Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 00:08:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: John D <zachstack@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hearts Assunder Book 2: Harmony 6

Previously...

"I'm s..sorry,"  Nick hurriedly apologized before
running out of the cemetary.

"Um...no problem?"  The other man looked astonished,
but he held no grudge.  It was his fault anyways, he
had bent down to tie his shoelaces.

Nick cried all the way to his blazer and got behind
the wheel.  There his emotions got the best of him
and there was nothing left to do but let his tears
flow
free once again.
*******************************************************
In a hotel private floor somewhere in the states...

"Oh I'm fine, hun.   Sit down, I just want to chat a
bit."  Jane had her cold smile on.

This wasn't going to be good....

End of Part 5

-------------------------------------------------------
**Disclaimers:  This is a work of fiction and should
not be taken any other way.  Any similarities between
the story's events and any real life persons or events
are highly coincidental.  This is, once again, a PG-13
story and made for everyone to enjoy.  So please, if
you find homosexuality offending, or is illegal in
your area, please hit the back key a couple of times.
Saves us all the trouble.  Otherwise, sit back and
enjoy the show!**
-------------------------------------------------------

Part 6


In John The Long-haired Bodyguard's Room on The
Backstreet Boys' private hotel floor...

"How have you been John?"  Jane elegantly placed
herself onto a comfy high backed cushioned seat.

"Um, I've been great, thank you ma'am."  John wasn't
sure what the heck to do or what she wanted from him.
Other than telling him to carry this thing or that
bag, Jane Carter had never bothered to ever converse
with any of the hired help around the Boys.

"That's good."  Jane Carter smiled and nodded, her
eyes sparkled with mock concern.  "How long have you
been with the group, John?  It seems like it's been
forever since Dustin got injured."  Something about
the way she said the last made John feel a little bit
uneasy.

"Um, I think that I have been with the group at least
4 years now ma'am."  John moved over to the small
fridge.  "Would you like something to drink ma'am?"

"No, thank you dear.  And enough with the 'ma'me'
nonsense.  Call me Jane."  Her smile became broader
still.

John grabbed himself a small cold bottle of mineral
water.  Having Nick's somewhat scheming mom in his
room was making his mouth a little dry.

"In these last four years, you've only been Nick's
bodyguard mainly right?"  Jane ran long orange
fingernails over and over the cushioned arm of her
chair.

"Ah, yes ma'...er I meant, yes Jane.  That is
correct."  John couldn't help but feel a bit cold in
his own hotel room.

"Right, right."  Jane turned in her chair and got up
to her feet.  "Have you been fucking my gay son,
John?"  Her face was anything but smiling now.

"I-I-I..."  The sudden change was too abrupt for John.
 The question had literally came from nowhere.

"You seem to be so nice and cozy with Nick these last
couple of years, now that I think about it."  Jane
never failed to keep her step.  "Is that what took you
so long to get back after you drove him home?  Is that
it?  Did you fuck my gay son?"  Jane was perilously
close now.  Her taloned hands were poised and ready to
slash away at John's face.

Right before John could even answer, the door swung
open and Burk came in with a young lady friend.

"Yeah, I'm the top security..."  Burk was laughing it
up with his red headed friend when he entered.  "Mrs.
Carter!"  Burk stopped dead in his tracks.  "I didn't
know you were in here, I..."

"That's alright, Burk.  John and I were just finishing
our conversation about tomorrow's flight."  Her face
was once again a pleasant mask of smiles and sparkles.
  "Don't forget about what I said, John."  She shot
him a quick glance, her eyes were cold as the rust
colored nails she sported in each hand.

"yeah..."  John's throaty whisper barely came out
audible.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow."  Jane flowed towards the
door.  "Oh, and Burk, don't stay up too late okay?"
She winked at the young lady before shutting the door
behind her.

"She scares me."  Burk's lady friend gave an
involuntary shudder befor going back to giggling and
clinging on the big man.

'You have no idea....'  John thought wiping away cold
sweat that had poured out of his pores just a moment
ago.  "Hey Burk, I think I'm gonna go get some fresh
air.  You take the room tonight."  John slipped on his
overcoat and practically scampered out the door and
into the elevator.
*******************************************************
Nick...

Nick turned to look at his alarm.  4:30 a.m.  He
couldn't sleep after all the dreams he had been having
these past few weeks.  He was afraid of what pains
came along what seemed to have become Brandon's
nightly visit.  He tossed and turned, back and forth,
his eyes were heavy with bags -- he hadn't been able
to stop crying since he left the cemetary last night.
He loved Brandon, and he knew Brandon loved him too.
Maybe that's why he just couldn't seem to shake his
pain; he had loved Brandon way too much.  Added to
that was the fact that the other had loved him even
more despite the cruel break up that had resulted from
Nick's spineless submission to his mother and his then
desire to be with Brian.

