AJ was planning something. Trying to hide it, but still planning something. It amused Brian to no end. He knew it wasn’t something serious that his partner was hiding. No, this involved the other guys in the group and was something that had AJ smiling in a goofy way to himself when he thought that no one was looking at him.
Normally he would have been pestering AJ to tell him what it was but this time Brian couldn’t bring himself to do it. There was an almost childlike excitement in AJ recently. A happiness that made Brian happy just to see. Things were going to get rough enough when they left to go to Kentucky; right now he wanted to allow AJ the opportunity to be secretive and plot whatever it was that was making him glow.
He really knew something was up when, on the last day of this leg of the tour, right before their two week break, Nick came down and stole him for the afternoon. Whatever it was that AJ was planning he must have enlisted Kevin and Howie to help him because they were nowhere in sight when Nick took Brian out of the hotel.
The two friends did a little sightseeing, cruising through shops and touring San Juan. It was something that they had used to do all the time. So it was nice to get that feeling back. To enjoy being Frick and Frack again for a while.
When they grabbed a bite to eat, only having an hour before they had to be at the arena, Brian finally decided to say something to Nick. “I know what you’re doing.” He told him calmly as they sat in the little restaurant.
Nick’s eyes went huge in his face for a second before he controlled himself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He insisted. There was a definite note of panic in his voice. Brian grinned and took a sip off his soda. “Frack, you’re not as slick as you think you are, and neither is Age.”
“Fuck.” Nick swore quietly. His blue eyes looked a little troubled as they locked on Brian. “How much do you know?”
There was something serious in Nick’s voice that had Brian dropping the teasing and answering honestly. “Just that you’re here to keep me away from the hotel for a while so AJ can do whatever he’s doing.” Worry ate at him now, though. Why was Nick looking so serious about this if there wasn’t something serious going on? “There’s nothing bad going on, is there?”
Realizing how Brian had taken his tone, Nick rushed to reassure him. “No! Oh, God, no. I just thought you knew more than you were supposed to. I didn’t want J’s surprise ruined.”
Brian started to relax again. Nick would never lie to him, most especially if it was serious. Now he found his curiosity was piqued, though. “You know what it is, don’t you?”
“Yep.”
“Gonna tell me?”
“Nope.”
“Bastard.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The show that night was great. The crowds in Puerto Rico were fantastic and full of energy. After it was done and over with, Brian found himself full of energy. He quickly changed in his dressing room before setting out to find his friends and head back to the hotel. He found Kevin and Nick waiting for him back by their van. The other van, along with Howie and AJ, were nowhere in sight.
Kevin laughed as Brian came bounding out the door. “Little hyper, cos?” he teased him.
Whether it was because tour was on break for two weeks, or that the show had been so great, or that he knew something was waiting for him at the hotel, Brian wasn’t sure. But he gave Kevin a wild grin. “What was your first clue?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Couldn’t be the bouncing, could it?”
They climbed into the van, picking on one another as they did so. It always amazed the others to listen to Kevin and Brian banter. No one else would dare to say half the things to Kevin that Brian did. But he knew his cousin and had no fear of him. “You’re just jealous, Kev-o.”
“Jealous?” Kevin exclaimed, looking into the backseat where Brian and Nick were. The van started up and they were soon heading down the road.
Brian raised his eyebrows and looked over at Nick. “You hear an echo in here somewhere? Creepy.” Wiggling his eyebrows this time, he looked back over at Kevin. “Yes, jealous.”
“What the hell am I jealous of?”
“Cause I’m getting laid regularly and you aren’t.” Brian told him bluntly. His grin stretched even wider. “Really good sex too.”
In his corner of the seat Nick started to laugh. He bent down, resting his head on his knees as the laughter rolled from him. Kevin gave Brian a fake glare but couldn’t keep the sparkle from his eyes. He loved seeing his cousin so happy, and he knew that after tonight Brian would be glowing even more if things went the way AJ planned. “Way more info than I wanted, Rok.”
Red in the face, Nick lifted his head, his laughter finally under control. “Oh, no, you have no idea, Kev. Try sharing a suite with the two of them. Walls are thin. I learned more about how Brian is in bed than I ever wanted to. You think AJ’s bad? Shit..”
“Nick!” Kevin exclaimed, flushing.
