Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 23:48:11 -0700 (PDT) From: slpwriter Subject: Nick Lachey: My Everything-27 First of all, let me just say that this is my first time writing any kind of fiction like this. DISCLAIMER: This is a work of total fiction and is not meant to imply anything about the sexualities of Nick and Drew Lachey or anyone else mentioned in this story. Yes it's true. Nick and Jessica are no longer together. I wish them both the best and I hope that they both find happiness again one day. Nick's brother, Drew, is married to Lea, his longtime highschool sweetheart. I wish them all the best in their marriage. If you are too young to read this, or if Homosexuality offends you, then please don't continue any further and leave. Other 98 Degrees stories I'd like to recommend are. "Give Me Just One Night" by Unanoche. "69 with Jeff Timmons" by Zachary Scott Pritt "Nick Lachey" by Ken. "98 Degrees Is Hot" by Gay Night "The Reunion" by RinSong. and finally: "This Gift" by Sprout. Now, I"ll let you get on with the story. Enjoy. previously on "My Everything"..... What I saw next totally tore my heart out. Drew was lying in bed, still only in his boxers, staring off into space. Jeff was right. He was hardly recognizeable. He looked like shit. His face was streaked with tearstains, as well as the fresh tears that were still falling down his face. He was so out of it, he hardly noticed the tears and made no effort to brush them away. I stood there, gazing at him, my own tears starting to fall. I couldn't bear to see him like this and decided to make my presence known. "Drew?" He didn't seem to hear me, so I walked over and shook him, slightly. "Drew, it's me, Sean." I said to him. He nodded, but still wouldn't look my way. "Drew, please, look at me?" I asked him. Drew slowly turned his head and raised his eyes to meet mine. As soon as he looked into my face and noticed my tears, his eyes closed and he started sobbing to himself, quietly. Then he sat up and extended his arms out to me, wanting comfort. I walked over and grabbed him into a strong hug, which he returned strongly. He held onto me like a lifeline and continued to cry. I just sat there, holding him until he could calm down a little. As soon as he did, he released me and sat back, looking at me, through saddened eyes. "Thanks for coming." He whispered. "Where else would I be?" I asked him, wiping at my tears. "I'm so glad that you're here." He said, then grabbed me into another hug "Oh, how I love you so." He murmured. "No other man has meant as much to me as you do. No other man has ever come close. I need you. You're all I need. Don't ever leave me again, Sean, please. Don't ever leave me again." He hugged me even tighter as he finished saying all of that. This was killing me. Not only was Drew depressed but he seemed to be in denial as well. He had the wrong idea of why I was here. I only hoped that what I had to tell him wouldn't push him over the edge. "Drew, there's something I need to tell you." I said, releasing him. "What is it?" He asked. Chapter 27 "Sean, what is it you need to tell me?" Drew asked again, a mixture of fear and worry in his eyes. Again I hesitated. I was trying to think of a way that I could break my news to Drew, but wasn't coming up with anything. Besides I didn't really think that there'd be any way that he'd take this news easily. So, I decided to just come out and say it. "Well, after you and the rest of the guys left the party, I gave Nick another birthday present I'd gotten him and gave it to him when we were alone. "What was it?" Drew asked, a look of curiosity coming to his face for a moment. "A wedding band." I said, watching his face closely to see his reaction. He gasped in shock and his face took on a look of sheer jealousy. "But, what about you and me? I thought you came here to tell me that you wanted to be with me. That I'd have the most wonderful relationship with the man that I love more than anyone else in this world." Drew rambled, getting more agitated by the minute. I shook my head, knowing that this was useless. "I'm sorry." I whispered. "But it's not gonna be that way, Drew. There's no future for us. Not romantically. Nick is the only man that I love and he is the only man that I will ever love in that way. You and I are no more than just friends. Drew's expression changed and turned into a look of anger, hurt, and utter despair. "Oh, God." Drew stuttered, as a new set of tears started again. "Oh, God I did it again." "Drew.... I started, but then Drew cut me off. "I've humiliated myself!" He stated, locking eyes with me. What I saw in his eyes, chilled me to the bone. I saw anger, hurt, and despair, but that wasn't was scared me. It was the other emotion I saw in his eyes. Hatred. "No, you haven't, Drew." I said, trying to soften the blow, but obviously Drew wasn't hearing any of it. "Yes, I have. I've made a fool of myself! I poured my heart out to you!" Drew sobbed. "But you don't want me, you want my brother! You still love him and you still want him! You're clinging onto your relationship with Nick, and I'm left with nothing! I.." Due to the tears and the new set of sobs that started, Drew was unable to finish the sentence. "I've got nothing." Drew mananged to gasp out before he broke down, crying again. "Drew, the other thing that you need to know is that Nick asked me to marry him last night. And I said "Yes." I told him, then added. "And I'm asking you to accept it. Please?!" And besides I want you to be my best man at our wedding." That did it. Drew's head shot up and he gave me a look of disbelief. And the Hatred was still there as well. "You want me as your best man?" Drew asked me, sarcastically. