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Warning: This is a fictional story, describing erotic relations between consenting adult men. If this makes you uncomfortable, or if it is illegal for you to read something like this, then go find something else to do. The following story is entirely a work of fiction, and is not intended to imply anything about any real people. All of the characters in the story are fictional, and must not be confused with any real people. The characters in this story may have the same names as some real people, but the characters are in no way supposed to actually represent any real people. Permission is hereby granted for this story to be distributed solely by the Nifty Archive: http://www.nifty.org/. You may of course keep a copy for your own use, but you may not redistribute it. The alarm went off entirely too early the next morning. It took a few attempts before Matt finally managed to find it, so he could turn it off. Groaning, he turned over and stared at the clock, trying to make sense of the numbers. With a heavy sigh, he rolled out of bed then headed for the shower. The cool water did its intended task, and Matt started to actually wake up. Today was going to be a long one--rehearsals always were. He hadn't had much time to look over this week's script yet either. He'd read far enough to determine that he had a bigger part than usual--he wasn't really sure that was a good idea today. Matt knew that the writers were only responding to the fans. He got more mail than most of the actors, and a lot of the letters wanted his character 'Jack' to have a bigger part in the show. While it was nice to hear that his fans wanted to see more of him this did mean more work for his already overtaxed workload. Then Matt remembered dinner last night with Nick. Somehow, it seemed as if he'd known Nick for a lot longer than just one night. Matt had really enjoyed the time they spent together. It was nice to be able to relax and be himself with Nick. He didn't have to act like a big celebrity. Somehow, it was just cool to talk with Nick. It was comfortable. That was probably the best term for it--comfortable. Matt really couldn't remember ever being so comfortable with someone before. Ah well, no time for thinking about that now. He had to hurry if he wanted to make it to the studio on time. He turned off the shower, and quickly dried off. Returning to his room, he got dressed and grabbed his jacket. Next stop was the kitchen, where the coffeemaker was just finishing. He filled his travel mug with coffee and went out to his car. There wasn't time for anything to eat--he knew there'd be muffins and such at the studio. Traffic was fortunately a bit light at this hour, so the trip to the studio wasn't too bad. He was quickly through the security gate and got the car parked. As he entered the studio, Will Friedle greeted him. "Hi Matt. It's about time the big star got here." "Hi Will." Will was the closest thing Matt had to a friend on the set. They tended to eat lunch together and such. Matt didn't really think of Will as a friend outside of the studio, but he was a work friend. "What do you mean, big star?" Will took a good look at Matt, and said, "What the hell have you been up to? You look like you haven't slept in a week." "It feels like it too. I gotta get some more coffee." As Matt started over toward the food, he could hear Will following him. "What's this?" Will said. "It looks like long blonde hair on your collar there Matt." "What?" "Oh, I see--heavy date last night? So, who's the blonde?" "Oh, it's just..." Matt paused. How was he going to explain this? "Forget it Will. I'm too tired for this now." Will's laugh was the end of that conversation. Nick woke rather suddenly, as Brian finally gave up and started shaking him. "Hey, wake up already!" "Okay, okay, I'm awake." Nick said. "Where's the fire?" "We've got about half an hour before we've got to be out. Your breakfast is getting cold. I've already had my shower, and finished my breakfast." "What's the plan for today?" Nick was trying to stall. He'd do anything for a few more minutes in the warm bed. "We're off to the studio. We've got an interview first thing, then it's back to work on those new songs." Nick suddenly remembered the night with Matt. "What's up for tomorrow?" "Oh no! No more stalling. Get up!" Brian was starting to sound annoyed. "Up!" "Okay, I'm up." Nick sat up, then slowly stood and stretched. Realizing he was naked, he looked at Brian to discover him looking at him. Nick went over and started to get dressed. "So, what were you up to last night? Last I knew you were off to that photo session." "You know Mathew Lawrence, the actor? I met him at the photo shoot, and we went out to dinner. That reminds me, what's planned for tomorrow?" "Got a hot date?" Brian was smiling at Nick now. Nick looked up at him sharply. "I think tomorrow we're spending the day in the studio, working on those new songs for the new album." "That's good--I'm going to take tomorrow off." "Good luck. Kevin will really be on your case for that." "Tough. Matt invited me to go and watch them tape the show tomorrow. I don't care what Kevin thinks--that's what I'm doing tomorrow." "This will to be fun to watch. Be sure to warn me before you tell Kevin. I want a good seat for the fight." "You're a lot of help. I'm famished. Stop bugging me and let me eat in
