Nick was nervous. He managed to buy a ticket to Canada without anyone knowing. Which was difficult, but not impossible. All he had to do now was finish this concert and slip out like a shadow. That was impossible.

"Hey, Nick," AJ greeted, "guess what?"

"What?" Nick was surrounded by technicians. They were fidgeting with little mechanical gadgets.

"The Royal family is here tonight."

"Cool," he said with no enthusiasm at all.

AJ nodded and then left, knowing that he wasn't going to get any more conversation from Nick.

They went on-stage finally. It was chaos like usual, but that adreneline rush that he loved night after night was gone. He put on his famous cocky Carter grin just for the hell of it.

The concert was set in an intimate venue. It was still large, but the nosebleed seats weren't actually causing nosebleeds. That was the type that Nick suggested to the tour directors. But, no, they need more fans in the stadiums. Because everyone in the biz knows the math: fans=money.

And that's what was wrong in the musin business. It's all about the money now. No one was there for the music. Even if they were for the music, the money was just an added bonus. And so are the mansions they buy WITH that bonus.

Nick knew it happened to everyone and it was eventually going to hit the Backstreet Boys.

When the concert ended, Nick was the first to get in the shower. The hot water beat softly against his bare skin in an urgent sense. Like Nick was. He dressed in a black oversized turtleneck sweater, a pair of khakis and loafers.

He was supposed to meet up with his bodyguard before heading to the tour bus. Instead, he avoided the office and walked out to the back of the venue to a cab which was waiting for him.

"The airport, please," Nick breathed, clutching his bags.