Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 00:20:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: slpwriter <slpwriter@yahoo.com>
Subject: Nick Lachey: My Everything-19

First of all, let me just say that this is my first
time writing any kind of fiction like this.

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of total fiction and is not
meant to imply anything about the sexualities of Nick
and Drew Lachey or anyone else mentioned in this
story.

Yes it's true. Nick and Jessica are no longer
together. I wish them both the best and I hope that
they both find happiness again one day. Nick's
brother, Drew, is married to Lea, he longtime
highschool sweetheart. I wish them all the best in
their marriage.

If you are too young to read this, or if Homosexuality
offends you, then please don't continue any further
and leave.

Other 98 Degrees stories I'd like to recommend are.

"Give Me Just One Night" by Unanoche.
"69 with Jeff Timmons" by Zachary Scott Pritt
"Nick Lachey" by Ken.
"98 Degrees Is Hot" by Gay Night
"The Reunion" by RinSong.
and finally:
"This Gift" by Sprout.

Now, I"ll let you get on with the story.

Enjoy.

Chapter 19

Silence filled the room. Everyone seemed afraid to
speak or move.

I stood there, speechless, trying to let it sink in.
Nick was asking me to marry him. but was I ready for
marriage?

"Nick, I don't know what to say." I managed to get
out.

Nick looked up at me, still smiling. "Well you could
say yes." He said.

I looked at him and the rest of the guys as I prepared
to answer him.

"Nick, I love you more than I ever loved anyone in my
life. You and the guys have been wonderful to me these
last few months. I've found myself friends that I
never thought I'd have for as long as I live. But
Nick, as much as I love you, I'm only 22 years old. I
need more time to think about it. I don't think I'm
ready for marriage just yet."

That answer couldn't have hurt Nick more than if I had
punched him. His smile faltered and I could see hurt
and anger flare up in his sexy blue eyes.

"I see." Nick said, his voice starting to rise. What's
there to think about? As long as you love me, that
should be enough. But obviously you don't love me as
much as you say you do."

I was shocked to hear him talk like that.

"Nick.....I started.

"Forget it." Nick said, interrupting me, tears
streaming down his face. "Just forget that I ever
brought up marriage. In fact, why don't you just
forget that I even fucking exist!"

He then started heading for the door to leave the
hotel.

"Nick, Wait!" I called out to him.

He kept going and didn't listen to me. He left the
room and slammed the door behind him. I collapsed on
the bed and started sobbing. I couldn't understand why
it was so wrong to want to wait for a while. Marriage
was a big step for me. Both of us for that matter.
Plus, I had some concerns about it.

First of all, the fan's reaction. Nick hadn't come out
to his fans yet, which I'm sure would be disatrous if
he did.

 Second, we still had to deal with his family, who
hadn't accepted him back into the family since they
disowned him almost a year ago. Drew was the only one
who they would talk to and Drew wasn't happy with the
way they threw Nick out because of his sexuality and
told them that he was going to stand by his brother no
matter what. They weren't happy about that either and
Drew moved out to support Nick. He hadn't talked to
the family much since then.

I felt a hand on my shoulder as I sobbed on the bed. I
looked up, my vision blurred from the tears, to see
that it was Drew.

"Sean, I'm sorry." He said, sympathetically.

"How could he act like that, Drew?" I said. "I wasn't
saying that I didn't want to marry him. I love him and
I will want to marry him. I just think that it's too
soon. We've only known each other for 3 months so far.
Things are just moving too fast for me yet."

"I know you love him, Sean." Drew said. "I still don't
know why he reacted that way. I guess he's just hurt
and disappointed that you didn't say yes. Give him
some time to cool off."

"I hope I haven't lost him for good." I wailed.

"You haven't, buddy." Danny said, coming over and
putting his arm around me. "He's just hurt. Give him
some time to think and I'm sure that he'll realize
that he overreacted and he'll be back to apologize to
you."

