The legal stuff: This is a sexually explicit story (at times) involving homosexuality. By continuing to read, you affirm under penalties of perjury that you are not a minor or in the company of a minor and are entitled to have access to sexually explicit material. The content and opinions expressed in this story do not imply anything with regard to the sexual preference of any member of 98 Degrees or other celebrities named herein. This is a work of fiction entirely.
Dizzy
It was around 4:00 that afternoon and Andrew was still sitting in the restaurant with the group. He and Drew have so far been able to keep up their prank with no problems so far. Andrew explained everything to Abbey when she dragged him into the kitchen. When he got back to the table, Drew greeted him with another kiss. They ordered food and Drew thought it would be funny if the two of them fed each other. After they got done eating, they sat around the table talking. Nick and the others kept asking Drew what was going on but he ignored their questions and changed the subject. Drew started kissing Andrew's neck. Nick slammed his drink on the table.
"Jesus, do you think you can keep your hands off each other for like two seconds and talk to us!" He said angrily.
Drew whispered in Andrew's ear when he heard Nick yelling at them. "He's getting pissed off. I think it's time to take it to the next level." Drew said and then pulled off of Andrew's neck and looked at his friends sitting around the table. "Guys, I have an announcement to make. I have found the love of my life and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Andrew Paul Williams. So, let's get married."
Andrew opened his mouth in surprise, along with everyone else. Justin spit out his drink and started coughing. Nick and Jeff turned pale, looking like they had just seen a ghost. Vanessa started giggling and clapping her hands. She was the only who was truly excited. Drew didn't stop there. "Nick, I want you to be my best man and Justin you can be Andrew's best man or I'm sure Heather or Abbey would do it if you asked them. Jeff, you can be the ring bearer. Vanessa, we are going to need a flower girl."
Everyone was looking at Drew with crazy looks on their faces. Even Andrew was at a loss for words, as Drew didn't tell him about this part. "We already live in Boston, they recognize gay marriage. I mean, we can fly all the guests to us..."
"Shut the hell up Drew!" Nick yelled. He looked at Drew and Andrew whose faces were turning bright red from suppressing their laughter. "What the fuck is so funny!?"
"Shh..." Andrew said through fits of laughter.
"We got you so bad!" Drew said while laughing.
Nick and the others look totally confused. Andrew stopped laughing long enough to explain to them what they just did. "Ok, Drew wanted to get back at you for causing the incident in the car. So everything we've been doing since we changed clothes has been a joke."
Justin and Jeff started laughing along also. "Damn, you guys did get us. Especially with that whole marriage thing." said Justin.
"Ok, ok I get it. You pulled a fast one on us Drew." Nick said.
Heather came over to the table. Everyone stopped laughing when they saw the serious look on her face. "What's up Heather?" Andrew asked.
"I'm sorry guys but I've tried everything I can think of. There are just no available rooms and I've had people calling around but with the storm getting worse every minute, people have been grabbing rooms up. There isn't a single hotel in Boston with a vacancy."
"Oh my god, Nick what are we going to do?" Vanessa asked hysterically.
"I don't know. There has to be something, somewhere." Nick answered her as he put his arm around her and hugged her tightly.
"I know a place where you can stay. It's not fancy but it's warm and with the five of you there won't be a lot of room but it's somethin'." Andrew said suddenly.
"Are you serious? Why didn't you say something sooner?" Jeff asked.
"I was savin' it as a last resort option." Andrew said vaguely.
"Ok, well let's get there and quick before they run out of rooms." Justin said standing up.
"Ok, let's go home." Andrew said standing up and joining Justin. Everyone just sat there and looked at Andrew. "What? Ya'll said you were ready to go, so let's go."
"We can't stay with you." Jeff said.
"And why not?" Andrew asked.
"Well, I mean its Christmas. We don't want to ruin your Christmas. We'll work something else out. Don't worry." Justin said.
Heather looked at Andrew and hit him in the back of the head. "Ow, what the hell?" he said holding his head.
"How come you never ask me to stay over?" Heather asked, faking anger.
"Well, because you aren't a hot member of 98 Degrees." Andrew said jokingly while rubbing the spot Heather hit him at. "But seriously ya'll, its no problem at all. I don't fly home for Christmas because it's too much of a hassle and I do have to come in for a couple of hours tomorrow anyways to serve dinner to the hotel guests that come down."
"Are you sure?" Vanessa asked.
"Yes I am absolutely positive. What better Christmas present could I get than to have my favorite band stayin' with me for a night or two?" Andrew said.
