Disclaimer: I do not know Lance Bass, or any other celebrities that may appear. Nor do I know their sexual orientations. All fictional characters and situations portrayed remain the property of the author. Any similarities to actual living people and situations is purely coincidental. Also if you are under-age or do not wish to view sexually oriented material please leave now. Otherwise enjoy!
Permission is granted to Nifty Archives for the sole purpose of posting on the Boy Bands section of the Archives. Permission to post on your website may be obtained by e-mailing Drew Thomas at the above address. Constructive comments and advice are welcome.
This story is for all my loyal readers, but especially Cameron, Christian, Tim, and Dark Writer.
CAN'T BREATHE WITHOUT YOU.
The computer beeped, telling him that he had received a new e-mail message. If Lance's suspicions were correct he knew who had sent it. He let out a heavy sigh as he read the subject line. He was right, another message from the mysterious 'P'. They had been coming on a daily basis now for the last three weeks. All with the same message:
Tell me, tell me baby How come you don't wanna love me? Don't you know that I Can't breathe without you?
P.
At first Lance hadn't thought much of the brief messages. It was probably just some over-zealous fan trying to get his attention. But as the weeks went on he became more and more concerned. Thankfully his fan emails were sent through the *NSYNC fan club so no one could get his private e-mail address. Still, he didn't want to have to deal with the strange messages anymore. He would have call Johnny to tell him about all that had been going on. He hoped his friend and manager would not be too upset with him for not coming to him sooner.
He erased the message, as he had the others, and checked the rest of his mail. Seeing that there weren't any that he had to respond to right away, he decided to exit his account. Just as he was about to shut down he got another new message alert. Going back to his e-mail he glared at the screen as he read the sender's address. Another message from `P.' He went to delete it but his curiosity got the better of him when he noticed that, unlike all the other messages, this latest one had no subject line. As the message opened a cold chill ran up his spine as he read the short note:
See you very soon my love.
P.
Without erasing it he quickly shut down and called the WEG offices. He glanced up at the clock on the wall as he heard the office's answering service pick up. Five-thirty, damn! He hung up without leaving a message and began pacing the floor of his office. Now what? He knew that Johnny was going to be out of town this weekend and would be unreachable. This needed to be dealt with as soon as possible, but how?
He had to tell someone about this, but who? It had been weeks now since Lance had seen any of the guys. He had noticed that they seemed to be drifting further and further apart. Their declarations of being brothers who were always there for each other seemed to now be a thing of the past.
He wasn't sure how it had started. What was meant to be a short vacation had now stretched to over a year. Each pursued their own thing for awhile, some choosing rest while others went to work on new projects. Even he himself had pursued his childhood dream of going into space. Despite the almost constant ridicule from the media and the entertainment community, as if him being a `pop star' made him less worthy of attaining it. When the deal was a no-go he was almost crushed. Thinking that perhaps they had, had a point after all. It was the love of family, friends and fans that got him through it.
Justin, being the workaholic he was, had put out a solo album and he was touring with it now, and JC's was about to come out soon. Joey had his Broadway debut, and had acted in several movies and Chris was starting his own record label. As other commitments piled up, the time for them to come back to record another album slowly began to slip away. Of course it wasn't as if Lance was just sitting around doing nothing. He had the day-to-day business of FreeLance Entertainment and A Happy Place Productions to worry about. Still, he missed his friends.
`Enough of this,' he thought to himself. He had to get out for a while. All the sitting around and waiting for an idea was starting to get to him. He had been cooped up in his office too long anyway. He decided to go out to one of his favorite restaurants in LA, and try and relax. _____
Twenty minutes later he pulled up in front of The Falls restaurant. He had forgotten to call ahead for a reservation and hoped he'd be able to get a table. Unfortunately the place was packed, and he was told that there would not be an opening for some time. He told the hostess that was fine and said he would just wait at the bar. As he sat nursing his drink, he was so deep in thought that he did not notice the man that had sat down next to him.
He had spotted Lance when he had entered the restaurant and had noticed that he seemed troubled about something. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea for him to bother Lance but he hoped a friendly face might be just what he needed.