peace." Nick was very careful to pick the right time to talk with Kevin. They had taken a limo from the hotel to the record label's offices for the interview. Brian was expecting Nick to bring it up during the ride, but Nick waited until they were in the conference room, waiting for the reporter to arrive. "So guys, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Nick asked. "Same as today--we've got the day booked in the studio. We've got to get some of those new songs ready." Kevin said. "Well, I'm going to take tomorrow off. I've got something else I really want to do." "What? Do you know how expensive it is to get a studio for a day? We've still got a lot of work to do before we can even start thinking about actually recording anything for the new album." "Really Kevin, count me out for tomorrow." "What's so important that you're willing to screw everything up?" "I told a friend I'd spend time with him tomorrow. You guys can work around me." Kevin looked really pissed at Nick. Brian could see the beginnings of one of their famous fights. Both Kevin and Nick could be really stubborn when they wanted to be. Before they could really start, the door opened, and the reporter came in. Nick breathed a sigh of relief, and turned his attention to the reporter. The actual interview wasn't memorable--it was like any hundred of similar interviews. It was all the same questions and the same pat answers. Nick made an effort to look interested, hoping that Kevin would have enough time to cool off. When the reporter left, Kevin turned back to Nick. "Is tomorrow really important to you Nick?" "Yeah, it is Kev." "Okay, I guess we'll just have to work around it. You realize we'll have to concentrate on your parts today?" "Sure. That makes sense." Nick looked at Kevin. "Um, thanks Kevin." Kevin laughed. "No problem kid." On their way out of the office, Nick hung back to talk with the receptionist. "Tina, I need a favour." Nick said. "Sure Mr. Carter. What can I do?" Tina replied. "I'd like to have some promo stuff send to a friend of mine. Can you get a CD, some videos and whatever else is kicking around sent off for me?" "Sure, that's no problem Mr. Carter. Where do you want it to go?" "Um, I don't know the address. Do you know Mathew Lawrence, the actor? I'd like it sent to his house. Today if possible." "Okay, I'm sure I'll be able to find an address. He's here in town is he?" "Yeah, although I don't know where." "I'll get it to him today then." "That's great. Here, let me write a little note to go in it." Tina handed Nick a notepad and a pen. Nick quickly wrote a simple note. Tina gave him an envelope, which he put the note into and sealed. "Thanks a lot Tina." "My pleasure Mr. Carter." "Oh--one other thing. Can you get some of the international CDs to Matt too?" "That'll take longer, as we don't have any of that material here. However, I'm sure I can get Joan in Toronto to send a package off. That'll won't make it until tomorrow though." "That's great Tina. Thanks a lot. Oops, I gotta go--the guys are all in the limo now. Thanks again." Nick ran out of the office, and jumped into the limo. The morning had gone rather better than Nick had expected. The rest of the day was another matter. After singing non-stop for most of the
day, Nick's voice was raw and he was exhausted. He finally managed to break away
from the group for the first time in the mid-afternoon. Matt's day had been exhausting, just as he'd known it would be. After spending most of the morning sitting around the table reading and revising the script, they'd spent the afternoon doing rehearsals. About noon, Matt had decided that Will had it right--he seemed to be in every scene in this week's episode. In the middle of the scene, the ring of someone's cell phone cut through everyone's concentration. "All right, who to turn their phone off?" The director sounded quite exasperated. Everyone looked around at each other. "I know I turned mine off," Will said. "It must be someone else's." "Well, find it and shut it off!" That got everyone moving toward the sound of the phone. "Hey Matt, isn't that your jacket that's ringing?" "It can't be--nobody has that number," Matt said. Sure enough, it