Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2003 20:20:57 +0000
From: Stephanie M
Subject: Mom Knows Best 18/?

Title: Mom Knows Best Part 18
Author: Stephanie M
Fandom: BSB/Nsync Main Pairings:
Nick/Justin, JC/Lance, Lance/Kevin, Kevin/?
Disclaimer: This story is complete fiction and is does not imply anything
about the sexuality of the celebrities mentioned herein. Once again, this
story is fiction, i.e. not true. Just call it a product of an overactive
imagination.
Status: WIP Rating: NC-17
Summary: Nick and Justin discover that sometimes your mom can know you
better than you know yourself.

Recap: Ben was offered a modelling contract by Johnny who also promised to
look into a singing contract. The ten singers and Ben did an interview with
Harry. Nick and Justin came out to their friends, admitting that they were
now dating. Howie was angry and AJ was determined to find out the reasons
for his best friend's behaviour.

Howie confided to AJ that he had been gang-raped while in college. The
leader of the rapists was his best friend and roomate Leon. AJ promised to
always be there for Howie, to listen whenever Howie felt overwhelmed by
memories of the rape. Howie resolved to try and accept Nick's relationship
with Justin.

Lance and JC had been sleeping together for a month until Decemember last
year when JC left the blonde saying he had never loved Lance. JC had
confided that it had all been a lie, that he had been terrified because he
was in love with a man.

Kevin confessed his lover before his marriage was Lance and he still had
feelings for the blonde. Ben agreed to try and help get Kevin and Lance
together again, saying Lance still had feelings for an old lover called
Scott who had helped him out with his performing as Kevin had done.

Part 18

Justin nervously bit his lip as he waited for Jonathon to come downstairs,
this was one of the scariest moments of his life. He didn't know what he
would do if his brother rejected him, he adored his little brother and
always had.

"Hi Justin, Nick what's wrong?" Jonathon asked nervously as he walked inside
the room to find the pair looking at him confused.

"I have something to tell you, Jon. Remember how mom said there are some men
who love men and some women who love other women?" Justin said waiting for
his brother to nod.

When Jon had finally done so Justin took a deep breath and said, "I love
Nick and he loves me. We are dating each other."

"So he's my brother too?" Jon asked with a sparkle in his eyes.

Justin smiled, "Yeah, he's your big brother too. Now this is something you
can't tell anyone not even your friends."

"I swear I won't tell anyone. So do you like to play video games, Nick?" Jon
asked changing the subject to more important matters.

"Yeah, I rule at video games. What's your favourite?"

Jon grinned as he confided, "I like the fighting and racing games best. I
play against Justin and always beat him. He's not very good at them."

Nick laughed saying, "He just needs some practice and as the masters we
should teach him how to play. You feel like helping me teach him how to
become a Playstation expert?"

"That would be cool!" Jon said excitedly as he pulled out the Playstation
and control pads.

The family spent the night playing video games before Lynn finally decided
it was time for the younger boy to go to bed. Once he was asleep Lynn
apologised for Jonathon's monopolising of Nick knowing the pair wanted to
spend some time alone until they had to face the exhausting tour schedule.
*******
The next morning found Kevin and Ben sitting together in their room eating
breakfast, which consisted of fruit and cereal. As they talked Kevin
couldn't help but wonder if he was doing the right thing here, he had just
broken up with his wife and here he was declaring his love for another man.
True, he had never been madly in love with Kristen but he had come to think
they would be together forever. It was the one thing that stopped him from
giving up, the knowledge that he wouldn't be alone as he had always feared.

Kevin finished his drink of orange juice saying, "So how are we going to
make Lance see how much I love him?"

Ben said honestly, "I don't know. You really hurt him and he couldn't
understand why you just left him. He loved you more than anything and you
turned your back on him. He loves you but I don't know if he will ever truly
trust you again. If he doesn't trust you then the relationship is over
before it even begins. Don't hate me for saying this but maybe you should
sort everything out with Kristen first?"

