Hi all!! Here's the next part of Dreams of an Angel. Hope you all enjoy it! Any comments or suggestions, well, you know how to contact me. My Yahoo ID is Goldenknightuk if you wish to send me an instant message. Sorry for any bad grammars boys and girl. C'mon! Nobody's perfect!! :)
NOTE TO ALL READERS:
In order to balance my study time and writings, I decided to set a specific time for every update. For now on, I'll be updating Dreams of an Angel every Tuesday & Friday evening (Well, Irish time. I dunno about the time differences between my place and yours, guys and gals. You have to figure that out yourself :P Trust me, I sucked in figuring it out :)). But hey, if time permits me, I promise I'll update it at other times :)
Before the show, onwards to the boring part! Legal matters! Hehehe. You can press 'fast-forward' now.
Well, first of all, this story, as you will certainly find out soon, is TOTALLY fictional. So! If any of you truly believe in it... dude, I'm worried about you. Secondly! None of the guys in the Backstreet Boys are gay! (No matter how hard I wished it :P). But nobody say we couldn't dream it, heh heh. Thirdly, Warren Worthington is actually a character from Marvel Comics, X-men known as Angel or recently Archangel. Okay fine, I admit it. I'm bored and I am making a pathetic attempt to make life a lil' bit interesting. Its not like I'm gonna publish it or something. What else to talk about hmm? Oh, there may be some adult gay scenes in this story. Unlike my brother, I don't mind writing naughty stuff ;) so! If you're underage, naughty, naughty! I can only ask you to go away, but I cannot do anything else to stop you from reading on anyway. Hell! I've been sneaking into the internet to watch gay porns since I was 13! So, if your parents or whoever responsible for you catch you, don't say I didn't warned you. However, if you're homophobic... well maybe I can seduce you enough to turn you around heh heh. I do so love a challenge ;)
Anyway, enough talk. Any comments or boos or suggestion or whatever, just sent it to the same address as in NNTs, goldenknightuk@yahoo.co.uk . Yeah, we shared the same address. Don't ask. Long story.
Okay then! On to the show. Now, don't be shy now. If you got any comments or suggestions, just drop me a note. You do the request, and I'll do the show.
Andy
"Lance??!"
Bobby looks up when he saw Nick pushing his way through the crowds towards him. Right in front of him, Lance pulled himself away from their kiss and glance around in alarm.
"Lance!" Nick finally stepped up before them.
"N-N-Nick?" Lance gazed at him wide-eye. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing. And did I just see what I think I saw just now?" said Nick.
"You two know each other?" asked Bobby in puzzlement.
Nick whirled around to face him.
"You mean you don't know who he is? Lance Bass? From 'Nsync?" asked Nick even as Lance stare at Bobby in surprise.
"'Nsync? Yeah, I know that band." Said Bobby slowly. "You mean you're one of the guys in that band?"
Nick burst into laughter.
"You know the Backstreet Boys but you don't know 'Nsync?" Nick laughed.
"Of course I know 'Nsync, dummy." Bobby retorted. "I just don't look at the singers that much... well... except that JC guy. He's a cutie. No offense, Lance."
"None taken." Lance smiled. "So this is the friend you're staying with in Westchester, Nick?"
"Yeah. You've met Bobby, but there are others. We're hanging out over there." Said Nick as he nodded towards their corner.
"So, it was you who were dancing with that guy on the dance floor just now." Lance laughed. "I thought you look familiar."
But at that moment, Warren approaches Nick from behind and slipped his hands around Nick and pulled Nick against him.
"Nick, baby. Who's your friend?" Warren spoke softly.
"D'oh!" Nick winced as Lance's eyes widened further. Busted.
"Baby? Nick, you're gay?" Lance laughed at last. "So this is the secret lover you told me about? Oh my God! Nick! How could you have kept this a secret from me? I thought we're buddies."
"I... was planning to tell you and the others in time." Nick mumbled back. "Oh, Warren, this is Lance Bass, from the band 'Nsync. Lance, this is Warren, my... boyfriend."
"Hi." Warren smiled as he shook Lance's hand. "So what's the deal with you and Bobby here?"
"Uh... we were just... umm... kissing..." Bobby stuttered.
"I thought you have a girlfriend, Lancey..." Said Nick. He paused when a flare of pain emerged from Lance's mind, striking his mental barrier like a hammer. "Uh... Lance, you okay?"
Lance is hanging his head in silence. Nick looked at Warren in confusion before shifting his gaze to Bobby. Bobby only shook his head warningly in silence.
"Lance?" Nick asked softly.
"Nick, can we talk outside? It's getting too... too stuffy in here." Lance mumbled in a small voice.
"Sure bro." Nick answered worriedly.
