Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2001 03:30:19 -0500
From: D LS <dls_stories@hotmail.com>
Subject: Brian & Me Part 123

Hello again, all :)

Okay, this one is *way* late, and it's all my fault.  I'm not going to try
passing the blame off on Matt this time.  But only this time.  Every other
time, it's all his fault.

As far as formalities go:  None of what you are about to read is true, just
like all the rest of the story.  It's not meant to imply anything about
anyone.  Hopefully, you've all caught that much in the last 122 parts. :)
As usual, if you shouldn't be reading this, don't be reading this.

Hrm... thank yous.

Thanks to everyone who's already read what's to follow, and for letting me
know what you think of it, even if it's just a generic 'I liked it'.  Every
bit helps, and you wouldn't have seen it ahead of time if I didn't respect
your opinion enough to listen to *anything* you had to say about it.

Big thanks to Matt, for everything.  Everything I've already thanked you
for, everything I haven't, and everything that you don't think twice about
doing but means so much to me.  SHMILY, sweetie :)

IMPORTANT NOTE #1:  For those of you who have emailed me and are awaiting a
response, I have some bad news.  I'm *so* far behind on my emailing.  I've
decided to just basically wipe the inbox and start over, and hope that I can
stay on top of it this time.  So please don't take offense if you haven't
heard back from me.  It's not a personal thing, but a sanity-preserving
thing :)

IMPORTANT NOTE #2 (or, judging from the number of emails I've gotten about
it, I *think* it's important):  My website was experiencing some major
technical difficulties, and people weren't able to get to it most of the
time, so I've moved it.  You can now find it at
www.geocities.com/dls_stories if you're inclined to check it out.

As always, there's an HTML copy of this installment and all of the previous
ones on my website, as well as all of the released installments of my NSYNC
story, "I'll Never Stop".

And yes, I'm shutting up now. :)

Enjoy!


PART 123

	We'd been in Dallas for a few days while the guys got themselves settled
back into the tour.  They'd been over the specifics of the show a number of
times, adjusting to different routines and song orders,
and working out any kinks that had set in over their break.  We'd been up
late the night before while they'd gone over the entire show one last time
before the first concert, scheduled for that night.

	"Lunch, sweetie," Brian whispered, kissing the side of my neck as his hands
descended on my shoulders.  I jumped, not having heard him enter.  "Stop
playing and come eat."  He stopped kissing and instead worked his chin back
and forth across my neck quickly.  He hadn't shaved in the last few days,
and the stubble was just long enough now to not be painful when he did it.
He'd tried it two days before and gotten an elbow in the stomach for his
troubles.

	I wasn't sure how long I'd been hunched over the desk, but it had been long
enough that even the light squeezes he was giving my shoulders felt
wonderful.  The desk in my hotel room was certainly not the most comfortable
place to work for hours on end.  I'd spent enough time there already to have
known it before sitting down for this session, but aside from balancing the
computer on my lap - something which practically guaranteed a backache - the
desk was the most suitable place to work.

	I saved my work and tilted my head to the side to give him better access to
my neck, but still allowing him to knead my shoulders.  "Lunchtime already?"

	"Mm hmm," he responded, the sound muffled against my skin.  His hands left
my shoulders, gliding softly down to come to rest just above my navel.  He
turned his head to face forward and lowered his chin to my shoulder.
"Everything going okay?"

	I'd been moving quite well with the book since we'd arrived in Dallas.
With all of the free time I found myself with while Brian was taking care of
business, I was able to spend as much time with the
story as my brain could handle.  Nick, seeing me working during a
particularly fruitful session, had coined the term 'writing like a banshee.'
  While there were definite problems with the analogy, it seemed like it was
going to stick.  In the day and a half since he had come up with it, he'd
used it at every opportunity.

	"Everything's going perfectly," I told him, closing the word processor.
Underneath it was my email, and I pointed to the latest message.  "Carrie's
impressed with how much I've gotten done the last few days."

	"You showed it to her, then?"

	"Not yet.  I told her I wanted to wait until I got to a good stopping point
first.  Once I convinced her that I was telling the truth, and not just
trying to trick her into thinking I'd been working, she was okay with it.
It's gotta go in soon, though."

	"How long to a good stopping place?"

	"Not sure.  I'm close, though."

	"Has she said anything about her and Kevin?" he asked as I shut down my
email, and then the computer.

	Taking his hands, I rested my head back against him and blinked a few times
to counteract the effects of staring at the screen for so long.  "Just that
they're still talking and trying to figure out what
they're going to do about all of this.  She seems to be handling it pretty
well so far.  Has Kevin said anything more?"

	Brian came around and waited for me to push the chair out from the desk,
then sat facing me on my lap.  "Not much.  They're talking, and he wants to
see if they can stay together."

	"She's the one with the decision to make, though," I pointed out.  "Kev's
going to be a dad; he doesn't really have a choice in the matter now.
Carrie's going to have to figure out if she's going to be able to handle it
and be comfortable working into that."

	"Hard to make the choice, though.  They haven't even known each other for
very long."

	"Yeah," I agreed, moving my hands to his hips.  "The baby news could
definitely have come at a better time for them."

	Brian nodded, then leaned in and kissed my temple.  "At least you and I
shouldn't have to worry about any surprise pregnancies."

	"Not unless you've got some tendencies that you haven't told me about," I
chuckled.  "No one's going to show up at the door saying they're carrying
*my* child, that's for damned sure."

	"You're not into the chicks at all, huh?"

	"Oh, I love the chicks.  The chicks rock. *Sleeping* with one - or even
*thinking* about sleeping with one - definitely doesn't rock.  No way, no
how."

	"Hmm."

	I reached up and took his head in my hands, pulling it back a little so I
could look at him.  "*Are* there any tendencies you'd like to fill me in
on?"

	He grabbed my head as well as he laughed.  "No, sweetie.  I'm perfectly
happy right where I'm sleeping."  I started to pull him in for a kiss, but
he pulled away again.  "But..."

	"But what?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

	"I don't know.  I mean, I'm not saying that I want to or would, but I think
I *could*."

	"Eww."

	Brian let go of my head to punch me in the stomach.  "I didn't say I was
going to."

	"It's still a mental image I didn't need," I smiled, flicking his ear.
"Let's go get some lunch."

	Brian backed off of me and stood up, then pulled me out of the chair.
"You're coming to the show tonight, right?"

	"Do I get good seats?"

