Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 19:50:01 -0500
From: Jennifer Lankford <silverwings4ever@hotmail.com>
Subject: And I Swear - Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Here I am again, sitting in front of another black Word
document, waiting for inspiration to come along. Little pictures of
Backstreet Boys dancing in my head. But yet, I don't know them, and I
don't own them. And I don't know anyone they know. This is all fiction
of course. This D-O-E-S-N-O-T deal with the killing/suicide of AJ MCLEAN!
LET'S GET THAT STRAIGHT NOW! Any Backstreet Boys fan knows that AJ's
real name is Alexander James ~underlines James 5 times for Nifty~ McLean.
Yes, it says he killed himself but, he staged it, boo, I told you the
truth, kill me now. But I have to have something to think about before I
go to sleep so, this is real to me, just another world I can get lost in
till it comes to an end. silverwings4ever@hotmail.com if you want to
contact me, http://www.angelfire.com/music2/slipupwizshs/index.html if
you want more stories or pictures of the characters or just about
anything my little mind can come up with.

Chapter 6
Tom sat on the bed and pulled his hands away from his face. Blood. She'd
probably hadn't broken it, but still, it was a hard hit. He wasn't
expecting her to hit him.
`Oh God, what have I done?' Tom thought to himself.
Doc Riley ran through the room and pushed opened James' bedroom door. He
heard most of the conversation between Amy and Doc Riley, and that just
made him feel worse.
`How could I have done that? I didn't know what to expect when I found
him, I thought that he'd be on his own and away from everyone, I didn't
think he would take on a different life completely.' Tom thought.
With pain increasing in his stomach and sides he carefully lifted his
legs over the edge of the bed and tried to stand up. After a few attempts
of falling back down he stood up and cringed at the pain. He walked over
to James' bedroom door and looked in.
"Oh God, he's in bad shape, if I didn't know any better I'd say he'd
slipped into a coma, but, there is no reason for that to happen." He
heard Doc Riley say.
"The look in his eyes was terrible, like someone had just shot him and
he'd lost everything. I can't believe that Tom was a PI, it just
doesn't make sense." Amy said.
"James isn't completely who he says he is, he has people looking for
him."
"Oh, God, he's not in trouble with the police is he?"
"No, nothing like that, but people want to get a hold of him because...
well" He heard Amy say. "He's basically worth a lot of money, they
treat him like dirt and he ran to escape it, and ended up here. That's
the round about story without telling everything." Amy said.
Tom looked in the door. He saw James lying on his bed, on his back, out
cold. Amy was sitting on the edge of the bed brushing James' hair. Doc
Riley was on the other side, looking at James and shaking her head.
"I don't know what to say. I wish there was something I could do. I've
tried smelling salts, and that didn't bring him to. Only thing we can do
is wait, if he doesn't wake up soon, I'll put him on IV till he does,
but I hope we don't have to send him to a hospital." Doc Riley said.
"No, we can't do that, when they ask for identification, we'd have to
give them his real ID, and then we'd lose him." Amy said.
Tom heard her sniff and wipe her eye. He hung his head in shame. `People
actually care about him here, no concern that he has a family back in
Florida, or that millions of people want to find him. He's gained a
completely different perspective of life.' Tom thought and backed away,
wiping his eyes.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Amy saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked over to see Tom
wiping his eye and leaving.
`How can he move, he has two broken ribs.' She thought.
Amy got off the bed and went to the door. Tom was slowly trying to lay
back down in bed.
"What were you doing." Amy asked.
Tom turned around suddenly.
"I was...uhh..." Tom tried to explain, but lost the words.
"What?" Amy said. "Gaining information to give to Howie so they can
kill him again."
"No," Tom said. "I never realized that this could happen, you know,
him, with a new life, happy. I was only told to find him. I don't know
if I could ever get him there now. I don't have the heart, there is a
lot of money involved with me getting him back to Florida, but, I'd give
it up and leave, so long as he's alright, that's all I care about. To
tell you the truth, I've uh..."
"You've what." Amy asked, curious.
"I've ummm..." Tom looked around the room. He mumbled something that
Amy couldn't quite understand.
"You've what?" Amy asked again.
"I've had a crush on him okay?" Tom said and hung his head again.
"A crush?" Amy asked, not understanding.
"I was a Backstreet Boy fan, when they were together, and he was my
favorite." Tom blushed. "That's one of the reasons I took this job, to
meet him."
Amy looked at him oddly. "You're gay?"
Tom shuffled his feet. "Yeah, I am."
Amy looked at him oddly still. "Like, gay, like, like guys, gay?"
"Yeah," Tom said.
