Wow part seven. Several
people have e-mailed me wanting to know if I'll be continuing this story.
My response to them and anyone else who has been wondering is: the story
has just begun. In truth, I'll keep writing this as long as I feel
the need to write it and as long as people continue to express interest.
So here it is: Part Seven.
Disclaimer
This story is not meant to imply anything
about the sexuality of any of the characters portrayed within it.
It is a work of fiction. If you shouldn't read this (although there's
really nothing naughty in it at this point) then don't.
A Model Romance- Part Seven
Justin woke slowly, drifting in and out of consciousness
for several minutes. The blinds covering the windows only let in
a little bit of light, but it was enough to wake him. He became aware
of the arms encircling his chest and the warm body pressing up against
him. It felt so good to have Zack there, he never wanted it to end.
He gently rolled over, being careful not to disturb his sleeping beauty.
Something crossed Zack's peaceful face and his arms tightened around Justin.
Justin put his own arms around Zack and pulled him close, resting his chin
in Zack's tousled hair. He lay there listening to the sounds of his
boyfriend breathing and feeling the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest
with every breath. His boyfriend. The idea was so new it still
seemed weird, but there was something so very right about it. Beneath
him Zack stirred. He was finally waking up.
"Good morning sleepyhead."
Zack lifted his head up and gazed fondly at Justin.
His blue-green eyes were still blurry with sleep but a relieved expression
came over his face.
"Hey, I'm so glad you're here."
"Where else would I be?"
"I don't know, I was just afraid I had dreamed the
whole thing again and that when I woke up you'd be gone."
"What d' ya mean again?"
"Oh...nothing, I'll tell you later. So, do
we have to get up, or can I keep you all day?"
"Um, I think I know what my choice would be but
I have a concert tonight and if I'm not back at the hotel by ten they'll
call out the National Guard looking for me."
Zack rolled over and looked at the clock.
He stared at it for a minute and then his eyes widened.
"Justin do you know what time it is?"
"No, it feels like about eight, but..."
"It's 9:30."
"OH SHIT! Come on we've gotta get up!
Call a cab, c'mon let's go!"
"Wait a sec, what's all this we stuff? I'm
not the one who has to get out of bed. I have the day off."
Justin stuck his lip out and gave Zack what his
mom called the "sad-puppy look."
"No, I don't wanna get out of bed. Stop looking
at me like that," Zack whined.
"Please. I want you with me. Besides,"
Justin said with his sexiest smile, "I'll make it worth your while."
"Oh baby, maybe I just wont let you out of bed!"
Zack grabbed Justin around the waste as he tried to get out of bed and
pulled him back down. Justin squirmed, trying to get away, but Zack
pinned him down. Soon the bed was a complete mess and they were tangled
hopelessly in the covers. As they wrestled they rolled of the bed
and on to the floor. Zack wound up on top of Justin and planted a
kiss on his lips. Justin returned the kiss and they sank down into
the blankets exploring each other's mouths. After a few minutes Justin
broke the kiss.
"I really wish I could do that all day, but if I
don't leave now I'm gonna be late."
"I know, I supose since you got me out of bed I'll
come with."
"Good. Will you call a cab while I get dressed?"
"Forget a cab, I'll drive you, it'll be much faster."
They both quickly grabbed their clothes and ran
out the door and down to the parking garage. The tires of Zack's
BMW convertible screeched in protest as he sped out onto the street.
In almost no time at all they were at the Plaza hotel. It was 9:55
when the walked into the lobby. Suddenly Zack seemed nervous.
"Um, Justin, how are you planning on explaining
this to everybody."
"What's there to explain? We went out last
night, I stayed at your place and we overslept. Seems pretty simple
to me."
"Yeah, but how is this going to look? I mean
I don't know if anybody knows about you, but I've never told anyone that
I...well that I'm...y'know..."
"Gay?"
"Shhh. Not so loud," Zack whispered fiercely.