sounded like it was coming from the phone in his jacket. He took out the phone and tentatively answered it. "Hello?" "Matt? It's Nick." "Nick?" It took Matt a moment to figure out who Nick was. "Oh, hi Nick. How's it going?" "Terrible--I hate it when Kevin gets on my case like this. I didn't get enough sleep last night either." Matt chuckled. "I'll bet you got more sleep than I did. How'd you get this number Nick?" "Well, I did use your phone yesterday. It wasn't too hard to look at the number." "Oh." Matt wasn't sure quite how to respond. He was excited that Nick had actually called. He'd been certain that he wouldn't, since he hadn't given him a number to call. Then Matt realized that everyone was standing there, watching and listening to him talk on the phone. "Nick, I'm in the middle of a rehearsal right now. Sorry guy, but I really can't talk now." That was certainly true--Matt really was sorry. He could think of few things that he'd rather do than talk with Nick again. "Yeah, I'm in the middle of things too. Kevin is bound to find me any minute now. I just wanted to let you know that I've freed things up tomorrow, so I can come and watch the show." "Oh, that's great. I'll make sure and arrange it." "Oops, that sounds like Kevin. I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" "Sure Nick. I'll see you tomorrow." Matt hung up the phone, and looked up at everyone. "Well, if you're quite finished Matt, turn that thing off, and let's get back to work" the director said. Matt turned the ringer on the phone off, and replaced it in his jacket. "So, who's this Nick?" Will said to Matt. "Huh? Oh--that's Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys. I invited him to come and watch the show tomorrow." "Nick Carter???" Danielle Fishel said. "The Nick Carter? You know Nick Carter?" "Yeah, we had dinner last night" Matt looked at her. Danielle was hopping up and down, obviously very excited. "Oh my god--he's coming here tomorrow! Oh my god!" "Looks like someone is a bit excited." Will said. "It looks like a crush to me." "It sure does" Matt said. The director looked at Matt. "Do you think that Nick would be interested in appearing in the show? I'll bet that'd do wonders for the ratings." "He probably would--he told me that he's a big fan of the show." "Great--take ten everyone. I'm gong to see if I can set this
up." With that, the director disappeared. When Matt finally got home, he was a couple of hours late for dinner. Of course, he'd called ahead, but his Mom insisted on keeping his dinner for him rather than letting him buy something on the way home. "Why, who's this stranger?" Matt's mom said when he finally got home. "Hi honey--you haven't been around much recently." "Sorry Mom, it's been a bit hectic recently." "Well, dinner is waiting. Let me heat it up for you." "Thanks. I just feel like collapsing and sleeping for a month or two." "That's what you get for staying out all night dear. Who kept you up half the night?" Remembering last night gave Matt a burst of energy. "Oh, I met someone yesterday at the photo shoot. Have you ever heard of Nick Carter? He's with some singing group called the Backstreet Boys." "Oh--that reminds me honey. A package came for you today from the Backstreet Boys. A courier dropped it off this afternoon. I put it in your room." "Really? I wasn't expecting anything." "You can open it later. Eat your dinner, then go and relax for a while. You
look worn out." When Nick got back to the hotel, he was just plain exhausted. The rest of the guys had had a light day, and were all set to go out and do some dancing at a club. Nick was usually the first one to go out at night, but he had no interest in going out tonight. "Are you sure you don't want to go?" Brian asked. They were back in the hotel room. Brian was just finishing getting changed. Nick was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Quite sure" Nick croaked. His voice was really hoarse. "I just want to sleep for a few years." "Your voice doesn't sound very good Nick." Brian looked worried. "Do you want me to get a doctor?" Nick sighed. "No. I think I'm just tired. Kevin just pushed a bit too hard today." "And you let him. You know better than that. By the way--that was a masterful job on him today. I never thought you'd get him to agree to letting you take tomorrow off." "Kevin was the smart one--look at how hard he worked me today. But at least I've got tomorrow." "Okay, I'm going to go then. You're going to be okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine. Just go and have a good time. I'll be okay." "Alright. Sleep well." It took about half an hour before Matt finally made it back to his room. His mom had been full of questions about Nick--worried no doubt that Matt had fallen in with the wrong sort of musician. When