"He's rabid." I laughed and stood. "Oooooo, hugs and kisses." A.J. said whimsically and ran over to me, hugging me quickly. "How you been, Bone?" I smiled as A.J. let go. "Hey, that's what Nick calls me every night." "Ewwww, gross A.J." Howie made a gagging face then laughed. "Oh wait, he says 'bone me', not 'bone'." A.J. sighed. "So, how're you doing you retard?" I asked with a slight laugh. "Pretty good. God, it feels like forever since I've seen you." A.J. smiled and followed me over to the couch to sit down. "I know, I missed you guys so much." I smiled. "It seems like forever since someone asked to borrow clothes from me." A.J. smiled evily. "Well, if you're in town long enough, I promise I'll borrow some from you while you're here." "Oooo, goodie. I got these new jeans from Buckle, and this shirt from Old Navy that you might want to check out." A.J. explained. "Earth to Matt and A.J. You're in your own little world again!" Nick hollered, getting our attention. "Well excuse us." A.J. laughed. "You're such a tight-ass." I laughed at Nick. "That's what A.J. tells ME every night." Nick replied. "This is more info than I need." Howie chastised us. "Lighten up, Sweet D." I threw a pillow at him, causing him to giggle. "Where's Brian and Kevin?" Devon looked at Howie. "They should be back any second. They were talking when we left." He replied. "Well, they better hurry up, or I'm going in after them." I exclaimed. "Don't worry, you won't have to do that." I heard Kevin's voice to my side.
I jumped up quickly, then turned to see Kevin smiling at me. I ran over to him quickly, throwing my arms around his neck.
"Whoa! I didn't know you'd be THIS happy to see me again." Kevin laughed. "Hey, I missed you big bro." I smiled up at him as I released him. "I missed you, too, boy." Kevin replied as he ruffled my hair. "Hey, don't mess with my quaff!" I playfully punched him in the arm.
I looked over Kevin's shoulder to see Brian smiling at me, sheepishly. Kevin caught on that I saw Brian, and moved out of the way.
"Hey, you." I smiled nervously. "It's been awhile, huh?" Brian blushed. "Yeah." I bit my bottom lip.
We stood there, looking at each other for what seemed like an eternity before either of us spoke.
"Well, shit. Let's get this hugging stuff over with so the guys will stop watching us." Brian laughed and walked towards me with open arms. "I want a good hug, too, mister." I teased as I grabbed him and pulled him towards me.
I guess I squeezed a little too hard 'cause Brian grunted in mid-hug.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to suffocate you there." I laughed as I pulled away. "It's no problem...." "Hey, I didn't get a hug when you saw ME!" Nick jumped up and ran over to me, tackling me onto the chair next to me and hugging me. "Help me!" I screamed at A.J. "Baby, don't get too excited." A.J. laughed as he got up and pulled Nick off me. "Thank God!" I sighed, still laying sprawled out on the chair. "Come on." Brian held his hand out to me. "Thanks." I grabbed his hand and got up. "Doesn't anyone want to hug ME?" Devon faked a sniffle. "Wrong thing to say, boy." I warned him right before A.J. and Nick jumped on him and started hugging him.
Brian and I laughed together as Devon started screaming for help. Kevin and Howie got in the middle of the dog-pile and started trying to help him out, leaving me and Brian standing alone while the guys made a ruckous.