He looked around as they got into the elevator. For the short time
that Justin had know Zack he'd always been calm, poised and totally in
control, but now he was a nervous wreck. As the doors shut, Justin
leaned over to kiss him but Zack jerked away. Justin was hurt by
that, but he could immediately see the regret on Zack's face.
"I'm sorry Justin. I'm...just still getting
used to this thing. I guess I'm a little paranoid. I'm not
sure how people are going to act when the find out."
"It's ok," Justin said. He squeezed Zack's
hand in his own. "I know how hard it was for me to come out the the
guys and they're still the only ones that know."
"You mean they know about you? Then they're
gonna think...I mean they're gonna know about us!"
"You really expect me to keep it from them?"
"No, but I...I...I don't know."
"Zack you can't keep hiding who you are from everyone.
I know we have to keep this out of the tabloids, but you can't hide from
your friends. Listen, if you don't want me to tell the guys anything
then I wont, but I promise they'll be fine with it. In fact I know
they'll be happy."
"How do you know?"
"Well they really like you, and...they sort of,
um, well I kinda had a crush on you and they all knew about it so..."
"You had a crush on me? I hadn't noticed."
Justin wanted to kiss him, but the doors opened
and he was afraid of being rejected again. Instead he gripped Zack's
hand firmly and lead him to his suite. He was just unlocking the
door when JC's head popped out from across the hall.
"Oh so you're finally back." He looked at
Zack with a smirk on his face. "I assume you two had fun last night."
Zack's face turned bright red which only encouraged
JC.
"Uh oh! Somebody's got a guilty conscience."
"Shut up JC," Justin said calmly. "Get back
in your room. Where is everybody?"
"They're all down in the conference room Justin.
We've been waiting for you. You've almost missed breakfast.
I just came back up to pick up some papers and see if you were back.
Better hurry up and get downstairs if you want anything to eat."
"I'm not hungry, but I guess we'd better get downstairs.
I just want to change clothes real quickly."
"Forgot to pack a change of clothes for your little
sleep over huh?"
"JC you are so rude sometimes. Now go downstairs.
We'll be down soon."
"Ok, but don't take too long. You wouldn't
want anybody to get the wrong idea."
Justin went to smack him, but he darted away down
the hall. Zack was still the color of a well-cooked lobster.
"I'm sorry babe, he's just messing around."
"Yeah, I know. This is just gonna take a little
getting used to."
"Uh huh. For me too. Come on inside
while I change. I didn't have the luxury of clean clothes to put
on this morning."
"I did offer to let you borrow something."
"Yeah, but all your stuff is that model crap.
You don't have anything comfortable," Justin laughed as he pulled off his
shirt. He changed into a pair of well-worn jeans and a sweatshirt.
After glancing at his hair in the mirror, he pulled out a bandana and put
it on."
Zack eyed him appraisingly. "If I were you
I wouldn't complain about my "model crap."
Justin shrugged. "It's comfortable."
"I can be just comfortable in a pair of khakis and
a nice shirt."
"Sure, but you don't look as comfy as me."
Zack rolled his eyes and Justin giggled. He
gave his new boyfriend a big hug and kissed him quickly.
"What's that for?"
"Just for being you."
"Gee that's sweet. You must want something."
"I do. I want you to come downstairs with
me and not let anyone bother you."
"Yeah. I guess I can do that," Zack said reluctantly.
"Would you rather stay here? If you want to
it's fine."
"No...I'll come with you. Gotta get it over
with sometime."
Justin smiled and kissed Zack again. "Let's
go."
I followed Justin downstairs. My heart was
pounding in my chest and I was breaking out in a sweat. I was headed
for a room full of famous pop stars and at least half of them were going
to know about me and Justin. I wasn't sure how to deal with it.
I had been raised to believe that being gay was wrong. I couldn't
fight my feelings for Justin, I knew I wanted to be with him, but at the
same time it was scaring me. There was no way to pretend I was anything
but who I was anymore. It was as if all the blinds had been torn
away, all the masks pulled off. I glanced over at Justin and he flashed
me another reassuring smile. He looked a little nervous too though.
