Here is the seventh part of the story. Again, this story involves Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys. Please remember that this is pure fantasy and absolutely nothing is implied about the sexualities of any of the characters in this story. All comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated at keithlowell@hotmail.com Thanks. With that said...........ENJOY...........
Author's Note: Hello everyone, I want to dedicate this part to a very special friend that I have made through this story. He has taken upon himself to name himself this story's #1 FAN. So my #1 FAN please write to me and let me know that everything is okay.
Brian and Keith -- 7
"Lets give them some privacy," Kevin suggested as he stood to leave the room. The rest of the guys followed his lead and soon Keith and Brian were left alone to console each other.
Brian let Keith cry to get all his emotions out of his system. He soothingly rubbed Keith's back for comfort. Eventually, Keith did calm down, but not before soaking Brian's shirt. Keith lifted his head from Brian's shoulder and wiped away the tears that were left on his face. He was all cried out. His eyes were red and they started to sting.
'I guess after all the crying that I did through the last few days caught up with my eyes,' he thought as he chuckled to himself.
"Are you feeling better now?" Brian asked as he wiped away the tears.
"Yes, thank you," Keith replied as he took Brian's hand in between his and squeezed.
"Mention not," Brian said in the sweetest voice he could muster at the moment.
Keith smiled and gathered Brian in a warm hug. They just stayed in the hug because neither wanted to end the physical contact. Keith felt safe and protected in Brian's arms.
"I'm sorry about all of this," Keith whispered as he reluctantly let go of Brian.
"What are you apologizing for, none of this is your fault," Brian said with a confused look on his face.
"Well! if we were not involved then none of this would have happened," Keith sighed.
There was an eerie quietness between the two lovers right after Keith's comment. Neither of them had ever brought up the question of how their lives would have turned out if they would have never met. There was a lot of negative tension between the two of them, but that did not last long. Each knew in their hearts that they could not reverse time nor could they change the things that came their way. That was only God's doing.
"I'm sorry I said that, I did not mean it," Keith said as he looked directly in Brian's eyes. Brian just nodded but refrained from saying anything.
"I love you," Keith said with a smile as he kept staring into Brian's blue eyes. 'I can keep staring into those two blue oceans for the rest of time in this world. I see my future in those eyes,' he thought as he rubbed Brian's hand.
"I love you too," Brian replied as he leaned forward and kissed Keith on the lips. They continued kissing as if there wasn't anyone or anything in the world besides them. But, alas all good things must come to an end.
Both of them were forced to stop kissing when they heard a knock on the door. Both of them groaned that the person had to chose this time to come and disturb them. They reluctantly let go of each other and sat side by side on the bed. Brian let go of Keith's hand as he looked at Keith silently asking his permission to tell the person to come in. Keith nodded as he straightened himself a bit.
"Yes, come in," Brian said as he leaned back a little in the bed.
"Sorry guys, but we have to get going now," Nick said as he entered the room followed by A.J. and Howie.
"So soon," Keith said sadly as he looked at Brian.
"Don't look so sad Keith, we are going to release you also so that they can take you home," Dr. Rosenberg said as she entered followed by Kevin.
"Yippee," Keith shouted as he clapped his hands happily.
"You act like we didn't treat you right," Dr. Rosenberg said sadly.
"Oh it isn't that, I am just happy to return home and relax," Keith said.
Dr. Rosenberg decided to accept Keith's explanation on it's face value. She brought over the release forms which Keith gladly signed. She informed them that they could leave anytime they wanted. She gave them some instructions on how to take care of Keith's scars and that to make sure to change his wrappings everyday. Then she left leaving the guys to fuss over the extremely happy Keith.
Brian got out some clothes for Keith to wear. Kevin, A.J., Howie, and Nick excused themselves so that Keith can dress in the room instead of the bathroom. Soon Keith was dressed and sitting on the bed with a huge grin on his face.
"You look so goofy sitting there with that grin," Brian commented as he finished clearing up the room of Keith's things.
"Well! I'm happy, safe, and in love, so why shouldn't I have a big old goofy grin on my face," Keith replied with an even bigger smile.
Brian could see laughter in Keith's eyes. Keith's eyes were lit up like a kid visiting Disney World for the very first time. There was so much happiness and so much love when Brian looked into those precious eyes. Brian walked up to Keith and embraced him in a warm hug.
"I love you, my knight in shining armour," Keith said as he hugged Brian even tighter.
"Say it again," Brian whispered.
"I love you," Keith said a little louder.
"Say it again, and this time a little louder," Brian whispered again.
"I love you my knight," Keith said a little louder.
"Say it again," Brian whispered again as he kissed the top of Keith's head.
