Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 15:52:08 AST From: Mitch Richards Subject: aftershock4 (highschool) Cory was released a few days later but josh was still in critical condition. I wanted to cheer Cory up so I got us front seat tickets and backstage passes to the N'sync concert tomorrow. "Welcome home baby" "thanks Alex". I hauled Cory up stairs as fast as he could go with his leg in a cast. "I have a surprise for you" I said sitting him on the bed. "What is it" he asked. I went to my dresser and pulled out the tickets and passes I turned around and when he saw them his jaw dropped. "How did you get those Alex" "Mom got them for me" "Remind me to thank her a lot" "she's gonna drive us there tomorrow night" Cory hobbled over to me and hugged me. "I take it he liked the surprise Alex" Chase asked walking by. "What do you think bro" I replied. He smiled and kept walking. I put the new N'sync cd in my Cd player and the song promises came on. I started to sing along with it: When the visions around you Bring tears to your eyes And all that surrounds you Are secrets and lies I'll be your strength I'll give you hope Keeping your faith when it's gone The one you should call When you're standing here all alone And I will take You in my arms And hold you right where you belong Till the day my life is through This I promise you This I promise you I've loved you forever In lifetimes before And I promise you never Will you hurt anymore I give you my word I give you my heart This is a battle we've won And with this vow Forever has now begun Just close your eyes Each loving day (each loving day) And I know this feeling won't go away Till the day my life is through This I promise you Every word I say is true This I promise you I promise you when I was done I noticed that Cory was crying. "What's wrong Cory" I asked sitting him down on the bed. "I'm just so happy that I found you, what did I do to deserve you" "you did nothing we were meant to be together I'm just glad you came in time" I said softly. "What do you mean 'in time' please tell me" he asked. "Well I was really depressed before I met you and was having thoughts about killing myself" I told him. Cory's face went pale "Alex please promise me you won't ever think or do that please you mean to much to me now" Cory asked me with tears in his eyes. "Cory now that I have you I am the happiest guy around so you don't have to worry" I told him. Cory kissed me and we got ready for bed. The next day we went to visit Josh but there wasn't any change, the doctor didn't expect him to live much longer. When I heard that I really didn't want to go to the concert anymore but mom said it would help take my mind of things so I agreed she said she would contact me if there was any change. We got ready to go to the concert and mom dropped us off really early she gave me her cell phone in case she had any news. The concert didn't start till 9:30 so we were 3 hours early we were sitting on the curb when someone came up to us "you to are really early" I looked up and saw five guys standing in front of us. "Whatcha doing here so early" asked Justin. "My mom had to run some errands" I said. Lance was looking at Cory's cast. "What happened to you" he asked. Cory told Lance that his uncle broke his leg trying to kill him. "OH MY GOD that's horrible why would he do such a thing" asked JC. "Cause we are gay" I said. "That's no reason" Justin said. Chris and Joey held their hands out to us. "Come on wanna watch us practice" they asked. "You don't mind" Cory asked. "Nope" they all said. We followed them inside and sat while they practiced, my cell phone started ringing "hello" "honey the doctors just called me" "how's Josh" I asked. "I'm sorry honey he didn't make it" she told me. "NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" I screamed. The guys heard it and stopped everything and ran to me. Cory was trying to calm me down. "What's wrong" Joey asked. "His best friend just passed away" Cory said crying. " I'm sorry" the guys said. I held on to Cory with all my might. "Come on you guys let's get something to eat before the show' JC said. They got a few feet away when they noticed we weren't with them "well you two coming" asked Justin. We got up and went with them. We were in their dressing room when a stage hand said they were needed in wardrobe "we'll see you guys later and thanks for everything" Cory said helping me get up. "Wait don't move we will be back we have a special seat for you two" Lance said. While the guys were gone I broke down again Cory just held me and told it would be alright. The guys came back as promised and when they had to be on stage they made us follow them. They led us to two seats at the edge of the stage. "Sit here" JC said smiling. The guys went out and did their concert and at the end they turned to me and Cory and motioned for us to come out. We walked over to them. "These are our two new close friends who lost someone close to them tonight and we want to express our sympathy so this last song is called 'If only through heaven's eyes' and Alex and Cory it for you as they were singing it I started crying again as did Cory Justin pulled me into a hug and Lance did the same to Cory. After they were through singing they all hugged us. The crowd clapped loudly and the guys lead us back to the dressing room. The guys got ready to meet some fans and Cory and I just sat on the couch. The door opened and about 10 girls came into the room. Surprisingly they weren't screaming they saw us and each gave us a hug and told us they were sorry then they got all their stuff signed and left. "Wow" the guys said. "That was unexpected" Chris said. Do you guys want a ride home" JC asked. "Are you sure it's not too much trouble" I asked. "No it's fine it's the least we could do" he replied. They got ready and we left the ride home was quiet, the guys asked us a few questions about what we like to do. We arrived home and the guys walked u to the door. Justin rang the door bell. Mom answered "hello" "hi you must be Alex's mom I'm Justin Timberlake and I'm sure you know the others" Justin said. "Yeas I know your my son's favorite band but how can I help you" she said. "Well I thought we would return these two guys to you" he said as the guys parted showing Cory and I standing there. "Why thank you" she said walking to us. "We know about his friend and we would like you to know we are sorry for your's