Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2000 20:45:14 EST
From: Kenitra Writer <kenitra_canada@hotmail.com>
Subject: set-you-free-6

Legalities: It's just a story folks. It is not intended to imply anything
about any of the Backstreet Boys or anyone else. If you're offended, please
go away. If you're curious, read on, you might like it! If you're too
young, don't get caught.

Notes: Thanks again to everyone who is reading and wrote to let me know
they liked this story. I know it's been a little different but hopefully
you'll like the rest of it too!

Any comments about any of my stories, please drop me a line at
kenitra_canada@hotmail.com Please include the story title somewhere in your
message so I know which story you like or hate ;(

BTW - If you haven't read the earlier parts - I'm a gal!

Hope you enjoy. Kenitra

_______________
I'll Set You Free
-------------------------

(Previously)

Brian and Nick took the stairs the two floors to Kevin's place. Brian found
the door unlocked and walked in. It was quiet.

They looked around and checked the other rooms. They pushed open Kevin's
bedroom door and found Kevin stroking Jason's hair. It looked like Jason
was sleeping; he was wearing Kevin's clothes.

"What the hell?" Brian demanded.


*********
Part 6
********

"What the hell?" Brian demanded. Kevin quickly rolled off the bed, putting
his finger to his lips. He shoved Nick and Brian out the door, closing it
behind him. They went back to the living room.

"Kev, what's going on?" Nick asked, completely confused.

Kevin sighed and sat down, indicating that they should do likewise. "I was
getting on the elevator from the garage and Jason almost ran me down. He
was completely oblivious; didn't know who I was at first. I grabbed him. I
asked if he wanted to go back to your place but he said no. I didn't know
what was going on except that he was scared and almost in shock. We came
back here and he cried, cried for a very long time." Kevin stopped.

"Did he tell you what was wrong?" Brian asked.

"I found out. But he has to tell you himself," Kevin said.

"Can't you tell us anything?" Nick asked anxiously.

Kevin looked at him. "He's afraid you won't want him if you know the
truth."

Brian sank onto the couch beside Nick. "Not want him? How could he ever
think that?" Brian murmured.

"Because you don't know the whole story," Jason said softly from the
doorway.

Nick's first instinct was to go to him, but Brian stopped him. Jason walked
into the room and sat on a chair. He leaned back and closed his eyes. They
waited.

"The car accident wasn't an accident. Cory purposely ran the red light to
kill my parents." They stared at Jason in shock. Kevin hadn't even guessed
that part.

Jason looked at Kevin then stood up, taking off his shirt before turning
around.

"Oh God!" Brian whispered in horror.

"Jason!" Nick began to cry.

Jason slumped down into the chair and began to talk. "I was twelve when he
first started coming to my room at night and touching me, thirteen when he
started using things, fourteen when he first raped me. He used to say `that
ass is mine'." Jason didn't hear Nick's gasp.  "It was shortly after that
he started with the whip. Fortunately, the whip stage didn't last long.  He
figured the scars would be too suspicious, but the damage was already
done. He said he would kill me if I told.  When he found out about Cory, he
had added leverage. He didn't know that I'd told Cory or he would have had
Cory killed. I couldn't fight him." Tears finally broke through as he
looked at Nick and Brian. "You saw his picture, he was about six-four, two
hundred and fifty pounds. How could I fight that? Cory knew he would never
let me go. He'd kill me or worse, but he wouldn't let me leave.  Cory loved
me so much; he showed me how to love. He said he would set me free. I
didn't realize what he meant until the police came to tell me about the
accident. I received a letter a couple of days later from Cory. He'd mailed
it the day of the crash." Jason couldn't say anything else. He leaned back
and closed his eyes afraid to see disgust on the faces watching him.

Nick and Brian looked at each other; finally comprehending the torment
Jason had endured. Tears ran down both faces. Simultaneously they rose and
walked to Jason's chair, kneeling either side of him.

"Jason, I care about you more than you can know. This doesn't change how I
feel about you, nothing can do that Jayce," Nick said softly.

"I want and need you in my life, Red. I'm so sorry you had to endure so
much alone and didn't think you could tell us," Brian whispered.

Kevin noticed Howie and A.J. standing in the doorway, tears streaming down
their faces. He quietly rose, and led them into the hall.

