He had the worst headache. Maybe it hadn't been such a great idea to take all three of those pills. What the hell had they been? All Eminem knew was they were blue, yellow, and purple.

There was someone in bed with him. Normally, Eminem liked it when the girl slunk quietly into the night, but he was pretty sure that was the best blowjob he'd ever had. He almost felt bad he didn't remember her name, or even what she looked like.

The light clicked on, and he could here a lighter flick. So she was a smoker. Eminem heard an exhale, then a voice spoke. "Don’t think I ever caught your name."

Eminem's eyes shot open. That was not a girl's voice. "Who the fuck are you?"

The man laughed. "God, you must have been in orbit last night. I'm the guy you picked up in a bar last night. I thought you were gonna jump me right there on the dance floor."

Not E, then. Maybe Euphoria, because there was no other way he'd ever-. The realization hit him like a sledgehammer. Him, Eminem, gay trashing white rapper, had gone home with some guy he'd met at a bar. "Fuck." No, he wasn't going to break down in front of this guy.

The man set his cigarette down. "You've never done this before, have you? I should have known, but you seemed…"

'I’m going to lose everything. There's no way this guy is going to keep quiet.' Eminem didn't even notice he'd curled into fetal position.

A hand fell on his shoulder. "You're really freaking out on me here. Do you want me to call someone to come get you? I'm still way too hung over to drive."

"No! I mean, no. Don't call anyone." He had to get a hold of himself. He was Marshall Mathers, he was Slim Shady, and this guy… this guy had asked his name. He didn't know. Thank god. "I can get a cab."

"Hey," That hand touched his arm again. "I don't let anyone leave my bed without telling their name."

Eminem answered before he could think of a lie. "Marshall."

"I'm AJ, but I suppose you already knew that." AJ picked up his cigarette again. "With a name like Marshall, though, maybe I should let you call me Alex."

He found his pants and quickly put them on. "You told me your name?"

AJ snorted. "You aren't into music are you? Buddy, last night you did what thousands of teenage girls would have loved to do."

Eminem's hand was on the knob, but he was dying of curiosity. He pushed aside the music comment and asked, "What?"

"Fuck a Backstreet Boy."

Eminem was going to slit his wrists again.

-----

A few hours later, he found himself on Dre's couch, dodging prying questions. "Just leave it alone, man."

"No fucking way, Em." Dre had a huge grin on his face. "You ditched me last night. You were so high your feet weren't touching the floor. If you went home with some starfucker, good for you. God knows Kim ain't doing nothing for you."

Eminem looked up from his beer. "Dre, what hell did you give me last night?"

"If it wasn't X, then I have no clue man." Dre got a suspicious look on his face. "Tell me you didn't kill anyone. I don't want to have to ditch a body."

"Just mine." Eminem downed the last of his drink.

-----

"Nick, turn it down." AJ buried his head under a pillow. "That guy is a nutcase."

"Yeah, but this is MTV, and I don't want to change the channel." Nick was making AJ regret switching rooms with Brian.

AJ looked up at the TV. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. Nick didn't notice as AJ mouthed the word racing through his mind. 'Marshall.'

He managed to buy the Slim Shady LP without getting mobbed by teenage girls. After listening to it, AJ came to the conclusion that Eminem was a seriously disturbed man who actually made sense on occasion. He also decided he had to see that man again, if only to see if the great fuck had been the drugs or the guy on them.

-----

Eminem had been in a funk for two months, and Dre was sick of it. So his marriage was a mess. So his wife was trying to turn the kid against him. Dre had the feeling that wasn't the problem. "Slim, we aren't getting anything done today, are we?"

"No." He rested his head on the mixing board. "I'm loosing my mind, Dre. I really fucked up this time."

"This is about the night I gave you the wrong pills, isn't it? You told me you didn't kill anyone."

"I didn't." Eminem was getting sick of being asked that. "I'll get over it eventually, okay?"

His memory came back in flashes, in his dreams. AJ hadn't lied, Eminem had been the pursuer. He could remember grinding in the club, and making out in the cab. He was pretty sure he'd fucked AJ, face down on the minibar in that expensive hotel room.

It was freaking him out, how much he ached after those dreams. Things with Kim were going to hell, and he was dreaming about a Backstreet Boy at night.

Eminem decided he was going crazy, and it showed on the CD he was recording. Anyone who trashed homosexuals that much was having some kind of sexual identity crisis.