"Um, so how are things?" Brian avoided making eye-contact with me. "Oh lordy, I have to answer that question again?" I laughed. "Been asked that one, eh?" "Yeah, by everyone. I'm doing pretty good. I'm off for a month now, so I'm staying out here to take some time off. A little vacation will do me good. I have to fly back to New York tomorrow, though." I replied with a genuine smile. "You know, that's what happened when we met the first time." Brian replied vaguely. "How's that?" I crooked my head, confused. "You being off for a month, me being off for a month. L.A. The whole bit." Brian explained slowly. "Oh yeah." I laughed. "I get it." "I saw Club Kids finally." Brian changed the subject. "You did?" "Yeah." "Well?" "Well what?" "Did you like it?" I laughed at Brian's slowness. "The love scene with you and Devon was, um--tasty." Brian teased. "Thanks, but did you like the movie?" I retorted. "Yeah. I really did. You were a little psycho in that movie, though." Brian cracked a smile. "I think I play psychos rather well. Don't you?" "Oh yeah, definitely." "Thanks." I said sarcastically. "I liked your new song." "Oh, um, thanks." Brian looked away again. "It was really sweet. Very heart-felt." I smiled. "Hey, what are you doing tonight?" Brian looked up at me suddenly. "That's all up to Devon. We planned on seeing you guys' concert then taking it from there." "Hey, Matt!" I turned to see Devon looking up at me from the bottom of the dog-pile. "Hey, Devon!" I yelled back. "Nick just invited us back to the hotel with the guys, want to go?" He asked, grunting from the pressure on top of him. "Ah, how sweet. He tries to crush you, then invites us over." I teased. "So????" Devon asked quickly. "Sure." I looked at Brian. "If that's cool with everyone." "Ofcourse." Brian smiled. "Cool, let's do it--um, I mean, let's go." I blushed as I corrected myself. "Alright." Brian laughed and led me out the back door as the guys climbed off Devon.
When we were in the alley, I noticed that the bus, a limo, and Nick's car were all ready to go. I don't know why Nick brought his car, but didn't bother to ask.
"Brian, Matt, why don't you take my car. All of us want to ride together on the bus." Nick suggested, tossing his keys at Brian. "You five guys will fit into your car, Nick." Brian looked confused. "Fine, you two ride in the bus, and we'll all ride in my car." Nick didn't seem to care. "Better yet, we'll take the limo, Nick." I smiled. "If that's what you want." Nick smiled back at me. "We'll see ya'll at the hotel." I laughed and began to walk towards the limo. "You are such an idiot, Nick." Brian rolled his eyes at Nick then followed me after tossing the keys back to him.
I opened the door to the limo, not waiting for the driver to open it, and hopped in. Brian stood outside the limo, telling the driver where to take us, and hopped in after me. I began looking through the limo's cabinets as the driver took off.
"What are you doing?" Brian asked. "Liquor cabinet." I looked back from my crouched position and smiled at Brian. "Oh lordy. I thought you were drinking a Coke?" Brian giggled as he asked.. "Pepsi, actually. I'm just looking for another soda." I laughed, turning my attention back to looking. "It's that one right there." Brian laughed and pointed out a cabinet. "Ah, there we go." I crawled over to the cabinet and opened it. "Make me a drink, too." Brian asked. "Sure thing. Now why the hell do they have to shove all the drinks to the back?" I laughed.
In order to reach the back of the cabinet, I had to get on my hands and knees and shove my whole arm into the cabinet. As soon as I had grabbed two of the 'airplane bottles' and a Pepsi, I turned around to face Brian. When I turned around, I noticed he had been looking down, in the direction of my ass.
"Um, do you want Rum or Whiskey?" I asked, blushing slightly. "Huh?" Brian looked up as if awaken from a daydream. "Rum or Whiskey?" I asked again. "Rump--I mean rum." Brian blushed. "Sure thing. You get the Rump and I get Asskey--I mean you get the rum, and I get the Pepsi." I teased, then hopped up onto the bench seat next to Brian. "Thanks." Brian took the bottle from me and looked down, avoiding looking at me. "So, um, how long are you in L.A. for?" I asked, opening the soda can. "It all depends." "On what?" I asked, then took a sip of my drink. "I don't know..." "Sounds like a plan." "Don't you want to mix that with something?" Brian asked. "Alcohol? NEVER! I'm a good boy." I laughed. "Alright, when it Rome, do as the Romans do." Brian laughed, got into the cabinet and got a Pepsi of his own, then opened it, quickly taking a drink. "There's the Brian I love." I laughed, not realizing what I had just said. "Huh?" Brian pulled the bottle from his lips and looked at me.
Just as I was about to blush, the limo stopped.
"Here we are!" I exclaimed and quickly opened the limo door.
