Reach For Me
//\\
"Anyone wanna hit the clubs tonight?" Nick looked around the table expectantly, eyes dancing. Everyone paused their breakfast thoughtfully for a moment. Nick raised both eyebrows hopefully. "C'mon, guys! It'll be fun. We haven't gone out as a group in _forever_."
A.J. barked out a laugh, very obviously forced. "Want me to give you a typed list, kid? We just went to an awards party a few weeks ago _to-geth-er_," he said, mimicking Nick's voice in a whiny sort of tone.
After glaring contemptuously at his uncooperative band mate, Nick sent a pleading look at the rest of the table. "Please? Rok's birthday is soon..." He grinned lopsidedly. "And Brian _wants_to go clubbing tonight." He kicked Brian's shin from underneath the table, sending a grin at his best friend. "_Right_buddy?"
"Yeow!" Brian winced and rubbed his leg. "Er, oh, yeah..." He whined. "Damn it, Nick, that hurt."
Nick rolled his eyes. "You suck so badly at being subtle, ya know that?"
Brian made a face at him.
"Brian's turning five this year, right?" Howie asked, sneaking a grin at Brian before ducking his head to focus on his pancakes.
Kevin pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I dunno, didn't you say you were turning twee and a half dis - I mean - _this_ year, Bri?" He smirked at his cousin.
Brian scowled and folded his arms over his chest. "Yuk it up, grandpa," he grumbled.
Howie laughed.
"You too, _Howard_ or I'm gunna start putting Nair in your conditioner."
Howie choked on his orange juice.
Brian snickered.
"Well?" Nick prompted, looking stubborn. "You guys in or what?"
Laughing, Brian slung an arm around Nick's shoulders and pressed his cheek against Nick's, grinning stupidly at their band mates. He pinched Nick's chin with his free hand. "C'mon guys, lookit dis faaaaace," he giggled.
Nick swatted his friend away, which eventually led into an all out war of bitchslapping and flopping hands.
Howie and Kevin gave each other a "what the fuck?" look before returning to eating, rolling their eyes.
A.J. busied his fork with his otherwise untouched eggs, making little puncture holes in random places so it looked like he attempted to eat. Keeping his attention off Howie was getting increasingly harder. He was giving serious thought to the night before. Why _didn't_ he tell Howie? He glanced up from his eggs to Howie. His best friend, the one man he trusted more than anyone else alive, was hurt. He knew it. After all, who watched Howie closer than A.J.? A.J. protected him for years from heartbreak, lousy money- grabbing women and bad fashion decisions. Now he was the one breaking his heart.
He wanted nothing more than to make everyone else leave so he could talk to Howie alone, but what good would that do? Even if Howie had feelings for him, what the hell would come from that? A.J. was engaged. Howie would never do anything with him while he was with somebody else. And A.J. couldn't cheat on Sarah. Even though he wasn't close to loving her as much as he loved Howie, he still loved her on some level and he would not betray her.
"A.J.?"
Howie looked up and met his eyes, frowning slightly. Then A.J. realized he had been asked a question. He looked mildly around the table to see his three other band mates watching him anxiously. He gulped. "Umm...what?"
Nick sighed loudly. "Dumbass. Do you wanna come with us or not?" he asked exasperatedly.
"Who's going?" A.J. returned.
He was met with an impatient glare. "All of us, you coming?"
A.J. nodded dumbly. "I - I guess..."
"Great!" Nick chirped.
A.J. unconsciously glanced over at Howie while Nick, Brian and Kevin started up another banter. Howie smiled at him softly. A.J. looked down at his breakfast and started poking his eggs again, causing him to miss the fleeting cringe that passed over Howie's face.
\\//
It was almost two in the morning before Kevin and A.J. were trying to drag their band mates out of the club. It would close in another two hours, but Brian, Howie and Nick were showing no signs of relenting. Brian and Nick were having a good time on the dance floor drunk off their respective asses. Brian was just dancing and Nick was busying himself with a gorgeous brunette. They weren't so much of a problem to get out of the club. It was Howie.
