Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 15:03:02 +0000
From: James
Subject: Boy Bands - On The Streets - Season Two - Part Nine

I don't know the Backstreet Boys, or N'Sync, nor is this story meant to
imply anything about their sexuality, their private lives or their life
choices. Please don't take any of this seriously, it is just a story,
nothing more. Nothing in this story is real, it is the product of the
author's imagination. That's enough disclaimers I think...

Here is part nine of Season Two - I hope everyone enjoys it, and I hope that
I get lots of emails - come on people! My email is at the top of the page!
Give me a shout out if you liked it or hated it...now here's is part nine!

On The Streets - Season Two - Chapter Nine

>>>Jared's Point of View<<<

	That walk was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I stepped out the
passageway, and everyone in the theatre stood. One and a half thousand
people watching you walk a hundred metres is terrifying. What if I tripped
up? Or stumbled? I wanted to just crawl back into the passageway, but then I
noticed Kevin out of the corner of my eye coming up the other side, and he
was smiling, and I knew how upset he'd be if I didn't do this too. He was
smiling at the people alongside the aisles, of course he actually knew them.
I recognised a couple from watching MTV, and there were the bands that I
trained - Kevin had seated them close to the aisle on my side, I'm guessing
to give me a little more confidence. I don't know why, but I started to
wonder about things like 'I wonder how much all the jewellery in this room
is worth?' looking around, I noticed some very impressive diamonds and other
items made of precious stones adorning the women, and some of the men.

	I took a deep breath, and sped up a little so I kept up with Kevin in the
other aisle. That was when I got a shock looking over the audience - I saw
Elton John sitting a few rows back from the front. I'm pretty sure Kevin
invited more than half these people just for the sake of having them. I
finally got to the steps of the stage. I'd passed both N'Sync, and 98
degrees, and in the front row Nick and AJ had been sat on my side while
Brian and Howie were on Kevin's. I slowly climbed the steps. I tried to
follow the directions we'd come up with a few days before, so I headed
towards where Rev. Swanson was standing, and stood next to Britney. Kevin
was a couple of steps behind me. I smiled at him when he arrived. I really
wanted to just fall into his arms and imagine I didn't have so many people's
eyes on me, but that's the way it was.

	Suddenly, flashes started going off, and I thought somehow the press had
got in. But it was just the photographer we'd hired to take the pictures. I
knew video cameras were also mounted up on the balcony and above us, and in
the pit in front of the stage to film the whole thing... I was wondering if
I would make a fool of myself in front of everyone and have it recorded for
posterity on film. My eyes flicked out and started registering just how many
people were here. I also started trying to name a few of them - I do watch a
lot of MTV. I could see Janet Jackson, but Kevin had already told me she was
coming because he knew I loved her music. Then there was Whitney Houston,
who I only knew cos Kevin and I had watched the Bodyguard together not that
long ago. There was Cher - it was funny he had seated these women a long way
apart from one another. I would've thought they'd have a lot to talk about,
being in the same business and everything.

	I could see a couple of younger bands who I thought I could name, The
Calling, or at least the lead singer was there. I was presuming the people
sitting around him were the rest of the band. I could remember him though -
I always thought he looked like a pixie. There was N'Sync, all of them
dressed very smartly, though I could see Justin looking a bit forlorn as all
the guys had women sitting next to them and Britney was up here with me. I
couldn't see anymore of the audience without turning my head, so I looked
out the other corner of my eye towards Britney, and she was standing there
with a smile on her face, looking very elegant. She had most of her hair
held up in some intricate design, but one strand fell down the side of her
face. I looked over at Kristin, and could see Kevin's attraction to her. She
was one incredible looking woman, blond hair that fell in waves over her
shoulders, a figure to die for, and a sparkle in her eyes, that hinted at
mischief. She was smiling as well.

