Date: Sat, 20 May 2000 05:12:19 EDT From: Gabriella Morrison Subject: My Surprise Romance 1-2 Hi everyone! After reading everyone's stuff on Nifty for quite some time, I decided to start writing a story of my own. I hope everyone likes it --I'm a bit nervous--so if people could please e-mail me at sweetheart_stories@hotmail.com--I'd really appreciate it. I love e-mail!!! The sex will be coming in further chapters, but I really wanted to write a story. P.S. I'm a girl, so please don't hold it against me DISCLAIMER: This is a fictional story that came right out of my own mind. I have no knowledge if any member of N Sync are gay or whatever. That being said, please enjoy the story and remember--write me!!! My Surprise Romance Chapter 1 I had awaken that morning to the sound of my sister letting loose a blood curdling scream. And while my first instinct was to bolt out of my warm, comfortable bed, my second instinct realized that this was some sort of `tragedy' that my sister went through regularly. After all, she is a eleven year old girl. slowly becoming obsessed with things that eleven year old girls were obsessed with. And I was right. No more than two seconds later, after that blood curdling shriek had left her lips, my bedroom door flew open and a hysterical Natalie was standing there, her body shaking, tears streaming down her face. Her blond hair was mussed up and her mouth was hanging open, in a desperate attempt to breathe properly. "Natalie--what's wrong?" I yawned, trying to show a little more enthusiasm for her obvious problem. She stood there, unable to speak and when the words did leave her mouth, they came out in a hysterical shriek. "IONICKTSOSNC!!!" I closed my eyes, and pulled myself from the warm safety of my bed. I walked over to my sister, and placed my hands on her shoulders. "Slowly...Natalie..." I said, looking into her eyes. "What's wrong?" "I won tickets to N Sync!!!!" she shrieked, trying to compose herself. Her newfound composure didn't last long, and it was only seconds before Natalie shook herself free of my grasp and ran out of my bedroom. "Angela's gonna die when she hears this!!!" I heard her yell as her footsteps pounded down the staircase. And me? All I could do was roll my eyes and fall back into my bed. I had just dozed off, when I heard footsteps padding back up the staircase. I listened to their sound and wasn't surprised to hear that they were making their way into my room. I felt someone's presence standing over me and when I opened my eyes, I saw my mother standing over me, a smile playing on her lips. "Morning, Stephen," she said. "I supposed you heard your sister's good news." I sat up in my bed and scratched my wayward brown hair, awaken from my peaceful slumber for the second time that morning. "Yeah..how could I not?" I asked her, with a laugh. "Natalie's really excited, huh?" "Elated," my mom laughed, taking a seat on the edge of my bed. "You know how she's been moping around since she found out the concert was sold out." I nodded my head, and rubbed my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, that's all I've heard about for the past six weeks," I said, rolling my eyes. I gave my mother a scrutinizing stare, knowing full well that she came into my bedroom for a specific purpose. I'm not sure if I was blessed with the gift of intuition or if after twenty-one years, I just knew my mother too well. Whatever the case, I was right. "Stephen," she began slowly. `I know you don't work tonight, but..." "Oh God," I muttered. "Here it comes." My mother gave me a disapproving look. "I want to know if you'll take your sister to the concert tonight. She won four tickets and she's already on the phone talking to Angela and Beth. It would break her heart if I told her that she couldn't go because her brother felt he was too manly to go to a boy-band concert." At that word, my mother and I both cringed slightly at my her use of `manly' . Ever since I had come out to her, things between us had been a bit, to say the least, strained. Even entering my room had been a big deal for her since I had broke the news. As her only son, I had let her down, big time. I suddenly knew how important this concert was, for both my sister and me. I looked at my mom, who was carefully staring at me, not wanting to say anymore. "How'd she win them?" I asked my mom. She smiled, knowing that I was caving in. "Off the radio station--she's been on the phone since six a.m., calling her heart out." "And she won?" "Yup. Four tickets, backstage passes and a pre-show dinner." I looked at my mom in surprise. "And dinner." I whistled. "Not bad." I felt my steely demeanor as well as my sleepiness fading. I was actually excited for Natalie. And I didn't feel like disappointing my mother any more than I already had. "Alright, I'll go," I said, trying to sound reluctant. I didn't want to be the one to spoil my sister's happiness, and hey, at least I'd get out for awhile I was trapped in the car with three, screaming giggly girls, my car's stereo blasting N Sync music out of the speakers. As I reached a red light, I rubbed my temples, not full understanding how I, Stephen Peterson, had wound up here. I didn't even like this kind of music, let alone understand why these girls in the car were screaming their heads off at just pictures of the boy-band, in the magazine they had brought along. "Girls," I said, trying to let myself be heard over the shrieking. Surprisingly enough, they all heard me. `What's wrong, Stephen?" The one named Beth asked me, her red