Dangerous Minds

© Sweet Kisses™

~*~

"All right, are we all here?" A.J said, looking around at everyone.

Howie rolled his eyes. "No, we're all asleep! Of course we're here!"

"Where's Kevin?" A.J asked Nick, ignoring Howie's attempt at derogatory idiolect.

"He's sick," Nick lied, crossing his fingers behind his back.

"Sick my ass," Howie murmured. "More like high as the stars."

"The reason why we're here is because I want out of this rehab place, and I want out now!" A.J exclaimed.

"You just want to get out so you can hit the booze whenever you need to," Nick replied scornfully.

"Hey, she's locking us up," Howie interrupted. "That's illegal and under the Medical Practitioner's Code, she's unlawfully out of bounds."

"How the hell would you know?" Nick asked.

Howie stared at him with a straight face. "Trust me, I know," he replied.

Nick simply rolled his eyes. "All you want to do is fuck the living daylights out of her! Put her in your spank-bank, and move on! You're never gonna get her!"

"Bullshit!" Howie yelled. "No one can resist me, least of all the Doc!"

Nick turned to A.J for help. "Come on, man, back me up on this!"

A.J held up his hands. "Hey, as long as the fella stays far away from me, he can plough whoever he wants!"

"There will be no ploughing!" Nick exclaimed.

Howie rubbed his hands together, completely ignoring Nick's comment. "Excellent!"

"Guys!" A.J injected. He turned to Nick. "Much as I hate to admit it, Howie's right. There's no way in hell that I'm standing another day of solitary confinement. It's not helping, it's making us crazy." He stopped for a moment. "Most of all," he continued in a low voice, "it's making us turn on each other."

"And that's not right," Howie contributed.

Nick looked up to the ceiling and sighed. "Okay, fair enough. But how do we get out of here? Even if we wanted to, it's impossible. The doors are padlocked from the outside, the windows are barred, and even if we did get through all that, the gates are ten feet high and rusted together. We'd never get out."

A.J leaned forward. "Give me twenty-four hours. In that time, I'll find out the workings of this twisted place. I'll draw up a quick sketch of the house-plan and then we'll all determine the easiest way to get out. This ain't rehab, this is torture."

Nick shook his head. "What about Kevin? What about Brian? When will they find out?"

"Soon as possible," A.J answered and sat back in his chair.

"Listen guys," Howie said. "I think we should find a more concealed place to conduct these meetings. I've got a weird feeling that she'll find out somehow, and I don't want to take any chances with this."

"Good point," A.J mused. He snapped his fingers. "I know! That old chapel, out in the garden. Nobody's used it in eons and the trees hide it from the house. It'd be perfect. Late at night, say about two, under the moon, in the eyes of God...Brian'll love it!"

Nick laughed. "You're getting a little too carried away there."

"This isn't a rendezvous, we're trying to save our lives!" Howie exclaimed.

"Please!" Nick rebutted. "You're making it sound like she's going to kill us!"

"I'm not fucking with you on this," Howie replied.

Nick's eyes narrowed into razor thin slits. "How could you possibly remember who or what you're fucking?"

A.J sensed the tension between them and stood up. "Gentlemen," he said, using Dr Sheffield's term, "snooze time is now on. Hit the hay and we'll talk more in the morning."

~**~

Nick opened the door to his room and found the lights off. He closed the door as silently as he could, and walked over to his bed. He sat down in the darkness, wondering whether or not to wake Kevin up. Why would he want to do that? Unless he was a sickened pervert who got off on other guys, he wouldn't even contemplate it.

"I'm awake, you don't have to be so quiet."

Nick breathed a sigh of relief and snapped the bedside light on. His eyes adjusted to the light and he found Kevin sitting up in bed. Much to his dismay, and the racing of his heart, Kevin wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Still not feeling well?" Nick asked softly.

Kevin shrugged, silently cursing his supplier for the less-than-adequate brand of cocaine he'd given him. "It's just a headache, it'll pass." There was silence between them for a few moments before he spoke again. "Why did you ask me whether or not I'd consider making out with you?"

Nick looked away, his mind racing for a plausible answer. "Uh...just wondering, that's all."

"You don't ask someone that if you don't want them to follow through," Kevin said.

"Well, do you?" Nick asked bravely.

Kevin didn't say anything, he simply patted the space next to him. Nick jumped up and slid in next to Kevin, who pulled the blanket over them. Just as he felt Kevin's arms around his waist and just before he fell asleep, Nick heard him murmur, "You think too much."

~***~

"Good morning," Dr Sheffield said and sailed into the kitchen. "I trust you had a good night's sleep."

