Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 23:29:19
From: Jeff Langdon <jeff_langdon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Westlife Romance - Chapter 42

Westlife Romance - Part 42

The two men dragged the intoxicated Bryan into the alley.  Ted pushed Bryan
to the ground and kicked him roughly.  The young singer tried in vain to
protect himself from the attack.  Though he was physically stronger than the
two men, Bryan's current state made him an easy prey.

Finally, Bryan managed to struggle to his feet.  He threw punches blindly
but they did little harm.  He yelled in pain when he felt something hard hit
him in the back.  His vision blurred, he could see his attacker holding a
long pipe or something similar.  Now Bryan was scared, knowing that there
was no way he could defend himself.  The two men manhandled Bryan for the
next while, punching and kicking him at will.

	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*

The cool night air served well to clear Nicky's mind.  He needed this peace
and quiet to think after all that has happened with Kian and Derek.  It
seemed that so much has happened in the past 24 hours that things were
spinning out of control.

His mind wandered off to Westlife's early days.  Things were so simple then.
  If only things could be so simple now.  Nicky sighed as he continued
walking.  Deep in thought, he was rudely interrupted by the sound of men
talking.

"This will teach you to mess with us, punk," a voice said in a hostile tone.

Then there was the sound of someone in pain.

"Drunkards..." Nicky thought to himself as he shook his head.  Continuing to
walk, the sounds were becoming clearer.  Reminding himself that he was in a
strange city, he walked faster, deciding to head back to the hotel.  As he
passed by an alley, the earlier sounds of talking became much clearer.  He
stopped and turned his head, only to see two men staring down at someone
lying on the ground.  They were kicking their helpless victim, laughing as
they did so.

"Mind you own business, Nicky," he told himself as he began to walk again.
But the sound of the agonized victim stopped Nicky in his steps again.
Turning to look once more, the men had now brought their victim to his feet
as they continued to attack him viciously.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing there?" Nicky found himself saying.

The men turned around to look at the intruder.  "Mind your own business!"

Nicky refused to back down.  "Leave him alone!!" he demanded, trying to
sound as forceful as he could.

The two men looked at one another.  "Looks like another punk who needs to be
taught a lesson, Rick."

Before Nicky could react, the two men turned on him.  A vicious punch sent
Nicky sprawling to the ground, the air knocked out of his lungs.  He
grimaced in pain and struggled to his feet, just in time to block a punch
from Rick.  Nicky managed to land two hard punches on Rick, but had no time
to react to an attack by Ted, who landed his knee in Nicky's abs.  Nicky
crashed to the ground, unable to move.  He turned to see the other victim
moving slightly.  Crawling over, Nicky had to make sure that he was alright.

"Br..Bryan???" he whispered in shock as he looked at the victim's face.  His
mind was spinning and his heartbeat was racing.  Nicky knew he had to get
out of here.  More importantly, he had to get Bryan out of here.  Nicky
could see the attacker advancing slowly and rocked Bryan's body.  "Bry!!!
Get up!!!"  he pleaded.  Luckily, the younger boy appeared to be able to
hear the instructions.  Nicky struggled to his feet and grabbed Bryan's
hands.  He dragged Bryan as they tried to run towards the other end of the
alley.  By now, Rick had recovered and was chasing the two boys along with
Ted.

Bryan, still intoxicated, only had a vague idea of what was happening.  He
knew someone was dragging him down an alley but that was all that he was
aware of.  Nicky was panicking as he thought of a way to get to safety.
Next thing he knew, Bryan fell to the ground, dragging him along.  Before
they could get to their feet, Rick and Ted had closed the gap on them.

With Bryan down, Nicky faced the attacking thugs.  The ensuing fight that
followed was a terrible mismatch.  Both men towered over Nicky and were
physically stronger.  Though Nicky had the advantage of speed and agility,
the injuries that he sustained in the earlier matchup slowed him down
considerably.  Similar to Bryan earlier, Nicky was thoroughly dominated,
though he did manage to put up a more convincing struggle than his band
mate.  By now, Bryan had gotten back on his feet and his mind was clearer.
Seeing the fight unfold before him, he plunged back into the action.  Out of
the corner of his eyes, he could see Bryan taking on Ted.  Nicky temporarily
immobilized Rick with a kick and turned to Ted.

"Bryan!!" he shouted.  "Get out of here!!!"

The voice calling out to Bryan seemed to bring some alertness back into the
younger boy.  He recognized that voice.  "Nicky?" he finally asked softly.

"Get out of here, Bryan.  NOW!!!" Nicky ordered again as he struggled to
restrain Ted.

But before Bryan could react, Rick had recovered and landed a devastating
blow to Bryan sending him flying against the wall.  Nicky could see Bryan
slump lifelessly to the ground.  Faced with two attackers once again, Nicky
knew he had to get over to Bryan.  The fight was becoming hopeless.  Nicky
simply was overmatched.  In a sign of desperation, Nicky threw himself on
top of Bryan as Ted and Rick launched another attack, thereby blocking all
the blows from his band mate.  Nicky forgot how many blows he had sustained
but soon the blows stopped.  He looked up weakly and saw the two men walking
away, laughing and talking loudly.

Nicky got off of Bryan and shook Bryan, though he elicited no response from
his friend.  "Bryan...wake up!!" Nicky said anxiously.  Looking at his
hands, he felt fresh blood.  "Oh God..." he cried.  "Bryan...Oh God!!!"

In desperation, he helped Bryan to his feet.  The younger boy was only
semi-conscious.  "Hang in there, Bryan.  I'm going to get you to a hospital.
  Hang in there!!" he begged desperately.  Draping Bryan's arms over his
shoulders, Nicky walked slowly back to the street, hoping to catch a taxi or
something, but there was not a car or even a person on the street.

Rain began to fall, drenching the two boys.  Nicky was crying now, not
knowing what to do.  He leaned Bryan against the wall and took out his
mobile.  "I have to call Shane..." he thought to himself.  Shane always knew
what to do.  He dialed Shane's number, only to find that his mobile had run
out of battery.  "FUCK!!" he yelled angrily.  Turning to look at Bryan,
Nicky could see that he was still bleeding.

Nicky crouched down and positioned Bryan on his back.  Then he started
walking slowly, careful not to lose his balance and drop Bryan.  He headed
back in the direction where he came, hoping to find someone who could point
him in the direction of a hospital.  The rain was falling hard and the wind
was picking up.  Tears of frustration, desperation, and helplessness stained
Nicky's face.

"Hang in there, Bryan...please!!!" he whispered as he carried Bryan down the
deserted street.

...to be continued....