OUT OF THE BLUE

WRITTEN BY

NEO

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Do not read this story if you are not of legal age, or this type of stuff is illegal in what ever place you live. This is purely a work of fiction and it does not reflect the true personalities or sexual preferences of the celebrities that may be involved.

Note: Hey it is me again. Author of Crash with Fame. I am trying to take this story to a new angle but with the same leading character. Now if you need three guesses go away because that means you are still in elementary school. Unless of course you never read my first story. If you have not I suggest that you do. Along with Nick and Brian, Choices, Escape, and almost all the other stories in the Nifty Archives. Well, I am hoping to make this story surpass Crash, so tell me what you think about it. Matrix3311@aol.com Cheers!

I hurriedly searched for the phone. I could hear it ringing I just could not find it. No one ever hangs it up when they are done. I ran through the entire house searching for it. It rang for some time so I knew it had to be important. I had just about given up my search when I found it. On the charger of all places. I pressed the talk button. "Hello?" I asked.

"Hi, is this the Jenkins residence?" a man on the other line asked.

"Yes, who's calling," I asked politely. I figured that it was another damn telemarketer.

"Let's just say an old friend, is Steve there?" he asked.

"No, he is at work, can I take a message," I asked. I was beginning to get slightly annoyed with this person.

"How about Brad," the voice asked me.

"This is him, who the hell is this?" I asked reaching for a cigarette.

"You mean to tell me that you do not remember me," the voice asked laughing slightly.

"I have absolutely nothing to go on but you being `an old friend'" I said somewhat shitily.

"Think back to Orlando," the voice said.

I slowly took a drag of my cigarette as I thought of all the people we left in Orlando so long ago. "It's been a long time since I was in Orlando," I said hoping for another clue.

"Let's just say that you hear about me on a regular basis," the voice hinted.

"Now the only person from Orlando that I would hear about on a daily basis would be Kevin and you can't be him," I started.

"Why can't I be Kevin?" the voice asked.

"Well we have not heard from Kevin in almost three years, so why would he call today?" I asked.

"Maybe he is thinking about old times, maybe he has some time off and wants to see some old friends, maybe he wants to introduce his old friends to his knew friends." the voice started.

"Bastard," I said to the voice.

"What?" the person asked in disbelief.

"It takes you three fucking years to call the people that were like a second family to you?" I asked busting up laughing.

"Had you thinking there for a minute didn't I?" Kevin asked me.

"It is a little weird getting a call after three years of nothing," I said. It was killing me trying to hide my excitement.

"So what have you guys been up to?" Kevin asked me. I could not believe this. After three years I was talking to him again. I remember how hard it was leaving Orlando.

"Well after dad died mom has been gone a lot, Steve is either always at work or his fianc‚e's house, not much has really changed with the family. Guess you can not say the same." I said to him.

"Guess not. How come you guys lost contact?" he asked me.

"We tried not to but every time we called your house we got hung up on or someone would say they would give you the message and I guess they never did. You do not know how hard it is for a nobody to get in touch with a celebrity. Where are you know anyway," I asked him.

"I guess I never thought about that. I knew that I should have tried to get in touch more. Still living in Orlando but right now we are standing on your door step talking into a cellphone to you." Kevin told me.

"Oh, so how is everything with you guys?" I asked. His comment did not register for a minute. "Well like I said." Kevin started.

"What do you mean you are outside," I screamed running for the door. I flung it open to see Kevin, Nick, Brian, Howie, and AJ standing on my doorstep. "Kevin, I have to let you go I have people here, I'll talk to you later," I said into the phone. My face went totally red when I realized what I did.

"Guy's be afraid, this is what he is usually like," Kevin said to everyone else.

"Smart-ass," I said to him while grabbing him in a headlock. Kevin retaliated quickly and we wrestled around for a second until I felt myself being thrown across the room. "What the fuck?!?" I screamed trying to get to my feet.

"Mr. Richardson, are you alright?" I heard someone ask Kevin.

"Yes Mitch, we were only screwing around, now help my friend up." Kevin said with great authority.

"Yes sir," Mitch said to Kevin as he helped me to my feet.

"Now go help the driver with the bags and then go back to the hotel. We'll call if we need you," Kevin said. The guy nodded his head and walked out the door.

"Sorry about Mitch, he does his job a little too well sometimes," Kevin said apologetically.

"No problem. I know you just brought him because you know I can still beat your ass old man," I said to him.

