Date: Sun, 4 May 2003 00:51:25 +0100 (BST)
From: Jezebel <eh_oh_po@yahoo.com>
Subject: Set Adrift: Second Chances 2

Disclaimers: This is fiction.  Ben and Sully are figments of my imagination
and The Backstreet Boys are strangers to me and not gay.  This has not
truth to it.  This is for adults only, that's over 18 or 21, depending on
your country.

Note: This skips forward in time a little and will move more into fiction
as it takes a break from events that happened in reality.


***

The next few days continued to go by, they were not as strained as it had
been on tour but things were still forced between them.  It was as if
someone had taken away the ease with which they had returned to their
friendship and left them with only the awkwardness and uncertainty that had
threatened to overtake them.

Sully wondered if this was a sign that Alex was getting better.  His lover
had never really blamed him for leaving, there had been no large argument
or bust up and he wondered if this was part of why things were so hard.
Did Alex still dislike him for leaving all those years ago?  Did he resent
the fact that Sully had moved on and found someone else while he had not?

He had to admit that he wouldn't blame Alex for thinking that way, he had
certainly felt guilty about his relationship with Drew, it was one of the
reasons that he had never made a final commitment with his former lover.
Now that Drew was gone, Sully felt guilt at being back with Alex.  It was
as if he could not commit to either of them really because of the place
that the other held in his heart.  Sully questioned whether he would ever
be ready to make that last commitment, but he didn't want to tell Alex
that.  He had asked for time to get over things with Drew and find out that
he was definitely doing the right thing and that was all that he could
expect.  He knew that Alex would not wait forever, not after they had
already waited so long.

"You okay?" Alex asked as he finished whatever it was that he had been
doing.  Sully had been so busy thinking that he had failed to see his lover
return.

"Sure." He replied, although the truth was that he was far from fine.  He
was just too worried about things to tell Alex, especially given his
lover's fragile state.  They had a status quo at the moment, no matter how
unsteady it was, and he didn't want to push things to the point of no
return.

"Want to go do something?" Alex asked.

Sully realised that they hadn't really done a lot yet, they had just been
chilling out and trying not to do anything too strenuous.

"Okay."

Alex knew that something was up, Sully wasn't the greatest orator but he
usually had more to say than just one word responses.  Still, he would be
grateful for what he had.  He had Sully back in his life and however rocky
the road was he wanted to keep it that way.  Nothing else mattered.

***

The pair ended up shopping, it wasn't the most inspired of plans but Sully
still didn't have a lot of clothes and there was a lot of other things that
were still back in New York where he had left them.  Part of him had never
expected to stay this long and because of their ill-fated trip away he
hadn't had a chance to get home.  Now that they were on break he didn't
want to leave Alex alone so that he could pick up a few belongings.  At
least not in the state that Alex was in these days.

"Can I help you?" The shop assistant asked, drawing Sully's attention away
from his thoughts and instead to his reason for being here.

"Oh, no thanks...I'm just browsing." Sully said.

The shop assistant raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.  It was only then
that he realised he was standing in an aisle of women's wear.  Sully
blushed, quickly checking that no one had witnessed his faux pas and moving
towards the correct section.

Just as he was entering the part of the store that he should be looking in
he felt a hand on his shoulder and Sully spun around to see a grinning
Alex.  If nothing else this trip had been good for him, at least it seemed
to be if you used number of bags as the deciding factor.

Alex seemed to come alive when he was shopping, as if he was making up for
all of the years when he was small and could not afford to buy things.  He
wasn't extravagent, every one of his purchases had a use and every one of
the uses was explainable.  It was as if he didn't have enough will to spend
for the sake of spending, but now that he had the money he certainly wasn't
going to save it for a rainy day.

"Man, you really aren't any good at this are you?" Alex asked with a shake
of his head.  "And you call yourself a gay man."

"Shhh..." Sully said as he looked around to see if they had been heard.

Alex laughed.

"Sully, people don't know who you are and it's not as if I haven't been
seen with other gay people before." Alex replied.  "There isn't such a
thing as gay by association, no matter what the press seem to think."

Sully nodded but wasn't sure what the other Boys would think if they heard
this, still, he was not about to comment this was as relaxed and happy as
he had seen Alex since the debacle of their time off.  He was not about to
argue with a smiling man.

"So, what have you found?" Sully asked, fully expecting another list of
things that Alex wanted to buy for his new sober wardrobe.

"I saw this amazing shirt which would look great on you..." Alex said.
"Let me show you."

So Sully let himself be led towards the changing rooms, unaware of the
person that was watching them from a safe distance and making a note of all
that was said and done.

***

Alex smiled as he checked out the empty dressing room and then pulled Sully
in.  He hadn't really planned on this when he suggested going out but now
that they were there and there was a lock on the door a wicked thought
entered his mind.  There was one way to make sure that Sully stayed with
him and that was to keep him interested.  A fiendish smile spread across
Alex's face as he latched the door behind the pair of them and then turned
to face Sully in the small room.

"Alex?" Sully asked uncertainly.

Alex didn't reply, instead he pulled Sully to him, close enough that they
were touching in all of the most intimate places.  He leaned in for a kiss,
nibbling gently but seductively on Sully's lower lip.  He knew that Sully
was a sucker for this sort of romantic stuff.

The pair of them continued for a moment, just enjoying the kiss.  A lot of
people forget how sensuous kissing can be, as teenagers you spend hours
just making out, but when you're older it's all about the sex.  Alex and
Sully had shared their first kiss together and a part of them were always
reminded of that first time when they shared a kiss.  Sully smiled as he
remembered that first kiss and discovering for the first time just how deep
his love for Alex was.  For a moment Sully forgot where they were but when
he bumped into the cool mirror behind him he was brought back to earth with
a slight jolt.