	He pushed me toward the door as he laughed.  "The best in the house, just
for you."

	I got to the door and started to open it.  "Then I suppose I can make it."

	Before I could get the door completely open, Brian's hand grabbed my wrist.
  "Just a sec."

	I closed the door again and turned to face him.  "What's up?"

	"Did I just totally freak you out?"

	"With the sex thing?"

	"Yeah."

	"Pookie, if you haven't freaked me out with a sex thing yet, I don't think
you can," I laughed, walking back over to where he was standing.  My initial
reaction was to keep joking, but he really did look concerned.

	"I'm serious, sweetie."

	"Yeah, I see that," I told him, taking his hand.  "You surprised me, but
you didn't freak me out.  Think about it: I know I'm the only one you've
been with, and I plan on being the only one you're going
to be with.  You could technically be capable of having sex with a sheep, so
long as you don't actually do it."

	"You don't have to worry about that one," he smiled.

	"I don't think I have to worry about the girls, either," I pointed out,
giving him a kiss.  "Do I?"

	"Nope."

	"Well good then.  Now let's go before they send a search party."  Putting
my arm to the small of his back, I pushed him toward the door.  "Besides,
where on earth would we find a girl who'd want to sleep with you?"





	"Nate!"

	"Nick!" I mimicked, smiling at him as he turned his attention back to the
TV.  A burger and fries were sitting on the coffee table in front of him,
half-eaten.  AJ was on the phone, slipping fries into his mouth in between
bursts of conversation.  He was making no attempt to keep his voice down for
privacy.  With the amount of time they spent together, there really didn't
seem much point.  I still had trouble with the concept, but the rest of them
were the same way when making calls in a crowded room.  Howie and Kevin were
both sitting at the table with their meals, neither one of them phased by
AJ's voice or the volume of the TV.  They seemed to be going over some notes
Kevin had in front of him, and neither one of them seemed all that excited
about what they were looking at.

	"ALF's on," Nick announced with a grin, waving the remote in the direction
of the screen and not taking his eyes off of it.

	"How do you even remember ALF?" I asked him, stealing a fry from his plate
on my way past him and checking out the screen.  ALF was indeed on, and he
was making a music video.  "Wasn't it on after your
bedtime?"

	"Nick's got a thing for short hairy guys, sweetie," Brian whispered into my
ear, making me laugh.  The way his eyes were glued to the television, I
could almost believe it.

	Nick scowled at both of us, probably guessing the gist of what Brian had
said.  He kicked me to get me out of the way, then sighed in exasperation as
Brian followed me, taking his time while he was in
front of the TV.  "You know, I *was* happy to see you two."

	"Of course you were," I laughed, ruffling his hair and moving over to the
table with Brian in tow.  "What's for lunch?"

	Kevin looked up with a smile and indicated the pizza sitting on a cart
beside the table.  From the look of it, the four of us were sharing.  "How's
the writing going?" Howie asked as Brian pushed me into
a chair and started serving.

	"Good," I told him, taking the plate when Brian offered it.  "I got quite a
bit of editing done this morning, and a few new pages written so far.  All
in all, a good morning.  I'll be sending it in to Carrie soon, I think."

	Kevin's eyes darted down to the table, then quickly back up at me when I
mentioned Carrie.  He and I hadn't spoken much about the Carrie situation
since we'd gotten to Dallas.  Just enough for me to get the message that he
felt awkward talking to me about it.  I couldn't blame him.  Dating a friend
of a friend is bound to be strange even in the best of circumstances.

	You had to feel for him, just getting started with a relationship and then
having this potentially huge monkeywrench thrown into things.  He *had* to
be torn up about it, even if he was avoiding telling any of us.  I had
gotten the impression from what little he did say that he was really
starting to beat himself up over the situation, and that wasn't likely to
lead to a happy solution to things.

	Brian dropped into the seat next to me with his own plate.  "He's working
like a good boy," he smiled at me.  "Which means that I don't have to kick
his ass for slacking, and Carrie doesn't have to kick
mine for breaking my promise that he'd work."

	My hand strayed over to his leg.  "I wonder how much harder I'd have to
work to go from not getting an ass-kicking to getting an actual reward."

	"My guess would be not very much," Kevin said, rolling his eyes at the
smile on Brian's face.  "I'm pretty sure you'd be able to get an actual
reward just for opening the door for him, if you asked for one."

	"Did you just call me easy?" Brian asked, pretending to be hurt.

	"Horny would be a better word," Howie said around his mouthful of pizza.  I
knew that he was still uncomfortable with the idea of Brian and I sleeping
together, even though he seemed to have come to terms with our being
together in the more general sense.  This was as close as I'd heard him come
to talking about our sex life.

	"Put the two together," I laughed, squeezing Brian's leg, "and you've got
it perfectly."

	"Oh yeah, like I'm always the one asking for it," Brian defended himself
with a laugh.

	Kevin dropped his slice and picked up his glass.  "I don't need to know
who's asking for what.  Let's just agree that you're both easy *and* horny,
and drop it."

	"Dropped," I agreed, starting to eat.

	"For now," Brian added as he flexed the muscles under my hand.  "But we'll
be taking it up later."

	Kevin gave him another eye-roll but didn't say anything more on the
subject, probably afraid that Brian would decide to prolong the conversation
with details he didn't want to hear.  Instead, he turned
his attention back on me.  "You set a date yet for your trip to LA?"

	Brian had asked me to put off visiting Andy for a couple of weeks, until
they were back into the tour.  He said it was because he wanted to make sure
he was distracted so he wouldn't miss me as much.  I was pretty sure that
the real reason was that he wanted me gone at the same time that he talked
to his brother.  If things went well with Harold, Brian could always invite
him to meet me later.  If they didn't, I
wouldn't be around to stress out and feel guilty for coming between them.

	That plan had one major flaw.  I *wanted* to be there, just in case things
didn't go well when they talked.  I had no doubt that the others would be
there for him, and would keep me up to date if anything
happened, regardless of Brian's not wanting them to.  I could be on the next
flight to be with him if he needed me, but that wasn't the point.  I
belonged there with him, regardless of how things went.

	Thinking this, I shrugged in answer to Kevin's question.  "Not really, no."

	"Must be nice," Howie said with a slight smile.  He indicated the pages he
and Kevin had been going over.  "If you find yourself in need of a schedule,
we've got plenty to spare."