"I'll go and wait for you with the others at the table." Said Warren.
"Thanks, Warren." Nick said softly as he kissed Warren softly on the lips.
"Take care, baby." Warren smiled. "Coming, Bobby?"
"In a minute, Wings." Said Bobby, never breaking his gaze from Lance. "You gonna be okay?"
Lance smiled at him gratefully and nodded.
"See you again later?" Bobby asked him again.
"I'd love that." Lance answered and for the first time that night, Nick saw a genuine smile appearing on Bobby's lips.
"So what's the deal with you and Bobby?"
Nick and Lance sat on the hood of Lance's car in the parking lot. It's a clear, warm summer night and the stars glitters brightly in the sky.
Lance only smiled sadly in response.
"Nothing much. We met at the bar. I was already making a fine progress in drowning myself in my sorrow. Then a nosey bartender introduced me to him. Apparently he had a bitchy past few days to. We talked and bitched about our problems and then before we knew it, we were laughing and talking like old friends."
"And kissing." Nick smiled back. "Don't forget the kissing."
"As the usual phrase goes: One thing leads to another, and then it just happened." Lance laughed.
"What happened between you and Sarah, Lance?" Nick asked at last, noting the pained wince on Lance's face when he mentioned that name.
"It's over. Gone. The end." Lance answered sadly after a while. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
"Care to spill it to an old friend?" Nick asked gently. "It'll make you feel better."
Laughing bitterly, Lance told him what happened in greater details, right down to every single hurtful word Sarah spewed on him. Nick listened to it with all the calmness he could muster on his face though inside, his blood is boiling. He curbed his anger carefully though. Warren must have felt it too, through the link, so he sent a reassuring emotions through the link to calm him down. It wouldn't do for Warren to get the wrong message and flew out and attack Lance instead, thinking he has done something bad to Nick to make him so angry.
"That bitch." Nick spoke softly when Lance fell silent at last. "Lance, I'm so sorry."
Lance only looked down and didn't answer.
"Lance?" Nick called worriedly and still he didn't answer. But the growing anguish from his mind told Nick what's going on.
As soon as Nick pulled him into a comforting hug, Lance broke down into a quiet sob and they sat there for several minutes. A muffled, keening wail broke out and Nick held him tightly and silently against his chest, giving the other man all the time he need to let it all out of his system - giving him a chance to cry out all of his pain. Five minutes passes by, seven, nine, fifteen... and eventually, the sobs gradually diminish into occasional sniffles.
"It hurts, Nick." Lance's hoarse voice emerges at last, so softly that Nick could barely hear him.
"I know." Nick whispered back. "You gave her your heart, and she betrayed you."
Lance straightened himself at last, pulling himself away from Nick, staring at the ground before him in silence with lost eyes. Swinging his leg unconsciously, he let himself fall to the ground, leaning against the car and using his sleeves to wipe away his tears. Pulling out a box of cigarette, he lights one before offering another to Nick. Nick shook his head quietly in refusal; his eyes filled with sympathy as he stares at the broken man before him. It is a clear sign of how bad Lance's state is when he decided to start smoking because the normally levelheaded guy never smokes unless he is extremely depressed... or worst. And Nick doesn't need his empathy to know exactly on how much of a wreck Lance is right now.
"So what are you gonna do now?" asked Nick. "You got anywhere to go? You going home?"
Sniffling softly, Lance merely shrugged, exhaling the cigarette smoke quietly.
"I got a room at a hotel near here." He answered softly. Sniffling again softly, he smiled, and another tear trickles down his cheek. "I was planning to take her around for several day. Y'know, spend some quality time with her; show her a good time, making it one of the best time of her life. I was on tour all the time before this; I barely got the chance spent any time with her. I never thought I could fall for her that hard. I didn't even like her at first... but after some time, she kinda grew on me. I tried to ignore it, but she was persistent. At last, I finally admitted that I like her. Then before I knew it, I'm in love with her..."
"But now she's gone... poof... just like that... and even worst... it's because of the stupidest of all reasons... because I'm bi. It's not like I have any control over my sexuality or something! Well, easy come, easy go. Maybe I'm the one who is at fault here. I should never have opened myself up to her. I should never have accepted her into my life. I should have follow my first instinct and kept my distance. Now... I guess, now... I'll just bury myself in my work again..."
"Where are the others?" Nick asked softly.
"They all went back home two days ago." Lance replied before laughing bitterly. "Poor ole Lancey. Alone in the city with no one bothering to care whether he is sick or heartbroken or even dying. She was right. I'm so pathetic."
"Hey! Don't say that!" Nick retorted. He wrapped his arm around Lance's shoulder, pulling him closer. "You're not pathetic! And I care. I'm here."
