Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2003 14:31:05 -0800 (PST) From: slpwriter Subject: Nick Lachey: My Everything-49 Hey all, I'm back and ready to write again. It's been such a long time, I've had to re-read the story to try to remember what my next plot was going to be. Now on with the story. 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. 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. "Loving Nick Lachey" by Jordan "Playing Doctor with 98 Degrees" by Brian and finally: "This Gift" by Sprout Now, I"ll let you get on with the story. Enjoy. Previously on "My Everything"..... I looked over at Nick. He had tears running down his face. without realizing it, I reached over and wiped the tears off of his face. I heard Nick gasp at my touch and I realized what I was doing. "Oh god, what am I doing?" I said, getting up and back away. "I'm sorry, Nick. I can't be friends with you all anymore, I have to leave." "And he said I was heartless." Drew said. "But now he takes the cake!" Drew's last statement stung. I turned towards him and looked at him in horror. Drew was lashing out at me. I knew right then and there that he no longer loved me anymore. "Drew, shut up!" Nick said to him, harshly. I surprised myself with what I did next. As I looked at Drew, my look of horror turned to anger and I took a swing at Drew and punched him across the face. "YOU BASTARD!" I screamed at him, as he staggered back and fell. "YOU HAVE A HELL OF ALOT OF NERVE SAYING THAT TO ME AFTER WHAT I'VE PUT UP WITH FROM YOU LATELY!" Drew got up and lunged at me, intent on finishing what I'd started, but Nick acted quick and stepped in between us just as Drew swung at me. Nick caught his arm, blocking his hit. "DREW, YOU STOP THIS FUCKING NONSENSE RIGHT NOW!" Nick screamed at Drew. "IF YOU ASK ME, YOU DESERVED WHAT YOU GOT!" Drew looked at his brother in complete shock. he couldn't believe that Nick was sticking up for me. Frankly neither could I. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Drew shouted at Nick. "YOU'RE ACTUALLY TAKING HIS SIDE!" "YES, DREW, I AM!" Nick shouted back. "WHY?!" Drew protested. "BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!!!! Danny, Kandi, Jeff, and Justin inhaled sharply, as if that was a painful blow. Nick's eyes widened when he realized what he'd said. He then turned towards me to see my reaction. That when he saw the door to his room, slamming shut. Sean?! Sean, come back!" Nick called out, running after me. ********** CHAPTER 49 ********** I ran to the elevators, which were closing and got in just in the nick of time before they shut. I saw Nick running up to the elevator before they did. I jammed the down button and proceeded to head down to the lobby. When the elevator stopped down there, I ran through the lobby and out of the hotel, running towards my car. I got in and started it up. I jammed it in drive and peeled out of the parking lot. As I drove, Nick's outburst kept ringing through my head. He still loves me?! But the real question was: Do I believe him? All I knew was that I needed time to think about this. Nick did say that he loves me, but I didn't give him a chance to tell me what it means. Whether or not he wanted me back as his lover again or if he just meant he wanted me back as just a friend. He did want me back as a friend. That part was clear. But his outburst changed everything. And it scared me. After 10 minutes, I finally made it back to my beach apartment and parked my car. I got out and walked up to the house and unlocked the door. I shut it behind me and locked it. I sat down on the couch and let my mind wander. "Should I give Nick another chance?" I thought to myself. "It's true that a part of me still cares for him, but he's married to Jessica now. Not to mention he has that sweet little girl of his to think about now too. So, I guess my mind is made up. Nick needs to forget about me and move on." Just then, I heard a knock at the door. "Who the hell can that be?" I asked. Nobody but Jake and Michelle came to see me, and those two never came around here at this hour. It was almost 2:00 a.m. I walked over to the door and opened it. I gasped in shock when I saw Nick standing there. "Nicholas, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked him, harshly. "How did you find me?" Nick looked at me like a scolded child. That look alone I could not bear. It was alot like the puppy dog eyes he used to give me that I couldn't resist sometimes. "I followed you after you ran out on us." Nick said. "You sure didn't make it easy though. I almost didn't catch up with you when you sped off in your car, so I jumped in my rental car and came after you." I