Laughter tickled Brian’s throat. He looked over to his best friend. “What can I say? The man brings out the freak in me! You shouldn’t be listening to us, anyways, if you don’t want to know, oh Fracky one.”
“I didn’t exactly intend to, Frick! I was watching my TV with the volume way up, cause you two are fucking loud...”
Brian couldn’t help but chuckle there. “Fucking loud…nice pun.”
Pretending to glare, Nick rolled right over that. “…and the next thing I know I hear a slapping sound and AJ saying ‘harder’ and another slapping sound. You weren’t exactly quiet!”
A smile brightened Brian’s face as he remembered that night. Yeah, that had been one hell of a night. One of the ones right before they’d flown back out. He and AJ had been in one of those kinds of moods then and hadn’t given any thought to being quiet.
Kevin gave his cousin a shocked look. First off, he didn’t want to think of Brian and AJ having sex, as that inevitably brought up that one image he never wanted to see again. But to think that his cousin, his sweet cousin, could be the dominating one? In any of the teasing that floated around among them it was all commonly assumed that AJ was the more dominant one.
Seeing his cousin’s face had Brian shrugging. “I get in moods sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes. Plus, AJ likes it a little rough.”
Thankfully for Kevin’s brain the van pulled up at the hotel then. He practically scrambled out of it. Behind him Nick and Brian were laughing so hard they had to hold one another up. Once inside the elevator, Kevin pushed the button for their floor and turned to give them a glare. “You two are totally insane.”
The elevator dinged for their floor and they made to step off. But Nick suddenly calmed his laughter and he and Kevin stood, keeping the doors opened, and stopped Brian from stepping out. “You don’t get off here tonight, Bri.” Kevin told him, his face suddenly melting into a warm, loving smile.
Nick leaned in long enough to press a button. “Enjoy, Frick. We’ll see you in the morning before we all leave.” With that the two stepped back and left Brian standing alone in the elevator as the doors closed and it continued to rise up.
What on earth was AJ planning? Looking at the lit button, Brian realized which floor he was heading to and whistled to himself. The penthouse suite? The guys must have all pitched in for something like that. At the same time he realized that it meant that he and AJ would have the top floor entirely to themselves. Now that was a wonderful thought.
The doors opened and Brian stepped out into the hallway, finding Marcus waiting for him. He smiled and stepped into the elevator. “Enjoy, Brian. I’ll be watching the elevator downstairs.” He said as the doors closed. This was the only elevator that led to this floor, which meant that Marcus was making doubly sure that they would be alone. The magnitude of this gift has Brian smiling.
He turned to look down the hall and saw the trail of rose petals that led to the one door. Tears backed up in his eyes. Careful not to squash them he followed the trial to the open door and gently pushed it. At the sight of the room he let out a soft gasp. There were no lights or lamps on, but it seemed like hundreds of candles were lit on every surface. There were rose petals sprinkled all around. Classical music played lightly as a background, barely noticeable but giving it just the right atmosphere. It was beautiful.
Standing over by the patio window was AJ. Brian felt his eyes drawn over to his lover like a magnet. AJ was dressed casually, yet in a way that Brian always found attractive. A black tank shirt and black jeans. Simple, yet on him they were devastating. He was barefoot, which Brian found cute. “Alex…” Gently he shut the door behind him before walking into this little slice of paradise.
AJ was all smiles, his face light and full of love. He held out one hand, waiting for Brian to reach him. They clasped hands and AJ brought him close, wrapping an arm around his waist so that Brian stood by his side and they were looking out at the moonlit sky.
“What is all this, Alex?” Brian found himself asking. He spoke in a soft voice as if afraid that talking too loud would ruin the moment.
There seemed to be such love and peace on AJ’s face. He wore no sunglasses, as he hadn’t since they’d come back. It allowed Brian to constantly look at his eyes which was something he loved to do.
“I guess it’s a late anniversary and birthday rolled into one. I can’t make up for it, not quite, but I thought I’d try.”
Love filled Brian to overflowing. This was one of those parts of AJ that no one else saw. One that Brian loved deeply. No one knew how much of a romantic AJ really was. “You are a wonderful man.” He whispered, turning to kiss him. “It wasn’t necessary, but I love it. Do we really have this whole place for the night?”
“All night long. A little piece of heaven for us for a while. Not much compared to what I would like to do for you, but it was the best I could do.”
