Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 16:11:08 -0800 (PST)
From: Adam Irwin <golden_silence27@yahoo.com>
Subject: Brotherhood

Disclaimer

This story is not real. None of the characters and I share a personal
relationship, and I know nothing of their true lives. This is pure fiction,
and should be taken as so upon reading. You should be 18, because the is
the legal age in the United States to read sexual stories. But if you are
in a country where their is no legal age then that is cool, just make sure
you follow your laws. You should also accept that their is homosexuality in
this story, and it is between characters of 'Nsync and the Backstreet
Boys. If you have read this disclaimer, and you followed it, then you can
continue reading.

Notes from the Author

Okay, so this story is an alternate universe story. I've done some stories
about high schools, and they went pretty well. Actually my one high school
story got me the most replies I've ever had, and it was the shortest story
I've ever written. So I figured I would try my luck at something similar
but all together different. This story is a college based story, focusing
on Justin, Nick, and Kevin in a fraternity. You'll also see JC, Lance,
Brian, Britney, and Christina in their too. As of now I'm not sure if Joey
or AJ will appear, but they could later on in the story. As for Chris and
Howie, they will both appear as professors. Cuz Chris is old, and Howie is
just, well I don't know, he seems professional to me.

The story will deal with the dark subject matter of abuse and the effects
it has, not only on the abused, but the abuser, friends, and
acquintances. It is serious in nature, and I hope to project that through
my story. I admit however that the subject matter may not be appropriate
for every type of audience, and I leave you to be the judge of that for
yourself. This chapter will inform you of only Nick, Justin, and Kevin's
roles in the story. The others will come into play later on.

Any feedback can be sent to golden_silence27@yahoo.com or
baby_brown7@hotmail.com I will write back to all feedback, the good or the
bad. And I appriciate all e-mails that are sent, so please send me
anything. Well, not anything, but you know what I mean.

Chapter 1 - Hidden

Justin walked through his frat house slowly. The hallway he was in was
empty, he liked it that way. His body was beaten, and had any of his
'brothers' seen the markings they would have offered help he would have
been ashamed to take. He was wearing only a pair of tight boxer briefs
around his waist, barely covering any part of his body, let alone the
brusies, which numbered in the twenties on his chest and arms. His face was
still perfect, something that his boyfriend had never once touched in
anger.

It wasn't that Justin was scrawny or unable to fight back, he just
couldn't. In fact, Justin was quite muscular, and tall too, but his
boyfriend was still taller and stronger. Not to mention always angry and
had Justin even thought of telling someone, he knew what would
happen. Fighting back wouldn't have done any better either, with one hit
Justin would have turned to run and Kevin would have easily caught him.

But Justin was convinced that Kevin loved him, and so late at night he
would leave Kevin's room in the house and walk quietly back to his room the
floor above. Justin was a freshman, Kevin a junior, and that meant Kevin
had say over Justin in the house. Barely a day went by when Kevin didn't
give Justin some punishment, seemingly for nothing, but usually because he
suspected Justin was getting to close with another brother. Something
Justin got extra punishment for in the dark of night.

As he came to his room, he knew not to open the door too loudly, or flick
on the lights. He didn't want to wake up his roomate Nick. That was the
last thing he needed, if Nick saw what damage he had, he knew that he would
have to tell the truth. He smiled as he heard the familiar
snoring. Shutting the door he walked over to his bed and slid under the
covers. He made sure to pull both his sheet and comforter over him, so he
wouldn't risk them falling off and his bruises being revealed in the
morning. But of course, by morning the swelling would go down and they
would be just black and blue or purple marks, they wouldn't catch that much
attention.

Sleep came with ease, it always did. In his dreams he was not in a
battering relation, and he wasn't sore all over. Dreams are different then
reality though.

8 hours later, around 10 in the morning, Nick awoke in his and Justin's
bedroom with a yawn. Looking over he caught Justin's form under the covers
and smiled. He knew if the brothers were aware of him being gay he would be
kicked out, but in the privacy of his room, he had no worries. Watching
Justin sleep was one of his favorite affairs, it always brought a smile to
his face. Every once in a while, he would even run his hand through the
younger brothers curly hair and imagine doing that at night in bed
together.

Of course, he would never do that unless he was positive Justin was
asleep. And the way Justin was squirming, he was almost positive his friend
would be getting up shortly.

It was when Justin screamed and jumped up that he was proven right. With
quickness he was out of his bed and running to Justin's side.