decided since Nick was here that he might as well come in. "Come on in." I said, stepping aside as he walked in. I closed the door behind me. I turned back to Nick and noticed that he was checking out my place. "This place is nice, Sean." Nick said. "So, this is where you've been for the last two years." "Thanks, Nick." I said. "Yes, this is my place. I fell in love with it when I came upon it and I knew I had to live here. I've alway wanted a house on the beach." Then Nick turned around and looked at me, with a serious look on his face. I knew what was coming. "Sean, we need to talk about what you heard earlier." Nick said, his tone all serious as well. "I know, Nick." I told him. "And I'm sorry that I ran out on you." "Why did you?" He asked me. "I guess I wasn't prepared to hear you say that you loved me and it scared me a little." I told him. Nick cleared his throat and his eyes shifted down to the floor. "Sean, I.....I didn't mean for that to slip out the way that it did. I did say that I loved you and it is partially true. I love you, but only as a friend. My life is with Jessica and Nicole now and I'm happier now than I've ever been. You understand that don't you?" Surprisingly, I wasn't the least bit hurt by Nick's revelation. That just proved that Nick and I finally knew where we stood with each other: It was definitely over between us. "Yes, Nick, I do." I told him. "I've been over you for quite some time now. But that doesn't mean that I don't care about you. You're a very special guy and you always will be to me." Nick smiled. "You mean that?" He asked me. "Yes, Nick." I said, nodding my head. "Nothing will ever change that. You were my first love. You taught me what love is and how it feels like to be in love so completely and I will never forget that." I saw tears come to Nick's eyes as he stood there, just gazing at me. Then he came over to me and gave me a hug. "I will never forget it either, Sean." He said. "We had some great times together and you were the first guy who ever really loved me. Matt never loved me like you did." As Nick and I stood there, hugging each other, I remembered how safe I used to feel whenever I was in his arms and how good he felt. "I've missed this, Nick." I said. "Having your strong arms around me. I've always felt safe whenever I was in your arms." Nick released me and looked into my eyes. I could see that he really did still care for me. How could I not want to be his friend? "Nick?" I asked, looking back into his blue eyes. "What?" He whispered. "Will you dance with me?" I asked him "For old times sake?" Nick looked a little surprised, but then he smiled widely, showing off his perfect teeth. "I would love to." Nick said. "Great." I said, smiling back. "Let me put on a little music." I strolled over to my CD player and put in a cd. When the music started, I held out my hand to Nick. "May I have this dance, Nick?" I asked him. "Yes you may." Nick said, taking my hand and walking with me to the center of the room. I pulled him close with one hand on his shoulder and the other one around his waist. We then starting swaying back and forth to the music. As we danced, I thought back to when Nick and I first met. That felt like such a lifetime ago. I remembered the night I'd first fallen in love with him and how disappointed I was when I almost thought I'd lost him. Nick and I were so happy and I would never forget those times. Not as long as I lived. I suddenly felt Nick pull me closer, arousing me from my daydreaming. I looked up into his eyes to see him looking back on me with a far away look in his eyes. As we continued to dance, our eyes locked on each other. The next thing I knew, Nick's lips were on mine and I wasn't expecting it. Shocked, I pulled away, roughly. I still wasn't ready to trust Nick again. At least not in that way. "I think our time is up now." I said, uncomfortably. "Nick, I think you should just go now." Nick looked horrified when he realized what he had done. "Sean, I'm so sorry." Nick said. "I don't know what got into me." "Don't worry about it." I said, turning away. "I understand how it happened. You got caught up in the moment. You must have been thinking back to when we were together." "But that still doesn't make it right, Sean." Nick said, then asked. "Will you forgive me?" I looked into his eyes and noticed that he did look pretty torn up about what he did. I nodded. "Yes, Nick, I forgive you." I told him. "But you can't let something like that happen again." "Don't worry, Sean, it won't happen again." Nick replied. "Thanks for not decking me though. Although I wouldn't have blamed you if you had." I was shocked by what Nick said. I could never hit