"You may be right. I just want him to give me another chance, I know I
messed up but I had a good reason. I only did it to protect him."

"What happened exactly?" Ben asked feeling he needed to know the full story.

Kevin snarled angrily, "My brother, Tim threatened to out Lance out to his
parents if we didn't break up. He said that without Lance I could be happy
again, that Lance was perverting me. He ordered me to get married to Kristen
or he would tell the Bass' the truth. I knew how Lance's parents felt about
gay people and I wasn't going to be responsible for him losing his family."

"What a bastard!  Jamie deserves to know why you broke up with him, he's
probably blaming himself."

"I know. I wanted to tell him but I was afraid if I did then Tim would out
us anyway." Kevin said ashamed of himself.

Ben said ruefully, "He might have but you'll never know now. I hate to bring
this up but he might still out you when your divorce comes through."

"I know but it's a chance I will have to take, I owe it to both of us."
Kevin said honestly as he cleared the table.
*******
Across town Lance was busy checking the schedule wanting to know exactly
what they had coming up, he liked to have a clear plan to follow. He needed
to know what was happening, his nature wasn't spontaneous or carefree but he
liked who he was.

"Lance, I hate to bring this up but something is bothering me."

"What is it, Joshua?"

JC swallowed knowing his words where going to hurt his unrequited love,
"Kevin Richardson. I know this is a horrible thing to ask you but if Ben is
going to start dating him shouldn't he know what Kevin did to you? I just
feel that he needs to know what Kevin's like. We can't let him get taken in
like that. He's been hurt too much already and he hasn't got a lot of
friends."

"You might be right, I never did tell him what happened between us. Hell,
the only one I talked about was..."

"Me?" JC finished the sentence knowing he was right by the small blush on
the blonde's pale skin.

Lance blushed looking down as he said, "Yeah. I called you Scott. I said
that you worked for a rival company so on the off chance he did figure out
who I was he would never think I was seeing you. I told him about how you
helped me when all the others abandoned me, about how you would help me
figure out all the complicated dances."

"Lance...I can't believe you did all that for me after the way I treated you."

Lance looked at the floor, "There's only one person I hated after I stopped
dating them and that's Kevin. He left saying he wanted someone he could show
to the world and a couple of children. It hurt to hear him say he didn't
think he could have that with me. I always felt we would come out when the
time came and that we could adopt children. After he left me I became a
little stronger, I was used to being hurt. I...understand now why you did what
you did. Yeah it hurt but you were afraid. I know what its like, I've been
there myself but I had Kevin. As much as I hate to say it, he did help me
come to terms with who I am and he was the one who made me see it didn't
mean I was evil. He did for me what Ben did for Nick, I just wish we had
ended it as friends as they did."

"So you can't even be friends with Kevin?"

Lance laughed lowly, "I probably can be but I can never be romantically
involved with him. He's lost my trust, I can't date someone I don't trust."

"I understand how you feel. Now how are we going to tell Ben about what
Kevin's really like?"

Lance stopped to think carefully saying, "I think we should leave it a
while. If it does look like they are going to be dating then we can tell Ben
the truth and stop Kevin from breaking his heart. Ben doesn't deserve to be
hurt like that."

JC nodded, "If that's what you want. Now I'm going to go and get a magazine,
I want to see what that Harry said about Ben."
*******
Kevin picked up the magazine and gasped in shock, he hadn't been expecting
that. Maybe he should read it out to Ben, forewarned is forearmed. Walking
back to the sofa, he sat down next to Ben.

"Ben, can I read something out to you in the paper? Its about that interview
from yesterday?" Kevin asked quickly.

When Ben nodded Kevin said, "The headline is In The Boyband Bedroom with a
couple of subheadings; find out the truth about Nick and Justin's
relationship and meet the new man in Kevin's Life. It's in Harry's point of
view so I'll just read it out."

"Thanks." Ben said seconds later Kevin started talking.

