Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 22:13:04 +0000
From: James
Subject: Boy Bands - On The Streets - Part 42

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...

Now some suggestions, seeing as everyone else seems to be doing it. My
favourite stories are:
Forever (Kevin)
My New Life (Lance)
JC's Hitchhiker (JC)
Get Another Boyfriend (Kevin)
Whiplash (Kevin)
Blind Date (Lance)
My Surprise Romance (Lance)
Josh and Just (Duh!)
Lottery Winner (Joey)
Jamie's Romance (Justin)
Brian and Me (Brian)
Kevin and Dustin (Kevin) <- I just read this one, and I can't wait till the
next instalment, I can't wait to see what happens!
Justin's Dancer (Justin, sort of!)
Tales of a Real Dark Knight (Lance)
Good Life (Justin)
Under Management (Lance)
That's it, I know there are more I read that I haven't mentioned, but I
can't remember them right now, sorry! Well, here's chapter 42...

On The Streets - Part 42

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

	I slept most of the plane journey, I had taken some pills to put me to
sleep for the flight, as I was still pretty scared of flying. Even though I
was getting better, I didn't think it was worth the stress. Besides, Kevin
had some work to do and stuff, so I slept. It was after 11 by the time we
landed in New York, but I hardly woke when we arrived. I leant on Kevin all
the way through baggage pickup and everything, and we got in a limo and went
to the hotel. We were staying for tonight and Saturday night. I was asleep
again on the bed in no time.

***

	The following morning I woke up and stretched. I looked over, and there was
Kevin. He looked so beautiful in the early morning light, and I just wanted
to kiss him and touch him, to make sure he was real, to make sure he was
really there. So I did. I ran my hand gently up and down his chest, then I
leant over and kissed his shoulder. He was already waking up when I first
looked over, and when I touched him, he started to wake up more.

	"Good Morning." He said once he was fully awake.

	"Morning." I answered. He smiled at me, then reached up and put his hand
over mine, holding it in place on his chest. I could feel his heart beat, or
it might have been mine in my hand, but his firm grip over my hand felt
warm.

	"What's the time?" Kevin asked.

	"8:30." I replied, having looked over at the alarm clock. Kevin smiled at
me.

	"We've got to get going."

	"Why? Where to? I thought your interview wasn't till this afternoon?" I
asked him.

	"It's not, but you and I are getting our hair cut." He answered. Ok, that
wasn't what I was expecting, but I suppose it's about time, it's been a few
months since I've had it cut, and I don't think Kevin's been much better.

	"What time?"

	"We've got an appointment at 9:30." Kevin answered.

	"Do you wanna shower together?" I asked him.

	"See if you can stop me." He grinned, then rolled over so he was on top of
me, looking down, and we kissed. He rolled over so that he landed on the
other side of the bed to where he had been lying. Taking two steps, he was
at the bathroom door, and he turned around. "You coming?" He asked. I
grinned, and jumped out of bed and followed him into the bathroom.

***

	After our little bit of fun in the shower, we only had about quarter of an
hour to get to the hairdressers. We caught a cab outside the hotel, and he
drove us straight there. We made it just in time. "Mr. Richardson, we have
two places waiting ready for you, please follow me." The guy standing at the
front desk led us to our seats.

	"Thank you." We both sat down, and our hairdressers came out. For some
strange reason, there was a screen between us. I could see Kevin if I tipped
my head back as far as I could, but otherwise we were blocked off. I don't
like having my hair cut. It's boring, and quite often painful. The blonde
woman who was supposed to be cutting my hair walked around in front of me,
and smiled. She was nice looking.

	"Now what shall we do with you? Hmmm?" She seemed to be asking me, so I
started telling her.

	"Well, I was thinking, maybe..."

	"No! I'll tell you what you'll have, we'll sort out the best cut for you,
don't worry sir, it will be fine." She cut me off! Apparently, as with my
last haircut, I wasn't gonna get a choice in this. "I'm thinking blond." She
mumbled.

	"What?" I practically shouted. I heard giggling from the other side of the
screen, and I saw Kevin lean his head back.

