as they filed past him into the room.
"Can I help you?" He asked mildly as Ronan flopped down onto the bed with a big grin on his face. The rest of the lads made their way into the room. Keith ruffled Stephen's hair as he walked past and Shane gave him a wink. Stephen rolled his eyes and closed the door. "Be my guests."
"Thank me, Steo." Ro said expansively as he watched Stephen. His friend was warily watching the group of them, trying to figure out what had brought them all together.
"And what should I be thanking you for?" Stephen asked. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "Other than for getting me out of bed early?"
"Because I, Ronan 'Mr-I-Am-So-Damn-Good' Keating has just got off the phone with one Louis Walsh." Ronan said lazily and grinned as he noticed Stephen's startled reaction. "In fact, I am so damn good, he didn't even blink when I told him we needed a break and he just told us to go ahead."
"Yeah?" Stephen said. He pushed himself off the wall, wanting to make sure that this was all for real. It was then that he noticed that the rest of the lads were grinning at him. "Do they know?" He asked Ronan. He didn't really care either way, but he was still feeling a little off base by Ro's announcement and wasn't sure how to react to anything.
"Steo, it would take a right idjit to not realize that you weren't happy lately," Keith said from where he sat on the sofa. "And yes, we got some of it out of Ro here. Not any of the good stuff mind you," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "But enough to know that you need this break."
Stephen looked around the room and saw them all nodding. He felt a bit sheepish that they had been talking about him and his problems. But he knew that they all just wanted him to be happy. "Thanks, guys." He slid down the wall and sat down on the floor. He wrapped his arms around his knees. "So Louis was okay with it?" He looked back to Ronan, who was still sprawled across his bed.
"Yeah, he was fine. Go make your plans, Steo. Let us know what works for you, and the rest of us will work around that. How does that sound?" Ro said, propping his head up on one arm. "This is for you."
"Yeah?" Stephen asked. When he looked around, he saw that they were all in agreement. "You'll work it around me?"
"Why not?" Shane said. He hunkered down next to Stephen and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Why didn't you say something earlier, Stephen? It's not like we haven't been there ourselves, you know. All for one, right?" He gave a little squeeze and Stephen smiled up at him.
"I'm sorry, guys. I've been acting the right idjit, haven't I?" Stephen said. He rested his chin on his knees and felt Shane rubbing his back. "I didn't mean to get you all involved."
"Steo, we are involved," Ro said quietly. "But it's because we want to be, all right? And it's not like you've ever asked for anything in the past. All the times one of us had to go off and do something, or wanted to be somewhere, or with someone, you always were the first to help out. We just want to give some of it back to you is all." He sat up and slid to the edge of the bed. "We just want for you to have this chance at being happy. If Eloy is the one, then by all means, go to him."
Stephen realized that until that moment, none of the others knew whom he was involved with. He shook his head and chuckled as he heard Keith getting an explanation from Mikey. Keith then blurted out "What, that German bloke?"
"He's not German, he's Dutch," Stephen said. It was getting to be an automatic reply at this rate. He looked from Keith to Ronan who was looking a bit bashful about his slip. "It's okay. I don't mind. Yeah, I've fallen for a guy who's about twice my height. Go figure." He felt Shane pat him on the back again and he looked over at his friend.
"Well, no accounting for taste," Shane said with a grin. "But if he's the one that does it for you, all the more power to you, Steo." Stephen smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, he does it for me all right. That's been part of the problem."
"Why not just invite him over?" Mikey asked. They all looked over at him in surprise. It seemed like such a common sense thing to ask.
"He's already been over here. But we didn't think it was a good idea once we started work on the album. Too many fans hanging about. Plus, his group is just about to put out a new album and he had promotion stuff to do. So now we have to work around that too." Stephen sighed and rested his cheek against his knee again.
"Stephen," Keith said as he sat up on the sofa. "Think about it. You're in love. It's grand, isn't it?" He grinned down at Stephen.
Stephen couldn't help but grin back at him. "Yeah, it is. The best. But having the person you're in love with live in another country is a bit of a problem."
"And all this time, you were holding back," Keith said in admiration. "You devil."
Stephen let out a laugh. "I wasn't holding back anything at all, Keith. Up until we got to London, there was nothing to hold back on. Really. This all happened before you got into town. We met up and talked about how we felt. Before that, well, a lot of it was just wishing on my part."
