~ Chapter 30 ~
*On the plane en route to Bremen, Germany*
Shae looked up from her magazine as Nick slipped into the seat beside her. "Hey," he said quietly, grinning. "I switched seats with AJ. How's your head feeling?"
"I feel no pain," Shae sang. "I swallowed four Advil. In about," she glanced at her watch, "oh, five minutes, I should be comatose." Nick's expression turn grim. "What?"
"Refrain from using the word "coma" around me."
"Oh," her hand shot to her forehead, "I'm so daft sometimes. I'm sorry."
Nick pushed his seat back and slid into a comfortable position. "It's ok." He closed his eyes. Shae thought he'd fallen asleep until he spoke her name five minutes later. "Shae-Lyn?"
"Yea?"
"Remember anything about last night?"
She knew this was coming. Her cheeks reddened slightly. "Not too much. You?"
"Some. I wish I didn't. I feel awful."
"Don't worry. I don't remember seeing your penis," she said, trying not to laugh at his surprised expression. 'How I could forget that, I'll never know.'
"You don't remember it?"
Shae shook her head. "How could you forget something that hu..."
"Carter!" She cut him off.
He grinned cheekily, sticking his tongue out. "Alright. But you know it's the truth." He laughed as she rolled her eyes then turned serious. "I still feel bad about what I asked you to do. Me sorry." He pouted, hoping for forgiveness.
"NO!" Shae yelped, shielding her eyes. "Not the pout. Please. Anything but the pout!"
"Stop it!" Nick laughed.
"Hehehe. Ok... now what was it that you asked me to do?"
"If you don't rememeber, I ain't telling."
"Tell me or I'm gonna tell everyone you put on a silk bra and panties while gyrating to Livin' la Vida Loca while yelling "I am King, Ricky stinks!"
"I did not," he said indignantly.
"Yea, but they don't know that," she said wickedly. "Spill it."
Nick squirmed under her steady gaze. "I asked youtosmeff," he mumbled quickly.
"WTF? To smeff? WTF is smeff? Some beanie baby smurf you want?"
"No! To suck me off," he reiterated in a whisper.
"Oh!" Shae exclaimed, falling back in her seat. "It's a good thing B walked in when he did."
"WHAT?" Nick screeched. "Are you serious?" When Shae nodded, he said, "That explains why he was behaving oddly this morn. I thought it was cause Leigh was leaving. What did he want?"
"To do the vertical tango with you. That bra really turned him on." She stiffled a giggle.
"Funny. Go to comedy school. Now, did he say anything?"
"I don't remember, but this morning when he spoke to me about it, he said that we were in a compromising situation. It looked like you were about to kiss me and your huge *gag* friend there was at full salute."
"Haha. You know you want it." He smirked as Shae stuck her tongue out. "God, I can't believe B saw me like that. You know I was drunk. Otherwise that would've never happened. There are certain boundaries friends don't cross."
Shae nodded solemnly. Nick's daily reminder that they would never be anything more than friends. "Yea, I know. Let's chalk it up to a drunken experience and move on, shall we?"
Nick smiled. "Deal." He remained quiet for about 10 minutes. Shae went back to her magazine. Out of the blue, he piped up, "What're you doing once this tour's over?"
"Going home obviously."
"Back to Montreal?"
"No, Nick, to the island I own off the coast of Bora Bora," she uttered sarcastically.
"Huh?" Her sarcasm went over his head.
"No Nick, I don't own an island. That was a...er, nevermind. Yes, back to Montreal."
"I heard Lo telling Brian and Leighanne that she got offered a permanent position with The Firm. Which means she's relocating to Orlando in September. Aren't you gonna miss her?"
"First of all, no one calls her Lo but me and lives. Second, yes I'll miss her. But what can I do?"
"Move to Florida!" he said cheerily, as if life were that simple.
"Uh, dear, you're forgetting one important little factor. I'm Canadian."
"So? You can get a job in Florida. If Loreto can work there, so can you."
Ok, blond moment. "Nick, she has a job and they're gonna take care of the paperwork. I don't."
"Come work for me!" he said eagerly.
"What?" It was her turn to choke.