	"Jared, just relax, haircuts can be really quite calming if you just
relax." He said with an earnest expression on his face. I scowled at him,
and then he sat back forward with a grin on his face. When I turned back
forwards, there were two more people there. There was that first one, plus
one young girl, probably 18 or so, with short chestnut hair, and a guy
probably in his 30s, Italian looking.

	"Please come forward sir." The young girl said. I tipped my head forward
into the sink, then just took Kevin's advice, and relaxed. When they ordered
me what to do, I did it, and it was, surprisingly, quite relaxing.
Especially when the guy came over and put this cream in my hair. The left me
alone for a good half hour or so, and I started looking around more. There
was no mirror in front of me, so I couldn't see what it was on my hair.
About an hour later, at about 11 or so (they didn't have clocks either),
they took off the 'cloak' that they put around your neck when you're getting
your hair done, and told me I was done. I suddenly felt like a Sunday roast.
I stood up, and reached up to touch my hair, but the guy who had been doing
my hair slapped it away quickly.

	"Don't touch it!" He practically shouted at me. Kevin stood up. He had been
sitting on the other side of the screen. When I saw him, I was surprised,
but really nicely. His hair was now shorter, but not very short. It was
probably a couple of inches long, and it was sort of bushy. It was obviously
gelled up, into the style it was in now, and it looked really thick and
shinier somehow. I wanted to run my hands through it, but I didn't want to
be told off by that guy again. That's when I looked at Kevin's face. He was
staring at my hair. I waved my hand in front of his face, but he carried on
staring.

	"Jared, have you seen your hair?" He asked me. I shook my head no. "Do you
have a mirror?" He asked the guy standing behind him. He passed me the
mirror the guy passed him. I looked into it, and they'd actually done it. My
hair was blond. My IQ just dropped about 50 points. I started chuckling at
that thought. It looked kinda messy to tell you the truth. But I guess
having stylists working on it for over an hour didn't mean it was gonna look
tidy, just as long as it looked fashionable. I so badly wanted to touch it,
but I could see that guy in the mirror looking over my shoulder. I looked
back up at Kevin.

	"What do you think?" I asked him, biting on my bottom lip.

	"It looks amazing. You look incredible." He said, I grinned broadly at him.

	"Great, you look...I think a few people would be insulted if I said it out
loud right now." The things I wanted to do to him. He chuckled. "Can we go
now?" I whined at him.

	"Yeah sure. Kevin couldn't get that smile off his face, and it was
contagious. Even the people around us were smiling as Kevin went to pay, and
we left. We caught a cab back to the hotel. "So, what was it you couldn't
tell me in there?" Kevin asked. I leant over to him so that the driver
couldn't hear. I started telling him exactly what I wanted to do to him, but
we were back at the hotel before he climaxed. We hung around in the lobby
for a while. We only had about half an hour before we were due to meet the
guys for lunch. At about 12, the guys came out of the elevator. Now I knew
Kevin was mean, and a bit devious but, this was ridiculous. He'd actually
sat me behind a column, so that they couldn't see me as they came out of the
elevator. Kevin and I were sitting talking, and all of a sudden he went
silent, and a grin passed across his face, and I knew at least one of the
guys had come off the lift. Kevin stood up, and I did too. Whichever of the
guys it was who had come off the lift could now see me from behind.

	"Hey Kev!" It was Howie's voice. "Nice do" I could hear the smile in his
voice. "Errr?" Howie said in a voice which sounded like he was asking who I
was, as I hadn't turned around yet. I turned around then, and it was
actually all of the guys there.

	"Jared?" They all asked loudly once I was facing them. Nick even took a
jump backwards. I started chuckling at their actions, and Kevin just started
laughing. "Jared, what did you do?" Brian asked.

	"What I got my hair done?" I said.

	"But you went blond!" Howie continued. "Now it's back to 50-50 - I can't
believe you chose to go blond!" Suddenly Brian and Nick both slapped him
upside the head.

	"I didn't actually get a choice in the matter." I said.

	"Oh you went to one of those places." Howie chuckled.

	"Hey, it's not that bad, looks quite good on you Jar'." AJ put in his
opinion.