Nick rose to sit on the edge of his bed, his silk
sheets lay in a bundle at the foot of his bed.

Nick sighed and grabbed his robe.  Since he met
Brandon, Nick had gotten into the habit of sleeping
naked.  Up until then, Nick had been ashamed about his
body; but Brandon had showed him the errors of his
ways.  Infact, Brandon had showed him many things:
among those was the most important -- love.

Nick wrapped his robe around him with his arms.  He
shivered a little, but he knew that it wasn't from the
coldness of the room.  His puppy whimpered up at him,
looking worriedly at its owner and best friend, the
puppy pawed at his robe, trying to get Nick's
attention.

"Hey,"  Nick croaked.  "Daddy's just going to get a
drink."  Nick attempted a feigned smile, but even that
was an effort to do.  The dog lightly padded behind
his master, worried and feeling the same burden in his
master's heart.

"Scott..."  Nick snickered as he scratched the puppy
behind its ear.  "Scott..."  Nick repeated, his eyes
taken once again with a glazed look.  "Did I ever tell
you how I picked your name, boy?"  Nick's eyes took on
a sparkle that had not been there in the last few
weeks.  "Oh course I did."  Nick opened the door and
stepped out.

Scott, the dog, whimpered again and padded loyally
behind his master -- similar almost to his namesake so
long ago when he too had been loyal and loving to Nick
and Brandon.

[Flashback]
Outside the Backstreet Boys' hotel in Tampa.

"Hey, Nick's leaving out the back!"  A male voice
called out just around the corner of the building
quickly overrunned by the rabid voices of the female
fans.

Back up front.

"C'mon, Mr. Carter, this way."  John the bodyguard,
hurried Nick out the front to the waiting Lincoln that
had pulled up as the last of the fans made the corner.

"Hey blondie."  Brandon smiled up at Nick from his
side of the backseat.

"Hey you."  Nick leaned up and kissed him on the lips.
 "I can't believe how good that works sometimes."
Nick looked back out the rear window.  He could see
the male figure unkempt from all the trampling of the
rabid female crowd.

{ring ring}

John's cell phone rang.  "It's for you."  John handed
it back over his shoulder as he pulled the large
vehicle out the driveway.

"You guys so owe me for this!"  The male voice came in
from the other line -- the same voice that had called
out the lie earlier.

"We love you bro."  Brandon laughed sensing the shake
of head and the soft smile on the other end.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever.  You two have fun, and I think
Burc's finally made it out.  So I'll catch you two
later."  A loud audible sigh of relief -- or
uncertainty -- came from Scott before he hung up.

"Scott is so awesome."  Nick cuddled up to Brandon,
who automatically wrapped a shoulder around the blonde
while the other switched the cell phone off.

"Yeah, I love that guy."  Brandon kissed the top of
Nick's head befor John interupted.

"So where to guys?"  John looked into the rear view
mirror.

"Over in Grand, John.  There's a nice little
restuarant there that we can have some privacy at."
Brandon responded as he and Nick took to separate
seating as to not make the situation more
uncomfortable for the bodyguard.
*******************************************************
A few minutes earlier in the side of the hotel...

"Whew!"  Scott sighed loudly as he hung up.  "Aw man,
I just bought this."  Scott whined as he finally
noticed how badly ripped and torn his shirt had gotten
in the initial stampede of the female fans.  He stood
a while trying in vain to fix his shirt when a voice
rang out over the tumult of disappointed fans.

"Hey that wasn't Nick."  One shrill female voice
pierced the air, shattering the others' commotion,
finally taking notice to the fascade.

"You're right."  Another broke the confusion of the
group.  "Hey, there's the guy that said Nick was out
here!  Get 'im!"


"Oh, boy..."  Scott's eyes went wide as the large
frothing crowd made a break for him.  "Ladies, please
hold on...it was him..."  Scott's voice cracked in
panic.  'Oh I am so gonna get you for this Brandon!
How the heck did I ever let you convince me to do
this!'  Scott gave up his futile attempts to settle
the crowd and made a run for the hotel doors and to
safety.

[End of Flashback]
*******************************************************
Back at the hotel in the present time in Mike's room.

"...yeah, that's right Mike, it's been fairly crazy
since meeting."   Burc's articulate growl came as an
audible murmur through the doors when John showed up.

"John, where have you been?"  Mike got up and headed
to his small make shift desk in the corner.

"I went out for some fresh air and kinda lost track of
time."  John gulped, trying to hide his discomfort
under his long black overcoat.

"Burc told me about what happened last night...well
from where he stepped in that is."  Mike turned to
John holding a small wad of newspaper.  "Well tell me
about that later, but check this out."  Mike tossed
the paper down infront of the tall bodyguard.