"So, are you gonna take me up on my offer?" Kevin asked enticingly.
Loreto swallowed a few times before answering. "What exactly are you offering?"
"I wanna make up with you."
"There's nothing to make up. We never became friends."
"Just give me a chance to prove to you that I'm not the loser you think I am."
"I never thought you were, Kevin. You need some help is all."
"I don't need help. What I need is a friend. Someone who'll understand me and not judge or criticize."
Loreto sighed. "Alright. But I'm not jumping into bed with you."
Kevin smiled benignly and thought 'We'll see.'
*The next day at an interview for a local TV show*
"Tell me, Kevin," the reporter asked, "is this tour everything you expected?" She smiled flirtingly at him as she had been doing ever since she introduced herself in the green room. Kevin wanted to roll his eyes at her. 'If this big- nosed transvestite with huge horn-rimmed glasses and a mouth bigger than the Sahara thinks I'm gonna take her to bed, she can keep dreaming.'
Unexpectedly, he shot out harshly, "Why wouldn't it be? We work hard enough. Obviously it's gonna turn out great."
Four heads swiveled in his direction while the reporter gaped open-mouthed at him. Recovering quickly, she said, "Well sometimes there are snags, things can go wrong with lighting, arenas, etc."
"Must you press the issue?" Kevin hissed.
"What Kevin's trying to say," Brian interrupted, "is that we're very happy that things are going great. So far no unexpected turn of events." 'Lord forgive me for sinning,' he thought.
"We're also very tired," AJ said. "We flew in late last night, we had an early morning rehearsal, and we're nearing the end of the tour."
The reporter nodded with a fake smile, but inside she was fuming. Who did this Kevin think he was? She finished the interview quickly, vowing to give the Backstreet Boys, and especially Kevin, a nasty write-up in her weekly newspaper column.
Once the guys were back at the hotel enjoying some lunch in their lunch suite, Kevin pounced on Brian. "Just where do you get off making me look like a fool on TV?" he demanded.
"Making you look like a fool? You're the one who was rude to that reporter. I can just imagine what sort of impression you gave her and what stories she's gonna tell now. We don't need any bad publicity."
"F**k the publicity! Is that all you care about?"
"Guys come one. Let's not get into this now," Nick cut in.
"Shut up blondie and go back to stuffing your face. I'm talking to my cousin."
Hurt appeared in Nick's eyes. He walked out of the suite. Shae got up and ran after him.
Brian was seething. "Why must you always insult Nick and make him feel like shit? Do you derive a certain pleasure out of it?"
"Whatever!" Kevin scoffed.
"Great behavior for someone who's almost 28 and suppose to be a mature adult," AJ sneered.
"I am an adult. Nick's the baby. He can't face up to anything and runs away from his problems. If he wouldn't have-" he stopped short. A dark look appeared in his eyes. Almost fear, with a tinge of sadness.
"If he wouldn't have what?" Howie pressed.
"Nevermind. It's not important." Kevin went back to his lunch.
"It is important! Now who's running away?" Brian started yelling.
"Leave me alone, Brian!"
"Why don't you tell us the truth for once? Or has the Coc fried your brain cells?" AJ yelled back.
"I'm not doing that shit!"
"Stop lyin'!"
"F**k off!"
"Go to hell!"
"Bastard!"
And the screaming went on. They didn't see the door open or anyone standing there until Denise's voice bellowed, "JUST WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??"
The yelling abruptly ended as they all stared at Denise standing in the doorway.
"Sorry mom," AJ mumbled quietly.
"I asked you all a question. I want to know why I can hear you from all the way at the other end of the hall? And why did Shae just go running after Nick, who looked like one of his pugs just died?"
"We're just having a disagreement," Kevin said.
"Oh?" She looked at him. "Do you think me an idiot? Do you think I haven't noticed Nick's sad face? Your agressiveness? The tension between the five of you?"
"Stress of the tour," AJ said.
"Alexander James, you WILL NOT lie to me! Now either you boys tell me what's going on or I'm drawing my own conclusions and you won't like my results."
Kevin looked at the other guys, pleading with his eyes not to say anything. AJ looked from Kevin to his mom before saying, "Mom, it's Kevin."
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