	Then I looked at Kevin, who was looking straight back at me with his
eyebrows raised expectantly. Why was he looking at me like that? Then I
turned to the reverend, who was also looking straight at me. How long had I
been looking around? Britney and Kristin were staring straight at me as
well, and I got the nasty feeling that the entire audience was waiting for
me to say something, and they were all staring at me. Think... think... the
rehearsal, what was the first thing I had to say in the ceremony? Well, I
only had to say one thing - 'I do'. I guessed that was what they were
waiting for, now if I could just get my throat to open up again.

	"I do." I said quietly. My throat felt like it was going to collapse, and I
could feel the phlegm rising in the back of my mouth. I listened attentively
to the last couple of minutes of the service. I had been paying no attention
for almost forty-five minutes, I felt really bad, I'd missed our entire
wedding because I was so inattentive. Shit. I felt like shit. Finally, I
heard the words I was dying to hear since the beginning of the day, as the
priest finished his 'sermon':

	"And now, the typical words at the end of a wedding ceremony will not do,
so I must now pronounce you husband, and husband. You many now kiss." He
took a step back, and Kevin and I looked at each other, he smiled slightly,
then everything seemed to slow down. I know I took a step forward somehow,
and I started to reach my arms around him, but they met his. Our hands
joined in mid air, and Kevin brought them down between us. We bent our heads
to the side, and kissed gently, then more passionately, then gently again.
Kevin finally backed away. I wish we could have stayed in the kiss longer -
for that brief moment, there seemed to be no one else in the room, no
clapping or cheering, no people rising to their feet, just Kevin and me.

	"I love you." Kevin said as he moved apart.

	"I love you too." I said softly. I still felt nervous, but it was over. We
were done, and I could feel the strain going. I knew I still had hundreds of
eyes focused on me and Kevin together, but it didn't seem to hurt so much
anymore. "I'm sorry about this morning."

	"That's ok, let's just enjoy it now." Kevin smiled, and I leant in again to
kiss him. Kevin and I were supposed to walk down the left hand aisle from
the stage together, and out the door to a waiting limo. We slowly went down
the stairs, getting quicker as we walked along the aisle. Our hands remained
connected, and I couldn't help but start smiling, as everyone clapped in the
audience. The entryway was held open by two guys dressed in suits, and we
walked out into the theatre lobby, and then out the main entrance. Flashes
started going off, but Kevin dragged me through - the press was still there,
fortunately held back by the security guards we'd hired. We headed for the
limo, the door of which was being held open by the driver. Kevin ducked in,
and sat in the far corner on the back seat, and I eventually joined him. The
door shut behind us, sealing us in. It was quiet and dark, I looked over at
Kevin, and saw him breathing heavily, and a slight smile on his face.

	"Wow." He said.

	"What?"

	"We're married!" He said with a big grin.

	"Yeah." I said, answering him with an equally big smile.

	"I love you."

	"Love you too." I answered. "I'm sorry I phased out in there." I said
quickly, looking down at my lap.

	"You were still nervous weren't you?" I nodded.

	"There were a lot of people, more than I expected, it felt a little
uncomfortable, I'm sorry."

	"It's ok, it's over now. I just wish you'd had a better time." Kevin pursed
his lips.

	"No, Kevin, I had..." I couldn't say a good time, that would just be lying,
but... "Kevin, I didn't have a bad time, it was just nerve-wracking I guess,
like going on a roller-coaster or something, or taking an exam or something
like that. I had butterflies, but it was my own fault, I wouldn't have done
it any differently. It was a beautiful wedding, thank you Kevin." I leant
over and kissed him gently on the cheek.

	"Now we've just got the reception, and then we're on our honeymoon." Kevin
said softly, then leant over and kissed me again. "We've got to drive around
for about an hour before we can go to the reception, what should we do?"
Kevin asked with a gleam in his eyes. I shook my head as if I didn't know,
but with a grin. "Let's go get a drink." Kevin said with a smirk.

	"What?" I asked.

	"Look Jared, I know we could get... a little active here, but we would have
to hurry, and I think you could do with something to calm you down a bit
more?" Kevin said tentatively.