"Well, ok. Thanks dude, we owe you big time." Nick said. The others shared their agreement. "Hey, maybe we can wrap Drew up like a present for you." Everyone laughed at Nick's insane idea.
"Ha ha." Drew said sarcastically.
"Ok, now let's go." Andrew said. "Heather, are you and Abbey going to drop by after work so I can give ya'll two your presents?"
"Yeah, like we would give up the opportunity for free gifts." Heather said laughing. "I guess I'll see you later then." She said as she walked away to get back to work.
Andrew made his way outside and went to his car. He opened the trunk and started handing everyone their bags.
"We aren't driving?" Drew asked.
"No, there's too much snow on the ground and I only live a couple of blocks away. My car will be fine here in the hotel parkin' lot." Andrew said while still handing everyone their bags.
Andrew locked up his car and made his way down the sidewalk towards his apartment. It only took them ten minutes to get there. When they walked in, Andrew immediately went to the thermostat and turned the heat on. "I know it's only a one bedroom apartment, but I figured the livin' room is large enough for everyone to spread out and there is room on the floor in my room. Vanessa, you and Nick can have the bed if you want..." Andrew was explaining before he was interrupted.
"Oh...my...god!" he heard a girl scream from behind him. He turned around and standing in front of his bedroom door was his best friend from back home in North Carolina, Emma Thompson.
"Emma? What are you doin' here?" Andrew asked shocked and confused. "And how did you get in here?"
"Surprise and its nice to see you too." Emma said to Andrew as she embraced him in a tight hug. "Mom and Dad thought that Hunter and I should come see you for Christmas since you insist on stayin' here in Boston and I can't believe you forgot that you gave us a key last time we were in town."
"Oh well that was over a year ago." Andrew said. "Oh I'm sorry ya'll. I'm sure you don't need an introduction but this is my best friend from back home, Emma and where is Hunter?"
"Right here." Said a voice from the bathroom. When the door opened up, Hunter stepped out and his jaw dropped to the floor. "Holy crap, dude that's 98 Degrees. Why are the guys of 98 Degrees in your apartment?" Hunter said while walking to Andrew and giving him a hug as well.
"It's a long story. Guys, this is Emma's twin brother Hunter."
The group said various hellos to Emma and Hunter as Andrew explained to them the events that led up to them staying with him.
"I'm sorry it's goin' to be a little crowded in here. I wasn't countin' on the homeless to drop in." Andrew said, jokingly referring to Emma and Hunter.
"Yeah, well if Mr. Antisocial here would decide to accept an invitation to our house for Christmas, we wouldn't be crashing with you." Hunter said in retort.
"It's not a problem, we are just glad not to be sleeping in an airport tonight. Let's just think of it as one giant sleepover." Justin said.
"Ok, well ya'll are welcome to anythin' in the kitchen and you can set your stuff anywhere you'd like. I have tons of extra pillows and blankets so everyone will be comfortable as can be tonight. The towels are under the bathroom sink so you are welcome to a shower or bath or whatever works for you."
Vanessa walked into the kitchen. "I am going to cook everyone dinner." She announced as she was opening various cabinets.
Hunter joined her in the kitchen. "I'll help. I am in culinary school after all." He and Vanessa started going over what they were going to fix. Andrew walked into his bedroom and motioned for Nick and the guys to join him.
"Ok, so the big television is in here because I rarely use the livin' room so I guess we need to move it in there since there's more room. The PS3 and the Xbox360 are also in here along with my DVD player and movies. If ya'll wouldn't mind helpin' me, we can drag all this stuff in there."
They eventually moved the television and all the electronic entertainment into the living room. Nick, Emma and Jeff settled into playing the PS3 while Justin set up his laptop to Andrew's internet connection so he could check his email. Earlier in the day, everyone had called their families to apologize for being stranded in Boston and missing their Christmas gathering. Andrew went into his room and fell on his bed.
Andrew heard a small knock on his door. "Come in." The door opened and in walked Drew.
"Hey, are you ok?" he asked with concern as he made his way over to Andrew's bed.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just getting a headache is all. If I just lay here in the dark for a bit, it'll go away."
"Mind if I chill in here with you then?" Drew asked.
"If you want." Andrew said nonchalantly.
Andrew slid over on his bed and Drew climbed in next to him. He put an arm around Andrew and brought him closer. He laid Andrew's head on his chest and the two just lay there in complete silence.
"Where are Andrew and Drew?" Nick asked when he and Jeff finished their game.
"I think they are in his bedroom." Justin said while briefly looking up from his computer.
"Uh huh. You think they are joking with us again?" Jeff asked Nick.
