***************************************************************************** Standard disclaimer: You know the drill. Too young? Don't read. Too homophobic? Don't read. Too repressed? Don't read. Think this is real? Seek help. Like The Backstreet Boys? Read on. Start to believe they're actually gay? Well, just don't start stalking them. Then I guess we'll all be okay. *****************************************************************************
'What can I do to make you vanish into the blue with me?' - Blue, Symposium
********* Chapter 3 *********
Nick silently closed the door, praying with all his soul that Kevin wasn't awake. He couldn't hear heavy breathing, which was a good sign, but he couldn't hear snoring either, which was a bad sign. Slowly, he turned round. That was when he saw Kevin's muscular figure silhouetted in the dark, standing right behind Nick with his hands on his hips. Nick jumped with surprise, and he wondered briefly how long Kevin had been standing there.
"We need to talk, Nick." Kevin told him. He switched on the light suddenly, causing Nick to blink from the sudden brightness.
"Kev, can't it wait. I'm real tired." Nick appealed to his boyfriend's deflated tender side by making his voice go shaky. Usually, Kevin couldn't resist it, but the mood he was in tonight made Nick realise that he'd have to use a lot more seduction if Kevin was even going to halfway forgive him.
"Who is he?" Kevin asked. Nick stepped back in surprise, hitting the door.
"Who?"
"You know who. That weirdo looking creep who you're seeing."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Nick exclaimed innocently.
"Don't bullshit me Nicky. I followed you tonight. I followed him following you. I saw everything. I saw those two perves attacking you, I saw him killing one of them, and I saw him kiss you, right on the forehead. Now tell me why the fuck you're letting a godamn murderer kiss you?"
"It's not like that." Nick protested. "He isn't a murderer. Well, he is, but he can't really help it."
"What?" Kevin asked in disbelief. "That's novel. A murderer who 'can't really help it'."
"Did you see the way he killed that guy?"
"He bit him or something." Kevin shook his head, disgusted. "Or was I just so mad there I started to see things?"
"No, he did bite him. And you know who bites people to kill them?"
"Yeah, murderous, pervert psychopaths." Kevin nodded.
"No." Nick sighed exasperated. "Vampires. That guy, Louis, he's a vampire."
There was a long pause, before Kevin shook his head, dwelling on what Nick had just said. "Sorry, I don't think I heard you right. For a second there, I thought you said that you were cheating on me with a vampire."
"I'm not cheating on you." Nick told him. "But he is a vampire."
"Okay, Nicky, now I know you were never the brightest of kids, but surely you know by now that there are one or two things that can't possibly exist; vampires being right up there with werewolves and pixies."
"Don't patronise me." Nick stepped round him, and sat on the end of the bed taking his shoes off. "He is a vampire. And disbelief isn't an attractive quality for anybody."
"You're too much Nick." Kevin shook his head. "So have you slept with him?"
Nick's head shot up. "No, I haven't. I've met him twice in my entire life.
And as much as you'd like to believe it, I'm not a slut who'll jump into bed with anyone after five minutes."
"We've been going out longer than five minutes." Kevin stated quietly.
"Oh, I see." Nick's voice rose slightly. "This isn't about him at all. It's about us, isn't it?"
"Well what do you want it to be about?" Kevin asked. "Two months we've been going out. Two months! And the most I've got from you is a five-minute blowjob. Excuse me if I don't celebrate that fact too heavily. A man has needs, Nick."
"Yeah, and he has a hand too." Nick stated bitingly. "So use it, why don't you?"
"This isn't a relationship." Kevin shook his head. "This is a Goddamn joke."
"It will never be a relationship if you don't trust me." Nick told him, the sadness in his voice letting his defiant demeanour down.
"Okay, Nick." Kevin walked over to him, kneeling down so he was looking up into the younger man's big blue eyes. "I'm sorry for getting mad at you. But I honestly don't know what's going on. I want to trust you, I really do, but it's hard when you're sneaking off in the middle of the night to meet with a man who I saw murder someone."
He sighed. "I admit, I probably wouldn't hesitate to kill someone who tried to rape you, but that's only because I care about you more than anything else in this world. And if this man does care about you like I do, than maybe I could understand it, but you said yourself that you've only ever met him twice."
"Kevin, please don't feel like you have to compete with him. Louis is like, this guy that comes in my dreams. He's not real like you are. I can meet him by night, but in the morning I would have nobody to wake up next to." He clasped Kevin's hands in his own. "I never lied to you when I said I love you. I do, more than I've ever loved anyone. And I do love Louis, but only because he's someone who I know I'll never have. I love him in a completely different way to you. I'm not going to choose between the two of you, because I've already made my decision. But just because I choose you, does it mean I have to stop seeing him?"
Kevin hesitated, before leaning forward and kissing Nick softly on the lips.
