Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 01:28:45 -0400
From: T.J. Boyce <laconic_speaker@hotmail.com>
Subject: All Or Nothing   Pt. 1 (gay male/celebrity section)

*** Disclaimer: This work of fiction is just that. Fiction. It does not mean
that any members of the band "O-Town" are, in real life, gay.  If you use
any of my material, please ask for my permission first, and I will oblige.
This story contains adult situations, and if you are not 18, you shouldn't
be reading this... but I won't tell if you won't. :)***

** This is my first attempt at a story of this nature. I realize it won't be
perfect, and I hope you do too. However, I do hope that you will like this
little tale. As with most stories posted on this site, it may take me a
little while to work into the steamy situations ya'll are used to; Please
bear with me through the first few installments. I promise, it will get
better. **

*Any questions or comments can be sent to me at:
laconic_speaker@hotmail.com. I appreciate all feedback, good or bad. Thank
you very much, and I hope you enjoy the story. *

"All or Nothing"

Part I

 Ever since watching the ABC show, "Making the Band," last year, I've been a
fan of the group "O-Town".  For those of you who don't know, (shame on
you!), "O-Town" is a group of five guys who have beautiful voices, and they
aren't hard to look at either, if you know what I mean.  They were put
together by the same person who put LFO, *N'Sync, and the Backstreet Boys
together.  It was all filmed by ABC and was put on the air last year.  Since
then, their self-titled CD has gone platinum, and they have played all over
the world.

 The group consists of five guys, as I said before.  They are all very cute
and talented, but, as far as I'm concerned, Ashley Parker Angel is the best.
He is the complete package. He's cute, talented, has a great attitude and a
killer body.  Even with a name like Ashley, I still love him.

 Who is "I", you ask?  Well my name is Alan Lang. I'm a freshman in college
at Florida State.  I'm 5'10", 165 lbs, (mostly muscle because I play on the
football team). I have short, spiked brown hair and brown eyes.  Oh, and I
almost forgot: I'm gay.  Well, enough about me.

 "Let's head to McDonald's for lunch," I tell my best friend Daren.  Daren's
a great guy.  He doesn't know my little 'secret' though.  I've always been
afraid of telling him because I don't want to lose him as a friend. "Yeah,
I'm hungry, too, why don't you just whip us up something to eat," he
replies, with a snicker.  I can't cook. It's a goal of mine, but I've never
actually done it.  So, I guess I deserved that cheap shot. "Well, unless you
want popcorn or toast, chances are, it won't be edible."

 Daren really is a great guy; I don't know what I'd do without him.  I wish
I could convey just how much he means to me, to you, but I don't think words
could do him justice.  That's why I can't tell him I'm gay.  I'm afraid of
his reaction.  I mean, I'm pretty sure he'd be cool with it, but you never
know.  People can act very strange sometimes.

 I get off the couch and go to turn the TV off, but just before I do, the
song "All or Nothing" comes on.  That's my favorite "O-Town" song.  I'm
frozen in my tracks for a minute with my hand hovering over the on/off
button.  "Yo, Alan. You coming or what?" Daren yells from the front door.
'Almost,' I think, 'almost.'  After another half-minute, Daren has joined me
in front of the TV.  He looks at the TV, then, looks back at me, like he's
watching a ping-pong match.  "See something you like, or just browsing?" he
asks.  What a smartass.  If he only knew the truth.  Sadly, I overcome the
urge to drift into another world with Ashley and turn the TV off.  "No way
man, shut up." I say as I punch him in the arm.

 Out the door we go, and we step into my car.  Ashley's voice is still in my
head as I start the car up and head down the road.  Five minutes later, we
pull into the McDonald's parking lot.  I leave the keys in my car.  The way
I figure, if anyone wants to steal it, they can go ahead.  I'm better off
without it.

 Inside, the place is more or less empty.  There is a mother and her
children are sitting on one side of the room, but that is about it.  As I
ponder whether I want to eat all 20 Chicken McNuggets or not, a guy walks
into McDonald's.  I pay no attention to him and go back to my options for
supper.  All right, twenty McNuggets will hold me for a while.

As a take a step towards the counter, Daren says, "Didn't we just see that
guy on TV?" he points in the stranger's direction.  I glance at the
stranger, and what do I see?  It's Ashley Parker Angel.  It's Ashley Parker
Angel!!! I can't believe my eyes and I wonder how loud of a sound my jaw
made when it hit the floor.  Standing right in front of me is the man I've
dreamed about so many times. "Can I help you, sir?" someone says, in a far
away place.  "Excuse me, sir. Can I help you?" the woman behind the counter
says again.  This time, it brings me back to Earth.  "Um, yeah.  I'll have
the twenty McNuggets, please." I respond.  "Will that be all?"  I nodded and
waited patiently for my food.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see
Ashley.  It was really him, wasn't it?!?

Daren and I take our food and go sit down.  I don't think my eyes left
Ashley the whole time.  "Who is that?" Daren asks. "That's some guy who's in
a band called "O-Town".  They play them all the time on MTV." I told him,
matter-of-factly.  The next few minutes, we ate in silence.  Ashley got his
food and took a seat about three tables away.  I tried not to pay attention
to him, but it's tough.  After my second McNugget, I started to relax and
calm down a little, even though my dream guy was in the same room as me.  I
must've looked a little green around the gills, because Daren asked, "Are
you feeling alright?" I shook my head 'yes' and hoped that would be enough
of an answer.  I don't think I could've spoken if my life had depended on
it.  Daren shrugged and went back to eating his Big Mac and fries.