	"You think sex won't calm me down?"

	"Errr...no, it would just get you excited." Kevin started chuckling.

	"I meant afterwards!" I said incredulously.

	"Let's go get a drink first." Kevin said, and walked crouched over to the
window to the driver's section. He knocked and explained what we wanted to
do. He came back and knelt in front of me. "Jared." He said, and just looked
at me, then he slowly let his chin rest in my lap. "I can't believe we're
married." He said with a slight smile, then I saw him start to get misty
eyed. I ran my thumb under his eye, and he took a shaky breath.

	"We're here sir." The door opened, and the driver waited for us to climb
out. We were outside the 'closest bar', which is what Kevin had asked for.
Unfortunately, it was a bit of dive, and we walked in a little tentatively.
It seemed like a nice enough place once we got inside though - it was a
normal bar, TV up at one end, mounted from the ceiling, a dartboard down the
other end, and a few booths running along one wall. Kevin and I both sat
down on one of the bar stools. The barman came up and Kevin ordered a beer,
and so did I. We sat there drinking for a while, neither of us saying
anything. We both looked up at the same time, and saw one another in the
mirror behind the bar. We smirked slightly.

	"Want a game of darts?" Kevin said as he stood up, and pulled me up as
well.

	"Do I have a choice?" I grinned at him. He seemed to think about it for a
second.

	"No." Then he picked up his beer, and walked over to the dartboard. He put
his beer down on the closest booth table, and picked up one set of darts. He
threw all three, and scored high. I picked up mine and beat him, then he
took his again, and scored slightly than the first time, and I picked up
mine, and beat him again. "You know, I think I've had enough of this." Kevin
smirked.

	"Uh uh. You made me stand up, now we're gonna finish this game." So we did
finish it, and I thrashed Kevin. We ordered another beer each, and he
spotted the pool table on the other side of the bar, and he dragged me over
to it.

	"Now, I'll beat you at this - we used to play pool before almost every
concert." I just smirked, making sure he didn't see it, and picked up a cue.

	"Who breaks?"

	"Well, I wouldn't want to have an unfair advantage, you can break." He
said. I leant over the edge of the table, and knocked the white ball, just
to the left of the lead of the triangle. The triangle neatly split, and sent
one ball into the far right hand pocket. "But! What?" Kevin was flustered. I
shot the next two balls down, and saw Kevin with his shoulders slumped up at
one end of the table. I missed the next ball on purpose. Kevin perked up and
potted a few of his balls, then I came back when he missed one, and I
cleared the rest of my balls. "What?" Kevin said shocked by the speed I
cleared the table.

	"Kevin, what did you think I did when I was younger? We hung around in
youth clubs, and when I got older, we started going to snooker clubs. Even
when I was out, I could walk into a pub and play with someone! I must have
played thousands of games of pool over the years. Playing before each of
your concerts, doesn't really match up to it." I was practically laughing at
him. He started scowling at me, but eventually he just grinned and laughed
too. We walked back over to the bar. Just then the local news came on the
TV, Kevin and I both watched, still laughing slightly - we were both getting
a buzz off the beers. At that moment a picture of us came up on screen as we
jogged out of the Lakeland theatre. Both of us smiled slightly when we saw
ourselves up on screen.

	"In local news, Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson married his boyfriend today
in the Moonlight Theatre. The gay couple are now heading off to a secret
location on their honeymoon." The news switched to another story, and that's
when Kevin and I realised we were in rough bar and we'd just been outed. The
bartender came over and leant on the bar.