"Well, no more wishing, lad. Give him a call and make your plans. Let us know, and we'll work out a break so you two can get together." Ronan told him. "I think we can get out of your way for now." He got off the bed and stretched. Stephen could see he was looking pleased with himself.
Shane gave Stephen a hand in standing up and one by one they all came and gave him a hug. Ro gave him a wink before heading out the door. Keith engulfed him in a big bear hug and lightly punched him on the arm.
"Make it work for you, Stephen," Mikey whispered in his ear as he gave Stephen a hug. "If it's what you want, don't hold back, okay?" He pulled back with his hands on Stephen's shoulders and looked him in the eye. Stephen nodded. He knew what Mike had been going through with Sharon recently, and knew what he meant.
Last in line was Shane. He was still leaning against the wall after the others had walked out. Stephen turned to him and smiled. "I was going to tell you eventually, you know."
Shane shrugged. "Not really my business, Steve. But when it gets bad enough that you can't function, you should know that you could come to me and talk about it."
Stephen looked down. He knew that Shane was right. But at the time, he felt so miserable that he didn't see how talking about it could have helped. He knew better now, but he also knew that he hadn't been thinking right lately. "I'm sorry." He looked up when he felt Shane put a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, you know all you need to do is knock on my door, okay?" Stephen smiled and nodded. Shane gave him a tight hug before letting him go. "I'll let you get on with it then." He gave Stephen a jaunty wave as he strolled out of the room, letting the door close behind him.
Stephen felt a bit dazed. It was like a whirlwind had slammed through his hotel room over the last half-hour, leaving him a bit drained. He collapsed down on the bed. The ringing of the telephone interrupted his turbulent thoughts. He rolled over and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Hey," a low voice said on the other end of the phone. Stephen shivered.
"How'd you know I was just about to call you?" He asked softly. A warm chuckle reverberated over the phone.
"Were you, liefste? Nice to know I'm in your thoughts," Eloy said.
"Always," Stephen said. He toyed with the phone cord as he marshaled his thoughts together. "You wouldn't believe what just happened."
"What?" Eloy asked. He thought that Stephen sounded a bit shaky when he had answered the phone. Hopefully it wasn't something wrong. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's grand." Stephen said. "I just had a visit from the boys."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. They just came in to tell me that Ro had straightened out everything with Louis and that I should make my plans for when we could get together and that they'd work off their own plans from that. Oh, and they all know about you now." Stephen let out a breath as he finished it all in a rush.
There was silence on the phone for a moment while Eloy digested all of this latest news. "And how did all that come about? Did Ronan talk to Louis?"
"He gave him a call this morning and told him we all needed a break. Apparently, Louis didn't even bat an eye and told him to do whatever we wanted. Then Ro marched everyone into my room to tell me the news. That's when they found out about you." Stephen laughed softly as he thought about their reaction. "The only one who seemed surprised was Keith, actually. I guess I wasn't fooling Mikey or Shane at all, though."
"No?" Eloy was sitting in his kitchen, having just finished breakfast. He was finishing up the last of his coffee before heading out for a promotional interview in Düsseldorf and wanted to give Stephen a call before he left. He was surprised to hear Stephen's news, actually, because he hadn't really thought that Ronan would act that swiftly. "So what now?"
"Now," Stephen said. "It's up to us. So ask the lads about when you can get some time off and we can make some plans together." He got a bit nervous when he didn't get an immediate response for Eloy. He immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. "That is, if you still want to."
"What? Of course I still want to!" Eloy said in surprise. "I haven't been thinking of much else, honing. I was just thinking about what the schedule was. We're headed to Germany this afternoon to do a magazine piece for the album. I can talk to the rest of the groep on the way and see what we can work out. Things are a bit tight, but I'm sure we can get something planned. This is fantastic news, Stephen." He said warmly. He knew from Stephen's question that he was thinking the hesitation had been because he had changed his mind. He wanted to reassure his lover that wasn't the case.
"Yeah?" Stephen asked hopefully. He was so scared that Eloy was going to come to his senses and change his mind about the way he felt that he kept on waiting for the day when Eloy would just tell him it had all been a mistake. He had to admit that he was surprised each time that Eloy proved him wrong. He also knew that Eloy could have anyone he wanted, so he couldn't understand why Eloy wanted him.
"Ja," Eloy said firmly. "I'll give you a call when I know. Hopefully tonight when I get home. Are you in the studio today?"