	"So that's what you two were reading over."  I leaned forward and picked up
the top page.  It was the schedule for that day.  I saw the next day's date
on the page underneath, and wondered how many days in advance they were
scheduled for.  "You boys travel with enough paperwork to choke a horse."

	Brian leaned over to look at the page.  "On the plus side, it says right
there that you're mine for a couple of hours this afternoon."

	I looked where he was pointing and smiled.  "That says 'down time',
pookie."

	"Doesn't sound like any time that you two would be spending together," Nick
put in from across the room.

	"That jealousy's showing through again, Nicky."

	He gave me the finger and went back to watching TV.






	"Haven't you had just about enough?  You ate your share and part of mine at
lunch, and half of Nick's lunch.  You're going to explode."

	Brian tore the lid off of the cashews and kicked the mini-bar door closed.
"I thought we'd hold off on the exploding until tonight."

	"Yeah, yeah," I chuckled, sitting down on the edge of the bed.  "You're not
going to be any good to me or anyone else all bloated.  You'll get about
five dance moves in before keeling over."

	Brian came to a stop in front of me, our knees touching.  Reaching out, he
ran the back of his fingers across my temple and down the ridge of my cheek.
  "I'll be just fine.  Don't worry about me."

	I smiled at the gentleness of his touch.  Every movement, every gesture
Brian made toward me seemed specifically designed to put me at ease.  I knew
he was just being Brian, but I also knew that there was an extra thought or
two behind it that was reserved only for me.

	"I was more worried about how embarrassed the guys will be, having to roll
you on and off the stage like that," I told him simply, arching an eyebrow.

	"Keep it up, funny-man, and they'll be having to wheel you into the
concert."

	"And you'll be the first one asking for a ride on my lap," I laughed.
Grabbing his front pockets, I leaned back a little to pull him slightly
off-balance.  "Besides, with the amount of food you've been
packing in today, I'm pretty sure I could outrun you."  I released his
pockets and took hold of his shirt-tail instead, undoing the bottom buttons.
  "And even if I couldn't, I'm sure people would wonder why you were chasing
me around with no shirt on."

	Brian watched as I undid another button, then fed me the cashew he had in
his hand and set the can beside me on the bed.  He licked the salt from his
fingers, then took hold of my collar.  "Imagine what they'd be thinking if I
didn't have any pants on, either."

	"I think we'll avoid that particular scandal, thanks," I smiled, finishing
with his shirt.  "You said you wanted to save that for later, so the pants
stay."

	Kneeling in front of me, he finished undoing my buttons, and slipped his
hands across my stomach to grab me by the waist.  "Couldn't they stay across
the room?"

	I leaned ahead to bring my forehead to rest against his, and looked him in
the eye.  If I had found any indication that he was serious, I would have
had him stripped down in seconds, but I found none.  Since we had gotten
together, he had never been *too* amorous before a show.

	It was an odd combination to see in him.  He was so wound up about
performing that he could barely stand to sit still, but at the same time he
was eager for closeness and quiet.  He would try to literally
wrap himself around me if he could manage it.

	Most times, he could manage it quite nicely.  "They could," I answered him,
rubbing my nose against his, "but you'll be in them."

	"You can't resist me forever," he whispered, pressing forward to graze my
lips with his.

	"Big talk for a little guy like you," I chuckled, kissing him quickly and
then scooting backward on the bed so I could lay down properly.

	"My nuts!"  Brian grabbed for the can before my movement could send it
spilling over the edge of the bed.  Once he heard himself, his face redenned
and we both started laughing.  He climbed onto the bed
with me after shrugging off his shirt.  "Don't say it."

	"I wasn't going to say a thing," I smirked.

	"Good."  He set the can at my right hip, then lay down on my left side and
put his head down on my shoulder.

	He didn't seem to be in a hurry to speak beyond that, so I checked my
questions and let him be quiet for a while.  Closing my eyes, I tilted my
head to the side, bringing my cheek to rest against the top
of his head.

	With no other stimuli to distract me, I could smell the faint scent of his
shampoo, as well as the more distinct scent that was simply Brian.  It was a
softer, lighter smell than his sleep-smell, but essentially the same.  I
inhaled deeply, then laughed as one of his curls tickled my nose.

	"What are you doing?"

	I brought my hand up to smooth his hair back down a little bit.  "Nothing."

	I heard a low rattle, and opened my eyes just in time to see him pop a
couple of cashews in his mouth.  The stubble on his cheek scratched my chest
as his jaw worked, making me smile.  When he
moved to return his hand to the can, I quickly put my hand over top of it to
stop him.

	"Hey," he protested quietly, allowing his voice to drop lower so it came
out more as a grumble than a proper word.

	He knew that voice usually got him his way, especially when he let his
accent thicken as well, but I kept my hand where it was.  "What's going on?"

	"I was just going to ask you that," Brian chuckled, his finger trying to
work its way under my hand.

	"I'm not the one stuffing food in like it's going out of style," I pointed
out, slapping his hand.  "Now what's up?"

	"I'm hungry."

	"After the lunch you just ate?  I don't think so.  Is there something going
on I should know about?  Did something happen?"

	Brian sighed and settled more against me.  I wouldn't have thought it was
possible, but he managed to do it.  His cheek settled even more firmly
against my shoulder, he shifted his leg and brought it around
and under mine, and his hand left the can of nuts alone and ran up my side
before tucking in under my waist.  "Nothing happened," he said, almost in a
whisper.

	"Then..."

	"Well, we've got the first show tonight."

	"I thought everything was going well in rehearsals.  The way you guys talk,
it's going to be great.  You're really nervous about the show?"

	"A little."

	I reached up and brushed the hair back from his temple, cupping the side of
his head in my hand.  "You've been away from the tour for three weeks,
pookie, not three years.  Even you can't have forgotten much in that time."

	He chuckled and raised his head slightly before dropping it more forcefully
to my chest.  After taking a second to get it nestled just right once more,
he sighed softly again.  "It's just weird, I guess.
Usually we have either no break, or a longer one.  Three weeks is just long
enough to get used to not doing it."

	I nodded, understanding.  I'd always thought the same way about the
Christmas break from school.  In many ways it was a very welcome holiday.
But it had also always been just long enough for me to get
out of the classroom mode and make it difficult to get back into the groove
of things once the break was over.  "You're going to be just fine, sweetie.
You've been over it a bunch of times this week already, and you all said
everything was going well."

