Wuz up y'all? The positive feedback I keep getting, is doing me great wonders for wanting to continue. I love it all, and appreciate it greatly. To all of you who've written me, I thank you with all my heart.
I have to thank two people who've done a lot of persuading to get me to post, even if this isn't the story they thought I'd post. They are Lucas (Because I Love You) and D (Brian and Me). Both of them are great friends of mine, and very talented authors, so if I were you, I'd check out their stories. I assure you, you won't be disappointed.
Lucas, I can never express just how thankful I am that you have walked into my life. You've been great for me, and I hope that I can continue to be a great part of you. D, what can I say? You're such a smart-ass, just don't stop.
Matt, I owe you lots. You've been there for me these past couple of weeks of discovery that have been very trying for me. Thankfully you understand what I'm going through. Lots of love to you. (D, you're included in that package)
An honourable mention needs to go out to a couple of friends of mine who've supported me with my 'ball-growing' process to get my story out there for y'all to read. These people are Adam and Zach, and Missy you know who you guys, (and girl) are. (See Zach, I'm a man of my word!)
I'm dying to hear from y'all, so let me know what you think of my first attempt. I wanna hear it all, good and bad, so leave me a message at bigdaddycool_0813@hotmail.com. Thanks.
Now I gotta tell you that I don't know anything when it comes to the PERSONAL LIVES of the guys of 98 Degrees. As much as I'd love for one of 'em, or two, or three, or all four of 'em to be gay, odds are, they probably aren't. Too bad, eh? Drew's pretty hot. :) So, what I'm saying is this is COMPLETELY fiction. That means not true for the slow ones out there.
Now if you're not supposed to read this, because you're too young, or you're not allowed in the area you inhabit, please don't. If you do, and you're not supposed to, do us both a favour, and don't get caught. But I still gotta say; do NOT read this if you're not allowed. Got it? Thought so.
THIS GIFT -- Chapter 3********
I looked up into those beautiful hazel eyes, and immediate was lost in them. `How could he come looking for me after this?' I asked myself mentally. Drew grabbed my hand, after some hesitation, and started to pull me to the doors. "Come on, let's get out of here. My time for here will come, it just ain't now."
All I could do was nod. I said a quiet 'thank you' to God, and then left the church. 'God...You're the best!' I was still nervous after last night. How could he possibly forgive me after I was so cruel? Walking down the steps, I noticed the whole gang was there, in my van. Before I could ask him anything, he answered me. "I didn't know where the church was, and I knew that's where you were, so I had to drag Martha along. Jeff wouldn't stay at home if Martha was going, and since Jeff wasn't staying at home, Nick wasn't gonna, and Justin either. So here they are."
I just smiled, thinking of how this had become like a field trip, a 'let's rescue D' field trip. "And don't worry Andrew, I didn't tell them anything." Even though I wasn't thinking about that, I was relieved to hear it. What was catching my attention at the time is how he continually referred to me as 'Andrew' now.
"So, is that gonna be my name for you now?" I asked him.
"What do you mean?" I guess I didn't make it clear enough, but then again, he was slow.
"You keep calling me Andrew, is that gonna be what you call me?"
He blushed. "Oh, you noticed?" I just nodded. "I figured no one else calls you that, so it'd be kinda personal. So that's what it'll be, at least until I find you another one." I just agreed and we hopped in the van. The only seats left were the ones in the very back, so naturally, that's where Drew and I sat.
"Woah! D's a church boy! Why'd you go so early, and on a day there's no service?" Nick asked.
"I had my reasons...I'm starved, can we grab something to eat?" I tried to avoid the topic.
"Yeah, but it's gotta be drive-thru, we're not gonna be able to eat anywhere in peace at this time," he explained.
I glanced at my watch and realised it was just after noon. I didn't think I spent that much time in the church. I left early morning. Either way, I needed to get it done. God heard what I had to say, and that's what the whole purpose of my trip there was. I was just glad Drew came to get me.
While sitting in the back, Drew and I talked. Basically he talked and I apologized, over and over. "Drew, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, I was just so confused..."
He hushed me, placing a finger over my lips. "It's alright. It's fine, really, I understand. Just don't think that I'll be trying that again anytime soon." I just smiled; it was a poor one, but a smile even still. "You tell me when you're ready to go further, if you're ready. Just as I'll tell you when I'm ready. For now, no, but wait, time will fix it."
Again, I just smiled, what else could I do. We sat for the rest of the ride pretty much in silent. I had my hand on his thigh the entire time, just as proof he was there. I was glad he was respecting the silence between us as much as I was. Being there, side by side, was enough to satisfy our needs for the time being. I knew we were going to have a deep conversation once we had some alone time. I was afraid of it though, just as much as I was looking forward to it. My emotions were still all jumbled up.
I knew I liked him, but at the same time I was still afraid of it. I mean, this just wasn't normal for me. As much as I tried to make it seem normal, I could never manage. This was something surreal to me; having feelings for a guy. I loved it; it made me feel adventurous, kind of like I was exploring forbidden territory or something. It was exciting, but at the same time, I was punishing myself. Even though I had thought all of it was cleared up at the church, there were still some doubts in my head. They were only little doubts mind you, but still, doubts enough.
Jeff was the one driving, so Martha directed him to the McDonalds close by. I rolled my eyes with disgust when I noticed what we'd be eating. Drew noticed, and displayed some silent concern on his face, but I just shrugged, indicating that it was nothing. He just nodded, but still showed concern.
Before we made our way to the drive-thru window, Jeff started to take our orders. "What's everyone want?" Martha picked up a pen and grabbed a piece of paper from the glove box, waiting to hear everyone's orders.
"Nugget meal, super size, with coke. Oh! And a Big Mac! And two apple pies!" Justin seemed to have a never ending stomach. Every time I saw this guy eat, it was enough food. But like he puts it, `hey, he's a growing boy!'