Kevin concentrated on keeping his emotions under control as he read, "I was
pleased to get an exclusive interview with Nsync and the Backstreet Boys it
was held in the hotel Kevin was staying in. When I arrived the two groups
where waiting and surprisingly they didn't seem to mind waiting for me.
However it was obvious that they were not impressed with the In Bed With The
Boybands Feature. When I took my seat I noticed the two groups were sitting
in two distinct groups, Kevin, Chris, Joey, AJ and Howie forming one group
while JC, Brian, Lance, Nick and Justin were in the other. As I watched Nick
and Justin started talking between themselves about a meal as I understood
it.

Nick and Justin revealed the names of the songs they had written saying they
had intended for everyone to sing them but it had been decided that both
songs would be a solo. Nick will be singing Embrace The Night and Justin
will sing It's Over.

Now with all the rumours about the exact nature of their relationship you
could be forgiven for assuming the pair would avoid each other but nothing
could be further from the truth. Nick is staying with Justin's family while
they are in Orlando yet Nick feels soon they will `move out to give Lynn and
the family some space'.

I asked them about how their families felt about the allegations and Justin
laughed saying that his mom was happy he had been set up with Nick because
she likes and approves of Nick. The older man just laughed and said that he
hoped she did seeing how close their parents were. Of the allegations Nick
just said that his mom had found it funny and that no one was upset having
been taught that race, gender, colour and sexuality didn't matter.

Into the world of music walked Ben O'Keefe, a tall brunette man with an
athletic build. He was the friend Kevin had left to pick up. Ben had a
nervous smile on his face as Kevin introduced us, I couldn't help but smile
at Ben's strong Irish accent.

Ben's close friendship with members of each band was obvious as Nick, JC and
Lance all rushed to greet their friend. I later discovered he had been to
his first modelling interview with one of the most famous modelling agencies
in the USA. Ben had been asked to attend the meeting by the owner of The
Wright Face. Bizarrely the man in question was Johnny Wright the manager of
Nsync it was a massive shock to Ben who looked close to fainting.

It was at this point that Kevin walked over sitting on the arm of the sofa
and whispering in his friend's ear. Ben said he couldn't take the contract
but Kevin insisted that his friend deserved a contract and had gotten on his
own merits as no one else knew just who Ben was.

While the two groups were having their photographs taken I took the chance
to interview Ben who lost his sight in a car accident years ago. He admits
that without his supportive friends and family he would have just wallowed
in self-pity. During the course of the interview that Ben confided that he
had met Nick years ago but they had lost touch.

He only discovered that Jamie, his best friend that he had spoken to online
for months was Lance Bass less than a week ago. He wasn't convinced until
Nick promised him it was the truth. Of his relationship with Kevin and JC
Ben said, `Sometimes you meet people and just click, that's what happened
with us. I know they will always be there for me as I am for them.'

Shortly after the interview finished Ben curled up on a sofa with a book
while we continued the interview. I asked each singer to give their opinion
of the each other's most attractive physical feature, personality trait and
their best skill. It was at this point that I learned the extent of Nick and
Justin's relationship.

I was shocked when Nick confided, `Justin has a few little things that are
just...adorable...he bits his lip when he's concentrating on something and those
eyes of his tell you everything he is feeling. The best aspects of his
personality are his loyalty and optimistic outlook. His best skill...is
basketball. He is like a man possessed when we play.'

Justin shrugged at the question watching while the others finished the
photo-shoot, "Nicky has a very cute bed head look, when he just stumbles out
of bed towards the kitchen and he has a body people would kill for. Some of
his most attractive qualities are his determination and his caring soul. As
for his skills it's his art. He does the most amazing portraits just ask any
of the guys. He has a massive art room in his house that is home to his
paintings."

"So you have been to his house?" I asked having heard the pair didn't really
talk to each other.

"Yeah, he has a nice place. We just kicked it for a while." Justin answered
with a nod laughing when he caught Lance pulling faces at Chris while the
older man was getting his photographs taken.

