Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 13:30:16 +0000
From: James
Subject: Boy Bands - On The Streets - Part 41

I don't know the Backstreet Boys, or N'Sync, nor is this story meant to
imply anything about their sexuality, their private lives or their life
choices. Please don't take any of this seriously, it is just a story,
nothing more. Nothing in this story is real, it is the product of the
author's imagination. That's enough disclaimers I think...

Now some suggestions, seeing as everyone else seems to be doing it. My
favourite stories are:
Forever (Kevin)
My New Life (Lance)
JC's Hitchhiker (JC)
Get Another Boyfriend (Kevin)
Whiplash (Kevin)
Blind Date (Lance)
My Surprise Romance (Lance)
Josh and Just (Duh!)
Lottery Winner (Joey)
Jamie's Romance (Justin)
Brian and Me (Brian)
Kevin and Dustin (Kevin) <- I just read this one, and I can't wait till the
next instalment, I can't wait to see what happens!
Justin's Dancer (Justin, sort of!)
Tales of a Real Dark Knight (Lance)
Good Life (Justin)
Under Management (Lance)
That's it, I know there are more I read that I haven't mentioned, but I
can't remember them right now, sorry! Well, here's chapter 41...

On The Streets - Part 41

>>>Kevin's Point of View<<<

	It's been a whole week now, since Jared disappeared, or at least since the
last person we know saw him. I haven't told anybody, but, I've given up
hope. This might sound really harsh, especially after only a week to have
given up, but I realised something while the police were questioning me
about Jared. I don't know him. I realised this while we were in hospital
before Christmas, when I had to fill out those forms, there are so many
things about Jared that I don't know about, things I should know. I caught
him watching videos from my collection. I keep videos instead of photo
albums, and I caught him watching them lots of times. I think he saw all of
them, so he knows almost everything about me. Everything he didn't get from
that, I'm sure I've told him at some point. But back to Jared. He could be
anywhere.

	Britney phoned up on Saturday afternoon, and said Jared had left before
they woke up, and she wanted to make sure he had got down here ok. He hadn't
arrived. I told her so, and she told me he'd left, so I just presumed he'd
gone out somewhere. That was my first mistake, I could've been out looking
for him in that time. By 8:00, I was getting worried. I had tried to ring
Jared's mobile, the first two times I tried, there was no answer, it just
rang, and from then on every time I tried the voice told me that the phone
was 'unavailable'. It must have been turned off. By 11:00, I was terrified.
Where was Jared? I had phoned everyone I knew who Jared knew, but he was
nowhere to be found. I was really scared, the guys came over to calm me
down, but it didn't do much. How was I supposed to calm down when I didn't
know where Jared was. He could've been kidnapped! I knew I should have got
him some protection, a bodyguard or something, ever since we came out,
almost as many people recognised him on the street as recognised me.

	Britney had given me one piece of information though. She had slept with
Jared on Friday night. What she meant was she'd slept in the same bed, they
hadn't done anything. Jake, one of her dancers, apparently got pretty
amorous when he was a bit drunk, and seeing the poor condition Jared was in
after having drunk too much, she separated the two of them, and slept with
Jared to 'protect' him from himself and from Jake. Her plan had worked, but
she feared Jared may have got the wrong impression when he woke up if he
couldn't remember what happened the night before. That would explain some
things, like maybe why he ran off in the first place, but surely he'd come
back here first? Surely he would come get some stuff, or at least tell me
somehow that he's leaving, even if it was just a note. I can't believe he'd
do nothing. I think it was something else, it can't have just been that.

	Anyway, the police had questioned me on the Monday. I was still practically
hysterical, but Brian was there to answer some of the questions. Tim came
down later as well, just so I had someone to be with, as Brian had to carry
on working, the album was coming out in less than a fortnight. The police
actually couldn't do anything for 48 hours. In 48 hours Jared could be dead.
He could've been tortured by some kidnappers, anything could've happened in
that time! The following Friday though was the last straw, I had given up.
Jared obviously gave up, he left me, and I wasn't going to let it tear me
apart. Jared knew he meant everything to me, he still left me, and oh God, I
can't do this. Every time I try to steel myself, to tell myself that he
doesn't matter, cos I don't matter to him, I just break down. Jared meant
everything to me, he still does. I don't know why he's left, but I want him,
no, I need him back. Oh Jared.

