Nick and the Altos, Part 15

Here we go with Part 15 -- Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. Guess my story is starting to take off. I'm getting more and more email, which is great. I enjoy getting to know you guys.

One of the things that seems to be a tradition on here is for authors to mention some of their favorite stories... I have been an avid reader of quite a few: Brian and Me, Jamie's Romance, My Surprise Romance, Lance in Shining Armour, Studio in the Country, Lucky Me, Not Meant to Be, Twist of Fate, Mile High Meeting, Model Romance, Beneath It All and the list goes on. My email address is mikeylikesit80@hotmail.com, if you feel inclined to write and let me know what you think or just want to chat.

Now on to the standard disclaimers. I doubt that anything I write will make any difference since if you found this little gathering place on the World Wide Web you're probably going to go ahead and read what's here no matter what anyone says. But here it goes anyway...

If you have a problem reading about guys who like other guys as something more than just friends, you need to go find some other place to poke around. If you are under the legal age to read erotic fiction where you live, you probably wouldn't get in trouble for reading this story, but you really don't belong here. And most importantly, many of the names mentioned in this story have been changed to protect the guilty (or is that supposed to be the innocent?). Under no circumstances will I disclose whether or not I actually know any of The Backstreet Boys or any other celebrity who may make an appearance. Nor do I believe in outing people, so I will not disclose any information about the true sexual orientation of anyone mentioned in this story.

Previously in the story of Nick and the Altos

The crossing took us about 45 minutes. As we approached Avalon it looked like there was already a pretty big crowd of boats in the harbor. Fortunately there were still moorings available for overnight stays. I paid the fee and was directed to our mooring. We tied up to the mooring and went below to get organized for the night ahead.

For dinner I cooked chicken breasts and steamed veggies that I tossed in penne pasta with garlic, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Nick prepared a green salad. We ate out on deck watching the sun set over the island. After we had cleaned up the galley, we turned on the television and watched nothing interesting for a couple of hours.

At that point I was getting pretty sleepy so I told Nick I was going to go to bed. He wanted to watch another show on television so I got up and went into my stateroom and, after getting undressed, climbed into bed. I fell asleep pretty quickly. About an hour later I was awakened when Nick climbed into bed and cuddled up next to me, draping his arm over my chest. It didn't take long before I was sound asleep again.

The next thing I remember was feeling this cold, wet nose in my face and the distinct smell of dog breath. No, it wasn't Nick because I could feel him snuggled up behind me and his arm was draped over me. No, Gracie had decided it was time for me to get my butt out of bed and take her for a walk.

As you can probably imagine, this is no easy task when you are aboard a boat that is tied up to a mooring in the harbor. I crawled out of bed carefully to avoid waking Nick, took a much needed pee and pulled on some sweats to ward off the morning chill. On the way up topside I left Nick a note telling him I would be back in a while and then went out and hailed a shore boat.

When the shore boat pulled up next to us, Gracie jumped aboard and then I stepped aboard. A few minutes later we were at the dock and, after giving a tip, we stepped out and headed off on our walk. It didn't take long for Gracie to take care of her business and then we walked around a bit and found a little bakery and picked up some fresh bagels. Then we headed back to the dock and waited for a shore boat.

When we got back to the boat, Gracie went running downstairs to my stateroom and jumped up on the bed and started licking the sleeping Nick.

"Mikey, quit that!" he yelled as he tried to cover his face before opening his eyes. "Eww, Gracie stop it!" he yelled after opening his eyes. "Thanks a lot, Mikey..."

"What, I'm not doing anything."

"Your dog is!"

"She's just happy to see you."

"Yuck!"

"So are you ready for breakfast? I got some fresh bagels when I took her for a walk."

"Is there coffee yet?"

"I'm fixing it now."

"I guess... What time is it anyways?"

"Uh, around 8."

"I wanna go back to sleep," Nick said as he staggered out into the salon. "What did you get me up so early for?"

"Hey, I was nice. I didn't wake you up at 7 when she got me up. In case you haven't noticed, taking her for a walk is a little bit more involved out here."

"Lucky for you that you let me sleep."

"Quit your whining and sit down. We'll have coffee in five minutes," I said as I started the coffee maker. I got some cream cheese out of the refrigerator, sliced the bagels and put one in the toaster. All the comforts of home...

Nick minded the toaster while I took care of pouring our coffee. Since he was still wearing the tee shirt and boxers he had slept in, I suggested he pull on some sweats before we went up to the bridge for breakfast, more because of the temperature than anything. Then I grabbed my coffee and bagel and went up on deck to enjoy the morning.