"Where the hell could he have gone?" shouted Kevin. A.J. barely heard him over the thunderous pounding of the music.
He shrugged. "Like hell if I know," he yelled back. He searched the club, beginning to get more and more worried. "Listen," he called to Kevin, "get Nick and Brian out of here. I'll look for him and take him back."
Kevin shook his head. "No, I don't want to leave 'till I know he's safe."
A.J. sighed impatiently. "Kevin, just go. Nick's going to pass out if he has another drink and Brian..." He rolled his eyes. "Look, Howie can hold his liquor, he's not going to be as bad as Frick and Frack." When Kevin still looked unsure, A.J. snapped, "Go! He's my best friend, Kev, I'm not gunna let anything happen to him."
Somewhat reassured by A.J.'s words, Kevin nodded and told him that if absolutely anything was wrong, he was to call him on his cell phone, no matter what time it was, since it would take a while to get Nick to settle down for the night. Then he stalked off into the crowd to drag Nick and Brian away from their party scene.
Chuckling to himself, A.J. began to search for his band mate. He wanted Kevin gone because he knew that although Howie _could_ indeed hold his liquor, Howie wasn't _trying_to hold it. From the unattached look on Howie's face when they came into the club, it was obvious to at least A.J. that he was looking to forget his problems for a while, even at the expense of Kevin's wrath _and_a murderous hangover.
And he knew it was his fault. Howie was scared out of his mind and A.J. knew it. He could see it in his eyes. Nobody had ever _dared_ to fuck with his and A.J.'s friendship and now that someone was, Howie was scared. A.J. saw him get more panicked with every hour that passed. He also picked at his ring more. A.J. glanced down at his own, a match to Howie's. They got them early in the year to show that through everything, they had always been there for each other, and they would continue to do so.
But now with the potential threat of Sarah moving in on their friendship and stealing A.J. away from him, Howie was obviously terrified. Before it had been a relationship to keep A.J. steady and away from the bottle. But now it was an engagement. A preparation for marriage... A.J. hated to admit it, but it looked like Howie was going to have a mental breakdown no matter what he did.
A sudden clatter and shattering of glass brought A.J.'s attention spinning back to the real world. He looked across the throngs of people to see a large crowd circling around the corner of the club. A.J.'s heart plummeted.
He pushed through the horde of drunks and sober onlookers until he reached the front lines. Horror grabbed his heart as he saw the main attraction. JC Chasez from the Backstreet Boys' rival band *N SYNC had Howie up against the wall, seconds away from beating the living shit out of him.
Before A.J. could move, Howie delivered a hook to JC's cheek and sent the other man sprawling. His eyes narrowed fiercely. JC patted his lip to find it cut and bleeding. He took a moment to stare at Howie incredulously before growling and launching himself at the Latino. In a matter of five or six seconds, an all out brawl had begun.
Howie could have killed JC if he was angry enough, and from the looks of the fight, he definitely had a lust for JC's blood.
A.J. was still dumbstruck by the entire scene. Howie didn't fight people. It was just something the man refused to do. And in the past, he had always been civil to JC and his band mates. What on earth could have triggered such a reaction from him?
Howie suddenly gained the advantage and kicked JC savagely off of him. As he was standing up shakily, someone tackled him to the floor: Justin Timberlake, one of JC's band mates. A.J. finally snapped out of his stupor and went to Howie's aid.
Someone had called the manager of the club and the guards were trying to fight their way through the crowd. Justin was an animal, punching and attacking Howie's stomach and chest. Howie was trying futilely to get the larger man off of him, but he was spent from fighting with JC and was failing miserably. A.J.'s temper flared and before he could stop himself, he kicked Justin in the ribs, landing him on top of JC.
Justin got up to fight A.J., but before he could throw a punch, a guard had his arm twisted behind his back.
"Don't fucking touch me!" slurred Justin, throwing wild punches.
JC stood up, scowling daggers at Howie, who was curled into a fetal position on the floor, holding his ribcage. "Fucking faggot," he growled.