At this point Justin was called over to finish his photos with Nick, the
pair started talking as they waited for the photographer to get ready.
Although I couldn't hear their conversation it was obviously something funny
as Nick started laughing.

After Kevin had made himself comfortable I asked, "How is everyone taking
the stories about Nick and Justin dating?"

Kevin shrugged, "We're okay with them. Despite what everyone thinks we don't
panic over everything we read in the papers. Rumours and tabloids are normal
for us, we don't really care what the papers say."

It was interesting to watch Kevin interacting with Ben. It was obvious that
the pair were very close. The pair appeared to be always aware of each
other, Kevin seemed attuned to the moods of Ben and visa versa.

Looking at Kevin it was difficult to believe this was the man who had field
for divorce just days ago. He didn't fit the image of a man who had lost the
woman he loved, he didn't appear to feel angry or sad. Strangely I felt
there was an air of freedom surrounding Kevin, a sense of freedom I couldn't
understand.

"I realise this may be a difficult question but is it true that you are
getting a divorce?" I asked  not wanting to upset the man but knowing he
needed to know the stories going around.

Kevin nodded, "I filed for divorce three days ago. We both got married for
different reasons perhaps that was the problem. I went home after a meeting
and discovered she was having an affair. I filed for divorce a couple of
days later."

"Do you feel there is no chance of a reconciliation?" I asked knowing how
much it hurt to face the end of your marriage.

Kevin shook his head seriously, "There is no possibility of Kristen and I
ever getting back together. I can't be involved with someone I don't trust.
Luckily I'm not alone, I have a lot of support from my family and friends.
The guys have been great and have helped me get through this. I know I am
doing the right thing for both us, if we stayed together it would destroy
both of us."

"You seem close friends with Ben." I asked softly.

Kevin grinned widely, "I am. I had met him years ago. This time when Lance
brought him to LA I took the chance to get to get to know him properly.
Ben's great! He's just so understanding, caring and brave. Ben's the one who
helped me see that if we didn't love or trust each other then Kristen and I
shouldn't be married. All the guys have been great, just listening to me and
automatically understanding exactly what I feel."

"Onto more cheerful subjects, will the rumours affect your tour at all?" I
asked feeling the bittersweet pain surrounding Kevin as he looked at me.

Kevin laughed, "Of course not! We are all looking forward to performing in
front of everyone. The tour has come at the best time for all of us.
Performing and singing makes us feel alive. We think everyone will enjoy the
show, we will certainly enjoy performing it. I know what the press are
saying about the tour being a Boyband Battle but its not. It is a meeting of
minds, a chance for us boyband singers to get together and do what we love.
We love our music and our sound, we will continue to bring both of these to
our fans for as long as possible."

"That's good to hear." I said gathering up the rest of my supplies.

All the singers are clearly looking forward to the tour, there was an
unmistakable air of anticipation in the room. I personally am looking
forward to the tour, which Kevin has insists is a monument to their music
and their fans. My interview with two of the most popular boybands has left
me with one conclusion, the next couple of months are going to be amazing
both on and off stage.

Kevin put the article down looking over at Ben wondering how the man would
react to the story. It had shocked the life out of him, he had liked Harry
but obviously the journalist was determined to have a big headline.

"It sounds amazing. Why did he put so much in about me?"

Kevin shrugged, "I guess he's as interested in you as we are. Ben...there is a
picture here of me hugging you with a quote I gave, `Ben's just what I
need.' He hasn't actually said anything outright but he has implied a lot
about all of us."

Ben caught on quickly, "He's insinuating that we are dating each other. He's
basically saying Nick and Justin are seeing each other."

"Yeah, not that we can do anything about it! This couldn't come at a worse
time! What if Kristen decides to use my sexuality for the divorce," Kevin
said standing up as he started pacing.

