Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1999 23:03:10 EDT
From: BrwyMilo@aol.com
Subject: "Nick and Justin" part 15
Welcome once again! I'm not sure if I have done this yet, but just in
case I will do it here. I would like to thank all of the authors who
nominated this series for awards! I was amazed when I saw the ballot and saw
that it had been nominated for 22 awards. I was truly surprised and quite
happy. I would also like to thank everyone who has voted for this series.
Even if it wins no awards whatsoever, it is a great honor to stand with some
of the other incredible stories that were nominated. Well here are some more
thank you's! Many thanks to RJ and Ron for helping me greatly. RJ is my
partner in crime in the series "Lost and Found". If you get a chance, give
it a look. There are currently only three parts out, but there will
definitely be many more to come soon.
Should you wish to send me any comments, suggestions, criticisms, or just
say hi, please e-mail Mike at BrwyMilo@aol.com. I try to respond to all
e-mails and what-not. So if I haven't responded to your e-mail yet, I will!
This story is a work of fiction. Completely, totally, 100%. I don't
mean to imply anything about the sexuality of anyone involved, esp. any
members of the bands. I also don't mean to imply anything about the private
lives, beliefs, or actions of anyone mentioned. That said, enjoy as the
story continues.
*****
AJ stood off stage and watched as Britney and her dancers finished
rehearsing the dance to "Baby One More Time". He saw Fatima sitting at the
foot of the stage. As the music ended Fatima started clapping, AJ joining
in. "Britney, you guys are done for today, but you can stick around and see
what these jerks are gonna do," Fatima said as she noticed AJ clapping. She
grinned in his direction and nodded her head over at Britney. Britney looked
over at where AJ was standing and smiled widely. She ran off and gave him a
quick hug.
"Sorry, I'm a little sweaty," she said as she grabbed a towel.
"That's alright, it's looks cute," AJ replied with a grin. Britney
laughed and continued to towel herself off.
"So what do you think about that Robert character," she asked as she
threw the towel into a corner.
AJ leaned in close and whispered, "I don't like him. But don't let him
know that. He's on this tour for a while at least, but we're getting him
checked out a little closer."
"So you don't think that management did their homework properly," Britney
said with a grin.
AJ merely shook his head. He leaned over and kissed her gently on the
cheek. "I've gotta head over to wardrobe to try out some costumes."
"Well, I'm off for a while. I'll keep you company," she smiled as she
walked AJ over to the dressing rooms.
*****
"You're all I ever wanted. You're all I ever needed. So tell me what to
do now. Cause I want you back." Justin sang out clearly as he stood at the
top of a platform. The music was ringing throughout the rehearsal space as
N'Sync ran down to the dance area. Fatima stood down off the platform, doing
a few of the moves with them, trying to guide through some new choreography.
Justin kept one eye on her as he performed the moves with precision. He
continued with the song as Fatima kept her eyes on the other guys, grimacing
a little at Lance and Joey. They saw her staring at them and shrugged.
Justin worked the imaginary audience as best he could as he continued to
perform the dance routine.
Nick stood offstage with Brian, both of them keeping their eyes on their
respective boyfriends. Nick smiled widely as he saw Justin throwing him
looks every now and again.
"He'd better be careful. I think Robert is taping out there," Brian said
with a frown.
"I want him gone," Nick replied swiftly. He continued to watch Justin
and peaked out of the side a little and did see Robert filming. "He is
always around. I know he's supposed to be making a video, but, Christ,
there's such a thing as privacy sometimes!"
"Yea I know. And I have a little bit more bad news," Brian said as he
looked from JC to down at his feet. "It seems that JC got a phone call last
night while I was in the shower."
"What kind of phone call," Nick asked as he kept his eyes on Justin's
movements. He smiled as Justin played up to Fatima a little more.
"Someone called JC and said he new 'his secret' or something like that,"
Brian said. Nick turned around slowly and looked him in his eyes.
"Someone knows JC is gay," Nick said quietly so no one would here.
"Well, they didn't say that exactly, but JC isn't hiding anything else.
They said that they knew his secret and soon everyone else would as well."
"Well who the hell was it," Nick asked a bit louder.
"Calm down. We don't know who it was. We were hoping it was someone
from one of the groups," Brian replied, trying to calm Nick down.