A.J.'s eyes widened. Without giving himself time to weigh options, he sent a furious punch to JC's cheek. "_Don't_fuck with him," he snarled.
A.J. knelt down next to Howie, ignoring the onlookers and the screaming insults from Justin and JC. He reached out and brushed his fingertips over Howie's forehead. "D? Howie. Howie, wake up."
Howie only moaned in response, curling tighter around himself.
A.J. sighed and slid an arm under his friend's back, hauling him to his feet. Howie cried out in protest, but A.J. steadied him. He kept his arm locked around Howie's back, his hand clamped on Howie's hip. Howie groaned and leaned against A.J. Howie was around one hundred thirty eight pounds, only five foot six at most, while A.J. himself was in the one hundred forties and around five nine. So all in all, it was easy for A.J. to support him. Had it been Kevin or Nick, he would have buckled under their weight and height.
His eyes turned to ice as he surveyed JC and Justin, both of them watching A.J.'s every move. "Don't you _ever_lay a fucking hand on him again," he growled. "Or I swear to God you won't see the light of another day. When I find out what the fuck you did to him, you can expect hell from me personally. Am I making myself fucking clear?"
"You don't scare me," JC sneered.
A.J.'s eyes flashed. "Don't tempt me, Chasez. _Don't_."
JC pursed his lips.
A.J. nodded. "Good," he spat. He gently led Howie away from the scene, his scowl parting a path through the Red Sea of spectators.
When they were outside, A.J. called Kevin, telling him only that he had found Howie and he needed a private ride back. Kevin complied, knowing the right and wrong times to ask questions, and sent a driver out for them.
As soon as the limousine had pulled away from the club, Howie collapsed into A.J.'s arms, moaning quietly. A.J. frowned worriedly and readjusted their positions so Howie was lying on the seats, his head in A.J.'s lap.
"I could kill you right now, you know," said A.J. softly, running a hand through Howie's hair.
Howie winced. "'M s'rry," he mumbled.
A.J. sighed. "What the hell happened?" he asked. He brushed his fingertips against Howie's forehead soothingly, growing more and more concerned. There was a very serious problem with Howie's chest or else Howie would have released his death grip on his ribs by now.
"Called 'ju a drunk," murmured Howie, slowly opening his eyes to see A.J.'s reaction.
A.J. stiffened. "So you decided to kick his ass?" he asked, frowning. "D..."
Howie shut his eyes again, burying his face into A.J.'s stomach. "I told 'ju I was sorry," he said, muffled by A.J.'s wifebeater.
A.J. continued running his fingers through Howie's hair, trying not to be consciously aware of his friend's searing breath burning a hole in his stomach. A sudden thought ripped through A.J.'s mind.
"D?"
"Wuh?"
"Are you drunk?"
"...No."
"Howie."
"...Not much..."
"D, you can't do shit like this - " A.J.'s criticism was short lived, as the limousine had just pulled up into the hotel's garage.
A.J. gave up and sighed. He moved his hand to caress Howie's face gently. "We're here," he said.
Howie frowned, eyes still closed, as A.J. began to pull his hand away. He grabbed A.J.'s wrist and tangled his fingers in A.J.'s. "I can't move," he whispered. "It hurts..."
Before A.J. could give conscious thought to his actions, he leaned over and pressed his lips against Howie's blazing forehead. Howie tightened his grip on A.J.'s hand weakly.
A.J. pulled back abruptly. Howie was drunk. He couldn't take advantages like these with his best friend. Howie's trust meant the world to A.J., and he would be damned if he broke that. He had begun to worry about how he was going to get Howie out of the car and into the hotel when Howie solved the problem for him by passing out. A.J. felt his body fall limp in his arms.
A.J. gently undid his fingers from Howie's and pulled out his cell phone. Before he sought out Kevin's number on speed dial, though, he kissed Howie's forehead again, this time hesitating before pulling away. "I love you, you angelic idiot," he whispered.
//\\
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