"Are you starting with me again. Remember what happened last time you called me old man." Kevin said.

"Might be easier if it was not THREE years ago," I said stressing on the three.

"You aren't going to let me live that down are you?" Kevin asked. "No," I said flatly. I heard a cough in the background.

"Oh yeah, sorry guys." Kevin said somewhat red in the face.

"Brad, this is Nick, Howie, Brian, and AJ." Kevin said going down the line of people. They all gave a somewhat shy hello.

"Sit," I told everyone. I sat in one chair, Kevin in the one opposite of me Nick, and Howie sat on the loveseat and Brian and AJ sat on the couch. "Kevin you know that I do not buy that bullshit of you just calling up for the hell of it. What brings you hear and why the hell did you need to bring bags?" I asked.

"You still know me too well. Well it's like this." Kevin started. He was interrupted by the door opening.

"Mom," I yelled as I was getting up. She was having trouble getting in the door with all the shopping bags she had. "Let me help you with those," I told her taking a bag from her. "Guess what, you will never believe who called today," I said keeping her in the doorway not letting her see into the living room.

"Who?" she asked in a semi-concerned tone.

"Kevin," I said abruptly.

"Kevin?" she asked me.

"Orlando." I told her.

"Oh my god, why did he call?" she asked me.

"I was just finding that out when you came in the door," I told her.

"You mean you left him on the phone?" she asked me.

"No, I left him sitting in the living room," I said smiling and stepping back. Mom dropped all the bags she had and went running over to Kevin. They through themselves around each other.

"It's been so long," mom said wispy eyed.

"I know, life has just been busy," Kevin said to her.

"That is putting it mildly, we have seen so much about you. I am so proud that my second son has done so well," she said. I knew that she would start crying.

"Oh mom, this is Nick, Howie, Brian and AJ." Kevin said pointing to each person.

"Like I really needed to know their names," mom said sarcastically then saying hello to each person.

"By the way Kevin, why are you guys here so suddenly and with luggage?" I asked again.

"Well, management screwed up or the hotel screwed up or something and we are supposed to be in Chicago for about two weeks and being so close to the Holidays no hotel in a fifty mile radius has enough rooms or privacy for us," Kevin said somewhat shyly.

"Oh, so you wait three years then you use us like a hotel?" I asked sarcastically.

"Hey, you guys were the ones that gave the open invitation of a place to stay," Kevin said.

"He's right mom, we did" I said to her.

"I know," she said.

"Then why do you look so confused?" I asked her.

"Well, I was just trying to figure out who is going to share a room with you." She said to me.

"Gee thanks mother" I said to her. "I guess you guys are staying, we can fit two people in the guest room. The bed pulls apart, we can fit two people into Steve's room considering he is never home anyway and we can fit one other person into my room. I guess that makes five.

"We will take the guest room," Nick and AJ yell out simultaneously. They sank back in their seats somewhat nervously.

"Relax, I am fine with anything and everything, and anything that happens in this house will stay in this house," Mom told everyone. Nick and AJ sat up in their seats again.

"Thanks for understanding, Mrs. Jenkins" AJ said.

"That is mom to all of you, I do not put up with all that Mrs. Jenkins baloney and two if I was not fine with it I would only be able to have one son." She said. I knew she did it to embarrass me and it worked because I knew that I was turning red.

"So you finally decided to tell her?" Kevin asked me.

"Yeah, I figured that the time was right," I said.

"Oh damn, I would love to catch up with everyone but I have to finish up some work. I will be gone about three hours Brad, show everyone to their rooms." Mom said as she was running up the stairs. She soon ran down again and out the door.

"She still does not slow down does she?" Kevin asked.

"Not since the day dad died, she only got faster," I said. "Well grab your bags and I will show you to your rooms." I told them. They each grabbed their bags but there were too many of them so I pitched in and helped. Together we carried all their bags upstairs. I set the ones I had on the landing and headed down the hall. I pushed open the doors to the guestroom. "Nick and AJ this is your room, food is in the kitchen pool is in the basement make yourselves at home" I said they mumbled a thank you and walked into the room. I shut the doors behind them. "Okay, Brian and Howie, you can take my brothers room," I said to them.

"Hold up I remember sleeping with you, it ain't going to happen again, someone else can share a room with you." Kevin said. "I really do not care where I sleep as long as it is a bed," Howie said.

"Good, but I do feel sorry for you," Kevin said while slamming the door so I could not make a comment.