him like that. I was not abusive. Slapping is one thing, but punching him I could never do." "Nick, I could never deck you." I said. "Sure I've slapped you once, but decking you is more abusive than anything. I could never hit you. I care about you too much to ever do that." Nick smiled, showing off that sexy smile that I hadn't seen in so long. Despite that fact that he was no longer mine anymore, his smile always made my heart skip a beat. "I've missed that, you know?" I said to him. Nick, not knowing what I meant, frowned. "What?" he asked. "When you smile like that." I told him. "I haven't seen you smile like that in so long. You should smile more often. You really can light up a room when you do." Nick blushed, making me laugh. "What's so funny?" He asked, looking at me like I'd gone nuts. "Well, you're blushing, man." I laughed. "I guess some things never change. You still have trouble taking compliments sometimes." "Sometimes." Nick laughed. Then his cell phone started to ring. He picked it up and answered it. "Hello?" he said. "Hey Drew, what's up?..........I'm at Sean's place right now..........Drew, it's not what you're thinking....Yes, I explained to Sean about my outburst earlier and he understands.......Alright, bro, I'm on my way back, anyway. I'll talk to you when I get back. Bye." Nick hung up his phone and sighed, heavily. "Problems?" I asked, giving him a sympathetic look. "Nope, just Drew being a jerk as usual." Nick said. "He wants me to come back to the hotel." "Oh." I said, a hint of sadness in my voice. "Then you better not keep him waiting." Nick picked up on the sad note in my voice and decided to call me on it. "Sean, what is it?" He asked me. "You sound sad." I nodded. I did feel bad for alot of things. Especially how I'd decked Drew earlier. Not that he didn't deserve it for how he was treating me, but because he was once my brother in law, not to mention a great friend. I missed the closeness I'd once had with him. And with everything that had happened earlier, that was probably no chance I could get that closeness back. "I am sad, Nick." I confessed to him. "I miss the closeness Drew and I used to have before you and I broke up. I'd give anything to have Drew's friendship back." Nick nodded, understanding how I felt. He also felt bad that Drew and I were at odds, but he understood why Drew was acting the way he was. He was very protective of Nick and when I'd left the way that I did, Nick really was hurt by it. "Maybe you and Drew can patch things up with each other after all." Nick suddenly said. I looked up at him. "How, Nick?" I asked. "Drew hates me. Probably more now with the way I hit him." Nick shook his head. "Give Drew some time. He'll cool off." Nick told me. "Drew will never admit it, but deep down he misses you too." Now that revelation surprised me. "How do you know that, Nick?" I asked him, curiosity getting the better of me. "Well, I am his brother, Sean." Nick said. "Drew can't hide everything he's feeling from me. I know him too well." My eyes shifted down to the floor as I took everything Nick had told me. If Drew did in fact miss me, I figured I might as well find out for sure. "Nick, do you mind if I go back with you?" I asked him. Nick smiled and nodded. "Of course not." He said. "Do you want to just ride with me and I'll bring you back later?" "Sure, buddy." I said. "Are you ready to go now?" "Yeah." Nick said. "Come on." I grabbed my keys and followed him outside. Locking the door behind me, I turned around and followed Nick to his car. He unlocked the doors and climbed into the driver's seat, while I got into the passenger seat beside him. As I did, I saw him stifle a yawn. "Nick, are you sure you don't want me to drive my own car to the hotel?" I asked him. "You'll probably be too tired by the time we get done talking with the guys to bring me back." Nick nodded. "You know, I think that's actually a good idea now." He said. "I'll make it back to the hotel ok, but after that, I think I'll fall asleep." "Alright then." I said. "I'll meet you there, ok?" "Ok, Sean." Nick said. "Drive carefully." "I will." I said, as I got out. "I'll see you there." I shut the door to his car as he started the engine. I walked over to my car and got in. I started it and looked over at Nick, signaling him to start driving. He backed out of the parking space he was in and started driving down the drive. As he did, he slowed up, waiting for me. I pulled out of my space and started following him back to the hotel. ******************************************************* BACK AT THE HOTEL, IN NICK'S ROOM................. "I can't believe Sean hit me. " Drew said, holding an ice pack to his