Date: Fri, 22 Oct 1999 19:11:35 EDT
From: Brwydevil@aol.com
Subject: Boys Bands: Running Thoughts 6
I welcome you back to the philosophical and dreamy realm that is my little
story. Each segment (which so far has no determinable length) answers
questions and brings up more... I hope that is acceptable. I'd like to take a
moment and approach the subject of the ratio in these stories to how many of
the ten guys could actually be gay. I actually see the point that all of them
can't be homosexual... but one benefit to fiction is that you can make anyone
do anything you want. I've made some of them straight in my story but in
order to keep an interesting flow, I've given almost all of the boys an
"experimental side". It is only fair. Besides, if you wish to get
stereotypical, each of them could have been chosen to be in their respective
bands because they are cute, fashionable, emotional and talented- all
qualities of a gay man! (Hey, I love straight guys too, I am just proving a
point- LOL). So, this is a fun fictional tale and I would like to believe
that on some level it has a reality of its own. I don't make any character
unbelievable as far as I know. So, those who are gay are gay. Those who are
not are not. I'm sure you can agree with that! BrwyDevil@aol.com
Running Thoughts Part Six: "Putting It Together"
New York was a hell of a town. The whole environment here was always
hectic and crowded. Surprisingly, though, the city was amazingly organized.
At least it was for celebrities. The theatre scene and the eccentric Village
and the business centers and the architecturally breathtaking
constructions... it was definitely one of a kind.
The BackStreet Boys stepped out of the tall bus and stretched their legs.
It was rather early in the morning and the bright sun shined off of the
windowpanes of the buildings above. The rising ball of fire in the sky seemed
to be peeking out from down one of the side streets. An orange hue blanketed
the entire city. Nick stepped onto the cracked sidewalk and shielded his eyes
from the brightness. He squinted and turned away from the direction of the
sun. That was a disadvantage to heavily tinted windows.
AJ yawned as he waited on the side of the bus. He leaned up against the
smooth, cool vehicle. He was not a morning person. He didn't know how anyone
could be. He took a swig from his little bottle of orange juice and grimaced
at its bitter, warm taste.
"It's October! How can it be so hot here?" Kevin asked as he put his
sunglasses on.
"Greenhouse effect." Nick answered. Kevin moved past AJ with a shudder and
avoided eye contact. His dream was still strong within him.
Howie and Brian were the last to get out of the bus. They were bickering
over something trivial again.
"But if you put gel in your hair, it makes it very difficult for..." he
looked around chose his words carefully, "... for someone to run their
fingers through it." He hinted quite adamantly. Brian shut his eyes and shook
his head.
"It looks good, ok?" Brian mused.
"That's debatable." Howie muttered. The rest of the group smiled at the
old-fashioned couple. It was certainly adorable. They all waited in the sun
for a long time. Not many people walked these uptown streets at this hour.
And those who did were too busy or too brain-dead to care if a celebrity
stood across from them. For the most part, anyway.
"All right, guys..." Jack said as he approached them from behind. Jack
was one of the newest and youngest touring secretaries. He was freshfaced and
inexperienced but very methodical and always on the money. He was tall with
curly blond hair and light green eyes. "You're going to scout the Madison
Square Garden concert hall tonight... there's an event going on there, so
we'll have to move through without being detected. Can we all handle that?"
he smiled.
The boys nodded sluggishly as a few of the musicians approached the bus
to retrieve their luggage. "As for today, you're free to sleep. We have an
early practice session tomorrow morning... I won't be keeping you out too
late tonight but be ready to go to the Garden at six o'clock." Jack bellowed.
Everyone lifted their bags and headed across the street towards the hotel.
=============================================================================
The plane set down at the large airport and skidded slowly to a quaint
stop. The personnel rushed out and connected the gangway to the side of the
plane. The stewardess (or flight attendant if you prefer) wished the
passengers well as they departed into the terminal. The members of N'Sync
nodded respectfully to the young woman and moved off of the passageway. Lance
slapped JC's hand away as he tried to slip her his phone number.
The press and hoards of fans screamed wildly as they came into view.
N'Sync smiled and waved. The manager of the airport spoke into the
microphone, "Welcome to New York!"
More rampant screams echoed from the crowd. Chris approached the podium
and prepared to address the loyal people in front of him. The excited group
toned down a bit and waited for him to speak. Chris opened his mouth and let
his eyes scan over the eager faces before him. He exhaled heavily and cleared
his throat. Lance chewed on the inside of his cheek with anticipation. He saw
what Chris was capable of. He crossed his fingers for support.
"Hey..." Chris grunted. The crowd went wild. He grinned, swallowed hard
and stepped back away from the microphone. Lance shook his head and guided
himself over to the front of the little stage.