	"Yeah, but the first show back from a break is always a big deal.  And
doing it in front of empty chairs is a lot different from doing it in front
of an audience."

	"I've been out on your stage, remember?  Right up until I almost got my ass
kicked.  You're going to be just fine, sweetie."

	"Hmm."

	"Something else?"

	"All this stuff with Kevin.  I don't know what's going to happen with him.
His entire life just got flipped upside down."

	"And you don't have a clue what you can do to help, right?"

	"Something like that, yeah," Brian agreed, nodding.  His stubble scratched
me again when he did it, but the conversation was serious enough to take the
fun out of it.

	"We're all feeling that way, I think.  No one knows what to say or do to
help him, including him.  And Carrie's just as confused by the whole thing.
I would imagine Kathy's the same way, and she's had quite a bit more time to
get used to it."

	"What *is* there to do?"

	"Talk to him when he needs it, and back him up once they do find a
solution, I guess.  Try to keep in mind that it might be a mess right now,
but that there's something really great at the centre of the mess.
A baby is very rarely a bad thing."

	"I wonder which one of them it'll look like."

	I smiled.  "Doesn't really matter, I guess.  The kid's gonna luck out in
the genetics department."

	"As long as it doesn't get those eyebrows of Kevin's."

	"I dunno.  Kevin manages to make them work for him," I grinned, tweaking
his ear.  Brian responded by bringing his knee up between my legs
menacingly.  "I don't know what to tell you about this one,
Brian.  Other than that I'm sure they'll do whatever's best for the baby,
and that can hardly be a bad thing, right?"

	"Right."

	"So you know that he's going to be a dad, and that he's not going to leave
the group.  Both are good things.  The rest just has to fall into place."

	"I wish it would hurry up," Brian half-mumbled, digging into the can of
cashews again.

	I knew there was at least one more thing on his mind, because it had been
on my own mind a lot the last few days, though we hadn't really discussed it
much.  "You wanna talk about Harold?"

	I was answered with another sigh.

	"We don't have to," I assured him, dropping my hand to the back of his
shoulder.  "I just figured we were getting all of the rest of this stuff
out, so we might as well add him to the list."

	"I don't think I want to talk about that right now, sweetie," Brian
answered.

	I knew we probably *should* talk about it, but there was no way I was going
to force him to do it if he didn't want to.  As connected as we were, it
still wasn't my business to be sticking my nose into if
he asked me not to, and he had just done so without being so rude about it.
Normally, that might not have mattered so much - I had been known to pry -
but in this one case, I was backing off.  "Alright."

	His hand checked itself on the way back to the cashews, then drifted across
my stomach and tucked around my waist again, his fingers working their way
under me.  He inhaled deeply and I readied myself for another sigh, but it
didn't come.  There was a sound as he let the breath back out, but it was a
long way from a sigh.  It sounded almost like the contented exhalation I
loved hearing from him, but it was softer, not quite so heart-felt.

	I was expecting him to say something more; maybe to explain why he didn't
want to talk about his brother.  It wasn't necessary, but I half-expected it
anyway.  Instead, he fell quiet again.  The only movement he made was his
shoulder rising and falling beneath my hand as he continued breathing
deeply.  Each exhaled breath breezed across my body, almost enough to make
me shiver with the sensation.  If his arm hadn't blocked it before it could
run over my stomach, I don't think I could have
stopped myself.

	He was quiet and still for so long that I thought he had fallen asleep.  I
had my head resting once more against the top of his, watching the room
through the curls of his hair, and eventually through
my eyelashes as my own eyelids began to droop.  I was just drifting off when
he decided to speak again, and I felt myself jump a little bit beneath him.

	"I'm a little worried about Nick."

	I blinked back the drowsiness and tried to clear my head.  "Worried about
Nick?  He seems okay.  Pretty much like he always is, at least.  Whether or
not you could call that being okay, I don't know."

	Brian shook his head, and I knew he was smiling.  "He's just been a bit off
since we got here, sweetie.  Spending that week with Erron might not have
been the best idea.  Now he knows what he's missing."

	"And who he's missing, right?"

	"Exactly."  Brian moved away and raised himself up on an elbow to look me
in the eye.  "Have you been talking to Erron at all?"

	"I got an email from him a couple of days ago, but that's it."

	"You know he hasn't called Nick?"

	"He didn't mention it.  I just figured they'd at least been talking.  With
you guys being so busy, it's been a bit hard to get Nick alone to talk about
guys."

	Brian smiled, then reached out and lightly grabbed my chin.  "He's been
avoiding letting you get him alone, sweetie."

	"Why?"

	"Because you're Erron's friend, and if Erron's decided he doesn't want to
stay in touch with him, you're going to feel guilty about letting them get
to know each other in the first place."

	"Not to mention kicking Erron's ass," I added.  "After all the time he's
spent drooling over Nick, I don't see why he would be keeping his distance
now that he actually knows him."

	"And he knew you'd call Erron and get involved, and he doesn't want you
doing that.  It's up to Erron."

	I frowned.  My first instinct *had* been to call him and see what was going
through his head.  "You're going to ask me not to call him, aren't you?"

	"Yep.  If you call him and guilt him into calling Nick, it's not going to
make Nick feel any better about things.  Besides, Nick's got Erron's number,
too."

	"Then why doesn't he call and see what's going on?"

	"Because he knows how Erron feels about him.  Nick doesn't want to get
Erron's hopes up about something happening between them.  We talked about it
before we left Toronto, and Nick decided he wasn't going to do anything
until Erron did."

	I fell back on the bed, bringing Brian back down with me.  "How much do you
want to bet that Erron is thinking along the same lines?"

	"Probably."

	"So what do we do about it?"

	He tilted his head up to look at me.  "We try and take Nick's mind off of
it, and you try and keep from calling Erron," he said with a smile.  "Nick's
going to be irritated enough with my telling you about
this, without you adding to it by making Erron call him."

	"Maybe I can get Nick to call Erron?"

	"You're such a meddler," Brian laughed, slapping my stomach lightly.

	"Well, it's dumb," I defended myself.  "Even if nothing ever happens
between them, they both want to be friends at least.  You saw them last
week."

	"They're grownups, sweetie."

	"Grownups in serious need of a boot in the ass."

	Brian rolled over and raised himself up over me so he was looking down at
me with a smile.  "You can talk to Nick, I guess.  He's going to know I told
you anyway.  But you *can't* talk to Erron about Nick.  You do and you'll be
the one getting a boot in the ass."

