Moments when you can't deny what's true, by nafs, rated R

[pensnest]

Fandom: POPSLASH (/Bandom crossover)
Pairing: Nick Carter/Patrick Stump
Author on LJ: nafs
Author Website: http://home.passport.ca/~nafs/
Why this must be read:

Okay, I cannot believe nobody recced this last year. I remember trying to calculate whether the story would be finished before I stepped off the crack_van, and deciding that it wouldn't, so the next person would get it. But I have scoured the popslash memories, and it really doesn't seem to be there.

This story is... a crossover, I suppose, except are there such things as crossovers, when it's Real People we're talking about? Nick Carter is booked to play for a birthday party as a surprise, and ends up asking Patrick Stump to produce the new solo album he's struggling with. And things develop.

It's delightful for the characters it presents. And for the picture of how the album goes—I for one am now waiting for the album to be released! Hey, we can dream. Author nafs gives us guys who breathe, eat and sleep music.

"Hey." Patrick greets him, sitting down next to him.

Nick looks over at him, his movements slow and heavy. He gives Patrick a small smile, his eyes at half mast. It's not cute at all, really. Nick stretches, moving from tiny ball to real boy for a moment before shrinking back in on himself, his feet now tucked under Patrick's thigh. "Mmm. Hey."

"Okay, is there like, the opposite version of that trick that I could learn?"

"Hmm?"

Patrick gestures at him. "Where you go all tiny like that. Is there a reverse?"

This wins him a laugh. "No, sorry. Otherwise I'm pretty sure Howie or Brian would have learned it."

"Damn." Patrick hasn't yet had his coffee, which is about the only excuse he can come up with for the next question. "So, how'd you learn it in the first place?"

For a moment, for just a second, fleeting enough that if Patrick wasn't looking right at Nick, he would have missed it, Nick goes completely rigid, like some sort of hard-shelled creature. The look on his face is dark and old. He hides it almost instantly, but Patrick knows what he saw. "Sometimes," Nick says in an even voice. "It was important that nobody notice me."

Moments when you can't deny what's true.

Comments

[turlough]

This is such a wonderful story!!!!

[nafs]

Hi! Thanks so much for reccing this!

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

I don't think I ever said, because I read it in the first flush of my bandom experience, when I was still shy, but I adore this story. It's really and truly terrific. ♥