It was the entertainment section of the newspaper.
And the headline quickly grabbed John's attention:

"NEW BACKSTREET BOY: To revive the old and welcome the
new fans."

In a haze, John picked up the newspaper and read the
short first paragraph.

'As of last night, an unnamed reliable source -- a
close association with the Backstreet Boys -- came to
this journalist to inform me that there are now plans
to replace Nick Carter -- who left the group due to
some undisclosed reasons a month ago -- with his
rising star younger brother, Aaron Carter.'

"Who...?"  John looked up, but he knew the answer to
his question even before he asked it.  "Who...?"

"We should ask you that, John."  Mike sat behind the
small table behind the burly bodyguard.  "What happed
last night with you and Jane?  Burc said he walked in
on you two in a discussion.

Burc cut in.  "Yeah.  You two seemed a bit heated,
shortly after Jane, you made like a head ache and
split.  What was up with that man?"

"We don't want to accuse you of anything, John, but
this..."  Mike gestured to the newspaper in John's
hands.  "That is very hurtful to the Backstreet Boys'
plans.  And if you know anything about this, you have
to speak up now while we still have time to undo the
damage."

"Mike, I swear I didn't..."  Before John could finish
his answer, Jane and Kevin burst in through the doors
in what could have only been a heated arguement.

"Mike, what the hell is this?!"  Kevin hurled his copy
of the business section inbetween the bodyguard and
their publicity director/manager.

"Pardon, for the intrusion Mike, I tried to calm Kevin
down a bit but he wouldn't listen."  Jane cut in
shortly after giving John a quick cold glance.
"Surely, you don't think anyone of us had anything to
do with this.  I mean none of us, after all, left the
hotel last night."  Jane said the last with a slyness
that neither one of the bodyguards missed.

"No, wait a minute what are you insinuating, Jane?"
Kevin had been too heated to notice the oddness of the
last statement.

"Nothing, only that shortly after I had a discussion
with John, I remember seeing him leaving the
building."  Jane smiled diabolically at John.

"John, you know something about this?"  Kevin's fuming
eyes turned to the dissheveled bodyguard.

"I...I..."  John stuttered under the intense gaze.

"Man, I should..."  Kevin made for the bodyguard in a
furious vengeance before Burc stepped in.

"Kevin, calm down man.  John didn't do anything."

"That is what we were trying to find out when you
barged in here."  Mike now helped Burc try to calm
Kevin and keep him away from the obviously bothered
bodyguard.

"However, until we get this thing settled, we will try
to deny this story and keep a close eye on every
detail."  Mike turned to Jane.  "As for you Mrs.
Carter, you should get Aaron ready for his photoshoot
which will be in a couple of hours."

"Of course, he's just about done."  Jane smiled
broadly -- almost knowingly Mike thought -- and left.

"As for you, Kev.  Wake the other guys, and brief them
on what's going on.  In a few hours, we will get a
statement out to deny this rumour and go ahead with
our photoshoots today."  Mike nonchalantly escorted
Kevin out the door.  "John, go get things ready
downstairs.  And tell Erin to start cranking on our
statement.  Oh and it wouldn't hurt if you get cleaned
up also."  Mike added before he shut the door behind
the tall bodyguard.

"What do you want me to do, Mike?"  Burc came around
to meet Mike by the door.

"I want you to keep a close eye on John."  Mike
realized that the other was a close friend and so
intercepted Burc's attempt to speak up for his friend.
 "I know you think that John wouldn't do anything like
this, but you saw how he came in this morning.  Messy,
unshaved, reeking of alcohol; he might not have done
this on purpose, but maybe, just maybe now, he might
have let something slip in his drunken stupor.  So,
keep an eye on him.  I don't want him getting into
anymore trouble."

"And Jane?"

"I will watch her myself.  I swear we will get to the
bottom of this before the week is over."  Mike said
the last convincingly -- or he thought so at least.
*******************************************************
Back in Florida in Nick's new community college.

Nick slowly made his way through the halls.  His mind
was still reeling with the pains of his heart when he
failed to notice another student coming 'round the
bend.  The clashed and books and papers went flying
everywhere.

"Man, we have to stop meeting like this!"  The other
boy laughed staring up at Nick.

End of part 6
-------------------------------------------------------

Whew!  That was a long chapter.  Now I hope you guys
enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it.  Now
I am once again going to ask y'all of your
forgiveness, as I will once again be overwhelmed with
paper work in the next couple of weeks.  So the
chapter after this one will definitely be taking a
backseat to my future.  Anyways, email me what you
think of this chapter.  Good, bad, so-so, anything.

Thanks for your time...especially for reading this
ramshackle of a story!

John