left cheek, which was red and a bit swollen. "Well, Drew, you deserved it." Kandi said. "Especially with the way you've been acting towards him." Drew gave Kandi a shocked look. He couldn't believe she was defending Sean's actions. "You don't think I have a right to act the way I do towards him, Kandi?" Drew asked her, sarcastically. "He nearly destroyed Nick when he left and I don't think I will ever forgive him for that." "Drew, you're just being an ass now." Jeff told him, sternly. "Whether you want to admit it or not, you miss Sean and I think that deep down, you still love him as much as you ever did. Two years hasn't changed that." Drew's eyes shifted down to the floor. He knew Jeff was right. He did still love Sean. But he couldn't tell him that. "You're right about that, Jeff." Drew said, softly. "But I don't think that Sean will ever be able to love me the way he loved Nick. I don't want to get my heart broken again. Remember what I went through before?" Everyone knew that he was talking about the time that he fell into a deep depression after Sean had told him that he'd chosen to be with Nick again. "Drew, that's ancient history." Danny said. "Things are different now. Nick and Sean are not together anymore and they never will be again. So, if you want Sean, you'll have to swallow your pride and tell him how you feel." "But, what if Sean doesn't want anything to do with me still, even after I tell him how I feel?" Drew asked, a look on fear on his face. "Then you can't say you didn't try, buddy." Justin said. "If that's what happens, you pick yourself up and move on." "You'll never know if you don't at least give it a shot, Drew." Kandi said to him. "The question is: Are you willing to try?" Drew eyes shifted down to the floor. He needed to think about it. ******************************************************* OUTSIDE THE HOTEL................... Nick and I pulled into the parking lot and Nick drove his car to the back to park, so he and the guys wouldn't have to deal with those hormonal teenage girls when they got up tommorrow morning. There were no fans at the front entrance. There'd better not be, especially since it was almost 3:00 in the morning. I parked in a space close to the front entrance and got out, locking the doors behind me. As I walked to the entrance, I saw Nick walking towards me from the back of the parking lot. I guess he thought it was alright to walk in with me since there was no fans around. "Well, buddy, you finally got a break from all those fans now." I said, as he caught up with me. "Thank God." He said. "I can't tell you how tired I'm getting of being grabbed at like that. Not to mention what it does to my favorite clothes." I laughed at that as Nick and I walked into the lobby towards the elevators. "Nick, it's not like you can't afford to get more clothes." I laughed as I pushed the up button and we waited for the elevator doors to open. "Yeah, but still, it seems like every time I buy something new, it gets ripped to shreds by those girls." Nick said, just as the elevator doors opened. "Well it's not their fault you're so damn irresistable." I whispered, only so he could hear, since we were in public. He laughed. "You are so good for my ego, you know that?" He chuckled. "And thanks." "Anytime, cutie." I whispered, trying to suppress my laughter." Nick rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. We got off the elevator when it stopped on the first floor and we walked to Nick's door. "You better be careful with the flirting, buddy." He whispered back, a grin on his face. "I might get a swelled head." "Or two." I said, a devilish grin on my face. Nick's jaw dropped in shock when he'd realized what I'd said. Then he grinned widely. "You are so bad, you know that?" Nick said, as he slid his keycard through the slot and opened the door. "Well, what can I say, Nick?" I chuckled. "You always could bring out the bad boy in me." Nick laughed as we turned and noticed that the guys and Kandi were still in the room. "Hey, you guys are still here?" Nick said. "I thought you would have been in bed by now." "Nope. We're still up." Jeff said to him. "We were waiting for you to get back." "You guys didn't have to do that." Nick said, surprised that they'd actually waited up so late for him. "We wanted to, Nick." Danny told him. "Besides, we didn't get a chance to finish our conversation with Sean before things got out of hand earlier." When he said that, I looked over at Drew and noticed that he was holding an ice pack to his left cheek, which was red and a bit swollen. "Drew, I'm sorry that I decked you earlier." I apologized to him. "Even though you deserved what you got, I have to