Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 14:45:17 -0800 (PST)
From: Flower <flower_writing@yahoo.com>
Subject: last exit to eden 4

Hi everybody!

Here is chapter 4. I had quite some time to think about this, but I'm still
writing it in the spur of the moment. We'll see if it will turn out the way
I want it to go :) Thanks goes out to those who read this story and, more
importantly, contact me and share their views on the story with me.

Again, a special lady is co-hosting this chapter with me. Still sexy,
talented and beautiful :) She'll be helping out with the next chapters too
:) (won't you?)

Disclaimer: Don't need one. Y'all know if you should or shouldn't be
here. I still know squat about the real lives of nsync, so again I'm dead
wrong about everything. Info on how to contact me can be found at the
bottom.


Hours later Chris finally calmed down enough to go to sleep beside
Steven. When picking up Chris from his hotel Steven found a pile of
misery. He quickly gathered some stuff for Chris and took him back to his
hotel. He left a forwarding telephone number at the front desk of Chris'
hotel, so that the ones that needed him could contact him. He turned off
both mobiles for the night, so that Chris could try and sleep a bit. This
way they would still be reachable to those who tried hard enough.

The phone rang. Steven panicked and reached for it. "Wat is er Rob?"

 "Who is this?"

"Sorry, I thought you were my brother. Hang on, I'll go into another room
to be able to talk to you a bit more comfortable."

Steven walked into the living area of the hotel room, thanking his brother
silently again for getting him a suite instead of an ordinary hotel
room. This way he could talk to whoever was on the other side without
disturbing Chris' sleep.

"Yes, I'm better here. What can I do for you and why are you calling me?"

"Why am I calling you?!?!? What the hell did you do to Chris?? I swear to
god, if you hurt him in any way, I'll hunt you down till you get what you
deserve!!"

"Shouldn't you ask who you are talking with first? And where do you get the
nerve to start yelling to me? You don't even know what's going on! Hell, I
don't even know who you are. If you give me a moment I will try to explain
what's going on. But before that I need you to tell me who you are. I'm not
giving any information until I know who you are."

"Give me one fucking reason why I should trust you, you son of a bitch!"

"Well, the fact that I left a telephone number behind should give you some
information. If I was doing god knows what to god knows who I wouldn't be
so gentile. Now before I get really mad, could you please tell me who you
are and why you're calling in the middle of the night?"

"I'm sorry, but I've been trying to reach Chris for the past hour or so. I
panicked when his cell was turned off. I'm Lance, a friend of Chris'. And I
know it's late there, but this is the first opportunity I've had to call
Chris without alarming everybody else here. They know something's up, since
I can't hide it when I'm upset about something. Now tell me who you are
please."

"I'm Steven. I'm aiding Chris in his current condition until somebody who
really knows him arrives on the scene. We met by coincidence in the gardens
of Versailles. And before you ask, yes I know he's in a famous band and no,
I won't go to the press. Though I hope that's not the first question you
were thinking of. I'm actually hoping your mind was with Chris.

Lance had to swallow a bit there. Those were exactly the questions he was
thinking of. "Is this guy crazy or can I trust him? How can I find out who
this Steven is and what can I do about him being so close to Chris?"

"Lance? Are you even there or can I hang up now? Chris had a terrible
evening, so I don't want to take the chance of waking him up because I'm
talking to you. If there is nothing else you need to talk about, then I'll
end the conversation."

"No, hang on! I still don't know what happened to Chris. Where is John now?
Is that guy still near him? What do you mean with a difficult night? What's
wrong with him?"

"Whoa, hold on there. I assumed you knew more than I do, but apparently you
didn't even hang around long enough to understand in what kind of position
Chris is. I was hoping he had better friends than that...I don't know where
John is. I don't even know who John is. Chris hasn't been able to talk
about that at all. I'm not pressing the matter either. I think it's better
for him to talk to somebody who knows the whole story. All I know is that
John left Chris and he's torn up about it. He can do other stuff, but
nothing close to John can be discussed. I don't know what that guy did to
Chris, but it must be pretty awful. Chris cried himself to sleep this
night. He totally lost it in his hotel room, so he called me asking if he
could spend the night here. I picked him up from the other hotel and left
this phone number. I was thinking that only people who cared enough would
keep on trying. His cell phone is off to give him some peace for a
moment. There, I think you're up to speed now."