I got out of the limo quickly and stood there, waiting for Brian to get out. The limo driver got out and walked around to stand by me.
"Will you be needing my services anymore tonight?" He asked Brian as he got out. "No, I don't think so. Thank you." Brian replied. "Ofcourse." The driver replied, closed the door Brian got out of, then went back and got in the driver's side and pulled away. "Should we wait for them, or go on up?" I asked him quickly. "It's sort of cold out. We might want to go on up." Brian replied. "Yeah, I guess so." "Follow me, sir." Brian smiled and began to walk towards the hotel doors. "Wait, there they are." I grabbed Brian's arm and held him in place when I saw Nick's car pulling into the drop off drive.
Nick drove up at what seemed like eighty miles an hour, and screeched to a stop by us. Brian and I looked at each other, both of us probably wondering what the hell Nick was doing. As soon as the car was stopped, Nick hopped out of the driver's side and smiled at Brian and me.
"What the hell was that all about?" Brian asked. "What?" Nick asked. "The screeching to a halt thing." I explained for Brian. "Oh. I don't know. I felt like it." Nick replied.
All the other guys got out of Nick's car, holding their stomachs like they were going to puke.
"All of you guys can kiss my ass. My driving is not that bad." Nick blushed. "Come on, sexy. You can show me your room." I said seductively as I put my arm around Nick's shoulders and walked towards the doors with him. "You ain't showing him our room without me, mister." A.J. laughed as he ran to catch up with us.
"Wow. Ya'll must be moving up in the world, huh?" I laughed as all of us walked into the pretty plain room of Nick and A.J. "Hey, we didn't see the need of getting something fancy." Nick snapped back. "Yeah, I can tell." I teased. "I hope there's enough room for all of us to sit down." Devon helped me tease Nick. "Okay you two, that's enough of that. You better be nice to me since I'll pay for the drinks." Nick replied. "Oh, in that case." I turned, faced Nick, and made a "zipping" motion across my lips before plopping down in a chair near the window. "I'll shut up, too." Devon laughed and sat down on the bed. "Hey guys, I'm sort of worn out, so I'm heading on to bed." Kevin stood at the door, not bothering to even walk into the room. "Alright, Kev. Talk to ya' tomorrow, maybe?" I replied. "Definitely. Call me, k?" Kevin asked. "You know it. Right before I get onto my plane." I smiled as he disappeared. "I'm hitting the sack, too. I think I'm too tired to hang with you party animals." Howie laughed and walked towards the door. "Fine, be that way D." A.J. slapped Howie on the arm as he left the room. "Nite nite, Howie!" I yelled with a slight laugh. "Well guys...." Brian got all of our attention. "Don't tell us you're going to leave us, too!" I replied, exasperated. "No, I was just going to say, 'who's going to go get the drinks'?" Brian giggled. "I'm just going to call down to the front desk and have them send some goodies up." Nick answered Brian's question as he sat down next to Devon on the bed and picked up the phone. "Well, I guess I'll get comfy then." A.J. smiled at Nick and ripped his shoes off. "What does everyone want?" Nick asked the other four of us. "I'll take any of the clear liquors." Devon replied as he pulled his shoes off, too. "Brown ones for me." A.J. smiled. "Matt, Brian?" Nick looked at us. "Pepsi for me." I replied. "Same here." Brian followed-up. "Pepsi?!?!?!" Nick was astounded. "Yes, Pepsi, Nicky." I laughed. "Alright, then." Nick sighed, still in disbelief.
I sat there, listening to Nick order "goodies", as he put it, from the front desk, letting my eyes wander around the room. I was contemplating taking my shoes off, too, when I spotted it. On the table in the room there was a Trivial Pursuit game.
"Oh no you don't!" I screeched as Nick hung up the phone. "Oh no I don't what?" Nick replied quickly, as if my screech shocked him.
I got up and went over to the table and picked the game up.