"I love you," Keith shouted as he managed to hug Brian even tighter.
"I can never hear you say that enough times, don't ever stop saying it," Brian said as he reluctantly let go and looked into Keith's eyes one more time.
"I don't plan on stop saying it any time soon," Keith whispered as he once again was entranced by those crystal clear blue eyes.
Brian leaned a little forward and just as his lips were about to touch Keith's lips, Nick walked in.
"Brian, Keith, we have to ...........," Nick stopped in mid sentence as he realized that he walked in the middle of something.
Brian groaned as he backed away from Keith. 'We were so close,' Brian thought as he looked at the intruder. Keith's face turned beet red as he looked at the floor. He felt so embarrassed that he could not even raise his gaze from the floor.
"Yes Nick," Brian said as he straightened himself.
Nick was extremely uncomfortable standing there at that moment. He stood there looking at the floor while twiddling his thumbs. "I'm sorry, I should have knocked," he said as he tentatively looked up.
"Don't worry about it, I was only about to kiss him, that's all," Brian said as he looked at Nick with a smile.
Nick saw the smile and relaxed immediately. 'Boy, am I glad that Bri is not mad at me,' he thought. The last thing he needed was to have Brian mad at him again. There friendship was still on shaky ground. He wanted to prove to Brian that he was still worthy of that friendship and trust like they had before.
"Yo! Nick, you were saying," Brian said as he waved his hands in front of Nick's dazed face.
"Oh yeah, we have to get going soon, the limo is here. The rest of the guys are already in it, and they sent me to get you guys," Nick blurted out all in one go. He gasped as he tried to bring his breathing back to normal.
"Okay then let's get out of here," Keith said as he stood up. Keith had recovered from his embarrassment. He thought that sooner or later someone would walk in on him and Brian while they were kissing. He decided to shrug off his embarrassment and act like it was no big deal.
Keith walked out of the room followed by Brian and Nick. Brian had Keith's overnight bag and some balloons with him. The flowers and the rest of the balloons were left to Nick. Nick looked like he was carrying thousands of balloons. He could hardly see where they were headed. He trusted that Brian and Keith would not leave him behind.
All three of them walked out the hospital entrance and to the waiting limo. They all got in one at a time while struggling to keep the balloons from flying away. The limo was on it's way to Keith's apartment as soon as Nick managed to get in with all the balloons.
Keith was sitting quite comfortably with his head on Brian's shoulder. All the rest of the guys kept glancing in their direction every once in a while. All of them were thinking the same thing, 'How are Brian and Keith going to say good bye to each other after tomorrow's concert.' Keith felt that all of them kept glancing at him from time to time but was unsure of the reason why. All the old fears came back to him that he would not be able to continue his relationship with Brian because the guys would object. He certainly hoped not because Brian was the best thing that could have happened to him in a long time. He did not want to give that up. But, if the decision ever came down to that point, he would have to step back. The group came first in Brian's life, as it should.
They reached Keith's apartment building. Everyone made their way into the lobby with the balloons and flowers in their hands. Kevin, A.J., and Howie got into the first elevator since there was not enough room for all of them to fit in one elevator with the balloons. Nick, Brian, and Keith made their way up in a second elevator.
Soon they were all sitting inside Keith's apartment. Everyone was relaxing in the living room while Keith was in his bedroom resting.
"Brian, what are you going to do after the concert?" Nick asked tentatively.
"I am going to spend some time with Keith for my break and then meet up with you guys in about a week," Brian replied calmly looking down at the floor.
"Have you told Aunt Jackie and Uncle Harold?" Kevin asked looking directly at his cousin.
"NO I haven't had a chance to do so, maybe I'll do it after the concert," Brian replied with a sigh. "Ofcourse the hard part will be explaining Keith's past experiences and how we met," he continued saying as he ran his hands through his hair.
"You mean you are going to tell them all the details," A.J. gasped as he looked at Brian with surprise.
"Yes, I think that would be best, besides they can always tell when I'm lying to them," Brian said while he chuckled.
"I think that you should take Keith there and let them meet him," Howie suggested. "It will be easy for both of you and also for them to accept once they see how much in love you two are," he continued as he made his point.
"Yeah, that would probably be best," Nick added his opinion also.
"Don't you think that might be too much to handle at one time?" Brian asked no one in particular.
"No I don't, I think that they could be able to handle it just fine," Kevin answered for the group. The rest of them didn't voice their opinion, but nodded their heads to show that they agree with Kevin.
"Okay, then its settled, that is what we are going to do," Brian announced with a big smile on his face.
