Two Worlds Collide, Part III: Connections
The usual disclaimer applies: No one under 18 should be reading this, nor should anyone who is offended by homosexual content. IF you persist in reading this, then the author will not be responsible for mental damages or any such rot. This is a work of fantasy - it should not be taken to imply that any member of the Backstreet Boys is anything other than heterosexual. And does anyone really ever READ these disclaimers? The author can be reached for comment at: MaskAndMirror@hotmail.com. Now, on with the show.
=== Connections ===
Gavin sighed as he trudged out of the hospital room. Brian had vanished, and Gavin could only assume that the Backstreet Boy was upset over the near-kiss. It should never have happened. He would have to make sure that it didn't happen again. As much as he didn't care what other people thought of him, he didn't like the idea of having people against him, either. Shaking his head, he closed the room door behind him. He hated hospitals, and he wanted to get out as quickly as possible. Glancing up and down the hallway, he saw no sign of the five boys. "Well, fine," he said to the walls, "go ahead and leave me here."
As if in total defiance of his statement, the elevator chimed, opened, and out stepped A.J. Gavin looked at the other man, and started down the hallway toward the elevator. A.J., in the meantime, watched Gavin with a half-smile. Something about the man made A.J. nervous. He wasn't quite sure what it was, though - and despite the fact that A.J. made it a point not to judge people based on appearances, or even first impressions, there was something just not quite right about this person. He was snapped out of his reverie when Gavin was standing only a foot away.
"Well?" Gavin asked. "Are we going?"
"Huh? Oh.. oh, right! So, where we headed?"
Gavin shrugged. "Wherever you guys want to go. I don't really care."
A.J. shrugged as well and motioned toward the elevator. "Well, whenever you're ready." The two of them stepped onto the elevator and A.J. pushed the button for the parking lot. The two rode in silence...for all of three floors, when the elevator screeched to a halt, and the lights went out.
"What the hell?!" both men shouted at the same time. Glancing toward eachother, each cracked the faintest of smiles. The emergency lights slowly lit up, casting a gloomy dimness in the elevator.
"Murphy strikes again," Gavin said with a sigh, leaning against the wall. Looking at A.J., he crossed his arms over his chest and slid down to the floor. "Nothing to do but wait, right?"
"Yep," A.J. said, already pushing at the buttons as if he could make the elevator move if he pushed enough of them. Getting more frustrated, he began jabbing the button for the parking lot harder and harder. "C'mon, damnit!"
"You know, the elevator doesn't care how many times you press the button. It's not going anywhere."
"Yeah... I know," A.J. said grumpily, giving the elevator panel a final whack with his palm. "I wonder what happened."
Gavin shrugged, already feeling very uncomfortable in the elevator. He kept looking at A.J., which only served to make the Backstreet Boy fidget and frown. Despite the dimness of the elevator emergency lights, A.J. could see too clearly the shine of Gavin's eyes. 'What is he staring at?' he thought to himself. 'I wish he'd quit it... Maybe if I don't pay attention.' A.J. quickly looked away, back at the panel. Every so often, he glanced back at Gavin, only to find the other man still staring at him. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "What?!" he snapped, then almost immediately regretted it. He never lost his temper...not like that. But damn... this Gavin person made him so nervous!
"Why are you doing this?" Gavin asked.
"Doing what?"
"This. Taking me out with you. After all, you don't know me. I could just be a crazed fan."
'Yeah, and you probably are.' A.J. thought to himself, but instead said, "Because."
"Because. That's a non-answer. Because you want to get to know me better? Because you think you owe me? Because you find me incredibly attractive? No, 'because' is hardly an answer."
A.J. was quietly open-mouthed for a long minute. But then, he was wondering why as well. It had been Brian's idea, after all. And Kevin had been quick to agree. The other three weren't so sure, but then, they were always hesitant to say 'no' to a fan. Every fan had friends, and those friends had friends...
"You don't know, do you?" Gavin asked, suddenly chuckling to himself. "You really have no idea why you're doing this. I'll bet it was Nick's idea, right? Or maybe Kevin's?"
"Brian's, actually," A.J. heard himself say before he could stop himself. "He said you seemed like a pretty nice guy."