"Thanks for the opportunity to play here... We love you- and we love New
York!" he reeled enthusiastically. The screams exploded greatly and the noble
security guards showed up to take them to the waiting limo.
"See you at the concert!" JC yelled behind him as they rushed out of the
airport. Joey lagged behind and put his arm around Justin who had been rather
quiet.
"They worship you, man!" he laughed. "I've never seen so many t-shirts
with your ugly head on them before!" Joey joked.
"At least I'm on t-shirts. They had to give yours away to the Salvation
Army so that someone might give them a chance." Justin poked back. Both of
them giggled as they jumped into the limo.
The five guys caught their breath and watched the passing scenes out of
the windows as the car moved away. Chris looked dejected and thoughtful.
Lance noticed his expression.
"Don't worry. You'll talk up a storm next time." he comforted. Chris just
shrugged his shoulders and stared out into space. Lance understood the
reaction. Chris had so much to offer but no outlet to do it in. Lance turned
his head and saw Justin sitting next to him. "Hey, Jus... how was the club
last night?"
"Kinda boring. Bland music. Overenthusiastic teenyboppers... obnoxious
and loud. A club's a club." Justin droned. Lance nodded knowingly. He knew
Justin needed something new in his life. Something to make him happy.
The limo ride was like grim death. Joey was tired. Chris was depressed.
Justin was distant and JC was... well he was just being JC. Lance sighed to
himself and shut his eyes. He couldn't wait till their concert that night. At
least they would pretend to be happy then.
=============================================================================
A knock came on the door. Brian opened up and grinned to the waiter.
He took the tray and gave the man a tip. He shut the door and walked back
over to the bed where Howie was resting.
"Lunch is served, sir." Brian grinned as he slid down onto the sheets.
He took the top cover off of the tray and moved the food around. "Your french
fries with gravy..." he announced with a smile.
"I thank you."
"Not a problem..." he uncovered his own dish. "Mmmmmm chicken
fingers..." he salivated. The two boys looked at each other for a second.
These were the times to remember. The joyous meals they could share. The
sweet fleeting moments they had together. Howie leaned over and pecked Brian
on the cheek. They grinned and each other and began to eat.
"I forgot to order some sodas..." Brian exclaimed after a moment. Howie
licked his pointer finger seductively.
"Wherever will we get a sweet fluid to wash down this food?" he asked.
Brian shook his head with a chuckle.
"You are unstoppable."
"And you love it!"
Brian moved across the bed to lay at Howie's side. He stroked his
lover's leg and snuggled up to his shoulder. They felt each others heart beat
and they let each other fall silent. They shared the rhythm of breathing.
They were alive together. Howie gripped Brian's hand and he felt he knew what
happiness was.
Twenty minutes passed before Howie opened his eyes and realized they had
spaced out. "Sweetie, our food's getting cold."
Brian let the sides of his lip curve upward. He pulled away from Howie
very slowly. "We wouldn't want that!" he whispered. He sat back up and took a
piece of chicken from his plate. He fed it to Howie and grinned. "How's that?"
"Delicious... almost as good as you!" They giggled and filled the air
around them with the music of love. "Now let's talk about that gel in your
hair..."
It was a great time for them. Fame and acclaim worldwide and the
opportunity to be together. Nothing would overpower the feelings that had...
nothing that was evident yet anyway.
==============================================================================
The beautiful hills decked with a luminous display of multicolored
flowers spun wildly around. A wide blue sky topped off the dream scene.
Flowing clouds mingled together in the sky and danced together above the
world. Lance envisioned the light green blanket with Nick Carter fast asleep
on it.
He saw himself running towards Nick. His legs felt heavy and feeble.He
wanted to reach the blond beauty. He wanted to see what this dream was all
about. Was he attracted to Nick? Yes. He knew he was. But what more was
there? What was he supposed to do?
His eagerness drew him closer and closer to the boy in the sun. Nick was
shirtless and peaceful. Lance was nearly there- nearly at the blanket- nearly
next to-
His eyes shot open. It was midday. He had fallen alseep. The jetlag had
gotten to him worse than he thought. Lance lifted his wrist and checked the
time. 4:17. They would be leaving soon. He lifted himself up and turned on
the radio. Something had to keep him from falling back asleep. He shed his
tanktop and stretched in front of the mirror.
"No, no, no, Pat!" the disk jockey guffawed. "According to the online
survey, most people think that the Spice Girls aren't popular anymore because
they simply got sex change operations and became N'Sync!" There was
uproarious laughter from the radio.
Lance just shook his head. He was far too big to get upset over the
media. Especially a New York radio station that most people probably ignored.
"Any publicity is good publicity." he always said.
