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Author's Chapter Notes:

Sorry for the delay, reality keeps getting in the way!

Chapter 21 - Figure You Out

Nick could hardly believe the amount of fan sites still around. Back at the height of their fame, the Backstreet Boys were everywhere, but their fame had dwindled somewhat by the time Unbreakable was released - which in a way was good, because it meant more chance of a normal life, but not great in terms of their careers. Nick remembered a time when Live Daily was THE place for all things Backstreet; those girls knew more about what was going on than he himself did. But that place was no more and hadn‘t been around for a long time, and so he was having to find his information elsewhere.

The first link he clicked on was Wiki, which told him the basics, but wasn’t exactly what he was looking for. He wanted to really get to know who he was now, not just look at a few trivial facts. What Wiki did tell him though was that the boys were still together as a group, the five of them, and that all of them had achieved some solo success over the years. I wonder when Kevin came back. Awesome!

Nick leaned back in his chair and reminisced about his first solo CD ‘Now or Never’. He’d hoped for the same kind of solo success as the likes of Justin Timberlake, hoped that he’d be catapulted into super stardom, but had been a little disappointed when the CD sales hadn’t done as well as his rival Justin. Well, at least I beat him in the Sexiest Male Musician awards on a number of occasions, ha, take that Timberlake!

He sat back up and looked at the computer screen again. According to Wiki, he’d released a CD in 2011 called ‘I’m Taking Off’ and a third one in 2015 by the name of ‘In My Own Time’. Both albums had done incredibly well around the world and Nick couldn’t help the smile which formed on his lips. I’ll have to listen to them and see if anything sounds familiar, see if any of the song ideas I had in my head came to fruition.

The website mentioned his health problems and his stint in rehab, but didn’t go into depth. Nor did it give much information about his personal life, only that he’d married Amanda Owen in 2012 after dating for just a few months and that they had three children.

Well, I better do some more digging if I‘m going to find anything else out before Mandy gets home.

He went back to the search results and clicked on another link, which promised that it was the number one place for everything Nick Carter related. It wasn’t wrong! Nick sat there engrossed and was amazed at the quantity of information held there. He hardly knew where to begin, but noticed that there were archive folders containing news, pictures and interviews for each year the group had been around. Nick figured the best place to begin was by paying a visit to the 2007 folder, seeing as that was the year which sent him back to the future.

He found an article of particular interest in the news folder - the day he was hit by the car. But according to the news report, it happened a bit different to how he remembered.

Nick Carter, the youngest member of boy band the Backstreet Boy, currently in town to promote their new album, was involved in a minor car accident earlier today. Carter (aged 27) was taken to the hospital where he was treated for minor cuts and bruises following a collision with another car. The driver of the other vehicle (who has not been named) accepted full responsibility for the accident and apologised to Carter and his band mate, who did not sustain any injuries.

“That’s not how I remember it! I stepped out into the road when I saw Mandy across the street, I wasn’t in a car” he exclaimed, rubbing his chin, deep in thought, wondering why the events of that day were different. It was all getting a bit confusing for Nick. Why can’t everything just be simple? But then again, when has anything ever been simple in my life?

He scanned through a few more interviews and album reviews, and then watched a few You Tube videos of them performing songs from the Unbreakable CD on various TV shows. He had to admit that even without Kevin; they managed to do just fine. He then opened up the photo folder for 2007. There were photo shoot pictures, ones taken at events and of course the ones everyone hated - the unauthorised ones, where the photographer caught them off guard and sometimes doing things he’d rather were kept private, like picking his nose, or eating junk food when he’d proclaimed to be on a diet, or when he had a giant zit on his face and unwashed hair, and so on. He clicked through them, and then opened the 2008 folder.

“Nick, I‘m home” Mandy called from downstairs. Nick was so engrossed in his research that he hadn‘t heard her. “There you are!” she said, causing Nick to jump at the sound of her voice “what’re you doing?”

“Nothing” Nick replied and quickly closed the browser.

“I hope you aren’t digging for details about your fortieth” she warned and gave him a look.

My fortieth? I’m already forty…aren’t I? Nick looked at the time and date in the corner of the screen and saw that in fact, he was still thirty nine, for another week anyway! No fucking way!

“Would I do a thing like that?” he teased her and gave her a crooked smile.

“Yes, you would…and you know it!” she replied and shook her head “but you aren’t going to find out a thing”

“Spoilsport” he retorted, and he wasn’t just talking about the birthday. He couldn’t carry on with his research now that she was hovering about. He sighed and turned back to his computer, contemplating whether to turn it off or not.

“I’ll let you carry on with whatever it is you’re doing” Mandy said and turned away.

“No, it’s OK, I’m done for now” Nick replied and shut the computer down. There would be more opportunity later, but for now, he figured he’d better spend some time getting to know his wife all over again.

Chapter End Notes:

Thanks for reading.