Thanks to Jesse for volunteering to be my editor, that saves me from reading my own story... hehehe. Thanks to Lucas, my unexpected and unlikely spell-checker and error-corrector. He isn't supposed to, but he does anyway since he gets everything in advance... haha. Jordi, Aeoros and Rune for being the coolest friends on the net! Thanks for being there guys! And never forgetting Mikey... hugs!
Disclaimer: This story is fictional, and says nothing about the orientations of any member of the boyband N Sync, or any other character, celebrity or otherwise. If you are under 18 or 21, or live in a country where it's illegal to read something like this, leave, though I seriously doubt you will. If you don't like the idea of two guys in a relationship with each other, or having sex with each other, what are you doing here in the first place?
Though maybe none of the characters will be appearing, ideas taken from these places will show up:
Buffy, Copyright 20th Century Fox, Created by Joss Whedon X-Men, Copyright Marvel Comics, Created by Stan Lee Charmed, Copyright WB, Created by Aaron Spelling
Chapter 12 - The Last Straw
"Who is it this time?" I asked Melvin as Joey and I stepped into the room. Melvin was sitting in a curled position on the armchair, reading a book.
"Chris and JC," Melvin said. "The tension just floats around the area. It makes me sick."
We were on our third week of the tour, and for some reason, everyone seemed to be fighting all the time. Lance had accused JC of being an airhead, and JC had countered the insult with a gay-bashing remark, which in turn annoyed Justin and I. Chris had shouted at everyone to try and keep calm, a sentiment Melvin agreed to until Chris called him a lying hypocrite. Things had just been getting worse, and according to Joey, it had never been this bad before in all their years of touring. Even within our own group, things were becoming strained. Reuben was upset with me about some remarks I had supposedly made, but I had no recollection of them. Melvin and Joy both claimed to be witnesses to me saying that, so I apologised to Reuben. But even so, I still could not remember ever having said whatever they claimed I said.
"At the rate things are going, we'll be slaying ourselves instead of vampires," I remarked to Melvin. He merely nodded and turned the page of his book.
"Hey, you wanna go out for lunch?" Joey asked me. "Get away from all this mess."
"Sure," I said. Joey and I had been spending a lot of time hanging out at movies or shopping. We had quite a bit in common, and had a lot of fun. It was also my way of getting away from my many constant arguments with Justin. We argued over silly little things like which side of the bed we wanted to sleep on, or even which toothbrush should occupy which section of the bathroom counter.
"Again?" Melvin asked, still not looking up from his book. "Doesn't Justin get jealous?"
"He can't wait for me to leave him alone any more than I can wait to go out and have fun without him," I said bitterly. I meant to say more but one of the doors at the other end of the hall burst open, and Justin stormed out. He stomped all the way over, then pushed his way past Joey and I. He slammed the door behind us as he left to go outside.
"What was all that about?" I asked. Joey shrugged. Then Lance came out from the room that Justin had stormed out of. His face was covered with blood, streaming down from a cut just above his right eye. The area was bruised badly and I figured that Justin had punched Lance, and his ring caused the cut.
"I'm glad you guys are here," Lance said. "Could one of you heal me or something, please?"
Melvin slammed his book shut and rolled his eyes at Lance.
"What?" Lance asked. "And what did I do to you now?"
"You should know," Melvin said, walking out the door Justin had just left. "I'm glad Justin hit you."
He slammed the door behind him as well, but not as hard as Justin did. Lance glanced up at me, his eyes pleading.
"Could you heal me then?" he asked. "Conjure up some of your new age nonsense, or whatever mumbo-jumbo you use."
I felt my temper rising. "New age nonsense? Mumbo-jumbo?!"
Turning around, I grabbed Joey's arm. "Come on Joe, we're going to lunch."
"So how did you get that cut exactly?" JC asked Lance at breakfast the next day. I glanced over at Lance to see what he would say.
"I don't know," Lance said, seeming geniunely puzzled. "I just woke up this morning and it was there."
"Oh please, you don't expect us to believe a stupid story like that?" Melvin said caustically. Lance shot him a glance. "And what did I ever do to you?"
I felt the anger rising in me, and Joey quickly put his arm on mine to hold me back. Justin noted the movement and glared at Joey.
Chris slammed the table with his fist. "Everyone just shut up and eat!"
Brian grabbed his plate of food and stood up. "I've had enough of you throwing your weight around, buster." Then he turned and left to eat elsewhere.