"Oh yeah," Howie replied and held up his mug of steaming coffee. "The best!"

Dr Sheffield scanned a few papers. "That's good," she said vacantly, her attention captivated by her papers.

A.J came strolling into the kitchen, with dark shades on. He'd been hitting the booze in secret in the west wing the night before, and it caught up with him. "Morning all!" he yelled in Howie's ear.

"Shit!" Howie yelled and rubbed his ear. He clapped a hand over his mouth when the doctor glared at him. "Sorry, Doc," he apologised with another one of his obnoxious winks.

"What's on the agenda today, Dr Sheffield?" A.J asked, pouring himself some coffee. "More solitary confinement? More interrogations?"

"She can interrogate me any time," Howie murmured to himself and took a sip of coffee.

Dr Sheffield looked up from her papers. "Gentlemen, there lies your number one problem. You're far too hostile to even think that this could help you."

"Pent-up hostility, huh? Yes, I'm very hostile," Howie drawled.

"Oh please," A.J said. "You're such a nymph!"

Howie considered this, then smiled. "Thank you. That's a great compliment."

Brian came staggering in, rubbing his eyes with his hair tousled. "Good morning everyone."

"Somebody looks like shit," A.J observed brightly, and Howie laughed.

"Mr McLean," the doctor warned.

A.J covered his mouth. "Oops, sorry."

"Where is Mr Carter and Mr Richardson? Don't tell me they're still asleep," Dr Sheffield said and stacked her papers in a pile.

Howie shrugged. "No idea."

A.J grinned. "Let's go wake them up."

Brian shook his head. "No, God doesn't appreciate it when people are woken from their resting time."

Dr Sheffield cleared her throat and looked to Howie and A.J. "Gentlemen, if you wouldn't mind..."

"Anytime, Doc," Howie replied with a smile and walked out, with A.J and a reluctant and objecting Brian in tow.

~****~

Nick opened his eyes and looked at the clock. He'd slept in. Correction: they'd slept in. He turned over and nudged Kevin, who was fast asleep. "Kevin."

No answer.

"Kevin, wake up!"

Kevin's eyes fluttered open and he yawned. "Do I have to?" he murmured in a sleepy state.

Nick jumped out of bed and pulled on a shirt. "Yes, you do have to."

Kevin turned on his side and closed his eyes. "But I want to sleep...with you..."

Nick bit his lower lip, and stared at him for a moment. "Good thing I know you're totally out of it or else I would've taken that remark to be true," he said to himself.

The door burst open and Howie, A.J and Brian waltzed in. "Wow! Sure looks cosy in here, fellas!" A.J exclaimed. "Mind if I camp with you guys from now on?"

Howie pretended to be shocked. "What about me?"

A.J shrugged. "The porno mags will still be around. You'll survive."

Kevin sat up in bed. "Thank you all for bursting in like this, but if you don't mind..."

Nick looked to A.J. "I think now we should tell them."

"Now?" Howie asked.

"What the fuck...?" Kevin asked confused.

"Now."

A.J sat down on the bed next to Kevin, an unusual straight look on his face. "We're planning a way to break out of here."

Kevin blinked. "No way."

"Way."

Brian covered his ears. "No...!"

A.J's head snapped around. "You can do what the fuck you like, church-boy, but I, for one, am not going to sit around here and wait until she makes us all go insane or worse, she kills us."

"She's not going to kill us," Kevin said and jumped out of bed and grabbed a shirt. "She's here to help." His eyes narrowed. "Although, I do hate the way she pry's into our business..." he mused.

"See?" Howie demanded. "I'm not the only one!"

"Bullshit!" Nick yelled. "You're totally horny for her, all day, every day! I wouldn't be going 'round sprouting that shit if I were you, D!"

"Wanna make something outta that, Carter?" Howie retorted, stepping closer to Nick.

Nick glared at him. "Hell yeah, I do!"

"Guys, guys!" Kevin yelled, stepping in between them. "We all need to keep our cool to get through this." He checked his watch. "Now, you all have to leave so that you can eat and I can get dressed. We'll talk about this later. Out!"

They all nodded and left. That is, everyone except Nick. Nick sat down on the bed. "Kevin?"

Kevin pulled out a pair of pants from the closet. "Yeah, what?"

Nick bit down on his lower lip, his heart racing. He had something to ask, and he wanted to ask it now. "How come...well...how come you...haven't..."

"How come I haven't what?"

His heart began to race even more, his breathing eventuating into stagnated patches. "How come you haven't kissed me?"

Kevin turned around swiftly, his eyes widening. He gave a short chuckle. "Did I say I would?"