	"So you boys just got married huh?" He asked as he leant on the bar. Kevin
and I were both stood up, and we were swivelled slightly so our backs were
partially in contact - we were trying to take in as much of the bar as
possible. "Hey everyone these boys just got married!" The guy behind the bar
shouted. I could feel my eyes just shoot open. Kevin's and my backs were up
against one another, and we were both tensed. There were about fifteen
people in the bar, and I didn't fancy our chances if a few of them turned
out to not like gay people. The bartender started laughing. We looked at
him, worried for a second. "Man, for a couple of homos you guys are sure
ready to put up a fight." Kevin and I had literally got into a fighting
position - we were back-to-back, and could keep an eye on everyone around
us. "Geez, let me get you guys a couple of beers, on the house." Kevin and I
looked at him, a little confused for a second, then we realised he wasn't
kidding around. We both sat down slowly, neither of us willing to give up
our vantage point of being able to see the other bar patrons. "Don't worry
guys, there hasn't been a fight in here for about 10 years. And we ain't got
nothin' against you guys, just keep to yourselves ok?" Kevin and I both
nodded slowly, and took our drinks that he offered. We shouldn't have been
drinking this much before we even went to the reception, but we couldn't
exactly refuse. Once we were finished, we thanked him, and started to stand
up.

	"Shit, we're late." Kevin said, we'd been in there for over an hour and a
half, all the guests should already be at the reception. I was surprised the
driver hadn't come in and said something. "Thanks again for the drink, tell
you what, how about drinks on me for the next half hour. Here's the number
to call with total, and you'll be reimbursed." The barman's eyebrows shot
up.

	"Sure! But you know some of these guys drink pretty heavy."

	"It's ok." Kevin said, he smiled, and the grabbed me and pulled me out the
door. We headed towards the limo, the driver had fallen asleep in his seat,
and when we knocked on his window, he shot up like a bat out of hell. We
both laughed when he stumbled as he climbed out the car, hey, the beer was
taking effect! He held the door open for us, and we climbed in. "Man, we've
gotta sober up a bit before we get there." Kevin slurred slightly. I looked
in the mini bar thing, and there were soft drinks, and alcoholic drinks, but
no coffee.

	"Here." I handed Kevin a coke. "It's got caffeine in, it might have the
same effect as coffee." I hope. We sat there drinking cokes, and driving to
the reception, finally we pulled up outside, and the twenty minute drive had
given the alcohol time to wear off a bit. We were about half an hour late,
and we started walking up the main gangway to the entrance.

	"Where have you guys been!" Britney shouted as she burst out the door.
Kristin was following her, looking equally flustered.

	"Ummm..." Kevin started, then he snorted, and started giggling. "We were,
um..." Kevin was full out laughing now. "At a bar." Britney looked over at
me, and I couldn't help but crack a smile too.

	"Oh for God's sake! Are you two drunk or something?" Kristin asked. Kevin
held up his hands, and I could tell he was putting on an act now, as he was
leaning on me.

	"A little bit." Kevin slurred, and he held up the hand that wasn't holding
onto me, and made a gap about an inch apart with his fingers, then it got
bigger and smaller, and he looked at it but acted like he couldn't focus.

	"Oh for God's sake!" Kristin threw her hands up into the air.

	"Kris!" She paid no attention to Kevin. "Kris!" She turned. "I was
kidding!" Kevin stood up on his own.

	"That's it!" Kristin ran at him, and jumped. It was lucky her dress had a
slit running up the leg otherwise I'm sure it would have ripped. Britney and
I just stood and watched. Kevin fell backwards, landing on the grassy verge
to the path, and was on his back. Kristin was straddling his waist, and was
'play-slapping' him, like girls do when they're having a cat fight. She was
barely touching him, but it looked very funny. Finally, she got up and
pulled him up with her. Kevin looked slightly dazed.

	"We'd better get in there. You got a lotta hungry celebrities, and a few
divas." Britney said with a roll of her eyes. She turned and started walking
to the main doors.

	"Divas!" Kevin started laughing. "Look who's talking!" He started laughing
hysterically, and Kristin and I were both covering our mouths, trying not to
show Britney that we were laughing.

	"That's it!" Britney shouted, and she did a running jump at Kevin who once
again landed on his butt on the grass. She started play-slapping him just
like Kristin had done. Kristin and I started laughing at the two of them.

