Fic: The Fear You Won't Fall (PG-13, Skippy Pairing Fic) [2/3]
Title: The Fear You Won’t Fall [2/3]
Author: Sparrow
Fandom: Skippy
Characters: Kevin Jonas/Mike Carden (pairing), William Beckett, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, Andy ‘The Butcher’ Mrotek, Adam ‘Sisky’ T. Siska, Michael Guy Chislett, Denise Jonas and Paul Kevin Jonas Sr.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The title of the song is a song called The Fear You Won’t Fall by Joshua Radin. I do not own anything and don’t google yourself! Now I don’t claim to be a doctor or have any kind of medical training and I did the best I could with information provided and hunted down. Please in no way take what I wrote to be completely accurate.
Warnings: People breaking down emotionally, receiving news that is life changing, someone punching a mirror out and damaging their hand
Summary: After receiving life-changing news, Kevin Jonas has to find the strength to carry on with the love and support of his family.
Author's Notes: So my first foray into the Skippy fandom and I go with h/c, lol. I am such a mean author abusing Kevin and Mike like this. I just wanted to thank daroos for the medical help and akire_yta for the hand holding, listening to my flailing and help. She is an awesome cheerleader. :D Also, thank you to laine89 for the wonderful beta!
It was two hard days, but it was worth it to Mike. He was climbing back into the taxi and the last image of Kevin, hair shaved off as he kissed him goodbye, was still very vivid in his mind.
They had made love last night and then Mike, with a pair of shaving shears, shaved off all of Kevin’s hair, black curls falling to the ground as Mike shaved the hair with tears in his eyes.
It was the single hardest thing that Mike ever had to do and now he was going back to the real world outside of being MikeandKevin-back to lying to his band mates, back to being in the closet.
Fuck, what was he going to do?
These kinds of thoughts plagued his mind as the taxi pulled back up in front of the recording studio. Tossing some money at the cabbie, he grabbed his duffle bag out of the trunk and strolled inside. Mike slid inside the building and headed to the studio they were using to lay down tracks for their new record.
Mike tossed his duffle to the side and grabbed his guitar, plugging it into the amp.
Taking a deep breath, fingers poised over the strings, he let himself fly over the notes. He lost himself in the music, music that conveyed his anger and frustration at Kevin’s cancer, his inability to wave his hand and cure his boyfriend, his inability to be there all the time and his choice to stay in the closet about being bisexual.
With a scream of rage and frustration, Mike ripped his guitar off its strap and then slammed the instrument straight into the ground. Raising it above his head he slammed it into the ground again and again and again until nothing was left except the destroyed remains of the guitar, the strings and the neck still in his hand. Mike panted with exhaustion, and a noise caught his attention. He looked up at the wide-eyed expressions of his band.
William though, William looked contemplative as he ushered the others out of the room and proclaimed that “he would take care of this; why didn’t everyone go and get some breakfast and be back in an hour or so.”
Letting go of the neck of his former guitar, Mike sunk down to the ground, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. William was instantly at his side, going to the ground with him as he pulled Mike close in a hug.
Burrowing his face into William’s neck, Mike started to cry. Great big gulping sobs took over as he shook and William was rubbed his back, whispering soothing nonsensical words.
It was the kind of cry he hadn’t had since he was seven and realized that his dog Cola wasn’t coming back.
Mike pulled William into a hug and was glad as he calmed down that this slightly crazy man was his friend.
A conversation he remembered having with Kevin about if he ever had to come out to his band filtered through Mike’s brain in between getting snot all over William’s neck. Kevin gave him the one-hundred percent go ahead to do so, and he never needed to ask for permission because he already had it.
He had a feeling that day to come out was today.
He was starting to calm down now as he pulled away from William slightly, but still held on. Bringing his hand up, he scrubbed at his face and rested his head on his singer’s shoulder.
“Did she break up with you?”
Startled at the sudden question, Mike shook his head no against William’s shoulder. “We’re still together.”
“Something else then?”
A shudder ran through Mike’s body as he breathed out a, “Yes.”
Long nimble fingers started to play with Mike’s short hair, calming him down further. “I haven’t seen destruction like that since Tom was part of the band, Michael. So whatever happened between you and your lady love, it must’ve been pretty bad.”
It was now or never.
“It’s cancer, Bill,” Mike replied and took a deep breath to lower the axe even further. “He has cancer.”
The fingers stilled.
“I’m bi, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I didn’t know how,” Mike explained.
It was a testament to Bill’s character that he didn’t as much as blink at the pronoun change. “Would you still have told me, us, if he didn’t have cancer?”
“Yes.”
“All right, my destructive friend, who is this young man that I’ve been calling your lady love.”
Mike chuckled. “I told him you said that and he gets a kick out of it. But his name is Kevin. Kevin Jonas.”
William tightened his hold on Mike. “You’re dating one of Disney’s biggest money makers?”
“Yeah, yeah I am,” Mike said, nodding. “And I love him, Bill. He doesn’t deserve this.”
“They rarely do, Mike,” William replied, and the fingers resumed their petting.
Mike finally looked at the destruction around him and sighed. “I think I killed my guitar.”
William laughed. “Yes, you did.”