It was Gavin's turn to be quiet. BRIAN had suggested it? A lump formed in his throat as he thought back to the accident in the room. Brian had suggested it without any motives, and now Gavin had probably screwed up any chance there was at making a friendship. "FUCK!" he shouted, causing A.J. to jump.
"Jesus, dude... calm down!" he said, catching his breath.
"Sorry...but you don't understand." And Gavin really didn't want to try to explain it, either.
"What don't I understand?" A.J. asked anyway, frowning again.
Gavin just raised a hand in reply and waved it, dismissing the question. "It's not important. Tell me about Brian," Gavin said, changing the subject quickly. A.J. noticed the change, but decided not to press the issue. But why did he want to know about Brian?
"Well, what do you want to know?"
"Everything." Gavin said with a wistful sigh.
That tone woke something up in the back of A.J.'s mind, but when he tried to examine it, it had already been buried again. He started to go ahead and chat a little about Brian, but the elevator suddenly started moving again. Gavin got to his feet, though he kept his arms crossed over his chest.
"See? I told you it would pass," he said with a half-smile.
A.J. only nodded as the elevator doors chimed and opened upon the parking lot. A few janitors and other hospital personnel were hovering nearby, muttering apologies as the two stepped off the elevator. They might even have tried to explain what had happened, but neither Gavin nor A.J. heard it, and brushed right past them. The both of them only wanted to get away from the hospital. Quickly.
=== Three Hours Later ===
Gavin sat sandwiched between Nick and Howie, frowning to himself. He couldn't shake the feeling that A.J. didn't like him, and that was disturbing. He'd always had A.J. figured as the type who liked everyone. Nick noticed Gavin's gloom, and soon couldn't take it anymore.
"What's bugging you?" he asked, turning as best he could to face their company.
Gavin looked up, apparently startled out of some deep thoughts of his own. "Hm?"
"I said 'what's bugging you'?"
"Oh. Nothing, really... Just.. some stuff on my mind."
Nick crossed his arms over his chest and gave Gavin a disapproving look. It didn't look at all natural on his boyish face. Nick didn't have to say anything - the look was worth all the words in the world; it said, simply, 'I don't believe you.' Gavin sighed and shook his head, turning his attention back to the floor. Nick grumbled to himself, and looked out the window. He knew that something had happened in that elevator that had both Gavin and A.J. lost in their own little worlds. No sooner had they gotten to their cars than Gavin and A.J. got in seperate vehicles without so much as a word exchanged. Nick couldn't shake the feeling that the two were either angry or upset over something.
Brian had also noticed Gavin's attitude, but hadn't really wanted to say anything. He already had plenty of stuff on his mind: namely, the near-kiss in the hospital room. It had thrown his entire day out of whack. His resolve to keep his squeaky-clean, heterosexual image intact was shaken. He blinked, and forced his attention back to the road in order to pull back into his lane. 'God... what am I doing?' he thought. 'I can't let something like that happen... Thank God we're out of here in a day.'
== Meanwhile, In Car #2 ==
Kevin asked for what seemed to him to be the tenth time, "What's bothering you, man?" And he received the same answer he had gotten every other time. No answer at all. It was as if A.J. was off in his own little world. Kevin would have placed any amount of money on a bet that it had something to do with Gavin. Gavin. The name sounded oddly familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Yet it was there. Finally, he had an idea. "So, what do you think of our friend Gavin?" he asked, turning his head to look at A.J. for a moment.
The name seemed to jerk A.J. out of his reverie, and he turned to look at Kevin. "Honestly?"
"Yeah, honestly."
"I don't know. There's somethin' about him I don't like."
Kevin raised an eyebrow in question. He had never heard A.J. sound unsure about someone. But he had the same feeling... there was something odd about Gavin. Another thing that he couldn't quite place. That disturbed him even more - that there was something wrong and he couldn't figure it out. "I know what you mean," Kevin said with a nod, leaning back in his seat and hitting the cruise control.
A.J. turned back to the window, and stared out at the rolling countryside.
== Back in Car #1 ==
Howie nudged Gavin with his elbow. "Hey, dude... we're back at your car. You wanna drop off anything?"
Gavin turned his head to look at Howie. "No." he said shortly, a bit more angrily than he'd intended. "I mean, I don't have a lot on me, and I need pretty much all of it." His tone softened a bit, and he went back to staring at the floor. Howie just shrugged and went back to staring over Brian's head out the window.