"Well Howie, last door straight down the hall and up another flight of stairs." I told him walking down the hall. I opened the door and started up the flight of steps. I reached the room and picked up a few things while Howie was still coming up the steps.

"Think that you could make the steps any steeper?"" he asked.

"They are a bitch aren't they?" I asked him.

"Hell yes," he said plopping down on my bed.

"Hey, did you close the door?" I asked him.

"Actually no, my hands were full so I couldn't" he said somewhat sheepishly.

"Shit, I forgot to tell you. You have to shut the door otherwise Smokey will get out," I said dropping to my knees and looking under the bed. I saw what I was looking for and reached under the bed. I soon pulled out my iguana.

"This is Smokey, last time he got out mom nearly killed me," I told Howie. I set Smokey down on the floor and ran down the stairs to shut the door. I soon ran back up the stairs. It was when I reached the top of the stairs that I realized the life size poster of the Backstreet Boys was hanging on my wall. I turned red again.

"You said something about a pool?" Howie asked me.

"Yeah, why you want to go for a swim?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I should be the only one awake right now, Nick and AJ do their thing, and Kevin and Brian always fall asleep. It never fails it is always like that when we reach someplace new." Howie explained to me.

"Well let me grab my trunks and I will join you if you do not mind," I said to him.

"No not at all. I usually end up swimming alone because Mitch never lets anyone into the pool area at hotels.

"Cool, there is a little shower room that you can change in. The basement doors are through the kitchen." I told Howie.

"Okay, I'll meet you down there," he said smiling.

I grabbed my swimsuit then ran across the room. I grabbed the Backstreet Boys poster and took it down. I rolled it up and threw it under my bed. It made me feel somewhat embarrassed to have the guys see that. I then ran downstairs, shut my door, and started to Brian and Kevin's room. I knocked lightly on the door. All I got was silence so I knew that they were asleep like Howie said. I walked across the hall and knocked on Nick and AJ's room. Once again all I got was silence. I nodded my head and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. I looked outside and noticed that it was starting to snow again. I just shook my head and continued down to the basement. As soon as I reached the landing I turned and headed into the shower room. Howie was just walking out as I was walking in.

"What should I do with my clothes?" he asked me.

"See that small door in the wall over there?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he said starting for it.

"That is the safest driest place for clothes," I told him as he started to put his clothes in.

I quickly started to undress. I kept looking at my well-defined body in the mirror. It is amazing what you can do when you take a year off after college. I quickly threw on my swimming trunks and threw my clothes into a corner under one of the benches and headed out. Howie was already swimming in the pool so I jumped right in. The water was a little cold but that was to be expected considering it is snowing outside. I do not know how long we swam for but by the time we were prunes we were getting out. I got into the shower room first and started to dry off. I was just throwing my clothes back on when Howie walked in.

"So, how do we get my clothes back?" he asked. I could not help but smile.

"When my mom gets home. She is the only one with a key to the attic, but I will run upstairs to our room and get you some clothes." I told him.

"Great, but my wallet and everything else were in my pants," he said.

"She will be home soon anyway so don't worry about it." I told him as I was finishing changing. "Now I will go get you some clothes" I told him while running out of the room. I ran all the way up to the room Howie and I shared and grabbed his suitcases. I threw the first one on the bed and tried to open it. It was locked, so was the second one, the third one, and the fourth one. I just started to laugh. I slowly walked downstairs laughing when I ran into Kevin.

"There you are, what is so funny?" he asked me.

"Oh, just something Howie did," I said still laughing.

"Oh, yeah, your mom called she will not be home until late tomorrow, she said she is staying at the corporate room and you have the number if you need her," Kevin told me. I just started busting out hysterically. "What is so funny?" he asked.

"Well Howie and I went for a swim and Howie put his clothes in the old dumbwaiter and accidentally pressed the button. His clothes are now in the attic. Mom is the only one with a key to the attic and when I went to get cloths out of his suitcases they were all locked." I said in between laughs. Kevin instantly started to laugh too. I walked downstairs to break the news to Howie. I got to the basement and saw him sitting in the lounge chair.

"Did you get them?" he asked.

"Howie, was there a small key in your pants pocket that perhaps went to your suitcases?" I asked him. he looked at me for a minute and his jaw dropped.

"Shit, when is your mom going to be home?" he asked.