	"Can we go in now?" Kristin asked as the two of them stood up. Kevin came
over and put his arm around me, and I locked mine around him.

	"Yep." Kevin said with a big smile. Finally, we headed to the doors, and I
started to get a little nervous, but I leant on Kevin, and I felt ok.

>>>Kevin's Point of View<<<

	We walked into the main building. It was actually an old converted
farmhouse or something. The main lobby was empty, all the people were
already seated, and were just waiting for us to arrive. We walked into the
main dining room. There was silence for a second, and I could feel the heat
of Jared's body as he leant on me a bit more, and he tensed up. He had leant
on me most of the way from outside. The silence was suddenly broken as the
guys started clapping, joined by N'Sync, and eventually everyone in the room
got the idea, and everyone stood up as we walked in, and made it to the head
table, which sat at right angles to the other tables which were laid out in
parallel rows. It could have passed for a school canteen. Once we were at
the head table, and were about to sit down, I looked over at Jared, and he
still looked a little confused, or scared, I'm not sure. But as the clapping
carried on, he looked towards me, and just looked at me. I couldn't read
what he was thinking, then he looked out towards the crowd, and after a
moment he started to blush slightly and smile. He looked over at the guys,
and Nick and AJ both started to holler at the top of their voices. He smiled
again, then turned back to me, took my head in his hands, and kissed me,
hard on the lips.

	"Wow." I said, as we pulled back. I hadn't been expecting that from him.

	"Yeah wow. This is amazing."

	"What?" I asked.

	"This, everything. I've never been in front of this many people before.
It's kinda... exciting. I suddenly get what you like about performing." I
smiled at Jared. I had never seen this side of him before. The calls and
shouts had increased when we kissed, and died down as we were about to sit.
We sat down, and gradually everyone followed suit. A veritable army of
waiters then appeared from one side of the hall, and brought out big trays
and carts full of food. There must have been a good 200 waiters to deal with
everyone - I hate it when you're at a party and by the time the last person
is served, the first one is finished. I had also seen the kitchen in this
place when I was booking it, and the kitchen was at least as big as the
ground floor of my house. Soft music also started playing, something
melodic, and classical. I looked up into one of the galleries that ran
around the edge of the main hall, and there was the thirty piece orchestra I
hired. Jared tapped me on the arm. "You hired an orchestra?"

	"Yep." I smiled cheesily. Jared just shook his head. "You don't like it?"
Kevin asked.

	"No, I do. I just didn't think you'd go to the trouble of hiring a big
orchestra for dinner music!" Jared sniggered.

	"I'd do anything to make this perfect for you Jared." I pulled him over to
me, and kissed him on the top of his head, as he rested his forehead on my
shoulder.

	"I love you." He said softly.

	"Love you too." We both kissed, and the tables closest to us, who had been
watching us, let out a gentle 'aaahh'. We both sniggered slightly. A couple
of plates were put in front of us by waiters, and left there. I heard Jared
sniffing.

	"Is that Chinese food?" Jared said with his head still on my shoulder.

	"Ok, I'll sit up for that." Jared took his head off my shoulder, and tucked
in to the food in front of him. He looked over his shoulder, and saw me
watching him. "What?"

	"Nothin'." I said as I sat forward to eat too.

***

	We were sat at the head table, and I watched the people on the tables in
front of us. To the left was my family, my mom, my brothers, to the right,
sitting opposite them, were Jared's brothers, and their fiancées. Then there
were the guys, AJ, Brian, Howie and Nick. Leo was sat next to Nick - we
figured it wouldn't be a problem to sit him there, and just say he was a
close friend of the group if someone asked. We'd finished our meal, with a
huge selection of ice-cream. I thought that would please Jared, and he
seemed suitably replete.

	"You know we've got dancing in a bit?" I asked Jared. He looked over at me,
and smiled.

	"Yeah, I figured you couldn't have a party without there being dancing." He
laughed.