	"You don't scare me."

	"I'm not the only one you'll have to worry about," Brian grinned, then
leaned down and kissed my forehead.  "Nick's got bigger feet for kicking."






	"Where are you going?"

	I almost fell off the edge of the bed.  I had thought he was sleeping
again.  In fact, I had thought I had made sure of it before attempting to
get up.  "Bathroom?"

	"Nice try," Brian laughed, turning onto his side and kicking me.

	"Well, it's *bugging* me," I smiled, laying back on the bed again, resting
my head on his thigh.

	He reached down and grabbed my hand, bringing it back up to hold against
his body.  "It's a wonder anyone tells you anything, you know.  You just
can't know something without doing something about it."

	I smiled and shrugged.  "It must work, because people *do* tell me stuff.
You knew I wouldn't be able to not say anything when you told me."

	"Sure," he agreed, squeezing my hand.  "I was actually surprised you didn't
get up right then and try and find Nick to talk to him."

	"Give me some credit," I laughed.  "That wouldn't have been sneaky at all.
Waiting for you to fall asleep was better."

	"Yeah, it worked out well, huh?"

	"The best-laid plans, my dear."

	Brian smirked and rolled his eyes, then squeezed my hand again.  "So, were
you going looking for Nick or heading for the phone to talk to Erron?"

	"Nick," I answered, squeezing back.  "You asked me not to call Erron,
remember?"

	"Just making sure you were paying attention."  He let go of my hand,
letting his fingers play across my wrist for a moment.  "Go find him, if
you're so anxious to start meddling."

	I pretended to be shocked.  "I don't *meddle*.  I *help*."

	"You meddle," Brian returned, smiling at my expression of indignant
surprise.  "But you mean well.  Now get moving.  I want some more time alone
with you before we have to go."

	"I could stay," I offered, but he immediately started shaking his head.

	"You'd be here, thinking about being there.  Go, sweetie."

	I climbed up the bed far enough to kiss him, then got to my feet.  "I'll be
back in a bit.  As soon as I'm done *helping*."

	"Yeah, yeah.  Put a shirt on."

	"Never heard you say that before," I muttered with a grin as I bent over
and retrieved my shirt from the floor.  Since Brian and I had been in "my"
hotel room, I didn't have to make sure I was totally decent
before stepping out into the hall.  If anyone had been there, all they would
have seen was a friend of the band, fixing himself up after a nap or a
shower.

	Even what little concern I had over the matter wasn't needed, though.  The
hallway was completely empty, and I made a beeline for Nick's door without
bothering to go through the motions of buttoning
my shirt.

	I knocked, but got no answer.  I could hear Nick's music through the door,
though, and didn't really expect one.  I knocked again, louder this time,
and after a couple of seconds the music disappeared.
Knowing he was standing at the stereo with his hand on the volume control,
waiting to see if he really had heard a knock, I banged on the door again.
"Little Nick, Little Nick, let me come in!"

	"Not by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin," came the response from right
behind the door.

	"You couldn't grow a hair on your chinny-chin-chin if you tried, Nicky," I
laughed.  "Now let me in."

	I heard a muffled 'nyah' sound, and just had time to smile before the door
opened.  Nick looked me up and down, then stood aside for me to enter the
room.  "So, you come over for a quickie while Brian's in the bathroom or
something?" he asked as soon as the door was closed again.

	"You aren't getting any more of a peek into my love life than you've
already had, Nicky," I told him with a smile, taking in the darkened room.
The curtains had been drawn, and while they still allowed some light
through, it was muted.  The perfect light for an afternoon nap.  His bed was
unmade, as usual, and for a moment I thought maybe he *had* been sleeping,
but his eyes had none of the puffy look of someone who had been woken up,
and the music he'd been playing hadn't exactly been soft and soothing.

	The bed was one of the few things about the room that you could actually
label as 'messy'.  He had surprised me with how neat he usually was.  He
just didn't seem the type, normally.  He couldn't hope to achieve the insane
lengths that Kevin went to, but on average he was tidier than Brian usually
was.  Aside from the bed, the only things that seemed out of place were a
small pile of clothes in a chair and a teapot and cup sitting on the bedside
table.

	"You mean there's something I *don't* know about it already?" he laughed,
moving further into the room.  He went to the stereo and hit the stop
button, then turned the volume back up.  I followed behind him and sat down
on the rumpled bedspread.

	"I like to think we've got a few secrets.  Likes, dislikes, that sort of
thing, at least."

	Nick eyed me for a minute, and then smiled as he lifted the pile of clothes
out of the chair and set them carefully on the floor beside it, then dropped
into it.  "You like it when he comes anywhere near
the back of your ears.  He likes it when you do - whatever it is you do - to
his neck.  He also likes it when you cook for him, and when you talk to him
about your writing, even the little bit that you'll tell him
about the book."

	I felt the smile coming, and lowered my head a bit to try and hide it.
Nick was apparently a treasure trove of information about things Brian was
apparently too shy to share with me.  But there would be time for that
later.  It wasn't what I had come to talk about.  "Nicky-"

	"And he likes it when you make noise, even though he knows it embarrasses
you.  He really likes that nose-rubbing thing you do."  Nick stopped for a
second, then laughed.  "He's even mentioned the way you blink when you're
looking at him.  He says you do it slower than normal, like you're sleepy."

	That one was unexpected, and I laughed myself.  Which gave Nick the time to
take a breath, smile, and continue.

	"And of course, you both seem to like strawberries and cream, vodka, and
the outdoors."

	The blush rose immediately and made him laugh again.  But at least he had
given me an opening I could use.  "Actually, Nicky, now that you've brought
the cabin up, we need to talk about something."

	"And what would that something be?"

	"Well, someone, really."

	His eyes fell immediately as the smile faded.  It didn't entirely
disappear, but it might as well have.  The playful glint in his eye was
gone, and for Nick that was 90% of the charm of his smile.  "He told you?"

	I nodded.  "A little while ago."

	"He should have known better."  It came out sounding more disappointed than
angry.  "I didn't specifically tell him not to, but I figured he'd know."

	"He knew.  Both that you didn't want him to tell me, and that it was better
if he did, I think."

	"I don't see how it is.  Now you're just going to call-"

	"Nope.  He covered that already.  I'm not to call Erron to talk to him
about you.  I promised."