And then we were walking into a conference room with a couple of tables
and a buffet set up at one end. I took one look inside and forgot
about my problems.
Britney was standing at one end of the room giving
Christina a stare that would freeze a bed of hot coals. Christina
was pretending she didn't notice as she flirted with AJ. JC and Brian
were yelling at Nick, who was shaking his head stubbornly. Howie,
Chris and Joey were arguing with one of their managers. Even as I
watched the man shook his head and walked past us out of the room.
Lance was sitting in the middle looking around helplessly. My mouth
dropped open and I stopped dead. I had never imagined such a scene
of utter chaos coming from a bunch of people who had to perform together
in a few hours. I'd heard the rumors about how they all hated each
other, but from what I'd seen at Justin's party that wasn't true.
And yet Britney and Christina looked ready to kill each other. Nick
saw Justin and his face got even darker, and Lance had buried his head
in his hands. Next to me Justin let out a loud sigh.
"I guess I should have warned you that we've been
having some minor problems."
"You call this minor?"
"Well most of it is no big deal. Christina
and Britney have never gotten along too well, and management is trying
to jerk us around."
"And what about Nick?"
"Oh...don't worry about that. I'll tell you
later."
I was sure he mumbled something under his breath
about much later or never, but I didn't get the chance to ask. As
people noticed us the conversations stopped. They all turned to stare
at us. I could feel my face getting red again. 'Oh my god they
all know,' I thought. Some of them certainly did. All the guys
from NSYNC wore little smirks on their face like the one JC had had on
earlier. Except for Lance, who seemed to be genuinely smiling.
There was no mistaking the satisfied smile on Britney's face. Brian
also smiled and then glanced worriedly at Nick. Nick shot me an icy
glare and then stormed out of the room. Christina whispered something
to AJ, who nodded, and then eyed me thoughtfully.
"They all know," I whispered fiercely to Justin
through clenched teeth.
"I don't know how unless..."
"What?"
"Well I think Nick knew about my feelings for you
and JC has a big mouth sometimes, but I didn't think..." He let out
another sigh.
"So Curly," Chris said, "you almost gave management
a collective heart attack last night."
"Yeah...well I didn't feel like having security
tag along last night. You all remember Zack I think?"
There was a chorus of greetings and somebody, I
thought Brian, made a comment about my sobriety. That got a laugh
and I felt some of the tension melting away.
"We were starting to wonder if you were coming back
Justin." From the look on Joey's face I knew what was coming next.
I felt my stomach getting queasy. "Why don't you tell us all about
where you went and what you did." He eyes flashed mischievously.
"I want to hear all the details."
Now it was Justin's turn to blush. "Joey I
think you and everyone else here already knows damn well what I did last
night. And as far as...details, well there are none so piss off."
"Ok fine." He turned to me and smiled a little
too nicely. "Anything you'd like to add Zack? We're all listening."
"You're not going to make this easy are you?"
"Consider it payback for getting me so drunk."
I was trying to find the words to say, but my mouth
wouldn't open. I looked to Justin for support, but he was just waiting
expectantly. I knew I needed t say something, to tell them about
me and Justin. I owed him that much. This might be all the
recognition I could ever give our relationship. This made it official
and we both knew it. But still the words wouldn't come. As
usual Britney stepped in to bail me out.
"Joey stop being such a pain. It's good to
see you again Zack." She came over and gave me a big hug. "Come
have some breakfast with us and then you can help us iron out the details
of the concert."
"No," I managed at last. The words came finally,
if a little haltingly. It was strange because I always spoke so smoothly,
and I was always composed. Now I could hear the nervousness in my
voice, but I went on. "I have something I think you all need to hear.
Well, maybe it's something you already know, but I need to say it anyway.
I, um, well I'm gay and as of last night Justin and I are going out.
There, that's done. Now I hope you all don't hate me."
"Of course not man," Joey laughed. "I'm sorry
if I made you sweat. I was just messin with ya."