Nick joined me a few minutes later and we sat and chatted while we ate. Gracie came up looking for snacks but didn't get any help from either of us. She finally gave up and went below to eat the food I had set out for her.

After we finished our bagels, I went below and refilled our coffee mugs. When I got back topside, Nick was stretched out on the seat so, after handing him his coffee, I lay down on the other side of the L shaped seat and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Hey, how come you're the one who is always laying on me?" he asked.

"Cause you're bigger..."

"I know that, little man, but I think we need to take turns."

"Ok, next time you can lay on yourself."

"That's not what I meant."

We must have lay there for quite a while because it started to warm up nicely. I pulled off my sweatshirt and basked in the sun. It was so peaceful. After an hour or so I decided the time had come to get ready for the arrival of my family. I went below to take a shower and get dressed. Nick stayed topside for a while longer and then joined me. It was a bit crowded in the head with both of us in there at once, but we managed.

After getting dressed we went back up on the bridge and waited for my family. It was turning out to be a beautiful day, so we both pulled our shirts off, rolled up our shorts and stretched out on the seat to get some more sun. After we had been there for about a half hour we heard a helicopter approaching the island. I looked up and saw that it was my parent's Bell, so we put our shirts back on and put our shoes on. I hailed a shore boat and called to Gracie.

We rode to the dock and took her for a short walk while we waited for my family to get to the harbor. We ran into them about 15 minutes later. Another shore boat took us back out to my boat. My parents and grandfather stayed on the aft deck and Jennifer, Jason and I went up to the bridge and I started the engines. Nick went forward and untied us from the mooring. I backed the boat away from the buoy and then we headed out to sea.

We cruised a couple of miles up the coast line and came to a small cove. I cut the engines and the boat drifted to a stop. The four of us went down to the aft deck and then my father pulled the urn containing Angela's ashes from the bag he had been carrying.

Almost immediately I started crying. I wasn't breaking down or anything, but the tears were definitely flowing. Nick came over and stood beside me and put his arm around me, drawing me close to him. Everyone said a final goodbye, including Nick and then my parents took the lid off the urn and sprinkled the ashes in the breeze.

We drifted slowly for about ten minutes and then Nick and I headed up to the bridge. I started the engines. I wasn't ready to deal with talking to anyone at this point or heading directly back to the harbor, so I headed out of the cove and continued North. I guess I was going at little fast because Nick reached out and put his hand on top of mine that was on the throttles and applied pressure causing me to ease back on the power. Once we had slowed to a more reasonable, smoother cruising speed, he let go and put his arm around me and gave me a hug.

I took us on a complete circle around the island and finally we returned to Avalon's harbor. I pulled back up to the mooring buoy and Jason went up to the bow and tied us up to it. We all met in the salon. My mother and Jennifer had spent part of the trip preparing sandwiches and snacks. They were fixing drinks as we came inside.

I didn't much feel like eating since I was in a pretty down emotional state, so I just grabbed a drink. Nick put a couple of sandwiches on a plate as well as a variety of fruits and veggies. Nick, Jason, Jennifer and I decided to go up to the bridge to eat. When we got topside, Nick went over and turned on the stereo. Jason turned the helm chair around and sat there. Nick and I sat side by side on the short side of the L seat and Jennifer sat on the other side. Everyone but me started eating, but I just sat there, teary eyed.

"Come on, Mikey, you need to eat something. I brought up plenty for both of us," Nick said, holding the plate in front of me.

"No thanks," I said.

"Come on, Mikey," Jennifer said, "Starving yourself isn't going to help you feel any better."

I finally picked up some broccoli and dipped it in the ranch dressing and ate it.

"Ok, now you've had your appetizer, how about a half a sandwich," Nick said as he handed me part of a turkey sandwich.

I took it and started eating it without really paying any attention to what I was doing. It was more just going through the motions to make them happy. When I was done with the sandwich I just sat there staring out to sea. Nick put the plate down on the seat and scooted closer to me and put his arm around me, pulling my head to his shoulder. I just sat there and continued to cry while he held me.

"Mikey, you need to start getting your act together," Jason said. "We all miss her, but it's not like you didn't have time to prepare for this."

"Fuck you, Jason!" I said angrily.

"When are you going to grow up!" he retorted.

I tensed up and started to stand up but Nick held me too tightly.

"Jason, why don't you shut up," Jennifer said. "If he's bothering you, then why don't you go down and hang out with mom and dad."

Fortunately, Jason decided to take her suggestion and he got up and went down below. Nick released the hold he had on me and went back to just having his arm around me. He and Jennifer talked quietly while I worked at getting my emotions back under control.