Nick looked away, his own eyes widening. "Well, you didn't exactly say no when I asked if you would."

Kevin laughed and rumpled Nick's hair. "Come on, let's go eat."

Nick's heart sank. He wanted to scream. Kevin was treating him like a little boy.

~*****~

"Mr McLean, glad you could make it on time," the doctor said and sat down in a chair.

A.J also sat down. "Yeah, well, you know how it is. Drug dealers, junkies, hit men...I gotta do my business."

"I'm sure you do," she said and looked down at her notes. "Okay, let's see what you wrote about while you were by yourself." She scanned the paper for a few moments. "You talk of what makes you turn to alcohol, but you never specifically said what it was. Would you like to tell me?"

A.J shook his head. "No, I don't."

She tried a little harder to get him to talk. "And why is that?" she asked, holding a pen in her hand.

"Because it's none of your fucking business!" he yelled, his voice echoing in the room.

"Language, Mr McLean," she warned. She sighed. "I don't understand you gentlemen. You want help, help is here, but you won't help yourselves. Can you at least tell me why that is? If not, I see this as a very pointless exercise and a waste of my valuable time!"

A.J jumped up. "Your valuable time? What about ours?" he shouted.

Dr Sheffield stood up calmly. "Mr McLean," she said in a low tone, "in future I suggest you save these little outbursts for nursery school. I am sick of trying to help you gentlemen when you won't try and help yourselves!"

A.J narrowed his eyes. "You're not helping us by locking us up like animals," he retorted.

"It's a procedure which has worked for my prior clients. Naturally, it would work for you gentlemen," she said and sat down slowly. "If I had your assistance."

A.J stood standing. "You don't, and you never will." He gave her a small, but satisfied smile. "See ya, Doc," he said and sauntered out.

Dr Sheffield sat back in her chair and sighed. She was beginning to think he was right.

~******~

"Brian!" Howie yelled. "Shut that shit up!"

Brian was sitting in his usual circle of white candles, with his Christian music playing loudly. He was praying. He was praying for forgiveness, for salvation for himself and his blasphemous friends, and he was seeking refuge. Refuge out of this hell-hole Dr Sheffield called rehab.

A.J grabbed a pillow and held it in the air. "Brian, if you don't stop that music...!"

Brian sat in the middle of the circle, cross-legged and humming a chant. "Dear God, make me a bird, so I can fly far..."

A.J shook his head. "Oh shit, he's gone to the fucking crackers!" he yelled over the music

Howie stifled a chuckle. "Crackers? That's funny!"

A.J shook his head at Howie's stupidity and turned back to Brian with a frown. "Fucking hell, Brian, it's the middle of the morning! Chant at some other hour!"

"Dear God, make me a bird, so I can fly far..."

Howie sighed. "He's never gonna get over this, is he?"

"No!" A.J yelled. Suddenly, he had an idea. He stepped forward, blew out all the candles, quickly snatched the bible out of Brian's hands and ran over to the CD player to steal the CD.

"Thank Christ!" Howie exclaimed.

A.J held it in his hands. "Either promise to God that the chanting stops, or I swear to God I'll bust this thing into a million tiny pieces!"

Brian looked on the verge of tears and jumped up. "No!"

A.J held the CD out of Brian's reach. "Make your choice now, Brian!"

Brian was breathing heavily and repeatedly looked at Howie for help. Howie simply shrugged. Finally, Brian's shoulders sagged in defeat. "All right, I'll stop."

A.J smiled in satisfaction. "Just for good measure, I'm going to hide this pretty thing." He gave it a kiss. "It's been causing far too much trouble around here..."

Tears rolled down his face. "I hate you! All of you" he screamed before running out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

A.J and Howie simply laughed.

~*******~

Diary (or whatever),

How do you know if someone is trying to come onto you? Is it the look in their eyes? Or is it just the way they talk to you in that soft voice? Or is it just they way they look at you, and you know that you could never look away?

I'm so confused.

I need...I need...I need...

Something.

But I don't know what it is.

Of course I know what it is. It's right in front of me. I just won't reach out for it.

Why?

Will it kill me? Not a chance. Will it hurt me? Possibly.

What is it I'm talking about?

Two things.

One: white, powdery, soft, fulfilling.

Two: blonde, blue-eyed, soft, fulfilling...

~********~

"Mr Dorough," Dr Sheffield said and pointed to the chair. "Punctuality is definitely your forte."

Howie gave her a trademark wink. "Ooh, Doc! Quite the compliment."