"Yeah dude," Chris added. "We're all cool
with it."
"I know I couldn't be happier," JC said. "Now
Curly can stop being so freakin moody."
That got another laugh and I felt relief wash over
me. That much was over at least. Justin squeezed my hand and
I held onto it. He looked at me, his blue eyes sparkling with delight,
and smiled.
"OK, well this is all really great," Howie said,
"but we've got to get down to business. I just finished talking to
Gary and he told me management still isn't happy with everybody's performance.
They want us to head over to the Garden and rehearse some more."
"What! That's crazy!" JC was on the
verge of yelling. "Any idiot knows you don't rehearse the day of
a performance!"
"I know that, and they don't want us to do anything
hard, just run over the order of things, and who sings what parts.
Just some fine tuning. No real singing or dancing."
"That should be perfect for some of us," Christina
mumbled. It was perfectly obvious she meant it for Britney.
"I'd like to see you do half the dance steps that
I do you little..."
"Hey! Time out girls." Justin stepped
in between the two pop queens. "We all know that nobody could do
the stuff Britney does and still be expected to sing."
"I'm sure you could do it Justin," Christina said
sweetly. "You have real talent. That's rare in this business."
"Why you little..."
I put a restraining hand on Britney's shoulder.
Justin went on, ignoring Christina.
"Since we're all doing the same choreography this
time Britney will be able to sing. That'll prove to everyone
that she can. Personally I never had any doubts."
Christina mumbled something about Mili Vanili and
went off the the buffet. I felt Britney tensing up but I squeezed
her shoulder to let her know it was ok. She turned and whispered
to me.
"I can sing live, I've done it before and she knows
it." In spite of her words she looked a little nervous.
"Hey Brit don't worry. Even before I met you
I never blamed you for not singing at those concerts. Justin's right.
Nobody could dance like that and still be expected to sing very well."
"I'm just sick of everybody thinking I'm some bimbo
with no talent."
"For what it's worth I know you're not."
She smiled up at me and gave me a hug. "Thanks
Zack, you're the best. I know you'll make Justin happy."
"I hope so."
Just then my stomach growled. Britney and
I both started laughing.
"Guess that means it's time to eat. Help yourself
to the food."
"Thanks I intend to."
As if my stomach had reminded everyone of their
hunger they all fell in line behind me at the buffet. I loaded my
plate up with scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon and fresh fruit. I
sat down at one of the tables and started smearing butter on my pancakes.
"I thought models weren't supposed to eat," JC said
as he sat down across from me. I noticed his own plate was nearly
twice as full as mine.
"Oh we can eat as long as we go puke it back up
when we're done."
"You had better not," Justin exclaimed as he took
a seat next to me. "I don't like my men too skinny."
"And just exactly how many men do you have," I said
pretending to be suspicious.
"You're the only one I need."
"Oh man I think I'm gonna be the one puking."
"JC your just jealous," Britney said as she sat
next to him. "I can't say I blame you though."
"You damn well should be jealous woman. Not
many people are as good-lookin as me."
"Keep dreaming Justin. I meant jealous of
you. Your boyfriend's a hottie."
"Well just remember he's my boyfriend."
Justin reached over and took a strawberry from my plate.
"Hey! I don't really mind being talked about like
a piece of luggage, but I draw the line at people stealing my food!"
Justin shrugged. "Just because I don't want
you too skinny doesn't mean you can get fat."
"Oh so you only want me for my looks" I sniffed
and pretended to be hurt. "I'm just a toy for your amusement.
Is that it?"
Justin smiled and popped another strawberry into
his mouth. "Yup, pretty much."
I gave him and evil look and slapped his hand away
as he reached for the last one. "I don't mind being a boytoy, but
nobody eats all my strawberries.
Justin gave me a pouty look. "Not even me?"
"Nope," I said, putting the last strawberry in my
mouth. "Strawberries are my favorite food," I added with my mouth
full.