About 3:00 my mom came up to the bridge and told us that it was time for them to get going. I asked if they wanted to ride back to Newport Beach but she said they had the helicopter wait on the island and would fly home from there. I hailed a shore boat and we all went ashore, including Gracie. We walked to where the helicopter was waiting and said our goodbyes.

Jason and I pretty much made up and I even said goodbye to my grandfather and let him give me a hug. I hugged my dad, Jennifer and finally my mom. Nick hugged Jennifer and shook hands with my dad, grandfather and Jason. Then my mom gave him a long hug and said something to him that I couldn't catch. They all boarded the helicopter and Nick and I walked back a dozen yards or so. The pilot engaged the rotor and after about a minute, they lifted off. We waved as they turned and headed towards Montecito.

I called to Gracie who was out running around in the field trying to find a rabbit or something else to chase. She finally came to us and I put her leash back on her and we walked back to the harbor.

I wasn't in a big rush to get going, so we went back up on the bridge and Nick sat down on the seat and I lay down next to him with my head in his lap. He put his hand on my chest and we just sat there for a while.

"So what did my mom say to you?" I asked.

"Aren't you a nosy little shit?" he said.

"I wouldn't say that. After all, she is my mother."

He didn't say anything for a while. I noticed that he started absentmindedly, at least I assume so, to move his thumb up and down on my chest without moving his hand. "So what did she say, Nick?"

"She just thanked me for being such a good friend to you and how happy she was that the two of us had become so close."

"I feel the same way, you know."

"Yeah, I know, Mikey. I know," he said quietly as he continued moving his thumb back and forth.

We remained there for a little while longer and then I decided we needed to get headed for home port. We went down below and stowed all the stuff that was left out on the counter in the galley and then headed back topside after grabbing our sweatshirts.

I started the engines while Nick went and untied the line to the mooring buoy. In a couple of minutes we were under way. Once we got out of the harbor I pushed the throttles forward hard and set a course for Newport Beach. Nick cranked the stereo and he came over and stood beside me and put his arm around me once again. I thought about how much I was going to miss his companionship when he headed back to join the rest of the guys for the tour.

We made it back to the harbor in decent time and docked the boat. It took us about an hour to get everything put away, wash the boat down and pack up our stuff. It was getting dark as we finally headed home.

When we got inside, we set our stuff down at the foot of the stairs and Nick went into the dining room and let Gracie outside. I started searching through the refrigerator for something to cook for dinner. I finally decided on veggie lasagna and a salad so I started to work in the kitchen.

While I was doing that Nick had started a fire in the courtyard fireplace. Once I had put the lasagna in the oven to bake, I opened a bottle of Merlot and poured two glasses and took them out to where he was sitting in front of the fire. We sat there drinking our wine and watching the fire.

After a few minutes I got up the courage to ask Nick the big question that was on my mind, "Nick, when do you have to join up with the rest of the guys?"

"I'm not sure yet, but prolly in a couple of days," he replied, sounding sort of sad.

"I guess I shouldn't say this, but I'm not exactly looking forward to that..." I said.

"I'm really going to miss hanging out with you, Mikey."

"Thank God for cell phones."

"No shit, and email."

This time it was Nick's turn to lay down and use me for a pillow. We didn't talk any more while we were out there, we just watched the flames. We stayed there until the timer for the oven started beeping and then we went inside and I fixed the salad.

Nick let Gracie in from the backyard and she curled up beside us as we ate dinner in the dining room. After we finished eating and had put the dishes in the dishwasher I told Nick that I wanted to show him the one part of the house he hadn't seen.

"Uh, I sure hope it isn't your dungeon or whatever you guys call them," he said apprehensively.

"Close your eyes and you'll find out," I said, taking him by the hand. He actually did close his eyes and I lead him out through the courtyard and up the steps along the outside of the guest room. When we got to the top of the stairs, I opened the door and led him inside and over to one of the couches and had him sit down.

I turned the lights on dim and then told him he could open his eyes. He did and looked around and his mouth dropped open.

"Wow, Mikey, this is so cool!"

We were in my den, which is above the guest room. There is a little alcove at the back which I use as my office. The main part is a theater with a 100" screen that drops down from the ceiling. I turned on the projector, the receiver and the DVD player and popped in L.A. Confidential. Then I lay down on the other couch and we started watching the movie.

About half way through the movie, my phone started ringing. Caller ID showed it was a private call, something that really pisses me off. Concerned that it might me my parents, I went ahead and answered, "Hello."

"So are you boys having fun watching your movies tonight?" a husky male voice said.

"Who is this?"

"You don't need to know that, but there is a package on your doorstep that your boyfriend might be interested in looking at."