"Well that is the other part, not until tomorrow tonight," I said to him. "Come on upstairs," I said turning and walking up the stairs. I heard him follow closely behind me. as soon as we reached the kitchen Kevin was standing there. I saw him start to throw a ball of clothes so I ducked out of the way. They hit Howie squarely in the face.

"I got some clothes from AJ for you," Kevin said still trying not to laugh.

"Thanks," Howie said somewhat grumpily. He ran upstairs and changed while Kevin and I went into the living room. We sat in the same chairs we did earlier.

"You know mom is going to make you bring your parents up for Christmas," I told him.

"I already called the airlines. There are already tickets for everyone. I called my mom and told her that we had a surprise up here and she had to come as soon as possible. She said they should be getting here the 22nd." Kevin told me.

"So she does not know where you guys are staying?" I asked him.

"No, the Limo is going to pick them up and bring them here," he said smugly.

"She is going to be so surprised.maybe more so than us," I just can't wait till Steve gets home from work.

"Oh, he called too. He said that he is flying out with Amanda and her parents and will not be back until the New Year," Kevin said somewhat hurt.

"Did you tell him that you were here?" I asked.

"No, I still want to surprise him even if it is only for a couple of days," Kevin said.

"Who would have thought that there would be advantages of living in the middle of nowhere." I said. "What do you mean?" Kevin asked.

"Well if we lived in suburbia you guys never would have thought to come here, how did you get our address anyway?" I asked.

"Well the day before we left we got a sack of fan mail. We decided to take it with and read it on the plane to kill the time. Howie came across this envelope that had only my name and my moms name on it. I opened it and saw that it was from you guys," Kevin said to me. "Then I just checked the return address."

"It is about time you answer our cards. We send you guys one on every holiday, one on your mom's birthday and one on yours, we never get any responses. For a while there Steve was pissed thinking that now that you are famous you do not have time for your old friends.In fact we all thought that way. That is why it was such a surprise for us to get a call form you. We kept sending them to your house but that failed so we sent them to you and your mom in care of the Backstreet Boys, but we still never got an answer until today" I explained.

"There is a lot of the fan mail that we do not get either management has some execs answer it or they just toss it. We were lucky that we got this one bag and all the mail that gets sent to the house goes to my moms book keeper so he does not miss a bill and he usually forgets to give the rest of it back," Kevin explained.

"I don't care anymore, It is just good to see you, in person after all this time, and you know that dad would have been so proud, even if you are only his sons best friend, he still loved you like a son. He wanted us to tell you this but since we lost touch so quickly," I said. I felt my eyes start to water so I looked away.

"So what are you guys talking about?" Brian asked coming down the stairs.

"Just old times." Kevin and I said in unison.

"Oh," is all Brian said.

"You know Kevin, ever since I heard about your cousin I always wondered why you never introduced us," I said to Kevin.

"Well the only time that his family ever came down was on holidays and you guys were always flying off somewhere. I used to talk about him a lot." Kevin told me.

"I know you used to talk about Brian a lot but I never met him," I said. Brian was just sitting on the couch grinning when Nick, Howie, and AJ came downstairs.

"You know those clothes look really familiar," AJ said as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"They should, they are yours," Howie said.

"What happened to yours?" AJ asked. Kevin and I just started laughing at the whole predicament again.

"Howie put them in the dumbwaiter to keep them dry when we went swimming and accidentally pressed the button and now they are locked in the attic with his suitcase keys and the only person with a key to the attic is not going to be home until tomorrow night." I explained. Everyone seemed to laugh at the predicament, including Howie. "Now does anyone want to go out and get something to eat, Kevin's treat." I asked.

"What do you mean my treat?" Kevin asked.

"Remember the triple date you drug me and Steve on and it ended up that your date stole your wallet and the car so somebody had no money to pay dinner with or to get his date home? I covered your ass when." I started.

"My treat. There is no way in hell you are finishing that story," Kevin said turning beet red. The rest of the guys looked at us funny. I was just giving Kevin evil looks.