"We have gots to play." I stated. "Yeah right! I'll whoop your ass at that game." A.J. laughed and walked over to the table by me. "You are so full of it. I know I'd win." I punched A.J. in the arm. "Oooh, that sounds like a challenge right there." Brian laughed. "I think I could win." Nick chimed in. "Shut up!" A.J. and I said in unison, making Nick laugh. "All right, all right. Let's team up. A.J. and I will play you and whichever of these other losers you want as a partner." Nick taunted me. "Prepare to lose, bi-otch." I laughed. "Bitch?!? Oh, you're going down." Nick laughed, got up and grabbed the box from me and proceeded to set it up on the table. "Okay, which one of you pantywastes wants to help me defend my honor here?" I turned to Brian and Devon. "I suck at the game, or I'd help you out, Matt." Devon laughed sheepishly. "Okay. That leaves you Brian. You have gotta help me whoop their asses." I turned to face Brian.
Before Brian could answer, there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it." A.J. ran over to the door. "So, what do you say B-Rok?" I smiled as A.J. ran past me. "Sure. We can win." Brian smiled at me as he took off his jacket. "All right. You're goin' down, Nick." I laughed as I turned back around. "I've seen Brian play, I know you will lose." Nick laughed. "Oh really?" I shook my head. "Children, calm down." A.J. laughed as he walked back into the room, cradling liquor and Pepsi bottles in his arms. "I have a way to settle this. With a wager."
A.J. said the last bit with an evil grin.
"How's that?" Brian asked, confused. "Everyone you get wrong, you drink." A.J. smiled widely. "Do we have to drink if we just don't guess?" Brian asked quickly. "Nope, just the wrong answers." Nick spoke up quickly. "Deal." I agreed for Brian and myself. "You guys take shots, and Brian and I will chug Pepsi." "That's no fair!" Nick screamed. "Sorry, babycakes. I ain't drinkin'." I replied with a smile. "All right, let's just do this." A.J. laughed. "Move the table over by the bed." I asked Nick to help as I picked up one side.
Nick and I moved the table over to the bed by where Brian was sitting. I sat down next to Brian while A.J. and Nick pulled up the two chairs and sat down across from us. A.J. sat the bottles on the table within everyone's sight.
"Devon, you can ask the questions since you aren't playing." Nick handed Devon the two boxes of cards. "Alright." Devon replied as he took the lids off. "What color are we?" I asked. "You can be blue." Nick smiled at me. "But don't plan on moving much." "Well in that case, we get to go first. Since you're so confident, you won't mind." I laughed. "Go ahead, loser." A.J. smiled evily at me. "Roll for us, Bri." I handed the di to Brian.
Brian rolled a five, and I moved us to the green space--science. I knew science best.
"Oh, by the way, this is the Baby Boomer Edition." Nick began laughing hysterically. "CHEATER!" I screamed. "Hey, you didn't ask." A.J. laughed loudly with Nick. "Oh good lord, what is green in this edition, Devon?" I asked. "Lives and Times." Devon giggled. "We're fucked." Brian stated, simply. "Oh, just ask the question, Devon. You'll pay Nick." I sighed. "All right, here goes. What did Timothy Leary proclaim as the sacrament of his new religion on September 19, 1966?" Devon asked, smiling. "Oh, that is too easy." I began laughing. "Then answer it, show-off." Nick smiled at me, thinking I didn't really know. "You really know the answer?" Brian looked at me, amazed. "Ofcourse, it was LSD." I replied, smiling knowingly. "You are correct, sir." Devon was amazed. "Roll again, Bri." I said egotistically. "You go boy." Brian laughed as he rolled again, landing us on Pink for a piece of pie. "Stage and Screen, guys." Devon announced the category. "Bring it on." Brian replied to Devon. "Don't miss this one, mister actor man." Nick teased. "Who was dubbed The Pearl?" "Janis Joplin!" Brian practically screamed. "Yeppir." Devon smiled. "I don't like the way this looks." A.J. looked at Nick. "Eat that, little boy." Brian pointed his finger in Nick's face with a laugh as I put the pie part in our game piece. "Just roll again." Nick laughed.
I rolled for us again, landing us on brown.