“That was my favourite guitar!”
“We’ll get you a new one.”
And Mike stilled, because he told Bill, but now he had to tell the others.
A finger lightly tapped him on the nose and Mike found himself looking up at William. “None of those kinds of thoughts, young Carden. The others will accept you; don’t you worry one little bit.”
“I could’ve been thinking about something else,” Mike said petulantly, a little angry that William knew him so well, but relieved at the same time.
“But I know you, Mike, and sometimes you worry about the strangest things,” William replied.
Mike leaned into William a bit more. The petting was relaxing, and he found himself drifting off. The last couple of days were finally catching up with him. He was worn out, both physically and mentally, and his eyes finally closed.
~~~
When Mike woke up, his head was pillowed in someone’s lap, and he realized two things-he was inside the recording booth, and someone was petting his hair. It felt nice. Blinking a couple of times and bringing a hand up to rub the grime out of his eyes, he turned his head to see he was resting against William.
A cup of coffee and a McDonald’s bag were on the table in front of him. Mike slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes as he went.
The rest of the band was also in the room, trying to ignore them on the couch.
“How long have I been asleep?” Mike asked hoarsely as he yawned.
“A couple of hours,” William replied. “You needed the rest, Michael.”
Mike just nodded. It was true; he did need the rest. “Have you told the others anything?”
“Just that you would explain when you woke up,” William said and he placed a hand on Mike’s shoulder. “And Mike, they will understand.”
Nodding, Mike hunched over with his hands clasped in his lap. He really didn’t want to do this right now, but he owed the others some kind of explanation.
A sharp whistling sound from William’s lips got the other’s attention and they headed over.
“So, someone wants to tell us what earlier was about? And why Mike had to kill his favourite guitar to work through it?” Michael Guy asked as he perched on a chair.
“Mike?” William prompted. “Remember what I said.”
Mike looked up at William, his hands still clasped in front of him.
“Something wrong with the lady love?” Butcher asked, leaning against the soundboard.
“Did you two break up? Is that why that poor guitar was sacrificed?” Sisky inquired from his spot next to William.
“No, we didn’t break up and yes, something is wrong with him,” Mike stated, stressing the word him.
“Ah, the pronoun game, you play it well, Carden,” Butcher grinned at Mike.
Mike rolled his eyes. He’d been playing the pronoun game for years; of course he’d be good at it.
“I knew it!” Sisky stated excitedly as he pointed at Mike and then his finger curled back, his hand forming a fist, as he looked confused. “So what, you’re gay? Because we’ve seen you with women before, Mike.”
Mike felt his jaw almost drop before he managed to keep it close. His lips forming a hard, thin line. He was going to kill someone when this was all done. Most likely Sisky. William would forgive him.
“We’ve had some suspicions, Mike, but we were waiting for you to tell us something,” Butcher explained softly, his eyes looking nothing but honest.
Oh. Mike mouthed.
“Not me; I remained clueless,” William interjected.
Mike gave William a look.
Michael Gay shrugged. “So, gay?”
“Bi,” Mike corrected, leaning back into the couch. “I mean, I’ve dated a couple of guys before, but it’s been mostly women. I don’t really see the gender, just the person, and I’ve never wanted to be labelled, but if you had to, bisexual is what you would use to describe me.”
“But you felt you had to keep this person a secret,” Butcher pointed out. From us came the unspoken words.
That stung, but it had been his choice to keep everything (everyone) secret and now everything was coming out, literally.
“It’s not that I wanted to keep him a secret from everyone but I’d come out to someone before and it wasn’t pretty,” Mike explained, the old pain still fresh after all these years. “It made me a bit gun shy in sharing that I like both girls and guys.”
“Understandable,” William agreed and levelled the others with a look so they wouldn’t push.
“But I want to know,” Sisky whined.
“No,” Mike said firmly.
Sisky pouted at Mike.
“So what’s going on that you’re suddenly sharing all of this with us?” Butcher asked.
“He’s sick, like really sick,” Mike started to explain and then took a deep breath. Time to lower the bombshell. “He has cancer.”
Various curses erupted from Butcher’s, Sisky’s and Michael Guy’s lips.
“What kind of cancer is it actually?” William asked, hand coming up to play with Mike’s hair again. “You never told me earlier after your guitar’s death.”
Mike leaned into the touch. “Leukemia.”
“Shit,” Sisky muttered.
“Would you have told us about him if he wasn’t sick?” Michael Guy asked Mike in genuine concern.
“Yeah,” Mike muttered. “Eventually.” He then levelled the others with a look. “I’m making an appointment with his doctor to see if I can donate bone marrow for him,” Mike stated. “His family are already going to donate, but hey, every bit helps, right?”
“Of course!” William agreed readily.
“Did you want us to donate as well?” Sisky asked as he bounced in his spot a couple of times.
Mike looked stunned. “I- I don’t know. I’ll ask his family.”
“Who is this guy anyway? We’ve seen you acting smitten the past year Mike, drinking less and your temper has been down as well,” Butcher pointed out. “It’s the happiest I’ve seen you in a long time.”
“He’s Kevin Jonas.”
“You’re dating a Disney star?” Michael Guy asked in surprise.
