Brian and Nick played for two hours before calling it quits. "Fans." Nick said under his breath as he and Brian picked up their towels and water bottles off the ground.

"Let's go." Brian said quietly as both men started to walk quickly in the direction of Nick's car. Nick and Brian almost reached the car and sighed with relief until they heard young voices on the other side.

"No, I *swear* this is his car! I saw pictures of it on the internet." One young girl argued.

"I doubt it. Why would Nick Carter come to this park of all places?" Her friend asked back. Brian and Nick quickly bent down behind the car next to his hoping the girls wouldn't see them.

"They might see us." Brian mouthed. Nick shook his head, "No they won't. If we can't see them through the tinted windows they can't see us."

"Well? Do we just wait here or should we go search the park?" The friend asked.

"Might as well go look around. We can see the parking lot from the basketball courts so we'll be able to see them if...oh. my. god." The girl said in disbelief. Brian and Nick looked up to see both girls staring down at them.

"Darn, you found us." Nick joked as he and Brian stood up and brushed themselves off.

"You're Brian!" The friend declared.

"Yeah, I think I am. I was this this morning." He grinned. "And you are?" He questioned politely. "I'm Samantha. And this is Rachel." She replied. Nick shook their hands and put on his most charming tabloid smile.

***

The After ten minutes of Q & A the guys decided to make their getaway by signing some autographs.

"Hey Brian, whatever happened to that girl who beat you up? Wasn't she AJ's ex girlfriend?" Rachel asked. Brian looked at Nick hoping for help but instead received raised eyebrows and a shrug.

"Yeah, she was. I don't know what happened to her." He replied hoping they would be happy with his answer.

"Hopefully she feel off the face of the planet. Man, she's lucky I'm nice. Any other fan would punch in her face." Rachel replied.

"Um...well, we really gotta go. Brian's got to think himself into tomorrow." Nick joked, knowing full well that the meaning would be lost on both girls.

"What?" Samantha laughed.

"Uh, nothing. I just have a lot of things to sort out....with the new record!" Brian replied. Nick's eyes widened. "C'mon Nick, let's go meet up with the other guys."

****

After both guys were on the road Nick turned to Brian. "Maybe I missed the memo or something but when did we start recording a new record? I thought we were on a 6 month break." Nick asked.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't think of anything else. I didn't feel like answering a lot of questions." Brian replied as he leaned on the car window frame, watching the houses.

"Um, answering a lot of questions? They weren't the press, Bri! You didn't have to answer anything." Nick pointed out.

"I know, I know. I just have a lot on my mind."

"You should. This little situation with Xanda is going to cause a lot of problems before anything good comes out of it; then again, as long as you keep getting laid it's ALL good." Nick smirked.

"Nick, you need to stop thinking with your best friend." Brian grinned.

"You're my best friend, Bri."

"No, everyone knows I'm not your best friend. Mini Nick is your best friend."

Brian and Nick continued to tease each other back and forth as they drove to the nearby McDonald's to grab lunch before heading back to Brian's house to eat. Being unable to eat in a public place because of their status always bothered Nick but Brian was lucky enough to be able to toss a baseball cap on and not be recognized. Nick, unfortunately, was too big of a man to hide who he was under a hat.

Both men walked into Brian's house with two large bags filled with enough food to last them into the next day. "So, Bri? When are you planning to talk about Xanda with me? You normally bitch to me about your women problems." Nick pointed out.

"Nick, I'm not having women problems...." But Brian quickly stopped talking when he saw the expression on Nick's face. "Fine, maybe I am but I don't want to talk about it. I need to think on it."

"Brian, I may be no Casanova or Romeo...." Nick started to say.

"No, you're more like Shaft." Brian cut him off. Nick rolled his eyes before he began to speak again. "Like I was saying, I'm no big romantic or anything but from where I sit it looks like you and Xanda could have something."

"But...?" Brian said as he watched Nick take a bite out of his Big Mac.

"But if you let your career interfere with this then you're screwed because the fans will never accept it. AJ's ex, the one they think broke his heart, the one who beat the living crap out of you is now screwing your brains out. Maybe the older fans will forget her past but the younger ones, the ones that matter in the media's eyes are the ones that are going to try and burn her at the stake." Nick continued to eat as Brian sat staring down at his untouched food. Nick looked over at Brian's chicken sandwich and tipped his chin towards it. "You gonna eat that?" He asked with a swallow.