"Now I will go out and start the car," I told them then turned and headed into the garage. I started the car and walked back in the house. Nick and AJ were crammed into the love seat just staring at each other. I looked at them and my heart sank. All I ever wanted was someone to love and being out in the middle of nowhere does not exactly allow me to find many gay men. I just shrugged it off and sat down in the chair. "The car will be warm enough in about five minutes, AJ I would change, shorts are not exactly the clothing of choice for Indiana weather and you will get more looks for them then you would from screaming teenage girls." I told AJ. He thought for a second, jumped off the couch and went running up the stairs. "I hope you all have some heavy coats, it is snowing like hell and you will freeze your nuts off." They all nodded and ran up to their bedrooms. Everyone except for Howie. I walked over to the closet and pulled out my old winter jacket. It was too short on me but most stuff is considering my height of six feet six inches. It fit Howie perfectly and the black leather of it looked good on him. I felt weird every time I looked at or talked to Howie. I grabbed my coat and headed to the garage. Everyone was just coming down the stairs as I did.

"Brad, don't tell me that you are going to try to cram us all in that old rust bucket of yours," Kevin asked me.

"No I got a new car," I said as I walked into the garage. I got in and pressed the button for the garage door to open. I figured I would give the guys a shock to get used to it. They stepped out and gasped. The snow was blowing and swirling like a bitch and it was maybe 21 degrees out. I just chuckled as they got in.

"Car looks a little familiar," Nick said.

"It should, it is a Durango," I said as I pulled out of the driveway. I was having fun fucking with these people so I started the car to fishtail. They started gasping again and I saw Kevin look at me evilly from the passenger seat so I stopped. The further away from home I got the heavier the snow got. "Hope you guys don't mind Chinese, you are sure to have a lot of privacy." I told them.

"No, not at all," Kevin answered for everyone. On the side of the road I saw a downed power line sparking against the snow.

"Hope you guys don't mind that there is going to be no power when we get home either," I said to them. "The snow is knocking down the lines and the crews can't work in this weather."

"No, I guess that is fine as long as we can stay warm," AJ said giving Nick a deep kiss.

"We just don't want to see it or here it," Brian said to them.

"See it you won't, hear it you might," Nick said mischievously.

"Well there is a fire place in every room except for Kevin and Brian's so you guys can sleep in the living room to keep warm. IT gets cold at night without heat and I am not going to be responsible for getting you guys sick." I told them as I pulled up to the restaurant. I left the car idling and ran into the restaurant.

"Oh, Mr. Jenkins so.good.too..se.ou," Mrs. Chang said from behind the counter.

"Mrs. Chang, I need the private room," I said to her.

"Okay, right away, please have seat and tea before." She told me.

"No, I can't. I am going to pull up to the kitchen entrance. I have some very important friends with me.

"Who? That "Back road kid" you always talked about." She asked.

"It is Backstreet Boys and." I started then nodded my head. Her jaw dropped and she ran into the kitchen screaming something in Chinese. I laughed and walked back out to the car. I got in and pulled around back. I parked in a corner and got out. Every one else followed me.

"What type of seedy operation are you running this time Brad?" Kevin asked me.

"Hey, we could have gone in the front doors and let the entire restaurant see you guys or we can go into the back room Nick and AJ would be able to do their thing and no one would know anything." I said giving the buzzer three quick pushes.

"What about the waitress?" Nick asked.

"Mrs. Cheng herself. She would never say a word. You do not have to worry about her." I said just as the door was opening and we were ushered into the backroom. Mrs. Cheng left the room and the guys were all looking weird.

"Oops, forgot to tell you that this is traditional Chinese. No chairs or forks and please do not ask it will offend the cook if you ask for a fork. And Mr. Cheng is a very big person with a very very big knife." I told them. they nodded their heads and sat on the cushions on the floor. I sat on one end. Kevin was on one side and Howie was on the other. Brian was next to Howie and Nick and AJ were in their own little world. "Oh, I almost forgot. Do not let Mrs. Cheng see you with your shoes on," I said reaching under the table and removing my shoes. Everyone had just taken them off when Mrs. Cheng returned with menus and a permanent marker. She gave each person a menu and handed Kevin the permanent marker. Kevin looked at her and she smiled and nodded her head a lot. Kevin got the drift and signed the marker. He passed it down the line and each person did the same. We then ordered our meal and all too soon it was time to leave.

We all piled back into the car this time Howie was siting next to me. there was a lot of silence on the way home. The snowfall had turned to a blizzard and the visibility was to my windshield. I could not see a semi if it had already hit me. Luckily I made it home safely, only going off the road four or five times. I pulled into the garage and everyone got out.

"Hold it," I said. "Who is going to help me bring in fire wood? Kevin ran into the house. Nick and Brian were slinking away and AJ was staring at the ceiling.

"I'll do it," Howie said to me.

