i wanna be with you.
by allecto


For the Backstreet Boys Songfic Challenge

And I'll be waitin'
Until you face the truth
When the light is fadin'
You know what I wanna do

He waited until he was 18.

He knew Kevin, knew Kevin was a good guy (a hot, sexy, wanttofuckhimnow guy, but a good guy, too) and that even though Kevin didn't stick to the rules as much as management pretended, Kevin wouldnÕt go *that* far. So he waited until he was 18.

And then, of course, he chickened out.

AJ liked to think he was a pretty cool guy, and he was, he was suave, sophisticated even. But approaching a random groupie in a club was very different from lying naked in the bed of his oldest bandmate, waiting for Kevin to get home and slip between the covers. Plus, it was taking Kevin a long time, and they'd had a long day, and AJ was actually kind of tired. Even if it was his birthday, and he'd been promising himself this "present" since he was 16 years old. Even if there hadnÕt been time during the day to do much of *anything* birthday related, and his lucky shirt had gotten torn by an overzealous fan outside their hotel, and he hadn't gotten to call his grandparents all day.

He pulled his boxers back on Ð he hated sleeping naked, felt too exposed Ð what if there was someone with a camera, or hiding in the bathroom or something? A fan had snuck into Nick's room once, through a room service cart (and that nearly got Nick more trouble than sympathy, since they weren't supposed to eat room service unless bedridden) and hidden in the bathroom. Nick was just lucky he was wearing clothes when he went to take a bath, and AJ wasn't about to have that happen to *him*, no way, no how. He would post topless for as many magazines as Lou and Johnny and Donna wanted, but he wasn't going to have his dick posted on the bedroom walls of teenaged girls across Europe, or scoffed at by boyfriends and older brothers.

He curled up in the bed, too tired to go back to his own room, and was asleep already when the door opened and a triangle of light fell across his face.

"He's here," someone called, pulling him out of his dreams, and suddenly someone cried, "Nick!" and the next minute there was someone heavy bouncing on top of him.

"Up, up, up!" Nick said.

AJ groaned, and pushed him off Ð harder than it used to be, now that Nick was shooting up like a weed, and heÕd just better stop at 5'7". One tall gorgeous singer was enough for any group.

"Mkblekakj?"

"Surprise," Kevin said ruefully. He switched on the lights, and there were Brian and Howie behind him, and his mom, with a cake. AJ struggled to sit up, the blankets pooling around his lap, and boy was he glad now that he'd gotten dressed. He mentally thanked freaky stalker fans, and plastered a grin on his face.

"Cool," he said. "Thanks."

"Make a wish," Nick said, poking him.

"Let him wake up first," Brian said. Nick stuck his tongue out, and the next minute the two of them were rolling on the floor.

"I wish they were normal people," AJ muttered. Howie ruffled his hair.

"'S no good if you wish it out loud," he said.

AJ took the cake from his mother, closed his eyes, thought briefly of Kevin, naked, his back glinting in the moonlight, and blew.

* * *

Nick picked up a sleeping Brian and carefully maneuvered him out the door. Other than AJ himself, they were the last ones to go Ð his mom had left right after presents, and Howie had pleaded sleep deprivation around one. At this point, AJ figured it was better just to stay up all night than try for an hour of sleep, though. Plus, there was still his wish.

"I'm sorry we couldn't do birthday stuff earlier," Kevin said, picking up the dirty paper plates and tossing them in the garbage.

AJ shrugged, and stooped to grab a cup. "It'll be worth it when weÕre famous."

"I've been telling myself that every day for the past three years."

"It's true, though."

"I wonder," Kevin said. "You don't think maybe someday we'll look back on this, and miss it?"

AJ snorted. "Miss the 20 hour days, the three, four, five exhausting performances all one on top of the other, the continued rejection from American audiences, the countries where no one speaks English, theÑ"

"Hey now," Kevin said. "First of all, they speak English in England."

"Okay. The score is still Europe 3, us zero."

"What's wrong?" Kevin sat on the edge of the bed, watching AJ pace.

"I just. It's so *frustrating*," AJ said. "I just want."

Kevin grabbed his hand as he walked by, pulling him to a stop. "What do you want?" he asked.

AJ looked down into his eyes, and thought of his wish, and leaned forward, pressing his lips to Kevin's. "You," he said softly, his words lost in the velvet softness of Kevin's mouth.

Kevin pressed a hand to his back, pulling him closer, steadying him. His cheek was harsh against AJ's skin, stubbly, but his neck was pliant, his shoulders, and underneath his t-shirt, the small of his back was firm and warm.

"Don't you think," Kevin said, pressing a kiss to his ear, "youÕll maybe miss this a *little*?"

"Don't wanna hafto," AJ mumbled against his collarbone, and Kevin groaned.

"Okay then," he said, and turned off the lamp.

I wanna be with you
It's crazy but it's true
And everything I do
I wanna be with you


story index