corkscrew curls sticking out of her head, as if she'd been electrocuted. "I'm really happy for you girls, but could you stop screaming?" When their faces all fell like ruined souffles, I quickly added, "You girls don't want to lose your voices when you're talking to N Sync, do you?" "OHMIGOD!" my sister squealed, turning to her friends in the backseat. "Were going to be talking to THEM!!!" It was useless really, and for a second I tried to put myself in their shoes, but it was impossible. The screaming only grew louder as I pulled my car through the gates of the arena. "Excuse me," I said, as I pulled up next to the guard's booth. I quickly explained to him who I was, and he gave me a sympathetic, understanding smile. He checked his clipboard, searching for my name. "A-ha, Stephen Peterson and guests?" he asked. I nodded and he gave me directions to the back parking lot, where `VIP's' as he put it, were directed to go. I thanked him and smiled. I was a VIP, I thought with a grin as I pulled my car into an empty space. Even before I could shut off the car's engine, the three girls had let themselves out of the car and were now jumping around, squealing at each other. "Girls!" I yelled at them. "Please don't run off. I don't need to be held responsible for losing you!" But my `stern' words were lost as they giggled amongst themselves, not even hearing me. We somehow made it to the back entrance of the arena where a stern, burly looking man was guarding the entrance. His expression changed when he saw the three girls, tightly clutching their N Sync memorabilia. "Hi," I said to him. "My name is Stephen Peterson. My sister here," I motioned to Natalie who was babbling incoherently to her friends, "won four tickets this morning from the WKSS giveaway and I was told to come here." The guard looked at his clipboard and found my name. "Ah yes, Peterson and guests. See that woman there?" He pointed to an important looking woman in a business suit. "She's the head of WKSS--she was looking for you earlier. Just go see her and she'll fill you in on all the details." The guard bent down to Natalie and her friends. "Have a great time girls," he said to them, a smile appearing on his face, "We will!" they shrieked in unison, nearly knocking him over with the force of their words, before walking over to the important-looking woman. She greeted us in that fake, business-like way that most people in charge greet you with. Her name was Laura Simmons, and she was the head of promotions with the radio station. "You must be the girls chaperone," she said to me. "Stephen?" "Yeah, so what `re we doing now?" I asked her. She pulled a string of backstage passes from behind her and I swear to God, I thought the girls were going to faint right there on the spot. "Now, if I'm not mistaken," Laura began. "You won our special Dinner with N' Sync contest, am I right?" she asked the girls. My sister, who was normally so bubbly and outgoing, was struck speechless at the idea of dinner with N' Sync. I answered for them. "Yup, dinner and front row seats." "And these," she said, handing each one of us the passes. The girls each took them, placed the laminated passes around their necks and then promptly screamed at each other for the hundredth time that night. "Now," Laura said, smiling at the girls. "Come with me." She led us down a dark, narrow corridor, and for the first time in the last few hours, the girls next to me were silent. And then we heard talking, followed by loud laughter. The girls next to me stopped dead in their tracks, wide-eyed and in shock. "Oh my God, was that JC?" Natalie whispered. "Oh my God, it was!!!." Laura knocked on a closed door. A hastily scribbled sign that read, "No Entrance without Permission," was tacked up crookedly with a blue push pin. "Natasha!" she yelled out. "All clear," someone from behind that door yelled back. She looked at me, with an apologetic shrug. "It's my code name," she explained, with a laugh as we heard the door unlock and then swing open. At once, Natalie, Angela and Beth screamed. The five members of N Sync, gave each other humorous looks, before one of them with flaming red hair, stood up and walked over to my sister. "Hey, there," he said. "Why are you screaming at us? Are we that scary?" he made a hideous face at my sister, and she giggled in nervousness. "Come on in," one of the guys called out. "Plenty of seats." My sister and her friends walked in timidly as if though they were scared and took three seats next to each other in a prison-like fashion. Gingerly, I picked up my hand and waved at the five guys. "Hi everyone." I paused before adding, "I'm your biggest fan." That got some laughs out of the guys, as I took a seat next to one of the guys with straight blonde hair. I watched my sister manage to squeak out a sentence and soon gradually grow more and more comfortable with the N Sync guys. My sister and her friends obviously had their favorite members, as they gravitated towards each separate member. Beth obviously had a `thing' for the one named JC, Angela was rapidly speaking to Chris and my sister was torn between Justin, the curly headed kid, and Joey. Which left one member talking to none of the girls. "Well," he said with a chuckle. "I can see I'm no one's favorite in this room." "Sorry," I heard myself apologize. "The girls are just nervous and really, really excited." He let out a laugh. "I can see that. It's not unusual--most of the fans are like this, so we pretty much know how to handle `em." He leaded forwards, resting his elbows