Ben didn't say anything knowing they were trapped, a denial would only serve
to make people believe the rumours. Harry hadn't actually said he and Kevin
were dating or that Nick and Justin were lovers he had implied it but that
wouldn't stand up in court. If Kristen did decide to use Kevin's sexuality
to ensure a large divorce settlement there wasn't any way they could deny
it. Ben knew there were always people willing to do anything for money. He
wondered if he should call his sister and give her the heads up, maybe she
would be able to think of something.

"Calm down Kev! I'll call my sis and see if she can help us." Ben said as he
reached into his pocket for the phone waiting patiently.

Switching it on Ben pressed speed dial number 1 smirking when his sister
answered.

"I'm not giving any freaking interviews! If you phone up again I will have
you sued!" Sarah snarled into the phone.

"Sis, its me! How's everything back home?" Ben said with a laugh.

"Crazy. Reporters have phoned all day wanting my opinion of your secret love
affair with Kevin Richardson. There's something else...Ma called. She's not
happy. Aunt Joanne found the article and phoned her about it. Ma threatened
to tell everyone why she disowned you."

"WHAT? Why does she still want to hurt me?" Ben said a mix of anger and
sorrow in his voice.

"I don't know little bro but I'll look after you." Sarah reassured him
hoping their mother wouldn't act on her threat.

Ben gasped out, "I could lose...everything. No one at the school knows I'm
gay, what if they don't want me working with the kids now?"

"Don't think like that. We will get through this, bro. You have a lot of
friends here." Sarah said keeping her voice as calm as possible not wanting
to upset him further.

Ben nervously bit his lip, "I hope so. The meeting with Johnny went okay,
he's offered me a modelling contract if I want it. He made a demo of me,
he's going to see about getting me a record contract. It's amazing."

Sarah smiled, "At least some good's come out of this. That piece of pond
scum called for you. I told him that I'd pass on the message. So how are the
relationship possibilities with Lance?"

"I'll call him back later. If he calls tell him to phone my cell. Jamie and
I won't be seeing each other, there isn't that kind of spark between us.
He's still in love with another guy and you know how I feel about Leon."

Sarah admonished, "Don't do this over Leon! He's treating you like shit,
bro. You deserve so much more! Any sparks between you and Kevin?"

"Yeah but its not going to happen."

"He looked interested in the photos. When are you coming back here?" Sarah
said lowly as she took another look at the magazine article.

Ben said honestly, "I don't know. I should hang around here until I know
what's happening with my so-called music career."

"Okay. Don't forget to pick up Sally!" Sarah said knowing how forgetful her
brother could be when he was worried about something.

"I won't! I'll talk to you later sis." Ben said smiling at her whispered
goodbye.

Sarah laughed, "Everything will be okay. I love you, Ben."
*******
Justin flashed a smile at his lover as the pair walked out to the car for
their meeting with Lance. The blonde had sounded very worried when he had
phoned earlier telling them to get over to his place as quickly as possible.

"What's wrong love?" Nick asked as the younger man manoeuvred the car
through the city.

Justin shrugged, "I feel a little guilty for not calling Brit. I should have
told her about the two of us when we had our first date. She's going to kill
me when she finds out I've kept you a secret!"

"There hasn't exactly been time to tell everyone. I haven't even told my
family about you yet." Nick said while wondering just how he was going to
break the news of his new boyfriend. Justin was only his second boyfriend
but he knew this relationship was for keeps. He wasn't going to lose Justin,
he couldn't.

"How do you think they'll react?"

"I have no idea. Aaron will be okay with it seeing how he's gay but don't
tell my mom. I kind walked in on Aaron making out with some guy. He just
smiled and introduced me to Jack."

"So is this Jack his boyfriend?"

Nick shook his head, "They are just friends. Aaron said they didn't want to
risk their friendship by dating each other. I had to promise him that I
wouldn't tell anyone. Like I'd do that anyway!"

"I know but he was probably just scared. Do you think Ben and Lance will
start seeing each other?"

Nick sighed, "I wish they would, he's just what Ben needs. Ben's in love
with some guy called Leon. The guy said that he couldn't start dating Benny
because he could lose his job."