-----

AJ's home phone ran, and even though he dived for it, Brian was faster. "AJ, I think it's for you."

"Me?" Gee, who else would someone calling his house be looking for?

"It's a guy calling for Alex." Brian grinned. "I thought you were single."

"I am." AJ didn't even want to hope… "Hello?"

"Do you know how hard it was to get this number? The woman at my record label thinks I'm pulling a prank." The voice sounded a little drunk. "Maybe I am. Depends on you."

"Marshall." AJ got a satisfied smile on his face. "Never expected to hear from you again."

"I think I'm in Florida. I want to see you."

"You're smashed. Maybe I should come to see you." AJ shouldered the phone and picked up a pen. "Scram, Rok. Okay, Marshall, where are you?"

-----

"I'm insane, that's it. All the critics are right. Eminem is a nutcase." Eminem was face down on the couch when AJ got there. "I invited a pop star over for gay sex."

"Is that what's bothering you?" AJ moved Eminem's legs, and sat down next to him. "Listen, just because you had a good time doesn't mean you're gay. I’m not."

"You aren't?" Eminem didn't like how pathetic that sounded.

"Just a little bent, is how they put it." AJ put his feet up on the coffee table. "If I'd know you were going to spend two months panicking, I would never have taken you home with me."

"I haven't been panicking." He looked up to meet AJ's shaded eyes. "I've been obsessing."

"How interesting." AJ took off his sunglasses, and leaned forward. "If I kiss you, are you going to hit me?"

Eminem thought about it. "No."

"Good." A few seconds later AJ's tongue licked it's way into his mouth. Eminem decided he probably was a little bent.

-----

Eminem decided they were either perfect for each other or the most dysfunctional couple ever. He was always rolling, and AJ was always drunk, except when they were together. But it felt good to have someone to hold when they managed to get together, who would listen to him talk about his failing marriage. Maybe he was trashing Nsync a little to much, and maybe that song AJ was writing was a bit depressing for the Backstreet Boys, but he didn't care.

Eminem was afraid to think of what that meant.

Today, they'd managed to grab enough time off to make a visit worthwhile. He just wanted to relax. AJ had other ideas. "I heard about Kim."

"I knew she was crazy, but not that crazy." He rolled over so he could look at AJ. "I can't deal with her anymore."

"Women are too much trouble sometimes." AJ threw an arm around Eminem's waist, and pulled him close.

"Like you aren't?"

-----

Dre stared at the clock impatiently. Eminem was twenty minutes late and counting. It's not like they had a deadline or anything. He wasn't answering the phone, and Dre was beginning to think his protégé was either dead or high. Either way, with Eminem's state of mind over the divorce, he shouldn't be alone.

Imagine Dre's surprise to find someone parked outside Eminem's apartment. 'For once, Kim was right. He does have a girlfriend.' If he had to bet money on it, he'd say this was the mysterious Alex's car, that chick that was always calling. A satisfied smirk on his face, he used his key.

Eminem was on the couch, all over someone who defiantly wasn't a girl. Startled, the couple fell to the floor. "Dre. Fuck, I'm late, aren't I?"

Dre stared at AJ. "You? YOU'RE Alex? Slim, if you wanted to go gay, you could have done better than some guy from Nsync."

AJ sounded offended when he corrected Dre. "Backstreet. You got a problem with that?"

"Yes!" Dre practically howled the word. "He's a pop star, Em. You think the teenies have it bad for you? You ain't seen nothing until you drive by a hundred people standing outside this guy's hotel at three in the morning, in the pouring rain."

"Dre, if I don't give a fuck what anyone else thinks, why should I listen to you?" Eminem picked himself up off the floor, ready to fight.

Dre had seen that look in Eminem's eyes before. It usually ended with three or four security guards pulling the blond man off a bleeding victim. "Hey, Slim, it's your life."

AJ was back on the couch. "You know, this is all your fault."

"My fault?" Dre was even more confused than before. He'd just found his homophobic prize rapper making out with a guy, and the boyfriend was saying it was his fault?

"You're the one that gave him the wrong pills." AJ laughed at the look on Dre's face. "You gave a guy three tabs of Euphoria, and set him loose on the dance floor. What the hell did you think happened when he disappeared?"

"I didn't think he'd gone home with a guy!" Dre had to sit down. "I figured he'd killed someone."

