Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 20:49:16 CST
From: Peter Kamphuis <rh_chan@hotmail.com>
Subject: Kevin and Justin - Chapter 1  (Celebrity/Boy Bands)

The following story is a piece of fiction.  It does not
reflect the true sexuality of any of the celebrities
portrayed within.

If you are underage or homophobic, then please do not read
any further.

Some info: the story is very (extremely) light on sexual
content.  It is basically about the build-up of a
relationship, and is written more in the style of a 'romance'
than anything else.  As such, sex doesn't play a great part
in it until near the end.  This is pretty much an attempt at
a 'love story', so for those looking for hot steamy sex,
you'll have to find it elsewhere.

Oh, by the way, I'm Australian, and so is my spelling.  So
please ignore anything that might not seem 'right' to you.
It's just the way that we spell that particular word in Oz.

And if all that hasn't put you off yet, then please enjoy
'Kevin & Justin'.



KEVIN & JUSTIN - Chapter 1

Kevin's foot started tapping impatiently.

He had arrived at the airport several hours ago, only to find
that their flight had been delayed and wasn't expected to
arrive for another couple of hours.

He had waited patiently for the plane to arrive.  He had
waited patiently for it to come to a rest against the air-
bridge.  He had even waited patiently for the stream of
disembarking passengers to diminish to a trickle, but still
no sign of them!

Thankfully, before he became agitated enough to go looking
for an official to check the passenger list for his missing
charges, a face peered around the half closed door to Gate
23.  Sighing in relief at seeing Lance's face cautiously
inspecting the lounge, Kevin started to chuckle.

"Looking for something?  Or should I say 'someone'...?"

"Hey Kev!  There you are.  I was just..."  Lance coughed in
embarrassment.  "I was just making sure there weren't any
screaming fans waiting for us."

"Oh, is that why I had to wait around for twenty minutes?
Scared of the fans are you?" joked Kevin.

"No, not really.  It's just a new policy we've adopted since
a near miss we had in Dallas.  Poor Justin almost got ripped
to shreds!" Lance replied.  Still feeling slightly
apprehensive, he continued, "So these days we make sure we're
the last ones to board the plane, and the last ones to
disembark as well."

"Oh geez Lance," Kevin groaned, "you could have told me that
when we spoke earlier!  I was just about to send out a search
party after giving up on you."

"Oh sorry Kev, 'my bad'.  I forgot that you wouldn't know
about this."

"That's okay," Kevin said, forgiving Lance.  He wondered why
Lance was still cowering behind the door?  "Are you going to
stay hidden there forever?"

"Yeah probably," replied Lance, grinning at Kevin.  "At least
until I'm sure that the coast is clear and we can leave."

"Sorry, my turn to say 'my bad'.  I had airport security move
the fans back to the outside of the terminal building.  And
I've got the limo waiting at a side entrance.  It should be
safe to leave your hidey-hole."

"Okay, thanks.  Hang on a tic and I'll go get the others,"
Lance said.  Then he paused and looked around the empty
lounge area once more.  "Speaking of which, where are the
rest of your guys?"

"Later, Lance.  Go get the guys and I'll explain it all when
you get back."

"Yessir!" replied Lance in mock seriousness before
disappearing down the air-bridge with a grin.

Several minutes later, Kevin was amused to see another face
repeat Lance's furtive glance.  He wracked his brain to
remember the name to go with the face, and came up with
'Joey' just as Lance walked out the door and chuckled.

"Joey, I already told you, there's no-one here except Kev.
He's arranged it so that the fans are outside the building.
We're perfectly safe."

Joey shrugged, and walked out into the lounge as if he hadn't
made a big deal of worrying about his safety a moment ago.
Kevin grinned inwardly to see that Lance seemed to have as
much control over his guys, as Kevin had over his own.  Well,
to be honest, his guys usually did what he asked because they
had gotten used to him giving the orders, and not because he
had any real authority or power over them.

Joey sauntered over to Kevin and shook his hand.  "Hi, I'm
Joey Fatone, Jr."

"And I'm-"

"Yeah, you're Kevin Richardson.  We're not deaf and blind;
we've seen you before on TV and stuff."

