DISCLAIMER: This story is not for those under the age of 18 years (21 in some areas). It includes discriptions of male/male sexual acts. This story includes celebrity persona; however, it is not meant to imply or suggest the sexual orientation of those celebrities.
------------------- Getting Reaquainted ------------------- by Neil e-mail me at GrapeNeil@aol.com
Part V ------
I scream aloud as my eyes open wide. I immediately reach into the endtable to get paper and a pen. Brian is now awake. "What's wrong? Chris, tell me what's wrong!" I scribble on the paper: "pit, cold, warm over side, green snake, hisses loud, three red snakes, circle around, green attacks" I'm almost hyperventilating. I feel Brian's warm arms wrap around me.
"Calm down, Chris. Please calm down." He's holding me very close. I just now realize that he's here with me. I turn to face him, still with a frightened expression and breathing heavily. When I recognize him, I throw my arms around him. We just hold each other for a couple minutes before I have calmed down enough to communicate.
"Chris, what's the matter? What were you writing?"
"It was just a terrible dream. That's all. I'm better now." My breathing is slowing. "I had to write down everything I remember about it. I have to talk to my shrink." He gets a somewhat surprised look. "Yes, Brian, I see a shrink."
"Do you want to tell me about it? The dream, I mean."
I grab the note I made. "I was in this deep, cold pit. I could feel warmth over the side, but I couldn't get out. Then a few snakes came over the edge, and one attacked me. That's when I woke up." Brian's eyebrows furrowed, then returned to normal when he remembered that I have, and have always had, a fear of snakes.
"Well, there aren't any snakes here. You're alright now." I put my arm around him and lean both of us backwards to lie down again. "I know I am. I'm always safe with you." He smiles and circles a finger in my hair. I snuggle up close to him again. I glance at the clock on the wall. 3:48. I fall asleep.
The sun, again, wakes me. Despite the direct rays, I feel a chill. Brian's not here. I look around the room with squinted eyes. The glass door is cracked open. I get up, put on my robe, and walk towards it. I can see Brian outside, kneeling beside the red rose. It had fallen off of me when he pulled me onto the balcony from the banister. Brian just stares at it. 'I wonder what he's thinking?' I open the door, and he looks at me when he hears the sound. Without a word, I walk over and kneel beside him. I take his head in my hands and pull it towards mine. I kiss him. My tongue enters his mouth. A hand caresses the back of my head, while the other is gliding across my back. I stop the kiss and look his directly into those endless blue eyes. While I get up, I pull him up with me. We walk inside, hand in hand.
"Well, I guess I have to go get ready for today."
"No, Brian, let's just go downstairs and get breakfast first."
We walk out of my room just in time to see Kevin come out of AJ's room. His hair is still messed up, and he was wearing his bed clothes. Brian asks, "You slept in AJ's room last night?"
"Yeah. My room is right_next_to Chris', and it was a bit too noisy for me to sleep last night." He tries his best to hold back a smile as both Brian and I blush and avoid eye contact with him. "Oh, forget it, you two. Let's just go eat." I get this incredible feeling inside of me. I really think Kevin has finally accepted this. I can't help but smile as he leads me and Brian to the kitchen.
"What are you smiling about?" Brian whispers.
"Oh, nothing." I motioned to Kevin and smile even more. Brian understood what I meant, but only partly. The truth is, when we were younger, I always looked up to Kevin. He was always so cool. He was THE "In" person. I was too shy and too normal to ever become someone like him. Now, the person I used to look up to the most accepted something that I did. It just made me feel good. I couldn't tell Brian about this; it would just be too weird. Brian returns the smile and takes my hand.
"Ok, what's in store for us today?" Brian asks.
"Uuummmm....there's something at noon, then something else at 3:30." Nick replies.
Kevin gets a stern look on his face. "Can't you even remember two simple things? We're not asking you to memorize our whole tour schedule or anything."
Nick: "Hey, Kevin, why don't you just calm down?" He jokingly throws a grape at Kevin. Kevin rears up out of his seat.