"Good, the rest of you guys get to clean out the fireplace in the living room. Garbage bags are under the sink in the kitchen." I told AJ Nick and Brian. "Now Howie grab that rope hanging over there," I said pointing to the garage door. He walked over and grabbed it came back and handed it to me. I tied it in the little hook on the wall and opened the door. I had the floodlights on but you could see nothing. There was no visibility and the snow was whipping hard. "Stay here until I come back then follow the rope and do not let go of it. Right now you can get lost in the backyard. The wind will throw you around." And with that I was out the door. The wind kept blowing me away and I was afraid I was going to lose the rope but I knew my way to the shed and back and eventually made it. I tied the rope taut between the two buildings and opened the door to the wood shed. I grabbed a log basket and started to load it with wood. I grabbed onto the line and walked back to the house. I handed Howie the wood basket and came in. "There is another basket like this in the shed. Fill it with wood so that you can carry it then grab onto the line and walk back. Do not loose that line. If you stumble and let go the wind will grab you and throw you back into the woods. It has happened to me plenty of times and it is not fun. If you get stuck call out," I said as Howie grabbed the line. I picked the wood basket up from the floor and carried it in the house. I handed it to Kevin and told him to make a fire. I went back out to the garage just as Howie was coming in with a wheelbarrow full of wood.

"I thought that this would be faster," he said smugly s he pushed the wheelbarrow through the doorway. I looked at him and then started to pile the wood into my arms to take it into the living room. I opened the firebox and dropped the wood in there. Howie came with the rest of the wood and did the same. We had just sat down when Kevin got the fire started. I looked at everyone and saw how tired they were. I got up and walked down the hall to the linen closet. I grabbed the four sleeping bags and all the pillows we had. I came back to the room and saw that Kevin and Brian were already asleep.

"Well it is obvious that no one wants to go upstairs and start the fires in their rooms so I grabbed sleeping bags. Nick and AJ can share one, I guess Kevin and Brian can get their own seeing as I am not waking Kevin up, so I guess that leaves you and me Howie. You can take the sleeping bag. I can find something else." I told him.

"Don't worry about it. It is big enough for two people." Howie said somewhat smiling. I felt my stomach feel weird again.

"You sure, some people do have a problem sleeping with a gay guy," I said.

"Not us," Nick and AJ said in unison. I grabbed a pillow off the pile and threw it at them. They caught it, threw it on the floor and snuggled up in their sleeping bag. I handed Howie a pillow and grabbed two of the sleeping bags. I unrolled them and wrapped Kevin and Brian up in them. I then walked back over to the fireplace, threw two more logs on, then climbed into the sleeping bag with Howie.

I awoke the next morning before everyone else. That is when I usually do anyway. I looked over at Howie and smiled. I was still not quite sure why I got those feelings every time I was around him. I carefully crawled out of the sleeping bag and walked over to the TV. I pressed the power button but it did not come on. "Power is still out," I mumbled to myself. I walked into the kitchen and looked in the cabinet under the sink. I grabbed the stovetop percolator and made coffee. It finished and I poured myself a cup. I looked out the patio doors and saw how bad the storm was last night. Everything was covered with snow about three feet deep. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the table. I sat down and started to drink my coffee. I enjoyed just sitting there by myself.

"Good morning," someone behind me said. I looked to see Kevin staring down at me.

"Morning, power is still out and coffee is on the stove," I said to him.

"Thanks, so how bad was the snow last night?" he asked me.

"I would say about three feet," I told him.

"Damn, so what do you have planned for today?" he asked changing the subject.

"Not much, what do you guys have to do?" I asked him.

"Well depending on how far the snow went we were supposed to go cut new tracks for the new CD," he told me. "Want to come?"

"Sure, why not," I told him. He sat down at the table. We sat there for a couple of minutes in total silence.

"Brad, what is wrong with you?" he asked me.

"Nothing, what do you mean?" I asked back.

"In all the time I have know you, you have never just sat and stared for this long, I can tell by the look on your face that something is bothering you," he said.

"No, it's nothing really," I pleaded, trying to act as sincere as possible. It was true that something was bothering me, but what it was I did not know yet. "Now if you will excuse me I am going to go upstairs and change," I told him excusing myself from the table. I walked up the stairs to my bedroom. I grabbed some clothes and changed when I got back downstairs everyone but Nick and AJ were awake.