The mindless DJ stopped chatting and let a song play. Lance walked off
to find his suitcase. He opened his ears and waited for the sounds of the
radio. It was a BackStreet Boys song. Lance sunk to the floor in deep thought.
============================================================================
Madison Square Garden was packed for the N'Sync concert. They were
scheduled to perform for the whole weekend. This particular show was special,
though. Gloria Estefan was making a guest appearance so they could do "Music
Of My Heart" together. They were sure the crowd would go wild- even if the
song was overplayed.
The five boys smiled widely and used their charisma to charm the
countless fans who waved their arms around and screamed for no real reason.
They were having a relatively normal time. Very relaxed and laid back.
The audience would have loved them no matter what they did. Loyal fans
were great to have. You always feel their support and the sense of pressure
is greatly decreased. During one of the dance numbers, Justin kicked a little
too hard and one of his shoes sailed out into the crowd. An explosion of
laughter and applause bombarded the stage.
Even the rest of the band laughed. Composure wasn't necessary since
their was no fourth wall during these types of concerts. The spotlights were
very bright... the boys could barely see the people out past the first few
rows...
==============================================================================
A stretch limo pulled up in front of the Garden. The most of the people
were too busy looking inside for the members of N'Sync to realize. Inside the
car, the secretary, Jack, spoke to the BackStreet Boys.
"We have a concert going on in here... I don't plan on staying very
long." He made eye contact with each man. "Look at the space, observe the
stage, pay attention to your surroundings." Jack scooted towards the door.
"Remain inconspicuous- don't make yourselves known. I'll be splitting you up,
so I am pretty sure you'll go unnoticed." Jack opened the limo door.
The busy streets ignored the superstars as they lined up in front of the
car. "We'll all meet up in the dressing room area at the end of the
concert... which only has about an hour and a half left." Jack backed his way
out of the limo. "Remember what I've said!"
The car behind the limo opened up and several security guards stepped
out. Fortunately, someone was able to convince the burly protectors to dress
casually. Anyone inside would be able to pinpoint a celebrity if they were
being escourted around by a Mack truck dressed in all black.
Perry, a rather short fellow, stepped over to AJ and Kevin. His face
was grim and emotionless. He gestured to both of them and began walking
towards the arena. AJ gave Kevin an amused look and mimicked the walk of his
bodyguard. The two of them eventually vanished from sight and Jack looked
over some of his paperwork.
"I wonder what kind of weightlifting bodyguard they have assigned to us!"
Howie nudged Brian with a chuckle. Jack overheard the remark and stepped over
to the couple.
"Just you, Howie." Jack smiled.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there are five of you in the group. I divided you up into pairs.
So there was naturally one of you left over..." Jack explained. "So it's just
going to be you, me and our bodyguard." he gestured to a figure standing at
the far end of the limo.
Howie turned and saw a very tall blonde woman glaring at him. Certainly
not what he was expecting. "Is this like that Pamela Anderson TV show or
something?" he said under his breath.
"Let's go, Patrice." Jack called over. The leggy woman threw her
cigarette into the gutter and strutted over towards the men.
"I really don't feel safe." Howie squeaked as they began walking away.
Brian squeezed his lover's hand and winked. Howie nodded and smiled and then
grimaced as Jack pushed them all along towards the entrance.
"You're with me, guys." another voice came from behind the limo. Nick and
Brian turned to see Peter, their driver, getting ready to take them in.
"You're a bodyguard too?"
"You've gotta pay the bills." he smirked. The last three men left the
open sidewalk and stepped into the extremely loud and overly rowdy N'Sync
concert.
==============================================================================
===================
You never know
What you've done for me
What your faith in me
Has done for my soul
And you'll never know
the gift you've given me
I'll carry it with me, yeah
There was a slight lull as the slow croon melodically hummed through the
stadium. Everyone was quite surprised to have Estefan on the stage that
night. It was very pleasant. This song was the source for an upcoming movie
and a large screen behind the stage displayed scenes and images from the film
as an added bonus. For the most part, however, no one was paying attention to
the clips.
Through all the days ahead
I think of days before
You made me hope for
something better
and made me reach for
something more
You taught me to run You taught me to fly
Help me to free the me inside
Help me hear the music of my heart
Help me hear the music of my heart
You opened my eyes You opened the door
To something I've never known before
And your love Is the music of my heart
"We're going to go up to the top level, folks." Peter said as he
guided Nick and Brian to a stairwell on the other side of a crowd of young
girls. So far, no one saw them for who they really were. Good. Nick didn't
want to take away from the attention being given to N'Sync. As a matter of
fact, he hadn't shaved that morning so that the shadowy light stubble would
slightly mask his face. He was wearing his favorite grey cap and very baggy,
nondescript clothing. The limelight was something he rarely sought out.
