Nick was curled up into the tinest ball he could manage, trying to get heat back into his shivering body. He tried his best to keep his ailment to himself for fear of being picked on by management and the guys. He felt that everyone was against him and he was bringing the group down everytime he got sick.

“Here Nick... try this stuff, it should quiet your cough.”

Nick peeked out from under the blankets to see what looked like Howie’s hand holding a brown bottle and a teaspoon.

“Ib bine.”

“Nick, don’t lie to me, your voice sounds like shit.”

“I daid I wad bine.”

“Oh for the love of God, take this stuff, it will help you to get better until we can get you something for this cold.”

Before Nick could reply, Howie poured out some of the honey colored mixture onto the spoon and offered it to the ailing teen. “Sit up so you can take this.”

Slowly, Nick did as he was requested.

“Here..... open your mouth up.”

Nick glared up at the Latino. “I dink I cab do dis byselb.”

Grabbing the spoon, he sniffed at the liquid.

“I really doubt you can smell anything by the way you sound. Just take the medicine like a good boy and then you can go back to sleep.”

Pinching his nose closed and closing his eyes, Nick opened his mouth quickly swallowing the liquid, immediately sputtering and coughing when it when down his throat. “Arrgh.... ugh....”

“It’s not that bad Kiddo, stop being so dramatic about it,” Howie sighed with a grin. Reaching out, he gently pushed on the teen’s shoulder and then pulled his covers up, tucking him into the bunk. “Now lay back down and try to rest.”

Brian looked up from his laptop when Howie returned from the back of the bus. “So how’s Nicky doing?”

A barking cough from the back answered Brian’s question.

“That doesn’t sound very healthy.”

Howie nodded in agreement.

“I wouldn’t doubt if the boy gets pneumonia, you know how Kaos is, he’s a human magnet for germs,” AJ pointed out.

“Well it didn’t help that he was wandering around without any shoes on his feet in the freezing cold in downtown Warsaw,” Kevin added.

“Well regardless, he needs to see a doctor at the next stop or he will be really sick,” Howie suggested.

“What’s wrong with the doc that took a look at him at the hotel?”

“AJ, that doctor was a quack and you know it.”

“A quack by your lame standards. The man had a black bag and meds, so by my standards, he was a doctor. He said the boy had a cold and he would have to just tough it out. Please don’t tell me you’re starting to buy Nick’s overacting when it comes to a cold!”

Kevin closed the novel he had been reading and placed it roughly down onto the table. “I think I can judge what is sick and what is faking and Nick isn’t faking.”

Another bout of harsh coughing was heard once again, almost as a testament to Kevin’s words regarding Nick.

“This is just crazy....I’m going back there to see if he’s okay.”

"I'll go too," Brian offered as he followed his cousin to the sleeping area of the bus, barely able to keep up with Kevin's long legged strides.

Pushing the heavy curtain aside, Kevin peered into the dark bunk that Nick occupied. "Hey buddy, how you feelin'?"

Rolling over, Nick peered out of his protective cocoon, staring up at Kevin's face.

"Huh?"

"I asked you how you were feeling," Kevin repeated, raising a hand to place ontop of the ailing teen's forehead. Nick pulled the blanket back over his face.

"Nick, I want to see if you have a temp."

"No."

Grabbing at the blanket, Kevin tried to pry it from Nick's grasp. "Let go!"

"Noooo."

"Oh for Chrissake Nick, let Kevin check you over!"

After a few moments, the grip was finally released on the blankets that covered his face and only one blue eye peeked out from the hole. "Ib knob sick." *cough*

"Nickolas Carter, let me feel your forehead," Kevin demanded, his voice sounding edgy.

After a few moments of Kevin pulling at the blanket and Nick fighting him off, Kevin was successful in placing a hand on the young man’s forehead, sighing when he made contact.

“You’re either burning up or you’ve got too many blankets on. Take some of that crap off!”

“Bud I’m cod,” Nick protested.

“Just do it and I’ll check back on you in a bit. Take a nap.”

Brian followed his cousin to the front of the bus. “Do you think he has a high fever?”

Kevin shrugged his shoulders. “He felt warm but I doubt he has a high fever. God, the kid had so many blankets wrapped around him he’s probably baking himself. I think it’s just a good old fashioned cold and if he gets some sleep he might sound better by showtime tomorrow.”

“Let’s hope so.”

As much as he tried, Brian found it difficult to relax. He had thumbed through several magazines and listened to most of his CD’s on his walkman, but nothing took his mind off of his sick best friend. Jerking the headset off, he quietly got up from his seat and walked toward Nick’s bunk.

The heavy curtains were drawn shut and Brian debated about peeking in to see how Nick was doing, afraid he would wake the young man up. As he started to turn away, he heard movement from the bunk.

“Are you awake?” Brian whispered softly.

“Mom?”

Brian grinned hearing Nick’s hoarse voice. “No, it’s Brian.”

“When did you get here?”

Puzzled at Nick’s question, he pushed the curtain back. “I just walked back here to check and see how you’re feeling.”

“You walked?”

“No, I rode a bike back here... of course I walked, goofy. Must be Howie’s medicine cleared your sinuses up, you’re sounding better.”

Nick looked up at Brian with a confused gaze. “Howie? When did Howie come over?”

“Nick, knock it off, it’s not funny.”