I was surprised that Danny wasn't angry by Nick's
harsh words, earlier. But then again, I guess Danny
knew that he was just hurt and didn't mean what he
said. Another sign that he had grown to love Nick like
a brother.

"Yeah, Sean, Danny is right." Jeff said, hugging me. I
returned it.

"In the meantime, we're gonna go out for a while. Do
you want to come with us?" Jeff asked.

"No." I'm gonna maybe wait for Nick and grab some
lunch while I wait. You guys go ahead and have fun." I
said to them.

"Alright then." Justin replied. "We'll be back later.

After saying that, he gave me another hug.

"Don't worry, everything will be alright." He said.
"If you decide to join us, we'll be going back to the
beach at around 4:00pm."

"Thanks, Justin." I said, as he released me. "I will
join you if I feel like it."

"OK, then we'll see you later." Jeff said to me. "Ok,
guys, let's get going." He said.

They all gave me one last hug and left my room,
closing the door behind them.

I decided to go and grab my wallet and my cellphone so
I could go out and explore L.A. I grabbed all my stuff
and my key card and left the hotel. I decided that
Nick could just wait for me. Until then, I was gonna
see some sights. I hailed a cab and told him where to
take me. Then I was on my way to my destination.

I got to where I wanted to go and I tipped the cab
driver and he drove off. I took a moment to look
around. The city was beautiful. I had never been to
California before and decided to enjoy some of the
sights. Who knows, maybe I'd even spot a few
celebrities around. You never know.

I walked downtown and decided to grab something to eat
in a nearby restaurant. I was hungry. Again.

 So I entered it and a greeter immediately led me to a
seat and gave me a menu. I looked over the menu and my
eyes widened at the prices of food.

"Damn, Food sure is expensive here in L.A.
restaurants, but I can afford it with the job I'm
doing out here." I said to myself.

A waitress came over and asked me what I wanted. I
ordered Chicken Parmagiana and a Coke for lunch. The
waitress took my order and rushed off to assist
another customer.
I sat there, thinking about Nick and his earlier
reaction when I said I didn't want to get married
right away. I was totally shocked that he'd reacted
that way that he did. He hadn't even given me a chance
to explain why I wasn't ready. He'd stormed out before
I could. I only hoped that after I had a chance to
talk to him later that he'd understand that I didn't
mean to hurt him.

I must have gotten pretty lost in thought, because the
next thing I knew, I heard someone talking from beside
me.

"You sure look like you could use some company. Do you
mind if we join you?"

I looked up to see who was talking to me. My eyes
widened and my jaw dropped.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were standing there,
looking down at me, smiling warmly.

"I don't believe it!" I gasped. "Is it really you
guys?! Am I dreaming?!

Ben and Matt laughed at my starstruck expression.

"No, you're not dreaming, man." Matt laughed. "It's
really us."

"This is so cool." I said, standing up to introduce
myself. "I'm Sean Perry." I said, extending a hand out
to Ben first. He took it and we shook hands.

"It's nice to meet you, Sean. I'm Ben Affleck, but you
already seem to know that." He said with a laugh.

"Yeah I do." I laughed. I then held out my hand
towards Matt.

"It's nice to meet you too, Matt." I said as he shook
my hand.

"The pleasure's all mine." Matt said with his
trademark smile.

"So, I'll ask you again: May we join you?" Ben asked.

"Sure, have a seat." I said, smiling.

We all sat back down at my table and started talking.

"So, Sean, where are you from?" Matt asked me, with a
sexy grin on his face.

"Well, I'm originally from Chicago, Illinois, but I
now reside in New York." I told him.

"Do you like it there?" Ben asked me, also smiling.

"Oh yeah." I said with a smile. "I love New York.
There's so much to do in the city."

"Well, I'm sure it must be hard being away from your
family sometimes." Matt replied.

I cringed at the mention of my family and my face
fell. Ben and Matt saw this and got concerned.

"What is it, Sean?" Ben asked, his expression showing
worry in his eyes.

