Disclaimer stuff: I don't know the Backstreet Boys, I doubt that I ever will, I'm not denying the eligibility of Kevin and Kristin's marriage, but I can hope can't I? I am not making any assumptions about the sexuality of the BSB or any other celebrities who may appear in this story, they are merely the product of my imagination and their appearances, lifestyles and careers happen to bear a striking resemblance to those of the real life celebrities they resemble.
Right, now I'd like to make a couple of recommendations, especially for anyone who's about to start writing on the archive: Forever (my Holy Grail!), Josh and Just, My New Life, JC's Hitchhiker, Reformation, Get Another Boyfriend, and there are so many others I can't think of now, though I'm sure I'll think of them at some point, and add them to the list.
Finally, there's all the stuff about me being English, so if something doesn't make sense, then I'm sorry but it was our language first and you changed it, so don't blame me! Hope to hear from lots of people on this chapter, it's quite long, so anyway, on with the story:
Last Time:
We left the church, and walked through the market which was just to the right of the church as you come out. Kevin and I didn't really buy anything, we just looked at some of the stalls. Kevin seemed to be entranced by the stall with old musical instruments on it. Finally, we called the limo driver. It was almost time for us to get back for dinner with the guys.
Once we got back to the hotel, we called up to their rooms and told them to meet us in the restaurant. We spent the next couple of hours talking and eating a huge meal. I warned the guys that tomorrow we would have another workout, but it would be easy as tomorrow was a concert day. Finally, we retired to our rooms, and Kevin and I fell asleep together. That night was the first time we fell asleep actually close to each other: neither of us liked to 'snuggle' much, but we both just came together and wrapped our arms around one another. I felt safe, I felt loved, and I felt happy, all in Kevin's arms.
Now, on with the story:
On The Streets - Part 16
The next couple of days went by really uneventfully - none of the arguments that have plagued my time with the band up until now, and the guys' performance on Wednesday night was up to standards, as usual. Thursday came and went, another training session, and a short dance rehearsal towards the evening. Tima was more upbeat as the guys' diets were gradually being improved by my presence, and even their stamina was showing through. Friday morning Kevin and I were sleeping in late. I woke up before him.
"You know it's really creepy when people stare at you when you're sleeping." He mumbled with his head on my bicep.
"Oh, you are awake, I thought I saw your eyes flicker before." He opened his eyes. "You know, you have a really big forehead." I said with a smirk on my face. He pushed my pec, but I didn't budge. We both chuckled a little and then we came forward for a kiss. Our tongues plunged into one anothers' mouths, and we held it for about a minute. That's what I like about waking up next to someone: you can't tell if someone has morning breath if you have it too! I put my other hand around Kevin and rubbed my hand up and down his back. I ran my hand over his side and felt the tight oblique muscles there. Kevin had developed faster than the other guys - I guess it's easier to regain a body that you once had than to build up your body in the first place. Kevin's muscles had started to show through the thin layer of fat which had covered his midsection.
"I love you." Kevin kissed me again. Then he looked down and saw me rubbing his emerging ab muscles. "I'm glad you're here - I feel better already even though we've only been doing this fitness for a week now."
"You look great too. I can't believe how quickly your body is responding to the training. I love the feel of your body, it feels great."
"What? You mean it didn't feel good before." I looked up at Kevin and saw a serious look in his eyes.
"No! No, that's not what I meant, I meant that I just... I mean I ... I really loved your body before, I love you, I don't, I don't know what I meant." Kevin looked me in the eyes, and I almost started crying - I didn't mean what I said to come out like it did. He smirked and started chuckling. "Oh! I can't believe you'd do that." I jabbed him in the abs. Then we kissed again, and we just held each other close in our arms, in the bed. Finally we decided to get up. Today was the day that the guys would do some sightseeing, before their final concert in Paris this evening, then it would be onto the bus and off to Lyons. Apparently they needed some pictures today for publicity purposes. As they were just candid shots, I had agreed to take them, and that way I could guarantee that I wouldn't be in too many photos. It was also agreed that if we decided to split off into groups today, I would go off with Howie - that way I would be shared around a bit, so to speak. Kevin and I showered together. I'd never really done this with my old boyfriends, this was a first, and I have to say it was one of the most erotic things I'd ever seen: Kevin's body with water trickling down, following the sharply defined contours of his body. I kissed him a lot while we were standing in there, and felt my hands wander up and down his body, but we didn't start anything, we didn't really have time. After a prolonged shower, Kevin and I dressed and called the guys. They were round in quarter of an hour, Kevin and I had ordered breakfast while they were getting ready, and by the time they arrived, the food was ready and waiting. They scoffed down all the food on the cart, and Kevin laid out some sort of plan for the rest of the day: the guys would spend the remainder of the morning, and up to 1 o'clock sightseeing, then they would have lunch together. They would split up into groups until 4 o'clock, then they would come together again for a meet and greet at Radio Luxembourg. A.J. brought up the question of where were we going.
