If Only You Were Mine. . .

This is the 2nd part in a Stephen and Eloy fanfic I wrote about a year ago (2000) about the beginning of the relationship. As I, and nobody else, knows the 'real' truth about how they first got together, I thought you might like to read this completely fictional piece of work which I would like to think is how they got together. In some instances, real events are portrayed.

* * *

Stephen bounded down the stairs of the hotel, smiling as he saw Shane telling some story or other to the Boyzone entourage, Ronan patting Yvonne's 2 month pregnant tummy, and Mikey playing with his daughter Hannah.

"You alright?" a voice said from behind Stephen. It was Keith. Stephen grinned and nodded. Keith gently squeezed his arm before running off to join the rest of the band.

Stephen suddenly heard a shrill ringing nose from his coat pocket. Placing his suitcase carefully on the floor, Stephen answered his mobile phone. "Hello?" he said. "

Stephen? It's me." Stephen sighed quietly. It was Eloy, one of his closest friends in the business. He was in his own boy band in his home country, Holland. They were called Caught In The Act and were even bigger than Boyzone in Germany! 'Well, any band is bigger than us in Germany!' he thought to himself. Eloy began talking about what he'd been up to in the past few months. They hadn't seen each other since May, when both their bands had been playing a gig together in Germany. Stephen smiled at the memory. He and Eloy had snubbed the aftershow party and gone back to Eloy's hotel room, where they had watched some Disney video's. Nothing happened, of course. They're strictly friends. But, sometimes, Stephen wished they were something more than that. He had fancied Eloy the first time he saw him. He thought he was gorgeous. So tall, so handsome, so fine. . . Stephen sighed again. 'But he doesn't even know I exist in that way. He treats me more like a brother than anything else. . ." Shaking his head, Stephen continued to listen as Eloy told him that Caught In The Act had split up, and were playing their final concert that very night. Eloy sounded awful.

"Do you need someone to talk to?" Stephen asked. The silence at the end of the phone told Stephen that Eloy was in a bad way.

"I'm coming to Germany today for some promotion. It would be nice to come to the gig. That is, if you want me to. . . we could go for a drink afterwards, if you wanted."

There was a pause that seemed, to Stephen anyway, to last an age. Eventually Eloy spoke. "Yeah Steve- that would be really nice. I really need to talk to someone." They spoke for a few more minutes, Eloy telling Stephen where the final Caught In The Act gig was to be held.

Just before they said goodbye, Eloy said softly, "Stephen? Thanks. I really appreciate this." Stephen shivered as he heard his voice speak with such conviction. Saying goodbye, he placed his phone back inside his coat pocket, picked up his suitcase, and followed the band and their entourage as they made their way to Heathrow airport.

* * *

Stephen raised one eye wearily. Shane was staring straight at him. "5 more minutes and we'll be there!" he shouted, rather over excitedly.

Stretching his arms, Stephen yawned. "Where?" he asked.

The rest of the lads rolled their eyes. "GERMANY!" they screamed in unison. '

Oh yeah, Germany,' Stephen thought, getting butterflies in his stomach at the thought of it. In just a few short hours he would be seeing Eloy. The palms of his hands went all sweaty at the thought. Stephen always got like this before seeing Eloy. His nerves always got the better of him. He tried to block all thoughts of how attracted he was to Eloy out of his head, but it was impossible. 'It's like Shane trying NOT to crash cars!" he thought with a stifled laugh.

Eventually, the band reached their destination, and were greeted with the usual crowd of screaming girls. They were hurried along, each trying to sign as many autographs as they could, before climbing into their car and driving off to their hotel.

Once they arrived, Keith rushed into the foyer to greet his waiting wife Lisa, who had flown to Germany from Dublin earlier that day, with Mikey's fiancee Sharon. Each member was issued with a key to their rooms. Stephen looked on forlornly as Ronan went to his room with Yvonne, Keith went with Lisa, Mikey was with Sharon, and Shane was with his wife Easther.

As they each went in their separate directions, Stephen heard Keith whisper, "Maybe we should invite Stephen to share a room with us. He seems a bit lost." Although he knew Keith was only trying to help, he was slightly annoyed at his gesture. It was at times like this that he wished he wasn't in the group at all. Glancing at his watch, Stephen realised he was meant to be meeting Eloy in 3 hours. 'Just enough time to get ready,' he thought to himself, as he finally reached his hotel room, slinging his suitcase on the bed. Walking past a full-sized mirror, Stephen was horrified at what he saw. "Yuk!" he exclaimed, "What do I look like?!?!?"