“So what?” Mike asked defensively and glared in Michael Guy’s direction.
Michael Guy held up his hands. “Easy, Mike. Meant no offence, just surprised.”
“All right,” Mike said warily.
~~~
After the day of revelations, the band decided they weren’t going to get any recording done and had retired to the house they rented while they recorded in L.A.
Curling in one of the chairs outside near the pool as the sun slowly set in the distance, Mike idly flipped his phone in between his fingers before taking a deep breath, stopping his play and he hit memory one.
The phone rang a couple of times before a sleepy voice answered. “H’lo?”
“Hey,” Mike whispered softly. “Did I wake you?”
“Mmm,” Kevin mumbled. “Chemo makes me sleepy, s’alright.”
Mike smiled at the slight slur and gripped his phone a bit tighter. “So, I uh told the guys about me-about us.”
There was a startled curse on the other end and Mike could hear the phone being dropped and then picked up again. “Mike?”
“Kevin?” Mike parroted back with a small smile.
“Are you okay?” Not, were they okay with us, but if he was okay. A warm happy feeling settled in Mike’s chest and he was so grateful he had met this man. “Yeah, I’m okay. They, uh, they took it surprisingly well.”
“I told you they would,” Kevin replied matter of fact. “I’m glad I don’t have to sick Frankie on them. I don’t think Disney could survive a war with the Decaydance family.”
Mike laughed into the phone. “I don’t know; Selena Gomez looks like she could cut a bitch.”
This time, Kevin laughed into the phone. “She totally could!”
A comfortable silence settled over the phone as Mike stretched a little on the pool chair.
“They want to meet you, Kev,” Mike finally said.
“Oh?” the inquisitive noise came over the line.
“Yeah. They want to meet the man who could tame ‘the wild Carden,’” Mike lightly joked as he adjusted the grip on his cell. “Bill’s words, not mine.”
“Tame the wild Carden, huh?” Kevin’s voice was low and it makes something in Mike sit up and pay attention. Rubbing a hand over his stomach, Mike let a lazy grin flit across his face. “Didn’t we attempt that the first time I visited you?”
“I don’t think my bed frame has been the same since then,” Kevin chuckled, still low and breathy.
Anything Mike might say next is interrupted by the backdoor opening and Butcher’s voice yelling at him. “MIKE! Bilvy says to get your ass back in here for dinner and stop having phone sex!”
Mike could hear the ‘eep!’ on the other end, because that’s exactly how the phone call was starting to go and he’s wondering if justifiable homicide is worth it.
“Mike!!” Kevin’s voice calls him back from his daydream of murdering his lead singer and drummer and gave a non-committed grunt. “Killing Bill or Butcher is not the answer, no matter how much you want to.” And Mike knows that Kevin knows him well with that kind of statement.
“Go eat dinner and call me later on,” Kevin orders. “And I’ll be happy to meet your band when a day can be arranged.”
And even though Kevin can’t see him, Mike smiled at the phone. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
~~~
It was a week later before The Academy Is... could get away from the recording studio to finally meet Kevin Jonas. To Mike, it was three weeks since Kevin had found out he had cancer.
The van they had rented pulled up to Kevin’s house. The meeting they decided on would go better if they had some privacy behind the gated community.
They piled out of the vehicle and William posed, hand on his hip with his sunglasses tilted downwards as he whistled low. “This is quite the home.”
“C’mon Beckett, Kevin’s expecting us,” Mike orders as he grabs William by the arm and pulled him forward towards the front door. William is laughing at him, the fucker. “Eager to see your boy?”
Mike ignores the question and let go of William’s arm as he digs his key out of his jeans pocket. The others trailed behind them.
Nick opens the door.
“Hey Nick,” Mike greets the younger Jonas, pulling his hand from his pocket. It was always freaky how they knew he was always at the door.
“Mike,” Nick greets back and glances around Mike. “Mike’s band.”
“Younger Jonas!” William proclaimed with a flourish of his hand.
Nick snorted and stepped aside to let them in.
“Thought you, Joe and Frankie were going to the hospital today for the bone marrow donation?” Mike absently asked Nick.
“Joe and Frankie can donate, I can’t,” Nick complained as he shut and locked the door behind them. “Stupid diabetes.” A scowl was firmly on his face.
“That sucks,” Sisky commiserated as he pulled Nick into a one armed hug.
Nick pushed the bassist off of him, scowl firmly in place. “Kevin’s making up some snacks in the kitchen.”
“Should he be moving around much since he’s sick?” Michael Guy asked as they moved into the living room.
“He’s sick, not disabled,” Nick growled at Michael Guy.
“Easy fluffy, he didn’t mean anything about it,” William soothed.
“Whatever.” Nick dismissed them and headed to the kitchen. “KEVIN! Mike and his band are here!”
“Thanks NICK!” Kevin called from the kitchen.
The others idly walked around the living room checking out various pictures and settling onto the furniture. Helping themselves to the chips and dip that were laid out.
Within a few minutes Nick has trailed out from a doorway, arms laden with cans of drinks, Kevin following behind him carrying a tray filled with veggies and dip. He was clad in a pair of jeans shorts cut off at the knees, a ratty grey t-shirt with a faded ‘The Who’ on it and a sparkly blue scarf wrapped around his head.