As Dr Sheffield crossed her legs, Howie turned his head to the side and lowered his eyes to her skirt. She found that quite revolting. "Do you believe you're wasting your time?"

Howie straightened his head and shook it quickly. "No, not at all," he replied, giving her a wink for the millionth time already.

Dr Sheffield was doing exceptionally well at ignoring his advances. "Now, let's see what you've written." She scanned the paper. She looked up a few moments later. "Mr Dorough, you've written about senses, the things you were smelling. Then you moved on to something else entirely. Would you like to explain that?"

Howie grinned. "I was thinking about you when I was writing that, Doc."

"Mr Dorough, I've warned you on informality," she said.

"Sorry."

"Please explain what you were thinking, what you were feeling, and what you wanted when you wrote this."

"Easy," he replied. "I was thinking of you, I was feeling very excited..."

Dr Sheffield nodded, and had to fight an uncontrollable urge to jump up and run away. But she couldn't, that would be highly unethical. "Continue."

He smiled. "And what I really wanted to do was to tie you up, gag you, and make sweet, sweet love to you."

Her eyes widened, and she just sat there, staring at him. Finally, she composed herself and cleared her throat. "I see. I see. Well, we can't have everything now, can we?"

Howie smiled even brighter. "Oh, yes we can. Some just take longer than others."

~*********~

A.J opened the door quietly, and ran down the hallway. He tried to tread as quietly as he could. Armed with a flashlight in hand, he took off in search of something that he really didn't know what he was searching for. Except for one thing.

He wanted out, and this was the only way.

He took off up the grand wooden staircase, which was extremely dusty. He quickly walked down the long corridor, carefully watching his back in case anyone happened to make a sneaky appearance behind him.

Nothing unusual he saw. He opened the first door he came to, just an empty room. That was what all the rooms were like, he found - nothing, and empty.

"What kind of place is this?" he asked himself, quickly walking over to the staircase which lead to the third floor. He looked around while perched on the first step, and his eye caught a metal door.

Frowning, he stepped off the stairs and walked over to the metal doors slowly, still watching his back. He placed his hand on it, and shone the flashlight. He realised the doors had a small gap between them. He realised suddenly that it was an elevator. It was old, it was rusty, and it didn't look like it had been used in a long time.

"Some freaky shit goin' on in this place."

Rather than making a racket with the elevator and on the pretence of getting caught, he decided that taking the stairs would be a much more plausible action. Heading for the stairs, he took off quickly. Very quickly, as though he had an axe-murderer running after him and he was the hunted in a horror flick.

By the time he got to the top, he was a little out of breath. He breathed deeply and set out for the third floor. This particular floor had tables, chairs and a big dining room, possibly one that had been used for old fashioned dinner parties and masquerades. He shone the torch into what he assumed was a ball room, with a black and white swirled dance floor. He saw that hundreds of chairs were stacked on top of each other, complete with dust and cobwebs and tables were still placed around the room, as though the party had never ended.

"Oh shit, I don't even wanna know what went on in this joint," he said quietly and closed the door behind him.

He continued down the hall and found a bathroom in the first room he came across. He opened the door slowly and walked in. It was much like the bathroom on the first floor, five showers and ten toilet stalls. Big mirrors, lots of dust and even more cobwebs.

He noticed a window at the back and walked over to it. There was a handle, and he tried in vain to open it. He tried again, this time pulling harder. Finally, with a screech that echoed in the bathroom, the window opened. He found that this window had no bars and would be big enough to fit even someone of Nick's height.

"Bingo," he whispered with a smile and closed the window softly.

~**********~

Kevin grabbed his cell, looked both ways to check for people then rushed down the hall to a vacant room. Finding one almost immediately, he closed the door softly behind him and leaned against it, breathing heavily.

He was having a problem. He was almost out, and he needed more to get through this whole ordeal. He knew he couldn't if he didn't get some more. And soon. He needed it so badly, he wanted to cry in frustration.

He waited for someone to pick up. He waited. And waited. "Come on...come on...come on..."

"Yeah?"

Kevin took a deep breath. "It's me, I need help," he said quickly.

"Woah, buddy!" the male voice replied. "Calm down. What's the prob?"

"I need..." Kevin swallowed nervously, "More sniff, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," the voice replied. "Listen, where are ya? Maybe I can help ya out."

Kevin's heart was racing. "The old house on Hunting Hill. You know the one?"

"Hunting Hill'?" the voice answered incredulously. "Man, that place has issues! Haven't you heard the stories 'bout that place?"

"What? What stories?" Kevin asked impatiently.