You were the one
Always on my side
Always standing by
Seeing me through
You were the song that always made me sing
I'm singing this for you
Everywhere I go
I think of where I've been
And of the one who knew me better
Than anyone ever will again
Nick and the others were walking close to the technical booth at the
top row of the arena. The heads of people blocked his view of the stage
below. The beautiful voice filled the air... but it wasn't Gloria he was
listening to. He walked up a free ramp to his left side and squinted to see
who was singing. As he walked in front of the technical booth, he blocked a
spotlight and stared at the five people on the stage. He felt an
overwhelmingly strong wave of deja vu flow through him. He had done this
before...
"Are you all right?" Brian asked him. Nick did not take his eyes off of
the source of the voice that let his spirit free. He stared at Justin. From
the very back of Madison Square Garden, he felt like he was right next to
Justin. He felt a strange sensation in his chest. Brian put his hand on
Nick's shoulder. "Hey, Nick?"
"I'm sorry... I just..." Nick snapped back into reality. "I just felt
something."
"Are you okay?" Brian spoke over the crowd.
"I think so..." Nick could barely be heard as he let his eyes focus on
Brian's face.
What you taught me
Only your love could ever teach me
You got through when no one
could reach me before
'Cus you always saw in me
All the best that I could be
It was you who set me free
You taught me to run You taught me to fly
Help me to free the me inside
Help me hear the music of my heart
Help me hear the music of my heart
You opened my eyes You opened the door
To something I've never known before
And your love Is the music of my heart
The music of my heart...
The audience exploded in a gigantic ovation as the song ended. Cries of
praise and screams of excitement echoed through the streets of Manhattan.
Nick, Brian and Peter made their way down the private stairwell and found
themselves backstage. Ahead of them was a set of double doors where they saw
AJ and Kevin with their silent bodyguard.
"What do you guys think?" Kevin asked as he put his hands in his
pockets.
"It's big..." Brian shrugged- not knowing exactly what to say. He
turned around and looked to see which way Howie would be coming from.
"There's a bit of a scheduling problem, boys..." AJ hummed. "Jack is
working it out but it seems we may have to stay an extra week."
"Why?" Nick asked.
"N'Sync is signed up to play this weekend." Kevin answered.
"I thought they were only doing tonight!?" Brian interjected.
"There was some mishap between managers... we both got the same
weekend." Kevin responded passively.
"It'll all work out." Nick grinned. Everyone's eyes fell on him with
surprise. They weren't used to him being an optimist. After a moment of
silence, they nodded in agreement. It was at this moment that the door behind
Brian flew open and Justin stumbled forward and fell right into Nick. They
tumbled to the floor and Nick slammed his head on the grey concrete wall
behind him.
Brian rushed over to the two boys and kneeled down to make sure they
were all right. He only needed to wait a split second for their response.
They both laughed hysterically. Justin's missing shoe (which had been lost in
the audience) made him lose balance. He shook his head and realized he was
practically sitting up in Nick's lap.
"Hey, I'm sorry, man... I didn't mean to knock you down." Justin grinned
and his eyes met Nick's. They were silent for a moment. Brian interrupted and
helped Justin stand up. Nick felt the pain in his head melt away as he saw
Justin's eyes. As he felt Justin's eyes invade him. Fulfill him.
"No harm done." Nick answered sheepishly as he grabbed Justin's hand to
rise from the floor. Their equal strength flowed through each othr like an
electric current.
"I couldn't have asked for a more comfortable place to land." Justin
said when Nick finally rose. The rest of the boys watched the scene silently
and smiled. Something was in the air.
The stage door behind Brian opened once again and the rest of N'Sync
came through. They were surprised to see the BackStreet Boys there but they
nodded respectfully. They had been at several functions together over the
years.
"Sorry, Jus... we couldn't find your show anywhere. It's a souvenier to
some loyal fan now." Chris shrugged.
"There'll be an auction at EBAY.com about it tomorrow." Joey laughed.
There was an uncomfortable pause. Lance stared at Nick... his mind reeling in
several directions. He looked down and noticed something odd.
"Do you two know each other?" Lance asked. Nick and Justin didn't
understand what he meant until they realized they were still holding hands
from when Justin had helped Nick up. Their eyes met again and they smiled.
Slowly, they let each other go.
"We do now."
============================================================================
Okay, that was another one of the longer ones. I hope you are enjoying
it. I am not certain what people like to see or if anyone is liking what I am
doing so please feel free to send all love letters and all hate mail to me at
BrwyDevil@aol.com. I love mail! Aren't these relationships just great? If you
find yourself with a sentimental romantic, don't do anything to ruin it,
folks! Kevin.