“Isn’t that your t-shirt?” William murmured at Mike with a leer and grin.
“Shaddup,” Mike mumbled back, cheeks staining red.
Tray and drinks set down, Mike was getting up and pulling Kevin into a quick hug. “Hey,” was murmured against Kevin’s neck.
“Hey you,” Kevin replied back and then looked over Mike’s shoulder to grin at William.
The grin was returned as William stood up and embraced the two. “Eldest Jonas! It’s a pleasure to finally meet you!”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well,” Kevin said politely.
“He has manners!” William stated grandly and looked at Mike. “What in the world is he doing with you?”
“Fucker,” Mike muttered and elbowed William in the ribs.
“Yes Mike, what in the world am I doing with you?” Kevin asked, eyes dancing with laughter.
Mike snorted and pulled Kevin tight against him. Lowering his head down, he captured Kevin’s lips in a heated kiss, wolf whistles sounded out and one “Ew, Kevin!” and after about ten seconds, William had timed it, Kevin pulled away dazed and blinked. “Oh right, I remember now.”
Mike merely smirked as he guided Kevin to the couch and drew him close as they sat down.
“So, Kevin, can I call you Kevin?” William inquired and at Kevin’s nod, continued on. “How in the world did you and our Mike meet?”
Here Kevin laughed as Mike groaned. “We met in an elevator at a hotel and promptly got stuck in it for a few hours.” Kevin lightly rubbed Mike’s thigh in comfort. “We didn’t even realize who the other one was and got talking about guitars, music, and the weather.”
“Whatever we could to pass the time and wait for the maintance guy to come and let us out,” Mike said, grabbing Kevin’s hand and stilling it.
“I first thought when we got stuck in there you were kind of shifty looking,” Kevin admitted with a small smile. “Long hair and smelling like booze.”
“Oh yeah, not one of my best nights,” Mike winced in remembrance of the bender he went on the night before.
The others laughed as they sampled the food platter and drinks.
“Then they got the elevator fixed and the swarm descended,” Kevin grinned, tongue poking out between his teeth at Mike groaning again.
“Pre-pubescent girls, man, seriously,” Mike complained. “They grabbed places I’m sure they shouldn’t have been grabbing.”
The others laughed and poked fun at Mike getting groped.
“The security detail got jackets over our heads and herded us out, avoiding the rest of the girls,” Kevin explained and grabbed one of the drinks. He opened it, took a sip, and offered it to Mike, who guzzled half of it down to Kevin’s mock glare.
“That’s when I kind of realized who I was with,” Mike sighed and then grinned at Kevin.
“I still didn’t know who Mike was,” Kevin laughed and stole his drink back.
Mike mock glared at Kevin, who mock glared back in return.
“You two are absolutely adorable,” William cooed at them.
“Oh yeah, absolutely adorable, especially when you walk in with your brother’s hand down his boyfriend’s pants,” Nick smirked at Kevin and Mike.
“Oh we are so kidnapping you for stories to share,” Sisky crowed from his position on the floor, carrot stick in hand.
Kevin was just mouthing ‘Evil’ at his brother who smirked back.
“I want to hear more about how they escaped from the rabid fan girls,” Michael Guy grinned at them.
“Well, we escaped and got up to my hotel room,” Kevin explained. “I asked him out for coffee as an apology for all that, he said yes and it went from there.”
“Oh, I’m sure there is more to that yes than both of you are saying,” Butcher pointed out as he reached over for a piece of broccoli.”
“There is, but that’s all you’re hearing about for now,” Mike stated, ending the conversation.
Kevin then leaned over Mike and grinned at William. “I wouldn’t mind hearing some Mike stories.”
William returned the grin and scrambled over Mike and Kevin to press against Kevin’s side. “Oh eldest Jonas, we are going to get along beautifully.”
It descended from there and conversations happened all around them.
A couple of hours into their get-together, Kevin was starting to yawn and droop a little. He was leaning heavily against Mike, fighting to stay awake.
Mike pressed the side of his head against Kevin’s scarf, which was resting on top of Kevin’s head. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Kevin whispers back.
“Tired?”
Kevin nodded. “Mmm-hmm.”
Mike pressed a kiss to the top of the scarf. “Off to bed with you then. Nap time.”
“But the others,” Kevin started to protest.
“It’s okay, I’ll take care of things,” Mike promised and then helped Kevin up.
“Everything okay, Mike?” Sisky asked.
“Yeah, Kevin’s just tired,” Mike said, keeping a firm hold on Kevin. “So I’m putting him to bed.”
Various cat calls and whistles sounded out, which drowned out Mike’s laughing, “Fuck off.” Kevin chuckled as he was led up the stairs.
“They tease because they care, Mike,” Kevin pointed out as he flopped down on the bed.
“I know.” He went to work divulging Kevin of his scarf, t-shirt and cut-off shorts, leaving the guitarist in his underwear. Mike had to keep back the startled gasp, because even though it had only been a few days, Kevin looked thin.
Blinking, Kevin gazed through long eyelashes and pulled Mike down for a kiss, as Mike too took off his clothes and joined Kevin under the covers.