	"Uh hum." Kristin now stood up, and started tapping the edge of her glass.
I saw Jared's face cringe at the high-pitched tapping. He tipped her a dirty
look. I turned and saw my best man clear her throat as the hall went silent.
"Well!" Kristin started. "I know, I'm not your most traditional best man,
but just cos of the obvious lack of genitals doesn't mean that I can't fill
a man's shoes. Or underwear." A laugh went across the hall at Kristin's
brusque sense of humour. "I'm not going to go into stories about Kevin and I
cos, well, you all know where that ended up, and it's probably really bad
etiquette to talk about your ex husband in front of his new husband, in that
way. So I thought I'd talk a bit about him and Jared. I first met Jared,
last November, and the two of them had only known each other properly for a
couple of weeks. And when he realised who I was, you should have seen the
look on his face!" At this point, she lifted her hands to her cheeks and did
a home alone pose, causing another ripple of laughter. "Seriously though."
She paused. "Kevin has never been one to let go, to just, live. For the
first time, last November, I saw Kevin live. He was finally alive, and Jared
was the one who brought him to life. I wish them all the best for years to
come. Oh yeah, and if anyone out there knows any single guys, let me know,
seems I'm short a husband!" She smirked, and sat down. The joke took a
second to set in, but then everyone started laughing and clapping. Which is
when Britney stood up and started tapping her glass as well. Jared's arm
literally flashed over, and grabbed her wrist. She looked down in surprise,
and Jared mouthed the word `stop' to her. The guests looked on with rapt
attention as Jared held Britney's hand until she dropped the fork. Then she
picked up a spoon with the other hand, and once Jared had let go of her left
hand,  she picked up the glass and tapped away at it anyway. The guests
laughed. Jared just glared at her.

	"Right, now that that's over." Britney started. "We can get on with my
speech. Funny, I never thought I'd be giving a best man's speech." Britney
shook her head as if she was confused. "Now, I could go into what the other
best man went into, and tell you all how Jared turned up as Kevin's
boyfriend to my wedding or how he comforted me when I got nervous, or maybe
how angry Kevin looked when I managed to shuffle the seating arrangements at
my wedding so that Jared was seated on my side of the aisle. See, I wanted
him on my side, but there was only room for one person to be swapped to my
side, so I took Jared, and have you ever seen that guy scowl? He looks
downright evil!" She looked towards Kevin. "See! He's doing it now!" The
guests watched, and Kevin's frown faded, and he smiled and shook his head.
Murmurs of laughter came from the guests.

	"Instead of all that, I'm gonna tell you about Kevin and Jared together.
Now, I have spoken to everyone who speaks to the guys or sees them a lot.
And I can tell you that there have never been two more private people in the
whole world! What is it with you guys? Open up a little bit! It is
impossible to get dirt on you two!" Britney practically shouted at the two
of us! We both started laughing, and so did the guests. "Apart from one
little incident about two months ago which I was a part of..." She looked
over at Jared, and I could feel him tense slightly - she was talking about
when he made that mistake and ran away for a week. "There is nothing!" Jared
calmed down again, and I couldn't help but laugh a little at Britney's
frustration. We both calmed down completely. She had nothing on us. She
started to sit down.

	"But!" She shouted as she stood back up. "There is the advantage of both of
these guys having a load of brothers between them. Yes, surprisingly, four
brothers can come up with a hell of a lot of dirt on two guys like these
two, especially four brothers who were a little... hurt? No, more like...
vengeful, that you didn't ask them to be your best men." Britney took the
microphone she'd been given and started walking around in front of the head
table. I cast a glance to my brothers, and saw them smiling slightly. So
were Jared's. Then I turned to look at Jared, who had a really worried
expression on his face. Britney started walking up and down in front of the
tables, and she stopped by the Backstreet Boys. "Now, then, Nick. Remember
what we talked about yesterday?" Nick nodded, with a slight grin. "Could you
tell us what it is, that you have in common with those guys up there?" I
tensed, Nicky wouldn't, he couldn't, Leo was right there though, it would be
a perfect time, but he wouldn't, would he?