Lance listened closely as Steven unfolded Chris' condition. "He's in worse
shape than I ever imagined he was. If I ever get my hands on John he's
going to pay so bad..... Now what can I do to help?"

 "Steven? What do you think should happen? You're the only one close to
him. Although you're a stranger it sounds like you took good care of
Chris. I'm tied up in the States here. I hope I can get out of my
obligations, but I need you to stay close to Chris until I get there."

"Lance, I'll try to watch out for Chris. But I don't know him like you
do. Besides that he has a very hard time trusting people right now. He
feels betrayed. I'm a stranger to him, no matter what happened earlier
today. I know nothing of his life. I can't relate to what he's going
through everyday. You can. He needs somebody that understands him. But I'm
repeating myself. Bottom line is that you need to get your ass over here."

"Do you think it's possible to wake Chris up so I can talk to him?"

"I don't think so Lance. It took hours before he fell asleep. I don't want
to wake him if he's still sleeping.

"I'm awake Steven. Can you please give me the phone so I can talk to
Lance?"

"Chris, what are you doing up? Did I wake you?"

"No you didn't. I sensed you weren't beside me anymore. I guess I got
paranoid again and wondered if you weren't connected to John in some
way. But after hearing you talk with Lance I know that's not true. I'm
sorry I doubted you."

"Don't worry about it. Here, I'll let you talk to Lance. I'll be in the
other room if you need me. Lance, Chris is awake. I'll give the phone to
him so you two can talk for a bit."

Steven handed Chris the phone and started to walk to the bedroom. But Chris
pulled him back. "Stay here Steven. I'm going to tell Lance a bit from what
happened and I want you to hear it as well. I trust you enough now to let
you in my private life. You've shown that you truly care about my well
being. I don't know how it happened, but somewhere during this day I've
come to think of you as a friend."

"I'm grateful that you say those words Chris, but you don't need to prove
your friendship this way. I'm still a stranger in many ways and what you've
been through is very private. Go talk with your friend. Our time will
come."

And with these words Steven left the room so that the two very close
friends could talk about what happened the last two days. Chris told Lance
everything, including meeting Steven. He left out the story why Steven
reached out to him. That was something between him and Steven. Lance had no
business knowing that.

Steven had tried to stay awake in case Chris would need him in any way, but
the last day had exhausted him too much. Slowly but surely his eyes
closed. Until he sensed Chris was crying. He didn't actually hear it, he
just knew it. He got up again and went into the other room to find a crying
Chris. Without saying a word Steven just hugged Chris. They sat there for a
moment so that Chris could calm down again.

"Thanks Steven. How did you know I was crying? I tried not to wake you."

Steven shrugged. "I sensed you were in trouble, so I reached out to
you. Can't really explain it any other way."

"Thanks for that. Lance wanted to talk to you too. Since you're awake, I'll
give him back to you now. I can't talk about it anymore. It still hurts too
much.

"Yes Lance. You wanted to speak to me?"

"I do. Thank you for looking out for my buddy. It hurts me that I can't be
there for him the way he needs me to. I'm working on it so that I can get
there as fast as I can. In the mean time I'll trust him to you. Chris has a
hard time trusting strangers. What happened with John didn't exactly raise
his level of confidence in people. I'm glad he trusts you the way he
does. Don't be discouraged if he closes down on you. That has more to do
with him than with you. I'm sorry for the way I reacted earlier, but you
have to understand..."

"Say no more Lance. I completely understand why you reacted the way you
did. It just overwhelmed me a bit. I mean, you called and woke me up. I
have a lousy history with midnight phone calls. They usually bring me a lot
of grief. I'm glad that this time it gave a friend of mine some hope. Or at
least a listening ear he could use very well. I hope you'll get here
soon. He needs you, you know."

"I have a feeling you're doing fine so far Steven. I think you're just the
person he needs. Somebody with a bit more distance from his life and yet
not overwhelmed by his fame or anything. Just by talking to you I can
understand why he decided to trust you. Don't betray that trust please."

"I won't. Now you go and make the necessary arrangements. Chris and I
probably won' be here during the day, but I think he'll keep his cell on
for you or other people that want to reach him. I don't know if the other
guys of Nsync will be told, I'll leave that up for you two to discuss.."

"I forgot all about that. The other guys need to know sometime. I'll deal
with that later on. Of course they'll want to know why I'm bailing out of
important stuff to see Chris. I have to talk to Chris about that. Thanks
for reminding me. See, you're already thinking like a true friend."