"Oh," Kevin responded, slightly taken aback.  He didn't know
what to make of Joey's comment.  He felt both insulted and
honoured!

"And wait till you meet Chris, he's even worse!" Lance
whispered in Kevin's ear, chuckling slightly at the thought
of Chris and Kevin meeting each other.

He didn't have long to wait as Chris walked out next,
carrying his overnight bag.  He didn't bother greeting Kevin
in any formal way, just throwing a "Yo dude.  How's it
hanging?" in Kevin's direction.

His entrance certainly was self-confident.  Unlike Lance and
Joey, he didn't bat an eyelid when walking out into the
lounge.  Kevin wondered if that was because he was naturally
self-composed, or whether Lance's reassurance was enough to
convince Chris that no-one was waiting in the lounge to
accost him?

Lance appeared mortified at Chris's offhand greeting.
"Christopher, you-"

"No, don't worry about it Lance," Kevin said with a smile.
Turning to Chris, he said, "I'm good, Chris.  How about you?"

Chris stared at Kevin for a second before grunting.  "I'm
cool."

Kevin shrugged.  'Okay so far,' he thought.  He wondered what
the remaining two members of 'N Sync would be like?

Lance was also wondering whether Justin and JC would end up
embarrassing him like Joey and Chris had done.  As if on cue,
the missing two appeared in the doorway of the arrival gate
and sauntered over to Kevin and Lance in almost perfect
harmony.

Sensing Kevin's bafflement at their approach, Lance hurriedly
introduced them.  "This is Justin, and this is his partner-
in-crime, JC.  Don't let their togetherness bother you;
they're not related, but they're almost like twins.  They
seem to be naturally 'in sync', no pun intended, with each
other."  He paused.  "They're also the best of friends, so if
they don't seem to pay much attention to anyone other than
themselves, you'll just have to excuse them."

"Oh thanks a million Lansten, give the poor guy a bad
impression of us straight up!" Justin said, giving Lance a
fake punch in the arm.  Lance just grinned.

"Nice to meet both of you.  I'm-"

"Yeah, you're Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys,"
interrupted Justin, smiling up at Kevin and extending his
hand to take Kevin's in a handshake.

He was surprised at how different Kevin looked in real life.
Oh sure, there was no way he could be mistaken for being
anyone else but Kevin Richardson, but his features seemed
somewhat softer than what he had seen in magazines and on
television.

"Hey Kev, nice to meet you too," JC said as he traded
Justin's hand for his own.  They shook each other's hand
briefly.

"Geez Lance," Kevin moaned, turning to face Lance.  "I feel
cheated.  I didn't get to introduce myself to anyone."

"Well Kev, you could introduce yourself to me.  I know we've
talked before, but this is the first time that we've met
face-to-face!"

Kevin grinned, pushed out his hand to take Lance's and said,
"Hi.  I'm-"

"Oh my God!  You're Kevin Richardson!"  Lance faked a
surprised expression.  The other guys cracked up at his joke,
and Kevin fumed for a second before joining in.

"Thanks a lot buddy.  I'll remember this!" he warned, smiling
broadly to indicate he wasn't being serious.

Justin noticed that there was a certain amount of impishness
to Kevin's character.  Again, that seemed more obvious now
that he was face-to-face with Kevin.  He felt an instant bond
to Kevin; it was amazingly easy for him to like Kevin on the
spot, and that was a surprise.  He usually took a long time
to make that decision!

"Is everyone I'm supposed to meet here?" Kevin asked Lance
when things settled.  "There's no-one else in your entourage
who needs to ride back to the hotel with us?"  He saw Chris
and Joey exchange a look before they walked slightly away
from the rest of them.

Justin also saw the look and felt annoyed with his friends.
Just before, in the plane, he had seen the look on the guys'
faces when Lance had told them Kevin was waiting for them in
the lounge, and what Kevin had arranged for them. He knew
that they would pre-judge Kevin; it was one of their worst
traits!

The guys tended to ignore or snub everyone whom they thought
of as 'management', and Justin suspected that Chris and Joey
had just made up their minds that Kevin fitted that category.

Normally it wasn't a problem, as management types were so
'anal' that they deserved to get as little attention as the
guys could spare.  However, from what Justin had observed so
far, Kevin wasn't like that.  Sure, he was a bit more
responsible, just like Lance was the responsible one for
their group, but that didn't warrant the guys' animosity or
dislike.