	"Sure Britney. I'll tell you what us three have in common." Nicky was way
too calm to be outing himself. "A criminal record." He said in a sing-song
voice. I could feel my face pale. Oh fuck. Wait - Jared has a criminal
record? I looked towards him, and he was looking down at the table, his eyes
fixed on his plate. Oh God, please don't let this hurt Jared, pleased don't
let this go too far!

	"That's right! So let's start at the beginning!" Britney was really getting
into the whole stand-up routine. "Kevin, what's this I hear from Tim about
you getting caught by the police riding a motorcycle when you were... 14?"
The guests let off a little gasp, and I realised the only way to get through
this was to laugh it off, so that's what I did, I tried a slight laugh,
trying not to look too obvious. "And... oh dear, with your brother Jerald,
what did you do?" She held the microphone out to me.

	"I broke our next door neighbour's window."

	"Yes, but you did it while your parents were away didn't you? So what did
you do? You tried to get it fixed, but, without asking the next-door
neighbours permission, so they had you down for breaking and entering!"
Britney practically cracked up, and the guests were tentatively joining in,
waiting to see me laughing first. Then Britney went through this whole thing
of flipping the card back and forwards, looking at the back and front.
"That's it?" She asked, kidding around. "That's nothing! Now, you want a
real hardened criminal, you look at your husband! You've got nothing but
community service under your belt! Man, I can't wait to see what happens
when the tabloid gets hold of this stuff!" I saw Jared tense up, and look at
me, then he leant over.

	"Do you want me to stop this?" I asked him as he got closer.

	"No, it's ok. But, I just, I'm sorry, I should've told you this stuff
before, there's a lot, my brother's know, which I didn't want to tell you.
I'm really sorry." Britney started, and I couldn't stop looking at Jared.

	"Ok, first, age 12." Britney started. "You were given 30 days in a juvenile
detention center for damage to property with malicious intent! Woohoo!
That's even worse than Kevin's! You broke a shop window with your brothers
when the shopkeeper refused to let you go in there together!" I heard a gasp
coming from the guests, and Jared blushed slightly, then looked up at me and
smiled slightly. I figured that was cos he'd already told me about that one.
"Next! Oh what a surprise, damage to property with malicious intent! 45 days
in juvenile detention center." The gasp wasn't as loud this time, and I
hoped it went on like that for a bit. "Age 15, Jared was caught being truant
from school, and given more time in a juvenile detention center, or 'juvie'
as his brothers affectionately call it, bear in mind these two..." She put
her arms around Adam's and Seth's shoulders. "these two, were also in juvie
with Jared for all this time. Now, age 17, assault, Jared, I'm ashamed in
you. Fighting in the street!" Another gasp came over the guests. I looked
over at Jared who didn't seem concerned. He reached over and grabbed the
microphone from Kristin.

	"For God's sake get your facts right Brit." He said as he stood up, ok, I
wasn't expecting this. "It was assault and battery, and please bear in mind
there were forty people arrested for the same thing! The early 1980's in
East London wasn't the nicest place to be. The closest comparison is
probably Bosnia." I chuckled, and so did a lot of the audience.

	"Oh yeah, and what about these fifty or so charges you've got down here for
underage drinking?" Britney asked with one hand on her hip. "You can't
explain that away with living in a rough area!"

	"Ermm, I'm pretty sure you're not one to talk on that either!" Jared said
back. I started laughing out loud, and so did the guests. I was sure they
thought this whole thing was set up by now, but it was funny to watch.

	"Hmmm, and... the Grand Theft Auto?" Britney asked with a raised eyebrow.

	"Huh?" Jared said into the microphone. Suddenly I heard an English sounding
voice shout from one of the tables close to them.