"Some kids were up there one day, just foolin' 'round, just bein' kids. But they vanished without a trace, never were seen again. Man, I'm surprised you're even there!"

Kevin shook his head. He didn't want to hear about that. He wanted to hear about when this guy could get him more of what he needed. "Listen, that doesn't matter. When can you fix me up?"

"Sorry, buddy, no can do."

Kevin's mouth dropped open. "No can do?" he repeated in a hiss. "What do you mean, 'no can do'?"

"There's no way in hell that I'm comin' up there!" the voice yelled back angrily. "Either you make do with what you've damn well got, or you go clean. Your choice."

"Tim - " Kevin begged.

"Don't call me again until you get back!"

~***********~

Dr Sheffield walked into her office on the fourth floor and closed the door behind her. Walking over to her desk, she placed her briefcase on the desk and pulled out another video, the next instalment on what she was following with two of the gentlemen.

"Hopefully, this will shed more light onto this scenario," she said to herself and sat back to watch.

"Kevin, can I ask you something?" she heard Nick ask.

He nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

"Would you ever...umm...make out with a guy?"

Dr Sheffield raised her eyebrows and picked up her pen. "Issue: Mr Carter making the first move. Mr Richardson, concerned and dubious."

She placed her pen down and continued to watch. She wanted to help these gentlemen, she really did. But they didn't seem to be wanting to help themselves. It was very difficult for her when a patient was as unwilling as these gentlemen were.

"So, you wouldn't even consider making out with, say...me?" she heard him ask, much more persistent.

Dr Sheffield bit down on her lower lip, feeling her heart racing. She picked up her pen and paused the video. "Issue: Mr Carter wanting to proceed with intimacy. Mr Richardson: possibly unsure."

She played the video and held her breath. She watched in amazement and with her eyes wide as Kevin replied, "Maybe."

Dr Sheffield picked up her pen. "Issue: certainly of intimacy occurring or soon to occur."

She stood up and stopped the video. She knew exactly what was to happen. She would stop anything more occurring.

~************~

Nick sat on his bed, alone in his room, feeling depressed, weak and inadequate. He'd run for the Swiss army knife if he could, but Kevin had hidden it from him the day before. Stupid fucking Kevin! He was such a hypocrite!

But Nick couldn't really be mad at Kevin. When he really thought about it, it had always been that way. He had always found it hard to be mad at him. Maybe it was because Nick found him quite charming and, because they were like brothers, it was just the way it went.

The door opened and Kevin slunk in, his shoulders sagged. He threw his cell onto the bed.

"What's wrong with you?" Nick asked gently. "Who were you talking to?"

Kevin shrugged and sat down. "My Mom," he lied. "She makes me upset whenever I talk to her."

Nick smirked. "She gets on your case too, huh?"

"Yeah."

"You know, we've got that thing at two in the morning," Nick reminded him and laid down.

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm not really into it, but if it makes the guys happy..."

Nick sat up suddenly, a serious look on his face. "So, you would do anything to keep us happy?"

Kevin narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Sure I would," he said slowly.

Nick persisted with this, all the times he'd been wanting to say what was on his mind rushing forward like a wild river. "Would you do anything to keep me happy?" he asked bravely.

Kevin was confused. "Nick, what're you trying to say?"

Nick jumped up, his voice quivering with emotion. "You said you'd kiss me, but you haven't. You let me sleep in your bed, you always have your arms around me, but you won't let me sleep with you. Why?" he asked. There was silence. "Why?"

Kevin's face paled. He blinked. "Have you been wanting to have sex with me the whole time we've been here?"

"Yes!" Nick exclaimed.

Kevin looked away. "Nick, I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to lead you on."

"What?" Nick asked in a whisper.

Kevin bit his lower lip, trying to get his hazy thoughts into some sort of order. He took a deep breath. "If I just kiss you, right now, would that make it better?"

Nick simply nodded, and Kevin stepped forward to wrap his arms around Nick's waist. They looked into each other's eyes and after a moment of starry gazing, Kevin leaned forward. Their lips were almost touching, almost, so close...

"What're you waiting for?" Nick whispered breathlessly.

Finally, their lips touched, just ever so gently. Nick felt a rush of happiness run through him, finally feeling as though his dream was becoming a reality, after all that time of waiting, needing, resisting. He moaned softly when Kevin's tongue touched his, and he responded eagerly and wrapped his arms around Kevin's neck.

When Kevin eventually pulled away, he asked, "Do you still want to...?"

Nick nodded and stroked the nape of Kevin's neck with his fingertips. "Yeah, I do. Very much."

Kevin smiled and pulled Nick down onto his bed and kissed him again.

~*************~