"Someone from one of the groups! That's too fucked up! No one would do
that to JC." He paused and looked back out onto the stage. "You don't think
it was Robert, do you? Maybe trying to get a bigger story or something?"
Brian sighed and glanced out as JC finished the song. "I don't think so.
But if it wasn't someone from one of the bands, then we may have a problem
on our hands."
Justin and JC quickly ran off the stage and over to Nick and Brian. "You
guys like the number," Justin asked quickly with a grin.
"You put on quite a show Curly," Nick replied as he tousled Justin's
hair. Justin smiled widely.
"Well, Fatima told us that we're done for the day, so it's your turn," JC
said looking at Brian.
"Ugh! I hate rehearsals," Brian groaned.
"You gonna watch," Nick asked.
"Actually I have an errand to run," Justin replied looking down. "But
I'll meet you back at the hotel as soon as the rehearsal is done."
"Aw," Nick pouted.
"I'm sorry. But it's really important," Justin looked around a bit, as
if checking for Robert, and then kissed Nick quickly on the cheek. "I'm
sorry."
"It's OK. I'll miss you though." Nick smiled. He looked out onto the
stage. "Well, I guess we should get out there. Let's go Brian."
"Are you watching," Brian asked JC.
"Of course. I'm a good boyfriend," JC said sarcastically. Justin
slapped him across the arm and sighed.
"I'll see you really soon," Justin said as he ran off towards the
dressing room.
"Let's go loverboy," Nick said grabbing Brian's arm and pulling him off
onto the stage.
****
"So, you getting some good footage," Pete, one of the manager's
assistant's asked as he approached Robert.
"Um, yea, I got some usable stuff here," Robert said as he put down his
camera.
"Well good. We just wanted to make sure you knew that you have full
access to the backstage areas at any time as well."
"Cool. I want to get some footage at the hotel too. You know, kind of
make it a day in the life of type of thing," Robert said with a smile.
"Oh sure. I think that would be OK. We'll run it by the guys and see
what they say. I don't think they'll have a problem with it though."
"That's good," Robert said as he began to walk away. "That's really
good."
****
Robert Carter walked quickly through his house and over to the bar. He
poured himself a gin and tonic and carried it back over to his large oak
desk. He looked at the stack of papers that were piled there and sighed. He
took one of the papers and started to read it, but found he couldn't
concentrate on it. Every time he read a sentence, his mind drifted back to
the dinner the night before. He rubbed his hands over his temples and
breathed heavily. He took another paper off the pile and heard the doorbell
ring. He swore under his breath and quickly walked over to the door. He
opened it quickly and squinted his eyes at who he saw standing there.
"Hello Mr. Carter," Justin said nervously. "I think we need to talk."
****
The Backstreet Boys were just finishing up their routine to "Larger Than
Life." Fatima smiled happily. "OK guys, I want to see this again with the
costumes you're gonna be wearing during the shows and then you're free to
go." AJ gave a yell and sprinted towards the dressing room. The rest of the
guys followed slowly behind, a little tired from the workout. When they got
there, they saw AJ standing there in his boxers.
"I'm blind," Howie yelled as he covered his eyes.
"Shut up," AJ laughed as he yanked up a pair of silver pants. "These are
some costumes, huh?
"Oh yea. I think we may blind a couple of audience members," Brian
laughed. The costumes consisted of close fitting silver pants and a tight
black v-neck T-shirt. "Sexy," he laughed as he looked in the mirror.
"Mirror Mirror on the wall, who's the hottest Backstreet Boy of all?"
"Well according to recent polls, that would be me," Nick said with a
smile. Brian sulked into a corner and laughed.
There was a ringing. "I think that's my cell," Nick said as he reached
into his workout bag. He pressed the talk button. "Hello?"
"Nick? It's your mom," his mother whispered.
"What is it mom," Nick asked with a little laugh.
"Justin's here," she replied even lower. "He just came over a minute ago
and now he and your father are talking in his office."
"WHAT," Nick yelled into the phone. Everyone in the dressing room looked
up and stared at him.
"I just wanted to let you know. I'm gonna get off the phone now. Stay
calm."
"I will. I'm sure he knows what he's doing," Nick replied slowly. "Love
you mom."
"I love you too Nick." His mom hung up the phone. Nick closed his cell
and dropped it back into his bag.
"I really hope you know what you're doing Justin," he whispered.