	"Didn't you have blond hair for a while though? I asked him.

	"Yeah, hey how'd you know that?" He asked me. I looked over to Kevin, and
he smiled back at me, and raised his eyebrows.

	"I watched a few of Kevin's old videos, I saw you in a couple of your music
videos." I told him.

	"A few of my old videos? Jared, you watched all of them!"

	"I did not!"

	"Yeah, how many have you not watched?" Kevin asked me.

	"One, maybe two." I answered. He pulled me into a hug, and kissed my
forehead. I don't know why, but it sure felt good.

	"Shall we go get something to eat?" Kevin asked everyone. We walked into
the hotel restaurant. Kevin kept his arm around my shoulders, and I sort of
leant against him, stumbling slightly, as I'm as tall as him, so I sort of
stumbled a lot as I leant on him. We were sat, and ordered straight away.

	"I still can't believe you went blond!" Was Howie stupid or something? He
was sat between Brian and Nick, who slapped him on the back of the head
again. He rubbed the back of his head with a hurt expression on his face,
then grinned at me.

	"I don't know why you're smiling at me! Next time an insult about blonds
comes out, I'm gonna come round there and hit you, so I'd keep your mouth
shut too if I were you."

	"What about if I make a joke about blonds?" Kevin asked from next to me
with a smug grin on his face.

	"Well I wouldn't hit you!" I said with obvious showiness.

	"Oh I see! Double standard!" Howie stated.

	"Yes Howie, a double standard, you see you I'd just slap on the back of the
head, Kevin, well, let's just say, I know where he sleeps." I said with a
devious grin. Kevin looked surprised for a second, then gulped. The whole
table started laughing, and I turned to Kevin and smiled, then kissed him.
Our food arrived a bit after that.

***

	"We've got to be getting along to the studios." Kevin told me. We'd come
back up to the room to change, and Kevin did my hair again for me. His was a
bit easier to do, so he did it himself.

	"What am I gonna be doing?" I asked him.

	"You can sit in the audience. The shows an hour long, and they'll play lots
of other music, but most of it's interviews with us, and talking about the
new album. We're performing the new song." I nodded. We went down, and a
limo was waiting to take us to the studios. Once there, all the guys got
out, and went up to the crowd, to talk to them. I went straight into the
doors. The guys' bodyguards were standing behind them, making sure none of
the fans got too 'grabby'. I watched them from just inside the doors. I felt
someone standing beside me, and when I turned to the side, it was a guy,
probably in his mid-20s.

	"They're pretty popular aren't they?" He asked.

	"Yeah." I answered with a chuckle.

	"Yeah right, I don't think 'pretty popular' even comes close to covering
it!" He said that just as Nick kissed a girl on the cheek, and she looked
like she was going to faint.

	"Jack Damus, how do you do?" He held out his hand.

	"Jared Healey." I shook his hand. He looked at me closely for a second.

	"Jared? As in Kevin's boyfriend?" I nodded. "Oh my God! You look so
different from that press conference. No way! You can't be Jared. It's the
hair right? It's a different colour." I nodded again with a smile. "It looks
good."

	"Thanks." I replied.

	"You're coming to the show?" He asked, seemingly surprised. I nodded again.
"Oh." He looked really confused, and I was getting worried. "Ok, I guess
I'll see you up there. We're letting people in soon, so I'd stick with the
guys if I were you."

	"Sure, nice speaking with you."

	"Yeah, bye." He left. The guys walked in a moment later.

	"Hey." Kevin said as he put an arm around me.

	"Hey, ummm, I just spoke to a guy called Jack Damus. He seemed surprised
that I was coming to watch the show. Is there something you're not telling
me?" I asked him.

	"No. At least I don't think so. What was Jack doing down here? He's the
presenter of the show." I nodded, and we all started going down, or rather,
up, to the dressing rooms, and everything. The guys didn't actually have to
change, but they just sat down in there. At about 4, someone knocked on the
door.