***

	The police were having no luck, and it was only 3 days before the album
came out. I woke up and went to sleep crying every fucking day, and I cried
several times throughout every day, whenever I thought about Jared.
Everything around here still reminded me of him. I hadn't washed his
training kit which sat in the bag in the kitchen, unwashed from Friday,
because it smelt like him. I could see his picture almost everywhere I
turned. Ever since he had moved here, I had stocked the house with his
pictures, everywhere. As I fell asleep at night, I could hear him talking to
me, and sometimes, just when I was waking up, in that moment between sleep
and wakefulness, I could feel him, feel him inside me, making love to me,
his soft kisses, his tongue, his lips. I want him back.

	I don't care whether he was trying to get away, or whether he did something
and he ran, or whether, which I think is far more likely, he was taken. I'm
gonna find him. I decided to start with Orlando. The police had worked out
that he must have come back here, he was definitely on the plane. They had
checked the CCTV footage, and he was filmed boarding the plane, and then
disembarking in O Town. So, he must have gone somewhere since then. The
cameras were able to follow him for a distance. It's amazing what they do
with CCTV cameras nowadays - they actually followed Jared almost into the
city centre, but then somehow they lost him, and couldn't find him anymore.
He must have changed his clothing, or, been picked up by somebody, maybe
kidnappers. I knew how to find out what had happened. I started a search for
him.

	I had a huge argument with the guys, who thought it was a stupid idea,
well, they didn't exactly say that, they told me to let the police do their
job, but it's been 10 days, anything could've happened to Jared! My search
consisted of walking the streets of O Town, handing out flyers with Jared's
picture on them, and a number to call, which was my mobile. I hoped someone
had seen him. I started where the cameras lost him. I walked around those
streets, anybody I passed, I gave a flyer to. I tried the shops in the area,
and soon I realised that I was getting closer and closer to the city centre.
It was also getting dark. Today was Tuesday, on Friday the first single off
the album was to be released, and they wanted us on TRL for the World
Premiere. I wanted to find Jared by then.

	I actually slept pretty peacefully that night, I had been walking and
talking all day long, I guess that tired me out. By the time I got home, I
just sort of collapsed into bed, and slept through till 7 the next morning.
I decided to change my tactic. I started in the city centre, and worked out,
hoping that maybe Jared had walked towards the city centre, and then been
taken or something like that.

	Around lunchtime, I was still having no luck. People were looking at me
funny, I know it was because they recognised me.

	"Could I have your autograph, err, Mr. Richardson?" An 8 year old girl had
come running up to me while I was handing out flyers. Her mother was leaning
over a fruit stall, with her back turned. I didn't think she should leave
her child unattended like that, but, oh well. I noticed just then the mother
looked up and realised her daughter was gone, and was now on the other side
of the road. I guess this was kinda my fault, I'm the celebrity, she ran
across the road to get to me. I took the little girl's hand, and took her
back across the road. The mother finally caught sight of us as we got to her
side of the road. She was flustered.

	"Oh my Goodness, thank you so much, Mr.?" She said questioningly.

	"Mummy!" The little girl shouted. "This is Kevin Richardson from the
Backstreet Boys." She glared at her mother as if to ask 'how could you
embarrass me by not knowing something as important as that?' I smiled at the
little girl, and then at her mother.

	"Oh, well, thank you Mr. Richardson. I got such a scare for a moment
there."

	"I'm sure Ma'am, it must be terrifying to turn around and realise your
child's not there." I said to her. "Oh, have you seen this man?" I handed
her a flyer. The woman held it, and her little daughter saw it.

	"Isn't that your boyfriend?" The little girl asked. I turned to her and
smiled slightly, but it dropped.

	"Yes it is. He's gone missing." I said, trying to keep the quiver out of my
voice.