"No, we actually have the day off." Stephen said. He hoped that Eloy would be able to get some time off so that they could finally be together. After all the angst of the last couple of weeks, he didn't think he could stand any more delay.
"Ah, goed! I hope you have a nice day off and do something fun, honing." Eloy said. He looked at the clock on the wall and knew he was going to have to ring off if he was going to make his flight. "I really hate to do this, but I have to go now."
"It's okay. I know you're busy with the album and all. You have a good day, honey." Stephen said.
"I will. I'll be thinking of you all day, though." Eloy said softly. "I love you."
"God, I love you Eloy. And I'm so happy that this seems to be working out. I'll talk to you later, all right?" Stephen swallowed past the lump in his throat. It still gave him shivers to be able to say that to Eloy, and to hear it back.
"Ja, I'll call you tonight. Bye now." Eloy said. He let Stephen hang up first before putting the phone down on the table. He was really running late. He got up, made sure the coffee maker was off and then picked up his mobile as he headed out the door with his bag over his shoulder. He took the stairs two at a time going down, rushing past a couple of his neighbors who were coming up the stairs. When he got to the building lobby, it was with some consternation that he saw some fans hanging around outside his car. They were talking to his landlady and he mentally swore as he realized that his refuge was gone at the time he was going to need it the most. He hesitated for a moment, hoping that they'd go away. He also knew that time was still ticking and that he had to make his flight.
Finally, he left the safety of the vestibule and stepped out onto the stairs. The girls waiting outside turned at the sound of the door closing and he smiled wryly at their squeals of recognition. He said hello and quickly signed a couple of autographs before apologising for the rush. They were quite happy to just say hello and he stepped past them to get in his car. He could still see them behind him in the rearview mirror as he pulled away from the curb.
Another complication to add to his upcoming get together with Stephen, he thought glumly. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he pulled onto the highway and headed towards Schiphol.
The rest of the lads made sure that Stephen didn't just stay in his hotel room on their day off. It seemed like no sooner had he gotten out of the shower than one of them was banging on the door. He was still toweling off when he opened the door and let Shane back in.
"Everything all set?" Shane asked as he passed Stephen and entered the room again.
"Well, for the moment. Waiting to hear back on when E can get some time off. But at least we're now moving along." Stephen said. He put the towel back on the rack in the bathroom and went looking for a shirt in the drawers. Shane was stretched across the sofa.
"So no sense in dallying around here waiting for a call, right?" Shane asked. "He must have your mobile. So come out with Keith and me."
"Where're you going?" Stephen asked. He finally found a shirt and pulled it over his head. It was a ratty t-shirt that he'd had around forever. His mother was constantly threatening to throw it out, but so far he had saved it from her. He loved the feel of the soft cotton against his skin.
"Dunno, actually." Shane admitted. "Figured we'd go shopping."
Stephen let out a bark of laughter. "Shopping? You? Now there's a laugh!" He turned from the mirror where he had been trying to comb his hair into some semblance of order. He could see that Shane was pulling a fast one on him. "You liar."
"Not really," Shane grinned. "I really don't know what we're going to do. But I figured you might want to come along. Beats staring at these walls." He waved a hand around the room. Stephen could see his point.
"Well, I'm interested in getting something to eat. How's that sound?" Stephen said as he grabbed a baseball hat and shoved it on his head. Shane readily agreed. Stephen grabbed his mobile and shoved it into his pocket and they headed out the door.
"Keith's waiting for us downstairs," Shane said. "What're you hungry for?"
Stephen was surprised that he noticed he was really hungry for the first time in days. "Anything, I'm starved." They kicked around a few ideas as they headed down the stairs to the lobby. Keith was in the middle of a group of fans, telling them some tall tale. Shane draped his arm around Stephen's shoulders as they sauntered over to where Keith was. They were quickly engulfed by the fans and spent a while signing autographs and posing for pictures before extricating themselves from the group. By this time, Stephen felt like something was gnawing a hole through his belly.
They headed out the door and grabbed a taxi. Keith took control, calling out the destination of a pub and they were off. Together, Shane and Keith kept Stephen occupied for the rest of the day.
Eloy barely made his flight in time, getting to the gate just before they closed the doors. He apologised to the rest of the group, blaming traffic for his tardiness.