Looking around the room I could see everybody sitting
down to eat at other tables. The earlier tension seemed to have returned.
I decided to get some answers.
"I have a question."
"Sure thing scooter. Ask away."
"Ok first I'll ask you to never call me scooter
again." JC grinned and I went on in a quitter voice. "What
is the deal with you all? Last time I saw you guys you were all getting
along really well and now...well it looks like things aren't so hot."
I glanced around at the other tables. Joey,
Chris, and Lance were eating at one table. Four out of five Backstreet
Boys were at another, with Nick missing in action. Christina was
sitting by herself and trying to pretend like it was because she wanted
to.
"If this is none of my business just tell me."
"No you've got a right to ask. Especially
if..." JC stopped and changed what he was going to say "Well
you've got a right to know. I'll leave it at that. Officially
things have always been a little tense between us. Just normal competition
for fans, fighting for studio time, appearances, stuff like that.
It comes with the business. But what people don't realize is that
that competition is between our managers. On the unofficial, behind
the scenes level we all normally get along pretty well. We respect
each other as artists and we have a lot in common. Well," he amended,
glancing at Britney and then Christina, "most of us respect each other."
"Well that makes sense, but it doesn't explain what
I'm seeing."
"Right, I know. I wasn't finished."
"Sorry."
"No problem. So anyway if we seem to stay
in our own little groups that's just because it's what we're used too.
We all know the people in our own bands a lot better and we tend to hang
out when we're on tour. But now things have changed a little.
With this tour a lot of our songs have been mixed up and we're all working
very closely together. As you probably know anytime you throw a bunch
of people together who aren't used to working together there's a little
bit of friction. Nothing more than that, and I'm sure it'll be worked
out by tonight."
"OK, but that still doesn't explain Nick."
JC winced and Justin tensed beside me. JC
opened his mouth, but Justin spoke first.
"I think I'd better take this one JC." Justin
took a deep breath and looked like he was trying to work out what to say.
Finally he went on. "Nick and I kind of had an argument the night
of my party two weeks ago. He hasn't spoken to me since."
I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Suddenly
I wasn't hungry anymore. "This...this is all my fault then, isn't
it? Because of what happened between me and Nick."
"No! It's not your fault at all! Zack,
please I don't want you thinking you're to blame! This has been coming
for a while, and in a way it's my fault." JC started to protest but
Justin cut him off. "No JC it is my fault. But I don't want
to get into it right now."
"Justin if this is because of something I did,"
"Stop!" I jumped at the ferocity in Justin's
voice. He took me by the shoulders and stared into my eyes.
"Please don't think that this is your fault at all. I don't want
you to feel guilty for something I did. Or something Nick did.
I know that what happened that night was not your fault and I wont have
you trying to blame yourself."
I couldn't help smiling. He was so sweet and
sincere. It had been a long time since I'd known anyone like that.
But I could tell he'd never lie to me, never try to trick me, and never
hurt me. It wasn't in his nature. We finished breakfast over
more mundane topics. Soon everyone was heading back to their rooms
to get ready to go to the Garden. As soon as Justin and I were alone
in his room I grabbed him and kissed him thoroughly.
"What was that for," he asked breathlessly when
I let him go.
"Just for being you," I said imitating his earlier
words.
"I hope you're not mocking me."
"If I was you'd know."
He raised an eyebrow, giving me a suspicious look
and then smiled. It was a seductive smile, the kind I often used
in photo shoots. The kind that taunted the observer, as if daring
him or her to do something. The photographers called it the "you
know you want me" look.
"You just better be careful what you say little
boy, or I'll have to wash your mouth out."
"With what," I asked imitating his face.
Instead of responding he turned and walked into
his bedroom. I followed him. Justin was quicker than he looked.
As soon as he had gotten out of my sight he must have darted behind the
door because that's where he was when I came in. He grabbed me from
behind and I had to fight the urge not to yell.
"Gotcha."
"Oh you're gonna pay for that one buster."
"And exactly what are you gonna do?"