The rest of the guys also smiled to show their support for Brian and also to show their excitement that Brian had finally possibly found "the one". No one believed that Brian would be the first one to get involved in a serious relationship. But then again, one does not plan to fall in love. When the love bug bites a person, that person has to go with it.
"Okay guys, we have to get to rehearsal," Kevin said once again taking charge of the situation.
Everyone groaned that after all that has happened, they still have to go to rehearsal. No one was happy about that, after all they were all tired already.
"Okay, I know no one wants to do this, but today is the last rehearsal and then the concert tomorrow and then we have our week off," Kevin said trying to get everyone motivated. He knew from experience that if the group was not motivated, then the rehearsal would drag on for all hours. It was best to get in, rehearse, and then leave happy. No one bought Kevin's idea, but everyone decided not to be too difficult.
"Let me check on Keith, and then we can be on our way," Brian said as he got up and walked up to the bedroom door.
Keith had been in bed resting this whole time. He had not heard any of the guys' conversation because he had his Backstreet Boys CD in his cd player and had headphones on. He had the volume just turned up enough so that the music would be soothing. He had his eyes closed to help him relax.
Brian knocked softly. He received no reply. He knocked a little louder, but still no reply.
"Keith," Brian as he knocked again. 'Maybe he went to sleep,' he thought to himself as he gently opened the door. He stepped into the room quietly and shut the door behind him. There he saw Keith lying in his bed with his eyes closed and his fingers tapping on his cd player. 'God Almighty, he looks so precious lying there like that. I don't know what I did to deserve him, but I promise that I will take care of him till the day I die,' he thought as he leaned against the door and took in the sight before him.
Keith did not hear the knocking and did not even notice Brian stepping into his room since his eyes were closed. He felt a presence in his room and his eyes flew open in nervousness. He sighed with relief that it was only Brian standing there.
"Hi," Keith said with a smile as he removed the headphones from his ear and stopped the cd.
Brian walked up to the bed and sat down next to Keith. He leaned forward and lightly kissed Keith on the lips. Keith returned the kiss with enthusiasm to say the least.
"How are you doing?" Brian asked as his lips let go of Keith's lips.
Keith sighed and replied, "Not bad."
"That's good to hear," Brian said as he rubbed Keith's cheek with his finger.
"Listen, we have to go to rehearsal now, but I will be back tonight to spend the night here, okay," Brian said as he straightened up on the bed.
"Okay, that's good, but before you go, could you help me into the living room," Keith asked as he got ready to get up.
"Are you sure?" Brian asked hesitantly. He did not want Keith to exert himself too soon.
"Yes, I am feeling a little better, besides I noticed the answering machine button blinking," Keith said as he sat up in bed. "I also have to call Carol because I am sure that she must be worried sick by now," he said as he got out of the bed with Brian's help.
Both of them made their way out of the bedroom, and Brian escorted Keith over to the chair that he had been sitting in before. Everyone got up and smiled as Keith sat down.
"Wow! guys I am not royalty, you don't have to stand when I come into a room," Keith said jokingly and waving his hand as to motion that the subjects could be seated now that the monarch has sat down.
"Dream on buddy, we have to get going to rehearsal," A.J. said with a huge smile on his face.
"Oh! okay, I see no respect for the monarch, heh," Keith said as he pretended to pout.
"I'll show you respect for the monarch!" Nick exclaimed as he reached over and started tickling Keith a little. He did not want to tickle too hard incase he accidentally hurt Keith more.
Keith laughed out loud obviously enjoying the tickling. Brian looked over him like a mother hen would brood over her baby chicks. But after a while he noticed that Nick was not hurting Keith, only making him laugh.
Nick finally stopped tickling Keith and held him in a close hug while both of them calmed down. He untangled himself from Keith and sat down on the floor in front of Keith's chair. "I am so glad that you are okay," he said as he held Keith's hand in his own.
Keith looked up shyly at Nick and said, "thanks." He looked up further to see the rest of the guys standing and laughing at the two of them.
"Okay, enough fun guys, we have to get moving," Kevin said in his serious tone.
Everyone groaned but one look from Kevin and they all started to get their things together to leave for rehearsal. Keith looked at them happily and thought about how lucky he was to have friends like these.
"Got to go babe, I will see you tonight," Brian said as he quickly kissed Keith on the lips and joined the rest of the guys waiting on him.
The rest of the guys waved their goodbyes to Keith before they stepped out of the apartment. Soon they were gone, and Keith was sitting there in the quietness. God, how he hated these moments. Then all of a sudden he felt his lips form a smile. That had never happened before. He tried to think why the smile had decided to appear this time. Brian's face appeared in front of him, and he had his answer. He sighed and leaned back as he thought about how great it would be to spend the rest of his life with Brian. 'Yep he is the one for me,'he thought to himself as he managed to smile even wider.
