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"They don't have a clue.." Nick whispered to himself. They had no clue of what he was going through. They've all had their share of problems, but this was different. He closed his eyes and sighed. It seemed like the walls were closing in on him. He felt so small, so insignificant. If only.. No, that was impossible..

Letting out a deep sigh, he sunk down onto his bed, his eyes lingering on the piece of paper sitting next him.
"Why me?" He murmured. "Why now? Why us?" His head fell into his hands as he squeezed his eyes shut, willing the tears not to come. He felt so lost right now. Allowing his eyes to slowly open, he picked up the sheet up paper, his sapphire gaze skimming over the words. He had read them countless times by now, hell, he had them memorized. But they still hurt him everytime. Taking in a deep breath, he beagn to read them out loud,

"Mr. Carter, We regret to inform you," He paused for a moment and took another deep breath before continuing, "We regret to inform you that we have located a small cancerous tumor right above your left lung. While this matter is extremely serious and life-threatening, it can be treated. As you can see, I have laid out the different routes we can take to tackle this and beat it head on. Please contact me as soon as you decide what to do. Regards, Dr. Peter Samson." The youth fell back against the bed as he finished the letter, his eyes shut once more as he tried to slow the thoughts racing in his head. His eyes shot open as his doorbell rang and he sat up with a small frown, glancing at the clock before making his way to the front door and peering out the peephole.

"Fuck." He mumbled, jerking the door open. "What?"
"Hey to you too asshole." AJ muttered, pushing his way past the blonde and into the house.
"Hi Frack." Nick grunted a hello to Brian as he stepped aside, letting the older man enter before shutting the door.
"What do you guys want?"
"To talk." The rebel sighed. "We know something is up Carter and neither of us are taking to kindly to your bullshit lately. Especially me. And i don't sugar coat shit, so tell us what the hell is going on with you."
"Nothing." Came the hastened reply as Nick shook his head. "There's nothing wrong."

"Nick stop, okay? Just stop. Look, I know it's something serious and i know it has to do with your health. Why won-"
"How do you know that?" The youth demanded, cutting off the Kentuckian as his eyes snapped to stare at him. Brian frowned and let out a large sigh, shifting back and forth on his feet before answering.
"The other day at the venue," He sighed, "I heard you on the phone in the green room. Saying something about doctor appointments and your health and i heard the words 'life threatning.'" Brian took a few steps forward, now standing directly in front of Nick. "Frack, what's going on? What aren't you telling us? We just want to help with whatever it is. Don't you understand?" Nick's eyes darted back and forth from Brian to AJ, his mind racing. Could he actually tell them? He didn't want to be alone on this, it was already killing him keeping everything from his four brothers. But he didn't want to hurt them, didn't want to bring them pain.
"C'mon kid, tell us what's up." AJ nodded, pulling off his sunglasses and giving the younger man a small smile. "So what's the deal?"

Nick opened his mouth to tell AJ where exactly he could go with all his crap before he shut it, shaking his head slowly, his body slumping aginst the wall in defeat. He couldn't go through this without them.
"Where's Kev & Howie?" He whispered, running a hand over his face.
"Um, i think Kevin is at home and Howie's out talking to some reps about some houses he wants to build," AJ said slowly, a frown taking shape on his features. "Why?"
"They need to be here. I can't do this twice. I can't say it twice." The rebel nodded and pulled out his cell phone, walking out of the room as he dialed the numbers.

"Nicky, how serious is this?" The southener asked gently, watching AJ leave the room for a moment before he redirected his gaze; his eyes wide as he he stared at his best friend. Nick slowly raised his head, a sad smile etched into his features.
"You heard 'life-threatening', didn't you?"
"Oh god," Brian sank down on the arm of the chair behind him, his mind racing. "Oh god." AJ came walking back into the room a few seconds later, snapping his phone shut and letting it drop into his pocket.

"Kev is gonna grab Howie since D is in his area and they're gonna be here in like 15 minutes. Okay Kaos?"
"Fine." The youngest man smiled, running his finger through his hair as silence drifted over the 3 men. "Um, do you guys want anything to eat or drink? I just went shopping."
"You? Shopping?" AJ gasped, trying to break the thick apprehension in the room. "No way dude. Did you buy anything other than beer, chips and pizza?" A grin worked it's way onto Nick's features and he rolled his eyes, thankful for the lightness of the conversation.
"I'm an excellent and very well-rounded shopper, thank you very much." He huffed out his chest in exaggeration and AJ let out a snort as he rolled his own eyes.

"So what did you buy Frack?" Brian grinned, trying to push away his worry for the moment and joining in with the friendly banter.
"I bought fruit and dairy and bread and meat." Nick said after a moment of thinking.
"So what? The tomato sauce on the pizza, the cheese, the meat and the crust?" AJ laughed, plopping down onto the couch and laughing even harder as Nick simply flipped him off. "Yeah, nice try dude."
"Screw you Jay." The blonde snickered, the smiling falling off his face as the doorbell rang. The laughter immediately fell away from AJ and Brian as well as AJ sat up and Brian shot to his feet. With a muted sigh, Nick made his way to the door, opening it slowly, a small smile accompaning his greeting. "Hey fellas." Both of his older friends smiled at him and Howie moved in first, giving him a small pat on the back before moving into the main room. "Gonna come in Kev?" Kevin simply nodded, his emerald gaze locked onto Nick's form. Stepping forward, he engulfed Nick in a hug, gently rubbing his back.
"What ever it is, we'll help you through it." He whispered into the younger man's ear as he pulled away.
"I know Kev." Nick mumbled, "I never doubted that."