	"Oh my goodness, that's terrible, umm, well, I'm sorry, but well I haven't
seen him, I'm very sorry."

	"That's ok ma'am, I'm starting to think that he might have been taken
anyway."

	"Taken? You mean kidnapped?" She asked in shock.

	"Yes Ma'am." I replied, I know Jared wasn't exactly an A- list celebrity,
but people knew he wasn't guarded, and well, he's an easy way to get to me.
The woman looked sternly at the photograph for a moment. Then she looked
back up into my eyes. I was hoping she was going to say something helpful,
but what came out was even more inspiring.

	"If you give us some flyers, we'll walk around a section of the city you
haven't covered yet, and give some out." She said quietly. "That is, if you
want the help." I just looked at her, I was so happy I could've picked her
up and swung her around. But I refrained from the celebratory gesture, and
gave her some flyers.

	"That would be so helpful. Thank you." I wondered why the guys hadn't been
so helpful, and why this stranger was. I remembered the little girl had
asked for an autograph, so I took a flyer, folded it in two, and pulled a
pen out of my pocket. I signed the back, and wrote something about how
grateful I was that she and her mom had helped me that day. I gave it to the
little girl whose eyes lit up once she had read it.

	"Thank you!" She said loudly, then clung onto her mother's hand, and they
set off, having said goodbye. I told them where they should try, and they
walked off in the right direction. I watched them walk off. I saw the little
girl move her hand from her mother's grip to holding onto her mother's coat
pocket, as the older woman shifted the pile of flyers into a more
comfortable position. I smiled, then remembered my task, and carried on.
Handing out flyers was not only tiring, but extremely unfulfilling, the only
thing keeping me going now was Jared. I was hungry, cold and wet as it had
been raining for most of the day, and I think I was coming down with
something. It was 5 o'clock, I heard church bells ringing down the street,
when my phone started ringing in my pocket. I almost dropped the remaining
flyers. I had told the guys not to call me, as I didn't want to risk missing
an important call, so it had to be news. I pressed the 'on' button, and held
the phone to my ear.

	"Hello?" I said into the phone.

	"Ummm...Mr. Richardson? This is Anne Mackey. We spoke earlier... next to
the fruit stand." It was the woman from earlier. She had probably run out of
flyers and was telling me she was going home.

	"Yes Mrs. Mackey, what can I do for you?" I said in as cheerful a tone as I
could muster, after all, she was helping me.

	"We've found Jared." She said into the phone, I could practically hear her
smiling.

	"What?" I shouted into the phone, I couldn't believe it. "Oh my God! I
thought you were phoning me to tell me you'd run out of flyers. Where are
you?" I was almost ecstatic.

	"Granat Street." She replied. I knew where that was. Well it didn't matter.
I was gonna catch a cab. I held out my arm, and after a moment, one pulled
up.

	"Ok, I'll be right there, five minutes, please don't lose him." I said
quickly, she replied, then we hung up. "Can you please hurry up?" I asked
the young taxi driver.

	"Sure man." Suddenly, his foot was to the floor, and I was flung into the
back seat. We were at Granat Street in no time. It was mostly residential, a
couple of shops towards one end of the street.

	"Can you just drive up and down please?" I asked the taxi driver.

	"Sure man." There she was. About 200 yards up the road, still with her
daughter clinging to her coat pocket. She was standing outside, a church?

	"Stop." I said, then jumped out, paid the taxi driver, and ran up to her.
"Where is he?" I asked breathlessly.

	"He's in there. I was on my way home, and I handed the flyer to a priest as
I walked past here, and he was in there. The priest had literally just seen
him." She said, then she led me inside. It was a very old church, probably a
couple of hundred years at least, and it had beautiful stained glass
windows. It was just the sort of place Jared would come to. I can't believe
I didn't think of it. There were only two people in here, one at the back,
one at the front. Jared was the front one, it was an old woman at the back.
I could recognise Jared from his long hair, which was now straggly and hung
every direction. I actually kissed Mrs. Mackey, and said thank you to her
and her daughter. I got their address, I was going to send them the biggest
bouquet of flowers, and all the Backstreet Boys memorabilia that was ever
made, and any other number of gifts I could think of. She walked out after
that, and I saw a priest to the side, tending to some candles which had
burnt down. I walked over to him. Jared hadn't been kidnapped, I wanted to
know what was going on.