Brian hit the turn signal to pull over into the parking lot. They needed to decide on some sort of destination. Watching as the other car pulled up alongside, Brian rolled down the window and waved for A.J. to do the same. It took a moment for the other man to realize that he was supposed to do something. But finally, he did roll down the window and asked, "What?"
"Where we headed?" Brian asked, frowning as he picked up some rather gloomy vibes from the other car. Behind him, Gavin sat up, and stared out the opposite window. Nick and Howie both noticed the deliberate avoidance of eye contact with anyone, and glanced at eachother. They knew something wasn't right, but neither one knew what it was. 'Damnit,' Howie thought. 'This guy is bummed...and kind of freaky.' As if Nick could read minds, Howie noticed a slight nod, perhaps agreeing with the strange look Howie was giving the quiet Gavin.
Gavin himself was aware of the looks he was getting, but he really didn't care. His mind was racing at a thousand miles per hour. He had noticed the occaisonal glances from Brian in the rearview mirror. They weren't angry, or even disappointed. They seemed...afraid. Gavin wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around Brian and tell him that everything was okay. Of course, that was silly - everything wasn't okay. It never was. It never really would be. But still...it was nice to dream every now and again. He snapped back to reality when the car pulled away from the parking lot. "Where we going?" he asked, looking directly at Brian.
Brian glanced up into the rearview mirror and met Gavin's eyes. He drew an involuntary breath before saying, "Uh.. we're heading to a restaurant. You could use real food." He was surprised to see a little smile bloom on Gavin's face.
"How altruistic of you," he said, grinning. As their eyes lingered on each other's, Gavin found himself thinking back to his dream of the night before. His cheeks flushed crimson, and he turned his eyes back to the floor.
Brian blushed as well, simply from seeing Gavin blush. "Thanks," he said. "But you really are looking kind of hungry. Can't blame you for not eating that hospital food."
Gavin nodded, but didn't raise his eyes. "What restaurant we going to?"
"Uh... some place called Melissa's." Brian answered after a moment.
Gavin nearly choked. He was pretty well-known at Melissa's; he certainly ate there often enough. And he knew almost everyone who worked there. And they all knew him. He hoped that none of them would say anything too revealing or embarassing. He couldn't object to the restaurant; it'd cause too many questions.
He sighed as they pulled into the parking lot, and he stared up at the familiar hand-painted sign. But he forced a smile onto his lips and scooted out of the car after Howie. The four of them waited for Kevin and A.J. before going in.
The five Boys gasped as they entered. The outside was certainly deceptive - from the street, the restaurant looked just like any other of the buildings on the walk. But on the inside... Oak tables were set up near the walls, with chairs facing a large center fountain. Gavin grinned genuinely now; it was the same response almost everyone had when first entering this place. Gavin cleared his throat and tapped Brian on the shoulder. "You like it?" he asked, having to refrain from looking into Brian's eyes for too long.
Brian nodded mutely. They had seen plenty of gorgeous restaurants, but this... It just took his breath away. Apparently the other four were having the same reaction, as they were speechless. Gavin finally had to take charge and wave at the counter to get some attention. The slightly pudgy girl behind the register nearly fainted when she saw who was standing there, and her jaw dropped when she realized that Gavin was WITH them.
"H-h-hi..." she stammered, looking first at the floor, then at Gavin, then at each of the Boys in turn. "Can I g-get you any...thing?"
Gavin smiled and winked. "Their tongues are tied. Can we get the round table?"
The girl nodded, her mouth still half-open. "Uh.. yeah! Yeah! This way, please..." She started off, and nearly tripped over her own feet on the way. She led the six of them to a large, round table relatively near the fountain. "H...here you are. M..Melissa will be here, uh, in a mom..moment." She quickly left before she could embarass herself further.
Sure enough, the six guys had barely gotten settled into their seats when a stern-looking young woman marched out toward the table. The five Backstreet Boys went wide-eyed; this woman looked MAD. She could not have been more than twenty-five or so, but she had the authoritative walk of a woman twice her age. A long, brown braid hung midway down her back, swaying gently as she walked. Deep blue eyes glittered with steel and determination, but also with compassion and delight. Kevin thought to himself that this was a girl playing at being a woman, and doing a damn good job of it. But Gavin seemed unaffected, and he stood to grin at the approaching woman. Opening his arms, he grabbed up the woman in a hug. The woman looked surprised - Gavin had never welcomed her quite like this. But she soon figured out why.
