Nick was flipping through a magazine and listening to the news a few days later when a picture of a smiling brunette woman popped up on the screen. She looked familiar, so he set the magazine down and squinted, trying to get a better look at her.

“…Amilia Hutchins, the mayor’s daughter. She has been missing for three days now and authorities are asking that if you know anything, to please call…”

Shit! He cursed to himself. The mayor’s daughter was the girl he witnessed-

He stopped himself mid-thought and shook his head no. Now he knew he couldn’t get involved. If it was the mayor’s daughter who was thrown off the bridge, there had to be people behind it that he didn’t want to mess with…

The Day Before…

Nick was playing basketball with Brian and Baylee, though Nick wasn’t doing a very good job. Hell, even Baylee had more points than he did. He sighed and called for a time out, heading over to his bag and pulling out his water bottle, taking a few chugs, watching as Brian chased his son around the courts. When Nick came back over to play again, Brian looked up at him.

“So are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?” his friend asked him.

Nick frowned slightly, “What are you even talking about?”

Brian chuckled, “We’ve been friends for nearly twenty years, man, you can’t tell me nothing’s bothering you. You have never played this bad, not even when you were coked up. So, again, are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?”

Nick shrugged, “Just a lot on my mind.”

Brian nodded, “So guessing it is… Does it have anything to do with that girl you left with the other night?”

“What night?” he asked, playing dumb.

“The party? Someone said you left with Lacey from Mean Girls,” Brian said. “How do you even know her?”

“I didn’t- I don’t,” Nick said, shaking his head no. “It’s complicated,” he finished lamely.

“Ah, so it does have to with her?” Brian asked, trying to clarify.

Nick shrugged softly, “I mean, yeah, we left together, but I just ended up taking her home. Nothing really happened.” He felt bad for lying to his friend, but he couldn’t drag Brian into this. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if he could drag himself into it!

“So wait, you left your own birthday party early, with  a girl, and you just took her home?” Brian asked. He shook his head no, “I don’t believe it man. Again, we’ve been friends for almost 20 years; just like I know when something’s up, I can tell when you’re lying.”

Nick sighed and looked at his friend, “Fine, we left early to use, but I decided in the end using again wasn’t worth it, so I just took her home to get rid of the temptation. Are you happy now?”

Brian frowned softly, “You were going to use?”

“Yes, Brian. I was going to use. I was going to throw everything away for one more line. Did you know I didn’t want the damn party? All I wanted for my birthday was to go surf the waves at night, under the stars. But no, I’m fucking Nick Carter, and I’m not allowed to be by myself for my birthday, so forgive me if I wanted to escape,” he hissed at his friend. He sat down on the edge of the court and rubbed his eyes. He felt weak admitting that he had fully intended to use with Lacey, that even after 2 years the damn drugs still called his name.

He was surprised when he heard Brian sit next to him and slowly turned to look at his friend, “Nick, it’s hard to admit what you just did, but I’m proud of you. There’s a saying, ‘Once an addict, always an addict.’ No, it doesn’t mean that you’ll always use, it just simply means that the pull will always be there. It takes a strong man to admit he had a tough night, and I’m proud of you for that.” He drew a breath and looked at Nick before reaching up to ruffle his hair, “You’ve come a long way, kid, and I’m proud of you.”

Nick nodded softly, “There’s something else.” He drew a breath to ask his friend about the murder he witnessed but heard Baylee scream in pain. His head jerked up at the same time as Brian’s, though he was slower to stand than his friend. By the time he made his way over to the scene, Baylee’s tears had all ready subsided and Brian was kissing the kid’s knee.

“See? All better, Bud… Ready to play some more?” Brian asked as he stood up and helped Baylee dust off from the fall.

The little trooper nodded and wiped away the tears and looked up at Nick, “Uncle Nicky, can we play a game of HORSE?”

Nick nodded, “Yeah, of course.” He retrieved the ball and handed it back to Baylee, “You can go first.”

Nick was thankful for the reprieve and hoped he was off the hook from confessing to Brian anything else. He enjoyed playing with Baylee for about another hour before Brian stood up, “All right, I think it’s about lunch time, don’t you think, Bay?”

Baylee nodded and looked at Nick, “Where are we going, Birthday Boy?”

Nick laughed softly, “It’s no longer my birthday, so you can pick.” He gathered his things and followed Brian to his car while Baylee chattered on to no one in particular about where he wanted to go. He finally decided on White Castle, which was just about a mile away. Nick nodded, “Meet you there?” he asked, looking up at Brian.

“We can take one car, and I’ll swing back afterwards and drop you off,” Brian said, hitting the unlock button on his keychain.

Nick shrugged and climbed in to the car, buckling up and all so Baylee couldn’t fight his dad about seatbelts, even though he, himself, hated seatbelts. Supposedly not wearing a seatbelt was a sign of depression and a suicidal tendency, but he didn’t believe it. He just hated the feel of it on his shoulder, feeling like the damn strap was cutting into him.

Brian glanced over at Nick, “You said there was something else… What’s up?” he asked softly, figuring Baylee had all ready found his iPod and was listening to it too loud and couldn’t hear their conversation.

Nick should’ve known he couldn’t get off that easy. He drew a deep breath and stared out the window, “If you witness something bad, are you obligated to say something?”

“Depends on what you witness, exactly,” Brian said, glancing quickly at Nick before turning his focus back to the road. “What did you see? Is that what’s eating you?”

Nick glanced over his shoulder at Baylee, who sure enough was ignoring them and muttering the lyrics to a Hinder song. He relaxed again and shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what I saw. I mean, I’d had a few drinks, and who knows, maybe I was just imagining it just to have an excuse to drop Lacey off and not hang out with her,” he said, trying to justify it as his imagination.

Brian looked over at Nick, “Ok, you’re starting to ramble. You either really want to talk about this and get it off your chest, or you don’t want to talk about it with me. There are counselors who you can talk to, Nick, if this is that serious.”

Nick shrugged softly, “Maybe. Again, I’m not sure exactly what I saw. Maybe when I figure it out for sure, then I’ll let you know?”

He sighed again and climbed out of the car once Brian had pulled up to White Castle.