	"Father?" I asked, I wasn't sure how to talk to a Catholic priest, I'd
always been really informal with my reverend back in Lexington, but the
black suit these guys wore always seemed to encourage more respect somehow.

	"Yes, my son?" He was an elderly man, probably late 60s, with a withered,
but stern countenance.

	"The man at the front of the church, how long has he been there?" The
father peered around a colonnade, and looked at Jared.

	"Do you mean how long today, or how many hours has he clocked up in the
last week or so?" The father said with a tight-lipped expression.

	"What do you mean?" I asked him. He looked at me with narrow eyes, then
seemed to see something.

	"You're not a Catholic are you?" He asked me. I was kinda taken aback by
that.

	"Ummm...well, no." I said truthfully.

	"See those beads in his hands?" That's when I looked at Jared more closely.
He was praying. I nodded to the father's question. "He's praying, those are
rosary beads. He's asking the Blessed Mother for an intervention." He
paused. "Or forgiveness." He finished. "He's been there since about 7 this
morning, and he has been everyday for the last 8 or 9. Do you know him?" He
asked me. I nodded. "Well, if you know what's wrong, I suggest you talk to
him. If not, don't interrupt him." The father said in a stern tone, then
headed off towards the front of the church up the side.

	I took off down the central aisle, headed towards Jared. Just then, the
main door of the church banged, I flicked my head around, and saw that the
wind had opened it and it was swinging on its hinges. I looked back towards
Jared. He hadn't even flinched. I carried on up the aisle. About 10 metres
from Jared, I looked up towards the altar, and saw the crucifix, the image
of Jesus hanging over the altar. I prayed at that moment, it seemed the most
appropriate thing, I had found Jared, I had everything, I thanked God.

	I went and sat by Jared. He still didn't notice me. His face was pale, his
eyes looked withdrawn, but they were shut at that moment. There was a look
of intense concentration on his face. I could just hear the words he
whispering, as the beads shook in his slightly dirty looking hands.

	"...fruit of thy womb, Jesus, Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners
now, and at the hour of our death, Amen....Hail Mary, full of grace..." he
continued, and didn't seem to stop for the time I was sitting there. Then I
put my hand on his shoulder. "Please Father, not yet." He said in a strained
voice.

	"Jared?" I said to him. His head looked to the side. His eyes were
withdrawn, they were sunken into his eyesockets, and he seemed to be looking
somewhere inside my head rather than into my eyes. He looked tired, and
about ten years older than he really was. He looked half-starved. He looked
hungry.

	"Kevin?" He asked me.

	"Yeah Jared, it's me." I said to him. "What happened Jared?" I couldn't
think of anything else to ask him. Where had he been? What had he been
doing? Jared slumped back into the seat he was sitting on, then sighed.

	"Kevin, you don't know what I've done. You should go, it isn't right." He
said to me.

	"What isn't right?"

	"You being with me." He replied.

	"Why not? Jared, please."

	"Because I'm dirty, I'm a horrible person, and I did something on last
Friday that you'll never forgive me for." He said quietly. Was he talking
about Britney, oh. He had made that mistake. He'd thought Britney and he
actually slept together, he must have been so drunk not to remember that!

	"Jared, what do you think you did?" He stood up, and started walking down
the aisle.

	"This is no place to talk about this, we should go outside." He said
quietly over his shoulder. I stood and followed him. Once we were outside
the church, Jared sat down on the stone steps. I sat next to him.

	"Now Jared, what did you do?" I asked  him again.

	"I cheated on you." I was still surprised by that for some reason. The
words coming out of his mouth didn't seem to be real somehow. "With
Britney." Oh shit. He'd actually made the mistake. I thought he wouldn't
make a mistake like that, or he'd at least want to check somehow first, but
he hadn't he'd run. I realised he must have been so worried about
disappointing me that he'd rather have disappeared than have come back and
told me. Jared stood up and started walking off down the street.