Martha quickly wrote it all down, "Nick?"
"Um, I want a nugget meal. Super sized. Sprite. And sweet and sour sauce."
"Next?"
"I'll just have a McChicken meal. Nestea." Drew explained.
"Super size his meal, I'll have some of his fries and drink." I told Martha so that she could write it down. She then wrote down her order, and Jeff knew what he wanted, so he pulled up to the drive-thru speaker and gave the order.
"Please proceed to the next window to pick up your order." The annoying voice came through the speaker. Jeff obeyed and pulled up to the next window, waiting for the order to be prepared. Finally, after a couple more minutes, the window opened up, and the guy (thankfully) started to hand to food through the window.
"You're total comes to $42.86." I passed Jeff the money, but he refused to take it. He grabbed his wallet, pulled out some money and paid for it. It amazed me how they seemed to have so much Canadian money left, since they were supposed to be leaving and all. Jeff pulled away from the window, heading for my house.
About ten minutes into the drive home, Nick's cell phone started to ring. He grabbed it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Hello...yeah, we have a week...what? That's great!...And we only have to do the one...thanks. I'll pass the message on. Thanks a lot! Bye."
He flipped his phone shut, and looked around, then his eyes landed in the direction of the back seat, to me and Drew. "I've got some good news." He was leaving us all in suspense, so I found the first thing I could find and threw it at him. It was on of my little cousin's plush toys. "Tell us already!" I practically screamed. I hated not knowing things.
"Well, we get to stay an extra week. The only consequence is we have to do another concert. This time, D can come; management has already talked to his boss, saying they wanted to thank D for sparing the company some money, by allowing us to stay with him. And, in a way to show their gratitude, all the proceeds from this concert will go to a charity that you choose D."
I have to admit, I was honoured. I never even thought of anything like this happening, and I've always wanted to something good for others, charity wise. I just never could. Every time I asked a charity if they could use my help, I was kindly refused, being told they had enough help at the time, but they'd keep me in mind. Basically, they just thought I'd be a waste of their time. Now, even though I wasn't doing anything personally, the guys were doing it, I got to choose were the money went.
"Wow. I'm really gonna have to think `bout that one." I was just overwhelmed. Nick just nodded, and explained he needed to know within the next two days, so that their management could work things out with the charity. I was just so glad, never in my life had I felt like I had done some good for someone, and I hadn't even done it.
"When's the concert?" I asked.
"Saturday, which means, boys, we gotta rehearse." There was a round of groans from the guys, showing they really weren't looking forward to it. I looked at Drew questionably, I thought he loved music.
"I thought you loved music, why you groaning for?"
He just looked at me and smiled, "When it's the same songs over and over, it gets pretty boring...Hey! Will you come and watch us? That'd make it more interesting."
I just nodded. "That'd be great." It really made me feel good that he wanted me there.
"You should be flattered," Nick interrupted my little moment, "he doesn't normally ask anyone to watch us rehearse. The only other person to actually watch us rehearse outside our company is my girlfriend. He just won't let anyone be there." I looked into Drew's eyes, his smile beaming. When I say beaming, I mean truly beaming, it was brighter than staring into those bright lights at the dentist's office. I noticed him blushed slightly, and that made me do my next move, surprising both him, and me.
I move in closer, and kissed him on the cheek. I know it was only on the cheek, but it was enough to satisfy me for the time being, and it seemed to miraculously remove the redness from his cheeks. He just smiled at me, knowing it took a lot for me to do just that. After I had done it, I was trembling, in fear he'd do the same thing I had done to him. My hands were shaking, my palms were sweating, and I felt like I was about to faint. I know he sensed all of this, and all he could do, well, all he would do to comfort me, was place his hands in mine, and give them a squeeze. It was a little gesture that meant the world to me.
We finally arrived at my house, and we all headed straight for the dining room. We were hungry, at least the others were. When it came to McDonalds, my stomach just basically shut down. I could force a couple of fries down my mouth, and maybe some chicken nuggets, but none of that alleged beef. Hells no, you wouldn't catch me putting that shit near my mouth. Jeff and Martha placed the bags on the table and started to pull their orders out. It was disgusting to see how much of this Justin was actually gonna eat, but it's his body that he's damaging, not mine, so I shouldn't worry too much. Besides he's gotta work out like mad crazy to keep fit with the amount of food he ate.
Drew grabbed his McChicken meal, and headed to the back porch. I had a sinking feeling he was beginning to like that place as much as I did. I followed him, since I was just going to steal a couple of fries and a sip or two from his Nestea. Soon enough, everyone else had followed us, and instead of eating on the porch we walked down into the yard, and sat at the picnic table. Personally I always hated that table, but mama forced me to keep it. She always used it when I had family come over and the weather was nice. I may be an outdoor person, but I've always felt that your food should be eaten inside, not where all the bugs and birds can do whatever they want to it.
Drew grabbed a seat at one of the ends of the table, and I scooted in beside him. Nick took up residence beside me, while the other three sat on the opposite side. They were all eating relatively in silence; it annoyed the hell out of me. I hated it when it got quiet, especially when four of the present company were professional singers. After eating a couple of fries, and taking a sip from Drew's drink, I got up. I just couldn't sit there anymore.
"Damn, do you guys always eat in silence?" I practically shouted, running into the house.
"Where ya going?" Drew called after me.
"I'll be back in a sec." I assured him. I went into the house to turn on the radio. I had a pretty damn good sound system, if I may say. It was a gift from my parents when I bought the house. They insisted on paying for some of the first payments, but I wouldn't let them, so they bought me the system. I just needed to shift the speakers to face towards the door that led to the backyard, crank it up, and I was set. My neighbours really didn't mind, they loved me.