"Fine, leave then," Chris called after him. "Faggot."
I jerked up from my seat and aimed a punch at Chris' gut. Chris was too busy blocking a punch to the face from Justin, and he doubled over as my fist connected.
"Asshole," I spat. JC got up and walked over to Chris, but Lance held him back, glaring angrily at Chris. "Mind your own business, C."
Cynthia walked through the stadium's cafeteria doorway, a huge smile on her face. She had more make-up on than usual, and she seemed cheerful.
"Good morning," she chirped. "And how's everyone today?"
When we first met her, she seemed to be an absolute bitch, but now that the tour had started, Cynthia had been friendly towards everyone. I just assumed that she had been in full business mode when we first met. Cynthia took her job seriously, and did her best at it, something I respected her for. She had done her best to try to help us all out when the first fights started, but it was far from enough. Still, she continually did her best to stop everyone from being so snappy. Everyone respected her, and was nice to her, even if we were in the middle of an argument.
We stopped our arguments immediately. A pained expression appeared on her face as she realised that we had been fighting again.
"Morning, Cynthia," I greeted. Joey grabbed a chair from another table and pulled it up between JC and himself. Cynthia smiled at our efforts as she sat down. We had a nice breakfast with people at least attempting to be civil to each other. The uneasy peace lasted for maybe three days.
"Get the hell out of here!" Justin yelled. I shot him an angry glare. "Why should I? I sleep in this room too."
"Fine," Justin said, storming over to the closet. He began taking the things I had unpacked and tossing them out the room.
"Look, this is stupid," I shouted. "I didn't do anything."
"Don't lie to me, bastard," Justin screamed back. "Lance said he saw you and Joey kissing!"
"And I'm telling you that I did no such thing!" I argued again. "Why are we even in a relationship anyway, you don't trust me and you're always jealous."
"Because I thought you were different," Justin said. "You're just after MY money and riding on MY fame, while you go off and have fun with MY friend."
That was it. I snapped. "YOUR money?! Why the hell would I want your money, I have more than I need. In case you haven't noticed, I'm about as rich as you are, if not richer. As for fame, who needs it?! After all, I see the effects of a swelled head right in front of me. And if you're so jealous of me spending time with YOUR friends, maybe you should at least try to spend time with me. We're supposed to be in a relationship, but you spend more time shouting at me than anything else! If that's the way you want to be, then fine! We're over!"
I shoved him out of the way and began picking up my stuff and the bags I had not yet unpacked. Justin just stood there, stunned. I didn't give a damn, and ignored him. I was done collecting everything in a minute, then I walked out of the room, slamming the door behind me. I could hear shouting from Joey's room as I stood in the hall.
"See, it's all your fault!" I could hear Chris quite clearly.
"Leave him alone, he didn't do anything," Lance replied.
"I wasn't talking to you," Chris snapped. "Why do you need to defend him anyway?"
There was a short period of silence, then Chris said, "I get it now. You want Justin for yourself!"
"What?!" Lance shouted.
"That's crazy, Chris," Joey said.
Chris was obviously not listening. "I understad now, Lance. You've been after Justin all along, but Eric was just the next best thing to..."
The audible sound of a fist connecting with an eye cut Chris off, followed by something hard falling to the floor.
"Fin, if that's the way it's going to be," I heard a more subdued Chris reply. The door opened and Chris walked out, a large bruise over his left eye. He glanced up at me, then looked to the ground, his expression unreadable.
"You heard?" he asked quietly.
Unsure of his motives, I answered that I had. He nodded for a moment.
"Good," he said, walking off.
Things continued to get steadily worse. Tempers were flaring up everywhere, and Nsync's group dynamics had suffered greatly. Even the fans could sense the tension during the concerts, and rumours were flying all over the news that Nsync would be splitting up. The tour was getting steadily worse, and there were very few times to escape from all the tension. Two weeks before the end of the tour (which everyone was looking forward to), I finally decided I had enough. I snuck out on my own without telling anyone and took a walk around town to think things over. After my outburst and break-up with Justin, we had been in a continous cycle of getting back together, then splitting up again. I needed the time to myself desperately. As I walked through San Antonio, I noticed large crowds of girls wandering the streets saying things like "Do you see them?" or "Is that them?". It struck me as strange since Nsync had already performed here, and would be leaving this evening. Very few of the fans had wanted to stick around after the concert especially after Justin had made news by snapping at a girl and making her cry, an article for argument from JC and Chris against Justin, further straining their relationship.