"No, this is everybody.  We're all here and accounted for.
Which reminds me...  where are the others?"  Lance had missed
the look between Joey and Chris.  Had he noticed it, he would
have felt just as annoyed as Justin.  Over the past couple of
weeks, as he and Kevin has chatted, Lance had come to see
that Kevin was exactly like himself - fairly responsible, but
with a very likeable personality behind the façade.  Lance
was keen to get to know him better.  In Kevin he had found a
kindred spirit.

"They're back at the hotel," replied Kevin, having missed
Justin's angry look at Joey and Chris.  "They're either
sleeping or relaxing.  The tour bus isn't the most
comfortable place to relax in, so when we got into town a few
hours ago, they elected to head straight to bed.  That's why
I'm the only one in your welcoming committee."

Kevin tried to ignore Joey and Chris who had started having a
loud conversation.  It was slightly off-putting and rude
while he was trying to give the guys the necessary
information they required.  The least they could have done
was to walk a bit further away - if they insisted on talking
so loudly!

"Oh, okay.  Well, lead on Kev. I take it that you know where
the baggage carousel is in this building?  We need to collect
our luggage," Lance said.

"Already done, I hope.  I spoke to airport security before
your flight arrived and asked them to take care of it.  The
last thing we want is for one of your fans to sneak in and
souvenir your suitcases!  They should already be in the limo
by now.  We can check when we get there."

"Geez Lance, you could learn a thing or two from the big
guy," advised Justin, making him temporarily 'persona non
grata' in Lance's books.  Justin didn't care; he could cope
with Scoop at his worst.

Kevin just smiled and said, "Not my idea, I'm afraid.  It's a
standard security procedure that we've been living with for
some time now.  I'm just 'borrowing' the idea.  Our security
guys are the best.  You'll all get to know them fairly well I
hope."

Somehow he doubted that anyone cared.  JC had finally
wandered over to join in the conversation that Joey and Chris
were having.  Only Justin and Lance were paying him any
attention, and he suspected it was only because Lance had to,
and Justin was too well mannered to just walk away.  Sighing
in frustration, he indicated that they should follow him.  He
didn't particularly care if they did or not.

So much for a good start to their joint tour!

Lance, who felt a bit better at Kevin's admission, also
sighed in frustration at the behaviour of his friends.  He
waved for his group to follow Kevin, looking back at them
until he was certain they were following.  Joey had seen his
signal, and started pulling the other two after him, talking
the whole time.

Meanwhile, Justin had started to feel his annoyance grow into
anger.  How could JC have done that?  They had barely spent
five minutes in Kevin's company, and Josh had already made up
his mind!  He couldn't believe it!

Why had they judged Kevin so quickly?  He couldn't find any
fault with Kevin - if anything Kevin was quite remarkable!
He was trying his best to be friendly to a bunch of
strangers, when he didn't need to be...  He was honest and
modest, and had a wonderful sense of humour, from what he
could see.

Justin couldn't see what more Kevin could have done to make
them feel welcome, and to show that he was willing to be
friends with them.  He sighed in frustration, as he set out
after them.

*-*-*

After ensuring that their luggage had indeed been collected
(Joey insisted that the driver open the boot so that he could
see for himself), they all piled into the limo and settled
down.

Now that the initial greeting period had passed, they seemed
to become lost for words.  Not unnaturally so, Justin knew.
He was used to these silences when they were being driven
around, but he could tell that Kevin was becoming concerned
at the lack of communication.

"Ignore us Kev.  We're just not very talkative when we're
stuck in a limo."

Kevin smiled at Justin in appreciation for the explanation.

Justin looked into Kevin's eyes and saw a hint of hurt and
sadness, at odds with the smile on his face.  It certainly
hadn't helped that the others, with the exception of Lance,
had almost ignored Kevin.  Their little performance at the
airport was the telling indication that they didn't want a
lot to do with Kevin, and Justin couldn't help feeling upset
at their snap judgement.  Kevin's eyes couldn't completely
hide the hurt he had felt at their rejection of him.  Justin
could see it clearly, even though Kevin's manner and outward
expression were neutral.