"Ummm..." Amy said a little uncomfortable.
There was silence for a couple of minutes. Tom broke it.
"I'm not taking him back, as soon as I'm better, I'm gone, I'll
leave and never say a word, the money isn't a matter." Tom said.
Amy looked at Tom and her eyes softened. "Really," She asked.
"If he's happy here, I won't touch him. I won't force him to go
back." Tom said. He turned around, ending the conversation. Then he
turned back around.
"Could I...ummm... talk to him alone, without you or Doc Riley in the
room?" tom asked.
Amy looked like she was going to shoot him.
"Why?"
"To tell him thank you and to say good-bye."
"Good-bye?"
"Yeah, you know, leave?"
"Why?"
"Because, I want to, I feel I need to."
"Ummm..." Amy looked back into James' bedroom. "I don't know."
"What am I going to do? You two are outside the door and I don't have
anything that I could possibly do to him without hurting myself more."
Tom said.
"Okay, I'll get Doc out." Amy said and went back into James' bedroom
to talk to her.
5 minutes later Doc Riley and Amy walked out.
Tom silently walked in to his room and shut the door behind him.
Amy turned to Doc Riley. "Do you think he'll be okay?"
"I think he'll be fine, once Tom talks to him.
Amy looked at Doc Riley with a confused expression.
"Call it experience." Doc Riley said and left.
Amy sat down on the couch and waited till Tom came out.
*~*~*~*~*~*~* In James' room
Tom gulped and walked over to the bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed
carefully and sighed.
"I didn't expect this would happen, I really different. Tom started.
"I took this job because I wanted to know the truth about what happened
to you. I knew you wouldn't kill yourself, you wouldn't let the fans
down like that. I should know, I was a huge fan. Finding you here, in
this town was pure luck, I fell asleep at the wheel and ran into a tree,
my fault entirely. I was actually on my way to the border, thinking you
went there. But when I woke up in the bar, and realized that you were
standing over me, I don't know what came over me, I wanted to... I don't
know, if I had been awake, I probably would have kissed you, because
I've loved you for so long. Not the AJ that was in front of the of the
fans, on stage or in pictures, but the one underneath, the one I never
knew, the one I thought I would know someday. I..." Tom lost what he was
going to say. He put his hand up to run his fingers through James' hair
but stopped. "It's like a dream, to meet you. But since I've found
that you have a life. That you don't want to be on stage, that you
don't want to be in front of the cameras with the other guys. Then, I'm
going to leave, as soon as I'm well enough to do so, I'm going to move
into the bed and breakfast till I'm completely healed, and then I'll
leave town. But.... If you don't mind, then, I.... Uhh... this is
embrassing, I'd like an autograph." Tom laughed. "You're one of the
hottest guys I've ever seen, and I'm glad I got to meet you, even if it
was for a little while. Howie will just have to sue me for every penny I
have because I didn't bring you back but, I don't care, let him do
it." Tom stopped, wondering what else to say.
Tom started again. "I know not how to tell thee who I am. My name, dear
saint, is hateful to myself, Because it is an enemy to thee. Had I it
written, I would tear the word." Tom quoted and then said another.
"Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books; but love from
love, toward school with heavy looks."
Tom stopped and looked at James. He got up silently and bent over James.
"I really wish you were awake, many people want you here, and I'd hate
to see them lose you." Tom bit his lip.
I can't believe you're here with me
And now it seems my worlds complete
And I never want this moment to end
Close my eyes and still I see
My dreams become reality
And now I know how it feels to be real
I prayed so many nights that you would come my way
Made from above to light my darkest day
I think its time for you to heed these lines
Cause there's something I wanna say
I finally found what I've been looking for
And now ya know I'm gonna love you more
Hold me tight cause its always been you (its always been you)
To think that you were always there (always there)
To be my friend to wipe away my tears
And now its clear that its always been you
Sometimes you don't expect that friends
Can become lovers in the end
Only God knows what the future will bring
So hold me close and don't let go
Cause this is love boy don't you
And we're going to be together for eternity
I prayed so many nights that you would come my way
Made up from above to light my darkest day
Love so strong, can't be wrong
You're where I belong
Chorus
This time, I'm gonna make sure it turns out right
I wanna be your every thing
By your side, for the rest of my life
This love is the way that love should be
Look in my eyes, and realize, it's no desize
Cause I'm in love with you
Chorus (2x)

That's it, finally, a chapter out. I've actually been holding this for a
while, but was too lazy to send it in! Bad me! Response welcome at
silverwings4ever@hotmail.com More info and pics of the characters at my
website, listed at the top. Let's hope I get the next one up quicker.
Tootles