Lance smiled but didn't say anything. For several moments, they sat there quietly.
"So how long you've been bi?" Nick asked suddenly, changing the subject in hopes of finding a way to cheer Lance up.
"Since forever." Lance replied. "I guess I started to realize I like guys as well as girls when I was 13. But the feelings had been there for quite a while before that. What about you?"
Nick laughed in answer, his laughter fully dispelling the gloomy atmosphere around them. But quietly, he empathically reaches out into Lance's psyche, dispelling the depression bit by bit and projected the feeling of calmness instead. Normally, he wouldn't violate another person's mind like this, but Lance is his friend and he cannot leave him depressed like this, not when he has the mean to help him.
He watched gratefully as the bleakness in Lance's eyes gradually diminishing. It's not like he violated Lance's mind too deeply. He only touches the surface, manipulating the emotions slightly as to not change it too much. His laughter helps in coaxing the depression to go away. It is as if Nick pulls the rudder of a boat slightly the other way and it is up to the boat to change its direction accordingly by itself. Lance wouldn't even notice the gradual change in his emotional flow.
"2 weeks ago, more or less." He answered and Lance looked at him in surprise.
"You're kidding."
"Nope. I was perfectly happy thinking about boobs and pussy and girls, girls and girls. Then suddenly Warren came into my life and BLAM! I can think of nothing else but him." Said Nick.
Lance whistled in awe and Nick watched him with a slightly pleased expression when a small smile appears on Lance's lips.
"That's one hell of a lifestyle change." He said at last. "The guys know about this? Your family?"
"No." Nick sighed. "I'm still gathering my will and strength for that battle. What about you? Do your folks know? The band?"
"My family knew about it, yeah." Said Lance. "But not the guys. It'll be too weird, with us being all guys and all, cooped up in the same bus and dressing room and whatever. I don't want to be the cause of any discomfort. It's not like I'm attracted to them or anything. I did, at first, for a week or two... you know, first time glance crush and all... but it went away after knowing them all better. Now, the mere thought of Justin makes me wanna stab him with the kitchen knife rather than sleeping with him."
"Wow. Now that is a beautiful image." Nick grinned dreamily. "The stabbing part, not the sleeping part."
They both laughed at that.
"How did your family reacted when you told them?" asked Nick.
Lance smiled proudly at that.
"They took it in a stride." He answered. "After all, they watched me grew up and all, you know me... born and bred Bass style all the way. They saw all the signs so they were prepared for my coming out to them long before I even thought of telling them about it. They were supportive, but we still have to be careful. Those people who live in our neighborhood are not that tolerant about this whole gay thing and mom has a respectable status in the church committee."
"Mmm-hmm. I can relate." Said Nick.
"How do you think your family gonna react?"
"Well, to be honest, they should be okay with it. I'll be surprised if they don't." Nick answered as he frowned thoughtfully. "I mean, mom and dad are pretty open-minded about everything and they've taught all of us to be open-minded too. So, I'm not that worried about telling them that I'm bi or the fact that I'm with Warren... it's that... it's that other thing that I'm worried about..."
Nick trailed off thoughtfully.
"What other thing?" Lance asked curiously.
"Huh?" Nick looked up, startled from his thought. "Oh, nothing, nothing. Just thinking of something..."
They fell silent for some moment, both deeply immersed in their own thoughts.
"Warren is cute, by the way." Lance spoke at last after some time. "He looks familiar though."
Nick laughed again.
"I can't believe you didn't recognize him, considering how deeply involved you are in the world of commerce and all." Said Nick.
"Hmm?"
"Warren Worthington the Third? Sole owner of Worthington Industries? Sounds familiar?" said Nick.
Lance blinked several time as his mind finally succeeded in putting all the clues together.
"Holy shit! Your boyfriend is the multi-billionaire Warren fucking Worthington??" Lance shouted at last. "Nick, how the hell did you pull this off??"
"It's what we call 'fate', I guess." Nick answered simply.
"Wooo-hoo! Nick, I dare say you've just hit the jackpot. Ka-chinggg!" Lance laughed hard.
"C'mon, Lance. You know I don't need his money." Nick smiled. "I have enough of my own to last for the rest of my life."
"I know, I know. But... wow, do you have any idea how rich he is? Last time I heard about him, he bought a whole fucking island for himself!" Lance replied dazedly as he grins. "So how is he? No, I'm not asking about the sex, if that's what you're thinking. So wipe that silly smirk off your face."
Nick smirked before laughing.
"Okay, okay. I'll be serious." Said Nick at last before his eyes became dreamy again. "He's the most beautiful human being I ever encountered in my life..."
