Two Worlds Collide, Part I.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction (as in, not real. REALLY not real, as you'll soon find out...).
It is not meant to imply ANYTHING about ANYONE, much less any member of the Backstreet Boys, or any other celebrity who may wander through this particular story. If you are under 18 (or whatever the legal age is where you are), you should not be reading this. You should go away now. You won't, of course, as you wouldn't BE here if you didn't want to read this.
Anyway, if homosexual content offends you or your community standards (HA!), then the author (me) will NOT be held responsible for mental damages or clothing stains which may occur in the reading of the story below. Keep in mind that the author (again, me) can be reached for comments/questions/etc at MaskAndMirror@hotmail.com. Please feel free to write! I welcome all comments! Now, on with the story!
The sun rose gracefully over the horizon, sending the first morning rays directly into the fourth-floor window of a nondescript beachside hotel. These particular rays went right into the eyes a sleeping young man, who blinked and sat up slowly, shaking off the remains of sleep. He had been having such a pleasant dream, too - calm lakes, mountains, nights of endless passion... All ripped away so quickly by the morning.
"Damn," he said to the empty room, "I hate mornings!" When the walls failed to respond, he shook his head, threw his legs over the side of the bed, and trudged over to the curtains, pulling them shut with a quick snap. Scratching his head, he wandered over toward the bathroom. Looking at himself in the mirror, he sighed heavily. He was certainly no prize catch
- a belly that was a little too big, thighs that were a bit too wobbly... But then, that wasn't what he was concerned about, right? No, he was far more prideful of his mind. A little too proud, some had said - verging on smugness and an air of superiority. He grinned at his own reflection. Hm. Even his grin looked kind of smug. Oh well - if other people didn't like it, screw 'em. He'd always been a loner anyway.
Sliding out of his boxers, he stepped into the shower and turned up the hot water, using only as much cold as was necessary to make the shower bearable. He quickly soaped up, rinsed, and washed his hair. No time to relieve his sexual tension this morning; he had a busy day ahead. The renaissance fair, then off to get his hair cut, and THEN off to the concert. He smiled a bit at the way he had gotten the tickets to go see the Backstreet Boys. It wasn't HIS fault that the little teenybopper had wagered her front-row seats in the little game of trivia they'd played. But then, he had put up a few hundred dollars - he was very confident, and as usual, he was right. He didn't even feel guilty; well, not often.
He shook himself out of his thoughts and quickly toweled off. No sense dwelling on it - what was done, was done. He dressed in his usual black t-shirt and jeans - he must have owned a dozen outfits just like it - slipped into a pair of tennis shoes, grabbed up the concert tickets, and headed out.
*** 7:30 p.m. ***
The concert was in full swing, and Gavin could hardly believe his eyes. He had never seen so many screaming pre-teen girls gathered in one place - it was as if every parent within three states had decided to dump their daughter off for the night. Frankly, he was getting annoyed with having a different high-pitched scream in his ear every few seconds. Of course the music WAS very addictive, and more than once, he lost himself in the moment, and just let the rhythym move him around. Several of the girls in attendance kept pointing at him and whispering amongst themselves. He knew what they were thinking: 'What is a GUY doing at a Backstreet Boys concert? Especially a guy in his early twenties?'. But, let them have their talks; he would just enjoy the music.
A couple of times, one of the Boys would look toward Gavin and give the man a puzzled look. Most times, one boy would nod his head toward the audience, as if thinking the OTHER four guys would know who the man was. Gavin just gave his lopsided, if a bit arrogant, grin, and winked at whichever boy happened to be looking at the time. He was enjoying the music so much that he didn't hear the girls around him scream, didn't see them scatter, and didn't notice the lone light that came crashing down from the ceiling to bash against his head. His last thoughts before the world faded to black where "I wonder if they'll sing 'As Long as You Love M...'". Then everything went dark.
*** 11:00 p.m. ***
Gavin opened his eyes and blinked as the world swam in front of him. "What the hell?" he murmured, looking around at the empty hospital room. He looked over to the call button and reached over to push it once. He was suddenly aware that his head was throbbing as the little button lit up. "Damn!" he winced, closing his eyes reflexively. Soon after, he felt a hand on his shoulder, shaking him.
"Sir? Sir, are you awake?" the nurse asked him as he once more opened his eyes. "Oh good! I thought maybe you'd just pushed the button by accident again, because you've been doing that all night and I wasn't sure if I should even come in to check, but the doctor said..."