	"Guys? Could you head along to the green room please?" They all stood up.
"Do you know where it is?" The guys all answered that they did, they'd been
here quite a few times. "Oh, Mr. Healey, would you like to come with me, I
can take you to your seat." I looked at Kevin, and he nodded, so I just
followed the guy. I walked in the entrance to the studio, and it was full of
teenage girls. The studio was kinda weird shaped. It was like an ellipse,
well half of one, and it was cut off at one end where it hit a window
overlooking Time Square. This was like one of the only places I could
actually name in New York, as I'd seen enough pictures of it. There were a
lot of people with cameras on their shoulders, walking around, focusing on
the teenaged girls. There was one main camera though, focused on Jack who
was standing on what could be defined as the centre spot of the studio. Next
to the main camera there was a small television, which showed Jack fitting
his earpiece into his ear. I was sat down just to the left of this little
television, and I was almost directly in front of Jack. He nodded to me when
he saw me arrive. About ten minutes later, one of the guys with headphones
on, and a microphone in front of his mouth stood in the middle of the
studio, giving out basic instructions about when to and when not to shout,
and what to do at certain times. At about half past four, the same guy told
everyone to get ready cos they were about to start the show. He jumped in
front of the camera, and shouted out.

	"5...4..." then he was silent, and fingered the numbers 3, 2, and 1. The
shouting from the girls grew to a fever pitch.

	"Hey America, this is TRL, and we're here today to welcome the Backstreet
Boys who release their new single today, 'Same Old Problem'. The Backstreet
Boys, one of the biggest bands in America, in the world have, in their own
words, 'remade themselves', and this new single is the result." By this
time, everyone had quieted down, then he announced it.

	"Please welcome, THE BACKSTREET BOYS!" He shouted out loud, as the shouting
got louder every second. I covered my ears, and sat there. The guys walked
in, holding out their hands to the girls who remained in their seats, as per
the orders of the guy who had come on before. They congregated around the
presenter. "Hey guys, welcome to TRL!" Jack shouted again, and the screaming
grew again. The guys all said thanks, or said how great it was to be there.
Jack talked to the guys about just what was going on, when the album was
coming out, that sort of thing. Then he moved on to the new style of music,
the fans, and the last tour. He asked them when they were going on tour
again, to which they replied they were going in late summer on the US tour,
and they weren't doing a full world tour like last time, but just certain
international destinations, larger cities, or places they wanted to go to.
The first portion of the show concluded with them playing the video to
"Drowning". Most of the guys walked around saying hello to the fans. Kevin
came over and talked to me for a while, and then started greeting the fans
around me. The girl who had been sitting next to me realised who I was, and
started talking to me about the guys, she was kinda sweet, the questions she
asked. They were all like 'What's Nick's favourite food', or 'What's Howie's
favourite place from the tour'. Howie came over when they were just about to
start again, and leant in close to my ear.

	"How could you go blond?" He asked. Then backed away a few steps.

	"Ok, 3...2..." And the director pointed in the direction of the presenter.
I gave Howie a shove back into place, and he stumbled back onto centre
stage. Howie stuck out his tongue at me, and just at that moment, Nick
looked over at me, when I stuck my tongue out at Howie, and he thought I was
doing it to him, so he did it back to me. AJ then turned and looked at me,
and he saw me sticking my tongue out at Howie, and he thought I was sticking
my tongue out at him, so he did it back. Ok, this was weird, three of the
guys in front of me were sticking their tongues out at me. Jack Damus looked
down at the little TV screen at that moment, and he got a frown on his face.
He looked right and left, and noticed the three guys sticking their tongues
out.

	"What are you guys doing?" He asked. They were actually on air. Howie, Nick
and AJ all pulled their tongues back in. "Nah, nah, I saw that, all you guys
had your tongues sticking out, now what were you doing?" He asked again. He
looked in my direction. "So who were you sticking out your tongues at? Cos,
I think I know." He grinned at them. "Nope? You're not gonna say anything,
ok!"

	"Ladies and Gentlemen." He started. "I don't know how many of you know this
guy, but in the audience today, is Jared Healey." He said proudly. "Jared is
Kevin's boyfriend." He looked up at Kevin. "Kevin, as he's participating so
much in the show anyway, do you think you could get Jared in front of the
camera rather than behind it?" My eyes grew wide, and I started shaking my
head no.