	His relief was clear, and the smile returned a little bit.  "Then how is it
better for you to know, if you can't do anything about it?"

	"I can't call Erron.  That doesn't mean that I can't talk to you and try to
help.  Plus, it's better because Brian's worried about you, and with all of
the other things that he's worried about right now,
keeping it to himself wasn't doing anything to calm him down."

	"Kevin?"  Nick asked, frowning.  He'd managed to maintain a smile through
hearing that Brian had told me his secret, but it disappeared upon hearing
that Brian had some of his own, and that they were getting to him.  "I knew
it was bugging him, but I didn't think it was *that* hard on him."

	"Alone, it wouldn't be.  Add in the tour starting up again, this thing with
you and Erron, and getting closer to having to talk to his brother about me,
and it's taking its toll."  I knew we were veering
away from what I was there to talk about, but had suddenly discovered that I
needed to talk as much as I had thought Nick might.  Then, Nick added one
more thing.

	"He's not overjoyed about you taking off for a while, either."

	It was hardly a revelation, but the way Nick said it made it clear that
'overjoyed' was definitely an understatement.  He saw the look on my face
and nodded.  "My grandma would say 'tit for tat'.  He didn't want me to tell
you that.  He doesn't want you out of his sight for any longer than
absolutely necessary."

	"But he wants me gone when he talks to Harold," I returned, sure that I was
right.

	"More in the 'not in the line of fire' way than in the 'jump on a plane and
leave for two weeks' way," Nick answered, nodding.  "He doesn't want you
anywhere near Harold until he knows for sure what
the reaction is going to be, but he'll know that long before you're supposed
to come back from LA."

	"I don't want to be away from him, either.  Maybe I should shorten the
trip?  Andy doesn't know I'm coming, so it would be easy enough to do.  I
can always go back after the tour's going well again, and Kevin's managed to
sort things out."

	Nick pulled his leg up under him on the chair.  "If you do - and I think it
might be a good idea - make sure you can give him a good reason for it.
He'll freak out if he thinks you're just doing it for him."

	"Easy enough.  Andy'll back me up on whatever explanation I give him for
coming back early."

	"You lie to him pretty easily," Nick grinned.  "I'm not sure if that's a
good thing."

	"If it saves him from any sort of pain or worry, it's a good thing."

	"No argument here."

	"You know what else is a good thing?"  I asked, arching my eyebrow as I
tipped myself over, supporting my head on my hand.  "The way I can talk
about something else, but still remember why I came to see you in the first
place."

	Nick laughed and turned sideways on the chair, his legs dangling over the
arm.  "Thought I had you there for a while."

	"You did, for a while.  But I came to see if there was anything I could do
for you, not to see if there was something you could do for me.  I'll talk
to Erron if you want me to," I put up my hand to stop the protest he was
about to begin, "but I won't if you don't.  If you want to talk, I'm good
for that, too."

	There was a weariness to the sigh that Nick let out that threatened to
break my heart.  All traces of his smile were gone now, as thought he
suddenly didn't have enough hope or energy to keep even a
false one on his face, for my benefit.  "What's to talk about?"

	"Lots, from the look on your face.  If you want me to butt out, say so.
But I know what it's like to have no one to talk to, and I want to make sure
you know you *do*."

	He nodded, then watched me for a minute without speaking.  His eyes
narrowed, though not in a threatening or angry way.  It looked more like an
analytical thing.  It was the way you look if you're searching for a
specific small detail that had changed within a sight you see everyday.

	When he did speak, I was positive that he was indeed going to tell me to
butt out, but he surprised me.  "I thought he liked me."

	I took a moment before I responded, watching him watching me.  It wasn't
that I needed time to come up with an answer, but that I couldn't figure out
how to say it.  It sounded wrong to simply say 'of course he likes you; do
you know who you are?', but in the end, that was essentially all I could
come up with.

	"Nicky, he *does* like you.  He's liked you for years."

	"You told me that," Nick said, shaking his head.  "But that's not what I
mean. You told me before that Kevin and Harold both asked you if you loved
Brian or if you loved the Backstreet Boy named Brian, right?  Erron's liked
the Backstreet Boy named Nick for years.  He met Nick the morning before we
went to the cabin."

	I nodded to let him know that I understood.

	Nick brought his hand up to his face.  I thought it was to wipe away a tear
or something, but instead he scratched his nose.  When he tilted his head to
do so, the light fell on him strongly enough for
me to see that his eyes were dry.  If there tears in this for Nick, he'd
either already cried them, or was waiting to do so.  Maybe both.

	"I just thought that he liked *that* Nick," he finally finished.  His voice
cracked, but there was no waver to it.

	"He *did* like that Nick," I assured him, smoothing the bedspread out in
front of where I was laying.  "How could he not?  That Nick is funny and
charming, and a great friend.  I've known Erron long
enough to know when he's enjoying himself, and he definitely was last week.
Backstreet Boy Nick might have walked through the door that first day - from
his point of view, at least - but it was just regular old Nick that he
offered his bed to the other morning before heading off to work."

	Nick's smile returned at that thought, as I had known it would.

	"And," I continued, "I'd be willing to bet everything I own that regular
Nick got a lot more kisses, hugs, touches, looks, words *and* thoughts last
week than that other Nick did."

	"And neither Nick gets any of those this week," Nick mumbled.  In the
silence of the room, I had no trouble hearing him.

	"I promise, Nicky, you're getting a whole lot of his thoughts.  He's just
not letting you know about it."

	"Why, though?  He's got my number, and said he'd call."

	"You have his number, and said you'd call, too."

	"That's different, though."

	"I don't think so, really.  I'd know for sure if I could call him about
it."  I trailed off, giving him the opportunity to give me permission to
call, but he didn't take me up on it.  "But, do you want me to take a
guess?"

	"It's bound to be better than mine, right?"

	"Bound to be," I agreed.  He gave me the go-ahead signal with his hand.
"He knows you're not ready for anything really to happen between you, and he
knows that you have fans throw themselves at you every day.  He also knows
that *you* know that he's one of those fans.  At least, he was.

	"My guess is that he's waiting for you to make some sort of move to let him
know that you're interested in being friends, rather than risk you thinking
he's only after superstar Nick.  He might call, but
he'll wait a while so it doesn't look like he's wanting more than you're
ready for.  He'll also be wanting to avoid you thinking he's a giggly fan
pestering you for your attention, but I can pretty much guarantee
that he *does* want your attention."