"I don't know. How bout we go find out?" Nick said getting up. Jeff stood up as well and helped Emma to her feet. Vanessa and Hunter followed them to Andrew's bedroom. Justin even got up from his laptop and joined them. Nick made a shushing motion as he slowly opened the bedroom door.
Looking in the room, they could see Drew lying on the bed on his back with his left arm around Andrew. Andrew was laying on his side, his left arm and head draped on Drew's chest. They were both sound asleep.
"Oh, they look so peaceful." Vanessa whispered.
"That doesn't look like a joke to me." stated Jeff. Justin quickly agreed with him.
"I'm starting to wonder how much of their stunt at the hotel was a joke." Nick said
"Hang on a sec." Hunter said before he disappeared into the living room. They could hear him rummaging through some stuff before he came back with a camera in his hand. "I have got to get a picture of this." He took a picture of the sleeping guys. The flash from the camera made Drew stir a little.
"Let's just leave them be before they wake up. Come on." Vanessa said as she pushed everyone away from the door. She shut the door quietly behind her and made her way back to the kitchen with Hunter.
Around 8:00 that evening, Hunter and Vanessa finished cooking dinner at the same time as Abbey and Heather arrived. They were surprised to see Emma and Hunter in town. They had met them the first year Andrew moved to Boston when they came to town to visit. As everyone was getting ready to eat dinner, Nick went to wake up Drew and Andrew. He quietly opened the door and walked into the room, shutting the door behind him so they wouldn't hear the others talking in the kitchen. He sat down in the desk chair Andrew had by his computer and watched his brother sleeping. He noticed how tightly Drew's arm was wrapped around Andrew, as if someone were about to separate them.
The door opened and Justin walked into the room and saw Nick sitting. He shut the door and walked over to him. "What's wrong Nick?" Justin asked with concern.
"Nothing I was just sitting here debating on whether to wake them up or not." Nick said in a whisper. "You know, since everything that's been happening with Drew these past couple of months, this is the first time he has slept without tossing and turning?"
"Yeah I noticed." Justin said. "Hey Nick, what do you think about staying in Boston for awhile longer? I mean, today is the first day we've seen Drew laugh and joke around and now he is sleeping like a baby. I think him being around Andrew is doing him a world of good. Jeff and I already talked about it and since we don't have anything planned, we thought it'd be good for him to stay here a little longer."
"I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Well why not?"
"I'm not sure what is going on in Drew's head or not but I think it will do him more harm than good if we stay. Just think about it. The longer we stay here in Boston and the more we hang out with Andrew, the more chance they have of actually building a relationship and that's good but do you think it's fair for that to happen and then just take it all away when we leave? Sure, Andrew could come with us back to Ohio and travel around with us like Vanessa does but is it fair to him to give his life here and is it fair to Drew to be in a long distance relationship if he were to choose to stay?"
"Yeah you are right but how about we let Drew decide for himself. I mean after all, his opinion is the only one that matters." Justin said.
"Thank you Justin." Drew said groggily from the bed. "Could you guys be any louder? What are you doing in here anyways?"
"Dinner's ready. You hungry?" Nick asked.
Drew carefully moved off the bed and away from Andrew so that he wouldn't wake him up. The three guys joined everyone in the living room and began eating dinner. Drew told everyone Andrew had a headache and needed to sleep. They talked about various things until Nick asked Emma and Hunter to share more about Andrew since they were childhood friends.
"I don't think it's our place to tell you anything he hasn't." Hunter said. "We've known him since like first grade. The three of us have been inseparable ever since. We were the first people he ever came out to. Andrew met Heather at a Food Network show three years ago that they were both attending. She was a hospitality student at Johnson and Wales and he was a senior in high school and on a field trip with our culinary arts class. They met and kept in touch and became good friends. He chose to move here when it came time for college."
"What about his family?" Vanessa said. "He seems like he really loves them because there are tons of pictures all over the place. Why would he come up here so far away from them?"
Emma and Hunter looked at each other briefly before Hunter pointed across the room. "Hey Heather, I think those boxes over there are yours and Abbey's presents from Andrew."
Heather got up and went over to the boxes. Sure enough, one was addressed to Abbey and the other to herself. Abbey's had purple wrapping paper and Heather's was green, to signify their favorite color. She grabbed the boxes and handed Abbey's hers as she sat back down. "Should we open them now or wait until he wakes up?"
"Well, it's almost 9:30 and I don't know about you but I have to be going soon. My family always makes it a point to wake up early on Christmas day." Abbey said.