"Why the big crowd?" I asked myself. I still could see no reason for all the girls, however, so I just shrugged it off and walked on, pulling my cap lower over my head. I had no idea where I was heading, but I kept track of landmarks to help me find my way back. In my haste to leave, I had left my wallet behind, and would have to depend on my feet for travelling. I let my mind wander for a while as I walked, losing myself in my thoughts. I didn't notice the girl in front of me, and knocked into her. Snapping back to reality for a moment, I muttered an apology before continuing my walk. A shriek from the girl caused me to turn around. She wasn't hurt or scared, but her face was full of excitement. She pointed at me and shouted, "It's one of them!"
Before I knew it, dozens of girls swarmed around me, screaming in excitement. I looked at the girl who I had knocked over as she pressed an autograph book into my hands with a pen.
"Excuse me?" I said, slowly removing my cap. Her eyes widened, and the screaming died down.
"It's not him," I heard a few girls saying as they walked away. The girl I bumped into was blushing fiercely, stammering an apology. I smiled and told her that it was alright.
"I'm really sorry," she said again. "I thought you were someone else."
"Don't worry about it," I said. I had gotten a haircut recently, and many of my friends and family that I sent the photos to had commented how much I looked like Shane, my cousin. "A lot of people think I look like someone else. Who are you girls waiting for anyway?"
"We're waiting for Westlife," she said. "They're a group from Ireland that are slowly making it big here."
"I know that," I laughed. "You want their autographs?"
She nodded eagerly. I grinned. "Well, before I can help you get them, you're going to need to tell me your name."
"I'm Cindy," she said.
"I'm Dylan," I said. "Could I borrow some money?"
Cindy stared suspiciously at me. I just smiled. "Do you want Westlife's autograph or not?"
"Hello?" I smiled as I heard the familiar friendly voice.
"Uncle Peter?" I asked. There was a pause.
"Dylan?" I could imagine my uncle smiling. "How've you been?"
"I've been fine, and you?" I asked. We made some smalltalk, which I cut down as much as possible, seeing as I was using Cindy's money to call overseas.
"Uncle Peter, do you know where Westlife is supposed to be now?" I asked after Cindy had poked me the second time.
"Well, according to the schedule, they should be in San Antonio in the US," he replied. "They're having a promotional appearance at HMV, but they'll be around San Antonio for a few days before their promo."
"Where are they staying?" I asked. "There are tons of girls around here who know that they're around, and are hoping that they'll be walking around town."
"Always the case, isn't it?" Uncle Peter laughed. "Well, they should be in the Ritz."
"Thanks a lot," I said. "I sort of owe someone a favour, so..."
"Don't worry about it," my uncle laughed. "She anyone special?"
"No," I said quickly. "I'm seeing someone, but it's not her."
"Okay then. I'll be seeing you later this year, right?"
"Really? What's on?" I asked, then saw Cindy's face. "Never mind, I'll find out soon enough. See you!"
"On to the Ritz," I said to Cindy. Then warned, "And don't be telling this to ANYONE!"
Soon, Cindy and I were at the Ritz. I was asking the receptionist if Westlife was in the hotel, to which she kept answering "no" to. I told her calmly that I knew they were there, and that I wanted to speak with them, but she claimed that they were not guests at this hotel and that I should join the other fans and wait for their HMV appearance. I sat on a couch in the lobby, and Cindy plopped down next to me. "Now what?"
"Well, I have an idea," I said. "But it could get us kicked out, and it may not work if he's not near."
"Who?" Cindy asked.
"My cousin," I said. "Knowing him, he'll be in the gift shop, so I guess it's a chance we can take."
"What exactly is it?" Cindy asked curiously.
Slowly, I stood up and looked around for the rough direction of the gift shop. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath.
"SHORTY, SHORTY, COME OUT AND PLAY!" I sung at the top of my lungs. The hotel's lobby had great acoustics, and the sound carried loud and clear throughout the hotel. Cindy blanched and tried to hide from me as hotel security began walking towards me. I shouted it one more time as loud as I could. The security guards were nearing me, and I hoped my cousin had heard. Sure enough, another shout song echoed through the hotel lobby.
"DILLY, DILLY, PLEASE GO AWAY!" I smiled at the reply. The guards grabbed my hands, ready to throw me out of the hotel, but my cousin came to my rescue.
