As much as Nick hated to admit it, he was enjoying the fact that the focus of nit-picking from Johnny had been temporarily turned from him onto AJ. He did his best to protect him from the wrath, but the 8am breakfast call wasn’t long enough for any human being to sober up, AJ McLean included.

Trying his best to stall the bus trip to the next town for a few hours, Nick begged the manager that they needed a little more time to gather some things but Johnny responded with an icy no-can-do and told the boys to pack their gear and be ready in twenty minutes after breakfast. Nick tried lying to the man, telling him that AJ seemed to have caught the ‘Backstreet Flu Bug’, but Johnny only laughed and stated that the ‘brown bottle flu’ wasn’t a good reason to delay their trip.

Sighing as he slipped another CD into the walkman, Nick wondered how much longer they would be stuck on the bus. AJ had been leaning against him ten minutes into the ride and Nick could have sworn that the alcohol was emanating from the man’s pores.

As grumpy as AJ was from the hangover he was nursing, he did manage to thank Nick for helping him out but added that “Johnny was being an ass and wanted to punch his face in.”

Nick’s only reply to that was, “Now you know how I feel, it’s not fun being picked on, is it?”

Looking around the bus, Nick noticed that he was the only person that seemed to be awake besides the bus driver. Kevin was laying back, seat reclined, his arms crossed lightly over his chest, an ever familiar novel laying in his lap. Howie occupied the seat next to Kevin, box of tissues setting next to him, a used pile of Kleenex overflowed in a small paper sack. His head was resting on Kevin’s shoulder as he slept.

A bump in the road caused Howie’s head to roll off of Kevin’s shoulder, a big wet mark remained where his face had been. Nick couldn’t help but smile when he realized that Howie had been drooling in his sleep.

Kevin would be pissed if he knew!

Brian has long since retreated to the back of the bus and his bunk. Nick suddenly wished he was laying down too. The pain in his back from the stunt he had failed at during the concert the other night still hadn’t gone away it seemed to have gotten worse as time went on. He shied away from asking Kevin for pain meds. He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it and had hoped it would go away on it’s own.

The bus rolled to a stop and Nick looked out at the hotel through the tinted bus windows.

New hotel, new city, no clue where he was again.

The one thing that wasn’t any different from the last stop was the cluster of hormonal teenage girls standing by the entrance. Signs written in a language Nick couldn’t speak, let alone read were held aloft, bobbing up and down. The coughing from the front of the bus snatched Nick from his gaze and when he caught the site of Johnny, his mouth dropped open.

The tall man seemed to be ill, his eyes glazed with a certain fever and he was mopping his face with a damp handerchief. He had been caught in the snares of the Backstreet Flu. In between coughs, Johnny stated quickly that the boys would have to get their room assignments at the front desk - he was too sick to go in through the crowd of girls to get to the entrance and they would have to fend for themselves.

Nick rolled his eyes at the statement Johnny had uttered. Seemed when Johnny got sick, the world came to an end and he wouldn’t lift a finger to do his normal tasks.

“Judging by the crowd that has gathered, someone tipped these teenies off to where you were staying, so I suggest that you run and run quick since detail isn’t riding on this bus and they had engine trouble and won’t be arriving for awhile,” Johnny advised, coughing harshly at the end of the sentence.

Lifting his head gingerly, AJ lowered his shades and squinted at the image on the other side of the bus windows. Upon seeing the group of teens standing by the entrance, he whispered, “Holy fuck.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Nick sighed.

Sliding the glasses back into place, AJ moaned as he stood up. “I love my job.”

“That didn’t sound too convincing,” Nick grinned.

“Wasn’t suppose to be.”

Brian, Kevin and Howie grouped together and sprinted from the bus through the disappointed fans to the lobby entrance. AJ rubbed his temples hearing the screams filtering into the bus when the door opened.

“Just what I needed today,” he mumbled. “You running with me?”

As he started to stand, pain shot through his back and he quickly sank down into his seat, pretending to be preoccupied with his backpack. “Nah, I’ve got to collect my games, go on, I’ll be right behind you.”

Nick watched as AJ ran from the sea of ravenous fans. The girls looked pretty excited and he was praying that some miracle would happen with his body guard showing up at the last moment.

He knew it was now or never as he looked at the group that had now faced the bus, no doubt waiting for the last Backstreet Boy to show his face. Nick felt like this was akin to a ‘showdown, like the last stand at the O.K. Corral.’ Taking a breath in, he slowly stood up, letting out a quick gasp when his change in positions created another searing pain in his lower back.

Placing a hand over the painful area, he discovered that if he hunched over as opposed to standing straight, the pain lessened. He knew there would be no way he could run so dragging his backpack, he pasted a smile with gritted teeth and entered the den of wolves.