"Yeah buddy, did I say something wrong?" Matt asked,
worried as well.

"My parents are dead. They died in a car accident 4
years ago." I said, sadly.

"Shit man!" I'm sorry!" Matt gasped, horrified.

"That's ok, Matt, you didn't know." I said. "But do
you want to know what the worst part about their death
was?"

"What?" Ben asked.

"I never got to make up with them before they died. We
had a major fight and they threw me out of the house
for a few days. A couple days later, I went back to
the house and their car was gone. I entered and
checked their messages. There was a call from my
former boss, telling me that my parents were dead."

"I'm sorry, Sean." Ben said to me, putting a hand on
my shoulder. "I know that had to be rough on you."

I smiled at his gesture of comforting me. Then Matt
asked me the one question that made me have to tell
them everything.

"What was the fight about?" He asked me.

"Alright, I'll tell you. First I want you to know that
there's something that I'm gonna mention in the story
that's really intense and might make you guys think
differently about me once you find out the truth."

"You mean that you're gay?" Ben asked me.

I looked at Ben, shocked at his bluntness.

"How did you know?! I asked in surprise.

"What can I say?" Matt and I must have good gaydar
then." Ben laughed.

My eyes widened in surprise. "You mean-"

"Yep." Matt said. Ben and I are gay too. We're a
couple as well."

"Cool. And don't worry, I'm not gonna run to the
tabloids or anything. I'm not like that." I said to
them.

"We didn't think you would." Ben said. So, is that
what you fought about with your parents a few days
before they died?" He then asked.

"Yeah." I said. Actually 6 months after high school,
I'd broken up with my ex-girlfriend, Sarah. It wasn't
working out between us. I'd realized that I was gay
and told her that she deserved to love someone who
would love her back the way she deserved to be loved.
Anyway Mom and Dad found out about it and were
shocked. Dad took it even harder and asked me why I
broke up with her. I told them that I was gay." I
said, then added.

 "I'm actually bi but I like guys more, Anyway, they
were both shocked. Dad went ballistic and threw me out
of the house and I was forced to stay in a hotel for a
couple days. Then the day I came back, I found out
that they were dead." And I never had a chance to make
up with them." I finished and broke down, sobbing.

Ben and Matt got up and knelt by my chair and both of
them pulled me into a hug. I accepted their comfort
and calmed down.

"You alright now?" Matt asked. I noticed that he had
tears in his eyes as well. So did Ben.

"Yeah, thanks for your comfort guys. I really needed
it." I said, giving them both a smile of appreciation.

"No problem. We're glad to help." Ben said, wiping at
his eyes.

"How about we talk about something else now?" Matt
asked as he and Ben sat back down in their seats.

"Gladly." I said. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well for starters, What brings you out to L.A.? Matt
asked.

"Well actually I'm here on tour with 98 Degrees."
We're in town for a little bit."

"No way!" Matt whispered. Then a devilish grin crossed
his face.

"Which one of them are you seeing?" He asked.

Just then the waitress appeared with my food and then
proceeded to take Ben's and Matt's orders.
Surprisingly Ben and Matt decided to have what I was
eating and the waitress went to get their orders.

"I don't think I should tell you just yet, guys. I
should get permission from "him" and the rest of the
guys first before I tell you who it is." I said to
him.

"Alright, that's cool. We understand." Ben said. "Just
know that whichever one it is, we won't tell anyone."

"I know you won't." I replied. "I trust you guys."

Ben and Matt both smiled at me. I felt very relaxed
around the two of them. They were both so friendly and
easy to talk to. I then decided to talk to them about
their movies.

"By the way, I loved you two in "Good Will Hunting." I
said to them with a grin. "That movie was awesome."

"Thanks, We're glad you enjoyed it." Ben said.

"And congratulations on winning the Oscars for it
too." I continued. "I was amazed when I found that you
both co-wrote it too."

"Yeah we did." Matt said, rolling his eyes. "And let
me tell you, it wasn't easy."