"Publishings, you two." Devon looked at us before asking the question. "What bestselling novel ended with the line: 'Then he began to kick toward shore'?" "The Old Man And The Sea?" Brian answered before thinking. "WHAT?!?!?" I screeched. "You are wrong." Devon laughed loudly. "Sorry, Bri. It's Jaws." Nick rubbed it in. "Oh my god, I'm sorry Matt." Brian began laughing. "I know two little boys that have to drink." A.J. laughed loudly, reaching for the bottles. "Shall we make them take a shot of the Jack Daniels, or the Vodka?" Nick contemplated with an evil grin. "Vodka, it tastes nastier." A.J. suggested. "Pepsi it is." I grabbed the two liter bottle. "You have to drink something besides Pepsi!" A.J. groaned. "Piss off." I laughed. "Oooh, don't get upset boy, you're just drinking Pepsi." Nick laughed in my face. "You drink first, Brian since you are the one that fucked up." I laughed, twisted the cap off and handed it to Brian.
Brian looked at me with a smile, then grabbed it and took a healthy swig. Devon, Nick, A.J. and I all cheered for him.
"I must admit that's tastier than whiskey or vodka!" Brian smiled goofily.
I quickly grabbed the bottle and took a drink my drink, finishing us off.
"I say when they get one wrong, they have to drink the vodka." Brian laughed, wiping his mouth. "Definitely." I replied and stuck my tongue out at Nick.
(Part 2)
"You know what?" Nick slurred from the floor next to me. "What?" I laughed at his drunken slur. "I'm so fucked up." He busted out laughing, causing me to laugh with him.
Halfway through the game, A.J. and Nick got plastered. Devon had started hitting the bottle and ended up fubared as well. Somehow, Nick and I ended up laying on our backs on the floor while Brian and A.J. were able to remain in their seats. I was on the floor out of hyper-activity while Nick was on the floor from being drunk. Devon was laying face down on the bed, mumbling incoherently about how that last shot was a bad idea.
"I want to eat." I sighed as I reached over and slapped Nick on the chest playfully. "I'll tell you what I want." Brian stated from his seat on the bed. "So, tell me what you want." Nick replied. "Okay, I'll tell you what I want." Brian said again. "I want a huh, I want a huh, I want a huh, I really really want a zigga-zay-ah. If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends..."Nick and I began singing with a laugh. "Make it last forever, friendship never ends. If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give, takin' is too easy, but that's the way it is." Brian and A.J. joined Nick and I in singing the last bit.
Nick and I began laughing loudly, practically unable to breathe from how loud we were being.
"I think I'm going to make some spin art, guys." Devon raised up off the bed to announce. "WAIT!" I screamed.
I crawled over to the kitchen sink, grabbed one of the plastic cups with the wrapper still on it and crawled back.
"If you're going to spew, spew into this." I imitated Garth and handed the cup to Devon.
Brian, Nick and A.J. began laughing loudly. Obviously, Devon didn't think it was too funny, 'cause he bolted for the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. On his way to get to the bathroom, he had rammed his knee into the side of my head, making me double over from pain and laughter.
"Ow!" I said simply as I held my head on the floor and laughed. "Are you okay?!?!" Brian couldn't help but laugh. "I think I'll live." I giggled.
Right as I finished speaking, we heard Devon upchucking--loudly.
"Well, that can't be good." Nick laughed loudly. "Oh lordy. I gotta share a cab with him later, and he's not gonna smell pretty." I sighed, then stood up, almost falling back over from my laughter. "Where you goin'?" Brian asked. "Crazy, most likely. Wanna come?" "Wanna come? Suuuuuuure." Brian began to laugh. "You are one nasty little boy." Nick teased Brian while I blushed and began to walk towards the bathroom.
I walked over to the bathroom door and knocked lightly, hoping Devon hadn't fallen in head first.
"Wha-a-at?" Devon moaned. "I'm coming in, keep your head in the bowl." I replied and opened the door, quickly walking in and shutting the door behind me.
Devon had his face planted in the toilet bowl, moaning lowly. I felt sort of sorry for him. I know he didn't feel too good at that moment in time.