Thinking desperately, he tried to find a topic of
conversation that would include all of them.  If he could get
the others to talk to Kevin, then they might see that he
didn't deserve to have the cold shoulder treatment.  Maybe it
could also erase the sadness that Justin had glimpsed in
Kevin's eyes...

"So Kev," he started, not knowing where he would end up.
"Have you guys been in the studio recently?"  He groaned
inwardly at himself.  This wouldn't do!  If he just talked
'shop', then the other guys wouldn't become interested enough
to join in and interact with Kevin.

"Yeah Justin.  We've finished a couple of new songs that
didn't quite make the deadline for our new album."  Kevin
gave Justin a warm friendly smile, knowing instinctively what
Justin was trying to do.

He found it really sweet that Justin was making the effort to
make him feel comfortable and accepted, especially when the
others seemed to have taken an instant dislike to him.
Justin's friendly attitude was earning him a lot of points in
Kevin's book.

"Oh really?" Justin asked.  "Are they any good?  I really
liked 'Millennium'.  If the songs are as good as the ones on
the new album, they're going to be massive hits when you
finally release them."  He was babbling, and he knew it - the
look from JC confirmed it for him, but he had to do something
to get the guys to take notice of Kevin.  Kevin didn't
deserve to be frozen out!

"Yeah, I think they're as good as the songs on 'Millennium',"
Kevin replied, getting the feeling from Justin that he had
honestly liked the album.  Then being the gracious host that
he was, he asked, "What about you guys?  Done any studio work
recently?"

"Yeah, we've recorded almost enough material for a new
album," Lance said brightly.

Justin seethed.  It was no good having Lance talking with
Kevin, as they had already established a relationship -
albeit a business one.  It was more important for the other
guys to start talking with Kevin.  Though, of course, it
didn't help that they did nothing to hide the fact that they
were ignoring Kevin and the conversation.

Justin poked JC in the ribs with his elbow as he said, "And
JC here just finished recording his song yesterday.  He wrote
it and all!"  He prayed that JC would open up just a bit!

JC gave Justin a private look, which the latter took to mean
'Thanks for nothing!' before he indifferently added, "Yeah,
it was a change of pace for me.  I'm usually just singing
lead with Blondie over here, but when the urge strikes I
guess..."  JC shrugged his shoulders, running out of steam,
much to Justin's dismay.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Kevin said, looking from JC
back to Justin.  "Both Brian and I managed to get a bit more
involved in this album.  He wrote one of the songs, as well
as coming up with some of the lyrics for another of the
songs.  I also wrote one of the songs, which I'm really happy
about.  I guess I'm a bit biased, but I like that song the
most."

"Which song did you write?" Justin asked, momentarily
sidetracked.

"It was 'Back To Your Heart'.  It's a bit slower than the
other songs on the album, but I still like it."

"I know the one you mean - I really liked it.  It has some
great lyrics."  Then remembering what he was trying to do, he
added, "Right Josh?"

JC looked at Justin again and thought, 'What's his problem?'
Turning his attention back to Kevin, he said, "Yeah, the
lyrics weren't too bad.  Not a bad song really.  It's just a
pity that slow songs don't get any airplay or support from
the public."

As soon as he said it, he knew that it was the wrong thing to
say.  It was true; but not very polite.  He could see both
Justin and Lance looking at him with severe expressions.
Joey and Chris also turned their heads in surprise, though
their expressions were mostly neutral.

"Sorry Kevin.  I didn't mean to imply anything..."  He
trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"No, that's okay JC.  I totally understand.  I'm not fooling
myself into thinking it will ever be released as a single.
The best I can hope for is that it gets some airplay, but I
very much doubt it. Unless, of course, a radio station
decides to play the whole album over the air."  Kevin's
amusement was catching and soon JC, Justin and Lance were
feeling comfortable again.  Joey and Chris turned their
attention back to the window on their side of the limousine.

Though Justin desperately tried to think of other topics,
they ended up spending the whole trip discussing their
respective albums and latest studio work.  Justin and Kevin
carried the bulk of the conversation, with Lance throwing in
the occasional comment, though it often fell on deaf ears.