	"Jared?" He paused, but didn't turn around. A moment later, he carried on
walking. I took off at a run after him, then put my hand on his shoulder. He
spun around and looked at me, his eyes had regressed even further somehow,
but I could also see fear in them, pure fear. He was terrified. "Jared.
Whatever you think happened...it didn't." I said quietly to him. I might as
well set him straight. He looked confused. "What do you remember about
Friday night?"

	"I remember drinking too much, then I remember Jake dancing, his body
pushed up on me..." Jared's face was twisted with disgust. "Then he kissed
me. Then I woke up the next morning, I was too drunk to remember anything in
between, and in bed with me was Britney." Jared looked like he wanted to
crawl under a stone somewhere and die.

	"Jared, I'm gonna tell you this now, cos I can't stand to see you like
this. On Friday night, Britney was worried what you might do. It was obvious
you couldn't handle whatever it was you were drinking, and apparently Jake,
her dancer, gets pretty horny whenever he drinks. She was worried that you
two might try to do something if she left you alone, or rather she was
worried Jake might do something to you, so she slept in the same bed as you.
Nothing happened between you two." I looked straight into Jared's eyes. He
collapsed.

***

	Jared was ok, he was just exhausted, and suffering from hunger and
dehydration. I took him home, and laid him in bed, our bed, and within a day
he was all better. He slept most of the Thursday, but by 8 o'clock, he came
down the stairs on his own.

	"Kevin?" He asked out loud from the bottom of the stairs. I was in the
kitchen, so I went through to him. He stood there in his pyjama bottoms, and
nothing else. His body still looked great, in fact because he hadn't drunk
anything, or eaten in a while, it looked pretty ripped. The rosary beads
he'd been using in church hung around his neck, they reached to his abdomen.
I had thought that they were the priest's, but when I tried to return them,
he said that they were Jared's, so I left them at the bedside when I had
laid Jared down. Jared was now standing in front of me, just looking at me.
He still looked like a lost boy, he didn't know what to do. But to tell you
the truth, nor did I. I didn't know how to feel, I mean, of course I was
happy Jared was back here, but was he going to stay? And, had he done the
right thing or not? If he really had cheated on me, could I have treated him
better than asking him to leave? But I couldn't do that. Jared had already
told me once before, when I'd shouted at him, that I reminded him of his
father. I couldn't throw him out too. No matter what happened, no matter if
he cheated on me, or anything at all, I would never kick him out with
nothing.

	"Kevin?" He asked again. I had gone into a sort of daze thinking about all
this. I wrapped my arms around Jared, and he tensed to start with, but then
relaxed.

	"I love you Jared." I said to him quietly.

	"I love you too Kev." He said to me. We each had our chins resting on the
others' shoulder, and our arms were wrapped around each others' waist. We
were in our own world, and nothing could take that away. Except the doorbell
ringing. I pulled back slightly, but just to look at Jared. He was smiling
slightly, and his eyes had lit up. He looked happy again, and I will say
this: I was fucking ecstatic.

	"Better get that." Jared said with a small smile playing on his lips.

	"Ok, you go sit down, I'll be in there soon." He nodded, and went into the
living room. I went to answer the door, and the bell rung again before I got
there, even though we were only in the hallway. "Geez! I heard you the first
time!" I said as I pulled open the door. Behind it were Brian and AJ.

	"Hey Bri, what's up?" I asked him.

	"Well, we're glad you're feeling happier Kev, and we know you're still
upset about Jared, but we have to get some work done. The premiere is
tomorrow, our flight up is leaving at 10 o'clock tonight, so we have to be
ready for the interview. Please, look, Jared will come back to you, wherever
he is, but right now we can't deal with this, it's too late to reschedule
everything. Jared will come back if he wants to." Jared has such perfect
timing.

	"Hey guys!" Jared said as he walked in. Brian and AJ's mouths both dropped
to the floor.

	"Jared you're back!" Brian shouted. Then he went up to him and hugged him,
AJ did the same, and Jared seemed to be happy to have them hug him. He was
smiling over their shoulders at me, and I smiled back. "What happened?
Where'd you go?" Brian asked him.