AJ: "Uh-oh"
Mayhem. All of a sudden fruit, cereal, biscuits, everything is being thrown around. At the head of the table, I just stay seated and watch in disbelief. All the Boys have joined in the food fight. Howie is covered in chocolate cereal, AJ has gravy in his hair, and Kevin's face is white with milk. Brian gets orange juice poured down his back, and he returns the favor to Nick's pants.
A plan. I stand and pound a knife on the table as loud as I can. Everyone immediately freezes and looks at me. "What the hell are you people doing? You can't just come into my house and mess it up! What has gotten into you all?" They all lower their heads and utter an apology. "Kevin, Nick, here. NOW." I point to two opposite sides of the table. They stand there with their heads down. "I don't know how this got started, but I am going to finish it. Look at me." They raise their heads to look into my eyes, which showed anger. I swtiched my gaze back and forth between them. I grab my still-full glasses of milk and apple juice and toss the contents out onto each one's face. They each get startled looks. I turn and bolt out of the kitchen, laughing hysterically. I try to go up the stairs, but a pair of hands catches my feet through the steps. I fall on the stairs face first (not injured). Two or three people grab me, pick me up, bring me down the stairs, and put me on the floor, stomach down. I turn my head just a little to see Brian sit on top of me. He starts tickling my sides. "That's HAHAHA not HAHA fair!!"
"Kevin, get his feet!" Kevin does. The other Boys are wrestling across the floor. Brian and Kevin continue to tickle me. "I'm gonna get Lester after you!" They stop, I guess in shock. Wow, did I just say that? Why did I say that? Brian gets up off of me and sits beside me.
Kevin asks, "Lester? Is that dog still alive?"
"No, he's not. I don't know where that came from." I'm really confused. Brian senses my uneasiness and starts to laugh, to comfort me. Kevin also laughs. So I do. "Wow, that was a blast from the past."
"Yeah, only this time, your mom isn't here to yell at us for playing in the house." We laugh more. The others have stopped wrestling and just sit on the floor.
"Oh man. Amy and Miles are going to kill me when they see that mess. But I wouldn't be concerned about that."
Nick says, "Why? What would you be concerned about?"
"The fact that you all have food all over my mother's brand-new Persian rug." They all jump up and off of the rug. Only a couple small stains, including an orange-yellow one shaped like Nick's butt.
Howie sighs. "Well guys, looks like we have some house cleaning to do. Not to mention some self-cleaning."
"I really hate to have to leave you guys cleaning my house, but I have a doctor's appointment in half an hour. So I'm just going to go clean up." I looked at Brian when I said 'doctor', and he knew what I meant.
"Ah, Chris. How have you been since your last visit?"
"A lot better, Dr. Miller. You know that Brian I tell you about?" She nods. "Well, he's back in my life."
"In a good way or bad way?
"Good way. Oh, very good ways." I felt completely comfortable around Dr. Laura Miller. She became the one person I could talk to, tell everything to. I knew I could joke around with her.
"I think I see what you're saying. That's good. But I am concerned over what kinds of issues this is bound to bring up for you. I don't have to tell you that what he did really had an impact on your mentality."
"Yeah, I know you're concerned. But it's not bad. At first, it was really weird between us. You know why. Then, we came to the realization that we still loved each other. So we're trying to make it work this time."
"Very well. Are you sure he's not going to....leave this time?"
"I wasn't sure at first, but after the past few days, I know he won't leave me. That brings up another little point. Brian is an entertainer, so he's on the road a lot. He asked me to come with him. I told him that I would have to have a job and not just freeload off of him. He says he can get me one. But I still...."
"You don't want to just pick up and leave."
"Right. But I really love him, and I think I will go with him. It'll be hard on my parents."
"I know your parents, Chris. I think I can make them understand, if you want me to." She knew that was just an excuse.
"That'd be great. Thank you. I hope you have an easier time with them than I had with Kevin. He had some trouble with the idea. I told him that we used to be together and that we wanted to get back together. At first, he was totally against it. But then he saw that he couldn't do anything about it and that it wasn't so bad afterall. So now I think he's fine with it."