"Don't say a thing," he whispered into her ear, "about you-know-what." The woman nodded, but kept her smile up the entire time. When Gavin finally let go and sat down in his seat, she smoothed out her skirt and smiled sweetly at the Boys.
"Hi there," she said sweetly. "We don't get many celebrities here. No wait... we don't get any. I'm Melissa," she said, offering a hand to each boy in turn. Each took the hand and shook it, except for Nick, who kissed the back of it. "Oh my!" Melissa said with a little blush. "Aren't you the little gentleman?" She laughed as she added, "But don't think that's going to get you anywhere." Nick just looked confused, prompting even harder laughter from Melissa. "I'll give you six a few minutes to decide," she said, passing out menus. As she walked away, the boys missed seeing her roll her eyes upward. 'What IS it with guys?' she thought to herself.
Nick watched her walk off before looking at Gavin with a quizzical expression. "What did she mean?"
"Hm? Oh... well, you see, you're not really Melissa's type."
"What? Is it my hair color?"
"Um... no."
"My voice?"
"No... your voice is fine, Nick."
"Too young? Too old?"
"Well, not exactly."
"Well, then, what is it?" Nick seemed genuinely perturbed. He was used to girls fawning over him.
"Uh... how can I put this without being graphic? Your...um...anatomy is wrong," he said after a minute.
Nick seemed lost for a second, but then realization dawned. "You mean, she's a..."
"Oh yeah," Gavin said with a nod. "Very much so."
The Boys looked at each other in disbelief.
"But she seemed so..." Howie started, but couldn't quite finish the phrase.
"Yeah, she does come off that way. You just haven't gotten to know her. Now I suggest we decide what we're having, or she'll be upset that we're keeping her waiting." With that, Gavin went back to reading the menu - for effect, really. He knew the list forward and backward. "I recommend the hamburgers," he said after a minute. "They're the best you'll find around here. Better than McDonald's," he said, casting a glance toward A.J., who looked back at him open-mouthed.
"Sounds good," all five said at once, and broke into fits of laughter.
No sooner had they decided on their meal than Melissa was back at the table, hovering and taking menus. "Let me guess - hamburgers, right?" she asked, smiling a little. When all six nodded their agreement, she shook her head. "I don't know why I even have anything else on the menu." She started to walk off, but stopped and gave A.J. a stern look. "Take those off," she said, pointing at his sunglasses.
"Huh?" A.J. asked after a minute.
"The sunglasses. OFf."
"But..."
"No buts. You want to eat, don't you?"
Gavin nearly bit his tongue to keep from laughing as A.J. reluctantly took off his glasses. He had given in. But then, everyone did. Melissa could be very commanding when she wanted to, even for someone who barely stood to the shoulders of most men. A.J. gave Gavin a look, before he laughed a little.
"Yes, ma'am," he said as he set the glasses down on the table.
Melissa nodded abruptly and smiled smugly as she walked off, already yelling out their order. The Boys watched her go before sitting back in their chairs and looking at one another. Finally, five pairs of eyes were resting on Gavin, who shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "What?" he asked finally.
"So, what's your story?" Howie asked after a minute.
"What?"
"Your story. Where ya from? What do you do? That sort of thing."
Gavin frowned suddenly. "It's not really important," he said. "Besides, it's a long story, and I don't want to keep us here all day."
Howie started to say something else, but paused as he felt Brian's hand touch his leg. He knew what that meant. Brian wanted to let the subject drop - for now, at least. Instead, the five started chatting about the concert the night before, about how many fans had been there, about how they were happy to be on tour, but really could go for some leisure time. Gavin fell quiet as the Boys chewed the fat, just listening to them talk. He cast the occaisonal glance at Brian, and caught a few glances of his own.
It didn't take long for the food to arrive. The boys gasped a second time when they saw the size of the burgers - apparently they had slaughtered an entire cow just for the six burgers. "My God," A.J. said after a minute. "I think we should say grace, just in case we blow up trying to finish these!"