He had a good point. He was holding me from
behind, his arms wrapped around my chest and pinning my arms to my sides.
I leaned forward until his feet were off the ground and lumbered over to
the bed, staggering under the extra weight. I rolled over onto the
bed with Justin underneath me. He let out a grunt as I landed on
top of him, but he didn't loosen his grip.
"Give up," I asked hopefully.
"Not a chance."
It took another five minutes for us to extricate
ourselves from each other and the bed. We were both breathing hard.
My breath wasn't the only thing that was hard.
"Ready to give up now?"
"Boy, you're just lucky I have to take a shower
and get ready to go."
"Well I'll be happy to postpone kicking your ass
until after your concert."
"Consider it a date."
"If you say so, but don't expect any flowers or
chocolates." Looking at the clock I added "I guess I should get going.
I need to take a shower and run a few errands before tonight."
"You don't want to stay?"
"I do, but there's not really time for us to both
take showers before you leave. And if I wait I'll never get my shopping
done before I have to meet David."
"Well there's always the obvious."
"And what makes you think I want to share a shower
with you," I asked sarcastically.
"Aside from the bulge in your pants you mean?"
"Oh kiss my ass. Not like you're any better."
"I can't help it if I'm easily excited. So
what's the matter, afraid you wont...measure up to my expectations?"
"You have a dirty little mind. I promise I
will surpass any expectation you might have. I'm just not sure if
your worthy of me."
"God you are full of yourself aren't you?"
"No more than you." We laughed for a minute
and then I turned serious. "So do you really want to do this."
He hesitated before responding. "Do you?"
"I don't know."
"Well neither do I."
"But you brought it up."
"Yeah well I was kidding."
"Me too, at first."
"Well I do want to..."
"But you're not ready?"
"No...I mean..."
"It's ok, I don't think I'm ready for that yet either."
"Can I ask you somethin?"
"Sure."
"Why do I feel like I'm twelve again?"
We both giggled and I added "Who knows, but I do
too."
"Ok, so I guess that's settled."
"Yeah, see you later?"
"Definitely. Can you meet me before the concert?"
"I think so. Where?"
"Come to my dressing room. I'll tell security
to let you in."
"Ok. I'll see you in a couple of hours then.
Good luck with rehearsal."
"Bye."
I kissed him quickly and left. I earned a
few suspicious looks from the security guards in the hall, but none of
them said anything. Maybe someone had already told them about me
and Justin, or maybe the didn't care about people coming out of his room,
only people going in. Whatever the case I could tell he wouldn't
be sneaking out again anytime soon. There were no fewer than eight
guards on the floor that had been reserved for the pop stars and two of
them were stationed outside of Justin's door. Thankfully I had parked
my car in the garage so I could avoid all the media and screaming fans
outside the lobby. If anyone saw me coming out they would probably
assume I'd been visiting Britney, but I didn't feel like answering any
questions. I checked my watch. I had only a few hours to get
what I needed before David's limo came to pick me up. I had no idea
where we were going for dinner, but knowing David we'd be on a tight schedule
and I didn't want to be running late. Giving myself a glance in the
vanity mirror in my car I decided to bypass my apartment and save the shower
for later. I didn't look as bad as I'd thought. Smoothing my
hair and slipping on my sunglasses, I pushed the button to lower the convertible's
top, turned on the heat and rolled out into the brisk fall weather.
Ok that's part seven. I know there's not a
whole lot going on right now but let me tell you why. First of all
this is sort of a transition between the first part of the story where
Justin and Zack are searching for each other and the next part which will
be about their relationship. The second thing is that I'm leaving
for Australia soon and I'll be gone for three weeks! I hope to squeeze
one more chapter out before I leave but in case I don't I didn't want to
leave anybody hanging. I want to get out another chapter for my other
story, The Darker Path before I leave so that's gonna be the first thing
I work on. Whatever the case I will be continuing both stories when
I get back. E-mail me as always at zack02cool@hotmail.com.