I tuned into 93.9 again, it was the only radio station I ever really liked. Ottawa didn't have that big a selection of good music stations. Unless you were into rock or alternative, Kool FM was basically your best bet. I walked out the door back onto the porch to see them still stuffing their faces. "I just can't stand silence!"
"Why didn't you say something sooner, I'm sure Martha and I could've made some nice sounds for your enjoyment." Jeff joked, making Martha blushed.
"Um..." I pretended to consider it, "No!"
Just then, Nick finished, and went to drop his garbage in the garbage can by the stairs to the porch. Right beside the can there was a soccer ball one of my little cousins had forgot the last time they came to visit. My cousins seem to forget a lot of stuff when they come over, there's not one time they haven't left with everything they came with. Nick bent down, and scooped the ball into his hands. "Y'all up for soccer?"
I knew right away what Martha's answer would be. She loved soccer, and all throughout high school, she was on the girl's soccer team. As soon as Martha agreed, Jeff agreed, and soon enough, they were all looking at me, hoping I'd agree. I wasn't really athletic, it was kind of embarrassing actually. I really didn't want to make a fool out of myself, "Naa, it's alright, y'all can play, I'll just watch."
I knew as soon as I had said it, that there was no way I was going to be sitting this one out. I counted down the seconds in my head. 3-2-1,' as I got to 1' Drew came running up behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders, he began to talk to me in my ears, just so the others wouldn't hear. Somehow he knew I was embarrassed about the situation, and couldn't thank him enough for not making it public. "Come on Andrew, just play with us."
"No, it's alright, really, I don't wanna."
"You don't have to be embarrassed, it's not like we're superstar soccer players or anything. Come on, for me......please?" He had me, all he had to do was give me puppy dog eyes, and I would cave. I turned around, (big mistake) and looked him in the eyes. I caved.
"Fine." I sighed. Drew did a little victory dance, claiming me on his team.
"Like we didn't see that coming." Jeff mocked.
"K, and you guys can have Nick too, make it like a family affair." Martha explained. `Family affair? I like that!' I thought to myself as Nick came over, placing an arm around my shoulder, and the other around Drew's.
"Here's the plan. We cheat. Cheat like mad crazy!" he whispered in our ears. I completely agreed with him, I wasn't going to play fair. When you played by the rules, you never had fun. I'm sure Jeff was giving Martha and Justin the same speech.
We began to play, and I have to admit, for not wanting to play I sure was having a lot of fun. Nick and Drew must've been pro-cheaters back in high school, they were killing Martha and Jeff. Justin was just standing by, and played whenever the ball came his way. I was psyched, I was jumping around, and running all over my backyard. You think that they would've passed me the ball at least once...but they didn't. I really didn't care, but I was going to use this to my advantage, Drew wasn't going to hear the end of this.
This scene reminded me of a movie, you know where the people are playing a sport, and the music is playing in the background. I was really just enjoying the time being spent with these goofs. It saddened me to think that they'd have to leave at the end of the following week.
I was just standing there, thinking about it, when the ball came flying in the air, hitting me smack dab in the nose. Everything went black and I fell to the ground. It didn't hurt or anything, I just remember getting dizzy and falling on my ass. The funny thing is, I wasn't unconscious, I just couldn't open my eyes. I heard everything that went on around me, and had to giggle to myself at the concern in Drew's voice. He was the one who kicked the ball to me, well, to my nose.
"Great...I finally kick the ball to him, and I knock him out!" Drew was the first one by my side, stroking my face with his soft hands, and slapping them lightly. "Wake up, come on, please...wake up. For me?"
I decided to make a little joke myself, and made my voice sound hoarse. "That's not gonna work this time...you've cooked your rooster." My eyes fluttered open slowly, and took in the sight of having five pairs of eyes looking down upon me. Drew's were tearing slightly, and I couldn't help but laugh. "I wasn't dead." I joked, wiping at the tears.
"Well you never know," he tried to defend himself.
I sat up, and tried to stand, but the dizziness came once again and I almost fell back on my ass. I would have, if Nick hadn't caught me. "Woah! Easy tiger!" he laughed.
"I think now's the time I should sit out." Nick helped me over to the picnic table, and as I sat, I noted that my nose had started to bleed. That just sent Drew into `mommy' mode. He went rushing into the house for a cloth and some ice, afraid my nose was going to swell or something. He came back out, and made me tilt my head back, and practically shoved the cloth up my nose. I winced in pain, and it was then that I knew it was more serious than I had thought. Whatever pain I was in, I couldn't let Drew know, he felt guilty enough already.
"Why weren't you paying attention?" He tried to scold me.
"Well, maybe if someone would've included me from the beginning, I wouldn't have had to look in the clouds for entertainment." I countered. He got this dejected look on his face.
"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Nick said, looking at the bridge of my nose. I had no idea what he was talking about, I hadn't even checked myself in the mirror yet. Drew removed the cloth for a second, and his eyes widened in horror, tears starting to form in his eyes again.
"What?" I asked, fear becoming evident in my voice.
"D, I think you should go to a doctor, get that checked out or something. It ain't right." Justin explained. I slowly got up, fighting the dizziness, and made my way to my bathroom. I flicked on the light switch, and glanced in the mirror. The sight that greeted me was a horrible one; my nose was all purple, and the bone was sticking out. Definitely not the way things should be.
"Guys, I think I'm gonna go the emergency clinic. Anyone coming?" I let out an exasperated sigh. Drew quickly volunteered, but the others were as enthusiastic about it. I really didn't care, it was my issue, not theirs, I just needed someone to drive.
Drew got into the driver's seat, no questions asked. Actually, that's a lie, he did ask questions, he needed to know how to get to the emergency clinic. I held the cloth over my nose, the blood soaking through it, and continually dripping on what used to be one of my favourite shirts. The entire way there, Drew apologised over and over.