	"Well Jack, if he doesn't come out here, we can always get one of those
cameras moving around to focus on him. Jared, will you come up here?" I
shook my head pleadingly.

	"Hey Jared, if you don't come up here, then we'll start telling them
embarrassing stuff about you!" Nick said loudly. Suddenly Howie, Brian and
AJ all hit him or told him to shut up. "Hey! What was that for!"

	"Nick!" I shouted out from behind the camera. Suddenly one of the guys
milling around behind the camera came out and pinned this little microphone
to the front of my shirt. "Nick, if you start telling embarrassing stuff
about me, then I will do it back to you, and remember I was on tour with
you." I said to him with a smile.

	"Jared." Kevin said. "Jared." He said it again, and with his free hand, he
held out his hand. I sighed, which sounded over the microphone. Then I stood
up, and walked over and took his hand. The audience suddenly let out a
resounding 'aaah'. God, that was so sappy, but I didn't feel like I could
refuse Kevin if he really wanted me to do something. Kevin wrapped his arm
around my waist, and held my hip to his.

	"Great." Jack said. "Now maybe you'll stop interrupting the show." He
chuckled. "Now, if you're anything like me, then you won't have recognised
Jared from this pic here." At that, he pointed up to his top left. When I
looked at the little TV next to the camera, there was a picture of me from
the press conference. I looked over at Jack surprised, but he carried on.
"But of course, it's just the hair that's different. Shall we all go sit
down?" Jack and all the guys started over to an area where there were six
seats laid out. Jack sat in one of the middle ones, and all the guys sat
down. I stood next to Kevin for a second, then he realised I was standing.
Nick was sat next to him, so he grabbed Nick's ear, and pulled him up and
out of his seat.

	"You should always stand up for your elders." He said when Jack gave him a
funny look, and he guided me into the seat. Someone brought over another for
Nick. There was now from right to left, Nick, Kevin, Me, Howie, Jack, AJ and
Brian.

	"So, now not only have we got the Backstreet Boys, but we've got an
insider's view of what happened on the tour." Jack started. "Jared, if any
of the boys say something, and it's not entirely true, or they've missed off
something, raise a hand, ok?" I nodded hesitantly. I turned to Kevin, and
even he had a confused expression on his face.

	"Ok, so let's start shall we? Right, we're basically gonna do a question
round, anybody shout out the answer." Jack stated. "Who in the group, is,
most afraid of flying." The group fell silent. Weird question to start on,
but I guess he was done with the more formal questions in the first portion
of the show. All the guys were completely silent, until they looked up at
me. Jack noticed this. "Jared? Is there some reason all the guys are looking
at you?"

	"Yeah, it's cos none of them are scared of flying." I stated.

	"But he is." Nick said with a chuckle.

	"OK, let's try the next question, how about this, we'll start moving round,
seeing how much each Backstreet Boy knows about the rest of the group, only
the person I ask the question can answer. Ok, Nick. Stupid question now, how
many members of the Backstreet Boys write with their left hand?" What the
hell were these questions all about? But then I realised, they had the
audiences attention, they were literally lapping it up.

	"Well, let's go around the circle. Well, I don't. Kevin doesn't. Jared
does, but does he count?" Jack shook his head. "Ok, I don't think Howie
does, AJ is left handed, and Brian isn't."

	"That's right. Have to add Jared to the answer though hold on." He got out
a pen, and started writing it in on the answer card. "Ok, Kevin, what are
each of the boys' favourite locations on the tour?" Kevin looked surprised
for a second. "Go around the guys, and if he gets it wrong guys, speak up."

	"Can I consult with my boyfriend here?" Jack sighed, then nodded.

	"Jared, I haven't got a clue. How am I supposed to remember that?"

	"Here, let me." I answered him. "Ok, Brian's favourite place was Paris.
AJ's favourite place was Tokyo. Howie's favourite place was Rome, Nick's
favourite place was the moment we were back in the US, and Kevin's was
London." I answered quickly. None of the guys said anything, except Kevin.