"That's good. I bet it really hurt you that someone you admired so much disagreed with your plans."
"Yeah, it did. Oh, before I forget, I was going to tell you about this dream."
"What dream? I have to warn you, I normally don't analyze dreams, so I can't be sure how correct my analysis will be."
"That's alright. I'm standing in a cold, deep pit. I can sense a warmth over the edge of the pit, but I can't climb up the walls. Then, a green snake comes over the edge. It rears up and hisses. Three reds snakes appear. They circle around me. Then the green one lunges at me, and I woke up."
"Well, that's a very interesting dream. Obviously, your fear of snakes is represented. You are fearing something as much as you fear snakes. Possibly your decision to leave your life as you know it. Also, something you have been wanting or needing is close; that is the warmth."
"What could I be wanting or needing? I have the love of my life back. And I have what some would consider a great life."
"'...what some would consider a great life.' You don't consider it a great life, do you, Chris? You told me you hate living in that house. You don't have any friends, besides that computer of yours. I think you should do it. Leave with him." She knew I had already made up my mind and that I just wanted someone to tell me to leave.
"You really think so?"
"Yes, I do. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
"Yeah. This morning, Brian, Kevin, and I were just goofing off, when I said something that came from our childhood. I told them that I'd get Lester after them. Lester was my dog back when I first knew them in Kentucky."
"Were you all enganged in something you did as children?"
"Yeah, they had me down tickling me where they knew I was most ticklish. I would always threaten to get Lester after them. Lester died years ago. I don't know why I said it. I got really worried over it."
"Well, that's nothing to worry about. Just a repressed childhood memory springing back to life."
"Alright, I'll take your word for it. How many of these 'repressed childhood memories' do you think will resuface?"
"I couldn't tell you. Because I know you very well, I'll tell you that I think you have a lot of them. But I don't know how many will resurface. Just don't get scared if they do."
We finished the hour with some normal "Tell me how you feel" stuff.
When I got home, I found a note:
Chris,
We're at one of our things. There were some emergency meetings called with the record label and stuff, so we're going to be gone longer than we thought. We should be back around 5:30. And be prepared, we're ready to go to the Maze again. We either have to let Nick win or rematch until he does. The boy won't shut up! We'll see you later.
Kevin Howie D NICK
AJ Brian
---{-@
Oh! Brian had drawn a rose under his name! God I love him!
On the down-side, I now have five and a half hours of nothing to do. Hhhmmm.... I settle for some time on the computer. Then, remembering what Dr. Miller said, I decide to get off of the computer and make some direct contact with human beings. I go to The Light Luncheon. I go there often, so a few of the workers know me. After eating and talking with them, which took up two hours, I decide to go to Central Park. The walk through the park was nice. I thought of Brian the whole time. I would see couples hand-in-hand walking down the paths. I saw some people kissing and having a really nice time. Brian and I can't do that. I frown. I know why, and I completely agree with it. But still....
The cab pulls up to my house. I see the servants unloading the Land Rover. Great, my parents are home. Just what I needed. Mom storms out when she sees me get out of the cab.
"Young Man! What are those stains all over my new rug?!?"
"Relax mom. It's just orange juice. The rug cleaner said they can get it out. They're coming tomorrow. How was your trip?" I tried to better her mood.
"How was my trip? I bet you don't even know where we went!" And I failed.
"No, I don't. Things got a bit crazy around here the past few days."
"What do you mean, things got crazy?"
"Well.....Brian's here."
"Bri....BRIAN Brian?"
"Yes, mom. But it's okay." She knew I had issues with him, but she didn't know why. "They're leaving...." Tomorrow! They're leaving tomorrow! Oh crap! "....tomorrow."
"THEY are leaving? You mean ALL of them are here?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you call and tell me? I have some straightening up to do!" Her tone went from anger to that tone she gets when she has a dinner party and wants to impress everyone. I guess she didn't realize that they have already been here for days and have seen the house in what she considers disarray. Oh well, at least she's not mad at me any more. I said hello to my father and went into the house. They would be back in just under two hours. I went to my room to think about what I was going to tell my parents.