"Well, first I thought everyone might like to see the Eiffel Tower again - I know we've all seen it before, last time we were here, but it's nice, so I guess we can go again. Oh and before you bring it up Brian, we know you're scared of heights - so Jared's offered to stay down at the bottom with you." Brian perked up and smiled at me, I smiled back. "Then we can head over to the Arc d'Triomphe - we can get some great pictures there, then we can try Notre Dame or..."
"Notre Dame!" I said with the correct pronunciation. The guys all looked round at me.
"What?" Kevin asked.
"You're pronouncing it like that college in America - it's not pronounced No-tra Dame in France. The French pronunciation is Not-ra Dam. Remember not everyone pronounces things like Americans, you actually took words from other countries and changed the pronunciations."
"Like what?" A.J. asked sullenly.
"A.J., what's the capital of Ohio?" He looked stunned for a minute.
"Des Moines."
"Right, now in French, which is where the words come from, it's pronounced De - Mwone, not Des Moynes."
"Oh." A.J. shut up after that.
"Ok... now we've sorted out that little linguistic interlude, how about if we get back to sorting this out. After we've been to Not-ra Dame." (Well, he was half-way there - it was good enough for me). "We'll go to lunch somewhere, I'm not sure where yet, but it would be nice to try some real French food."
"Ewwww! Frogs' legs!!!" Nick grossed out on the other couch. "And snails!!!" The other guys started chuckling. Kevin growled.
"Nick! That's not the only type of French food. Jared tell him what else there is." For some reason he had deferred to me! I was leaning back on the couch next to him, so I was behind him. When I didn't answer he turned around and looked at me with a quizzical expression on his face.
"What? I don't like French food!" I smiled back at him. He let out a sigh.
"Fine! We'll go to McDonald's." Nick and A.J. both cheered. Brian and Howie just smiled. Eventually we made it out the hotel and into the waiting limo. Nick and Brian were play fighting all the way to the Eiffel Tower and continued trying to outdo one another all the way there. Nick challenged Brian and said that he couldn't make it up the Eiffel Tower, and he was making noises like a chicken. Brian got angrier and angrier.
"Fine! I'll do it!" He shouted at Nick and Nick shut up.
"What?" Nick asked.
"I'll go up with you." Brian said with a smug expression on his face.
"Brian, you can't be serious! Don't you remember last time? And what about when we went up the Empire State Building?" Kevin wondered.
"I don't care! If it's what it will take to prove this jerk wrong, then I'm going up with you!" Brian stated firmly.
We sat in silence the rest of the way there. When we got out, Brian looked up at the monolithic structure and his face visibly paled.
"You know you don't have to do this - I was kidding, I mean it Brian, I don't want you to be sick again, please don't go up!" Nick whispered in Brian's ear.
"NO! I'm gonna do it! I don't care what anyone says - I will make it up to the top." He stated finally. We all walked over to the entrance way, and Brian saw one of the lifts heading up the slope to the first level platform. "We go up in that???" He asked.
"Yes, look Brian, we don't have to do this, Nick was just kidding, we know you're scared of heights, a lot of people are, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Don't do this if you really don't want to." Brian gulped when I finished talking, but then he shook his head and carried on.