"Drew, it was an accident. Stop worrying. I'll be fine." I tried to reassure him, but he still couldn't help but blame himself. I had to admit, if I were in his shoes, I'd be feeling guilty too. We finally made it to the clinic, and Drew and I walked into the `no appointment' door, and walked directly to the reception desk. After asking the nurse to see a doctor, she coldly handed me over a bunch of forms telling me I had to have them filled out before I could see one.
Drew grabbed the forms and a pen and we went and sat down at a table in the corner. I grabbed my wallet knowing that he'd need to know my health card number and whatever else. Surprisingly he filled out the entire form, only asking me two questions, one he already knew the answer to. "Andrew, do you have allergies to medication?"
"Nope."
"Are you sexually active?" he asked with hesitation, afraid he was going to find out something he didn't want to know.
"Have we been doing something that I'm not aware of?" I asked, trying to lighten the stressful atmosphere. No matter what the reason to see a doctor, there was always this atmosphere that was thick with stress. It always reminded me of the Arrid deodorant commercials, "Stress stinks, Arrid works."
"Uh-uh." He replied. He looked at me still awaiting an answer. I just looked back at him with a `there-you-go' look. I waited a couple of seconds before I saw a smile creep across his face, letting me know it finally clicked in. He handed the papers over to the nurse at the desk, and I was seen almost instantly.
The pain was starting to become apparent. Before it was just numb, but now that I knew there was something wrong with my nose, I could feel the pain. Half the time I wouldn't even know I was cut until someone pointed it out to me. The nurse led me into one of the rooms, and asked Drew if he was going to be joining me. It was cute how he was so uncertain, cause he just stood there, looking at me to answer for him. "Yeah, he's coming." I said with a laugh.
Once we were both in the room, she closed the door behind us. The doctor was still seeing another patient, so it'd be a couple of minutes. Drew took a seat in one of the chairs lined up against the wall, and exhaled forcefully. "Is it just me, or does this place a huge weight on your shoulders?"
"It's not you, it's this place, it always does it." My talking became somewhat slowed, and I was getting dizzy again. I decided to lie down on the examination bed, and close my eyes for a bit, waiting for the doctor. Drew pulled his chair closer to the bed, and started to run his fingers through my hair, apologising again. I kept trying to reassure him that I was fine, but I passed out before the words could come out of my mouth.
The next thing I knew, I opened my eyes to have a doctor standing over me, doing something to my nose. Whatever it was, it stung. "Ow, what are ya doing?" I said between hisses of pain.
"Well, we decided to fix your nose up while you were out. I was afraid you were going to wake up in the middle, but thankfully you didn't. Well, the bad news is that you've got 25 stitches on the bridge of your nose. The cartilage broke through the skin in a couple of places. You've lost a lot of blood, but you should be fine if you rest for a while. The good news is, you're gonna be fine."
I let out a sigh, I knew I'd be fine, I just thought that there'd be more wrong with me. "Thanks Dr. Matthews." Drew said softly. It was barely audible, but the doctor acknowledged it by nodding.
"So..." Dr. Matthews looked down at my medical folder, "Mr. Paquette, you have to take it easy, and come back and see me if there's any complications. Alright?"
I nodded, and sat up, while Drew helped me get off of the bed. We walked out of the room, and made our way back to the van. Drew wasn't really wishing to drive back, so I reluctantly decided I'd do it. The drive home was uneventful, the only conversation that took place was Drew asking me over and over if my nose hurt. I assured him I couldn't feel anything since they had used anaesthetics so they could stitch it.
We pulled into my driveway to have the curious lazy-asses come running out the door to see what the damage was. Martha was the first one, she came running up, kissing me on the cheek, and asking me if I was fine. Surprisingly, Nick did the same think, running up to me, and planting a big wet juicy one on my cheek. "Are you ok?" he said in his best girly voice.
"Yes, honey. I'm fine." I joked.
Drew gave us both a look, one I placed as jealousy, though Nick placed as an `I don't want to know' look. Either way, he just tried to laugh it off. We made our way into the house, what a disaster! I have no clue what they were doing while I was gone, there were throw pillows everywhere, some of my plants were knocked over, and for some strange reason, there was raw wieners laying everywhere. The look on my face said it all, they all began explaining at once:
"Martha started it," Jeff said seriously.
"Justin started it," Martha said while pointing to Justin.
"Don't look at me, it was all Nick." Justin defended himself.
I knew where this was going, so immediately, I looked towards Jeff. With a sigh he began to recall the events that I had missed. "Alright, D, this is what happened. You see, Martha was making some remarks about my, um, `wiener' being somewhat aroused, which Nick thought was funny. To prove his point he went into the kitchen, and grabbed a package of wieners and began throwing them at me. I picked up the pillows and threw them at Nick, and Justin got involved, which soon led Martha to join in too."
"So, who's gonna clean this up?" Drew asked in such an authoritative tone that shocked even me. Once again, they all started pointing fingers at each other. Finally they compromised on team work, something I wasn't sure they could handle AND clean up at the same time.
"Well, I'm beat, and I could use some company," I looked at Drew, "so I think that we're gonna head out for the night." Drew nodded his agreement, and soon enough we were up the stairs and into my bedroom. I was praying we'd get through the night in the same bed, without a repeat of the previous one.
I stripped down to my tighty whities and crawled into bed, and scooted over, allowing room for Drew to follow my example. He didn't need a second invitation, he complied in record time. We lay there, a distance between us for some time before I spoke up.
"Drew, can I move closer to you?"
"Yeah."
I inched my way closer, and then began to think again. "Hey Drew?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I move even closer?"
"Mmm-hmm."
Once again, I moved closer, this time so our skins were touching. He was so warm, and I was freezing my ass off! The touch of his warm flesh against mine sent sensations coursing through my body, making me shiver. "You cold?" Drew asked full of concern.