Kevin instantly fell asleep, pressed against Mike’s side.
END PART 2
Part 1
Author: Sparrow
Fandom: Skippy
Characters: Kevin Jonas/Mike Carden (pairing), William Beckett, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, Andy ‘The Butcher’ Mrotek, Adam ‘Sisky’ T. Siska, Michael Guy Chislett, Denise Jonas and Paul Kevin Jonas Sr.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: The title of the song is a song called The Fear You Won’t Fall by Joshua Radin. I do not own anything and don’t google yourself! Now I don’t claim to be a doctor or have any kind of medical training and I did the best I could with information provided and hunted down. Please in no way take what I wrote to be completely accurate.
Warnings: People breaking down emotionally, receiving news that is life changing, someone punching a mirror out and damaging their hand
Summary: After receiving life-changing news, Kevin Jonas has to find the strength to carry on with the love and support of his family.
Author's Notes: So my first foray into the Skippy fandom and I go with h/c, lol. I am such a mean author abusing Kevin and Mike like this. I just wanted to thank daroos for the medical help and akire_yta for the hand holding, listening to my flailing and help. She is an awesome cheerleader. :D Also, thank you to laine89 for the wonderful beta!
It was two hard days, but it was worth it to Mike. He was climbing back into the taxi and the last image of Kevin, hair shaved off as he kissed him goodbye, was still very vivid in his mind.
They had made love last night and then Mike, with a pair of shaving shears, shaved off all of Kevin’s hair, black curls falling to the ground as Mike shaved the hair with tears in his eyes.
It was the single hardest thing that Mike ever had to do and now he was going back to the real world outside of being MikeandKevin-back to lying to his band mates, back to being in the closet.
Fuck, what was he going to do?
These kinds of thoughts plagued his mind as the taxi pulled back up in front of the recording studio. Tossing some money at the cabbie, he grabbed his duffle bag out of the trunk and strolled inside. Mike slid inside the building and headed to the studio they were using to lay down tracks for their new record.
Mike tossed his duffle to the side and grabbed his guitar, plugging it into the amp.
Taking a deep breath, fingers poised over the strings, he let himself fly over the notes. He lost himself in the music, music that conveyed his anger and frustration at Kevin’s cancer, his inability to wave his hand and cure his boyfriend, his inability to be there all the time and his choice to stay in the closet about being bisexual.
With a scream of rage and frustration, Mike ripped his guitar off its strap and then slammed the instrument straight into the ground. Raising it above his head he slammed it into the ground again and again and again until nothing was left except the destroyed remains of the guitar, the strings and the neck still in his hand. Mike panted with exhaustion, and a noise caught his attention. He looked up at the wide-eyed expressions of his band.
William though, William looked contemplative as he ushered the others out of the room and proclaimed that “he would take care of this; why didn’t everyone go and get some breakfast and be back in an hour or so.”
Letting go of the neck of his former guitar, Mike sunk down to the ground, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. William was instantly at his side, going to the ground with him as he pulled Mike close in a hug.
Burrowing his face into William’s neck, Mike started to cry. Great big gulping sobs took over as he shook and William was rubbed his back, whispering soothing nonsensical words.
It was the kind of cry he hadn’t had since he was seven and realized that his dog Cola wasn’t coming back.
Mike pulled William into a hug and was glad as he calmed down that this slightly crazy man was his friend.
A conversation he remembered having with Kevin about if he ever had to come out to his band filtered through Mike’s brain in between getting snot all over William’s neck. Kevin gave him the one-hundred percent go ahead to do so, and he never needed to ask for permission because he already had it.
He had a feeling that day to come out was today.
He was starting to calm down now as he pulled away from William slightly, but still held on. Bringing his hand up, he scrubbed at his face and rested his head on his singer’s shoulder.
“Did she break up with you?”
Startled at the sudden question, Mike shook his head no against William’s shoulder. “We’re still together.”
“Something else then?”
A shudder ran through Mike’s body as he breathed out a, “Yes.”
Long nimble fingers started to play with Mike’s short hair, calming him down further. “I haven’t seen destruction like that since Tom was part of the band, Michael. So whatever happened between you and your lady love, it must’ve been pretty bad.”
It was now or never.
“It’s cancer, Bill,” Mike replied and took a deep breath to lower the axe even further. “He has cancer.”
The fingers stilled.
“I’m bi, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I didn’t know how,” Mike explained.
It was a testament to Bill’s character that he didn’t as much as blink at the pronoun change. “Would you still have told me, us, if he didn’t have cancer?”
“Yes.”
“All right, my destructive friend, who is this young man that I’ve been calling your lady love.”
Mike chuckled. “I told him you said that and he gets a kick out of it. But his name is Kevin. Kevin Jonas.”
William tightened his hold on Mike. “You’re dating one of Disney’s biggest money makers?”
“Yeah, yeah I am,” Mike said, nodding. “And I love him, Bill. He doesn’t deserve this.”
“They rarely do, Mike,” William replied, and the fingers resumed their petting.
Mike finally looked at the destruction around him and sighed. “I think I killed my guitar.”
William laughed. “Yes, you did.”
“That was my favourite guitar!”
“We’ll get you a new one.”