"Are you okay Justin?" Nick started to stroke Justin's arm, but the
quickness that Justin pulled away Nick was shocked. Looking down he caught
sight of all the black and blue marks on Justin's arm, and was even more
shocked. "Dude, what are those marks from?"

Justin was still reviving from his nightmare and after hearing the words he
looked down to see what Nick was looking at. His mind instinctively told
him to cover up and he pulled the blankets over his body. "I got in a fight
at a bar, no big deal." Justin lied quickly, trying to keep the best
straight face he could.

Nick just looked at him wearily. "Well, I'm gonna go catch a shower. If you
need me or anything, just holler." Nick turned and walked out of the
room. He didn't believe the lie, but he knew he wasn't going to get
anything else out of Justin now.

Justin turned over in bed and wanted to cry. His arm hurt like a bitch from
Nick's gently hands, and his chest burned from the bruises. He didn't even
want to get up, but he knew if he didn't meet Kevin in the kitchen of the
house for breakfast, that it would end up in a meeting in his bedroom later
on. And his body needed to heal before that happened.

With little speed he inched out of the bed and onto the cold floor. His
body almost gave way from the pain, but he had become a master at hiding
it, and new by the time he was dressed it would be gone, or at least
concealed. Heading towards his closet he pulled out a pair of pants and a
long sleeved shirt. It was a nice day outside, but short sleeves were out
of the question, he barely even had any undershirts anymore, they just
weren't worth it when he couldn't wear them.

He knew he probably smelled bad, but he could always shower after his
breakfast, it would save him the explanation of his whereabouts to
Kevin. As he walked out of the room he could already feel the pain
minimizing in his body, but the shirt he had chosen was very irritating to
his bruises, he tuned it out.

"Hey." Kevin didn't even look up, he just knew Justin was in the room. He
was like that, had a sixth sense of things about Justin.  "I poured you a
bowl of cereal."

"Thanks." Justin knew not to be too kind, he didn't know if all the frat
brothers had left yet, and being to friendly could have been taken
wrong. Well, not wrong, because they would have been right, but Justin
definetly didn't want the whole frat to know about him Kevin, that would
have only made things worse.

"Sorry if it's soggy, but you were a little late." The voice was normal,
but Justin picked up on the small inflection towards the end. He flinched
involuntarily.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little sore, and I had a hard time getting up. I'm really
sorry." Justin apologized.

"I know you're sorry." Kevin's answer was sharp and quick, and Justin was
all too aware of what he meant by sorry.  "It's okay though, I'm use to
it." Justin was beginning to feel the pain again. The words were leading
him to believe he was in for more tonight, and he couldn't handle
that. "Unless of course you make it up to me. But not right now, I've got
class. Meet me back here around 11."

"But I've got a class at...." Justin was cut off when the door of the house
shut, it was too late, Kevin was gone. And there was no way he was going to
stand him up.

"So, who'd you get in the fight with?" Nick sat down at the table
surprising Justin.

"What?"

"The fight, you know, the one that bruised you up pretty bad." Nick
replied, trying to act as though he wasn't being inquisitive. He didn't
want Justin to think he was prying, but he also wanted to get the truth
from him, one way or another.

"Oh, some kid at a bar. I didn't catch a name, ya know, that's not how
fights usually start." Justin laughed half-heartedly hoping Nick would do
the same, but nothing came out of his companion.

"Well, I'm here for ya if you need it. I know brothers don't like to get
help, but uh, I am bigger then you, so, if you ever wanna confront of him
again....I'm around." Nick smiled and grabbed Justin's shoulder. His test
worked. Justin flinched quickly and the pain in his eyes hurt Nick just to
see. "Justin, maybe you shouldn't go to class. Every time I touch, even
gently, you flinch, you're seriously hurting."

"No!" Justin answered a little too fast, and quickly shut his mouth. "I
mean, I can't, I've got an exam, and I'm, I'm supposed to meet Kevin back
here at 11. So, yeah, I gotta go." Justin stood and grabbed his bowl from
the table, as he walked to the sink he was very much aware of Nick
following him.

He was very much surprised when Nick pushed him in the stomach, the pain
was unbareable and he was quickly on the ground wincing. Looking up he was
surprised to see Nick down at his side.

"Dude, I'm sorry, I just, I had to see how much pain you were in. And I
knew you weren't going to tell me, so I had to find out. I'm sorry, but you
aren't going to classes." Nick slowly ran his hand down Justin's cheek,
realizing that it was the only safe spot for him to touch. "Let's get you
upstairs."