	"So I should call him."

	I smiled.  "I think so.  Like I said, I'm sure he *will* call, but it'll be
a while.  Until he's sure you'll recognise it as the 'let's be friends'
call, rather than the 'I want to jump your famous bones' call."

	Nick smiled again and threw his head back, stretching in the chair.  "But
if I call, what's to stop him from thinking that it's an 'I want you to jump
my famous bones' call?"

	"Aside from the fact that he's been told already?  Trust me on this one,
Nicky.  If there's one thing I can tell you from experience with Erron, it's
that he won't push for anything more than you're
ready for."





	"Done meddling?"

	It didn't look like he'd moved much while I was gone.  He was still lying
on his stomach on the bed, with his head turned toward me.  His eyes
followed me as I closed the door and walked to the edge of the bed, but they
were the only part of him that moved.

	"Helping, pookie, helping," I corrected.  Dropping my shoulders, I let my
still-unbuttoned shirt fall down my arms to the floor again, then climbed
onto the bed with him.  "And I think I'm done, yeah.  For now."

	"Good."

	I lay down on my stomach beside him, turning my head so I was looking right
at him.  I remembered what Nick had said about my blinking slower when I was
looking at Brian, and smiled.  There was no way for me to be sure about it,
since paying attention to it would mess up the results, so I decided to take
his word for it.

	"What are you smiling about?" Brian asked, his mouth twitching upward.
"Nick putting the moves on you?"

	"You two think alike," I grinned inching closer to him so our arms were
pressed against each other.  "I was just thinking about something he told
me."

	"What's that?"

	"Oh, nothing."

	"Is he going to yell at me for telling you about him and Erron?"  Brian's
hand brushed against my arm, then his fingers found my own and he took my
hand.  "He's not too mad, is he?"

	"Furious," I said, nodding and trying to keep a straight face.

	"Shut up!" Laughing, he nudged me with his elbow.  "You know what I meant."

	"Well, as if I'd come back in here smiling if he were mad at you.  He's
probably going to want to talk to you," I grinned, nudging him back, "but I
think you're safe from a major ass-kicking."

	"And you managed to help?"

	"Don't I always?"

	Brian smiled and bent his neck, stretching to kiss my shoulder.  "You
always manage to make me feel better."

	I pulled my hand from his and ran it up over his waist and across his back,
grabbing at the muscles as I encountered them.  "Well, a boy's gotta have a
hobby."

	Brian's chuckle cut off before it could even properly begin, and he raised
the shoulder that wasn't pressing against mine.  When he did, the muscles
currently under my hand bunched and I gave them a squeeze, smiling at the
low grunt he made.

	"You know what would make me feel *really* good?"

	"I've got a pretty good idea," I laughed, already rising to my knees.
Shifting over on the bed so I was over him, I settled back until I was
sitting on him and started running my hands over his back.  "How's this?"

	His chin was nestled down into his shoulder so he could look back at me,
and his hands came back and gripped my legs.  "Just perfect."

	Leaning forward, I ran my hands up his neck, then back down his shoulders
and upper arms.  The only movement he made was to momentarily reposition his
chin so it was out of my way.  As soon as he was sure I wasn't about to do
it again right away, he returned it to his shoulder, one eye popping open
again so he could see me.

	"Mmm.  You know," he said quietly a few minutes later as I worked on his
lower back, "we really should pay you for this."

	I grinned and bent forward to bite his shoulder gently.  "I think you're
right.  I could be the tour masseur.  That way, I'd get to touch *all* of
you guys like this."

	"I might have to rethink my proposal a little, sweetie."

	"I thought you might say something like that," I agreed, running my fingers
lightly down his ribs.  He jumped and wriggled under me, laughing.  With a
laugh of my own, I repeated the move, and he bucked so hard I had to sit
back up to keep from being hit by the back of his head.

	I continued my upward movement until my knees were raised off the bed and I
was more crouching than kneeling, then grabbed his wrists and made sure they
were inside my legs when I came back down, pinning him where he was.  Then I
went back to tickling him.

	He continued to jerk and buck under me and trying to speak around his
laughter to tell me to stop, but he couldn't quite manage it.  Not that it
would have done him much good.  I was enjoying myself.

	Finally managing to get a hand free, Brian used it to brace himself on the
bed, and then levered upward and back, knocking me off balance.  I put my
own hand down on the bed beside and behind me to catch myself, but it gave
him enough room to flip over on the bed.  If he'd had another second, he
likely would have launched himself at me, but he had to settle for being
able to see and grab me when I settled back over him.

	His face was flushed from laughing and struggling, but the smile made it
clear that he was enjoying himself.  I sat there looking down at him, the
tip of my tongue sticking out of my mouth at him, and waited for him to
move.

	"What part of 'stop' do you not understand?" he finally asked, his hands
coming up to grab my wrists as I began to move my fingers up his side again.

	"I didn't hear you say 'stop'," I grinned.  "Not even close."

	"You know I'm going to get you back."

	"I'm not ticklish," I countered, sticking my tongue out again, just far
enough for him to know I was doing it.

	He sat up as far as he could, then reached up and brushed the hair away
from my temple.  His hand continued, and he traced a finger down the back of
my ear.  Immediately, my head turned in that direction, and my eyes closed
briefly.

	"What do you call that?" he asked, his smile turning smug.

	"I'm sensitive, not ticklish," I told him, still feeling his touch.  I bent
my neck, trying to rub my ear against my shoulder to lessen the sensation,
then smiled when he laughed.

	"Same thing."

	"Nope," I answered, shaking my head slightly.  "Watch."  Before he could
say anything else, I leaned in, tilted my head, and latched onto his adam's
apple, running my tongue over it a few times.  The sound that escaped him
was certainly not a laugh.  Sitting back up, I watched his eyes until they
focused on me again.  "That tickle?"

	"Mmm, nope."

	"See?"

	"I'm still going to get you."

	I turned on the bed, bringing my knee back over him so I could sit with my
feet on the floor.  "You might wanna bring a friend to help you, little
man," I laughed, slapping his stomach.

	He jumped at me then, but he was too late.  I'd been off and running as
soon as - possibly before - my hand made contact with his stomach.  I was to
the door before he was even off the bed.