admit that was a little bit extreme, even for me." "Yeah, well don't expect me to forgive you right away." Drew said, in a pissed tone. "I'm not asking for forgiveness, Drew." I told him, sadly. "But can I ask you for something else?" Drew looked up at me, a slight frown on his face, the anger still in his eyes. "What?" He asked. I looked at him for a moment, my eyes locking with his, trying to let him see how terrible I felt for hitting him. "Can we talk alone for a minute, man to man?" I asked him. "There are some things that you and I need to talk about and I can only talk about them with you." Drew looked at me, an expression of uncertainty in his eyes. It was clear that he was unsure whether or not he wanted to talk to me, but after a moment, he nodded. "You're right, Sean." Drew said, softly. "We do need to talk." He turned towards everyone else who were in the room. "Would you all mind if we had some privacy, please?" He asked. "Alright." Jeff said, putting his arm around Danny. "We'll wait in my room until you two are done." "Thanks, Jeff." I replied. "We shouldn't be too long." "Don't worry. Take all the time you need." Jeff said, as he and Danny started walking towards the door. "Promise us you two won't kill each other." Kandi said, half seriously. "We won't, Kandi." Drew said. "I'm tired of fighting. I'm sure Sean agrees with me." "I do, Drew." I said, nodding. "I'm tired of fighting too. I just want to sit down with you and have an open, honest conversation where we can be civil with each other and not at each other's throats." "Ok then, We're going to go to bed anyway." Justin said, then added. "Sean, if we don't see you before we leave tommorrow, I just want to wish you luck with your future." "Thanks, Justin." I told him. "I'll remember that." "You do that." He said. "Goodnight." With those words, he and Kandi walked out of Nick's room, heading for theirs. "Well, we'll be going too." Jeff said, walking towards the door, with Danny right behind him. As they walked by me, Jeff stopped and held out his hand to me. "Take care, Sean, ok?" He said, his hand extended. after a slight hesitation, I took it and we shook hands briefly. "You too, Jeff." I told him. "And take care of my former best friend as well." When I said that, I saw a hurt look cross Danny's face, and I noticed Jeff turn around and look at him, then. I had made it clear to them that I was not yet ready to forgive and forget just yet. "I always do." Jeff said, as he let go of my hand. "Come on, Danny, let's go." Danny followed him to the door. Before he and Jeff stepped outside, he turned around and looked back at me. As he did, I noticed a few tears fall down his face, just before the door shut behind him. Nick was the last to leave. "Alright, you two." He said. "I'm counting on you both to behave yourself, you hear?" "We will, Nick." Drew said. "Now, please leave so Sean and I can get this over with. The sooner this is resolved, the sooner we'll all get some sleep." Nick looked at us one last time, before he turned and walked out of his room, heading for Jeff and Danny's room to check up on them. Drew and I were alone. Drew sat back on the bed, still clutching his ice pack to his face. "So, Sean, what is it that you needed to talk to me about?" He asked me. I sighed a heavy sigh, like I always would when alot was on my mind. I walked over to the bed where Drew was sitting and sat down beside him. "Where did we go wrong, Drew?" I asked him, out of the blue. "How did things between you and I get so messed up?" Drew seemed surprised at my questions. I guess he wasn't expecting them. "You know how, Sean." Drew said, flatly. "You lied to all of us about what you were going through when you could have come to us and let us know what was going on. And you didn't do that." I put a hand over my eyes and sighed again in frustration. I really didn't like having to go back to those terrible memories. "I know that, Drew." I said. "But I came back and wanted to work things out, but you guys didn't want to and practically threw me out on the streets." Drew looked up at me. I thought I saw a little bit of sympathy in his eyes, but I wasn't really sure. He was getting to be really hard to figure out these days. Espeically when he could be civil to me one minute and then bitter the next. "By then, it was already too late." Drew said. "Nick had made up his mind." "And I blamed you for it." I said to him. "I'm sorry for that too, Drew." I told him. He nodded. "I know." He replied. "I'm sorry too for my part in that whole mess." I then looked at him, my eyes locking on his. "Is there any chance that you and I can be friends again?" I asked him. "I miss you alot. I