"No! I'm gonna do it! It's about time I got over this." He clenched his jaw and we walked right into the waiting area. The lift returned about a minute later, and we all got in. Nick and Howie stood near the doors to the lift, A.J. stood on my left when I had my back to the back of the lift, Kevin stood on my left, but shoulder to shoulder with me, and Brian stood just to my right. The lift jerked to a start, and we were on our way up. The incline isn't too much, but it's enough to creep you out: I guess it's just that most people are used to going up and down in lifts, so when you go at an angle in them, it's disorienting. We got to the first platform and we were 30 or so metres up. Brian didn't want to stop there, we were into the other lift and headed straight up. Not only did this lift go much faster, but it went straight up, and was made almost entirely of glass. We got about another 30m up, and I looked over at Brian who was still just to my right. I saw him sweating slightly. His eyes twitched around nervously, trying to keep his eyes off the increasing landscape, but failing as he was drawn irresistibly to the expanding horizon. Eventually I heard him suck in a breath really deeply. He turned to look at me and I saw straight into his eyes. He was blinking rapidly to try to hold back the tears, but I could see in his eyes that he was about to panic. I reached out my hand and took his. Kevin on the other side of me hadn't noticed his cousin's state, and was waiting for the lift to get to the top quite happily. Brian took my hand when I took his and he clutched it tightly. Our fingers interlaced, and I could feel his nails digging into the back of my hand. I kept my eyes on him, I'd heard once that eye contact makes people calmer. Very soon, the lift reached the top floor, and Brian took in another deep breath. His breathing was very shallow. As the other guys stepped off the lift, Kevin turned back and saw Brian and me still standing there. Brian was obviously panicking, and he looked a little like he was about to black out. Just before the lift started back up again, Brian stepped out, still holding onto me. He was sweating quite profusely now, but he carried on walking, and finally looked straight out over the landscape through the wire mesh and saw the whole of Paris laid out before him.
He could see the Champs-Elysees that they had driven down less than a week ago and had been down many times since. Sacre Coeur was in the distance, at a slightly higher level than us. The Seine wound it's way through the city, finally disappearing into the suburbs, and in the distance a gentle fog obscured the furthest reaches of the city, and the countryside. Brian took in a deep breath.
"It's beautiful." It was: Paris has a strange colour scheme - it's survived two world wars, and yet the city remains almost pure white when viewed from a distance, only the occasional monolithic office building scars the city's beauty. Brian's hand clutched mine tighter and I looked over at him. The fear had been partially replaced with a look of wonder. He saw Sacre Coeur on the distant hill.
"What's that over there?"
"It's Sacre Coeur - a church, it's really beautiful, both inside and out. But it's on a really high hill which Jared has great difficulty climbing up very quickly." He smirked over at me. I still hadn't forgotten how he beat me up that hill some how - I was gonna find out before we left Paris. Brian looked at me with a smile, but a confused expression on his face. He finally dropped my hand.
"Thank you Jared."
"Welcome." I smiled back at him. He blinked back the remnants of his last tears, and followed us around to see the remainder of the Parisian scenery. He was still a bit wobbly on his legs, so I was reluctant to move too far away from him. A.J. was snapping pictures, and so was Nick. I took the camera out finally, and took a picture of each of the guys with the view of Paris in the background. Brian was feeling much better by the time we got into the lift to go back down, and he visibly relaxed the lower down the tower we got. Once we stepped out, the limo was waiting about 100 metres away so we walked and got in. Brian turned to me again.
"I really do mean it Jared, thank you, a lot." Brian said to me once he got into the limo with us.
"What're you talking about Brian?" Nick asked.
"Oh, ummm, I wasn't feeling too good at the top Nick, I had a bit of a panic attack I guess. Jared held my hand and made sure I was ok." I don't know why but I started turning red - all the guys were looking at me with smiles on their faces. I guess they appreciated it when somebody helped one of their own. I knew this was true when I heard the resounding calls of 'way to go Jared' from Howie, 'thanks Jared' from a Nick who seemed a little upset that he not only had not been there when Brian needed him, but had not even realised that Brian had had a panic attack, and 'all right J!' from A.J.. I turned to him with a confused expression on my face. No-one had ever called me 'J'. He just shrugged.
We drove on to the Arc d'Triomphe. It was impressive - the arch is at the end of the Champs Elysees, and it's basically what it says it is - an arch of triumph. Napoleon had it built when he won some battle or other, and it's covered in pictures of men in battle uniforms, marching over countryside, and typical post-classic design which decorate most of Napoleonic architecture. The guys basically had a look around at the designs, they read the plaque that was fixed to one of the inside walls, we took a few pictures and left. Come on - as impressive as it is, it is still just a big block of white stone.