*****
"Sit down Justin,' Robert said, indicating the big leather chair on the
opposite side of his desk. Justin looked at it for a moment then sat down
gingerly.
"Thanks," he said as he leaned back.
"Now, why are you here," Robert asked. It was obvious that he was going
to do away with all subtleties.
"I wanted to talk to you about Nick," Justin said, trying his best to
look Robert in the eye.
"There is really nothing to talk about here Justin. As long as Nick
decides to be gay and in a relationship with you, I will not accept him."
Robert leaned back in his chair and folded his hands together, obviously
enjoying the pressure he was putting on Justin.
"Mr. Carter-"
"Robert. Please call me Robert. I insist that all my son's male lovers
do," he said sarcastically.
"Right. Well Robert, Nick didn't decide to be gay. It wasn't a choice
he made. He's not doing it to hurt you or some plan you have for his future.
It's just the way he is. And there's nothing anyone can do about it. Not
you, not me, not anyone. And the fact that you're just willing to forget
your own son because of it is insane." Justin sat back in his chair and
tried to hold back the tears and the anger that he felt rushing to his face.
"Justin, you'd say anything to get me to just accept you and him and say
everything is fine. Well everything is not fine. If he wanted to, he could
change this. He doesn't have to be gay," Robert spit back leaning forward a
little in his chair. Justin tried to push back further, but he was already
back as far as he could be.
"Your son loves me. I love him. If I didn't think he was happy I
wouldn't expect him to be with me. I only want Nick to be happy."
"If you really wanted Nick to be happy, you'd leave him. I know my son.
I've known him a hell of a lot longer than you have. This kind of life will
not make him happy. He'll only regret everything." Robert kept his eyes
fixated on Justin. As he saw tears in the young man's eyes, he almost felt
bad. Almost.
"I don't think that would make him happy. What would make him happy is
to have a father who would stand by him no matter what his decisions were."
Justin kept his eyes down on the desk. He couldn't bear to see the hatred in
Robert's eyes anymore.
"Justin, I don't think we have anything more to say to each other. It's
obvious we are of two totally different minds on this." Robert stood quickly
and walked towards the door. Justin turned quickly around in the chair and
grabbed his arm.
"Please, please Robert. He needs you. You can't do this to your son.
Please if you love him, you won't do this to him," Justin pleaded as tears
streamed down his face. Robert looked down at him, shaking a bit inside, and
then jerked his arm away. He walked swiftly out of the room and up the
stairs.
Justin sat in his chair for a moment, trying to compose himself. He
allowed himself to cry a bit, but then slowly stood up and took several long,
deep breaths. He wiped the remaining tears from his eyes and walked out from
the office. As he passed the stairs, he looked up and stared for a moment.
"If you stare long enough, he might come back down," Jane said from the
kitchen doorway. Justin quickly spun around to face her. He stared at her
face and saw a smile on it. He was grateful that not everyone in the house
wanted him dead.
"Somehow I doubt that," Justin said as he threw one more glance up the
stairs. He heard Jane's steps clicking on the tile floor as she approached
him.
"Why did you come here Justin," Jane asked as she laid her hand on his
shoulder.
Justin merely looked down at his feet and tried to hold back his
emotions. "Nick says he's fine. He said he was more worried about me than
his father's reaction. But I know on the inside that this must be tearing
him apart. I came here because I thought if I could talk to him, I might be
able to make him understand. But I think I might have made things worse."
He breathed heavily and looked up at Jane, trying to force a smile.
"I married a stubborn man, Justin. A very stubborn man." Jane smiled at
him and then glanced at her watch. "Let me drive you back to your hotel."
Justin started to protest, but Jane quickly silenced him. He climbed
into the car with her and smiled as she drove him back towards the hotel. As
she pulled in front of the main entrance she smiled at him. "You're a good
person Justin. I know you care for my Nick a lot. Please, don't pay too
much attention to my husband. I love him to death, but he can be an ass."
She laughed and Justin gave her a strong hug.
"Could you please not tell Nick I was here," Justin asked quickly.
"Um, OK," Jane said as her thoughts drifted back to her conversation with
Nick. "I won't tell him any of this."
"Thank you," he whispered as he stepped out. He closed the car door and
ran quickly into the hotel lobby. He glanced around quickly, making sure no
fans were following him. He headed swiftly into the elevator and up to his
room. He stepped quietly into the room and laid down on the bed.