"Hey, buddy. You okay?" I asked as I sat on the edge of the tub and began to rub his back as he kept his head in the toilet. "I think that last shot was a very bad idea." "Ya' reckon?" "I think so." Devon replied as he pulled his head out of the toilet. "You going to be okay?" "Yeah, just give me a second here." Devon sat next to me on the floor and put his head on my knee. "You know, it seems like whenever we get together with the guys, someone always ends up in the restroom spilling their guts. Figuratively or literally, anyway." I smiled as I began to stroke Devon's hair. "I know, I'm sorry." "It's okay, buddy." "He did write that song about you, though." Devon groaned and wrapped his arms around my waist for support. "Yeah. I know." "If you knew, then why'd you have to argue about it?" Devon tried to laugh. "Nothing brings me more pleasure than to disagree with you." I replied, teasingly.
I leaned down and kissed Devon on the back of the head.
"What was that for?" Devon looked up at me. "For making me come out here for vacation. Especially for making me come see the guys in concert." I smiled down at him. "Do me a favor." "What?" "Don't let the second chance pass you buy, k?" Devon laid his head back down on my knee. "We'll see. Alright?" "Matt, life isn't full of second chances. When you actually get a second chance, you should never pass it up--if it's what you want. If you do, odds are you won't ever have another chance to correct what went wrong." Devon slurred philisophically. "Alright, buddy." I sighed. "I guess that's the best I could expect." "Exactly. Now come on." I stood up, then pulled Devon up to his feet.
I had to practically drag Devon out of the bathroom.
"Whoa. Is he okay?" A.J. slurred when he saw me dragging Devon back into the main part of the room. "Yeah, he purged most of the liquor." I smiled as I laid Devon down on the bed. "What time is it, Matt?" Devon looked up, glazed eyed at me from the bed.
I looked over at the bedside table, checking the alarm clock.
"Two in the morning." I replied. "Two?!?!" Nick screamed. "SHHHHHH!" Devon groaned, holding his head. "Yes, it's two in the morning." I laughed at Devon and Nick.
Brian and I looked at each other, both of us rolling our eyes at the "drunkies".
"Guys, I have gots to sleep." A.J. stood from his chair, then fell back down, making a loud "thud" sound. "Whoa!" Brian jumped up, laughing. "I'll help him." Nick slurred, then lazily got up out of his chair.
Brian and I watched, trying not to laugh, as Nick helped A.J. out of his chair. They both held onto each other for support as they walked over to the bed. I couldn't tell if A.J. was holding Nick up, or if Nick was holding A.J. up. They got about one foot from the bed, then they both tumbled onto the bed, completely passed out.
"What a bunch of lushes." I giggled as I walked over and shoved both of them onto the bed fully. "We can't just leave all three of them here." Brian said, disbelieving. "Why not?" "Well, we can't leave Devon in here with the love-birds." "Oh please. They're passed out. I don't think they'll be doing anything that will surprise Devon." I laughed. "True." "Help me cover them all up." I asked as I started taking shoes off of all three of them. "Alright."
I got all three pairs of shoes off, and got all three of the guys to get their heads on the pillows with their feet in the right spot. As soon as they were all positioned correctly, Brian and I yanked the covers out from underneath them all and covered them up.
"There, that chore bites the dust." I sighed, somewhat out of breath. "So, what shall we do. Just the two of us?" Brian asked, looking me square in the eye. "Well, I am sort of hungry." "Then let's go get something to eat."
Brian and I turned out all the lights in the room, making sure to clean up a bit first, then left, locking the door behind us. We walked down to the elevator and went down to the lobby in complete silence. I followed Brian to the front drive where the valet took a ticket from him. As soon as the car was pulled around, we were inside, and Brian had tipped the valet, we were off.