"Sorry," he told them. "He was looking for me."
"Yes sir, Mr Filan," the guard said, letting me go. "But anymore shouting from Mr..."
"Filan," I said.
"Mr Filan over here and I'll be throwing him out," the guard continued. He walked off. My cousin held his palm to his hair, then moved it out vertically to the top of my head.
"Can't call me 'Shorty' anymore," he said. "We're the same height now."
"Whatever," I said, completely forgetting about Cindy. She was still sitting, her mouth wide open.
"Oh yeah," I said, pointing to her. "Shane, this is Cindy. She mistook me for you, and asked my autograph."
After Cindy had gotten her autographs from the guys, she left to go home, promising not to tell anyone which hotel they were in. I followed Shane to his room so we could catch up.
"So how's everyone?" I asked.
"Haven't been home for a while," Shane said. "But from what Mairead has been telling me, Liam is up to tricks again. And at his age too."
"And what has he been doing this time?" I asked, knowing that Liam's tricks were always worth the laugh.
"Well, you know that Casey just adores Liam," Shane said. I nodded in reply. "Liam's a bad influence on that kid. His parents are going to kill Liam the next family reunion we have."
"Yeah, or even before," Shane laughed. "Liam's been teaching Casey how to shapeshift. I heard that Ryan does that too?"
"Nah, my brother does the basics in shapeshifting," I said. "Turning invisible to escape from Rachel, mostly. He's not a shifter like us, but it's not like we can change into people."
"Well, Casey and Liam have gone into more serious shapeshifting," Shane laughed. "Serious being an alien concept. They've been taking the forms of other people and causing all sorts of confusion. The joke's revealed soon after because they lose concentration and shift back to normal form."
"That's good," I laughed. "So what have they been up to?"
"I don't know," Shane said. "No one's told me anything in detail."
"Oh right, so I got into the mood for listening to something funny, and you've got nothing to tell?"
"Pretty much," Shane winked. "Although Liam said sometimes he wishes he was born a shapeshifting mutant instead, then he could take the form as long as he wanted."
The smile faded from my face. Shane noticed it immediately. "What's wrong?"
I spent the next couple of hours relating the incidents that had been taking place throughout the tour, about how people had said things that they didn't remember saying, and all sorts of arguments about things. Shane listened intently, adding comments and suggestions. We stopped for lunch, then continued for a few more hours before we stopped again.
"It seems that you have a shapeshifting mutant causing trouble in your groups," Shane said finally, staring at the notes we had written, spread all over his queen-sized bed.
"We still haven't figured out who and why?" I said, glancing at my watch. "You want to go have dinner? We can discuss it more afterwards."
"Aren't you leaving tonight?" Shane asked. My jaw dropped, and I glanced at my watch.
"Oh shit, oh shit!" I shouted. "I have to be back in twenty minutes!"
"Take a cab," Shane said. "We'll catch up soon. You're coming, right?"
"For what?" I asked. "I don't know anything."
"Check your email," Shane said. "Everything's there."
"Okay," I said. "Can I borrow some cash for the cab?"
Shane laughed. "You, borrow money? Mr I'm-A-Self-Made-Multi-Millionaire?"
"Oh shut up," I said. "I bet you forget to bring your wallet out every now and then."
"True," Shane said. He grabbed a wad of bills. "I don't know how much the cab will cost."
"Definitely not a hundered and fifty dollars," I said, counting the amount. "But oh well, I'll return everything when I see you, then."
"See you, and tell me how it goes," Shane said.
"I will," I said as I rushed out.
"Keep the change," I told the cabby, giving him all the cash from Shane. I closed the door and rushed to the hotel and spotted my things in the lobby near where Justin was sitting. He saw me rushing in, and stood up.
"Where have you been?" he demanded.
"Nowhere," I said quickly, grabbing my stuff. "Come on, we have to get on the bus."
"Do you have any idea how worried we were when you disappeared, and no sign of you coming back at all?" Justin said, not budging from his spot.
"Now's not the time for it, okay?" I said, rushing for the door. I mostly kept to myself throughout the entire ride, listening to all the arguments but staying as far away as possible from them. I just needed to gather enough information to find out who was behind all of this.
To be continued... Yeah, I know, it's been a long time. Stuff has been happening that's been a little weird and all, but it's come out for the better so far. Hope that there are people out there still reading this! :D
Comments, questions? Email dylan@celticwarrior.com