He snapped out of this daze as he sat up in the chair. He stood up slowly as he glanced at the wall clock. It said that the time was 5 pm. He just had to wait till 8:30 for Brian to return. They would not spend that much time rehearsing because they were probably tired from everything that has happened over the past couple of days. 'I hope Brian brings us something to eat,' Keith thought as he rubbed his stomach a little.
Keith made his way into the kitchen and saw the answering machine. He could tell that he had four messages by the way the light was blinking on the machine. He made his way to the sink to get a glass a water. After he had his water, Keith pushed the blinking button.
'Keith, where are you. I have been calling since the funeral. Please call me back as soon as you can. Bye,' Carol said. Keith sighed as he got ready to listen to the next message.
'Mr. Littrell, this is Dr. Rosenberg. I wanted to call to let you know that Mr. Lowell has regained consciousness. You can check him out when you come and see him tomorrow. Bye.' Keith smiled as the notion of Brian checking Keith out. 'I think he has already done that Dr. Rosenberg,' he thought as he chuckled.
Keith was brought out of his trance as he heard his brother's voice in the next message. 'Keith, this is Brad. How could you be so selfish as to turn your back on your mother's funeral to spend some time with your friend. I mean come on, how could you be so stupid. Well, you have made your choice, now I am making mine. I do not have a brother anymore. You are dead to me, and I am dead to you. Think that I buried you with mom. Have a good life and bye.' Keith could not believe the words that he just heard. He was not that surprised since he knew that Brad would have a reaction like this, but to go this far was beyond Keith's understanding. 'Oh well! if that is what is supposed to happen, then so be it,' he thought as he wiped some tears from his cheeks.
The next message was from Carol again. 'Keith I do not believe father about what he said about you. I want you to know that I will always love you and I will always be there for you. I talked to Brad and he doesn't want anything to do with you. He made his choice on who to believe, but I am only going to believe you. Please call me.'
Keith felt a little better after hearing the last message. But, he still had to wipe away some more tears from his face.
"God, why is this all happening to me again, I cannot handle this," Keith said aloud as he shook his head.
Keith was shocked out of his little outburst as the phone rang. He immediately picked it up and said, "hello."
"Hi babe, how are you doing?" Brian asked in his most chipper voice.
"Hi," Keith sighed.
"What's wrong?" Brian asked become extremely serious.
"Nothing, I was just about to call Carol. I just finished hearing my messages," Keith informed him with a whimper.
"Oh babe, don't cry. Remember I will always be there for you no matter what," Brian said.
"I know and I appreciate that," Keith said as he managed not to cry anymore.
"Okay, on a lighter note, what do you want for dinner?" Brian asked in his chipper voice again.
"Yes, I was hoping that you would pick something up on your way back," Keith said with excitement.
"Haven't we just changed our mood in a matter of seconds," Brian joked as he laughed.
"Okay, Mr. Littrell, if you rather prefer the depressed Keith, then you shall have it so," Keith replied in a depressed tone.
"No, no, no, please anything but that. I don't think I can see my baby depressed and upset with me, please don't put me through that," Brian pleaded with desperation.
"Okay you have convinced me, now stop whining and tell me what you are bringing me for dinner," Keith laughed.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, and thank you," Brian breathed out all in one go. "How does chinese sound?" he asked hopefully.
"Sounds good, but remember nothing with pork," Keith reminded. Since Keith was raised in a society where pigs were not eaten because of religious reasons, he never actually got used to eating any part of a pig. It's not that it disgusted him, but since he was not raised on it, he felt that he could do without it. He had nothing against it, infact his whole family ate ham, pork, and sausages often, but somehow those things just did not agree with him.
"Okay babe, I will remember," Brian said. "Oh! I better get going, they are waiting for me, and the sooner we get finished, the sooner I can come home to you," he continued speaking.
"I like the sound of that, have fun and see you soon," Keith replied.
"Yeah, see you soon, I love you babe," Brian said.
"I love you too, bye Brian," Keith said.
"Bye," Brian said as he hit the end button on his cell phone.
Keith hung up the phone and sighed. 'Oh well! now for the hard part,' he thought as he flipped his rolodex to find Carol's number. He was not sure of what he would say to Carol, but he did know that he should definitely call her back. 'She's probably out of her mind with worry by now,' he thought as he found his sister's number.
Keith dialed the number and waited for the call to connect. After four rings Carol picked up the phone and said, "Hello."
"Hi Carol, how are you doing?" Keith said calmly.