And Mike stilled, because he told Bill, but now he had to tell the others.
A finger lightly tapped him on the nose and Mike found himself looking up at William. “None of those kinds of thoughts, young Carden. The others will accept you; don’t you worry one little bit.”
“I could’ve been thinking about something else,” Mike said petulantly, a little angry that William knew him so well, but relieved at the same time.
“But I know you, Mike, and sometimes you worry about the strangest things,” William replied.
Mike leaned into William a bit more. The petting was relaxing, and he found himself drifting off. The last couple of days were finally catching up with him. He was worn out, both physically and mentally, and his eyes finally closed.
~~~
When Mike woke up, his head was pillowed in someone’s lap, and he realized two things-he was inside the recording booth, and someone was petting his hair. It felt nice. Blinking a couple of times and bringing a hand up to rub the grime out of his eyes, he turned his head to see he was resting against William.
A cup of coffee and a McDonald’s bag were on the table in front of him. Mike slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes as he went.
The rest of the band was also in the room, trying to ignore them on the couch.
“How long have I been asleep?” Mike asked hoarsely as he yawned.
“A couple of hours,” William replied. “You needed the rest, Michael.”
Mike just nodded. It was true; he did need the rest. “Have you told the others anything?”
“Just that you would explain when you woke up,” William said and he placed a hand on Mike’s shoulder. “And Mike, they will understand.”
Nodding, Mike hunched over with his hands clasped in his lap. He really didn’t want to do this right now, but he owed the others some kind of explanation.
A sharp whistling sound from William’s lips got the other’s attention and they headed over.
“So, someone wants to tell us what earlier was about? And why Mike had to kill his favourite guitar to work through it?” Michael Guy asked as he perched on a chair.
“Mike?” William prompted. “Remember what I said.”
Mike looked up at William, his hands still clasped in front of him.
“Something wrong with the lady love?” Butcher asked, leaning against the soundboard.
“Did you two break up? Is that why that poor guitar was sacrificed?” Sisky inquired from his spot next to William.
“No, we didn’t break up and yes, something is wrong with him,” Mike stated, stressing the word him.
“Ah, the pronoun game, you play it well, Carden,” Butcher grinned at Mike.
Mike rolled his eyes. He’d been playing the pronoun game for years; of course he’d be good at it.
“I knew it!” Sisky stated excitedly as he pointed at Mike and then his finger curled back, his hand forming a fist, as he looked confused. “So what, you’re gay? Because we’ve seen you with women before, Mike.”
Mike felt his jaw almost drop before he managed to keep it close. His lips forming a hard, thin line. He was going to kill someone when this was all done. Most likely Sisky. William would forgive him.
“We’ve had some suspicions, Mike, but we were waiting for you to tell us something,” Butcher explained softly, his eyes looking nothing but honest.
Oh. Mike mouthed.
“Not me; I remained clueless,” William interjected.
Mike gave William a look.
Michael Gay shrugged. “So, gay?”
“Bi,” Mike corrected, leaning back into the couch. “I mean, I’ve dated a couple of guys before, but it’s been mostly women. I don’t really see the gender, just the person, and I’ve never wanted to be labelled, but if you had to, bisexual is what you would use to describe me.”
“But you felt you had to keep this person a secret,” Butcher pointed out. From us came the unspoken words.
That stung, but it had been his choice to keep everything (everyone) secret and now everything was coming out, literally.
“It’s not that I wanted to keep him a secret from everyone but I’d come out to someone before and it wasn’t pretty,” Mike explained, the old pain still fresh after all these years. “It made me a bit gun shy in sharing that I like both girls and guys.”
“Understandable,” William agreed and levelled the others with a look so they wouldn’t push.
“But I want to know,” Sisky whined.
“No,” Mike said firmly.
Sisky pouted at Mike.
“So what’s going on that you’re suddenly sharing all of this with us?” Butcher asked.
“He’s sick, like really sick,” Mike started to explain and then took a deep breath. Time to lower the bombshell. “He has cancer.”
Various curses erupted from Butcher’s, Sisky’s and Michael Guy’s lips.
“What kind of cancer is it actually?” William asked, hand coming up to play with Mike’s hair again. “You never told me earlier after your guitar’s death.”
Mike leaned into the touch. “Leukemia.”
“Shit,” Sisky muttered.
“Would you have told us about him if he wasn’t sick?” Michael Guy asked Mike in genuine concern.
“Yeah,” Mike muttered. “Eventually.” He then levelled the others with a look. “I’m making an appointment with his doctor to see if I can donate bone marrow for him,” Mike stated. “His family are already going to donate, but hey, every bit helps, right?”
“Of course!” William agreed readily.
“Did you want us to donate as well?” Sisky asked as he bounced in his spot a couple of times.
Mike looked stunned. “I- I don’t know. I’ll ask his family.”
“Who is this guy anyway? We’ve seen you acting smitten the past year Mike, drinking less and your temper has been down as well,” Butcher pointed out. “It’s the happiest I’ve seen you in a long time.”
“He’s Kevin Jonas.”
“You’re dating a Disney star?” Michael Guy asked in surprise.
“So what?” Mike asked defensively and glared in Michael Guy’s direction.