"This is how you're friends and mine are different. They'd rather I had a boyfriend than have to dispose of a body." AJ moved over to let Eminem sit down next to him. They dared Dre to say anything.

"Fuck this. You know what?" Dre decided to just not deal with this. "Kim messed you up so bad, it's no wonder you don't want another woman. Just do me one favor."

"What?" Eminem was glad Dre was at least pretending to understand.

He glanced at their hands, which had entwined unconsciously. "Keep the PDA's to a minimum. God, I need a drink."

-----

"She's going to take Hallie away from me." Eminem's voice came through the phone. They were too far apart to see each other, but he needed to hear AJ's voice.

AJ sometimes wished he was more like Eminem, because right now he wanted to rip Kim Mather's heart out. "You're the one that filed. Why would she do that?"

"I’m a violent rapper with a criminal record. You think anyone would let me raise a child?" He wanted to throw something. He needed to, or he'd explode.

"I wasn't going to tell you this, but I talked to my lawyer." AJ hesitated. "If you promise not to seek sole custody, they may not try to terminate your parental rights."

"I have to loose her to keep her?"

"That's about what it means." AJ pretended he hadn't heard the crack in Eminem's voice. "Marshall, are you sure this is what you want?"

"What do you mean?"

"You need to decide what's worse. Living with Kim, or loosing your daughter." Eminem and Kim reconciled over Christmas, and AJ tried to drown the icy feeling in his chest with booze.

-----

Bizzare came into the studio and found Dre laughing his ass off. "Those the lyrics? I didn't know we were going for laughs."

Dre tried to get a hold of himself and failed. "Yo, Slim, does Alex know you're writing this?"

Eminem hadn't realized anyone else was there. "It's a surprise. It's not like I can do a sappy love..." He walked into the room and saw Bizarre. "Ballad."

"Who's Alex?" Bizarre threw himself into a chair. "You got a girlfriend or something?"

"Or something." Eminem answered, a little nervous. "We ready to work on these lyrics?"

Dre ignored the question. "It's sickening. You're crushing on a pop singer. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it."

"Pop singer?" Bizarre grabbed the lyric sheet. "Is she hot? Mainstream or local? Does she have friends that put out?" Purple Pills? How was this dedicated to Eminem's girl?

Dre started laughing again. "I dunno, Slim, you think any of Alex's band mates would go for Bizarre?"

Eminem cracked a grin. "You are so fucked up, Dre. I'd have to cut my eyes out for just imagining that."

"What, are you embarrassed by me?"

"Sometimes." Eminem dodged the swing. "They aren't into guys anyway."

Lesbian girl band. "Maybe they'd let me watch?" Bizarre wondered why Dre and Eminem were practically rolling on the floor laughing. He got the feeling they weren't telling him something.

-----

"Stop moping! Just call him." Howie was getting sick of watching AJ sleaze around in clubs all night, and being miserable all day.

"I can't." How was he supposed to explain his boyfriend was busy trying to get a European tour off the ground without saying who 'Marshall' was?

"You're miserable without him. Not only that," Howie was getting angry. "But you're also a miserable *drunk* when you can't see him."

"Fuck you, Howie." AJ shoved his chair back, and stormed out of the room.

"Nothing is ever going to convince that man he needs help." Howie was really starting to worry about his best friend.

-----

"You're going to be like this on tour too, aren't you?" Bizarre dangled a beer bottle in front of his face. "We can take care of things for a few days. Just go see her already."

Bizarre still thought AJ was a girl, and Eminem would like to keep it that way. "I don’t what city they're in."

"That's what the Internet is for." Bizarre was beginning to think that going on tour with a lovesick rapper wasn't a good idea. Not that he was ever going to tell Eminem he was lovesick. He liked all his parts where they were.

From the other room, there was a blast of music. Not their music, something far…. happier. Proof burst into the room. "Turn it off! How do I turn it off?"

"This is why you don't mess with my computer." Eminem resisted covering his ears as he closed his mp3 player. "Where did you find this shit?"

"It was in an email from Dre. Psychological torture, man. What are you two fighting about?"

"Let's Have A Party. Very funny, Dre." Eminem deleted the file. "We ain't fighting, he's dropping hints. Scram so I can track Alex down."

He was ashamed to admit he belonged to more than one BSB egroup. It let him keep an eye on AJ, and the teenies knew the group's schedule better than their management. City, hotel, and venue. He was smiling as he headed for the door.