"So, now would be the time to ask you where we're going to get something to eat at two in the morning." I spoke as I attempted to fasten my seatbelt. "You forget you're in Los Angeles now, not Salt Lake City." "Huh?" "A lot of places are open late." Brian smiled at me. "Gotcha." I replied as I finally got my seatbelt to fasten. "So you're going to New York tomorrow?" Brian asked. "Today, actually, seeing that it's morning already." "Well?" "Yeah, I'm catching the noon flight. I'm making an appearance on Rosie tomorrow." "Well, why are you flying in a day early?" Brian asked. "I wanted to check the apartment to make sure everything is alright there, do a little cleaning, then check my machine and clear it out." "What are you going on Rosie for?" "I guess the people that she had signed to do the show that day dropped out or something and she called me as a back up. I don't know why she called me of all people." I replied. "Well, you are the hot little actor lately. I'm sure the Playgirl thing probably had a lot to do with that." Brian smiled evily. "Am I the only person that just found out today about that?!?!" I laughed. "I think so." Brian giggled. "Oh well. Anyway, Rosie has the whole hour for me and one of your friends, in fact. How could I turn that down?" "Which friend?" Brian asked curiously. "Mandy Moore." "Oh, well I barely know her." Brian replied as he pulled into an IHOP parking lot. "Oh gee. IHOP, my dreams have come true." I laughed.
Brian parked the car in the almost-empty lot.
"Well, let's go." Brian smiled as he hopped out of his car.
I got out of the car and followed him to the entrance, again in silence. It wasn't until the waitress seated us at a booth and we had gotten our drinks that Brian spoke.
"So, what are you going to be working on next?"
I took my mouth away from my water glass long enough to answer.
"Um, I'm going to be out here in L.A. filming a new movie with Bob again." I replied. "I guess you picked Barbara back up?" "Yeah, she's my agent again. I was doing okay without her, but I know if I'm teamed with her, I'll do even better." "So, what's the movie about?" Brian asked.
I couldn't help but laugh.
"What?" Brian looked at me like I was crazy. "You're going to love this." I started. "How so?" "I play a male stripper." "Do what?!?!" Brian got wide-eyed. "You heard me. I play a male-stripper." "Do you have to get--well do you have to actually strip COMPLETELY?" "Almost. Ofcourse I am going to be introduced to the world of g-strings." I laughed. "How'd you go from 'Into The Sun', 'Glass Houses' and 'Club Kids' to doing 'The Witching Hour' and playing a stripper?!" Brian laughed. "Luck of the draw I guess." "Please tell me that there's a redeeming quality to this role." "Actually, there is. See, when Barb sent the script to me, I thought she was crazy. It was all a little too Demi-ish for me at first. But when I got to reading the script, it was actually pretty good. The character is not just a stripper. It's not that simplistic. He's sort of like a guy on a self-destruct mission. He's sort of suicidal. Like when I portrayed Michael Alig in 'Club Kids'. He's very raucous, but in a somewhat innocent way--I guess. He redeems himself at the end, trust me." I explained. "But you don't take EVERYTHING off, right?" Brian wanted to confirm that bit of information. "No, 'Little Matt' stays out of the film." I replied as I took another sip of water. "Thank God." "I feel like I'm doing my interview with Rosie already." I sighed. "I'm sorry. Just trying to make conversation I guess." Brian smiled.
Brian and I sat there in silence again. That is until our food came. We ate silently, exchanging glances every now and then. It wasn't one of those 'tense silences', it was more comfortable.
"So, are you going back home alone?" Brian asked as he swallowed his last bite of food. "Yeah." "All the way from California to New York alone?" Brian cocked an eyebrow. "I do it all the time, Brian." I smiled at him. "Oh. Well still--it's a long way for you to travel alone." Brian replied quickly. "It's only four hours, if that, by plane." "I couldn't imagine having to take that trip completely alone all the time." Brian sighed. "Brian, would you like to come along?" I asked, knowing he wanted me to.
Brian looked at me.
"No, I don't want to get in your way." Brian looked down at the table.
I couldn't help but laugh.
"What's so funny?" Brian smiled at me nervously. "Listen, I know you were dropping hints that you wanted to come to New York, too. Don't play coy. You can come along if you want. You know there's enough room in my apartment for both of us for two nights." I explained. "Um, alright." Brian blushed. "I was never good at being circumspect with you." "I have a built-in bullshit detector." I smiled.