After a few seconds he pulled away and stared into the younger man's blue eyes. "I'm not gonna stop you seeing this guy, because I know I can't. But if he is a vampire, as much as I have my doubts, will you please wear this? Just so I can be reassured that he's not gonna jump you?"
He pulled the thin silver chain from around his neck, a small crucifix hanging from it.
"I'd be honoured to." Nick smiled. Kevin fastened it around his neck, and then leaned in to kiss him again. They sunk onto the bed, their bodies pressed tightly together. Kevin felt the misgivings rise in his stomach. He'd just given his boyfriend permission to see a murderer. But they were only in New York for another week, and when they left, this Louis would fade from Nick's thoughts as quickly as he had intruded them. Of that, Kevin was certain. And if Nick did insist on seeing him, then Kevin would follow them just as he had done tonight. There wasn't anything wrong with ensuring his boyfriend's safety. He just couldn't wait until this week was over.
"Yo, Kevin." Howie greeted his friend enthusiastically. "Did Nicky sneak out again last night? Or were you too tired after your little session?"
"What 'little session'" Kevin scowled.
"Hey, my room's next door to yours." Howie pointed to the wall in his room.
"And the walls are paper-thin in this hotel. I heard you groaning like it was going out of fashion."
"Oh yeah." Kevin smiled wryly. "Nick decided he'd be kind enough to blow me."
"Wow, point to Kevin." Howie grinned. "Was that the first time?"
"First time he's done it to me." Kevin scowled. "But I could almost forget that. His mouth was so damn hot I wasn't really thinking of much else."
"Nice." Howie nodded. "So what brought him around?"
"Well, that's the annoying part." Kevin sighed, reminded of what he had come in to tell Howie. "He only did it so I'd fall asleep."
"Ah." Howie nodded, understanding. "He sneaked out again?"
"Yup." Kevin lent against the wall, looking over to Howie who was sat on his neatly made bed. "This time, however, I decided to follow him."
"Yeah?" Howie lent forward in anticipation. "Where did he go?"
"It was pretty surreal actually. I followed him, and then I realised that someone else was following him too, in front of me. I just decided to wait and see what happened." Kevin told him. "Anyway, he got jumped by this gang, and a few of them walked off, but two stayed. One of them tried to rape him, while the other stood watch." Kevin saw Howie's eyes grow wide in horror. "Anyway, this guy that was following him suddenly jumped out and, like, bit the guy standing watch. I couldn't believe what I had seen at first, but it was true. I'll get onto that later. Anyway, this murderer went to kill the guy attacking Nick, and probably would have gone through with that as well, but Nick stopped him. Just told him not to, and the guy left it. The other guy ran off, and the two of them talked for a while. Then I saw the murderer kiss Nick..."
"On the lips? Like, a proper kiss?" Howie asked in astonishment.
"No, it was just on the forehead. Pretty chaste, I suppose, but I was so mad at that point that I just left. Came back to the hotel and waited for Nick. He wasn't much longer."
"Did you say anything to him?"
"Damn right I did." Kevin stared at Howie in disgust, as if he couldn't understand why he'd asked such an idiotic question. "Anyway, Nick told me something quite disturbing, and coming from anyone else, I would have laughed in their face. But with Nick, I can usually tell when he's lying, and he honestly believed it."
"So...?" Howie rolled his eyes expectantly.
"According to Nick, this guy, Louis, is a vampire." Kevin waited for Howie to say something, but the younger man sat in shocked silence.
"A vampire?" He finally managed to utter.
"Yup." Kevin nodded. "Apparently, Nick is attracted to him, loves him even, but doesn't want it to affect our relationship. He says that he loves this guy in a different way. And he wants to carry on seeing him."
"So you're okay with this?" Howie asked, shocked.
"No." Kevin shook his head. "I mean, I told him I was to keep him happy, but I'll be damned if I let my boyfriend see a supposed vampire. I mean, I do have some pride."
"So what do you wanna do about it?" Howie asked.
"Well, that's where you can help me." Kevin smiled. "I have it on good authority that Nick's gonna be too tired to go out tonight, at least to start with. We have to find this guy, and warn him away."
"Why do I have to help?" Howie whined. "What if he is a vampire?"
"Better to have two of us there than one, isn't it?" Kevin reasoned.
"Look, don't try to act like you don't care about Nicky, cos I know you do. We're doing this for him, remember?" He walked over to Howie and knelt down in front of him. "I'm doing this as a purely selfless act. Now are you gonna help me or not?"
Howie nodded after a long pause. He couldn't think of anything he'd like to do less, and he knew that Kevin was doing this for himself, despite what he said. But Howie knew better than to argue with Kevin. The oldest band-member was skilled at making people's lives hell if they didn't fall into line. And that was something Howie couldn't risk.