He slipped into his seat next to Ben and slouched down for the take off. Ben gave him a quick grin before going back to the magazine he was reading. His head was whirling with thoughts as he tried to over the upcoming weeks of promotion. Now that Stephen had the go ahead, he wanted to get something planned. He knew that any delay on his part was going to get Stephen jumping to the wrong conclusions. He shook his head at the thought. No matter how much he tried to convince Stephen otherwise, he knew that his lover thought he was going to change his mind at some point. He had no intentions of doing anything of the sort. Not when he had finally realised what had almost slipped out of his grasp. He sighed and Ben gave him a curious glance.
"Something wrong?" Ben asked.
"No, just tired." Eloy said with a smile. "Some fans found my apartment and I was just thinking about how nice it was when they didn't know."
Ben grinned. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I had a big group hanging out around my place the last couple of weeks. Count yourself lucky that they only just figured out where you are. Though it's probably going to get worse before it gets better," he warned.
Eloy focused a bit glumly on that thought. Where the hell was he going to go with Stephen? He worried over the thought for the short flight to Germany. As the plane touched down on the runway, he finally pushed it aside, since there was nothing he could do about it for the moment. First he had to talk to the rest of the lads and find out when they wanted to plan a weekend off. They didn't have a lot of control over their schedule for the most part, but he was hoping that it was early enough in the promotional push that he'd be able to squeeze some time in soon. He ducked down to get through the door of the plane and absentmindedly followed the other guys down the ramp to their gate. They were met with a horde of screaming girls and he found himself impatient to get into the car so he could talk to the group. He had to make a concerted effort to chat with fans until they could all break away.
They finally made their way out of the airport and off to the car where they crammed into the back together. Bas and Lee were goofing off as they crawled in after Ben and Eloy. They settled down quickly enough and Eloy tried to find a way to steer the conversation in the right direction.
"Hey guys?" He asked, finally deciding to plunge right in. "I need a favour." They all looked at him and waited for him to continue. "Is there a break planned in all this promotion coming up?"
"I dunno," Lee said as he turned to look at Eloy. "Must be, somewhere. What's up?" He could see through his shades that Eloy was acting antsy.
"Nothing, really. Just wanted to make plans to get together with a friend is all," he said not wanting to tell them everything just yet. Lee hadn't really approved of his relationship with Carlo and had been a constant thorn in his side about it. And while he liked to think it was because Lee had his welfare in mind, he privately thought that it was more because Lee was concerned what would happen to the group if the story ever leaked out. He had no intention of that happening at the moment, though it would certainly make any meetings with Stephen all the harder in the future.
"I don't see it being a problem," Bas said lightly. "We can work something out. Is this a special friend?" He smiled across the seat at Eloy. He usually used that term for a potential love interest of any sex for people.
"Ja, it is." Eloy admitted. He knew they'd find out sooner or later. Bastiaan's smile grew wider as Eloy shifted around on the seat. He'd be damned if he'd tell them who it was without Stephen's permission first. He didn't mind Stephen's friends knowing, but this lot would have a field day with him if they found out.
Lee turned away from the window to look at Eloy. "Please don't tell me you went back to Carlo," he said with a frown. Eloy shook his head and Lee nodded. "Good. I don't want to think of that one causing trouble again. Though honestly, Eloy, maybe you should just swear off men for a while. Especially with the schedule we have coming up." He turned back to the window. Bas rolled his eyes and made a face behind his back.
Eloy knew he wasn't happy, but he really didn't think he needed Lee's approval for his personal life. He glanced over to see Ben's reaction. Ben was smiling, too. "Well?" He asked in inquiry. "Do you have an opinion on my love life?"
Ben put up his hands as if to ward Eloy off. "Hey, all the power to you, E! Whomever it is, if he makes you happy, that's fine with me."
Eloy chuckled, which elicited another glance from Lee. "Well, I'd appreciate it if we could take a look at the schedule later on and see what's coming up."
"Sure, Eloy. We can do that. No harm in that," Bastiaan said. "Look, we're already there. Let's talk about this later, okay?"
"Ja, ja, sure. That's fine." Eloy agreed as they pulled up to the hotel for their press interviews. He had every intention of pursuing it later, though. They got out of the car to find a horde of fans being held back by the German polizei. Young men and women waved banners to catch their attention as they stepped through the barriers and walked into the hotel. Eloy was last, stopping to sign a couple of autographs on the way in. As he was escorted into the foyer he looked at his watch. It was just past 11am. A long day was planned and he was impatient to get it over with so he could focus on making his plans for Stephen's visit...