Looking at his surroundings, Nick giggled quietly. “Oops, sorry now I see where I am.” He placed a hand to his forehead. “I guess I was sleeping hard.”

“Must be,” Brian agreed.

Looking past Brian’s shoulder, Nick’s eyes narrowed. Brian followed Nick’s gaze and then looked back at the teen. “What’s wrong?”

“You just have to make sure Lou doesn’t see me laying down sleeping,” he whispered.

“Why not?”

“Because he’s gonna be pissed at me. He always gets pissed at me, you know.”

Brian sat down on the edge of the bunk. “No, why don’t you tell me about it.”

“Promise you won’t tell him I said anything?”

“Okay, I promise I won’t tell him.”

Nick rolled onto his back and sighed. After a few moments, he looked like he had drifted off into another world.

“Nick? Hey Nick, you were gonna tell me about Lou.”

“Oh yeah, sorry about that. Okay, well you know how Lou is always on my case and yells at me?”

“He yells at all of us,” Brian corrected.

Nick’s face grew somber. “No, he don’t yell at you guys like he yells at me. He told me I was a fat and none of the girls are going to like me pretty soon. He said if I didn’t stop eating and start getting serious about going on a diet I was going to be too big to be up onstage.”

“Nick, you’re not fat--”

Nick held a hand up to silence his friend. “Hear me out. He said I was getting fat and lazy. Remember when I was really sick at that award show? That was Lou’s fault.”

Brian looked at Nick with a puzzled expression on his face. “How could you being sick be Mr. Pearlman’s fault?”

“He gave me this diet drink and it made me sick. He kept making me eat and the more I would eat, the sicker I got.” Nick looked over Brian’s shoulder again, lowering his voice into a smaller whisper. “And now I gotta take these little tiny diet pills but no one knows about them. He said I gotta be thirty pounds thinner after our break or he’s going to fire me from the band.”

“He couldn’t fire you from the band Nick, be serious.”

“I swear.”

“Does Johnny know about this?”

“Not that I know of.”

“I need to tell Johnny about this, this is serious,” Brian stated as he started to get up. Nick reached out and grabbed him.

”NO! DON’T TELL ANYONE!”

“Tell anyone what?”

Brian stiffened when he heard Lou Pearlman’s thundering voice. The anger at what Nick had just told him, rose quickly, making his heart beat faster in his chest as the adrenaline levels skyrocketed. “Nick told me about your little talk you had with him about his weight and what you’re doing to him.”

Pearlman looked at Brian incredilously. “What are you talking about?”

”Brian, please,” Nick hissed.

Brian ignored Nick’s pleas and continued. “Nick told me that you are telling him he’s getting too fat and he needs to lose weight and you’ve been giving him diet medications and making him get sick. When we get to the hotel, I’m placing a call to his parents!”

Both boys were waiting for Pearlman to start on one of his famous yelling sprees but to Brian’s surprise, the obese manager started laughing. At first it was a small chuckle but it quickly turned into a huge belly laugh, puzzling Brian with his reaction. “Brian, Nick, you two are such practical jokers, you know that?”

Brian narrowed his eyes at the manager. “What do you mean?”

Patting his paunch, Lou shook his head. “Me of all people to tell someone they have a weight problem? Nick is a growing kid far from being fat like me. I certainly am not the one to point fingers at anyone about their weight.”

“But.. but Nick told me that you said this, I wasn’t joking.”

Pearlman stared at Nick who had shrunk away into the corner of his bunk. “You also mentioned to me earlier that the boy has a bad cold, remember?”

“What does a cold have to do with this?” Brian asked in an exasperated tone.

“The boy is obviously delusional. He’s not making any sense.” Pearlman smiled at Nick.

“He looked like he knew what he was saying to me before you came into the room.”

“I bet he doesn’t know where we are right now,” Pearlman challeneged.

”I don’t know where I am right now,” Brian stated.

“Let’s make this a mutiple choice question for Mr. Carter then, shall we?”

Brian folded his arms across his chest. “Okay.”

“Nick, we are on a tour bus right now, right?”

Nick shook his head in agreement.

“Alright, you have your choice of a correct answer. Are we going to (1)Zurich (2) Stockholm (3) Los Angeles or (4) Boston?”

Nick’s face looked deep in thought for a moment and then he smiled and said, “It’s number three, we’re going to LA.”

“See, there’s your proof, the boy is talking nonsense, don’t pay attention to his rambling.”

Brian looked at Nick and then at the manager. “Nick we’re in Europe, you know that, right?”

“We are?”

Lou patted the Kentuckian on the shoulder. “Go back and rest Brian, we will be having a busy schedule ahead of us.”

Brian obeyed the manager’s orders, glancing back at Nick as he walked away. When Pearlman was certain that Brian was out of hearing range, he leaned over at Nick. “Carter, what was the first thing I told you about our little talk about your weight?”

Nick swallowed hard. “Not to tell anyone.”

“You were talking and fortunately, I was able to convince Brian that you weren’t thinking clearly.”

“I-I, couldn’t stop myself, it kinda slipped out.”

“Well at least you covered your stupidity. I will have to watch myself for the rest of this goddamned tour because I know that Littrell will be watching me and especially you. Just eat what you want, but I want you to know that I expect you to be dieting and starving yourself when you’re on break or you know the consequences, do I make myself clear?”

“Yessir.”

When Brian made his way to the seat beside his cousin, he nudged his shoulder. “Kevin, I need to talk to you.”