"Either way, this friend is going to bed Lance. Whatever you want to talk
about will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm truly exhausted. I won't be
surprised if Chris is already sleeping. Take care and get your butt here as
fast as you can."

"You'll see my butt before you know it. In the meantime, take care of Chris
for me please."

"Will do. Goodnight Lance."

"Goodnight Steven."

Steven hung up and carried the phone back to the bedroom. To his amazement
Chris was still awake. "What are you doing still awake? I gather that
conversation with Lance must have worn you out quite a bit."

"It did. But I couldn't go to sleep. I haven't slept alone in such a long
time I wouldn't know how to do it. I was waiting for you to get into bed."

"I guess being used for bed filling by an nsyncer isn't the worst thing
that could happen to me. Just don't let it happen too often."

Chris laughed. "Well, I have to master sleeping alone again some other
time. Right now I want you besides me."

"Shall I sing you a goodnight song? You'd have to ignore the squealing I
regularly do when I sing. But I love to sing, so you might be hearing it
more often."

"Sure, you can sing for me."

"Any requests?"

"Surprise me."

Softly Steven started to sing.

When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone, when you're
sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on.

Don't let yourself go, everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes.
Sometimes everything is wrong.  Now it's time to sing along.

When your day is night alone, (hold on, hold on) if you feel like letting
go, (hold on) when you think you've had too much of this life, well hang
on.

Everybody hurts.  Take comfort in your friends.  Everybody hurts.

Don't throw your hand. Oh, no.  Don't throw your hand.  If you feel like
you're alone, no, no, no, you are not alone

If you're on your own in this life, the days and nights are long, when you
think you've had too much of this life to hang on.

Well, everybody hurts sometimes, everybody cries.  And everybody hurts
sometimes.  And everybody hurts sometimes.  So, hold on, hold on.

Hold on, hold on.  Hold on, hold on.  Hold on, hold on.  (Everybody
hurts. You are not alone.)

Chris listened as Steven was singing to him. "I'm lucky that Steven decided
to try and help to me. Without him this would have been a lot more
difficult." Chris let his mind wander a bit while listening to Stevens
voice. "Wouldn't it be great if Steven and I could actually become good
friends? He has so much going for him. He seems to know a deal about love
and its downsides, otherwise he wouldn't be able to help me. Maybe..."

Chris didn't finish that thought. Stevens' singing put him to
sleep. Meanwhile Steven was having other thoughts. "How will you get
through this all Chris? You have to deal with so much happening in so
little time. No real friends around, just me. I just hope I can help you
the way you need me to help you."

Next morning came. And next afternoon. Chris woke up at about 3 in the
afternoon to find Steven in the other room.

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"You needed your sleep Chris. I can hang out in a hotel room. I've done it
before and I'll probably do it again if I have to."

"Yeah but now you got stuck here doing nothing while you could be out there
enjoying the city."

"I'll do that another time when I'm in Paris. After all, Paris is only my
most favorite city in the world. Nothing beats Paris."

"Nothing? Sound to me you've never been to the States."

"That's right. And I must admit I'm perfectly happy with that."

"Are you dissing my country?"

"You got a problem with that?"

"I'll show you a problem."

Chris jumped on Steven and started to wrestle with him. They continues to
wrestle for a while, trying to get the upper hand. In the end Chris got the
upper hand and pinned Steven. Both of them were laughing their heads off by
now.

"Where did you learn to wrestle like that?"

"Touring with four other guys while you have nothing better to do tends to
improve your wrestling skill. You should try it sometimes."

"Nuhhuh. I may be gay, but I'm not going to travel with four other guys in
a way too small place to start with. You must have seen just about
everything from the other guys."

"More than enough. Thank you for reminding me of that." Chris accompanied
the comment with a push.

"Hey hey, no pushing the Dutch guy. There's delicate material attached to
my body somewhere. Not that I know where it is, but it's supposed to be
somewhere."

"You have a beautiful body Steven and you know it. There's absolutely
nothing to be ashamed for."

"You really mean that?"

"Yes I do."

Chris looked at Steven lying beneath him. He leaned in, slowly moving his
head downwards....

Done! Another chapter completed. Never knew I would take the story to this
point. From here on there might be less misery and more happiness.. It's up
to you to decide though. Contact me at this address:
flower_writing@yahoo.com

Music is by REM (as if I need to tell that to you) Everybody hurts, on
their magnificent album Automatic for the people