Jason opened his eyes and looked from one adored face to the other. "You
still want me?" he asked in wonder.

Through their tears, they both smiled, lighting the room and chasing the
nightmare from Jason's heart.

"Absolutely," Brian said, brushing some red hair off Jason's forehead.

Nick nodded, "Positively," he said. Then he lost his smile. "I'm so sorry
about what I said earlier, I…"

Jason put a finger to Nick's lips and shook his head. "You didn't know,
Nick." Jason cracked a smile. "Besides, I don't mind my ass belonging to
you." Nick leaned forward and kissed Jason softly. The two blonde men
wrapped their arms tightly around Jason in a three-way hug. Jason sighed.

When he finally looked up he realized that Kevin was gone. "Where'd Kevin
go?" he asked.

Nick and Brian broke their embrace. "He probably wanted to give us time
alone," Brian said. "I'll go check." Brian left and Nick sat back on the
floor, staring at Jason.

"I have a question, Jayce," Nick said thoughtfully. "It's a little strange
and I can't explain why I'm asking; not yet." Jason could see Nick was
serious and nodded. "What was Cory's full name?"

It wasn't what Jason was expecting. "Michael Cory Reed," he said.

Nick's eyes widened slightly. "Thanks, Jayce."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Kevin shut the door behind him then swung around violently kicking the
wall.  "Oh I wish he were still alive," Kevin muttered.

"Why?" Howie asked wiping the last of his tears away.

"So I could kill the bastard," Kevin spat. Howie and A.J. were shocked by
the hatred in his voice.  They knew he meant it. Kevin took a deep breath
and looked at the others.  "How much did you hear?" he asked.

"The beginning of Jason's story," A.J. said quietly, still trying to
comprehend how a father could do that to his son.

"He has scars?" Howie asked softly.

Kevin nodded. "All across his back," he whispered.

"Poor kid."

"We can't treat him like that, though," Kevin said, looking at the others.
"You can let him know that you know, but if we dwell on it, he'll never get
past it. All we can do is be there if he wants, otherwise move on."

Howie and A.J. agreed. The door opened and Brian stuck his head out.

"Hey guys, y'all can come back in ya know," Brian said, smiling at his
friends.

"Everything okay?" Howie asked.

Brian nodded. "It will be, now."

They all walked back into Kevin's living room. Nick was sitting on the
floor beside Jason, who was just pulling his, or rather Kevin's, t-shirt
on.

"Hi guys," Jayce said shyly, "sorry for worrying everyone. I promise I
won't do it again."

"We're just happy you're alright, Jason," A.J. said.

In the momentary silence, they could all hear a rumbling sound.
Automatically everyone turned to Nick. Jayce raised his hand. "Actually,
that was my stomach," he said, grinning.

"But now that you mention food…" Nick spoke up.

"God, why two of them?" Howie asked jokingly, looking up at the ceiling.

Everyone laughed. It was late afternoon, so they decided to go for an early
dinner. They separated, everyone going back to their apartments, agreeing
to meet in half an hour.  Jason stopped at the door.

"I'll be there in a few minutes B, Nick. I just want to talk to Kevin for a
minute, okay?"

Both nodded and smiled. "Sure Red," Brian said.

Jason walked back to the living room and Kevin. "Kevin," Jason said softly.

Kevin looked up, startled, then walked over to Jason. Neither knew what it
was, but there was a connection between them. It wasn't the heated passion
Jason had with Nick and Brian, but it was real and it was strong. Kevin
looked intently at Jason then took him into his arms, hugging the younger
man. "I know Jason. Just let it alone for a while. But any time you want to
talk, about anything, my door is always open for you, okay?" Kevin blinked
back tears and looked into Jason's bright green eyes.

Jason touched Kevin's cheek with his hand, nodded, then turned and walked
out. Kevin was right.  He had enough to think about for now. Let things
calm down, then try and sort this thing out with Kevin.

Jason found Nick and Brian sitting in the kitchen, talking. Nick was
snacking on an apple.

"Everything okay?" Nick asked casually.

Jason grinned. "Everything's great. I'm gonna go change. Do ya think the
others would mind if I brought my camera along?" They shook their
heads. "Okay, Back in five or so."