"Yeah you are right." Heather said as she began undoing the box on her present. She and Abbey lifted the box tops up at the same time and looked inside. They each pulled out a small purse. Heather's was made of black leather and had a red rose on it along with her initials. Heather loved red roses and this bag suited her perfectly. Abbey's was also made of black leather with a purple design on the side.
"Oh my god, those are custom made Gucci bags." Vanessa said expertly.
"How can you tell?" Heather asked. "Oh, I see the Gucci clasp."
"Wow, do you know how much custom made Gucci bags go for? That's like close to a thousand apiece. You got a great friend." Vanessa said.
Heather and Abbey were stunned. "Oh my god, where did he get the money for these?" Abbey said.
Emma and Hunter smiled. Emma took off a necklace she had been wearing and handed it to Heather
"Andrew mailed us our presents a week or so ago. We got them yesterday. This is the ruby necklace he bought for me. I looked it up online and it costs almost six thousand dollars."
"Wow it's beautiful!" Heather exclaimed as she passed it around.
"He sent my mom a pair of purple amethyst earrings worth three thousand." Emma added.
Hunter took off a watch he was wearing and passed it around. "He bought my dad and I similar watches about a thousand a piece. Mine is stainless steel and dad's has the same face as mine but is black leather."
"He is a waiter...he can't afford all this. I mean, he gets a pretty decent check for being manager as well as his tips but I thought he was putting it all towards college. He didn't want to graduate with a huge debt." Heather said.
"I guess he hasn't told you then." Emma said. "I don't want to but let me just say don't try to give your gift back to him. He wants...needs to do this."
Emma started sobbing quietly and Hunter put his arm around her. "Stop it. We've been over this before."
Everyone looked at them with worried looks on their faces. Drew spoke over Emma's quiet sobs.
"What's going on?" he asked
"Well...he needs to be the one to tell you." Hunter said. "It's not our place."
"We know something is up but we don't know what." Drew said. "He had two dizzy spells yesterday. One at work and one backstage at our concert and the second one he actually passed out from a seizure and was in the hospital for a couple of hours. So what's going on with him?"
Emma started laughing slightly. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh. It's just ironic that he would have dizzy spells around you when his favorite song is you guys' Dizzy. Hunter, I think we should tell them." Emma said looking at her twin.
"You can if you want but I am not getting him mad at me. I'll be washing dishes." Hunter said as he got up and started taking plates into the kitchen.
"Ok it's kind of a long story. When Andrew was eight years old, his grandfather died of liver cancer. His whole family was devastated and things only got worse from there. Two months after the funeral, his grandmother was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and she died when he was ten. When he was twelve, his mom died of breast cancer and when he was fourteen, his dad died of prostate cancer. Andrew, his older brother, and his older sister came to live with us. My parents and his parents were good friends and they knew that my parents would make sure they were well taken care of. His brother is...was five years older than him and when he turned twenty, he was diagnosed with and died of testicular cancer. His sister, two years older than him, died the summer before his senior year of high school when she was twenty of ovarian cancer."
Emma had tears rolling down her face as she told the story. Hunter was still washing dishes, but you could see the sadness in his face as well. Everyone else was silently looking at Emma, all with tears in their eyes.
"When his sister died, we began to notice drastic changes in his behavior. He was researching all the time and he stopped celebrating everything. He hasn't participated in or celebrated his birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years. He just wasn't interested. When we graduated high school, he decided he needed to leave North Carolina and that's when he decided to move to Boston. He changed completely when she died because he realized he was the only member of his family left. No aunts, no uncles, no cousins. His father's side of the family had died off before he was born."
Emma paused for a moment to wipe her tears.
"You asked how he could afford all these gifts. Andrew may not have any family but he isn't short on money. He inherited everything in his family. He sold his grandparents house and his house after his sister died because he said it was too painful to live there. He gave my parents a lot of money for being there for him and his brother and sister. He is paying for mine and Emma's tuitions so our parents aren't strained on finances. With the insurance from the four adults and the money from all the cars and houses, Andrew doesn't really have to work for the rest of his life. He chooses to do because one thing he has always hated was to rely on others and have people do and buy things for him. For him to not have a job, he would go stir crazy and think he was being too lazy." Hunter explained.
"That must be why he gave that money back that we tipped him at the restaurant yesterday." Jeff said.
"That sounds like something he would do." Hunter said before Emma continued with the story.