Nick tries to turn the doorknob, but it's locked. AJ rings the doorbell. My mother answers. "Oh, hello! You must be the guests Chris told me about! Oh, my, is that Brian back there? Oh, and it's Kevin too! Come in, come in!"
As Brian steps through the door he says, "Hello, Mrs. Paige. Nice to see you again." He wasn't sure how she would respond to him; he shouldn't have worried. She scooped him up in her arms. She did the same to Kevin before he even got out a "Hello."
"OH, my, you two have grown up to be so handsome! And quite popular as well! CHRIS! YOUR COMPANY IS BACK! COME ENTERTAIN OUR GUESTS!" Usually I wouldn't be able to hear her from my room, but I heard her this time. I go downstairs.
"Oh hey, guys. I see you have all met my mother." They nod, and AJ groans. "Well, I think we have an appointment down in the Maze, don't we?" Nick jumps in excitment as I remind them of our plans.
"How aobut we play teams this time?"
Nick answers quickly, "Fine with me. CAPTAIN!" and waves his arm in the air.
Brian is the second to call out "CAPTAIN!"
Teams turn out: Nick, AJ, and Howie against Brian, Kevin, and me. "Oh, wait, I think I have stuff for teams. Let me just look." I get into the cabinet and throw the team members colored vests. Brian bends down to tie his shoe. So I turn to the others, and I am shocked by what I see: Nick, AJ, and Howie are wearing red vests, and Kevin is wearing green. Three red:one green. A shiver goes down my spine. And I guess I get a horrified expression on my face.
"What's wrong?" Kevin asks while taking a sudden step towards me. I jump back.
"Um...I just....I can't do this." I rip off the vest and the helmet, and throw my gun down on the floor. I run up both sets of stairs to my room. I run in and lock the door.
No, this has to be a coincidence. That's all it is. A coincidence. This has nothing to do with my dream. Nothing. There's no way. The doorknob slightly turns, but it is locked.
Brian's voice. "Chris, what's the matter? Open up! Please open the door."
"Nothing's wrong, Brian. Just leave me alone for a while, okay? Please. I promise nothing's wrong." I see the shadow of his legs under the door move away. I'm surprised he didn't protest. No, my dream had to be about something. I need to see my dream again. I need to go to sleep. I run to my dresser. I open a drawer and dig deep into the shirts. Sleeping pills. I have to go to sleep. I have to see if my dream has changed any. Sleeping pills.
-----The Dream-----
The pit. The same coldness. The area of warmth now glows red over the side of the pit. I once again try to climb the steep sides, but I can't. The green snake appears.
"Kevin." It stands again, but this time it stands differently, on the very tip of its tail. "Kevin, what are you doing?" It looks at me and hisses loudly. The hiss is somehow translated in my mind: "Now." The three red snakes appear and circle around me. "Kevin, please don't." The green snake lunges. I scream as its teeth sink into my skin. But there's no pain. The snake wraps it's body around my leg. I look down. It feels like he's injecting me with something. My calf starts to glow green. The glow travels up my leg, then throughout my body. It feels good. As it engulfes my body, I can almost feel myself getting stronger. My body grows much taller. I can now see over the edge of the pit. Brian is laying down, covered in snakes. He is the glowing redness and the warmth. I step out of the pit and grab the snakes. I toss them from him one by one. But Brian doesn't move. I don't understand why he won't move.
-----Meanwhile-----
My mother and Brian are both crying in the waiting room of the hospital. AJ just whispers to Howie, "How many of those things did the doctor say he took?"
"Too many. I wonder why he did it?"
Kevin: "Would you two shut up? Don't let Mrs. Paige or Brian hear you talk like that. I don't think he was trying to kill himself by taking sleeping pills."
Nick replies, "But why would he take so many then? I don't understand."
To Be Continued....