	"Hey! Why's London my favourite place?" Kevin asked. Suddenly all the guys
cleared their throats. When I looked up at Brian, I saw him tipping his head
in my direction for Kevin.

	"Because that's where you met me, sweetie." I said with the smarmiest grin
I could manage.

	"Oh yeah, absolutely, London, great place." Jack was chuckling, and so was
the rest of the audience.

	"Ok, apart from that little, umm, event, was he right on every other one
guys?" They all nodded their heads grudgingly. "Well, seeing as Jared seems
to know everything about the guys, how about we give him a couple of really
hard questions to think about." He looked around at the guys for their
approval, and seeing them all smiling, he continued. "Right, now don't
answer these right away, think for a moment. Three questions: which of the
guys is the best singer, which of the guys would win an arm-wrestling
competition, and what are the guys' favourite ice-cream flavours. We'll
carry on with the questioning, and come back to you when you're ready to
answer." He turned to Howie.

	"I'm ready." Jack looked up.

	"You sure, if you get it wrong, we have a forfeit." He said the last part
in a creepy voice.

	"I'm absolutely sure, and if I get it right, can the other guys do the
forfeit for me?" He seemed to think for a moment, then shrugged.

	"Sure. Ok, what are the answers?"

	"Brian, Kevin, and going around the group, Chocolate, Pistachio, Lime,
Vanilla, and Strawberry, but I didn't let them have any on tour anyway."

	"Whoa, hold on, so Brian's the best singer. Is that right guys?" They kinda
admitted that grudgingly. "Ok, is Kevin most likely to win at arm
wrestling?" That didn't take very long, I mean who's more likely to be
stronger, the people I worked with as a personal trainer for a few months,
or the guy I've been living with for a few months? They admitted that Kevin
was still a lot stronger than most of them. "And, did he get the flavours
right? Nick's chocolate, Kevin's pistachio, Howie's Lime, AJ's vanilla? And
Brian's Strawberry?" They all nodded their agreement. I was feeling pretty
proud of myself, then I remembered - the forfeit.

	"So, what's the forfeit?" I asked Jack. He chuckled.

	"Well actually, we were planning on doing like a quiz today with you guys,
and whoever scored worst was gonna end up in the stocks and get, well a bit
wet, but seeing as all five of you have to forfeit, well...Jared, do you
want to choose who gets soaked?" Oh this is too good!

	"Well, I'm thinking possibly Kevin, as he couldn't remember why London was
his favourite place...but Howie's been ripping it all morning cos of this
blond hair...and to tell you the truth, I wouldn't mind just soaking the
other guys!" I chuckled. "I think it's gonna have to be...Kevin."

	"Oh like we couldn't guess that was coming!" Jack stated. "Kevin, come with
me." Jack escorted Kevin over to the side of the studio, and one of the
technicians wheeled out a set of stocks. This was a lot more, well game
showish than most of the TRL's I'd seen. Another technician pushed out a
bucket full of sponges in water. Kevin was given a pair of goggles, and told
to get in the stocks. You could practically hear the fans in the audience
gasping at one of their idols being treated so harshly! "Ok, guys, you want
to come over here?" The guys all jumped up, and I followed after them.
"Basically you got a free-for all, just grab some sponges, and start
throwing. Unless of course there's anyone in the audience who would like to
soak Kevin?" There was complete silence. Not a single person raised their
hand or spoke or anything. "Ok, boys, pick up your sponges, come on Jared,
you too." I grinned, and picked one of them up. "Go!" And we all went, we
all released our sponges in Kevin's direction at once, and in quick
succession, he got five sponges in the face. His hair and face were soaked
instantly. We each reached for another sponge, and did it again. Kevin was
completely drenched by the time they removed him, and we all laughed at him,
as he was smacking his lips together, and wiping the water from his face.
The next commercial break came up, and Kevin came over to me.

	"Bastard." He whispered into my ear, but with a smile on his face. He leant
in and kissed me on the cheek. I heard little 'aahs' coming from some of the
audience closest to us. We were still standing, and he wrapped his arms
around me and we hugged for a moment longer. As the resounding 'aaah' coming
from the audience got louder, Kevin started chuckling, and we swayed from
side to side before pulling apart. We kissed again, and joined the other
guys who had taken their seats. Now I couldn't stop blushing, as some of the
girls had started looking at me too since Kevin's and my little display of
affection. What is it with girls being so attracted to gay guys?

