Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 02:49:00 EST
From: F E <faint_echo@hotmail.com>
Subject: love's faint echo part 4

This is part four of 'Love's Faint Echo', a story about lots of stuff that
NEVER happened. Okay? NEVER HAPPENED. It's not meant to imply anything about
anyone, particularly any members of any boy-bands mentioned. All for fun,
folks. And don't be reading it if you're not supposed to, okay? Okay.

PLEASE, let me know what you think of the story, and whether you're enjoying
it so far or not. There were a few of you who wrote last time, and it was
appreciated. Input is very welcome at:

faint_echo@hotmail.com

Thank you.

And now.....


*FOUR*

Shelby set aside the paper and stood from his chair, then went into the
kitchen to get himself something to drink.  He had read through the
entertainment sections of each of the three newspapers from the previous
day, as Joey had suggested, as well as those of the papers that had been
delivered that morning.

Coming back into the room, he looked at the small mountain of paper and
smiled.  "Lance was right.  There's no way I want to be sitting in that
audience."  Talking to himself was a habit that he had picked up over the
years that he had been living in the apartment.  Being alone so much, the
silence occasionally got to him and he had taken to speaking in order to
break it.

He picked up the papers again, organising them once more and folding them
back up, then carried them into the kitchen and dropped them into the
recycling.  After finishing his juice, he rinsed the glass out and placed it
in the dishwasher, and then went into the bedroom to get dressed for his
day.

Pulling on some boxer-briefs, he added a pair of black shorts and walked
back out into the living room and then into the hall, pressing the button
for the elevator as he pulled the double doors shut behind him.  The doors
of the elevator opened immediately as usual, and he stepped inside, already
thinking about what he was going to do in the workshop.  He wasn't sure if
he should start with the new block of soap or whether to carry on with one
of his wooden creations instead.

By the time he got to the workshop, he had decided to go with the wood.
Picking up his chisel from the workbench, he looked the carving over, trying
to get a feel for it once more, and decide exactly where and how to begin.
Once he had the image fixed in his mind, he set to work.

============

The buzzer surprised him, and he almost took off more shaving than he
intended, as well as part of a finger.  He jerked his hand back just in time
to save both, and checked the clock set into the wall above the door.
"Shit," he muttered, then dropped his tools and headed for the door.

He grabbed a towel on the way out of the workshop and wiped the dust and
wood bits off of his skin on his way to the street door.  Punching in the
code, he pulled the door open without a smile.

"Shelby."

"Jacob."

Neither one of them smiled as Jacob entered the building and stood waiting
for Shelby to close and latch it.  It had been made clear early on in their
'relationship' that Jacob was there for business, not for making friends,
and so any thoughts that Shelby might have had at first about getting to
know Jacob had been driven from his mind immediately.

There were only two things that Shelby knew about Jacob.  The first was that
Jackson paid his fee, and the second was that he could kick Shelby's ass
with both hands tied behind his back.  And he had repeatedly proven it.

Without a word passing between them, Shelby and Jacob walked together to the
elevator, and pressed the button for the fourth floor.  When they got there,
Jacob lagged slightly behind Shelby, allowing him to go first an open the
doors to the floor.  Neither one of them gave the games area of the room
even a glance, heading straight for the workout area, and the large mat that
was positioned in the center of the floor there.

Removing his jacket, Jacob slipped off his shoes and stood at the edge of
the mat, waiting for Shelby to take up his position.

Keeping his expression neutral was by now a simple feat for Shelby.  One of
the first things that Jacob had taught him was how to keep all emotion off
of his face and out of his movements.  With his years on the streets to draw
from, Shelby had been a fast learner.  He let his eyes grow cold as he
stepped onto the mat and took up position opposite Jacob.

When these sessions had first started, Shelby had thought that he was going
to be learning some form of martial arts, complete with fancy flips and
kicks.  However, while some of that was taught, he had been quickly informed
that that was not the case.  Jacob was there to teach him how to fight.  How
to defend himself and how to end an altercation in the fastest and cleanest
way possible.  There was no honor to be found here, just as there was none
to be found in a brawl.

A large part of Shelby's job description was protecting Jackson, and keeping
anyone from getting upstairs that didn't need to be upstairs.   In order to
do that, he needed to be able to protect himself and take care of any threat
that came up.  In the eight-plus years that Shelby had been working for
Jackson, he had rarely needed to draw on what Jacob taught him.

But still, two times a week, Jacob showed up at the door, and they went
through it all again, just in case.  Jackson was nothing if not thorough.
The only times that Shelby wasn't subjected to these workout sessions was
when Jackson was out of town, four weeks a year.  For those weeks, Jackson
freed Shelby from all responsibilities, so long as he was back and ready to
resume things once the week was over.

"Ready?" Jacob asked, looking through Shelby.