"Hey Lance." Lance was so surprised that his drink went flying and landed in the man's lap. He jumped up out of his seat and stood before him completely drenched. "Thanks for the drink dude."
"Nick? Man, I'm sorry. I'm a little wound up today."
"Yeah I guessed that." Nick Carter laughed, wiping himself off. He sat back down again and looked at his friend. "So what's up Lance? What's going on with you?"
Lance let out a heavy sigh. He wasn't sure he should let Nick in on his problems. It wasn't that he didn't trust Nick, but he didn't think he should add to Nick's troubles. He'd been going through enough lately, with his solo record not selling as well as he'd hoped, and then the group's lawsuit. Not to mention his parents impending divorce. Still, he needed to talk to someone. Why not Nick?
"It's a long story Nick, and pretty bizarre."
"Well I've got nothing going on right now. Why don't we get out of here and go somewhere more private?"
"Sure, lets go to the FreeLance offices. I need to get some things from my desk. Where are you staying while you're in town?"
"The Beverly Wiltshire."
"Really? Me too. We can head back over their after, maybe hang out."
"Cool, lets go." Nick stood and pulled out a couple of bills from his wallet.
"They're on me." Lance said in protest.
"I'd say the drinks were on both of us tonight," Nick joked. Which caused Lance to blush slightly. They walked out into the cool night and tried to flag down a cab but without much success. After awhile they decided just go on ahead to the hotel. They walked along for a few blocks when Lance's cell began to ring. Taking it out of his pocket he noticed that the number did not come up on the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"Why are you with him? You should be with me." The voice on the other end was distorted and Lance could not tell if it was male or female.
"Who is this?" Lance asked, although he feared he already knew the answer.
"How come you don't wanna love me?" Lance's eyes grew wide and he hung up his phone and turned off the ringer.
"Who was that?" Nick asked concerned. He had seen the way Lance had reacted to the call. He had never seen him so scared.
"Just a wrong number." Lance lied, not too convincingly. Rather then question it Nick let it drop, for now.
They finally arrived at the hotel and headed upstairs. Stopping at Nick's room first so he could change clothes. As they walked in Lance noticed Nick's laptop sitting on his nightstand.
"Mind if I check my email?"
"Nope, go ahead. I'll be right out." Nick said as he grabbed some sweats and headed into the bathroom.
Lance opened up his e-mail account and as he suspected there was another message from `P.':
Now I'm hearing that you're seeing someone new, And I wanna know who. But does he love you like I do, my baby.
P.
"What the hell is that all about."
"Damn it Nick!" Lance yelled. "What are doing sneaking up on me like that? You scared the hell out of me."
"Sorry," Nick apologized. "What's going on Lance? And don't tell me nothing. We're all supposed to be friends, remember? Why won't you talk to me?"
"I know you've got a lot of stuff going on with you right now Nick. Both personally and professionally. I don't need to be burdening you with my crap too."
"Let me be the one who decides whether you're being a burden or not, okay? Tell me what's going on."
"Well, to put it bluntly, I think I'm being stalked. I started getting emails about three weeks ago. They were really strange but I wasn't too worried because they had come through the fan club. I figured they were just from some fan, but the last few really freaked me out. Here, take a look for yourself." Nick read through the message and then a thought occurred to him.
"That call you got earlier, that was them wasn't it?"
"Yeah, he - or she - saw us together. That means I've put you at risk now too." Lance sighed, putting his face in his hands.
"Hey, don't blame yourself. You had no way of knowing how serious this psycho was." Nick gently soothed his friend. He took Lance's hands in his, and as he did a strange feeling passed between them. They looked into each other's eyes and Nick could see his friend's fear. "This was not your fault Lance. None of it. We'll try to figure out what to do next okay? Why don't go take a shower and try to relax. You can borrow some clothes from me."
All Lance could do was nod. Fearing that he would be overcome with emotion if he dared speak. He walked into the bathroom and slowly, almost as if he were in a trance, began to undress. As he stepped into the hot shower he was finally over taken with emotion. He couldn't imagine how he was ever going to escape from this nightmare. He feared that things for the two of them were only going to get worse.