”ICH LIEBE DICH NICK!”

”HEIRATEN SIE MICH!”

Moving as fast as his body would allow, Nick smiled through his pain, tears forming in his eyes. The girls were like pirhana, circling it’s bloody prey, waiting to strike. Nick could actually sense it, and the hair stood up on the back of his neck.

‘Shit,’ he groaned inwardly as the girls started pressing him, pushing him where he didn’t want to go. He was caught up in the throngs of a panicked crowd. His feet didn’t obey his commands and he was being carried away further and further from the entrance and more towards the side of the bus.

In a sudden change of actions, a sea of hands came at him from all different angles, grabbing, pulling at his hair and his clothes. One girl yanked his coveted backpack from his grasp and squealed with obvious delight in stealing her prize.

Nick could hear the hair being pulled from his scalp and cried out praying that they would stop. As his tee shirt was being ripped from his body, he yelped an animalistic cry, but the frenzie didn’t stop.

Standing at the check in counter, waiting for his room card, Kevin could hear the boisterous crowd outside the hotel. He smirked thinking that Nick was playing to the fans. His grin faded when he saw the look that was pasted on the woman and man’s face behind the desk. His eyes darted from each face and slowly turned to see what they were upset over.

Dropping the card on the counter, Kevin started off towards the front door, stopping in mid step. “Shit, I can’t go out there,” he grumbled, frustration in his voice. He quickly turned back towards the front desk. “Is there security?”

Stunned at the scene that was happening outside her hotel, the woman stood frozen.

”WE NEED SECURITY OR THE POLICE OR SOMETHING!” Kevin boomed, snapping the woman out of her trance.

She quickly picked up a phone and barked something into the receiver, urgency was definately conveyed in her voice.

“Please stop!” Nick whimpered.

One girl managed to put her arms around him, locking him in the tightest hug he had ever endured. No one seemed to realize how scared Nick was, they were playing with him, like a cat playing with a mouse before the kill.

Helplessly, Kevin stood at the windows along with Brian, watching Nick getting pressed against the tour bus. As he attempted to go out to help his little brother, Brian pulled him back.

“Don’t you’ll only add to this, help is coming,” he reassured.

“What the hell is taking so long?” Kevin demanded, wringing his hands as he watched Nick’s wild eyes.

“Look!” Brian pointed, relief evident in his voice.

The police didn’t seem too kind to the young girls, pushing them aside like they were rag dolls as they headed towards the trapped young man, pressed against the bus. When they finally reached Nick, he was scratched, bleeding and his shirt was ripped to shreds. He was shivering but it wasn’t from the cool air, it was from the adrenaline flowing through his veins.

One of the police officers wrapped a fatherly arm around the young man’s shoulders as he guided him towards the hotel entrance. A young girl stepped in front of the path, holding up Nick’s backpack.

“I got this back for you,” she stated in a soft voice.

Nick reached out hesitantly for the bag, not ready to trust anyone at the moment, fearful that she would grab his wrist and pull him into her.

“It’s okay, I just want to give this back to you. I-I didn’t steal it from you,” she stammered.

Accepting his bag from the girl, he managed to whisper a quick “thanks.”

Nick didn’t feel safe until they crested the threshold of the hotel entrance and he was quickly pulled into a warm hug by Kevin and Brian. He collapsed into their arms, sobbing.

“That motherfucker,” Kevin growled as he thought about how Johnny was too lazy to ensure their safety.

Brian’s eyes locked onto Kevin’s and although no words were spoken, Kevin knew that Brian was in agreement with Johnny’s lack of judgement in placing the boys at a high risk situation. Their displeasure of the situation intensified when Johnny sauntered into the lobby, dragging his plaid carryon bag by the handle.

Kevin rushed over to the manager, restraining himself from punching the man in the face. “You sonofabitch! What the hell were you thinking!” he demanded as he approached Johnny.

“Richardson, I’m sick, I’m tired, can we talk about this later?”

Kevin narrowed his eyes at the sickly figure standing hunched over as he leaned against the counter. “No, this can’t wait! I want answers!”

Johnny looked up at Kevin’s face. “Answers to what? You aren’t happy with the room assignments?”

Kevin slammed his fist onto the counter, causing the people standing behind it to jump and turn their attention in Kevin’s direction. “Goddamn it! You know exactly what I’m talking about!”

Johnny pulled a white handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his nose. “Oh you mean Carter’s incident with the admiring fans?”

Kevin glared at the man. “How the fuck can you just stand there and act like it’s nothing? Nick could have been crushed! He was in danger and it’s all because you were too goddamn lazy to do your fucking job!”