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!" He screamed. I wasn't prepared for what he did next. He punched me, really hard, across the face, knocking me to the floor. I cupped my hand to my face, and looked up at Drew in total shock. Drew usually never swore or used the "F" word. But this time, he didn't hold back. "Well you know what?" Drew asked, then blurted it out. "No way! You have hurt me for the last time, Sean! As far as I'm concerned, you can just go to hell!" As soon as I heard him say that, I cringed and broke down, sobbing myself. Drew's words were really hurting me. I knew right then and there, that any friendship between me and Drew was gone. Maybe Forever. "Drew, please, you don't mean that, you're just upset." I sobbed, getting up and trying to put my arms around him. "Get your hands off of me, you sick son of a bitch!" Drew screames, shoving me back into the wall. I hit the wall with a thud, my head hitting the wall hard. My face froze for a second, my eyes on Drew, who had a look of total panic and horror on his face. The last thing I saw before I lost conciousness was Jeff and Danny rushing into the room and grabbing Drew to prevent him from hurting me anymore than he'd already had. And also Nick who had arrived and was kneeling down in front of me. Then everything went black. ******************************************************* When I came to, I could hear Nick's voice calling out to me. "Sean, wake up. Please, wake up!" I heard him, yelling. "Damn it, Drew, see what you've done, you fucking idiot." "Nick, I'm sorry." I heard Drew say. I could tell he was sorry by his tone of voice. "Drew, what has happened to you? You've never acted like this." I heard Jeff yell at him. The concern, as well as anger, was evident in his voice. He was worried about Drew. And frankly, so was I. "He's right, Drew." I heard Kandi's voice say. "You never are one to throw punches. Especially towards someone you claim to love so much." The next thing I heard was a loud crack. Then someone gasping. I don't think I needed to guess who slapped who. That was made quite obvious next. That's when I decided to open my eyes. That's when I saw Drew holding his hand to his face, which was wet with tears, and Nick standing in front of him with an angry glare on his face. Jeff, Justin, Danny, and Kandi were standing in the doorway, watching them. none of them noticed that I was awake. They were all watching Drew and Nick to make sure that there wasn't going to be a bloodbath anytime soon. "Damn you, Drew." Nick yelled, tears of anger and hurt, running down his cheeks. "Damn you! How could you do this to me?! You are my own brother! You're the person I trusted more than anyone else in this world! The fact that you could hurt the man that I love, hurts me too and it proves to me that you don't love him. You're obsessed with him!" "No I'm not, Nick, I love him! I love him every bit as much as you do! And I'm sorry I hurt him! More than you'll ever know!" Drew cried, before running out of the bedroom. I heard a door slam, signaling that he'd run out of the house. I decided then to make my presence known. "Guys, can you give me some help here?" I asked. Hearing my voice, they whipped their heads in my direction, and seeing that I was awake, let out a sigh of relief. Nick was at my side in a flash. "Oh, Sean, I'm so glad you're awake!" Nick gasped, the tears still falling. "Are you ok?" "Yeah." I answered. "My head just hurts, but I'm fine." "Alright, let's get you up and out to the living room." Nick said, lifting me into his powerful arms. "Can you guys get a blanket and a pillow for him?" Nick asked the others, who were standing around, looking at me with concern. "I'll get the pillow." Danny said, grabbing a pillow from the guest bed that Drew had been sleeping in. "And I've got the blanket." Kandi said, grabbing a small blanket, sitting on the foot of the bed. "Great." Nick said, holding me in his arms. "Now, let's take Sean and put him out on the couch." Nick then carried me out to the living room and set me down on the couch. Danny put the pillow under my head and Kandi spread the blanket over me. "Are you alright?" She asked me, giving me a concerned look. I smiled at her concern. I was starting to like her more and more everyday I saw her. She was a real sweetheart. "I'll be alright. I just have