Michael Guy held up his hands. “Easy, Mike. Meant no offence, just surprised.”
“All right,” Mike said warily.
~~~
After the day of revelations, the band decided they weren’t going to get any recording done and had retired to the house they rented while they recorded in L.A.
Curling in one of the chairs outside near the pool as the sun slowly set in the distance, Mike idly flipped his phone in between his fingers before taking a deep breath, stopping his play and he hit memory one.
The phone rang a couple of times before a sleepy voice answered. “H’lo?”
“Hey,” Mike whispered softly. “Did I wake you?”
“Mmm,” Kevin mumbled. “Chemo makes me sleepy, s’alright.”
Mike smiled at the slight slur and gripped his phone a bit tighter. “So, I uh told the guys about me-about us.”
There was a startled curse on the other end and Mike could hear the phone being dropped and then picked up again. “Mike?”
“Kevin?” Mike parroted back with a small smile.
“Are you okay?” Not, were they okay with us, but if he was okay. A warm happy feeling settled in Mike’s chest and he was so grateful he had met this man. “Yeah, I’m okay. They, uh, they took it surprisingly well.”
“I told you they would,” Kevin replied matter of fact. “I’m glad I don’t have to sick Frankie on them. I don’t think Disney could survive a war with the Decaydance family.”
Mike laughed into the phone. “I don’t know; Selena Gomez looks like she could cut a bitch.”
This time, Kevin laughed into the phone. “She totally could!”
A comfortable silence settled over the phone as Mike stretched a little on the pool chair.
“They want to meet you, Kev,” Mike finally said.
“Oh?” the inquisitive noise came over the line.
“Yeah. They want to meet the man who could tame ‘the wild Carden,’” Mike lightly joked as he adjusted the grip on his cell. “Bill’s words, not mine.”
“Tame the wild Carden, huh?” Kevin’s voice was low and it makes something in Mike sit up and pay attention. Rubbing a hand over his stomach, Mike let a lazy grin flit across his face. “Didn’t we attempt that the first time I visited you?”
“I don’t think my bed frame has been the same since then,” Kevin chuckled, still low and breathy.
Anything Mike might say next is interrupted by the backdoor opening and Butcher’s voice yelling at him. “MIKE! Bilvy says to get your ass back in here for dinner and stop having phone sex!”
Mike could hear the ‘eep!’ on the other end, because that’s exactly how the phone call was starting to go and he’s wondering if justifiable homicide is worth it.
“Mike!!” Kevin’s voice calls him back from his daydream of murdering his lead singer and drummer and gave a non-committed grunt. “Killing Bill or Butcher is not the answer, no matter how much you want to.” And Mike knows that Kevin knows him well with that kind of statement.
“Go eat dinner and call me later on,” Kevin orders. “And I’ll be happy to meet your band when a day can be arranged.”
And even though Kevin can’t see him, Mike smiled at the phone. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
~~~
It was a week later before The Academy Is... could get away from the recording studio to finally meet Kevin Jonas. To Mike, it was three weeks since Kevin had found out he had cancer.
The van they had rented pulled up to Kevin’s house. The meeting they decided on would go better if they had some privacy behind the gated community.
They piled out of the vehicle and William posed, hand on his hip with his sunglasses tilted downwards as he whistled low. “This is quite the home.”
“C’mon Beckett, Kevin’s expecting us,” Mike orders as he grabs William by the arm and pulled him forward towards the front door. William is laughing at him, the fucker. “Eager to see your boy?”
Mike ignores the question and let go of William’s arm as he digs his key out of his jeans pocket. The others trailed behind them.
Nick opens the door.
“Hey Nick,” Mike greets the younger Jonas, pulling his hand from his pocket. It was always freaky how they knew he was always at the door.
“Mike,” Nick greets back and glances around Mike. “Mike’s band.”
“Younger Jonas!” William proclaimed with a flourish of his hand.
Nick snorted and stepped aside to let them in.
“Thought you, Joe and Frankie were going to the hospital today for the bone marrow donation?” Mike absently asked Nick.
“Joe and Frankie can donate, I can’t,” Nick complained as he shut and locked the door behind them. “Stupid diabetes.” A scowl was firmly on his face.
“That sucks,” Sisky commiserated as he pulled Nick into a one armed hug.
Nick pushed the bassist off of him, scowl firmly in place. “Kevin’s making up some snacks in the kitchen.”
“Should he be moving around much since he’s sick?” Michael Guy asked as they moved into the living room.
“He’s sick, not disabled,” Nick growled at Michael Guy.
“Easy fluffy, he didn’t mean anything about it,” William soothed.
“Whatever.” Nick dismissed them and headed to the kitchen. “KEVIN! Mike and his band are here!”
“Thanks NICK!” Kevin called from the kitchen.
The others idly walked around the living room checking out various pictures and settling onto the furniture. Helping themselves to the chips and dip that were laid out.
Within a few minutes Nick has trailed out from a doorway, arms laden with cans of drinks, Kevin following behind him carrying a tray filled with veggies and dip. He was clad in a pair of jeans shorts cut off at the knees, a ratty grey t-shirt with a faded ‘The Who’ on it and a sparkly blue scarf wrapped around his head.