"Would it matter?"

There were really only two things that Shelby ever heard from Jacob.  His
name at the door, and the 'ready' on the mat.  After that, there was hardly
any talking whatsoever.  He had heard the occasional grunt while they were
sparring, when Shelby managed to land the odd blow, and very occasional
comments on his performance, but that was all.  Jacob wasn't getting paid to
chat.

They came together on the mat, and Shelby cleared his mind, thinking only
about how Jacob was moving, and how he needed to move to gain the upper
hand.  Bringing his hand around, he found Jacob's arm already there,
blocking the blow.  Spinning, Shelby broke away again, backing up slightly
and getting ready to go at him again.

==============

Shelby had just started to gain the upper hand when the phone rang, breaking
his concentration.  Normally, that wouldn't have happened; he'd learned
better than that. But this time, he knew who it would be, and he was looking
forward to the call.  The instant of hesitation was all that Jacob needed,
bringing his leg in a circle and knocking the wind out of Shelby, driving
him to the mat.

Shelby rolled away and stood up again, getting ready, but favouring his
side.  By now, Jacob had gotten used to Shelby being able to block his
moves.  When they had first started, Jacob had been slightly more vocal,
giving him instructions.  Their fighting had been real, but not forceful
enough to actually hurt one another, just enough to know that it would hurt
if delivered at full strength.  After Shelby became more proficient, that
had changed.  There was little to no instruction, and the blows became
painful if they landed properly.  Thankfully, they rarely did.

"Pay attention," Jacob grunted, getting to his feet as well.  He walked to
the side of the mat and pulled on his shoes again, grabbing his jacket.
Shelby limped slightly as he held up his finger, telling Jacob to wait, and
went to grab the phone.

"Hello?" he panted, still out of breath and still holding his side.  He knew
that there was going to be a bruise, but it was his own fault for not paying
attention.

"Shel?  You run for the phone or something?  You sound like you're out of
breath."

"Something like that," Shelby told him.  "Hey Lance, how's everything
going?"

"Slowly, but getting finished.  I talked to the tour people, and they've got
a pass and everything for you for tonight.  You won't need it to get in,
since you'll be with me....us....., but you might be asked while we're on
stage or something."

"I'll try and stay out of the way."

"We told you to stop saying that," Lance laughed.  "What are you up to?
You're still panting."

"Just working out a bit," Shelby said, looking over at Jacob.  He wasn't
paying any attention to Shelby's side of the conversation.  "I fell wrong."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, no problem.  Just should have been paying attention.  So what time do
I need to be ready?"

"How does a couple of hours sound?  Do you have to be there until a certain
time?"

Shelby checked his watch.  "I've got to be here until six.  After that, I'm
all yours."

Lance blushed, though Shelby had no way of knowing it.  "Okay, we'll be
there shortly after that.  We thought it might be nice to grab some dinner
first, if you're up for it."

"Sounds good to me.  Just hit the buzzer when you get here.  I'll likely be
in the apartment, so it might take me a minute to get to the door."

"That's okay, we'll wait.  Just try not to leave us out there too long.
Wouldn't want to be mobbed by a wayward band of fans."

"I'll be ready.  Make sure to tell Justin that I'll be fully dressed, too."

Lance laughed, and Shelby heard him pull the phone away and relay the
message.  Justin must have been there with him.  He heard them all laugh,
and then Justin's voice say "Good!" in the background.  "He's happy about
that," Lance laughed, coming back on the line.

"Yeah, I heard him."  Shelby heard Jacob clear his throat behind him, and
realized that he was still waiting to be let out.  That was one of the
drawbacks of being there.  Shelby and Jackson were the only two in the
building who knew the code to open the door, so one of them had to make the
trip down to let the few visitors they had out.  The most trusted of the
security people knew the code, but they were rarely at the house.  Their
knowledge was for absolute emergencies only, and they had the codes to every
similar lock in the building.  "Lance?  I've got to go take care of
something.  I'll see you when you get here?"

"Alright, Shel.  I'll see you then."

Shelby hung up the phone and went back to Jacob.  "Come on, I'll let you
out."

True to form, Jacob didn't answer.  He merely followed along behind as
Shelby led him back to the elevator and started it for the first floor
again.  When they got there, Jacob pulled on his jacket as Shelby punched in
the code at the door.  Without a word, Jacob was gone, and Shel got back
into the elevator, intending to grab a shower and relax before he went to
the concert.

=============

"Would you calm down?" Joey whispered to Lance.  They were sitting in the
back of their limo, on the way to pick up Shelby, and Lance looked about
ready to burst.  "You keep this up and you're going to tackle him at the
door."

Lance laughed a little and took a breath.  He'd been looking forward to
seeing Shelby again since about two minutes after they had left the night
before.  He noticed the way all of the guys were looking at him, and the way
they were all smiling.