a headache but I'll live." I said, looking up at her. Then Nick leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. "Do you want anything? I'll do anything to help you feel better." He aske me, smiling. "Only if you join me." I said, seductively. "Oh, you are feeling better." Nick said, chuckling slightly. "Yeah, and I'm as horny as a horse too." I giggled. "Ok, I don't think I need to be hearing this." Kandi, said, raising her hands up. "I agree." Danny said. "Too much information." "We second that!" Jeff and Justin from behind them, at the same time, making us all laugh. I swear those two could think alike sometimes. "Don't you think you guys should go and look for Drew?" I asked. Nick looked at me like I was nuts. "Are you kidding?!" He asked in amazement. "Why would you want to see Drew,after what he did to you?" "I didn't say I wanted to see him, Nick." I said to him. "But you guys have to work with him, and I don't think you should just ignore him. You're going back on tour soon. Aren't you?" I saw Nick flinch when I asked about the tour. I wondered what was up with that. Jeff must have noticed Nick's discomfort because he decided to answer that. "Yeah, we'll be heading back on tour next week." Jeff said. "They gave us a week off to celebrate Nick's birthday and to have some personal time off to ourselves." "Oh, I didn't think you guys would have that much time off." I said. "But I think it's better that you do, anyway." "Why's that?" Danny asked me. "Well, because it'll give all of you time to work things out with Drew and to relieve some of the tension before you leave." I told him. "Oh, well don't expect me to forgive him anytime soon." Nick retorted. "After seeing that he hurt you, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive him for it." "Nick, don't be so hard on him." I said to him. "You don't mean that. He's your brother and he loves you." "Well he's got a pretty lousy way of showing it." Nick muttered, an angry look on his face again. "But Nick, you love him. I know you do." I said, trying to get Nick to lighten up on Drew. "Of course I do, sweetie." Nick said. "I just don't like him at the moment." "Well, I'm sure Drew didn't mean to do it, Nick." I said. "He just wasn't thinking clearly in his state of mind." "Are you defending him?" Danny asked, astonished. "No, I'm not. "I'm just saying that none of this is Drew's fault really. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine." I said to him. "Why would this be your fault?" Kandi asked me. "Well because for one thing, I led him on 4 months ago with that kiss. and second of all, when I told him that Nick and I were getting married, he just lost it." I heard everyone all gasp and then noticed the surprise on their faces. I guess Nick hadn't told them. And I hadn't either. besides Drew. "You two are getting married?!" Danny asked in amazement. "That's fantastic!" He leaned down and hugged me. "I'm so happy for you, Sean, You deserve it." He said, before turning and hugging Nick as well. "Nick, you've made my best friend a very happy man." He said, putting his hands on Nick's shoulders. "Don't ever let him down again." "Don't worry, I won't. You have my word on that." Nick said, before hugging Danny close again. "Have you two set a date yet?" Danny asked, releasing him. "Actually we hadn't thought that far ahead yet." Nick replied, squeezing Danny's shoulder. "Well how about we set one right now?" Jeff suggested. I thought that was a good idea. "Good idea, Jeff." Too bad we couldn't have been married yesterday. I think that would have been the best birthday present I could ever have given Nick.' "Yeah, I couldn't agree more." Nick said. "But we'll just have to settle for the next best thing." "And what's that, hot stuff?" I asked, bringing my hand to his cheek, caressing it softly. "How about we get married on December 9th?" He asked me with a smile. I brigtened at that. That's perfect." I agreed. That gives us enough time to let all of your families and friends know about it. "I know our marriage wouldn't be legal, Sean, but just know that in our hearts, we are already married." "Nick, our marriage won't be legal unless we want it to be." I said to him. That had him curious. As well as everyone else. "How can you get married legally?" Justin asked me. "California law doesn't exactly allow gay marriage just yet." "Maybe not, but the state of Vermont does." I said, smiling. "Are you serious?" Nick asked me. "How do you know this for sure?" I read about it in the paper, sexy." I said to him. "But we'd have to get married in a private ceremony. Your fans don't yet know about you, Nick, and I want to keep it that way until after we're married legally. That way, nobody can do anything to stop us. Besides, if your fans knew we were getting married, before we actually are, some of them would do anything they had to to stop me from marrying you. And I wouldn't put anything past some of those obsessed fans if they become desperate enough." "Oh, Sean, don't be so dramatic." Jeff said. "Nick