and his loss" Justin said. "Well won't you come in for a bit" mom offered. The guys accepted and well all sat in the living room, mom offered the guys some drinks and we all ended up drinking Pepsi "so Alex and Cory would you two like to hang out with us tomorrow" JC asked. I nodded and Cory did as well. The guys had to leave but before they left they hugged My mom, Cory and me. "They sure are kind fellows" mom said after they left. "Alex are you alright" she asked me. "I'm ok mom thanks for asking" I said sadly. "Come on Alex you had a long day, lets get some sleep. Thanks for the tickets Mrs. Brady" Cory said. "Cory it's ok you two get some sleep" she said. We got to my room and got ready for bed "Cory" "yes Alex" "come here please" Cory came over to where I was "I love you Cory" I sad kissing him. "I love you too Alex" Cory said. Cory climbed into bed and I followed him he hugged me and we both fell asleep. "Aren't they a cute couple guys" asked Justin. "Yep they sure are you can feel the love they have for each other" Lance said. "Do we really have to wake them up" asked Justin. "No but it will be fun" Chris said. Alex's mom let the guys in and told them to wake up Alex and Cory. Joey grabbed the blankets and pulled them off the bed. "What the hell" I asked. "WAKE UP" the guys yelled. "Cory sat straight up. "Holy shit don't do that again you almost gave me a heart attack" Cory said. "Sorry but your mom told us to wake you two up" Justin said. "Ok well thanks for waking us up"I said. The guys left so we could get showered and dressed. "Hey Alex I noticed that you have our new CD" Lance said. "Yeah it's great and very different than the first" I replied. "Thanks and I borrowed your copy to add some improvements" Justin said handing me my CD case. I looked at it and they had signed it "thanks guys it really means a lot I lost one friend and gained five friends" I said hugging them all. "Alex your our friend so it's no trouble" JC said. "You guys are the best" I said. "Nobody's gonna believe us that we are friends with N'sync when we start school next week" Cory said. "Yeah they will I'm guessing most of the girls from your school were at our concert plus you never know we might be back" Lance said. "You guys are welcome here anytime we have plenty of room so you won't need a hotel" Mom said. "Thanks Mrs. Brady" JC said. "Please call me Jill and that goes for you too Cory" Mom said. The guys nodded and hugged my mom. We left to get some dinner, we went to MacDonald's and as we entered the restaurant we were mobbed by fans. It took about 10 minutes to be able to order our lunch, we decided to eat it in the car. We past a park when Justin suddenly stopped the car. "What the hell" I said. "Lets play some basketball for a bit" Justin said. We all agreed and Justin put the car in reverse and stopped next to the park. We all got out and walked to the court while Justin got the ball out of the trunk along with a portable stereo. Cory couldn't play cause of his cast so he said he would just watch and be the one in charge of music. It was me, Joey and Lance against Chris, Justin and JC. We played for a while but we beat Justin's team by 3 points. "WOW your good Alex" Justin said. "Thanks I play in school a lot" I told him. Well we should he heading back Justin said. We piled in the car and headed home. It was dark when we got home. "When do you guys leave" I asked. "Tomorrow morning around 6" Justin said. "Oh Well I'll miss you and thanks for everything" I said. "Yeah it's been awesome hanging out with you guys" Cory said. "No problem anything for friends" Justin said. We hugged the guys before we said our good-byes. "Remember we cold be back real soon" Lance said. Then guys drove off and we went inside we were greeted by my mom "how was your day" she asked. "Awesome I'm so tired" I said. "So am I" Cory said. "Chase is gonna wish he had been home today" I said laughing. "Why am I" Chase said walking in the door. "Oh cause N'sync was here in person" I said. "Yeah right and net you'll be telling me that they played a song during their concert" he said. "Actually mom dropped us off 3 hours early cause she had to run some errands and they saw us and talked to us then mom phoned to tell me about Josh and they heard. During the concert they sang a song in Josh's memory. They even made us stand on stage with them while they sang it" I told Chase. "That is so cool Alex, and I'm sorry about Josh" Chase said hugging me. "Well we are going to bed Chase" Cory said grabbing my hand. "Have fun you guys" Chase said laughing. "Whatever Chase I'm to tired to even get changed" I said trying to defend us. Cory just nodded. I opened my bedroom door and walked over to my bed and fell on it. "Want some help Alex" Cory asked. "Sure" I said. Cory pulled off my socks, he moved up to my shirt and pulled it over my head. He kissed me after he got it off. While Cory was kissing me he unbuttoned my pants which were quickly removed after that. I stopped Cory so I could undress him. I removed his socks then his shirt I kissed him while I removed his pants. We climbed into bed and held each other while we fell asleep. I woke up early but I didn't get up I just stayed where I was and watched Cory while he slept. Cory looked so peaceful when he slept, every time we would lose contact he would grabbed me tighter. I watched his face as he was dreaming, he would smile a lot in his sleep. My mind drifted to his parents. What would we do if they didn't want him. Would he make it knowing his parents didn't want him. "Penny for your thoughts baby" Cory said suddenly. "Just thinking" I told him. "About my parents?" he asked. "Yeah" "it doesn't matter what they say, as long as I have you then I'll be fine." Cory said hugging me. "And I'm not going anywhere babe" I said looking him right in the eye. "I'm actually wish I could stay here with you" Cory said. "So how long were you watching me sleep Alex" "not long were you dreaming of someone" I asked. "Yeah" "who was it" I asked. "You of course Alex" Cory said smiling. I looked towards Cory with a big grin on my face "Shower!!" We both said. 'BANG, BANG' "hurry up you two I need the Bathroom" Chase yelled. WE wrapped towels around us and left the bathroom chase ran inside and slammed the door. "Think he'll make it to the toilet" I asked. Cory shook his head. We heard Cory start swearing and we started laughing. "Alex I'll get you for this" Chase yelled.