Before he could go on, the waitress returned with
their food and drinks. and we started eating.

"I'll bet." I laughed. "Dogma was also good too. That
was the first time I'd ever seen you two play bad
guys, and Ben, you were so psychotic in that movie,
that you totally scared the shit out of me."

Ben started laughing his ass off and Matt wasn't far
behind him.

"You noticed that too?" Matt asked between his
laughter.

"Yeah, but I mean it in a good way." I said. "You both
were awesome in that movie. I know I'd love to star
opposite you guys in a movie one day."

"You want to be an actor? Ben asked in surprise. "You
never mentioned that."

"Well you didnt ask me until now." I said to him,
laughing.

"How long have you been interested in acting?" Matt
asked, while taking a bite of his chicken.

"Actually for a couple of years now." I said. "I just
haven't had an opportunity to pursue it yet."

Ben then put down his fork and looked at me.

"Would you like to audition for a role in our next
movie that's being cast in a few months? He asked me.
"Matt and I could talk to the producers and casting
people and recommend you for something."

I started to get excited. I couldn't believe it! Matt
and Ben were both willing to help me start my dream of
becoming an actor. I couldn't believe that it had been
only an hour since I'd met them and now we were
talking like we were best friends and about me
becoming a major player in one of their films.

"You'd do that for me?" I asked, excitedly. Then my
smile faltered.

"But you two hardly know me. I couldn't ask you to do
that." I said to Ben.

"Nonsense man, We'd be glad to help you get your start
in the business." Matt said.

Well thanks guys. I'd really be grateful if you could
help." I said, smiling.

We finished eating and the waitress came to our table
with the bills. I looked at my watch and noticed that
it was almost 4:00 p.m.

"Oh no, I've gotta get back to the hotel and change.
I'm supposed to meet up with the guys in case I wanted
to go out with them tonight." I said, standing up.

Ben and Matt both stood up with me.

"Alright. Why don't you give us your address and phone
number so we can contact you when it's time to start
casting for the movie?" Ben suggested.

"That's a good idea." I said. "I'll give you my
cellphone number too."

I got out a pen and wrote my home address and phone
number on one of the copies of my bill that the
waitress had given me. I also added my cellphone
numbers to it. I handed it to them when I finished and
they handed me their copies of their slips with their
addresses, phone numbers, and cellphone numbers on
them as well.

"Well I've got to go pay my bill and leave." I said.

"Ok, you take it easy." Ben said, embracing me in a
hug.

"I will, Ben." I said.

He released me and I hugged Matt next.

"You take care, Matt." I said to him.

"You too, Sean." He said. "We'll be in touch."

"Yes we will." I replied to both of them. "Can I come
and see you two later if we have time?" I then asked
them.

"Sure, you can come by anytime." Ben said. "Matt and I
live together in the Hollywood Hills. It's so quiet
and peaceful up there."

"OK. I gotta go. I'll see you both soon." I said.

Matt and Ben both said goodbye as I headed up to the
cashier. I paid my bill and left the restaurant. I
hailed down and cab and got in. I told the driver to
take me back to the hotel and he drove towards the
hotel.

As the cabbie drove, I thought about my meeting with
Matt and Ben. I was so surprised that they came over
and talked to me. Never in my wildest dreams did I
think that I'd run into them today. But I did. and I
got to talk to them and have dinner with them too. Now
I had two new friends. Life seemed to be getting
better and better. I couldn't wait to tell Nick and
the guys about it.

The cab stopped in front of the hotel and I paid the
driver and headed up to my room. I hoped that Nick was
back and ready to talk. I know I was.

I rode the elevator up to my floor and walked down the
hall to my room. I got out my key card and swiped it
through the door. The light turned green and I opened
the door.

Nothing could have prepared me for the sight I saw
before my eyes.


Well that's all for this chapter. Stay tuned for
Chapter 20 coming soon.

"What happens next?" Oh, if you only knew!

slpwriter