"Nope...those were for a different reason." I said, the smile able to be heard in my voice. I moved so I was able to look into his eyes, and noticed the smile my last comment had created. He obviously knew what I was talking about, his smile was the tell-tale sign.
I decided to take my chances, and stretched one of my arms across his chest. I tensed slightly, afraid of his reaction. It was my turn to let out a sigh when Drew wrapped an arm around me a pulled me into him more. I was never so relieved than at that moment. It made me feel as if I had made the previous night non-existent. I snuggled into the crook of his neck, and fell asleep wondering what Drew was probably thinking at that exact moment.
I loved the feeling of being in his arms. He was my protector, he was my hero. This hero of mine just happened to be a really cute and adorable guy that belonged to a band which had millions and millions of girls lusting after them. I was distraught by that thought. I roused from my slumber after thinking of that. I'd always thought during my dreams, it was the base of all my dreams, thoughts. The guy I was falling for, had practically half the world wanting him. `How am I ever going to keep his attention focused on me. He's going to want to be other places, not tied down to me.' I sighed softly, mostly out of frustration.
"Stop thinking about that, you're wrong." Drew said with his scratchy voice. Hearing his voice made me jump a bit, but it was soothing. I loved his voice, especially when he used it just after waking up. It was sexy. Damn, it made me get this incredible urge to just grab his head, and lock lips for hours on end.
"Think about what?" I tried playing dumb.
"Stop thinking you'll lose me to those screaming pre-adolescent girls. You know that you're the only one who has captured my attention. My eyes are on YOU, not them, YOU! Am I lying in one of their beds? Just go to sleep sweetie."
That was the first time he called me something like that, and he couldn't have known exactly how much that made my heart do a little dance inside me. I complied with his wishes, gracefully falling asleep, in the arms of the most amazing man I had ever met. I fell asleep again with one thought on my mind, `I could get used to this!'
I awoke to something hard poking into my side. At first I didn't know what it was, but after opening my eyes, it only took a second to put it all together. A smile spread across my face and I couldn't help but notice that Drew had a smile on his face too. For some reason he seemed to be happy, REALLY happy if you get what I mean. I just lay there wondering if I was the reason of his happiness, or if some other object of his affection had such an explosive effect on him.
No matter how much I wanted to stay laying there in the bed with him, I became restless and needed to get up. I weaselled my way out of the bed without waking Drew, and made my way to the kitchen, yet again in search of my salvation, my orange juice. You haven't met a bitch until you've met me when I had to skip my morning OJ, and trust me when I say you don't want to.
I walked into the kitchen, poured myself my juice and headed towards the living room. I plopped myself down onto the sofa, and cuddled into one of the corners. Flipping on the TV I surfed through the channels until I came across Much Music, it's kinda like the Canadian version of MTV. Music was a major part of my life, and I listened to it as much as I could, so it was no surprise that I'd check out the music stations for what was on.
By luck, or coincidence, Intimate and Interactive was on, and which group was the spotlight on today? You guessed it, 98 Degrees. I thought there'd be no harm in watching it, even though I had seen it at least ten times before. I just thought they all looked so cute on it, so what harm could it do? I sat there sipping my juice, with my perma-grin in place, staring at the TV. The program went to commercial when Nick walked into the room, taking a seat in the recliner.
"D, whatcha watching?" he asked, yawning at the same time.
"Much Music, I & I"
"Hey, I remember doin' that show. Who's the focus today?"
As he finished his sentence, the program came out of commercial, and the music for "Because of You" began to play, and pictures of the four cuties began to flash onto the screen. "You can't be serious," he rolled his eyes at the sight before him.
"Oh, I assure you, I am serious. D'you have any idea how cute that guy is?" I asked pointing to the TV.
"What guy?" he was obviously curious since when I had said it, three people were displayed on the screen.
"Him." I said pointing again.
"Who?" he was a little annoyed.
"Rick...the host."
"You better not be thinking of Rick." Drew warned, walking in and sitting beside me, placing his head in my lap and flinging his feet over the other edge of the couch.
"And what are you going to do if I am?" I played.
"Um...I'll do...I'll do...I'll do this!" he exclaimed before lifting my shit, and blowing into my stomach making a farting noise. You know, the thing you do to a little baby that makes them giggle. Nick burst out laughing, practically falling on the floor, while Drew finished his slob-fest on my stomach. "So, were you thinking `bout him?" he asked, trying to catch his breath.
"I wasn't before, but maybe I should start. He seems a little more normal."
Drew slapped me playfully in the arm, "Watch it!" he warned. I couldn't help but laugh, it was just too damn funny. "So, you gonna come and watch us practice today sweetie?" He gave me one of those irresistible puppy dog looks, what else could I say?
"Well, if you want me too." I tried to play it off as if I wasn't excited about it, but in reality, I was going berserk.
"Of course I want you too." Nick answered for him in his best whiny voice.
"Then I guess it's settled, I'm coming with y'all. When are you going?"
Nick glanced at his watch, "In about two hours, and we'll be there for a while, so bring anything you want with you, unless you're gonna want to come back to get it."
Drew sighed, and stood up, "Guess that means I should get washed up." Nick just nodded, and Drew was gone to shower. I followed him, not to join him in the shower, but so I could make the bed, and choose my clothes for the day.
I walked into my room, and noticed that the bed had been already made, apparently Drew had been taught manners when he was younger, and made his bed when he got out of it. I never did, until I bought my own house, my bed was made for three seconds each day, and that was the three seconds it took me to turn on my music I listened to while I slept.
Since my bed was made, I only had one other thing to do, I made my way to the closet to pick out what I was looking forward to wearing. Drew was still in the room, gathering his clothes to wear and placing them on the bed. He stripped down to his boxers, then walked over to the bathroom door. Standing in the doorway between my room and the bathroom, Drew called my name, making me look in his direction. Once he saw me looking at him, he dropped his drawers, mooning me. Once his shorts were on the floor, he rushed into the bathroom and closed the door. I couldn't tell if he was embarrassed he had done it, or if he didn't want to leave me standing there, `happy.'