	"Well guys, we're back, and we're gonna be running through your top 10,
that you selected as a group, starting at no. 10..." I sort of dazed out
then, running through charts was something I found very, very boring. The
final segment of the show came up, and it was one where they were just
interviewing the guys again.

	"Now Kevin..." Jack started. "Do you read many magazines?" He looked at
Kevin with a frown knitted across his eyebrows.

	"Umm...not many, really, why?" Kevin asked. Jack reached behind his chair
and pulled out a large brown paper envelope.

	"Do you know what an advance copy is?" Jack asked Kevin.

	"Presumably a copy in advance?" Kevin said with a grin, a murmur of a
chuckle went around the audience.

	"Well, yes, basically, and I take it you've heard of the gay magazine,
Advocate?" Jack asked, trying not to laugh.

	"You haven't?" Kevin asked with a sudden look of worry on his face.
Unfortunately I got the same look on my face. The guys were all confused -
we hadn't told them exactly what we'd done for the Advocate photo shoot. Big
mistake.

	"Actually Kevin, I have..." He reached into the envelope, and pulled out a
magazine that looked slightly unfinished, like it hadn't been bound
properly. "This is a copy of Advocate that's due on the shelves nationwide
and in several other countries from this coming Monday." He took it and held
it up to the camera. When I saw it, I almost died. There was Kevin, his head
upside down, and me right on top of him, my head the right way round, and we
were both grinning. It said 'Advocate' in big, red curly letters across the
top. Our hair was a little different back then.

	"Oh God." Kevin groaned. I started to chuckle.

	"I don't know what you're chuckling about - don't you remember some of the
shots they got of you?" Kevin said with a smug grin on his face. I suddenly
felt very uncomfortable.

	"You can't show those inside shots on National TV can you?" I asked. I
remembered that the US had stricter censorship laws than the UK, so I was
praying.

	"Actually, you're right, we can't show them on National TV. That doesn't
mean we can't show them to our studio audience. Sorry all you viewers out
there, but you're gonna lose out!" Suddenly, the studio was darkened, and a
big projector showed the picture of Kevin standing so he was looking over my
shoulder, and he was grabbing my butt. I could feel my whole face turning
red. We were buck naked in front of a good 150 or so people. Thank god we
didn't go full frontal. "Now I've just been told we can actually show some
of these on TV, so here goes..." And they showed the one of me and Kevin
wrapped up together in the toga wrap, me looking down between us when he got
hard. I couldn't help but smirk slightly remembering that. Then there was
one of us kissing, which brought a resounding 'aah' from the audience. The
final one was one of us, both of us wearing CK boxers, and it looked like we
were snarling for the camera, teeth bared. When the lights came back up in
the studio, Kevin and I were both somehow hiding our faces in each other. If
we hadn't got our haircut this morning, this would be so much easier. This
was really embarrassing! As much of an exhibitionist as I am sometimes, I
don't tend to, well think about the results. I had only just realised - this
magazine was going to be seen by thousands. And the millions who watched
this show were going to see almost everything!

	"Errr..."

	"Ummm..."

	"Oh..." The other four guys were, to say the least, shocked by the
pictures.

	"Well, I guess there goes that 'wholesome' image huh?" AJ added in. Kevin
threw his microphone at him and it bounced off the top of AJ's head.
Everyone laughed, and it helped to relieve some of the initial embarrassment
of the pictures.

	"Now don't forget, everybody! Go out and buy a copy of Advocate this
Monday!" Jack added in with a big cheesy grin. "Guys there's one last
question everyone wants to know about - your love lives." The guys sort of
groaned, but had their microphones away so it wasn't too loud. "Kevin,
you're obviously involved, as the photos suggested..." Jack chuckled at his
own joke. "Brian, you're still married to Leighanne right?" He asked him.
Brian answered that he was. "Ok, so that leaves Howie, AJ and Nick. Howie?"