"mmm...Alex..." Sully said as he tried to pull out of the kiss.

There wasn't really much of a protest in his voice so AJ continued.

"Alex...no." Sully said, this time a little more forcefully, he put his
hands up, wedging them between their two bodies and giving Alex a gentle
shove.

This time AJ let go.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked, a slight pout on his kiss darkened lips.  His
tongue strayed out, licking along his lips as if trying to capture the last
of the taste of Sully on his lips and his lover closed his eyes before he
lost the conviction to say this.

"I just don't think that here is the place for us to..."

"No one is around, no one will see us and you can't tell me that you don't
want to."  Alex said as he took a step forward again and allowed his hand
to caress the front of Sully's crotch.  There was some definite interest
below his waist, even if his mind was telling him that this was a bad idea.

Sully heard himself moan in spite of himself and fought even harder to gain
control of his emotions and libido.  He let out a sigh and Alex took a step
back.

"Okay." Alex replied with a nod.  "No inappropriate dressing room
behaviour, we're not on tour anymore." He said.  "Let's get you out of that
shirt."

Sully coughed.

"What?" Alex asked innocently.  "I just meant so that you could try on the
one that I picked out for you."

Sully rolled his eyes at the attempt but began to unbutton his shirt
anyway, when Alex reached out to help him Sully batted his hands away.  He
stopped halfway down and slid his shirt over his neck, throwing it to one
side and reaching for the shirt that Alex had hung up on the hook as they
entered.

It was nice.  He had to admit that his lover had taste, but Sully really
didn't know when he would wear a deep purple shirt.  It wasn't as if he
went out regularly enough to get good wear out of a shirt like this.

"See, it's perfect on you." Alex said as Sully slipped it on.

"I haven't even buttoned it yet." Sully replied with a slight laugh.

"Good." Alex replied with the same humour.  "That's the best way for you to
wear it, although I would prefer that you didn't wear anything at all."

Sully blushed slightly as his lover again moved in to seductive mode.  Of
course this was AJ, he never really got out of the seductive mode that made
a million girls swoon when he smiled or breathed.  Sully had always thought
that he was immune to those charms, but just sometimes Alex would get
behind his defences and surprise him.

"Of course we could have some fun now if you lost the clothes." Alex said
as he reached out and stroked a finger over Sully's chest.

It was the simplest of touches but that didn't matter, it drove Sully to
the edge, that teasing, tormenting touch that held so much promise.  He
waited a moment, as if lingering to see what Alex would do next.  Then he
was rewarded with a gentle kiss on the lips and a knowing smile from Alex.

"So are you going to buy the shirt?" He asked innocently.

Sully growled slightly and pulled his lover to him, forgetting all of his
misgivings about why this was such a bad idea and kissing Alex to within an
inch of his life.  Alex smiled into the kiss, knowing that he had won and
when he pulled away breathless he wasted no time in moving his mouth
downward, latching onto Sully's neck to suckle there and leaving his mark
behind.

As he continued his path down Sully's body his lover didn't have enough
time to remember why they shouldn't be doing this, Sully was too lost in
just feeling what it was that Alex's mouth was doing as he followed a path
from neck to chest, to pelvic bone before finally reaching his destination.

Sully's only noise was a deep intake of breath as he felt the warm
cavernous mouth engulf his cock, it was like a homecoming when he felt it
and he knew what else was coming.

Alex worked him in a way that only an experienced lover could, he knew all
of the things that drove Sully insane but also knew how to tell that his
lover was close to the edge and when to pull back.  It was maddening, just
as he would run his tongue over Sully's slit in a move that would drive him
crazy he also squeezed lightly on Sully's balls, just enough to take the
edge off.

Sully came close to coming three times before he felt Alex's subtle change
of pace.  It was obvious that this time he was not going to bring him back
from the edge and as he felt Alex deep throat him Sully couldn't hold back
anymore.

He came in three long spurts, glad that Alex was swallowing his seed
because he really didn't want to have to explain those stains when they
exited the changing room.  Alex tucked his cock back in his pants before
standing carefully, trying not to knock into any of the walls of their
confined space.

As his brain returned from where Alex had tried to suck it out of him, it
amazed Sully that no one had come to bang on the door or ask if they needed
help.  It also amazed him that there weren't police outside ready to arrest
them for indecent exposure or something similar.

"You okay?" Alex asked with a touch of concern and Sully realised that he
had been on a mini-vacation in his mind.

"Sure." Sully replied.

"Do you like the shirt then?" Alex asked with a smirk.

Sully blushed as he only then realised that he was still wearing the shirt,
it was still unbuttoned and hung limply off his shoulders where it had
fallen in their moment of passion.  It was wrinkled almost beyond
recognition and there was crease marks on the cuffs where he had clasped
them in his fists as he climaxed.

"Well, are you going to buy it?" Alex continued.

Sully nodded.  He couldn't not buy the shirt after what they had done, he
felt as if he owed it to the shop manager.  The only problem was that he
would not be able to ever wear that shirt without getting a hard on because
he would be thinking about what they had done.  Maybe that was why Alex had
done it.

Sully put his thoughts to the back of his mind and put his own shirt back
on, trying to fold his new purchase so that it didn't show so obviously
what they had been doing.  He headed to the desk to pay for his purchase
and didn't notice that Alex was a pace behind him.

Alex had seen someone at the entrance to the changing room for a split
second, it had caused him to pause because he thought he recognised the
person, but before he could ask them where from they were gone and he had
realised that he had to keep up with Sully if he didn't want to lose his
lover.

It didn't occur to him later that it really could have been someone he
knew.

***