"Oh My God, Keith, thank God you are okay," Carol gasped.
"Well! I wasn't okay there for a while, but now I am recovering," Keith answered.
"I know, after mom's funeral, i don't know what's going on, I feel like I am in a daze," Carol said while starting to whimper.
"Carol please don't start crying, I am physically not able to handle anymore crying," Keith said while he started to whimper also.
"Okay, what do you mean though?" Carol asked calmly.
"I had a run in with Pete yesterday," Keith replied also as calmly as Carol.
"No!" Carol gasped loudly.
"It's okay Carol, I am doing fine now, or atleast on my way to being fine soon," Keith said trying to calm down his outraged sister.
"Okay, tell me what happened, start from the beginning and don't leave anything out," Carol said as she brought her breathing back to normal.
Keith started to tell Carol the whole story about the things that happened over the past week or so. Carol knew about Keith's walking the streets. She did not approve, but she never said anything to Keith about it. She knew that since his own family could not be there for Keith, they had no right to question his choices. She also had known about Pete before this incident. Hence her response to hearing his name before. Keith ended his his narrative by telling her that he was waiting for Brian to come back with dinner. He glanced at the clock and noticed that he had been on the phone for about forty-five minutes. He was sure glad that he talked to Brian already because otherwise Brian would probably never be able to get through.
Carol sighed out loud after hearing Keith's story. She could not believe what Keith had to go through in a matter of days. It all seemed like a bad dream to her. But, it must even seem worse to Keith. He was the one that actually had to go through it.
Keith was not happy about explaining what happened to him twice in the same day. But, he knew that talking about it would be the best way to heal emotionally. He knew that if he kept his feelings bottled up then they would cause other problems later on.
"So, tell me about this Brian character," Carol asked shyly.
"Oh! Brian! Well! he is my knight in shining armour!" Keith exclaimed with a sigh.
"Okay, I get the picture, now what's his last name?" Carol asked.
"It's Littrell, he is Brian Thomas Littrell of the Backstreet Boys," Keith replied.
"Oh! My God, you are dating Brian of the Backstreet Boys!" Carol screamed in the phone.
"Carol, calm down, you know that you have to keep it a secret, even from father and Brad, no telling what they would do with info like that," Keith said trying to calm Carol.
"Okay, I know, Boy! this is a lot to digest at one time," Carol said as she laughed.
"So, when are you introducing me to your better half?" Carol asked snickering.
"See, that's a problem, he is leaving after tomorrow's concert, and I don't know when I will see him again," Keith replied sadly. He wiped aways some tears because just thinking about Brian leaving started the water works.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I do wish you guys the best of luck, and I hope that everything works out fine," Carol said sincerely.
"Thanks, okay dear, I think I have eaten your head enough. I'll let you go now," Keith said.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later. Email me daily with updates of your health and your love life. I want to know everything," Carol said while laughing her head off.
"Yes ma'am, will do. Bye," Keith said.
"Bye," Carol said and hung up the phone.
Keith put the receiver back in it's place. He looked at the wall clock for the time, and it said it was 8 pm. 'Just another half hour to go till Brian comes back,' he thought as he sat back and sighed in his chair.
Just then the phone rang. Keith was surprised that the phone would ring so soon after he hung up. He did not think twice about picking up the phone. He picked it up and said, "Hello."
"Hi Keith," a man's voice said.
Keith froze in his place. He knew exactly who it was, but was shocked to hear his voice. He thought that he would never hear this person's voice as long as he lived. Infact, it would be better if he never did hear this person's voice ever again.
"Keith, it's me, Chris," the man said.
"Yes, I know it's you Christopher. What do you want? And why in hell are you calling me after what happened?" Keith asked angrily.
"I heard that your mother passed away, and I wanted to call to pay my respects," Christopher answered.
"You have no right to, and you damn well know that," Keith answered again angrily.
"Now is that any way of speaking to someone who is paying their condolence over your mother's passing?" Christopher asked jokingly.
"Can the ham, what do you want?" Keith asked.
"Now, what makes you think that I want anything," Christopher replied.
"Because for all the time that I had the misfortune of knowing you, you never did anything if it did not benefit you somehow," Keith said again getting angry.
"Calm down Keith, people can change," Christopher snapped.
"Yes, Christopher, people can change, but not animals like you," Keith snapped back.
"Now come on, why in God's name would you call me an animal?" Christopher asked innocently.
"Don't start that with me, remember I know better," Keith said.
"Do we have to live in the past?" Christopher said hotly and hung up.
to be continued.............
Who is this Christopher? Find out in the next installment when it comes out. I have no idea when that will be. Have fun and remember to send comments.