	"Well, I'm dating at the moment, but my girlfriend and I have been going
out for about three months now." Howie smiled.

	"Cool, what about you AJ?" AJ sort of looked around at the guys, who looked
at him expectantly.

	"Well." AJ started, he took a deep breath. "I guess this is as good a time
as any to tell everyone...I'm engaged to Amanda." He said with a grin
passing over his lips. There was a sort of gasp from the audience, just a
moment's hesitation, and then some screams coming from some of the girls. AJ
was off the market, what a joke.

	"And you Nick?" Jack asked with his eyebrows raised.

	"I've got someone special." Nick paused. "Laura." He finished. Wow, good
plan. I suppose he's telling Leo that he and Laura are the most important
things in his life without really telling the world. I should speak to Nick,
and Leo, I haven't seen them in two weeks. I realised I'd missed quite a bit
then.

	"Now guys, are you ready?" Jack looked around at them. It was time for them
to perform their song.

	"Alright! Let's do it!" Nick said. They started to get the stools into
place. "Ok everyone, this our new single out on Monday." Jack and I had
retreated to a dark corner of the stage. "Kevin? Wanna introduce it?" Kevin
smiled at Nick.

	"Everyone, this song is called Same Old Problem." Kevin said with a smile
playing across his lips. "Hope you enjoy it." And so they begun...

Howie: It's the same old problem, day by day and night
AJ: Holding you, feeling you, in my arms tonight
Brian: Watching you, seeing me, seeing me in tears
Nick: Let me pray, let me think, wipe away your fears...

Kevin: But when you walked in my life, you opened up my eyes
       You let me see, you let me feel, you never told me lies
Brian: And that's the way I need you baby, oh so sweet and pure...


Nick: We've lost some, and gained some, but you're our biggest gain
      But you don't come cheaply, doubtless, so much pain
Howie: And look inside my heart you'll see, passion, fire and fear
       But this is where you belong baby, in my arms right here...

AJ: I give to you everything, not just a ring, my heart, soul and mind
    I think you'll come to love and learn, with you me you will find
Kevin: That what you need is right here, don't leave me again,
       It hurt so much the last time, I thought I'd die of pain...

Howie: It's the same old problem, day by day and night
AJ: Holding you, feeling you, in my arms tonight
Brian: Watching you, seeing me, seeing me in tears
Nick: Let me pray, let me think, wipe away your fears...

	Nick held the final word for about ten seconds, and it faded away eerily. I
could feel the tears running down my cheeks. I'd heard the song before but
bits of it had been changed, most notably, Kevin's parts, where he sung
about how he'd die of the pain, and I knew he meant me. I felt terrible, but
amazing too, that Kevin had done that, and had included me in his work, and
was even singing about me. The show was coming to an end, and Jack was just
making the final announcements. Kevin came over to me just then, I hadn't
seen him coming cos I had tears in my eyes.

	"Oh Jared." He said with a sympathetic smile on his lips. He wrapped his
arms around me, and hugged me swaying slightly. I rested my head on his
shoulder. I wasn't crying, but there were still tears on my cheeks. It felt
so good to hold him. Next time, well if there ever was one, which I hoped
there wouldn't be, I wasn't gonna let go of him.

End of Part 42
TBC...

Well, I don't know what I did wrong, but I thought more people would
appreciate a little drama! Apparently I was wrong - I got less emails for
the last chapter or two than almost any other! I thought drama was what
people wanted!!! Please tell me - should I rewrite the last chapter and this
one - should Jared and Kevin have some sort of breakup - should Jared have
really slept with Britney? I have both courses mapped out for at least 10
chapters - up to chapter 50 or so, one of them Kevin and Jared are together,
and one of them they're apart. Apparently I can't seem to get it right, so
please tell me what to do!!! Remember - I'm English, what appeals to me
might not appeal to Americans, so teach me, please do! I've not run out of
ideas yet, in fact I've probably got enough to fill another 100 chapters, I
just need the encouragement to get my ideas down on paper. I'd like any
criticism - even flames, so long as it says why you don't like the story!
Anyway, I hope everyone's still reading.