Disclaimer: This story is purely fictional, and therefore it does not imply that any of the characters portrayed in this story (i.e. the five members of Westlife) are gay...
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WESTLIFE BEGINNINGS 3 - By Jay Cee
"A boyfriend? What sort of question is that?" Shane replied, in mock anger.
"Uh, I dunno, just asking. You never know nowadays." Nicky replied.
"Well. I don't have a boyfriend. Thanks for asking," Shane replied sarcastically.
"Fair enough, but I'm not the one getting touchy feely in bed with another guy, am I?" Shane thought for a moment, the only sound being his heavy breathing. "What is it that you want to hear Nicky? Do you want me to just come out and say that I'm gay? Would that make you happy?"
"Shane," Nicky said, suddenly worried that his questions were starting to get under Shane's skin. He had remembered that he wasn't in Westside, not just yet.
"I may not have a boyfriend Nicky," Shane continued, "but yes, I am gay. And I'm sorry if my hands wander while I'm asleep."
"You can't help it, you don't have to apologise."
"I'll understand if you want to grab a room to yourself Nicky, I don't think I'd want to be sleeping in the same bed as a gay man if I was straight like you."
"No, its okay Shane. And anyway, I don't have any money to pay for a hotel room myself!"
"Cool. Now, lets just get some sleep. I don't know about you, but I have a hell of a lot to do tomorrow."
"Okay, goodnight Shane."
Nicky turned, his back now facing Shane, closing his eyes wearily. He didn't get to sleep for a long time. He listened intently to the steady sound of Shane's breathing. He cursed himself for not having said something to Shane, for not having made a counter-move when he felt Shane's hand there.
Shane opened his eyes, the harsh rays of the sun streaming into the room, a warm feeling on his naked back. Nicky was still asleep, but Shane would have to wake him soon. He wanted Nicky up and out of there before Kian and Mark awoke, before they found out that Shane had company that night, and not quite appropriate company at that. Turning over, Shane grabbed Nicky's shoulder with his left hand, shaking him lightly.
"Nicky, time to wake up," Shane said in a low voice, but there was no reply. Nicky was no light sleeper. Shane tried again, shaking Nicky a little bit more violently, and this time it worked.
"Hmmm...." Nicky mumbled, now in that dreamy space where one is neither asleep, nor really awake.
"It's time to get up Nicky, you have to go. I'm sorry but you can't stay here."
"Uhhhh," Nicky replied, groaning at having been woken up so early, "Need just a little more sleep," Nicky said as he rolled back to face Shane.
"Sorry, time to get up," Shane said, as he whipped the covers off the bed in one swift movement. He'd forgotten that Nicky had been sleeping in the all together, and unwittingly exposed his sleeping buddy, and his rather sizeable morning erection. But if Nicky was embarrassed, he was probably too tired to show it.
"Oh, um, Nicky, I'll go have a shower first, and you can get yourself, erm, sorted." Shane said, gulping a few times in between words.
"Look Shane," Nicky replied wearily, "I'll just throw my clothes on and get out of your hair. Thanks for putting me up for the night, I appreciate it."
"It's okay Nicky. I'll get in the shower. I've got a good feeling that we'll be seeing a lot more of each other in the future though."
"I hope so," replied Nicky.
Shane went into the bathroom, leaving Nicky in the main room to get dressed. The sound of water came from the bathroom as Shane turned on the taps. Suddenly though, as Nicky was slipping his shirt over his head, a knock came from the door.
"Shane, it's Mark. Open up!"
Nicky froze. He decided that Mark would be able to hear the water, and would go away. Mark knocked on the door again, and gave up. Nicky sighed in relief. He finished getting dressed, and headed for the door, Shane still busy in the bathroom. It didn't feel right to him to just leave like this, just walking out the door as it were, even if he did have to make a break for it. Spotting the hotel notepad on the desk, he picked it up and left a note for Shane. "Thanks again Shane, hope to see you soon. Here's my number, if you want to call me sometime. -Nicky". Nicky read the note, thinking that it was almost like he was leaving a lover or something. But he didn't have time to write it again, so he left it on the desk, and headed out the door. He left the hotel, and went back to his car, where the locksmith arrived only minutes later to let him back into his car.
Meanwhile, Shane had finished his shower. He strode out into the room, clad only in a towel, beads of water trickling slowly down the curves of his body. He spotted the note on the desk, and read it to himself in a quiet voice.
"Weird." he said to himself. "He hopes to see me soon? Well Nicky, the feeling's mutual."
The knocking on the door came again, and Shane quickly slid the note into the desk drawer before he went over to open the door.
"Shane, open up!" This time it was Kian at the door, trying his luck in getting through to Shane after Mark had failed earlier.
"Kian, good morning." Shane said as he opened the door, "What's up?"
"Well, if you would get ready, we can go to breakfast, and discuss the guys who we think have a chance of getting into the group." Kian replied.