Finally we headed for Notre Dame (and I think I finally had all the guys pronouncing it correctly!!!). Notre Dame looked very impressive: at certain times of the year, the light hits the rose on the front of the church at just the right angle to make it appear as if the light was coming out of the church rather than entering it. Today was one of those days. All the guys were in awe at the effect. I wanted to get a shot of the guys in front of it. Brian seemed to be very touched by the effect of light coming out of the church. Notre Dame was another church which gave me chills down my spine at the strength of the faith in the church. I always felt closest to God in churches like this one. I don't know why, but no churches in England ever gave me sensations like this. I saw Brian stop while the other guys carried on walking up the aisle. They were doing it again - what is it with them ignoring Brian? Brian was staring up at the icons above the aisle and hanging up at the altar.
"Brian, is everything ok?" He turned to me and seemed to shake himself out of the daze he was in.
"Oh yeah, Jared, I'm ok. It's weird don't worry."
"No, come on, what is it? Why did you stop?" I asked.
"It's just, well, when I come into some churches, I can, how I can I put this? I guess I can feel that they're churches. It's like the huge number of people who have come in here, who have prayed in here, who have asked God for something, they've left behind a bit of themselves, and I can almost feel that." My jaw hung open. "You see? I knew you'd think it was stupid."
"No. No. You don't understand, I feel the same way." Brian looked up at me, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "When I walk into a church, I can feel something too. I always call it 'feeling the faith'. I could feel it in Sacre Coeur when I was in there with Kevin the other day. Ask him if you don't believe me, I told him how I felt." Brian smiled at me, then hugged me. I hugged him back. I have to say, getting close to Brian felt good, not that way, but the fact that we weren't acting like we were sparring anymore felt good, and the fact he was Kevin's cousin and that he was obviously important to Kevin meant that if I could get close to him, then it couldn't hurt my relationship with Kevin, right?
"Ahem." Brian and I pulled apart, though I kept an arm over his shoulder. Kevin was standing before us, and he was looking straight at me. He had a big, goofy grin on his face, and I thought I could see tears starting to collect in his eyes. He walked toward us and put one arm around each of us and pulled us into a mini group hug. Once we were all together, he whispered into the middle of us. "I love you guys. I'm so happy that you two are okay with each other." Brian and I looked towards each other and smiled. "I just want you two to know that you mean everything to me." Kevin smiled at both of us. "Well, I suppose those other three doofuses mean something!" Kevin chuckled and we all joined in at his reference to the other three Backstreet Boys.
We slowly walked up the altar, looking around at all the paintings on the walls. The altar was covered in golden ornaments and pictures of religious icons. It looked incredible. The only thing I disapprove of or rather dislike in Catholic churches is their overuse of the image of Christ on the Cross - they spend too long pondering over the death of Christ, and not long enough celebrating his very existence - surely that is what is important about Christ himself. Once we got up to the altar, the three of us caught up with the other three, and we all looked around up at the front. I got a few pictures in, of the guys, and of the scenery, I got one really good one of Nick: he had been exploring, then he found the 'crypt'. A spiral staircase cut out of the stone, Nick had started down it and had got scared, so he came back up. Just as he came out, he made a face at me as if to say: 'don't go down there, too scary!'. I caught his face on the camera, and in the background of the picture you could see the dark staircase and the sign pointing down saying 'crypt'. Once we were done, the guys all gathered at the altar again. No services were due to run for another hour or so. I told the other guys to go on ahead, but I held Brian back for a minute. When Kevin looked back I motioned for him to go on, he did.
"Brian, you've got to see this." I pulled him in the direction I wanted him to go.
"What is it Jared?" Brian asked, confused.
"You remember what we were talking about earlier? About how you could feel the strength of people's faith in some places? Come see this." I pulled Brian into the 'Lady Chapel'. There was a large stained glass window on the opposite wall, which bathed the room in reds and blues. It was of Mary, holding a baby Jesus. A sort of mini-altar was at the front end of the chapel, and a few seats were lining the walls of the chapel. A musty smell hung in the air, but also the smell of people, obviously a lot of people had been in here over the years: the doorframe had been worn away by the hands touching it or the feet treading it. Brian and I both gasped as we walked in: there was a strong spiritual feeling in this room, and it was incredible. The beauty of the room also added to the feeling: the stained glass window looked incredible with the sunlight pouring through it. Brian and I eventually left after a few minutes and walked out to the waiting guys.