“It’s perfect, Alex.” Brian said honestly. “You’re perfect. Thank you, so much.”
AJ’s eyes crinkled with his smile. “I didn’t just get us the room, sweetheart, though that is a great thing on its own. I have plans for us tonight. But first…” AJ trailed off, cocking his head for a second as the music changed. Another song came on and Brian watched as AJ’s face transformed back to that sweet look that melted his insides. Shifting them out to the floor, AJ stepped back and held a hand out. “Waltz with me?”
“I…I don’t know how to waltz…” Brian stammered out. Oh, he wished he did!
The smile on AJ’s face never faltered. “Let me lead and I’ll show you. Dance with me, Bri, in the moonlight and candle light. Step into our dreams with me.”
How could he resist that? It felt as if a spell was being pulled over him. As he took that step forward and trustingly placed his hand in AJ’s it was like the world around them changed. They were no longer Brian and AJ of the Backstreet Boys. They were Brian and Alex, a couple totally in love with one another.
AJ was right. If he let him lead, it was easy. They spun around the living room, Brian barely registering what his brain hadn’t noticed before, which was that the floor had been cleared just for this. One song after another they danced together, spinning and twirling across the floor. At one point they changed, no longer waltzing, but simply swaying in one another’s arms.
Pulling his head back a little, AJ looked into Brian’s eyes. “I wanted to do this tonight to show you how much you mean to me, Brian. To give us a night together that’s not about hiding, or about hoping that no one sees us. A night without the drama and the pain that we’ve been in lately. To give us a chance just to be us. To be young, and in love, and to enjoy each other. You mean so much to me. There’s no one in my life I’ve ever loved more than I love you.”
“I love you too, Alex.”
“I never intended to fall in love with you. Or to love anyone, really. I was so bitter all the time about love. But somehow you managed to get in my heart and I couldn’t seem to chase you out. You’ve stood by my side from the moment we came together. Through Ma and her trouble, and through my drinking and my drugs. I’ve never known anyone like you. You’re so loyal and loving and just everything I could have ever asked for in a partner.”
Tears filled Brian’s eyes as he listened to AJ talk. Neither of them realized that they’d stopped swaying. Their eyes were locked on to one another as AJ poured out his heart.
“I love the way you look at me. How it makes me feel special and loved and cherished all at once. I love the little things you do for me. The way you can make me laugh when I’m side. The way you tease me when you want to make me laugh. I love looking into your eyes and seeing everything I feel reflected back at me. There is no one else in my life for me, Brian. No one.”
To Brian’s utter surprise, AJ pulled back from him. In one fluid motion he dropped down to one knee, leaving Brian gaping at him. AJ held one of his hands. Oh my God. Could he really be doing what Brian thought he was? He brought his free hand up to his heart. Tears spilled over onto his cheeks as he looked down at the man he loved.
“We’ve been through so much together, Brian Thomas. Ups and downs and all the in between. Every day I wake up with you in my life I find myself loving you more and more. Once you told me that you would be my family for me.” With his free hand AJ reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box. Brian felt as if his heart would stop. Holy God, AJ was really doing this. He really was! AJ opened the box and held it out on his palm so that Brian could see the beautiful ring inside. He saw the gemstones in it, Garnet and Amethyst, and felt more tears fall. “I ask you now if you’ll be my family with me, Brian. Make a life with me.”
Brian stared down at the one person who meant more to him than anything else in the entire world. In AJ’s eyes was all the love he had ever hoped to find and more. Here was a man he wanted to grow old with. Fifty years down the road he wanted to still be waking up by his side. So many words sprang to Brian’s lips, but he couldn’t seem to find his voice. So he dropped down to his knees as well so that he was eye to eye with AJ. “Yes.” He finally managed to whisper. Once he said it, it came easier. “Yes. Yes!”
Suddenly their arms were around one another, holding each other close and laughing even as they cried. When they pulled back, Brian could see that AJ was crying too. His love took hold of his hand, taking the ring and sliding it into place. He put the box down and pulled out a second one. Realizing what it was, Brian took it from him. With gentle hands he took out AJ’s ring and slid it onto his finger. Then he threw his arms around him again.
“I love you, I love you.” He swore .
AJ’s arms came tight around him, holding him close. “I love you too, Brian. I love you so much.”