"Okay, okay," Gavin said with a weary smile. "I get the idea. What happened?"
"Oh, well, you see, you were at the concert? And one of the lights hadn't been secure? And so you got bonked on the head when it fell?" Her statements were half-question, a thing that annoyed the hell out of the man, but he put up with it for the time being.
"I...see." he said. "So then, where are the lawyers who want me to promise not to sue? No offers of free concert tickets and backstage passes and whatnot? Not even a letter saying 'Oops, sorry about the light, but we had another concert '? I'm hurt." he said with a mock pained look.
"Actually...um... there's some people here to see you right now. They've been waiting here ever since the show ended."
"You're joking, right? It's not..."
"Yeah, it is," came a rather familiar voice from just behind the nurse.
"Shit. I guess it's too late for me to say that I didn't mean that crack about the note, right?"
"Yeah, kinda," chimed in another voice. "But don't worry - we understand. If you'd like, we could send in some lawyers instead..."
"Don't even," Gavin replied with a grin, despite himself. "How sweet of you to come visit me, though. I'm flattered, really."
By now, the nurse had seen that the patient was recovering nicely, and took her leave. 'What an odd man', she thought, thinking back to some of the possessions that had been in his car. Old statues, old books, old swords and knives... The man was a veritable packrat.
"You probably know who we are, right? Brian, Kevin, Howie, A.J., Nick..."
"Voltron!" Gavin suddenly shouted, and immediately regretted it. His head was already throbbing, and now it was just screaming. "Ow... Shit. I mean, damn. I mean... ah, fuck it."
"My virgin ears!" Nick teased, shaking his head. "So, what's your name, Mr. Unlucky?"
"Gavin," was the reply. "Gavin Murphy... I think now I must be a relative of THE Murphy."
"Well, something certainly DID go wrong," Brian noted with a wry grin. "But at least you're alive. Didn't you hear the girls around you screaming?"
"Yeah - but who can tell the difference between a pre-teen girl's 'Oh my God, it's the Backstreet Boys!' scream, and their 'Oh my God, the lights are falling!' scream?" The six of them burst into laughter, with Gavin wincing at every loud guffaw - even his own.
"Anyway... we're really sorry about all this. Rest assured that the lighting guy will be fired for it," Howie started, but was suddenly interrupted.
"No, he won't," Gavin said, suddenly very stern. "If you go and fire him, then what? He's jobless, his family has that much less income, and he ends up flipping burgers someplace, because no one will hire a guy who got fired for injuring someone, even accidentally. No, I'd rather you just keep him and make sure that he gets better training."
"Huh?" the five Boys said at the same time, and shook their heads. "But, look, that's out of our hands, man. Management said..."
"Well, then, tell management that if this guy is fired, I will make it a point to file a lawsuit against the company. As it stands, I'm willing to let this all go, if they're willing to pay for all this," he said, motioning around the room.
"Alright," Kevin said with a shrug. "They won't be happy, but then, they never are."
"Good," Gavin replied, and laid his head back against his pillow. He yawned deeply and said, "If you don't mind... I think I'd like to just sleep for a bit."
"You sure, man?" Brian asked, a little concern in his voice. "I mean, what if you slip into a coma or something?"
"Well, at least I can enjoy the dreams of passionate nights with a certain b... Er, at least I'll get some rest." Normally, he wouldn't watch his tongue, but he decided to be respectful of his company. After all, if he said something about 'wild sex with B-Rok', or maybe 'getting boffed by Kevin', he might just offend.
The Backstreet Boys exchanged glances amongst themselves, and shrugged.
"It's your head, man," A.J. said, pulling his sunglasses down over his nose. Did he never take the damn things OFF? Gavin wondered quietly.
"Indeed. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
The Boys apologized once more, and filed out after promising to return in the morning. Gavin sighed and let his eyes drift shut. What a day... He hoped his car was alright. "Ah, hell... I hope no one's lifting my stuff..." he mumbled to an empty room. As sleep started to overtake him, he thought he heard footsteps on the tiled floor of his room. He wanted to say something, but by then, his mind was fading into rest.
The last thing he felt before he slipped into dreams was someone pressing their lips softly against his cheek.
*** End Part I. ***
Let me know what you thought! I realize there was no sex in this part, but hey - I'm writing a story here. :) I promise, there WILL be sex in Part 2, or at the very latest, Part 3. Cross my heart!
MaskAndMirror@hotmail.com