	"She means auto-vehicle theft!" The voice said. I looked over, and Elton
John had just shouted at Jared.

	"Oh, yeah, so?"

	"Well, how do you explain that? You were 16!"

	"The car was abandoned. It had a 'Police Aware' sign in it, and we figured
that no one would care if we took a ride. Apparently the police were a
little more concerned about the car's well being than we thought!" Jared
said with a laugh, and everyone else laughed too.

	"Oh. Well, thanks, you've ruined all my material, thought at least now you
know you two have got something in common, and I guess that's my word of
wisdom to you. You two are already very close, both as lovers and as
friends, enjoy that, live with one another's interests, and try to take part
in them, but remember you can always enjoy time apart too, cos at the end of
it all, you'll have each other to turn to." She said with a smile. The
guests started clapping, and rose to their feet. Jared walked back around
the table, with his arm around Britney. I saw him kiss the top of her head,
and she smiled at him. Then he came over to me, and he was still smiling,
then he got a devious smile on his face. He walked right over to me, and put
his hand on the back of my head. I thought he was just gonna kiss me.

	"You know, I don't know about over here, but in England, it's normal for
the groom to do this." He suddenly took me and swung me around, so that he
was holding me up, and kissed me hard on the lips. My feet were just about
on the floor, but my back was leant right back as if we were finishing some
dance or something. Finally, he pulled back and stood me upright. The guests
gradually stopped clapping, and sat down. So did we. I don't know what had
got into Jared, but he was terrified this morning, then he admitted he was
scared of being in front of all the people, and now he was giving me
dramatic stage kisses in front of all of our guests!

	"What happened?" I asked as we sat down again. The floor was being prepared
for us to dance on, and the band was setting up.

	"What do you mean what happened?" Jared asked.

	"The kiss? And dealing with Britney like that?" I told him. "You were
scared stiff less than an hour ago, and now you're acting like you're the
confident one."

	"I don't know, I guess I just, I guess I was sick of being the scared one.
I realised I'm with you. I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was a problem."
Jared said swallowing, and looking down in his lap. I put my finger under
his chin, and lifted it up to look at me, and then kissed him.

	"It's not a problem. I love you Jared, act however you want ok?" Jared
nodded, and smiled slightly. Suddenly a blare of instruments came from the
far end of the room. A voice started speaking through the speakers.

	"Ok, Ladies and Gentlemen, we're going to ask you all to come up here in
just a moment, but first, we need the groom and groom to come down here, and
start the dancing for us." I saw Jared take a deep breath, and as I stood
up, he stood up to join me. He'd gone onto the back foot again. I shouldn't
have said anything when he was feeling confident. He held onto my hand as we
walked around the head table, and between the long rows of tables to the
centre of the dance floor. The band was a ten-piece brass band supplemented
by a string quintet from the orchestra I'd hired, and a piano player. They
were playing a soft piece which was perfect for us to dance to. I took Jared
in my arms, and he wrapped his arms around my lower back too, and we started
moving slowly to the music. People had stood up and were now standing all
around the huge dance floor, and were watching us. The lights in the rest of
the hall had been dimmed slightly, bringing the attention onto us, and I
could feel Jared was tense again. He was moving like he was at least.
Eventually, he moved closer to me, and faced his head inwards, basically so
that all he could see was the side of my face. He relaxed slightly, and we
got towards the end of the song like that. More people started joining in
now, and the band moved flawlessly into the next song.

	"I love you Kevin." Jared said into my ear. He leant his head slightly on
my shoulder as we continued dancing.

	"I love you too Jared." I turned my head slightly, and kissed his.

End of Chapter Nine
TBC...

Man, it's taking a LONG time to get through the wedding - I think this is my
worst yet - three chapters to one day! I really hope that everyone likes
weddings and that no one is hoping this will just hurry up! I'm also kinda
sick of people telling me that something's got to go wrong with this
wedding, what is wrong with you people? Does something have to go wrong
every single time in this archive? Can't for once everything just be happy?