	I should have been safe, and *would* have been, if I had been watching
where I was going instead of laughing like a fool and looking behind me to
make sure Brian couldn't grab me.  Instead, I ran out into the hallway at
full-tilt right into AJ, sending us both to the floor.  I had just enough
time to register the look of surprise on his face before I was trying to
tuck and roll to avoid landing directly on top of him.

	Brian must have heard us, because he came out into the hall much more
cautiously, and started laughing.  I sat up to find AJ still sprawled on his
back, arms and legs spread out, a slightly bemused expression on his face.

	"You alright?" I asked, already seeing that he was, and was just milking it
for the comedy.

	"That's the last time I do Kevin a favour," AJ said to the ceiling, still
not looking at either one of us.  "I don't care how rough you two wanna be
with each other, but try and keep me out of it next time."

	"I was just-" Brian started, but AJ threw a hand up to stop him.

	"I just got bowled over in the hall by a half-naked man you were chasing.
I don't even wanna *know* what was going on."

	I saw Brian give a look around, making sure no one was witnessing what was
being said, and smiled at how futile it was.  If they'd seen what had
happened, nothing AJ said was going to give them a clearer picture of the
situation.  Besides, AJ had been in the hall before I ran into him.  He
would know if anyone else was around.

	"Nate was-"

	"I don't want to know what Nate was doing, thanks," AJ reiterated with a
grin as he sat up.  It reminded me vaguely of the way Frankenstein sat up
from the lab table, only he kept his arms at his sides instead of sticking
them straight out.

	I chuckled up at Brian, then got to my feet and offered a hand to AJ.  "He
made me, AJ.  I swear."

	"I bet," came the flat answer, making it clear just how much he believed
me.

	"If you didn't want to join the fun," I asked him, still chuckling, "why
were you heading for our room?"

	"That would be the favour for Kevin.  He said he figured you two were
getting sick of hearing him come knocking on your door-"

	"We are," Brian and I agreed together, grinning at each other.

	"So he sent me to do it," AJ finished, shaking his head at us.  "Never
again, I tells ya."

	"We weren't doing anything," Brian tried, but I could tell from the look on
his face that he knew he was just digging himself - both of us - in deeper.

	"Two half-naked men come flying out of their room, flushed from doing
*something*.  I don't want any part of it."  AJ turned back up the hall the
way he had been coming from when I ran into him, dropping a wink in my
direction.  "No wonder Kevin didn't want to get you guys.  Who knows what
kind of horrors he's seen?"

	I laughed, and nudged him as he passed me, then headed back toward Brian,
who was still standing at the door to our room.  "You going to behave long
enough to get dressed?"

	"Maybe," he answered, pretending to consider it.  "Maybe we'll need a
warning from Kevin after all."

	I decided to take my chances, slipping past him back into the room,
grabbing his hand and pulling him along with me.




	"You sure you don't want to come?" Brian asked, putting his arms around my
waist.  He kissed my cheek, then trailed his lips over to my ear.  He'd
shaved, so at least I didn't need to worry about a whisker-rub this time.
"I'll make sure you have fun."

	I closed my eyes while I held him for a moment, then turned my head and
gently bit his neck, enjoying the slight shiver that went through him.  "I'm
sure.  Seeing the rehearsal takes all the magic out of seeing the show."

	"But you've *seen* the rehearsal already," he protested, still speaking
lowly and directly into my ear.

	"And tonight I'll see the show.  Right now, I'm going to get some more
written while it's fresh in my head, and you're going to go work off some of
your lunch so you can actually move tonight."

	"Not if he doesn't get a move on, he won't be," Nick laughed, and I felt
him smack Brian's shoulder.  "You gotta let Nate go, Brian," he continued,
sounding like someone speaking to a child reluctant to let a favourite toy
out of their site.  "You can have him back later, I promise."

	Brian laughed, kissed my cheek once more, then let go of me.  "Sure you
want to stay here?"

	"I'm sure."  I slapped his ass to get him going.  "Get moving, or they're
going to leave without you."  The rest of the guys chimed in, confirming
that they were only seconds from abandoning him with me.  Not much of a
threat, really, and we all knew it.  He went, though.

	I gave him a quick kiss at the door of our room, then watched as they all
piled into the elevator.  As soon as they were out of sight, I turned and
closed the door behind me, then went straight to my computer and hit the
power button, determined to make staying behind worthwhile.

	While the computer started, I made a quick trip to the fridge and got
myself a bottle of water, then went right back to the desk before anything
else could distract me.  I was partway there when my cell phone started
ringing.

	I almost didn't answer, preferring to get into the story again, then take a
quick break to get back to whoever it was, but instead I dug the phone out
of my pocket and put it up to my ear.  "Hello?"

	I expected it to be Andy, maybe Erron.  Though Erron calling right after my
talk with Nick seemed a little too coincidental.  Maybe Jeff or Cindy, or
even Mom.  Dad didn't make phone calls if he could avoid it.  Instead, it
was a different voice altogether; one that I knew immediately I should have
been able to place.

	"Mr. Healy?"

	"That's right.  Who's this?"

	"Andrew Copeland, Mr. Healy.  We met at the concert in-"

	"I remember," I interrupted.  I tried to remember more about our
conversation at the concert, but only two things really came back to me.
The first was that he had been there to talk about my writing a tour diary
for the guys, and the second was that we hadn't liked each other much.

	"I've got the contracts you forwarded to me," I continued, looking at the
side pocket of my computer bag, where the folded contracts were stowed.
"I've signed them.  Kevin was going to have them sent back to you for me."

	"Actually, Mr. Healy, we need to talk about this arrangement."

	That caught me off-guard.  "Um, okay.  I'm with the guys in Dallas right
now.  Are you wanting to join up with us on the tour?"  I was really hoping
he wasn't expecting me to fly across the country just to have a meeting with
him.

	He obliged me, but in an unexpected way.  "I'm here in Dallas, as a matter
of fact," he answered, speaking in a tone that made it clear that he
expected I *would* fly across the country to meet with him, if that was what
he wanted me to do.

	"Really?  No one mentioned that."

	"I hardly think you're entirely in the loop when it comes to the tour, Mr.
Healy."

	"I suppose I'm not, no."  What little good humour that had been in my voice
was gone now.  This man seemed designed to annoy me.  "When would you like
to meet?"

	"Right away.  I'll meet you in the hotel's main conference room in ten
minutes."

	I barely had time to agree, let alone argue, before he hung up the phone.

To Be Continued...

Thanks for reading!

~*D*~