The bathroom door opened quickly as Nick stepped out, a towel wrapped
around his waist. He looked at Justin lying on the bed and thought back to
the quick conversation he had had with his mother.
"Hi honey," Nick said as he walked over to the bed.
Justin rolled over onto his back and smiled up at him warmly. Nick
looked closely at his eyes and saw that he had been crying. "Hi Nick,"
Justin said back to him warmly.
"So, um, where did you go? You missed a fun practice!"
Justin thought for a minute. "I was gonna do some shopping, but I
couldn't find anything I liked." He kept his eyes on Nick and then smiled
lightly.
"Oh, sorry. Well, we can go to a mall later if you want." Nick sat down
on the edge of the bed and put his arms tightly around Justin's shoulders.
Justin scooted closer and laid his head on Nick's shoulder. "Is everything
alright?"
Justin nodded his head on Nick's shoulder and then looked up at him. "Do
you think we can take a nap? I'm a little tired and I don't want to sleep
alone."
Nick giggled a little and then lay back on the bed. He pulled Justin
down to him and wrapped his arms securely around him. He hummed lightly and
listened as Justin's breathing became more gentle and rhythmic. He kissed
him lightly on the top of his head and smiled before finally drifting off to
sleep himself.
****
JC and Brian laughed loudly as they walked down the hall to their room.
They heard the elevator doors open and spun around quickly. Out of the doors
stepped Robert.
"Oh, hi Robert," Brian said with a half hearted smile.
"Hey Brian, JC. What's up?"
"I was just going to ask you that," JC added with a laugh.
"Oh, I just wanted to get some extra footage that I can throw in places.
Say, mind if I ask you guys a question?"
"Yea, shoot," Brian said as they began to walk down the hall again.
"Why is it that you two and Nick and Justin always share hotel rooms, but
none of the other guys do?"
Brian stopped where he was and spun around to look at Robert. He looked
over at JC and shrugged.
"Well, did you hear that as a promotional thing for the tour, we're gonna
release a joint CD really soon? It like just cleared with the labels," JC
started.
"I think I heard something about that," Robert replied with a smile.
"Well, the bands are writing all the material for it. So, JC and I are
collaborating, as are Nick and Justin. Most of the other guys are just
writing their own stuff. So, we figured it would be easier for us to work
together if we shared the same room and could just yell ideas at each other,"
JC finished.
Robert smiled and took a couple of notes. "Sounds like it's gonna be
hot. So when do you guys start recording?"
"Actually, we're heading over to the studio tonight. We already have one
song done, but we've got a few more to go," Brian said quickly.
"Cool. So, mind if I get a few shots of you guys," Robert said as he
picked up his camera.
"Sure," JC said. "Go ahead." He and Brian stood for a few poses and
then continued to walk towards their room, leaving Robert heading back to the
elevator.
"I guess we should tell Nick and Justin about all this, huh," Brian said
as he opened the door to his room, and then closed it quickly behind them.
"Yea, but let's not bother them with it now," JC said as he pulled Brian
into a hug. Brian giggled as JC kissed down his neck and then back up to his
lips. "Let's take a shower," JC said with a grin. Brian took his hand and
led them both into the bathroom.
****
"Hi Mindy, it's Kevin," Kevin said as he spoke softly into his cell
phone. He lay in his bed. He took a sip out of his sprite and waited a
response.
"Oh hey Kevin," Mindy said excitedly.
"Listen, can I ask you for a favor?"
"Of course you can. What is it," Mindy asked. Kevin could here papers
rustling in the back and telephones ringing.
"Do you think you can run a check on someone named Robert Sharton. It's
kind of important, so I need you to keep it quiet if possible."
"For you Kevin, anything. Call me back in a couple of days and I'll get
everything I can on this guy."
"Mindy, you're the best," Kevin said with a smile.
"You know it! Talk to you later then." Kevin listened to the click as
Mindy hung up the phone and then lay back down in his bed.
"Let's see who you really are," he said to himself quietly as he shut his
eyes.
*****
Well, there you have it! Sorry this one was a bit shorter than the
others, but I hope you enjoyed it just the same. Please send all comments,
suggestions, criticisms, etc. to Mike at BrwyMilo@aol.com. "Lost and Found",
the other series that I co-author, should be out Tuesday or Wednesday.
Thanks for reading!