I just shook my head, smiling in disbelief. He always seemed so shy, yet he was the first one out of both of us to do anything like that. Come to think of it, he was the first one to actually kiss me too, he was the one doing all the first moves.
I needed to shower myself, so I lay on the nicely made bed to wait for Drew to be finished with the bathroom. Laying there, bored out of my mind, and thinking of the beautiful man in my shower, made me fall doze off. I was awaken by drops of water falling on my face, the drops belonging to Drew. My eyes fluttered open, noticing that Drew was leaning over me, his face above mine. "Wake up sleepy head!"
"Don't you know how to dry your hair?" I asked, wiping the drops off my face.
"I did."
"Did you? If you did, I sure as hell can't tell." I said wiping the drops that were continually falling in my face. "You know, if you're not gonna dry your hair, the least you could do is NOT lean over me...you're getting me all wet."
Drew laughed, "You know, that can be taken in a couple of ways, which way were you meaning?" he teased.
"Oh no you didn't," I said, punching him playfully in the arm.
"Oh yes I did. Whatcha gonna do `bout it?"
I lunged forward, flipping him onto the bed, and straddling him. We wrestled around rolling on top of each other, and basically just tiring each other out. Finally I had Drew pinned, sitting on his chest. As I sat there, I noticed that he was still in his towel, and I was sitting on his bare chest. DAMN he was sexy. I figured I'd break the rules a bit, and make the first move this time. I leaned forward, and kissed his lips, not passionately, but tenderly. He gave into the sensations at first, kissing me back, then suddenly pulled away.
"I'm not ready for this, not after what you did last night. I can't. Sorry."
I understood exactly how he felt. He wanted it, he really did, but he wouldn't allow himself to be put into a position where he'd end up getting hurt. I respected him for stopping, but at the same time could help but feel dejected. I slid off of him, excusing myself to the bathroom, the mood totally murdered.
I walked into the bathroom, stripped my clothes, set the water, and then stepped into the tub. The water pouring over my body felt incredible, it relieved some of my stress, not all of it, just some of it. I took my sweet time, thoroughly washing my body and shampooing my hair.
I began to feel water-logged so I exited the shower and towelled myself off. I couldn't help but feel refreshed, I don't think I've taken such a lengthy shower in a long time. It felt good. I opened to door the bedroom a crack to see if Drew was still there, seeing that he wasn't, I opened the door completely, and walked over to the bed au naturel and got dressed for the day.
I walked downstairs to see everyone ready, waiting for me. "What took you so long?" Justin laughed, "You couldn't have been that dirty." He looked over at Drew, "Oh wait, never mind, you could have."
Nick laughed, and Drew blushed. Jeff was preoccupied with Martha, making me wonder where she had been all night, though I knew. "Is Martha coming too?" Drew asked. I knew he didn't like to have others there when they practiced, I just didn't know how serious he was about it.
"No, she's not, she has to go to work. Don't worry Sprout." Jeff explained. I noticed Drew let out a silent sigh, possibly of relief. I could exactly understand why though, he performed in front of millions of people, why couldn't he rehearse in front of a couple?
We walked out the front door of my house, stopping only to allow me to lock the door behind me. Jeff gave Martha a good-bye kiss, as she got into her car, and sadly drove away. I knew she hated to work at the grocery story, but she had to, at least for now.
We piled into my van, and Nick decided he'd be the chauffeur for the night, since he knew where he was going, surprisingly. Again, Drew and I had claimed the furthest seat to the back, leaving Jeff in the passenger seat, and Justin taking up the middle seat all to himself. As we began to drive away, I couldn't help but ask, "Drew, why's it hard for you to rehearse in front of people?"
"Well," he sighed, "it's just that, I'm practicing, I haven't perfected my show yet, and I don't want people to see me struggling through the parts I don't get or I have problems with."
"Then why are you going to let me watch?" I asked curiously.
"Well, this may sound dumb I know, maybe even corny, but I like you and I want you to see me. All of me, good and bad. Rehearsing in front of you is like a step to you show you the true me, at my worst. If I can share my bad moments with you, it'll make the good ones even more special. I just don't want to be apart from you, and I know that since it's inevitable, that I want to spend as much time as I can now with you, before we leave.
"Not only that, but you'll get to see me do what I love. I love to sing, it's my life, and if you can see me lovin' it, and understand why I'm going across the world, then what would be the point in askin' you to bear with me and stick by my side?"
I understood it all. He wanted to share his every moments with me, and I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with joy. Tears started to slide their way down my cheeks (alright, so I'm sentimental, shoot me), not the reaction he was expecting. "What's wrong sweetie?"
"Nothing." I said, more tears falling, I couldn't have felt more loved than at that moment. "You just caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting that, and it was just so sweet..." I couldn't finish, he placed a finger to my mouth, shushing me. I was glad, I was already at a loss of words, and he spared me the embarrassment of making myself sound like an ass.
Cupping my face in his hands, he gently wiped my tears away with his thumbs. No words were needed, we just looked into each others eyes, and knew what the other was thinking. My mind was doing circles, I was happy, for once, I was happy, no worries...at least for the time being. I looked into his hazel eyes, and knew that for once, I was filling the void in someone else, that had pained me for so long. Damn, it felt good. God was being good to me today, and I couldn't thank him enough for it.
We finally arrived at the Corel Centre, where they were gonna do their rehearsal. Their concert was gonna be the next night, so they had to be back again tomorrow to do voice check, and all the pre-show stuff they have to do. It all sounded pretty chaotic to me, but they loved it. As strange as it seemed, the chaos seemed soothing to them, and if it was good enough for them, I thought that it couldn't be as bad as it seemed.