"Who the fuck is this?" I shouted, but whoever had called had already hung up.

"What's going on, Mikey?" Nick asked.

"I don't know. The person wouldn't give his name. He said there was something on the doorstep my boyfriend would like to see."

"I guess he meant me, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess. Everyone seems to think we're an item."

"Do you think it was just a prank call?"

"I don't know, but whoever he was, he knew we were watching a movie."

"No shit? Guess we should go check..."

"I'll go look, you can stay here and keep watching."

"No way, Mikey. I'm not staying by myself if someone is watching us."

We went down the outside stairs and I unlocked the front door. Sure enough, there was a big manila envelope on the ground. I picked it up and went back inside, locking the door. We went into the living room and sat down on a couch and I opened the envelope.

Inside was a typewritten note that said:

Dear Michael and Nick

Have a nice evening, boys.

I pulled the pictures out of the envelope and stared at them in disbelief. There were a couple of dozen all together. There were pictures of Nick and me in the spa the night he was naked, pictures of him with his arm around me while we were standing side by side on the deck of my house in Colorado, pictures of him holding me on the boat and of me laying with my head in his lap. I was speechless

Nick grabbed the pictures from me and looked through the entire stack. I turned and looked at him and there were tears in his eyes. Seeing him like that caused me incredible pain, knowing that I was the reason he was hurting.

I reached over and put my hand on his and tried to take the pictures away from him, "Nick, I'm calling my parents and telling them they have to deal with this right away."

Nick jerked his hand away and stood up, walking towards the door to the courtyard.

"Nick, wait a minute!" I yelled. When he kept walking, I cried out "Nick, wait..." He went out the door and walked to the guest room and went inside, shutting the door.

"I sat on the couch in shock for a couple of minutes with tears running down my face. I finally got up and walked out to the guest room and knocked on the door. Nick just ignored me. Finally, I turned, dejected, and went upstairs to my den and turned off the movie and then went into my desk and called my parents.

I explained what had happened to my mom and dad and how Nick had reacted. They figured out pretty quickly that I was totally devastated by what had happened. My mom's initial reaction was to fly down that evening but I told her it wasn't necessary. My father said he would talk to my grandfather and to his legal team about the situation and would call me in the morning.

After hanging up I just sat there for a while with me face buried in my hands. I didn't know what I could do to prevent Nick from being hurt in the press if the pictures were published. And if that weren't bad enough, I was sure our friendship was over. I finally got up and turned out the lights and walked out the other door and down the veranda to one of the doors into my bedroom.

Gracie was curled up on my bed. When I came into the room she looked up and started wagging her tail. I stood there, reminded of the unconditional love a dog has for its owner, and then walked over and lay down beside her and started petting her. She rolled on to her back to give me complete access to her chest and belly. As I scratched her favorite spots she licked the tears from my cheeks.

I lay there with her thinking about the wonderful friendship that had just been destroyed, thanks to my grandfather's latest deal to cover his ass. Part of me wanted to get up and slam my fist into the wall, but I controlled myself knowing that not only wouldn't it solve any of the problems I was facing but also that it would fucking hurt like hell.

I got up the bed and called Gracie to follow me downstairs so she could go out before we went to bed. It wasn't long before she was back at the door waiting to come back inside. We walked back upstairs and I got undressed and crawled into bed. I tried, unsuccessfully, to get Gracie to get up on the bed and snuggle up next to me. It was rare that she would start out on the bed unless it was really cold, but most every night she would end up jumping up after I was asleep and manage to immobilize me by laying down between my legs.

As he walked from the living room, Nick heard Mikey call after him, but he wasn't in any condition to talk, so he kept walking and shut himself in the guest bedroom. He went over and lay down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. As he lay there he tried to figure out how he was going to deal with the situation.

He knew he had to call Kevin and tell him what was going on. That wasn't going to be the easiest conversation he had ever had, but his bigger concern was how to keep Mikey from being hurt -- himself too. If the pictures were actually published, he could tell the truth about the events that had been photographed and misinterpreted by the media. The problem with that was that, even though the pictures were of totally innocent events, he was deeply in love with Mikey. Announcing to the world that Mikey was just a friend whose sister had died was complete bullshit.

After mulling over the alternatives, Nick finally picked up the phone and called Kevin.

"Hey, Nick. How's Mikey doing now?" Kevin asked after they had said hello to each other.

"He's definitely been better, and so have I," Nick replied sadly.

"What's wrong, Nick?"

"Someone is trying to do this extortion thing to force his grandfather to leave the country. They have pictures of Mikey and me they are threatening to give to the media if he doesn't leave by Monday."