"Huh. You bet!" Lance snorted. "If you took the time to look at the Times magazine several months ago instead of playing Playstation all the time, you should be aware of his face on it, voted as one of the sexiest richest playboy in the country as well as one of the top five 'world most eligible bachelor'. He may rarely appear on celebrity magazines, but he's quite famous in the financial magazines."
"Are you serious?" Nick asked in surprise. "No wonder I never heard of him before. Wait... there's a 'Financial' magazines?"
"God, you are sooo dense, Nick." Lance laughed. "Wake up and smell the air! There's a lot more going on in this world other than singing and dancing and MTV awards. So what else do you like about Mr. Playboy?"
"Well, I've already said he's gorgeous. He's also gentle, intelligent, very brave, cunning, tender, loving, caring, affectionate, funny..." Nick laughed at last when Lance rolled his eyes in disgust.
"Sorry I asked." Lance interrupts deliberately. "You better stop before I melt into a puddle."
They both giggled quietly in the dark before falling silent again. Nick briefly plays with the idea of revealing his mutant status to Lance, but he changes his mind. Lance is already in a shaky spirit right now. Freaking him out is the last thing he need at the moment.
"So what do you think of Bobby?" Nick asked mischievously and he grins when he empathically felt Lance blushing. "Be honest."
"He's cute." Lance answered at last. "Very cute."
His lips twitched into a small smile when he caught Nick's eyes.
"Very, very, very cute."
"He likes you, you know." Said Nick.
Lance only responds with a sad smile.
"I'm on a rebound, Nicky." He said. "Nobody wants to date a rebound. I don't want to look more pathetic than I already am right now."
"Hey! I told you not to say that!" Nick scolded again, groaning inwardly as he felt the depression growing again in Lance's mind. Looks like he got to deal with this the old fashion way after all. "You're not pathetic, Lance. You got a broken heart. Well, everyone has that at some point or another. Even I had it once, long time ago. But that does not make you pathetic in any way. It's part of life. But a broken heart always heals. It hurts now, but it will pass. Trust me, it will. In time, you'll be up and ready to fall in love again. Who knows? Maybe that time will come sooner than you think. You'll never know when you'll meet 'The One'. It could be tonight, it could be tomorrow, it could be next year. You just have to get up again and walk on."
Lance laughed softly.
"Wise words." He laughed, looking at Nick weirdly. "Have you been reading?"
"Shuddup, smart-ass!" Nick laughed along as he slaps Lance on the shoulder. "You feeling better now?"
"Yeah." Said Lance. "Thanks for being here with me, Nick. If you didn't found me back there, I'd be dancing naked on a table with Bobby by now."
"Well, I'm glad I rescue you in time... or else... or else..." Nick's word trailed off when his empathy suddenly detected a cold, predatory presence near them. Scanning the area empathically, he was immediately assaulted by waves and waves of unbelievable bloodlust, rage, frenzy...
"Yoo-hoo! Nick? You okay?" Lance asked curiously, snapping his fingers before Nick's stunned face.
"Holy bazooka... what is that?" Nick whispers softly in wonderment, staring unseeingly into the night as his mind struggles to identify the source of the raging emotions.
"What's what?" said Lance.
It happened so fast; Nick didn't even know what hits him. He wasn't even aware of the fact that he is suddenly hurtling through the air, screaming in pain. All he remember was the gruesome figure that suddenly crash-landed on the roof of Lance's car and the flash of claws that ripped his side apart... right before his whole world exploded into pain and agony and blood...
When his awareness returned, he found himself lying flat, face down on the ground, breathing heavily. His side is bleeding painfully and turning his head weakly, his gaze fell on a huge beast-like creature kneeling on the hood of Lance's car, grinning in amusement as he has his clawed fingers wrapped around the neck of a terrified looking Lance.
"L-Laaaannce..." Nick managed to wail in horror as he lay there helplessly on the ground. He struggled to get up but screamed at the resulting pain from his bleeding side. "W-who... are... y-y-you..."
The creature turns to looks at him and Nick shivers at the maniacal bloodlust burning fiercely in his eyes, not to mention the waves upon waves of frenzied emotions crashing against his mental barrier.
"The name's Sabretooth, kid." It laughed. "And She wants you dead."
Lance whimpered slightly as he trembles when one of the clawed fingers deliberately scratched his skin and drew blood. The beast mere laughed and shifted his gaze to Lance. Lifting a clawed finger from his other hand, he captured the droplets of blood and licked it slowly and lazily; laughing as he watched the terror in Lance's eyes grew even more.
"Sweet. I suppose she wouldn't mind if I take a quick snack before moving on to the main course."
To be continued...
Tune in this Friday, Part 31: 'Old Foes, New Grudges'