"Thanks Jared." Brian said as we left the church.
"It's ok, I'm glad to finally meet someone who appreciates that feeling you got in there the same way I do. I just reckoned that if I had pulled Kevin in there, while he would have been happy to go with me, it wouldn't have had the same effect." I smirked at Brian to show that I was glad I could share this with him. We walked over to the other guys, and when Kevin looked at me questioningly, I just whispered to him: "We'll talk about it later." Then we climbed in the limo, and were off to have lunch. We ended up, much to A.J. and Nick's delight having McDonald's, though Kevin adamantly picked one of the options which wasn't available in the US, just to show his protest to the other members of the group. I just smirked when he found that the 'Blue Cheese and Camembert Burger' didn't taste very nice.
We all made plans for after lunch: I was to go off with Howie, and we had to do some shopping or whatever, basically get a bit of Paris, and then come back and we would go back to the hotel together. We actually got back into the limo to drive to the main shopping precinct and started from there. Just before we got out, Kevin pulled me back in, and kissed me.
"I'm sorry we have to do this." He said in hushed tones.
"It's alright, I don't mind the other guys remember? While I would prefer to be with you, the other guys are fun to be with too, and I'm glad I get to spend a bit of time with them, I just hope Howie can keep up with me."
"Have you got any money on you?"
"I have my company credit card, it's still got about $1000 left in clothing allowances and there's some allowance for food and luxuries, about $200, so I should be fine."
"Here, take this too, just in case." Kevin handed me about ^À200. I thanked him and kissed him again, then jumped out and Howie and I walked off. I turned back once, and I saw Kevin, who was with A.J. turning back to look at me at exactly the same moment. We both smiled before we turned around again.
I walked around with Howie for a while: none of the shops we saw really caught our fancy. Then he started talking to me, we had been chatting, but now he started asking questions: what had I been before, why did I stop teaching? What was it like living on the streets? I found it harder and harder to answer each question. Eventually, we sat down in a Parisian square.
"You know Jared, Kevin and the rest of us are really close. We know that Kevin had some problems trusting you and everything even though you opened up to him. If you want the rest of us to trust you, you're gonna have to open up to us too." Howie stated in a flat, but very quiet tone.
"Howie, you don't understand, it's so hard. I've spent so long hiding my emotions, hiding what I think, and just going with whatever will allow me to earn my keep, that I'm not sure if I can just open up to people. I want to, I really do, but it's gonna take me a while Howie. I don't want to say anything that might muck up well, what's happening and everything. I have Kevin now, I won't lose him, and I'm worried that if I say too much, or if you know everything about me, then you won't want to be close to me, and that will make Kevin feel bad, and, well, I just don't want that, I'm happy Howie. It's been a long time, please just let me enjoy it for a while. I mean I don't know everything about you, but I'm sure I'll pick stuff up over time, so I guess you can do it the same way, learn me about me more the longer we know each other." Howie looked at me for a second, then nodded. Howie and I walked on, we found a few shops that interested us, and we had about two bags each, which we carried back to the meeting point. In the square that we had arranged to meet in we saw Kevin. Just before we walked over, Howie grabbed my arm.
"Jared, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get all intrusive on you, I just want to be closer to you, I mean Kevin's like, well, he was everything to us for a while when the band started up, and he's kinda kept that, he's more of a father than an older brother to us, and, well we don't want to lose him, we're just trying to look out for him, and although we like you, we just want to get closer to you, so that maybe you won't leave us and Kevin won't follow. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Howie's voice cracked and I thought I saw tears in his eyes before he looked down. I could see Kevin walking towards us.
"So, what did you guys get?" Kevin asked as he walked over.
"Just some clothes." I answered. I turned to Howie, who seemed thoughtful. He just murmured that he had got clothes too to Kevin and then we headed to the limo. Nick, Brian and A.J. were already waiting inside. We headed back to the hotel and went up to our separate suites. Everyone was pretty tired after the full day of sightseeing, but I could see Kevin still had enough energy for a little 'extracurricular' activities, so I escorted him into the bedroom after we dropped our stuff off.