"What kind of pictures?" Kevin asked slowly.

"Umm, well they were of totally innocent things, but they could get misinterpreted..."

"Such as?"

"Me and Mikey in the spa in his backyard, for one."

"Ok, that's no big deal," Kevin said.

"Well, there's a problem..."

"What else?" Kevin asked sarcastically.

"Um, I didn't have anything on..."

"They got pictures of you and Mikey naked in a spa? That's fucking wonderful, Nick. You and a gay guy naked together."

"No, I was but Mikey had a bathing suit on."

"It doesn't matter, Nick. They caught you naked in a spa with a guy who's gay. We're fucked."

"Then there are pictures from Colorado of us standing on the deck of his house and I had my arm around him."

"That's fucking beautiful, Nick."

"Would you shut the fuck up and let me finish, Kevin! Then there were pictures from this afternoon on his boat at Catalina Island."

"So what, were you guys sunbathing in the nude on the deck?"

"No. Jeez you can be such a fucking asshole, Kevin. Mikey was really torn up so I was holding him and then later he was laying on the seat with his head in my lap."

"Fuck! This is fucking wonderful, Nick. I told you Mikey was going to end up hurting you and you didn't believe me and look what happened. I knew it!"

"I knew you were going to react this way. Shit!" Nick yelled.

"Wait a minute, Nick. You're the one the whole world is going to think is gay and you're bitching at me for over reacting? Get a clue, Nicky!"

Nick didn't say anything for a minute. Finally, he said slowly, "Kevin, the thing is I am gay..."

"You're what? Fuck! So what other exciting news do you have for me?"

"I love Mikey..." Nick said quietly.

"Oh give me a break, Nick. You've only known him for a few days. I knew it was a mistake for me to let you go with him. He got you out there alone and seduced you!"

"Fuck you, Kevin. Do you really think I'm that easy? Mikey doesn't even know."

"Say again..."

"Mikey doesn't know I'm gay and he doesn't know I love him. I haven't told him yet."

"Thank God for small favors. You need to get your ass on the next airplane out of there and get back here so we can do whatever is necessary to fix this mess."

"Sorry, Kevin, but that's not going to happen. I need to make sure Mikey doesn't get hurt."

"Fuck Mikey, Nick. You're putting our careers in jeopardy."

"Big fucking deal, Kevin. I'm not going to walk out on someone I love without telling him how I feel. I don't care what happens to me because of this. I love him and I'm going to tell him and if you don't like it, tough shit!"

With that said, Nick hung up the phone. Within seconds his cell phone was ringing. Caller ID showed it was Kevin so he ignored it. A few minutes later it rang again and it was Brian. He ignored that call too. He lay on the bed for about ten minutes and then he called Brian's cell phone.

When Brian answered, Nick asked him if Kevin was there and Brian replied that Kevin had just left his room. Brian asked Nick for his side of the story since he had just listened to Kevin ranting and raving about the latest mess Nick had gotten into. Nick explained about the pictures and what had really been going on when they were taken.

"So you told Kevin you think you are gay, huh?"

"Well, not exactly. I told him I am gay. Didn't leave any room for thinking about it. I told him I love Mikey, too."

"Whoa, that must have gone over like a lead balloon!"

"Yeah, you can say that again..."

"So does Mikey know you love him?"

"He doesn't even know I'm gay yet. I don't even know how to start to tell him. He prolly thinks I hate him right now."

"Why?"

"Because of the way I stormed out of the living room and ignored him when he called after me. Then he came and knocked on the door and I didn't answer..."

"Shit!"

"You can say that again."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well, I'm definitely not going to do what Kevin wants and leave on the next plane. I guess I'm going to go find him and talk to him about everything."

"Nicky, if you need to talk, call me. I don't care how late it is."

"Thanks, Bri. I'll let you know what happens."

"Thanks. Love you, Nicky."

"Love you too, Bri. Nite."

"Nite."

Nick hung up his phone and continued to lay on the bed. Finally, he decided that he couldn't postpone things any longer and got up and left the guest room. It looked like all of the lights were out in the house. He walked across the courtyard and went into the living room. Mikey wasn't there so he went upstairs. He turned towards the bedroom and stopped and listened. He could hear Mikey crying.

Nick walked into the bedroom and quietly got undressed. Then he walked over to the bed and slid under the covers and said, "Mikey, there are some things I need to tell you..."

Well, that's it for Part 15 of Nick and the Altos. Part 16 will hopefully be ready for posting by the end of the week. Any comments, suggestions or whatever, email me at mikeylikesit80@hotmail.com.

Thanks for reading... Mikey