	"Err...Brian. May I? Jared, why don't you go sit down for a second." I
looked straight into his eyes, and I think he preferred to let me explain
rather than do it himself. "Brian, do you remember when I told you about
Britney, and how she slept in the same bed as Jared, and how she said he
could've woken up and got the wrong idea?" Brian nodded slowly. "Well, he
got the wrong idea." I said with a grin. AJ and Brian both released sighs.
They were glad he was back too, I'm sure.

	We walked into the living room, and started talking about our trip to New
York, to be on TRL tomorrow.

	"What about Jared?" AJ asked. We all turned to look at him. He was sitting
cross legged on the couch, and he was fiddling with the beads around his
neck. When he heard his name, he looked up with his eyebrows raised. I had
noticed that he'd been really quiet this morning.

	"What about me?" He asked.

	"He can come with us can't he?" I asked.

	"Yeah course, he can be in the TRL audience." AJ smiled at him.

	"What are you talking about?" Jared asked.

	"Tomorrow Jared, we're heading up to New York, remember the 14th? It's the
date we release our first single off our new album, so we're going on TRL."
Jared nodded.

	"And I'm coming up too?" I nodded to him. "Ok. When are we staying till?"
He asked.

	"Sunday I should think, Sunday afternoon, then we'll fly back." I told him.

	"I should get moving. I have to be back in Atlanta, and get ready. I'll see
you guys in New York tonight." Brian stated.

	"Sure Bri. See you later." I stood up and hugged him goodbye. I think he
understood that the hug was more than just a goodbye for now hug, and he
hugged me back just as tight. Soon AJ left as well, to get some stuff packed
for our 3-day trip. I sat next to Jared on the couch after letting AJ out,
and we just sat there for a few minutes. I wasn't too sure what to say now.
I mean I had him back and all, but is everything just back to normal, cos to
tell you the truth, it didn't feel like it, at least not until what Jared
said next.

	"I just want to forget this past week." It was so simple, and yet it summed
it up. He leant over towards me, and rested his head on my shoulder.

	"Me too."

	"It was horrible without you Kevin, I don't know, I was going insane." He
said.

	"By the sounds of things, you were praying the whole time." I said to him.

	"Yeah, and I got what I wanted didn't I?" He asked with a smile on his
face. I leant down and kissed his cheek. He looked up at me, and then
swivelled around so that he was kneeling beside me on the couch, facing me.
Then he took my head in his hands, and pressed his lips against mine. We
entered into the most passionate kiss, it was wonderful. His sweet lips
pushed up against mine, his tongue in my mouth, his hands holding my cheeks
and his body in my arms. If I died now, I would die a happy man. Jared
pulled back, and looked into my eyes. His stomach rumbled. I tried to stop
myself, but I just couldn't - I burst out laughing. It felt good to laugh
again, and when Jared jumped on top of me, and pinned me, it felt amazing to
have him back. We kissed again, and then we went and got something for Jared
to eat. We had to start getting ready in a few hours to head up to New York.

End of Chapter 40
TBC...

OK! I know, they weren't apart for very long in terms of chapters, and in
terms of time they were only apart for 10 days, but I don't like them being
apart ok? Contrary to what the stories on this archive might suggest, most
real relationships don't have a massive break-up then a fairytale
reconciliation. So, this chapter is basically the closest you're gonna get
to that in my story. I hope everyone liked it. Next chapter they're up in
New York, and I'm gonna tell you now, I have NEVER been to New York, so
don't blame me too much if I get stuff wrong ok??? I do however want to say
that I think the attacks on September 11th were some of the most horrible
atrocities committed in the latter half of the 20th century. What I write in
New York may also not exist at the moment, for instance, what is at Ground
Zero now, might not be what is there when Jared and Kevin go, as the story
is not actually set in the present, but this chapter ended on February 13th
2003. I just hope that what I write doesn't bother too many people, and I
make it sound how people would want it to sound - you'll understand more
when I get to that part of my story.