"You going to make your move tonight, Scoop?" JC asked with a laugh.

Rolling his eyes, Lance tried to relax into the plush seat even further.  "I
don't have any moves, Josh.  You know that."

"That's on the dance floor," Joey laughed.  "I bet when it comes to guys,
you've got moves you don't even know about."

"His moves have moves," Justin laughed, enjoying how embarrassed Lance was
getting.  They all knew that he liked Shelby, and their jokes were their way
of making sure that he knew they were behind him.

"My moves are none of your business," Lance smiled around the back of the
vehicle.  "Honestly, I don't know.  I mean, is it really worth trying to
start something with Shel?  He's here, we're everywhere.  We'd never get to
see each other.  We don't even have much time to get to know each other to
figure out if there's anything there."

"There's something there," Chris assured him.  "I don't know if it's a
long-lasting relationship, but there's something.  He was checking you out
last night just as much as you were checking him out.  After he stopped
being half-naked, that is.  Before that, you were way in the lead."

"Shut up," Lance laughed, looking for something to throw at him.  "It's not
my fault he answered the door with no shirt on.  Where else was I supposed
to look?"

"No kidding," Joey backed him up.  "Did you see how fine he was?"  The guys
all laughed while Lance tackled Joey and started punching him.  "As much as
I enjoy having you on top of me, Scoop, don't you think you should save it
for Shelby?"

Lance punched him one last time and then sat back down.  "You guys keep this
to yourselves when Shel's around."

"Duh," Justin grinned.  "He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that you joke
about like that."

"Yeah, nice guy, but I don't think that he'd find it all that funny.  At
least, not until we knew him a little better."

"I wouldn't find it very funny either," Lance reminded them.  "I know that
you mean well, but this is kinda hard, you know?  I don't know what's going
to happen, and I don't need any of you trying to push the matter."  He had
focussed on Joey as he spoke, knowing that if any of them were going to do
something to nudge he and Shelby together, it would be Joey.

"Alright, man, message received.  Just don't mess this up because you're not
sure.  If it's meant to be, it won't matter that you're on the road all the
time.  Think about it like this:  it's not like Shelby's going anywhere.
You won't have to worry about someone else scooping him up.  Pardon the
pun."

Everyone except Lance smiled.  "So he'd be settling.  Maybe he's only
interested because he knows that the odds are against him meeting someone."

"That's not what I meant at all, and you know it," Joey said, putting his
hand on Lance's shoulder.  "I suppose that it's something you have to figure
out, but I don't think he'd be stupid enough to think that he was settling
for anything if you two got involved.  I do think that he's lonely.  He's
got to be.  But I think he's genuinely interested in you."

"Maybe you should talk to him and see," JC suggested.  "No harm in talking
about it.  He already knows that you're gay, and he did ask you out for
dinner."

Lance nodded and looked out the window.  "Maybe.  You guys have it easy, you
know."

"Bull," Joey said, smacking him in the leg.  "What's so easy for us?"

"At least the world knows who you're going to be interested in.  You can
just walk up and ask someone out if you want to.  And you don't have to
worry about shocking them, or looking at the wrong person in public."

"Okay, maybe it's easier most of the time," Chris conceded.  "And there's a
lot of crap that you've had to go through that we can only guess at, but
this is different.  You're both obviously interested in each other, and you
can be reasonably sure that you can trust Shelby even if things don't work
out.  I mean, he sees a total of four or five people a month, by the sound
of things.  And he doesn't give a damn about our being popular.  He's not
about to run out to the tabloids."

"So what do you guys think that I should do?"

None of them spoke up.  Lance wasn't sure if it was because they didn't want
to push him in one direction, or because they were afraid that he wouldn't
like the direction they were going to push in.  Finally, JC sat forward.
"We'll flip a coin."  He dug in his pocket and pulled out a quarter.  "Heads
you talk to him, tails you don't say anything."

"Flip a coin?"

"You got a better idea?" JC smiled, then flipped the coin and caught it in
the air, looking up at Lance.  "What do you want it to be?"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do.  You wanted it to come up one way.  Which way?"

Lance looked out the window, and they saw a small smile cross his face.
"Heads."

"There you have it," Joey laughed, then patted Lance's shoulder.  "So do you
want us to make ourselves disappear after the show for a while?"

"No.  Let's just see how things go."

"We're about to find out," Justin said, pointing out the window as the car
slowed.  "We're here."

Lance was silently elected to go and get Shelby.  Essentially, everyone
remained seated when he got up.  Smiling to himself, he threw the door open
and stepped up to the door.  He could feel their eyes on him as he reached
out and pressed the buzzer, then stood back and waited.

TBC...

PLEASE send any comments to faint_echo@hotmail.com

Thanks.