Neither of them realised what they were doing... they were
becoming too wrapped up in their conversation and paying
little attention to the others in the limo.  They also did
not realise that the others had taken special note of the
intensity that had gripped them while talking with each
other.

*-*-*

The limousine came to a gentle halt, indicating they had
reached their destination.  Kevin, being the closest to the
door, opened it before the driver managed to get half way
around the front of the car.

"It's okay, we're fine.  Can you please organise for their
luggage to be taken upstairs?"

"Yes Mr. Richardson," replied the driver, hurrying off to
find the concierge.

The group piled out of the limousine.  As Justin got out,
Kevin gave him another warm smile and silently mouthed the
words "Thank you".  He started grinning when he saw Justin
reply, equally silently, "You're welcome".

Leading the group to Reception, Kevin went up to the check-in
clerk and asked, "Can you please arrange to have these
gentlemen situated on the same floor as my group?"

The young lady looked at Kevin and replied, "No problem, Mr.
Richardson.  How many people are in the party?  And will they
be requiring separate suites?"  She could make out the
figures of five people behind Kevin, but didn't presume to
guess that that was the number of rooms required.

"There are five of them, and yes I think they'll all require
separate suites," he replied, looking around to make sure
that he wasn't speaking out of turn or giving her false
information.  Lance's nod indicated that he was correct.

"Oh," replied the clerk, after studying the computer's screen
for a moment.  "There are only four suites left on that
floor.  The other four are already occupied by the rest of
your party."

Kevin groaned inwardly.  He hadn't paid that much attention
when he had dropped off his luggage before heading out to the
airport.  Otherwise he would have realised they were short
one room.  He usually didn't miss details like that...

Behind Kevin's back, the five members of 'N Sync looked at
each other, with raised eyebrows at this news.  They were
unsure about what they would do now.  Would one of them be
required to bunk in with someone else?  Would they all have
to be located on a different floor from the Backstreet Boys?
Lance tried to think of what outcome would best suit them, so
that he could discuss it with Kevin.

"I see," Kevin replied, also thinking hard.  Making a
decision, he addressed the clerk again, "Please book all four
suites, and book a room on the floor below."  He turned to
face the guys.  "You can have the four remaining suites, plus
my suite: that's five.  I'll bunk down in the room I'm
arranging on the floor below yours."

Kevin's announcement raised eyebrows a second time.  Justin
knew that the guys wouldn't say anything to dissuade him.  As
far as they were concerned, he was nearly management and
should therefore be the one who put up with the
inconvenience.  Even Lance wouldn't argue, as he could
sympathise with Kevin - he'd do the same thing if the tables
were turned.

"No, there's no need to go to all that trouble," Justin said,
before he could stop himself.  "Why don't you bunk in with
one of us?"  He looked around and saw the closed expressions
on his bandmates' faces.  The only one who was seriously
considering the idea was Lance.  He felt his anger return in
full measure at their attitude.  What was their problem?

"No Justin, I'll be fine.  I don't mind sleeping on the floor
below you guys.  We're only going to be here tonight and
tomorrow night, so it's not like I'll be put out too much.
And besides," Kevin joked, "at least I'll be far enough away
from Nick and Brian that they'll think twice about bothering
me when they next argue.  Why they bother sharing a room,
when they get on each other's nerves all the time still
baffles me."

Some of the expressions relaxed, indicating to Justin that
they had accepted Kevin's decision.  However, Justin wasn't
about to give up.  He had seen how much Kevin had felt like
an outsider tonight.  He wasn't sure if Kevin's own group
treated him the same way, but Justin wasn't willing to wait
and find out.  He didn't feel that Kevin should be ostracised
just because he was a bit more responsible than the other
nine of them.  He included Lance in the count, as Lance
should have known better - he was in a similar position to
Kevin, but had done nothing to assist Kevin!

"Rubbish.  It's no problem sharing a room.  If Brian and Nick
can do it, even when they argue all the time, then so can
we."  Justin knew that he was taking a big chance, but he had
to do something.  Now that he was Kevin’s friend (and he felt
surprise that he already thought of Kevin in that way), he
had to help Kevin out.

"We?" asked Kevin in surprise.  The surprise was echoed on
the faces of Justin's friends.