“Isn’t that your t-shirt?” William murmured at Mike with a leer and grin.
“Shaddup,” Mike mumbled back, cheeks staining red.
Tray and drinks set down, Mike was getting up and pulling Kevin into a quick hug. “Hey,” was murmured against Kevin’s neck.
“Hey you,” Kevin replied back and then looked over Mike’s shoulder to grin at William.
The grin was returned as William stood up and embraced the two. “Eldest Jonas! It’s a pleasure to finally meet you!”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well,” Kevin said politely.
“He has manners!” William stated grandly and looked at Mike. “What in the world is he doing with you?”
“Fucker,” Mike muttered and elbowed William in the ribs.
“Yes Mike, what in the world am I doing with you?” Kevin asked, eyes dancing with laughter.
Mike snorted and pulled Kevin tight against him. Lowering his head down, he captured Kevin’s lips in a heated kiss, wolf whistles sounded out and one “Ew, Kevin!” and after about ten seconds, William had timed it, Kevin pulled away dazed and blinked. “Oh right, I remember now.”
Mike merely smirked as he guided Kevin to the couch and drew him close as they sat down.
“So, Kevin, can I call you Kevin?” William inquired and at Kevin’s nod, continued on. “How in the world did you and our Mike meet?”
Here Kevin laughed as Mike groaned. “We met in an elevator at a hotel and promptly got stuck in it for a few hours.” Kevin lightly rubbed Mike’s thigh in comfort. “We didn’t even realize who the other one was and got talking about guitars, music, and the weather.”
“Whatever we could to pass the time and wait for the maintance guy to come and let us out,” Mike said, grabbing Kevin’s hand and stilling it.
“I first thought when we got stuck in there you were kind of shifty looking,” Kevin admitted with a small smile. “Long hair and smelling like booze.”
“Oh yeah, not one of my best nights,” Mike winced in remembrance of the bender he went on the night before.
The others laughed as they sampled the food platter and drinks.
“Then they got the elevator fixed and the swarm descended,” Kevin grinned, tongue poking out between his teeth at Mike groaning again.
“Pre-pubescent girls, man, seriously,” Mike complained. “They grabbed places I’m sure they shouldn’t have been grabbing.”
The others laughed and poked fun at Mike getting groped.
“The security detail got jackets over our heads and herded us out, avoiding the rest of the girls,” Kevin explained and grabbed one of the drinks. He opened it, took a sip, and offered it to Mike, who guzzled half of it down to Kevin’s mock glare.
“That’s when I kind of realized who I was with,” Mike sighed and then grinned at Kevin.
“I still didn’t know who Mike was,” Kevin laughed and stole his drink back.
Mike mock glared at Kevin, who mock glared back in return.
“You two are absolutely adorable,” William cooed at them.
“Oh yeah, absolutely adorable, especially when you walk in with your brother’s hand down his boyfriend’s pants,” Nick smirked at Kevin and Mike.
“Oh we are so kidnapping you for stories to share,” Sisky crowed from his position on the floor, carrot stick in hand.
Kevin was just mouthing ‘Evil’ at his brother who smirked back.
“I want to hear more about how they escaped from the rabid fan girls,” Michael Guy grinned at them.
“Well, we escaped and got up to my hotel room,” Kevin explained. “I asked him out for coffee as an apology for all that, he said yes and it went from there.”
“Oh, I’m sure there is more to that yes than both of you are saying,” Butcher pointed out as he reached over for a piece of broccoli.”
“There is, but that’s all you’re hearing about for now,” Mike stated, ending the conversation.
Kevin then leaned over Mike and grinned at William. “I wouldn’t mind hearing some Mike stories.”
William returned the grin and scrambled over Mike and Kevin to press against Kevin’s side. “Oh eldest Jonas, we are going to get along beautifully.”
It descended from there and conversations happened all around them.
A couple of hours into their get-together, Kevin was starting to yawn and droop a little. He was leaning heavily against Mike, fighting to stay awake.
Mike pressed the side of his head against Kevin’s scarf, which was resting on top of Kevin’s head. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Kevin whispers back.
“Tired?”
Kevin nodded. “Mmm-hmm.”
Mike pressed a kiss to the top of the scarf. “Off to bed with you then. Nap time.”
“But the others,” Kevin started to protest.
“It’s okay, I’ll take care of things,” Mike promised and then helped Kevin up.
“Everything okay, Mike?” Sisky asked.
“Yeah, Kevin’s just tired,” Mike said, keeping a firm hold on Kevin. “So I’m putting him to bed.”
Various cat calls and whistles sounded out, which drowned out Mike’s laughing, “Fuck off.” Kevin chuckled as he was led up the stairs.
“They tease because they care, Mike,” Kevin pointed out as he flopped down on the bed.
“I know.” He went to work divulging Kevin of his scarf, t-shirt and cut-off shorts, leaving the guitarist in his underwear. Mike had to keep back the startled gasp, because even though it had only been a few days, Kevin looked thin.
Blinking, Kevin gazed through long eyelashes and pulled Mike down for a kiss, as Mike too took off his clothes and joined Kevin under the covers.
Kevin instantly fell asleep, pressed against Mike’s side.
END PART 2
Part 1