We walked into the Centre, and Nick led us to where a member of their management was standing. They exchanged words briefly, and then Drew decided to introduce me. "Mike, this is Drew Paquette, the guy we're staying with. Drew, this is Mike, part of our management team." Mike looked from Drew to me, and back again, a smile creeping up the corners of his lip. It baffled me, `Does he know that Drew's gay? Is Drew gay? I still haven't established that, he could be bi. But still, what does this Mike guy know?'
It was obvious the wheels were turning in my head, I shook Mike's hand without much feeling, and blankly wished him well before excusing myself. I walked away, heading to a corner out of everyone's way, just sitting off in the side. Drew still had to talk to Mike for a bit, so he didn't follow me, and I was glad he didn't. I just didn't know if I should ask him questions about his sexuality before a rehearsal. I didn't want to make his day horrible.
Justin saw me sitting by myself on the sides, and walked over to me. I never really did have much to do with Justin, he was a real quiet guy at first. He opened up quite a bit with me though, something that made me feel good. For all I knew, I could've just been a fan to him.
"What's wrong D?" he asked with his deep voice.
"Nothing..." I tried to pass it off. Like I said, I wasn't close with Justin, if anything I would've wanted it to have been Jeff that walked up to me.
"Don't lie. I can tell. I can smell wood burning, whatcha thinkin' `bout?"
"Gee, thanks. I was just thinking, I saw the way Mike was looking at me and Drew, does he know something I don't?"
Justin let out a sigh. "You know, I shouldn't be the one to tell you this, but Drew's gay. We've all known for some time, he told us a couple of months back. He's always been looking for someone, but he hasn't had any luck in finding him...until you came along. You should have heard him that night, after we sang happy birthday for you, he knew you had to be something for that many people to want us to sing for you. Do you have any idea how much your friends at the airport dished out just for us to sing that little song?"
I just shook my head, I really never even thought of it.
"It's not important anyway, they got it all back. Drew wouldn't let us keep it after meeting you. Anyways, after the concert, he knew we had to go to the airport, and was hoping he'd see you. He had such a good feeling about you, without even seeing you, he needed to get just a glance. When we walked up to the counter and Tim Hortons that night, his eyes lit up. They shone with such brilliance, I never in my life seen him so happy. Then when you went to go change, all he could do was talk about you, every single aspect. I mean, you guys didn't even have a real conversation, but he was head over heals already.
"Then, the other night, I was talking with him. You should've heard him talk about you. He kept on babbling how about how sweet you are, and how he feels safe around you, like in the cab when he was sleeping on you. He told me he never had such a good night sleep like that first night y'all slept together. I'm serious. D, Drew's hooked on you. Don't hurt him.
"And you asked about Mike. Mike knows about Drew, we had to tell him, in case anything in the media came up. Who do you think arranged for us to get to stay a bit longer? Who do you think was the one that called your manager and got you some time off? Mike. He wants to see Drew happy, just like the rest of us do. He's hoping y'all will hit it off."
Our conversation was interrupted by someone calling for the guys to get onstage. I looked over at Drew who was looking around him like mad crazy, as if he'd lost something. I waved at him, he smiled, and I could see his chest raise and fall as he sighed with relief. He made his way up on stage, talking with the guys while the crew set up their microphones. I just sat there in the obscurities, admiring the beauty before me.
`I gotta get mama to meet him. She's gonna love him. She just has to. And I know he's gonna be such a sweetheart to her. Yeah, we're gonna go see mama soon.' I thought to myself. I didn't want to shut my mom out of my life, and since I had moved out on my own, she hadn't played such an important role in my life. She knew I had liked guys, she knew before I had even told her, at least I'm pretty sure she did. It didn't shock her when I finally admitted it. I knew she'd love to see Drew. Who wouldn't?
The music began and they started to practice one of their most popular songs among the ladies, `I Do.' I just sat back and watched with pride as they worked it through. The entire time they sang, Drew's eyes were planted in my direction, losing contact only to blink. The spotlights shining down on him made him appear as an angel, and to me, that's what he was. He saved me from loneliness, he was my saint, my angel. Sitting there, I realized exactly how much he meant to me. Though we hadn't known each other for long, he was truly a part of me. Sleeping with him the last couple of nights, save the night with the incident, really were the best nights of my life. Especially last night, when we fell asleep in each others arms knowingly.
I was in a trance, staring at the object of my affection, everything else a blur. The words they were singing were drowned out by my thoughts, though I'm sure they were well into their third song. He amazed me. Everything about Drew was perfect, his eyes, his cute dimples, he brilliant smile, his sexy voice, he well-toned body. Just everything about him was like nothing I had ever seen before, and probably wouldn't see elsewhere. I was definitely locked in my thoughts. I was only roused once I saw the spotlight fade out and the guys walking over to me.
"So, how'd you like it so far?" Drew asked.
"You're incredible."
"The song was that good?" he asked with an odd expression.
"Baby, I wasn't talking about the song. I said you're incredible."
He began to blush, making him even cuter than ever. I had no idea just how lucky I was until I saw him look into my eyes, and saw the love reflected back into mine. I knew I love him, I just couldn't say it yet, I had to be absolutely sure nothing was going to go wrong before I'd risk the chance of losing the sacredness of love.
"We have a ten minute break to grab something to drink, then after that, we're do another hour, then we're done." Nick explained.
"So maybe you'd like to go out after and eat D," Jeff added, glancing at Drew. I knew what he meant, and I was gonna do it. I had to. A nigh just to me and Drew, that was gonna prove to be something.
"Yeah, I think I will," I agreed. I couldn't believe it, just last week, I was at my job, serving donuts to the bitchiest of customers, and now here I was in the presence of really talented singers who accepted me, and one of who loved me. If this wasn't a taste of heaven, I don't know what would be.