"Excuse me, can I borrow your salt for a minute?  There's none at my table."
I looked up at Daren. "What?"
"I didn't say anything, this guy wanted to know if he could borrow our
salt." Daren jerked his thumb in the direction of Ashley, who was now no
more than three feet away from me.  My head reclined slowly back, taking in
every inch of this stranger who needed salt.
"There's none at my table. I'm sorry for bothering you." He said, with a
half-smile.  I tried to tell him that it was no bother at all, but all that
came out of my mouth was, "uh... here's your salt..." I picked up the salt
and handed it to him, or at least I thought I did.  My hand was shaking
pretty bad though, and I dropped it.  'Smooth. Real smooth, Alan' I thought,
as I bent down to pick up the saltshaker.  Ashley, being the nice guy he is,
also bent down to pick up the salt.  Our heads collided. "Ouch!" he said,
with a laugh as he rubbed his noggin.
"Sorry about that. I'm such a klutz." I picked up the saltshaker and handed
it to him.
"No, it's my fault, I'm really sorry. I didn't hurt you did I?" he look
genuinely concerned.
 "Nah, it's just a little bump.  If I don't slip into a coma, I'm good to
go." I joked, but I could still feel the redness in my face.  I don't think
I've ever been more embarrassed in my entire life.
 "Here let me help you up," he offered, and he extended his hand.  For a
second, I just looked at his hand.  I reached out and took his hand in mine,
and stood up.  As soon as I got up, I felt my legs go weak, and I almost
fell again.  Ashley noticed this and he caught me before I could fall.  I
shook the cobwebs out of my head and forged a smile, as to show him I was
all right.
 "Well, thanks for the salt." He said and turned to head back to his seat.
I started laughing.  Even though I tried to muffle it, I couldn't help it.
Daren looked at me strangely.
 "Are you alright?  What was that all about?"
 "I'm fine.  I don't know what came over me." I was still very embarrassed
and I couldn't look him in the eye.  Daren didn't read any further into it
and we finished our meal without any more interruptions.  "You can head out
to the car, I'll be right out.  I have to use the little boys' room before
we leave." I told him.
 "OK, don't fall in." he joked.  I walked down the hallway to the bathroom
and pushed the door open.  I went to the sink and splashed water on my face.
"This day never happened.  It's all just a good dream gone bad." I said to
myself as I looked in the mirror.
 "What's a good dream gone bad?" I heard a now familiar voice say from
behind me.  In the mirror, I saw Ashley walk out of one of the stalls.  He
was the voice.  I must've been in a trance, because I didn't hear anything
he said for a few seconds.  "What's a good dream gone bad?" he repeated.

I turned around to face him, but I had to look down.  It's best to just tell
him the truth, right?  "I'm sorry.  It's always been a dream to meet you.
Today, it actually happened, and I made a complete ass out of myself.  I'm a
really big fan of yours.  Well... well not just... not just you, of course.
I mean of the whole group.  I was just so star struck when I actually met
you, I can't believe it all happened like that. I..."
"Hey, it's alright.  I'm glad you like the group.  That whole episode was my
fault.  I'm sorry about your head, I don't know how to make it up to you.
Hmm... will this do?" He flashed two tickets at me.  "You said you were a
fan of the group, right?  Well we have a concert tomorrow in Orlando.  If
you have nothing else to do, I'd like it if you came, as my personal guest.
To make up for today." I couldn't believe it.  My eyes almost bulged out of
their sockets when he flashed the tickets at me.  Now, he wants me to go as
his personal guest?!?
 "You don't have to make anything up to me, I told you.  It was my fault,
but I would still like to be your 'special guest' if that's alright..." I
looked innocently for the first time into his eyes.  I felt like I could
faint.
 "Great, do you have a piece of paper? I'll give you my cell phone number
and later you can call me, and I'll give you directions to the concert."
 I didn't have any paper on me, darn the luck, but I wasn't going to let
this opportunity pass me by.  I ran into one of the stalls and ripped off a
sheet of toilet paper.  "Will this do?" I asked.
 We both burst out laughing.  "It'll have to." He said.  Ashley scribbled a
phone number down on it and handed it back to me.  I tucked it into my
pocket at once; the fear of losing it would be too much to bear.
 "Well, I've got to run.  Can't be late, they might fire me." Ashley smiled.
I smiled back.
 "OK, I have to run too, Daren probably thinks I did fall in." I joked.
Ashley laughed, then waved and walked out the door.  As soon as the door
shut, I leaned up against the wall and closed my eyes. "This is too good to
be true."  With everything that happened, I lost track of time.  I'd
probably spent close to five minutes in the bathroom.  I bolted out the
doors and into the parking lot.  Daren was leaning up against the car.
 "Finally decided to show up?" he said.
 "I'm sorry, man, I... well, I'll explain later.  I just lost track of
time."
 "OK, if you say so...." He trailed off and then under his breath, "I still
think you fell in."
 "I heard that!" another playful punch in the arm, and then we both got into
the car and headed home.

 Daren didn't stay long once we got home, and thankfully, he seemed to have
forgotten about the extended bathroom break.  I took the number out of my
pocket and just looked at it, wondering if it was real.  'I'll probably wake
up soon, and this will all have been a dream' I thought.  Little did I know,
the dream was just beginning....


**** Well that's the end of the first installment... I'm sorry if it read
slowly, I'll try and pick up the pace in later chapters... that is, if you
want me to keep writing. Remember, you can get a hold of me at:
laconic_speaker@hotmail.com and let me know what you think. Hopefully the
response will be encouraging for a young writer like me. Again, any
feedback, good or bad, is welcomed with open arms.  Thanks for reading the
first installment of, "All or Nothing". ****