As bad as he felt involving Nick, he was also glad that he did not have to go through it alone. He had also felt something pass between them earlier. He had always considered Nick attractive and knew that Nick was also gay. But between both of their touring schedules, and constant attention from the media, they had never had a chance to pursue anything. Lance wasn't even sure if Nick was really interested in him as more than just friends.
He mentally chastised himself for thinking of such things right now. If `P.' was close by then he would not have time to involve the authorities. Somehow they would have to deal with it on their own. He was so deep in thought he almost didn't notice the water beginning to turn cold. Wrapping a towel around his waist, Lance stepped back out into the bedroom to find it empty. A note was laying on one of the pillows.
Lance- I went out to get us a couple of movies and some junk food. I figured we could use some serious vegging out time. Be back soon. Nick
Lance had to smile. Leave it to Nick to know just what he needed tonight. Just another reason to be interested in him. Lance was jolted from his thoughts as the computer beeped, signaling that another message was waiting. It was blank but had an attachment. Lance's eyes grew wide as he saw what appeared to be a picture of him walking out of the bathroom. It had been taken only moments ago from across the street. Lance had, had enough. It was time for him to go on the offensive:
I don't know who you are, and if this is your idea of a sick joke, but if you do not leave me alone I'm going to the police. You might think that I love you in your sick little existence but you're sadly mistaken. Get a life psycho!
He sent the message and sat back to wait. He hoped that whoever it was would get the message and finally leave him alone. A few minutes later a new e-mail came. It was not the response he had hoped for:
If there is no way to make you feel the same way too...Oh you!
Underneath the message was a recently taken photo of Lance and Nick going into the hotel. A red X had been drawn through it. Lance sat in front of the computer screen frozen with fear. It was where Nick found him when he came in a while later.
"Lance, what's wrong?" Nick got no response. "Lance? Damn it Lance, talk to me. Did you get another e-mail?" Finally Lance began to come around. He blinked his eyes a few times and then turned to face Nick
"I think I did something stupid." Lance bolted up from his chair and be began to tell Nick all that had gone on while he had been out. How he had finally reached his breaking point and had tried to scare his apparent stalker into giving up. Finally he showed him the last message sent. Nick sat thinking for a few moments before speaking.
"We need to get out of here Lance. Go upstairs and get packed I'm gonna call Jive and see if we can use their company jet."
"But where are we going? We can't risk getting the others involved now."
"We'll figure that out once we're airborne. The less of a trail we leave, the better. Meet me back here in a half-hour. I'll get us checked out." Nick saw the worry in his eyes and went to him, enveloping him in a tight hug. "Don't worry Lance, everything will work out. I won't let anything happen to you." They separated and Lance quickly left to go pack.
He didn't let it show, but Nick was worried. For himself, but especially for Lance. He couldn't understand why someone would want to hurt him like this. He had such a good heart. It was one of the things that Nick was most attracted to. He wondered if maybe, while they were going to be spending so much time together, it would be possible for them to become involved romantically. His first priority though, was to keep Lance safe. It was a promise he had made, and he planned to keep it. He reached for the phone and began dialing a number.
"Hello? Yes hi I need some information on chartering a flight today. Where? Is it really necessary to have that information now? It's sort of a surprise for someone. I would be willing to pay extra for it. Okay, great. How soon can we leave? All right, we'll be there soon. Thank you. Bye." Nick hung up and headed downstairs to see about their reservations, just missing an incoming phone call on his cell. As the caller ID kicked in the name `Brian Littrell' appeared. _____
Atlanta, Georgia:
Brian slammed down his phone. He had been trying all evening to reach Nick but so far he had, had no luck. He had received an e-mail message that day telling him that Nick was in danger, and that if he did not leave well enough alone he would face the consequences. Brian wasn't sure what to make of it but he wanted to make sure Nick was all right.