"Why the fuck is Ben just letting this guy walk all over him?"

"He said he loves Leon and that he is willing to do anything to be with him.
Even if it means he has to wait."

"That's sad, Lance would be much better for him!!" Justin said seriously as
they pulled into their friend's driveway.

"I know but he can't turn off his feelings." Nick answered as they got out
the car.

Not bothering to knock the blondes walked inside hearing the unmistakable
sound of laughter coming from the lounge. As they walked in Nick took the
chance to assess the situation, Howie was actually smiling at them. He
wondered briefly if this was some weird dream, yesterday Howie hated them
and now he was acting all friendly.

"Hey guys, there's a little problem." Lance said as he smiled at the last of
the friends to arrive.

"What do you mean?"

Speaking for them all JC said, "We've read the article Harry published after
our interview yesterday. He basically said that you two are dating each
other."

Nick couldn't understand why they were so worried, "Everyone probably still
thinks that anyway. We can handle it."

"He also said that Kevin's sleeping with me." Ben confessed softly from his
place on the sofa next to Kevin. The older man hadn't left Ben's side all
day, and he found it very comforting.

Knowing what Kristen was like AJ stated, "Kristen's going to use this
against you."

Kevin snapped, "She'll do anything to blame the divorce on me."

"You're not gay are you?" Brian asked looking at his cousin, confused at the
man's reaction.

Kevin laughed lowly, "Bisexual actually but no, Ben and I aren't sleeping
together."

"Weird huh, three out of our group are gay. So what do you want to do about
the paper?" Brian mused.

Lance announced, "Nothing. If we do it will look like we are denying it to
much."

"Have you heard from the bitch?"

"No, AJ. We agreed to only communicate through our lawyers." Kevin said
slowly.

Howie said seriously, "We are just going to concentrate on the tour, nothing
else matters."

"I hope the fans see it that way." Joey said wryly.

Chris smirked, "They won't abandon us, people have been saying we are gay
for years."

"What is management saying?" Nick inquired knowing they needed to keep up
with the latest cover story.

Kevin laughed, "That they know for a fact that you and Justin aren't dating
and that I'm not gay. Their line is that you two are just friends and that
Ben is just an friend helping me with my divorce."

"I am just a friend helping you." Ben said with a wide grin.

Kevin nodded, "We know that Ben but the just a friend spiel is a routine
line they use whenever one of us is dating. They use it whenever one of us
are seeing someone, so the press won't believe it."

"Shit, I need to phone Leon before he thinks I'm cheating on him." Ben said
seriously. Okay they weren't technically dating but Leon was still
possessive.

"I thought you weren't dating him?" Kevin asked even though he knew it was
the truth.

Ben nodded, "I'm not but he's a little...crazy. He always wants to know
exactly who I'm associating with and why. You won't believe the massive row
we had over Jamie. I've tried to explain to him that I won't stand for that
behaviour from my friends or from my lovers but he didn't listen. He
er...kinda... follows me around. My sister normally manages to stop him but not
always."

Kevin snarled, "He's stalking you?"

Ben blushed, "Yeah. Not that I can do anything about it. I spoke to the cops
but they couldn't do anything because he isn't actually threatening me."

Kevin asked softly, "Do you think he would hurt you?"

"No, I think he honestly loves me but he won't leave me alone."

In a voice that brooked no argument Lance said, "He'll change his mind after
reading the article about you and Kevin. If he thinks there's someone else
in your life hell move on."

"I hope so. So what do you all have planned for the day?" Ben said pasting a
smile on his face not wanting them to know how much he doubted that.

Kevin said cheerfully, "Nothing. We are going to hang out at the beach for a
while. You want to come with us, Ben?"

"I'd love to. I haven't had a good day at the beach in a while." Ben said
honestly.

The friends quickly agreed to go to the beach together, it was the only time
they would have to themselves for a while. They wanted to just spend time
connecting with each other, the tour would be a disaster if they didn't get
on with each other.

End Part 18