I removed his and my jacket and threw them over the chair. Then I took off his shirt, revealing his finely sculpted chest. I kissed him passionately, running my hands through his long hair. Then I slowly moved down. I kissed his shoulder blade, then over his chest. I sucked his left nipple a bit, it was small, and very round, and sat on a very firm mound of muscle which rippled as he chuckled at the sensation of my tongue on the point of his nipple. Then I moved further down, licking over his stomach and into his navel. I stuck my tongue in there and swirled it around. Kevin's abdominals contracted at the sensation. I pushed Kevin back so just his lower legs were hanging off the bed, and I unzipped his jeans. I pulled them out from under him, and took them off. Then I took my shirt off too. I lined myself up so that my mouth was right above his cock, then swallowed it whole. I heard Kevin gasp at the sensation, and his hands came to my shoulders where they clutched onto me tightly. I bobbed up and down, creating powerful suction on the upstroke and loosening up to create a warm, wet tunnel for Kevin's rigid cock to enter.
I grabbed Kevin's hands and held them to his side, then slowly sucked up his cock. I lingered on the head then pulled right off. I heard Kevin moan at the lack of feeling and he looked down. I smiled up at him. I held his hands in place so he couldn't do anything. I knew he was close to orgasm, and, given half the chance he would have jacked himself off there and then. I looked up into his eyes for a moment, then I heard him whimper.
"Jared, please!" He grimaced in the agony of the postponed ejaculation.
"I'll do it..." I looked up at Kevin with a devilish grin on my face. "On one condition." I smiled.
"Anything, tell me, I'll do anything!" He answered.
"Tell me how you got up to the top of the hill at Sacre Coeur before me." He looked down at me, shocked. He had a pitiful expression on his face, and he moaned.
"There was a cable car at the bottom of the hill, just to the right of where you started running up. There was one ready, waiting, so I just jumped in... now please!" I gulped him down again. I hadn't noticed the cable car last time I went to Sacre Coeur, oh well. I finished Kevin off, and swallowed his load. Finally, I pulled Kevin up onto the bed once he had relaxed a bit, and stripped myself before climbing in with him. It was still early: only about 5 o'clock, so we could have a nap before the guys had to head off to the concert this evening. I pulled Kevin close to me, and just before he dozed off, he murmured: "I can't believe you did that!" and he grinned before falling completely asleep.
We only got about an hours' sleep before we had to wake up so the guys could get to the concert on time. Kevin and I had packed most of our stuff the previous night, as we were leaving straight from the concert, on the tour bus. I decided to sit backstage this time, my ears hadn't recovered from the previous few concerts I'd witnessed. I sat in the guys' dressing room reading a book I had got earlier that day. Once I heard the music and screaming die down, I put the book down and waited for the guys to come back. Kevin came in with a huge grin on his face, he came right up to me and kissed me.
"The show went great." He said, he was still out of breath.
After waiting for about an hour at the stadium, we got onto the bus and sat on the couches which lined either side of the front of the bus. Kevin put his arm around me and I smiled at him. I turned and looked out the window, and my eyes caught the eyes of some newspaper photographer. I looked closely at him, he looked very familiar. His camera dropped from in front of his face, and just before we pulled away, I saw his jaw drop a bit. He looked so familiar, oh well, it wasn't really important. The bus drove well into the night to get us to Lyons for the next nights' concert...
To Be Continued... End of Part 16
OK, there's part 16. You know now how Kevin got to the top of the hill before Jared, you know most of the great sights to see in Paris, and you know how Howie feels a bit about Kevin and Jared's relationship: a threat? There'll be another part along in about a week, I have a hell of a lot of studies to get on with at the moment, but I'm gonna start using more jumps like the one at the beginning of this chapter, so that the tour progresses a bit more quickly. I hope everyone's enjoying the story, oh yeah and if you're reading this Ulrich, I'll be sending some mail to you soon - I need help! Oh and Peter, thanks a lot for all your support and suggestions, oh and Ry too, oh yeah, and finally Jimmy, who reads all my stories, and who I love talking to... I hope you have a nice time at your sis's this weekend!