With care Justin was back on his feet and with Nick's help they were
heading towards the bedroom. Nick was doing much of the work, as Justin
barely controlled himself from falling or crying. As he laid down in bed
all he wanted to do was sleep.

"Justin, I gotta know, is this really from a fight." Justin just shook his
head up and down, lieing again, but he couldn't tell the truth.

Nick smiled, he didn't believe it, but once again he wasn't going to
question it. He had his own way of finding out. He had a hunch, and he had
the perfect way to find out if he was right, or even close to it. Shutting
the door quietly, he walked down stairs, he figured there had to be
something on tv to keep him occupied until 11 rolled around.

Meanwhile Justin slept peacefully for once. Although he usually went to bed
with good dreams, he always awoke to nightmares. They were usually the same
too, always focusing on his abuse. The most frequent contained Kevin and
his father. Each exchanging blows, first his father and then Kevin.

When Justin came out his family had been displeased, but his father had
shunned him. On the occasions they did speak, it involved constant pain on
Justin's part, from both emotional and physical abuse. And in his dreams he
was 15 again, in his bedroom, his eyes shut on the bed as his father
smacked him and then Kevin punched him, each time it became more brutal,
and each time his screams became louder and louder in the reality of his
bedroom. Today, Nick had been awake to hear them, that was new.

But like said, Justin was dreaming peacefully. Nick was so kind to him, his
hands so gentle, his words so kind. Justin was not used to this kind of
affection or behavior from a male, and his dream was now focusing on
that. In this dream, he appeared to be 15 like the others, but he was in
grand palace, not his bedroom, and he was with only one person. Nick,
dressed in all white and extending arms for Justin, walked gracefully
towards him, his smile widened. He was definetly having a good dream.

Back downstairs, Nick was impatient. It was 10:45 and he was weary of
waiting. He had heard nothing of Justin waking up, which made him happy. He
needed Justin to be asleep when he tried his idea, then again, he was also
happy because it looked like Justin needed lots of sleep.

Every thought he had continuously drifted back to his cute, curly headed
rommate. No matter what he thought of or did, he couldn't get him out of
his head. And the bruises were constantly at the back of his head, his own
pain to hard to control at the mere thought of hurting such a beautiful
person. If his idea was right, he was going to hurt someone for hurting
Justin. If he could.

Kevin is pretty big. Not height wise, or weight over Nick, but he's a
little more muscular. But Nick had a good thought that he could take Kevin
on just pure adreniline from his anger. It was worth giving it try, because
he knew, deep down, that he couldn't let Justin hurt anymore, not like
that.

"JUSTIN!" Nick practically jumped from his seat. That was Kevin's voice. It
was time for him to see if his thoughts were right.

"Hey Kev, you mind keeping to down? Justin's really sick and he's upstairs
sleeping." Nick replied calmly as he walked into the kitchen where Kevin
entered the house.

"What do you mean he's sick?" Kevin seemed to be fine with it, but Nick
could sense a little anger in him.

"Well, I was talking to him, ya know, throwing around stories and stuff
about last night. And I patted him on the stomach, and he just fell
over. He was wincing in pain dude, and I barely hit him. I don't know, I
had to help him to bed, and he's been asleep since. I just don't want him
to wake up, I called a doctor and they said they would be over later in the
day." Nick replied with a forced frown.

"No one is touching him, not some doctor either." Kevin replied, his anger
seeping through his image. He had bought Nick's lie, and was following
right into his trap.

"Kev, dude, why not? He's sick, real sick. You can't keep him from medical
attention." Nick was slowly becoming more aware of Kevin's presence getting
closer to him.

"This isn't your business Nick. I'll handle everything, so just take a
hike."

Nick fell backwards as Kevin pushed him. He was caught off guard, but was
able to pull himself up and remain on balance. With speed he lunged back at
Kevin, knocking him on the table. Kevin however was able to gain balance,
and was easily outdone by Nick's strong and nimble limbs.

"Go back to class." Nick pushed Kevin off the table, and Kevin fixed
himself. With a low grunt, he walked out of the house, leaving Nick to
figure out how to get Justin to talk.

TBC...

Notes

The next chapter will continue along with the plot, and you will meet the
other characters and find out their roles in the story. I hope you liked
this chapter, and the next will be a little longer, I just had to find an
ending point for this one. Let me know what you thought of this chapter by
sending an e-mail to baby_brown7@hotmail.com or golden_silence27@yahoo.com
Thanks!