Joey had started on his music career (well, Joey hoped it was going to be a career), they'd soon found out that the tales about musicians were all too true. Too many musicians were into drugs, sex and such. Mothers could be such a pain sometimes. Matt opened the package on his bed, and found it was from Nick. The note inside explained it all. It said, "I thought I'd send you some stuff, so you can listen for yourself. I hope you like it. See you soon." It was of course, signed by Nick. Matt smiled--this was really nice of Nick. He certainly did want to listen to the CD! He wished he could call Nick and thank him. Sending the package was really thoughtful. Matt remembered then, that his phone was still turned off. He went and removed it from his jacket pocket, turned it on and put it into the charger for the night. He then went into the bathroom and got ready for bed. It was still early, but he was exhausted. He made his way back into the bedroom, and put the CD into the stereo. He found the remote, and was just getting into bed when his cell phone started ringing. That had to be Nick! "Hello. Nick?" "Hi Matt. How'd you know it was me?" "That's easy--I've never given this number out to anyone. I don't even know it. That's why I wrote it on the phone. I got the phone so I could call if I got stuck somewhere, but I didn't want to be on the phone all the time, so I never gave anyone the number." "Oh, I'm sorry Matt. I didn't realize you didn't give it out. Is there another number I should call?" "It's okay Nick. Actually, this is sort of cool--I know that you're the one calling this way. Just don't call during rehearsals again. I thought the director was going to pass a kidney stone or something today!" Nick giggled. "I just have bad timing I guess." "You really sound hoarse. Are you okay?" "I think so. I think I overdid it today." "Are you going to be okay for tomorrow? I wouldn't want you to get sick or anything." "Oh, don't you start Matt. You sound like Brian. He's always watching out for me." "He sounds like a good friend then. You can't push yourself too hard. Your voice is important." "Yeah, you're right." Nick sighed. "I was supposed to spend tomorrow in the studio with the guys, but we rearranged things so that I could take tomorrow off. That meant I had to sing pretty much non-stop all day. It gets to you after a while." "Now, that sounds like a bad reason Nick. You didn't have to work so hard just to come to a stupid taping tomorrow!" "It's the only way. Besides, what's done is done. I'm really looking forward to watching you tomorrow." Matt smiled. "I hope you'll think it's worth it tomorrow. Actually, Danielle is really excited to meet you. I thought she was going to pee her pants or something when she found out it was you on the phone today." "Oh boy, another excited fan." Nick really didn't sound very excited. "I'm sure she'll be fine once she gets over the initial meeting. Besides, you should be used to fans." Matt was teasing Nick. "Yeah. It just gets to be boring after a while." "Well from the look of the pile of stuff you sent me today, it looks like you've been getting a lot of attention." "Oh, you got it? That's great. I'll have to remember to send Tina a thank you note. There's probably another package to come in a few days." "What there's more?" "Yeah, we're only really starting in the states now. Our first two CDs weren't even released in the states--that one you have is sort of a compilation of the two CDs that were released in Canada and Europe. I asked Tina to get the international stuff sent to you too." "That's really nice Nick. I was just going to listen to the CD now, then head to bed. Morning is going to be here too soon." "Yeah, I'm beat too. When should I get to the studio?" "Actually, you probably need to be there about 8. Hey, how about I drive you over? Your hotel is on the way." "That sounds good. How about we meet at about 7 for breakfast? Will that give us enough time?" "Sounds good." "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then. I'll arrange breakfast, and leave word at the front desk for you." "Cool. Good night Nick." "Night Matt." After hanging up, Nick called down to the front desk and set things up. He got them to open a small private room in the dining room for them tomorrow morning. The last thing Nick wanted was to be signing autographs instead of eating breakfast. He arranged a wake up call--Brian would be sure to appreciate that. He made sure the front desk knew to escort Matt to the private room in the morning. Nick's head barely hit the pillow before he was asleep. Matt managed to stay awake for a few minutes. He really tried to listen to the CD, but despite the good beat, the music rapidly put him to sleep. By the time the third song came on, he was out for the night. |