"No one ever has," Gavin said with a little smile. "There's ALWAYS some leftovers."
"We'll see about that," was the reply, and A.J. immediately set about trying to fit his mouth around the burger. Brian laughed as he saw that there was no way that approach was going to work.
"Fffhhh ppp", A.J. mumbled around the beef. Taking as big a bite as he could manage, he shook his head. "Dm.. s'good," he said, voice muffled.
== Thirty Minutes Later ==
All six boys practically lay against their chairs.
"I'm stuffed," Nick moaned.
"Couldn't eat another bite," Kevin agreed.
"Nnngh..." was all A.J. and Howie managed.
Brian was oddly quiet, and kept casting secret glances at Gavin. The man had been really quiet during the meal, yet had barely touched his plate. Of course, Brian understood on one level - Gavin was obviously trying to watch what he ate. 'How cute,' he thought. 'He wants to make himself look better.' He started to say something, when his eyes and Gavin's directly connected. It seemed as if the rest of the world suddenly went black, and only Brian and Gavin existed in the void. For a long time, neither boy heard anything that was said to anyone else, even themselves. There was only a perfect sort of quiet there.
Finally, Brian was brought back to reality by Kevin poking him in the shoulder with a fork. "Hey... where we going next?"
A.J., Howie and Nick all immediately announced that they wanted to find a club. Kevin merely shook his head at their predicatbility; he sometimes wondered why he bothered to ask.
"Fine. I'll go with you," he said, pointing at the club-goers. "What about you, Brian?"
"I..uh.. I think I'll just go for a walk, if you don't mind. Gavin and myself," he said before he could stop himself. He really wanted to talk with Gavin some more... And now might be his last chance.
Kevin and A.J. looked at each other, before A.J. asked, "Are you sure?"
Gavin looked up and said, "I'm not a serial killer, you know. I'm not dangerous."
'I'm not so sure about that,' Kevin thought, but said nothing. Instead, he just nodded quietly, giving the silent look of warning to Brian. Brian knew what it meant - Kevin was worried. Brian shook his head, just enough for Kevin to notice. He trusted Gavin - he wasn't sure why, but he did.
Gavin sat patiently while Brian and Kevin exchanged looks. He understood Kevin's concern, really - after all, the two were cousins, and blood had to watch out for blood. He wasn't even offended. When the two were finished, Gavin smiled and snatched up the check.
"This is my treat," he said before anyone could object.
This, of course, didn't keep them from trying. Kevin waved his hands around a bit and said, "No, we should cover it - we invited you." Gavin shook his head firmly, giving Kevin a determined smile.
"You won't get anywhere when he has that look on his face," Melissa chimed, startling all six of the boys. She seemed to just come out of nowhere sometimes. Gavin often wondered if she was entirely real. He chuckled a bit as Nick looked at his dear friend in a sort of awe - it seemed that the star was now star-struck. Melissa had that effect on some people. It only seemed fair that the boy who all the girls fawned over was now fawning over someone so blatantly. Gavin almost pitied him. Almost. He smiled up at Melissa as he fished a few bills from his pocket and handed them to her, along with the bill. "Thank you," Melissa said with a grin as she tucked both into her apron. "Now, the six of you get out - you need to be walking that meal off. Except you, Gav... You're looking a little thin lately." She poked Gavin's shoulder with a finger. "And don't give me that nonsense about watching your weight." Before Gavin could even begin to object, Melissa was already striding away, off to collect from another customer. Nick just shook his head.
"Is she always like that?" he asked in amazement.
"No. Sometimes she's worse." Gavin laughed a bit. "Shall we be going, then? When should i have him back?" he asked, looking directly at Kevin.
Kevin seemed a bit taken aback at the question. "Uh... whenever he wants to be back, I guess."
Gavin smiled thoughtfully. Depending on what happened that night, that might be a long time in coming.
== End Part 3 ==
Author's Note: Yes, I know. I told you there would be sex by now. Well, I guess I lied. Sorry! But I can't just throw sex in here for the sake of sex... It will come. Be patient. Believe me, this story is not turning out at all the way I originally planned. But then, I only put the characters in the setting. They take over from there. You other authors know what I mean.
As always, I can be reached for comment at MaskAndMirror@hotmail.com