He quickly changed into some of his own clothes, neatly folding Kevin's and
setting them on a chair. He went to his camera bag and looked through
it. He had five different cameras. He decided he would just go with
snapshots tonight and grabbed his 35mm, checking for film and batteries. He
grabbed an extra roll of film, just in case, then walked back to the
kitchen.

"Okay, ready!" he announced, completely silencing the conversation. He
looked at them. "What?"  he asked, suddenly concerned and afraid.

Nick immediately saw the fear and jumped up. "Relax Jayce. I was talking to
Brian about that thing, about the question I asked you earlier. Remember?"
Jason nodded. "I'm not trying to make it a big secret but I just have to
check something out before I let you know what its all about." Nick paused.
"Did any of that make sense?"

Jason kissed Nick solidly on the mouth. "In a Nick-way it made perfect
sense," he said with a grin.  "Now can we go eat?"

The three of them went down to the parking garage and met up with Howie,
Kevin and A.J. They all piled into Howie's new Explorer. Kevin chose the
restaurant and they ended up at a small Greek place. Kevin was known and
they were escorted to a very private booth near the back.

Jason found he was completely at ease with the five celebrities. He had no
secrets to keep so he could relax. He realized how easy going and regular
the guys really were.  Something else he discovered was that they were all
gay. Kevin he'd already figured. But he heard A.J. and Howie making plans
to get together later that night.

He leaned over to Brian. "Are Howie and A.J. together?" he whispered.

Brian shook his head. "Not really. They're great friends, but they and
Kevin sometimes … when they aren't in steady relationships its hard to
find someone. A.J. is bi and broke up with his girlfriend a few week ago,"
Brian explained quietly.

Jason nodded. He felt a twinge for Kevin, who was all alone. They all
feasted, eating until they were stuffed. Discussion inevitably turned to
the new album. They were recording it in Orlando this time, wanting to stay
close to home for a while. Each of them had at least one song they were
writing. Jason pulled out his camera. It was fairly dark, but he didn't
want to use the flash, it was too distracting. He adjusted the manual
setting to allow more light and began snapping. "Hey, Jason, I'm sorry that
we keep excluding you from the conversation," Kevin said, looking up to see
Jason taking his picture.

Jason just smiled. "That's okay. I like to listen to you guys talk
shop. You get so into it and it'll show in the pictures."

"When do we get to see them?" A.J. asked.

Jason leaned against the wall. "I was thinking," he looked at Nick and
Brian. "If we can share two bathrooms, I could turn the third into a dark
room."

"Never thought of that. Its okay with me!" Nick said
enthusiastically. Brian nodded.

"So are we going to do a mini concert for July 4th?" Howie asked, turning
the discussion back to the album. They were talking about putting on a
small concert to test their new songs, at a small local venue. Everyone
liked the idea.

"So Nick, how's *I'll Set you Free* coming along?" A.J. asked.

Nick looked up startled. "Um, okay. What about your song Bone?"

All present noticed the quick change Nick did to avoid talking about his
song. No one said anything.

Jason had shot an entire roll of film when the six men finally left the
restaurant. They all went back to the apartment building. It had been a
draining day for everyone.

Back in the apartment, Jason decided to take a shower. He stood under the
warm spray letting it wash away all the grime and guilt he'd felt for so
long. It eased his aching muscles made tense by the need to keep his
secret. Over half an hour later, he shut the water off.  He dried and
pulled on some boxers. He stopped his hand when he automatically reached
for a t-shirt. He didn't need to hide anymore.

Walking back out, Jason discovered that Nick and Brian had already gone to
bed. Jason stood for a moment before walking back down the hall. The door
was ajar and he slowly pushed it open. A light was still on and Brian and
Nick saw him. Brian pulled back the covers and patted the space on the bed
between them. Jason crawled up the center of the bed and wiggled under the
blankets. He rolled on his side and Nick spooned up behind him; the entire
length of his body next to Jason's flesh. Brian moved in close and took
Jason's hand, holding it to his heart.  Jason sighed and closed his eyes,
surrounded by safety and warmth.

***********************************
TBC

As always, any and all feedback is very much appreciated. Hope I didn't
disappoint too many!
Kenitra      kenitra_canada@hotmail.com