miss the man who was once my brother in law and the best friend I ever had." Drew looked down, thinking about it. Then he looked up. "I do miss you too, Sean." He said. "I don't know if you're quite ready to forgive and forget yet, but I'm willing to give our friendship another shot if you are." My heart leapt with joy when I heard him say that. I'd been waiting a long time to hear him say those words. "You mean that?" I asked him, excitedly. He nodded, now grinning from ear to ear. "Yes, Sean, I do."Drew said. "I know you're not yet ready to forgive and forget. I'm not either yet. But how about we take it one step at a time, ok?" "That's good enough for me, buddy." I agreed. "Can I have a hug now?" I asked him. He smiled. "Sure." Drew said, pulling me close to him. I hugged him, tightly. It felt good to be in his strong arms again. Tears of joy welled up into my eyes as I sat there holding onto him. When Drew and I pulled apart, I noticed that Drew had tears in his eyes too. All of a sudden he pulled back. "Sean, there's something that I need to tell you." He said, sitting up, straight. "What's that?" I asked him. Drew's eyes were still locked on me. He was obviously feeling alot of eotions inside of him. "I'm still in love with you." He said. "Two years hasn't changed that. You and Nick aren't together anymore, so I was hoping that when you're ready, maybe you and I could go out on a date or something." Drew's confession really threw me for a loop. I'd thought that he'd have gotten over me, but he still loved me. Even after all the ugly words and the insults we shared, he loved me. I realized at that moment that Drew did deserve a chance to show me how much he loved me. "I don't know what to say, Drew." I said, stunned. "The fact that you're willing to give our friendship another chance, means the world to me." Drew grinned, showing off his pearly whites. He and Nick sure had beautiful smiles. "Would you be willing to go out with me sometime?" He asked, a little nervously. "Of course I would, Drew." I said. "Just let me know when and where." Drew's face fell when he realized that they were leaving tommorrow. He might not get to take Sean out after all. "Damn." He muttered. "What?" I asked ,confusion filling my features. "I just remembered that we are leaving to go back home tommorrow." Drew said, sounding really disappointed. "Yeah." I said, sadly. "Nick did say something about you guys leaving when he came to talk to me at the nightclub." "I'm sorry, Sean." Drew said, giving me an apologetic look. "Don't be, Drew." I said, reassuring him that I was alright. "I can always plan to come and see you guys next weekend." Drew's face lit up when I mentioned that. He was in love alright. I haven't seen him so happy in such a long time. And to think that we were not friends a few hours ago. "Come here, you!" Drew said, putting his arms around me, pulling me down on the bed on top of him. As soon as my body came in contact with his, we both stopped, our eyes locked on each other. I could see the desire in Drew's eyes as he continued to stare at me. Then he put his hand behind my head and pulled me down towards him. I felt his lips connect with mine. I felt his kiss get more aggressive and then his tongue slid into my mouth, beginning a wrestling match with my own tongue. I was getting incredibly turned on by our making out so I sat up for a minute, breaking our kiss. Drew frowned. "Why'd you stop?" He asked, his breathing heavy with lust. "Are you ok?" "I'm fine, Drew." I whispered. "I just thought that you might want to take off your shirt." Without a word, Drew took off his shirt, revealing his sexy toned body that I hadn't seen in two years. He had actually gotten more defined than the last time I saw him. "Wow." I stuttered, getting taken in by Drew's beautiful physique. "Drew, your body look even hotter now since the last time I saw you." "Thanks, Sean." He said, "I've been working out alot these days." "I can see that." I said, as I lay my hand on his sexy, defined chest and started running my hand down it. I looked back at Drew as I did and this time, I dove in and ravished his lips. We kissed for a few moments before Drew broke the kiss. "Why did you stop, Drew?" I asked him. Drew looked at me, his eyes saying it all. "I want to make love with you................. TBC............? Well, that's it for this installment. I will work on the final chapter as soon as I can. "Will Sean and Drew really make love? Could this be the start of something between them? Don't miss one minute of what happens next. Because it's Everything! COMING UP NEXT: Who walks in on Sean and Drew in the heat of the moment? How will they react?