and the rest of us wouldn't ever let anything happen to you." You'll be fine." "Yeah, you're right, Jeff." I said, sighing. "I guess I'm just a little scared that's all." "And that's perfectly normal, man." Justin said. "Everyone gets scared when they're thinking of making a long-term commitment." Before I could say anything more, the door opened and Drew came into the house. He had stopped crying, and just looked tired, and sad now. Everyone gave him an angry look, including Nick. But I just sat there and watched him, calmly. "Look, I know you guys are all angry with me, but I hope you'll listen to what I have to say, before you lay into me again." Drew said, looking at Nick and I for permission. It's a free country, bro. Talk." Nick said, still annoyed with Drew. "Alright here goes." Drew began. "When I left earlier, I took a walk to think and clear my head. I thought about what I had done to Sean and how badly I felt for it. I feel even more badly for hurting you, Nick. My very own brother. Despite my being in love with Sean, I still love you very much and I always will, no matter what." I watched Nick as Drew spoke and could see the mixed emotions that were playing on his face. He wasn't sure whether Drew was really being sincere or not. Drew continued. "And Sean." He said, turning to me. "I want to apologize for the way I treated you. No one was more surprised by my actions than me. I will regret that for the rest of my life. I guess I just wasn't ready to accept the news that you wanted to marry Nick. So, during my walk, I got to do alot of thinking and I came to a conclusion and made a decision." "What was that, Drew?" I asked him, softly. Drew hesitated for a moment, closing his eyes, and sighing heavily. He did that alot when he was trying not to cry. "That's it really over between us, even though there never really was an "us." Drew replied. I"'ve accepted that you and Nick love each other and want to be married. All I've ever wanted was for you to be happy, Sean, but I've also got to admit that a part of me was jealous of you." It wasn't just love." Now that admission had all of us curious. Why would Drew be jealous of me?" "Why would you be jealous of Sean, Drew?" justin asked him. That's when Drew started to tear up. "This is gonna sound really selfish, but I felt like he was taking my big brother away from me." He said, turning to look at me. "You and Nick were always together and I hardly ever got to spend anytime alone with him, just the two of us. I thought that once you and Nick got married that I'd lose Nick completely and I didn't want that to happen. Especially since I felt like Nick wasn't paying any attention to me at all." Drew sank down in the chair across from Nick and I and broke down, crying, burying his face in his hands, after he finished. Everyone had tears in their eyes, even Nick. We were all stunned by his confession. And I think they all understood how he was feeling then, and now felt sorry for him. I know I did. Nick got up and went over to Drew and pulled him into a hug. Drew threw his arms around his brother's neck and held onto him, hugging him just as strongly. "Oh, Drew, I had no idea you felt that way." Nick said, rubbing Drew's back to comfort him. "How come you never told me?" "Well because I was too ashamed to admit it." Drew replied, still hanging onto Nick. "I'm sorry, bro." Nick said. "But cut me a little slack. Don't I have a right to be happy?" Drew nodded. "And don't I have a right to have you all to myself? Just for a little while?" He asked Nick, as he wiped at his tears. "We're gonna spend lots of time together. I promise." Nick reassured him. "Even after Sean and I are married." "Thanks, Nick." Drew said, smiling. "And now I have to ask you, Sean, and all of you guys to forgive me." In response, We all got up and got into a group hug, with Drew in the center. After we broke apart, Drew spoke up again. "Nick, Sean had asked me to be his best man at the wedding earlier, but would you mind If I was your best man instead? That way I could make up for hurting you earlier, by attacking Sean. Also, it will give me closure where Sean's concerned." Nick grinned at Drew. "Yes, Drew, I'd be honored if you'd be my best man." He said, hugging Drew again. "Well then since Drew has ditched my offer, Danny, how would you like to be my best man?" I said, looking at Danny. Danny came over to me and embraced me. "I'd love to be your best man." He said, as he hugged me. "You deserve to be happy. I'm just sorry that I won't be here after the wedding." I released him, looking at him, confused. "What are you talking about, Danny?" I asked him. Danny looked at me, sadly. "I'm leaving, buddy." He said. "And I don't know when or IF I'll ever see you, or the rest of the guys, again." That's all for this installment. "Where is Danny going? is he in some kind of trouble? "Will he ever be back from wherever he's going?" How is everyone going to take his leaving? Especially Sean? Stay tuned. What happens next? Oh, if you only knew! slpwriter