Unfortunately as was typical of Nick, he did not leave any information with anyone as to how to reach him. He figured Nick was in LA but he had idea where he might be staying. Going to his office he decided to check his email once more. Sure enough there was a message waiting for him. He opened it to reveal the same photo of Nick and Lance that Lance's mysterious stalker had taken of them in front of the hotel. At least he knew his friend was safe, but he still wanted to talk to him. He didn't know how to reach Lance but he did have the next best thing. Dialing quickly from memory, he called the one person he hoped could help.
"Hi, Josh? It's Brian. Listen I need a favor. Could you give me Lance's cell number? I need to get a hold of Nick, and I think they're together. You can't reach Lance either? What hotel was he--. He already checked out? Are you sure? Okay, thanks. What's that? No, nothing serious." Brian bolted upright in his seat. "You mean you got one too?! I don't know what to make of them? Did you get that photo too? Yeah, at least they're together. Listen, if I don't hear from Nick soon I might just fly out there. Do you wanna join me? All right, I'll talk to you later then. I will. Bye."
Brian walked downstairs and made his way into the kitchen to find Leighanne making dinner. She turned and smiled at her best friend, until she saw the worried expression on his face.
"What's wrong Brian?
"I have to go out of town for a little while Leigh. I think Nick might be in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?" Leigh asked worried.
"I'm not sure. All I know is that it involves Lance Bass. JC and I are going out to LA tonight to try and track them down."
"Shouldn't you let the authorities in on all this? I mean if they really are in some type of danger then you could be too. And what about the other guys?"
"We need to see if they're really in trouble before we get the police involved. The same goes for our friends. There's no sense having them all worried over nothing."
"What if something happens to you too? What about Baylee? Who will sing him to sleep at night while you're gone?"
"His beautiful mother of course." Brian smiled.
"Flattery will get you no where Mr. Littrell. Especially since I know for a fact that you have eyes for a certain brown, curly-haired singer. Tell me again why I agreed to this marriage?"
"Because we agreed that we both wanted a family and who better to have a child with than your best friend. Plus there's that very generous pre-nup you signed." Brian teased.
"Yeah, there is that. How much longer do I have to put up with your face again?" Brian stuck out his bottom lip and Leighanne just shook her head. "All right, I give up. Just be careful okay? And try not to make too much of a fool out of yourself with JC."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence dear." He emphasized the last word knowing it would bug her. Seeing her cringe made him laugh. He quickly left before she could verbally or physically retaliate.
He made his way back up to the office and checked his e-mail one last time. Seeing that he had still gotten no word from Nick he decided it was time to go. He quickly called JC back and they made arrangements to meet up at JC's terminal, since he would be arriving later. He then quickly packed a couple of bags and kissed Leigh and Baylee goodbye. Promising to call as soon as he had any news. He prayed a silent prayer that he would be able to return to them safely and headed for the airport. _____
Meanwhile, Nick and Lance were now safely aboard their chartered jet. Nick explained that he thought it was safer to fly in a less conspicuous plane, than to take Jive's.
"So where should we head?"
"I'm not sure. If this wacko knows all about you, then any places you have ties to are out. We don't need to figure tht out right away though. Let's just enjoy the flight."
"How are we going to get around without leaving a paper trail"
"While I was out I went to the bank and made a rather large withdrawal from my account. We should be okay until we can figure out who's behind all this."
"But how do we do that? You know how these Internet companies are about giving out their customer's private information. And even if we could get that information, how do we stop him without this all going public? It could ruin both our groups!" As Lance rattled on he began to panic. Soon he was hyperventilating, the lack of oxygen making him feel faint. He tried to stand, but as he did he became light headed and collapsed on the floor with a loud thud.
"Lance!"
TBC(?)
Hello, and welcome to another story by Drew Thomas. Hopefully you won't have to wait so long between postings with this story. I'm sure all of you *NSYNC fans out there are familiar with the song "Tell me...Tell me, baby" from their `Celebrity' CD. When I heard it the first time I knew it would be the perfect basis for a stalker story. That being said let me know what you think. I'm going to try something a little different this time around. I've noticed that things have died down in the Boyband section, so I had this idea. "What would happen if the readers decided on the direction of the plot?" So all of you that want this story to continue send me your ideas. If I see something I like I will use it and give that person or persons credit. Hope to hear from you soon.
D.