He stopped to listen to Proof and Bizarre talking.

"It's fucking sad. Slim Shady not only has a pop girlfriend, he doesn't even realize he's fallen in love with her."

"Shut up. You want him to hear you say that?"

Eminem felt like he'd just walked off a cliff.

-----

"No."

"No, what?" AJ tried to push past Kevin.

"You're already mostly wasted. I'm sick of this, AJ. Stay in tonight. We're off this weekend, and I'd like you to be reasonably sober." Kevin was still blocking the doorway. "Find Marshall, get out of this lousy mood, because I swear AJ, you spend anymore time in a bottle, and we'll stop covering for you."

AJ glared at the closing door. Marshall wasn't answering his phone. AJ didn't want to admit how lonely that made him feel. He was well into his mini-bar when there was a knock on the door. It was his bodyguard, who didn't look too happy to be on babysitting duty. "Your boy called the desk. He's on his way. Fifteen minutes."

AJ mentally cursed. Yeah, Kevin was right, he was wasted. Whatever happened tonight, he wouldn't remember, and that would leave him even emptier inside. It was an unspoken rule that when they were together, they were both clean, but AJ hoped he was still together enough not to act too drunk.

He got rid of the empty bottles, used some mouthwash, and downed a cup of coffee. No, Eminem wouldn't be able to tell. Good.

He was ready when the knock came on his door. He let Eminem in. "You look shell shocked. Crowds that bad?"

"No." He shook his head, and kissed AJ. "Just found out something I didn't think I was ready to hear."

"What?" AJ licked Eminem's neck, and started tugging off his sweatshirt.

"Maybe I'll tell you later." It was a big maybe, Eminem thought, as he kicked off his shoes, and they moved toward the bed. "Been too long. It'll be worse when we're both on tour, won't it?"

"I missed you too." Eminem was the only one AJ would admit that to. And it was going to be terrible when Eminem was in Europe for months. "I'm glad I stayed in tonight."

"Me too." He pretty much had AJ naked between them, and nipped at an earlobe. AJ moaned, and Eminem smiled against his skin. "You're so easy, Alex."

"Fell for the first pretty blond that came along, didn't I?" He hardly realized what he was saying as a slick finger traced down his spine, and slid inside. Face to face tonight. Odd, for their first time in such a long time. Usually, they were too hungry for each other for slow and gentle. Whatever, it was all good.

He twisted, and added a second finger. It had been weeks, and AJ seemed almost unbearably tight. Eminem couldn't wait to get inside. "You ready?"

"So ready I'm about to explode." AJ got the feeling that with all the liquor in his body, one good orgasm would be all it took to put him out for the night.

"Good." Then he was hot and hard against AJ's entrance. He pushed forward slowly, staring into the eyes below him, as if searching them for something. That gaze mesmerized AJ, and he decided that Eminem could look as long as he wanted to.

Eminem started a slow, deep rhythm that had AJ whimpering. He refused to speed up, he wanted this to last. "Alex," He couldn't tell him, not now. It wouldn't mean anything now.

"Marshall, have a heart. Faster." AJ was willing to beg. Anything to speed up this spiral towards ecstasy. Eminem didn't go faster, but he did make it harder, trying to hit AJ's prostate on every stroke. *Thrust* "Marshall." *Thrust* "Marshall, please." *thrust* "God, yes."

He held AJ's face still, and kissed him almost violently. He barely registered the other man's semen coating his chest as he found his own release. 'So good to me, for me. How could I not-' Eminem was hesitant to even think it, but he was leaving soon, for way too long, and who knew when his next chance would be?

His brain had been fuzzy before hand, but in this post-orgasmic high, AJ barely knew his own name. He wasn't really hearing what Eminem was saying even though he was pretending to. He again thought how odd it was that Eminem liked to talk so much before, during, and after sex. That hand stroking his face was really nice though.

"Alex, are you listening to me?" He mumbled an affirmative. "Good, because I want to tell you something."

"Okay."

The hand stopped moving. "I must be out of my mind to tell you this."

"What else is new?" AJ was already drifting off to sleep or unconsciousness. He wasn't sure.

The words slipped in one ear and out the other, their meaning lost to his drunk subconscious as he drifted away to sleep.

THE END

(Now go read Strange Bedfellows)

~ When I look into the mirror, and see a face I don't recognize, I am no longer surprised.