"Those two are always the last ones to wake up," Kevin said as I came down the stairs. "and it looks like we are going to be here longer than we thought. Management does not want us doing anything until the snow is plowed. So it looks like we are going to be here a little longer," Kevin told me smiling.

"Well if you are going to be here longer throw your shoes on and grab your coat," I told him. He looked at me weird but he did as he was told. We walked out into the backyard and I instantly came up to my knees in snow. Kevin came a little deeper seeing as I was four inches taller than he is. We walked out to the wood shed and started to bring logs in. We got a pretty big pile in the garage so we figured we had enough.

"So what do you guys do around here for fun?" Howie asked me.

"Well we can sit here and watch paint dry, or we can watch the leaves start to grow on the trees. Take your pick." I said sarcastically.

"Ah, not much to do is there?" Brian asked.

"Not when you are snowed into the house," I said.

That day went slowly and was very agonizing. All the guys were sitting around the table talking so I started to carry firewood up to the bedrooms. I was on my last trip when I heard Kevin and Howie having a heated discussion in the living room.

"What do you mean? He is fucking five years younger than you," Kevin said.

"I don't care about that," Howie told Kevin.

"You barely know anything about him," Kevin said. I could tell that Kevin was trying to talk Howie out of something or someone.

"Well you know a lot about him and." Howie started before he saw me coming down the stairs. They hurriedly went into the kitchen and sat down at the table just as I was reaching the landing. Howie looked confused and Kevin looked pissed. Not much was said until Kevin made a smart-ass comment that caused me to tell a very embarrassing story about him. it was then that I noticed Howie kept looking at me and hanging on my every word. It was then that I knew what I was feeling when I looked at or talked to Howie. Admittedly it scared me. I had only known him personally for two days and I had never felt feelings of this magnitude before. I really had to talk to Kevin.

"If you all will excuse me, I am going to go on up to bed now, carrying all that fire wood alone gets tiring," I said somewhat sarcastically. As I stood from the table I made a motion to Kevin to follow me. He gave me a slight nod and as soon as I reached the door to my room I heard him excusing himself for a moment. I continued up the short flight of stairs to my room. I grabbed Smokey off of the floor and plopped down on my bed.

"Hey, what's up?" Kevin asked bounding up the stairs.

"Kevin, we have known each other for a long time, even if there was an extended gap, right?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he replied unsure of where this was going.

"And any problem that I have ever had, I went to you for advice, right?" I asked him.

"Yeah," he replied, still not sure where this conversation was going.

"I have a slight problem, and that problem walked in my front door yesterday," I said to him. he got an extremely puzzled look on his face. "Howie." I said flatly.

"What is wrong with Howie?" Kevin asked somewhat defensively for his fellow band mate.

"That's just it. Nothing is wrong with Howie," I said.

"Then I don't understand," Kevin started.

"Kevin." I started then took a long breath.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"Kevin, I think that I am falling in love with Howie." I blurted out to him. his head dropped to his hands and he started to shake his head. "What?" I asked him.

"Nothing, I just can't believe it," Kevin said.

"What can't you believe, that I think I like Howie," I asked.

"No, that Howie likes you too," Kevin blurted out. He caught himself and turned white as a ghost.

"So that is what you two were arguing about in the living room?" I asked. He just nodded his head.

"There you are," Howie said to Kevin. "Everyone was looking for you."

"Yeah, we were just doing a little more catching up," Kevin said standing. "I am going to go back downstairs, you coming?"

"No, I think I am just going to turn in," Howie answered with a sleeping bag thrown over his shoulder..

"How about you, Brad?" Kevin asked.

"No, I am just going to get some sleep also," I said. Kevin nodded his head and walked down the stairs. I heard him close the door and his footsteps echo down the hall. "Well I guess I will start the fire," I said walking over to the fireplace. I set a couple of logs in and opened the flue. I grabbed some kindling out of the small box on the side of the mantle and soon had a roaring fire going. I turned around and started to walk over to my bed when I ran straight into Howie knocking us both onto the floor with me on top of him. I started to get up but I was pulled back down. My mouth met with Howie's mouth forming a deep passionate kiss.

"I have been wanting to do that so badly," Howie said to me.

"I have too," I said still breathing slightly hard from the eroticism of the moment. Without word Howie spread the sleeping bag on the floor in front of the fireplace. We both snuggled in holding each other until we were fast asleep.

Note: Well what do you think? Please e-mail with comments, suggestion and even criticisms @ matrix3311@aol.com or ICQ me @ 33110864. Thanks.