Stephen didn't feel like he looked good at the best of times, but today he felt he looked horrendous. Talk about Frankenstein! Making a quick decision, he decided to ring Eloy and cancel their 'date' for tonight. When ringing him, Eloy sounded hurt. Quietly, he said to Stephen, "It really would mean a lot if you come. Please?" Stephen smiled at the child-like voice coming out of Eloy's mouth. Stephen felt quite chuffed. 'HE's begging ME,' he thought. 'I can't let him down.' Quickly, he agreed to go.

"Oh thank you! I could just kiss you!" Eloy exclaimed. Stephen felt flushed at the thought. 'Don't even go there,' his conscience told him. 'He's a FRIEND. F-R-I-E-N-D. Nothing more, nothing less.' Saying goodbye to Eloy for the second time that day, Stephen began to get ready. After having a long soak in the bath, he had to decide what to wear, eventually deciding upon Gucci trousers and a Gucci t-shirt. Glancing at himself in the mirror, he thought, 'Hmmm, you'll do. The hair has to go though!' Looking around, he found one of his many designer hats and placed it on his head. There was no way he was meeting Eloy with a visible bad hair day! Splashing on some Eternity for Men aftershave, he took one last look at himself before grabbing his hotel key and leaving his room, ready for his 'date'.

* * *

As Barrie, Boyzone's security guard, pulled into the Magdeburg stadium, Stephen gasped in shock as he saw the many thousands of Caught In The Act fans there to see their idols for one final time. Hordes of girls scrambled around, screaming hysterically, desperate for a glimpse of Eloy, Bas, Ben and Lee. Tears streamed down their face's because of the realisation that they would never see the band together again.

"God," Stephen said to Barrie. "Will this be what it's like if Boyzone split up?"

Barrie laughed, jokingly saying, "Nah- you have fans, but not *that* many fans!" Shooting Barrie an evil look, he said goodbye, telling him to come and pick him up at midnight.

As soon as Barrie left, Stephen headed toward the backstage area. Worringly he noticed that not one of the fans seemed to recognise him. Sighing, he thought, 'We never did truly make it over here. Maybe No Matter What will change things.' Arriving at the backstage area, he thankfully recognised the security guard there.

"Hey Steve," Mark said. "You looking for Eloy? He said you were coming. He's through there," pointing in the direction of the band's dressing room. Stephen walked over to the door, getting butterflies as he went. Knocking on the door, he heard voices from inside. A woman opened the door.

"Ja?" she inquired, obviously speaking very little English. Before Stephen could speak, however, he was greeted by a warm hug from Eloy. 'Mmmm,' Stephen thought, breathing in Eloy' scent. 'I could spend every day for the rest of my life like this.'

Shaking his head, he looked up at Eloy, his smile fading as he saw how awful Eloy looked. "E? You alright?" Eloy nodded, signalling that he was a little overwhelmed by the split. Eloy then introduced Stephen to his mother, the woman who had answered the door to him. She nodded politely, before Eloy proceeded to introduce Stephen to his sister and her boyfriend who could, thankfully, speak fluent English like Eloy.

Before Eloy and Stephen had chance to have a proper chat, the door opened and Mark said, "5 minutes lads." The band chose to clear out the dressing room so that they could spend those 5 minutes by themselves. Lucienne, Eloy's sister, asked Stephen whether he wanted to go and sit with her during the show. Stephen, however, politely declined, opting to watch the show from the side of the stage out of view instead.

"Good luck," Stephen said, before leaving the dressing room to watch Caught In The Act's final live concert together. . .

* * *

Stephen's eyes welled up with emotion as Caught In The Act performed their last song together. He was surprisingly sad. He wasn't really a fan of the band, but he did like some of the songs. Mainly the one's which Eloy sang.

"Oh my God!" he suddenly exclaimed, as the reason why he was so sad dawned on him. "If Eloy has no plans to start a solo career, then I may never see him again!" he whispered to himself. It was then that he made a conscious decision to attempt to tell Eloy his real feelings for him. Looking on stage, he saw that the final song had been completed. The band were all huddled together, tears streaming down their face. 'It's gonna be a long night,' Stephen thought, instinctively knowing that Eloy would need someone to talk to. In a quick flash, the band left the stage, returning to their dressing room. Stephen hung around unsure what to do next. He decided to wait outside the dressing room. He didn't have to wait long though as Eloy materialised soon after, looking slightly more refreshed.

"Do you want to come back to the hotel for a few drinks?" he asked Stephen, who nodded with delight at the suggestion. Looking at his watch, he noticed that it was 10pm already. "As long as we're back here by midnight, okay?" Eloy nodded, before grabbing Stephen's arm and heading off into the direction of his car. . .

* * *