on his knees. "So you're the girls chaperone?" he asked me. I nodded. "Actually, the blonde is my sister, Natalie, and those are her two friends, Beth and Angela. She won the tickets this morning and my mom managed to get me to chaperone them tonight." I shook my head. "I couldn't say no to her," I said, pointing to my sister. "That's really great of you." He cocked his head towards me. "What was your name again?" "I don't think I've been introduced--the name's Stephen--with a `p'," I said, extending my hand. "Lance." He rolled his eyes,, "Well, if you want to be technical, it's James. Lance is my middle name." "Oh, it's nice to meet you," he said, as we shook hands. "I bet you one of the girls could have told me that though." "Not a fan?" he asked me., with a smile on his face. I cleared my throat. "Not really--sorry," I said, cringing a bit. "No problem--its really rare that we see guys come out to our concerts. Most of them come with their sisters or girlfriends or whatever," Lance said, watching my sister and her friends interact with the rest of the band. "Hey who's hungry?" Joey shouted. "I'm famished." He looked at the girls. "Hey, you girls wanna got something to eat with us?" My sister had calmed down considerably to my surprise, and she answered Joey as if they had been friends for a lifetime. "I'd love to get something to eat," she said, smiling so wide, the gap where she lost her tooth showed. To my surprise, Lance turned to me. "You going to get some food with us, Stephen?" Lance asked me, giving me a smile. "Sure," I said, getting off the seat. "Why not." I'm not sure if you could call it `dinner'. During the meal, the guys mostly goofed off, making sure that Natalie, Beth and Angela were entertained. To my surprise, however, Lance was the only one who barely participated, opting to talk to me instead. "So how old are you?" he asked me over our Mexican food. "Twenty-one--just turned it last month." "Hey, same here," he said, waving his fork around. "How'd you celebrate?" "My friends took me out drinking," I said, after taking a sip of water. "And you?" "Same here," he said. "But to be honest," he said lowering his voice, so the girls wouldn't hear, "We go out all the time and no one ever asks for ID. So my twenty-first was the first *legal* time I could drink." "I can imagine," I said, with a smile. "One of the perks that come with the job, huh?" "You got it," he said, winking at me. He was about to say something else to me, but he was cut off by the large chunk of food that whizzed past my head. I looked over and saw JC with a hand clamped over his mouth. "Whops, sorry man," he said. "Are you okay?" "Fine," I answered as they went back to the impromptu food fight between JC and Justin. I turned back to Lance. "You were gonna say something?" I asked him. He stared at me for a second, blankly, and then shook his head. "Uh, yeah--are you coming to the show tonight?" Lance asked after taking a sip of his pop. I nodded. "Front row seats--it'll be hard not to miss us." I looked over at the three girls who, by the looks of their faces, were in ecstasy. "Great, I guess I'll see you then." I couldn't help but notice that the expression on his face was once of disappointment and for some reason I couldn't help but feel the same way. Lance was a pretty nice guy and I wouldn't have minded talking to him a little more. "We have backstage passes after the show," I said, fishing the backstage pass that had found it's way under my shirt. I showed it to him. "See?" "Hey, that's great," he said, a smile reappearing on his face. Suddenly, a man poked his head through the door. "Hey guys," he called out. "I hate to bother you, but you have to start getting ready." I looked around the table to see disappointed looks on everyone's faces, especially Natalie, Angela and Beth's. "We'll see you guys after the show, won't we?" Natalie said, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. JC came over to her side. "Hey, don't cry--of course we will. You got the passes right?" he asked her, putting his arms around her. She showed him the pass and he hugged her. "I'll see you girls after the show then!" JC said, as he left the room. One by one, each member said good bye to the girls and left. Lance was the last one to leave. "Sure I'll see you after the show?" he asked me. "Yup, wouldn't miss it for the world," I laughed as he hugged each of the girls good-bye. And to tell you the truth. I wouldn't. Chapter 2 The concert, to say the least, was incredibly good. I wasn't used to this kind of concert, involving pyrotechnics and what not. My habitats were more in dark, smoky clubs, but even I was in awe of the show. And while the music was not my style, even I had to say it was enjoyable. I watched the five guys of N Sync as they danced around the stage in their flashy costumes. For some bizarre reason, my eyes kept drifting to Lance. `Stop it,' the voice in the back of my mind told me. `Stop it and grow up.' But my eyes refused to listen to that voice. I kept thinking of how well we had gotten along before the show and for some reason, I couldn't believe that the same relaxed person I had been chatting with before, was the same guy on stage. Next to me, the girls were screaming their heads off, going insane. I was surprised they had any energy left by the time the concert was over and we had made it backstage. It was a mad house there. People running back and forth, roadies dismantling the stage and groupies trying to find the members of N Sync. I saw Laura from promotions, scurrying