"My parents got a letter a month ago from Andrew. Inside the envelope was a letter talking about how school was going and he included some new recipes he whipped up for them to try. At the end, it simply said "it's begun". It was so morbid but they knew what he was talking about. They didn't tell us until he mailed us our Christmas gifts. It was the first time he ever sent us presents for Christmas. There was a note with everything that simply said "do not return to me and do not get me anything". That was when my parents told Hunter and I what was going on. Since they were down as his emergency contacts, they got a call from the hospital yesterday saying what his test results found and the doctors wanted my parents to try and talk him into seeking treatment since he refused yesterday. The doctor that called them said he could tell Andrew had known for sometime now that he was dying. He said Andrew simply wanted to go home and refused to listen to him. He gave my parents his name and numbers in case Andrew was to change his mind."
Emma couldn't hold back anymore and started to cry full on. Jeff went over to her and put his arm around her and laid her head on his shoulder. Vanessa was clutching Nick's hand tightly and was holding on to his arm as if he was about to leave her. Drew, Justin, Abbey, and Heather simply sat in silence, processing everything. Hunter walked into the living room and sat back down.
"What kind of research was he doing?" Abbey asked.
"His family history and I'm not sure if it was a good or bad thing for him to do. Apparently, both sides of his family are prone to contracting cancer, which may explain why his mother and father were both only children."
"Our parents wanted to come up and see him but they figured that he was more liable to listen to Emma and I than them. Since we are on break from school, we decided to fly in as soon as possible. I have a feeling that this will be the last time we get to see him."
"See who?" Andrew asked from his bedroom door. He walked into the living room and saw everybody and the sad look on their faces. "What is goin' on?" No one said a word but they didn't have to because Andrew looked at Emma and saw her crying. "I see. So, now ya'll know. I didn't want anyone to find out this way...as a matter of fact I wasn't plannin' on anyone findin' out. How'd you know?"
"Mom and dad got a phone call from the hospital yesterday with your test results. She told us and she sent us up here to see you and to talk some sense into you." Emma said quietly.
"Well, you've wasted your time then because I've accepted the inevitable and you should too." Andrew stormed out of his apartment and into the freezing December snow. Everyone just sat there, unsure of what to do or say.
"We have to go get him. He's not wearing a coat, he'll freeze." Hunter said.
"Not we...Drew." Emma said.
"What? Me? Why me?" Drew said quickly with a slight high pitch.
"I've only been here for a couple of hours but for Andrew to fall asleep with you on his bed, you've gotten to him someway, somehow. He hasn't dated anyone since his sister died. He was dating a guy in high school and they spent all their time together. They had plans...college...marriage. My parents absolutely adored him but Andrew broke up with him when his sister died. I saw the smile on his face when he was asleep next to you and saw how comfortable he was around you."
"She's right Drew." Nick added. "You slept in there for two hours without tossing and turning or waking up. You slept more peacefully in those two hours than in the past two months."
Hunter got his digital camera and pushed a few buttons before tossing the camera to Drew. "Look at it. We took a picture of you two while you were sleeping."
Drew studied the picture for a minute. They were all right. He wasn't sure what was going on but somehow Andrew had gotten to him and Andrew had obviously taken a liking to him. He was more comfortable hanging around with Andrew than anyone, even his band mates.
"What's wrong with him?" Drew asked.
"He has a tumor on the left side of his brain. The doctor isn't sure how long it's been there but he says that if he doesn't begin treatment as soon as possible, he won't make it to his 22nd birthday. His symptoms are almost non-existent right now, except for his constant headaches and the dizziness he was experiencing yesterday, but it will get worse and more frequent. Knowing Andrew, the minute he started having constant headaches, he went to the doctor."
Drew handed the camera back to Hunter and stood up. He put on his jacket and grabbed Andrew's before heading out the door, not saying a word to anyone. No one moved or said anything. Nick glanced at the clock. They had been there for awhile because it was almost midnight. Heather and Abbey saw this too.
"We should get going, not to be heartless or anything, but we do get up early to celebrate with our families." Abbey said as she and Heather prepared to leave.
"No, it's totally understandable since I doubt there is anything we can do at this point." Emma said getting up with them to hug them. "He doesn't want to talk about any of it with us and I think we should be good friends and accept that."
"Yeah and he's already mad so you don't have to worry about him getting mad at you for leaving so soon." Hunter said joking around.
"Well, I think it is best for all of us to just act like everything is normal. I mean, that's clearly what he wants." Abbey said.
"Promise you'll call us the minute something happens...bad or good?" Heather asked Emma as she hugged her.
"You know I will. Merry Christmas Abbey. Happy Hanukah Heather." Emma said as the girls left. Everyone else said good bye to the girls. Emma sat back down and Jeff moved closer to her and put his arm back around her. "I hope Drew can talk some sense into him." She whispered in Jeff's ear. He hugged her tightly.
"I wonder what is going on with those two." Nick said to no one in particular.