"Okay, I'll be down in five minutes."
"Cool Shane, see you then." Kian said as he walked back down the corridor to his room.
Wandering casually into the hotel restaurant, dressed in a baggy pair of shorts and a t-shirt, Shane spotted Kian and Mark talking with Louis at a table by the window.
"Well, I'm so glad you could join us Shane," Louis stated sarcastically.
"Yeah, I'm usually the dead head around here!" Mark said, Kian laughing at his comment.
"I know, I know," Shane said, sitting down with the other guys. He knew that Louis being here with them probably meant that he wanted to talk about band matters. All Shane could think about as he stared dreamily out the window at the world outside was the night he had just spent with Nicky. He had been so close to him, and yet Nicky still seemed so far away. Thinking of the note Nicky had left him before he went that morning, Shane decided to call his new friend later that day.
"Earth to Shane!" Kian yelled, causing some of the other guests to turn in their direction, shooting looks of disapproval.
"For God's sake keep your voice down Kian..." Mark said, "Now Shane, we need to talk about who we think we're gonna have with us in the group." Shane could only manage a nod in acknowledgement, his mind still elsewhere. "Okay, me, Louis and Kian have got a short-list of three, they are..."
"Three?" Shane said, cutting Mark off in mid-sentence. "I thought we'd already decided, Nicky and Bryan. How hard a decision is that?"
"Well, we thought back, and we thought that the, uh, let's see, the third guy, Simon, was quite good, so we're considering him as well."
"Yeah Shane," said Kian, chewing a mouthful of cereal as he spoke, "we all agree that Bryan's definitely in. He was really, really good. But we're not too sure about Nicky, we think Simon might be..."
"Simon?" Shane said, cutting in yet again. This was no time for politeness. "He was crap! Come on, Louis, did you agree with these two? He hardly hit a right note last night. And he just doesn't..."
"Doesn't what?" Louis asked, his arms folded.
"He just doesn't have the same look as Nicky, that's all," Shane replied, Mark rolling his eyes at Shane's comment.
Kian shook his head in disapproval. "You know, it's a prerequisite for this job that you have to be able to sing. And Simon can, he's just a little bit better than Nicky if you ask me." It seemed that Shane had a fight on his hands. Mark could sense Shane's growing anger and decided to stay out of the conversation, which was fast turning into an argument.
"So you think he's better than Nicky do you Kian?" Shane asked, Kian nodding as he chewed, his head down, avoiding eye-contact with Shane. "Well, one things for sure, Nicky's a hell of a fucking lot better than you," he said as he got up from the table, leaving the restaurant. Kian's mouth was wide open in disbelief, the half chewed food on the brink of falling back into the bowl.
"God he shits me," Kian said, "what did I just say to deserve that?"
"I'll go see what's wrong with him," Louis said, as he got up from the table.
"No, it's okay Louis, I'll go," Mark said. He left the restaurant, and having searched the lobby without luck, went outside the hotel. Shane was sitting on a bench on the street outside. "You want to tell me what that was all about?" Mark asked quietly. "Why are you so determined that its Nicky that gets into the group Shane?"
"You know why Mark."
Mark raised his eyebrows. Do I? he thought to himself. "Well, why?"
"Because that Simon guy looks like a total geek, that's why. I'm surprised the two of you can't see that."
Mark sighed in relief, having expected an entirely different answer to the one he had just gotten. "You know, I agree with you. We were just discussing it Shane. Its important you know, if we pick the wrong person it could mean the difference between success and failure."
"I know Mark, I know... I'm sorry."
"Well, it's not really me you should be apologising to Shane, its Kian. That wasn't particularly nice, what you said to him before you know." Shane closed his eyes, realising how mean he'd just been to his friend, of how undeserved the comment was.
"Okay, let's go back inside." Shane and Mark strolled through the lobby back to the restaurant, only to find that Louis was now alone at the table.
"Well, Shane, it seems that you've gotten your way with this one. Kian and I have decided that Nicky will be in the group, not Simon," A smile came across Shane's face as Louis told him the news. "On another matter, I think you have some major apologising to do, I don't think Kian took what you said just before too well."
"Where did he go?" asked Mark.
"I think he went back to his room. I'll ring Nicky and Bryan this afternoon to give them both the good news. In the meantime Shane, I want you and Kian to patch up your differences. The last thing we need at this stage of the game is to have you and Kian fighting. Understood?"
"Yeah, okay Louis. I'm sorry."
"So when are you gonna get the new lads in Louis?" Mark asked, excited at the prospect of having two new band members.
"Tonight I hope, we'll get some harmonies arranged, and I've got a couple of songs lined up for us already. If all goes well, we will have a run through of those in a few days. Tomorrow its off to the stylist's though!"
"Sounds like fun!" Shane said, his face beaming.
"Yeah, but first things first Shane," Mark said, "let's go find where Kian's got to, okay?"
"Alright Mark, alright."