Johnny chuckled sarcastically. “You seem to think my job is a bed of roses, don’t you? You have no idea, do you?” Johnny challenged. “I have spent the last year taking care of your snotty spoiled asses and I think you’re blowing this all out of proportion! Grow up Richardson!”

Kevin grabbed the managers shirt and pulled him into his face. “Listen you asshole, this isn’t far from over! Mark my words, this isn’t over yet!”

When Kevin released Johnny from his grasp, the dark man smoothed the wrinkles from his shirt and rolled his eyes at the hotel employees behind the counter. “Pop Stars!”

“Nick, Brian’s got his card, we’ll worry about registering you later, you’re bunking with him anyway, let’s get you to your room, okay?” Kevin urged, his voice tinged with anger from what had just gone on with Johnny.

Nick sighed shakily, tears slipping down his cheeks. He was ashamed that he was crying, but he couldn’t help it. What happened out there five minutes ago scared him. He was crying from the emotional stress of the situation as well as from the pain in his back that seemed to have intensified from being slammed against the bus by the crowd.

“Led me take dat,” Brian offered as he gently reached for Nick’s backpack.

Kevin noticed Nick’s hunched posture. “Are you okay?”

Nick shook his head no, but uttered the words, “yes.”

Worried, Kevin started firing the questions as they walked towards the elevator. “What’s wrong? Do you need to be checked out? Are you hurt?”

“Just get me to my room so I can lay down,” Nick mumbled.

“Nick, are you sure you’re feeling okay? This is like the fourteenth trip to the bathroom in about an hour,” Brian questioned as he watched Nick slowly walk back to his bed.

“How come you’re not stuffed up?” Nick asked, trying to change the subject.

Brian gave Nick a lopsided grin. “That’s because I just blew my nose.”

“Keep it up, it works for you,” he joked.

Brian watched as Nick slowly laid his body back onto the bed. He could see the pain etched in his young friend’s face. “Nick something seems seriously wrong, are you sure you’re okay?”

Nick waved Brian’s concerns off. “You worry too much. Nothing that a few pain killers won’t cure. In fact” Nick started out saying as he gingerly raised his body from the bed. “I better take some more.”

“I think we should see about getting you checked out,” Brian pressed.

“Hey, I got slammed against the damn bus by a bunch of girls, like that’s never happened before. I’m just a little sore, alright? Just drop it, I’ll be fine,” Nick insisted.

Brian ran his hands through his hair. “God, you’re gonna kill me, ya know that Kaos?”

Shutting the bathroom door behind him, Nick opened the small bag where he stowed some of Kevin’s pain meds he had accepted from him after they got to their rooms. Grabbing a glass, he started to fill it with tap water but stopped, remembering that bad incident one time after drinking water accidently from Spain.

Glancing at the toilet, Nick decided although he had just been there, he had better make good use of it right now before he laid down again. It hurt when he emptied his bladder, but he was assuming it was from all the pushing and shoving he had endured hours earlier. His back still hurt, and Nick knew that was from the stunt he had tried at the concert the night before.

As he relieved himself, Nick looked at the walls, the ceiling, the shower stall; everyplace but where he was doing his business. When he started to slide his sweatpants back up, he glanced down into the toilet and narrowed his eyes, doing a double take. He could have sworn that the urine looked reddish.

“It has to be this funky water,” Nick decided as he flushed the toilet, dismissing the evidence.

Hobbling back into the room, he opened the stocked fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. With one quick sweep, he uncapped the bottle and shoved the pills into his mouth, swallowing a generous gulp of the cool water, all the while, Brian kept him under his watchful eye.

Settling slowly back onto the bed, Nick groaned. Feeling Brian’s gaze, he sighed. “I said I’d be fine.”

“I knobe,” Brian sniffed.

“Blow your nose,” Nick directed.

“Hey Bri?”

“Yeah?”

“I was talking to one of my friends the other day, and he was telling me that he was passing blood in his urine, how would he know that, I mean do you know what that looks like?”

“A friend?” Brian asked suspiciously.

“Yeah, one of my friends from home,” Nick defended. “Oh just skip it. Forget I even said anything.”

“Nick are you peeing blood?”

“Just drop it, it’s not me I told you it’s Angel--”

“I thought you said it was a friend,” Brian interrupted.

“Well yeah, um, hell just forget I brought it up, okay?”

“Nick, if this is about you, we need to get you to a doctor, this is something serious and you shouldn’t mess around with it!”

Nick staged a fake, overexaggerated yawn. “I’m gonna take a nap, wake me up in a couple of hours, okay?”

“God Nick, you’re gonna drive me crazy,” Brian sighed.

“Stop being a worrywart, you seriously are pissing me off,” Nick snapped, turning his back to his brother.

“I am so gonna be watching you Nickolas,” Brian mumbled as he stared at Nick’s back.