around, when she spotted me and the girls. "Stephen!" she exclaimed. "I'm glad I found you. Would you and your guests like to see the guys again?" "Yes!!!" the three girls squealed. I smiled at Laura. "Makes it unanimous," I said, with a laugh as she led us through crowds of people before we reached the guys, who were in the middle of signing autographs for their fans. Just then, Chris spotted us standing there. "Hey," he called out, waving us over to them. I grabbed onto Natalie's hand and we made out way through the throng of people. "So how'd you like the show," Justin asked the girls. "It was great!!" Beth exclaimed, her voice coming out in a shrill squeal. "Awesome!!!" Angela yelled bouncing up and down. I smiled at them and then looked at the guys. "It was a great concert, guys," I said. "Not my type of music, but you put on a good show." JC smiled at me. "Thanks...Stephen, right?" "Right," I said, smiling back. Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Lance standing there, dressed in a pair of khaki pants and a gray shirt, who's writing was so faded, I the only word I could make out was `Mississippi'. "Hey, Stephen," he said. "Glad you managed to make it backstage." "So am I," I said, grinning before I realized that I must've looked like an idiot. I abruptly stopped smiling as Natalie began to pull on my hand. "Stephen," she said, "Did you hear what Justin said? They're gonna give us autographed CD's!!!" And with that, she pulled me in the direction that the rest of the guys went. I turned to smile at Lance. "Gotta go..." I managed to squeak out, before Natalie pulled my arm out of its socket. My sister pulled me over to a section of the backstage, where JC and Joey were jokingly fighting over the black marker that they were signing the CD with. Lance had just joined them and began signing a CD for each of the girls. Then he looked up at me, grabbing another CD out of a box. "Hey, Stephen--want one?" and before I could respond, he began to sign one of the brand new CD's and passed it to the other members. When Lance handed it me, I quickly read the scribbled black ink.. "To our biggest fan", it read and I let out a laugh. "Thanks you guys," I said. "Well, we should be going. " I looked at the girls. "I know three girls who wouldn't want to be late for their Monday classes tomorrow." Natalie let out a groan at my reminder of the real world. "Awww, Stephen," she said, but I placed my fingertips on her mouth. "Nat, I promised mom we'd be home by midnight," I told her. Grudgingly, she nodded and turned to say `bye' to the guys, who gave each of the girls a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I thought they we're going to die of excitement. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't get a kiss and a hug from a certain member, who I unhappily noticed had disappeared. JC came over to me then. "Hey, Stephen--know any good clubs around here?" he asked. I rattled off the ones that my friends usually frequented (lately, I hadn't been exactly the party type) and he thanked me. I gathered up the girls, as they gave one last wave to the four guys standing there. "Bye! Thank you!" the girls yelled, as we began to walk away from the noise and commotion. They began a high-pitched, giggly conversation as we waked from backstage, when I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head, and saw Lance standing there, a bit out of breath from running to catchup with us. "I didn't get to say good-bye to you," he said, a bit awkwardly. The girls were staring at him, in shock., not believing that one of the N Sync guys had come chasing after their chaperone. I couldn't believe it either to tell you the truth, and I found myself giving him a controlled smile. I didn't want to look too elated or eager. "Yeah, I noticed...but I figured you were off doing whatever pop stars do," I said to him. To my surprise, my heart was beating insanely fast. I could hear it in my eardrums and all I could think was `is this what the girls were going through tonight?' I mentally took back every annoyed thought I had with them, and managed to clear my throat. "I realized that I really didn't get to talk with the girls that much," Lance said, rushing through the words. "And I was wondering if there was a way I could get to talk to them." He was staring directly at me as he spoke these words, but the girls didn't notice. Instead they began to jump up and down and shriek. I wanted to do the same, but one of us had to stay calm. "Sure...I mean, is it okay with your manager and stuff?" I asked Lance, a bit uncertainly. He nodded, and I couldn't tear my eyes away from his amazing green ones. "That's where I was," he explained. "Talking with our road manager about this and he said it was fine, as long as I'm not late for our interview tomorrow morning." "You're still gonna be here tomorrow?" I said in surprise. Lance nodded. "Yeah, this city's our stopover before we head on to our next concert." He shuffled his feet. "So..what do you say?" "Yes!!!" Natalie answered for us and we all laughed. "Can't disagree with her," I said, as we began to head towards the exit. I seemed so calm, I thought as I watched Lance put on a frayed fisherman's hat and slip on a pair sunglasses. But to be honest, I was more nervous than the three girls next to me. Why would Lance Bass want to come home with me? Unless... I hoped you guys enjoyed this. Please remember to e-mail me with thoughts, suggestions and any comments at sweetheart_stories@hotmail.com!!! Thanks for reading!