"Yeah, I can share with you.  That's not going to be a
problem is it?  Your room has an extra bed doesn't it?"
Justin asked.  He hoped that Kevin would say 'yes'.  If Kevin
would agree, it would allow Justin the chance to spend time
with his new friend and deepen their growing friendship.  He
desperately wanted to get to know Kevin better - their
conversation in the limo had only managed to whet his
appetite.

"Yes it does have an extra bed, and... no, I guess it won't
be a problem to share with you.  But only if you're sure?"
Kevin asked.  He was shocked that he was even considering
this!

"Positive!"  Justin was rewarded with another of Kevin's warm
smiles.  He realised that Kevin hadn't smiled like that at
anyone else in the group.  He felt a tingle go through his
spine at that thought.

"Okay, let's arrange it."  Turning back to the clerk, Kevin
noticed that she was smiling and had already put out the keys
for five suites.  An extra one for Kevin's room, which Justin
would now be sharing, and the remaining four suites on that
floor.

She indicated the register and asked them to sign in.  She
then got them to quickly fill in the check-in forms.

"Thank you gentlemen.  I hope your stay with us is a pleasant
one."

They all thanked her and headed toward the elevator.  Their
bags had already been taken up to their floor.

"Thanks again Justin," Kevin said, as the doors closed and he
pressed the button for the 21st floor.  He smiled warmly at
the person who was rapidly becoming a good friend.

"You're welcome big guy," Justin grinned back at Kevin.

Now that the matter of sleeping arrangements had been
settled, the other guys seemed to have found their voices.

"You'll have to watch out for this one Kev...  he's a bit of
a snorer!" Lance advised.

"Am not," replied Justin quickly.  He relented a bit at the
laughter and said, "Well, not too much of a snorer.  You can
hardly hear me!"  He shyly smiled up at Kevin and was happy
to see Kevin return it.

"And he's a hell of a bother to wake in the morning," JC
advised.  "We practically have to dump a bucket of water on
him to get him up."

Another bout of laughter filled the elevator as Justin
blushed deeply.

"Okay, are we done humiliating me yet?" he asked nastily, as
the elevator stopped on their floor and they got out.

"No!" a chorus of voices answered.  Kevin smiled at their
closeness, knowing that Justin was not really offended at the
comments.  He felt a small twinge of pain at their
camaraderie; he had enjoyed something similar with his own
group several years ago.  Before circumstances forced him to
distance himself from the guys...  His eyes briefly displayed
the pain, hurt and loneliness he was feeling, but he quickly
suppressed his emotions.

Remembering that he hadn't spoken to the hotel staff about
their security requirements for the morning, he turned to
Justin.  "I forgot to arrange something for tomorrow and I'll
have to go back downstairs.  Our room is the one on the end,
on the left hand side."  He turned to face the others.  "I'll
see you guys shortly."

Picking up their respective suitcases from the pile just
outside the elevator, they chorused "bye" as he walked back
in.  Justin's louder call of "Okay, see you soon!" also
echoed down the hallway.

As the doors to the elevator closed, the doors in the hallway
opened.  Three of the four Backstreet Boys peered out at
their noisy 'neighbours'.  Justin wasn't able to see Brian
anywhere.  He was probably still in the suite that he and
Nick shared.

"Geez," said Howie.  "You don't need to shout you know!"

"Sorry guys," a chagrined Justin replied.  "I didn't mean
to."

"That's okay," replied A.J.  "Ignore grumble guts over
there," he continued, pointing to Howie, "he's just overly
sensitive."

Howie gave him a sour look, but then grinned back at A.J., as
his sense of humour was restored.

"Hey, how about you guys get settled in and then come on over
for a chat?" A.J. asked.

"Yeah okay, we can do that," replied Lance on his groups'
behalf.  "We won't be long.  Come on gang."

The 'N Sync guys peeled off and entered their respective
rooms, not noticing the surprised look the other guys gave
each other when they noticed Justin entering Kevin's room.

"I hope he knows that Kev sleeps in the nude!" exclaimed A.J.
softly.  The other two looked at him and just nodded before
they all shrugged their shoulders and went back into their
rooms.

End - Chapter 1


Well, I hope you liked what you've read so far.  It's still
in the early stages, so there's not a lot of 'action' yet,
but that will change soon.  :)