Justin came from somewhere with bottles of water for each of us. They had really worked up a sweat, dancing and singing, but I wasn't really thirsty at all. I thanked Justin for the water nonetheless, it was a sweet gesture even though I really didn't want it. I figured if I had the water, I'd slowly sip at it, so it wasn't like it'd go to waste. They quickly drank some water, towelled off their faces, and went back to practice some more.
I contented myself by sitting in the corner, yet again, and singing to the songs. They guys were singing loudly into the microphones, so I didn't even cover up my attempts to sing. I loved to sing, really I did, and I would give anything to be in Drew's shoes. Singing to millions and millions of people. But I couldn't, I didn't have the talent he had, so I might as well face the reality that it was never going to happen. After singing a couple more songs, the lights dimmed again, and they were done.
"Well, that's it for the day, we're done." Jeff sounded exhausted. I couldn't believe how much of himself he put into his performances. That was the sign of a true performer, pushing themselves to the point of exhaustion.
"Well, I'm going out for dinner, who's joining me?" I knew all the others would kindly refuse, I just didn't want to make it seem like I was asking Drew personally. I knew how he felt about me, but I still had a feeling he'd reject me if I had just asked him.
"I'm coming." Drew practically shouted. "Just let me clean up first." With that he ran off, my guess to their dressing room to shower or something.
"So, y'all coming?" I had to offer again, just in case someone did actually want to come, though I knew they probably wouldn't.
"Naa, you two go ahead." Nick stifled a yawn.
"Yeah, I'm beat, I'm gonna go home, shower and sleep." It made me feel good how Justin referred to my house as `home.' It was like they truly were becoming my family.
"I'm with Justin, just a shower, and a bed." Jeff was already half asleep, barely able to keep his eyelids open.
"Alright, suit yourself. You won't know what you're missing." With that, I pulled out my cell phone and called one of my favourite restaurants, making reservations for two. I knew the manager, we were good friends since I ate there many times, so I was sure I'd get the privacy I asked for. After three rings, the call was answered.
"Good evening, Las Palmas restaurant, Maria speaking, how may I help you?" one of the girls that worked there answered the phone. I knew Maria pretty well, she was usually the one that seated me when I reached the restaurant.
"Hey, Maria. Como esta? It's me Drew."
"Drew! Muy bien y tu?"
"Bien. Listen, Maria, is Vanessa in tonight?"
"Just a sec, let me check," I head her asking someone nearby if Vanessa was in, "Yeah, you wanna talk with her?"
"Yeah, please."
"K, just a sec."
"Thanks cariña"
"Anytime. Here ya go," she said as I heard Vanessa's voice come through the phone.
"Andrew, is that you? I haven't heard from you in like so long. How've you been?" Vanessa sounded excited to hear from me, after all it had been a while since we last talked.
"Good, good. V, I gotta ask you for a favour. I'll be dining there tonight, but I need a table with privacy, you think you can arrange that?"
"Yeah, for how many people?"
"Two."
"Ooh, two? Is this your romantic night out? Who's the lucky person?" Vanessa always like to tease me when it came to having dates. She always had, and I bet she always will.
"Um...you'll see, I can't say just yet." The sad part about it was Vanessa didn't know I was attracted to guys. Not that many people did know for that matter, aside from mama and Martha, the guys were the only ones.
She sighed, knowing I wouldn't give in. "Fine, fine, I'll have your table free all night, just come whenever."
"Thanks, you're the best. See ya later, bu-bye."
I ended the call, and looked back at the guys, all of who were looking right back at me. "What?" I couldn't understand the looks I was getting.
"Somebody's got connections," Nick laughed. Although I only worked at Tim Hortons, I was still pretty popular. I had connections all over, movies, restaurants, clothing stores, shoe stores, music stores, basically anywhere you wanted.
"I guess," was all I could say. I mean I didn't want to sound conceited or anything.
"Yeah, you guess." Jeff laughed.
Finally Drew returned, fresh and clean, dressed in new clothes. I glanced him over, approving what he was wearing. I laughed when I noticed he didn't fix his hair, and just covered it up with his cap. No matter what he wore, he could always make wearing a cap look good.
"Well Drew, it's just you and me. These fools wanna go home and sleep." I explained.
"Ah, they won't know what they're missing." This got a round of laughter from the others, and a confused look on Drew's face. He couldn't understand what was so funny, but how could he, he wasn't there minutes earlier when I had said the same thing. "What's so funny?"
"D said the exact same thing like 2 minutes ago." Justin supplied.
Realization clicked into Drew's head, and he just smiled. "Well, we gotta go if we want to make our reservation, we'll check you guys later?"
"Yeah, we're gonna call a cab, so y'all can take the van, we just need a key to the house." I forgot all about that until Nick pointed it out. None of `em had a key. I pulled the house key off my key ring, and handed it to Nick, grabbing Drew and heading to the van.
"We'll catch up with you later!" Drew screamed back at them.
The ride to the restaurant wasn't a long one. The traffic was light, and with the way I drive, driving time is usually cut in half. Drew had a little nap while I drove, I figured he deserved it.
As I pulled into the parking spot, I drove over a bump that caused Drew to wake. "Well, we're here." I stated the obvious.
"Guess so." He said. We both stared at each other, looking into each others eyes, communicating silently. Ever so slowly we leaned into each other. I began licking my lips, and closed my eyes, preparing for the kiss. I was so close to him, I could smell the sweet fragrance of his cologne, and was ever so thankful I was sitting down or I'd've fallen to my knees. This was just so perfect. I leaned in even more and...
TBC
Sorry I ended it like that, just didn't have any other way to do it. Hope y'all like it. Let me know. bigdaddycool_0813@hotmail.com take care y'all,
Sprout.