It was nine o'clock in the morning before Nick woke up the next time. Not feeling like bothering Brian, he got up and walked to his closet and decided he was going to throw everything out of it in search for the perfect outfit to wear that day.

Brian woke up, startled, when he felt something drop on his face. "What the..." Brian stated as he sat and a superman sock fell from his face onto his lap. Looking over to where clothes were flying towards him he noticed Nick emptying his closet. "Nick, what are you doing?"

"Getting dwest." Nick replied as he came out of the walk in closet with bright orange floral print board shorts on.

Brian raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?" He asked.

Nick looked down at his shorts and shrugged. "No pwace...me just wanted to get dwest."

Brian chuckled. "Where's the rest of it?"

"Me going swimming," Nick said, knowing he had seen a pool outside when he had looked out last night.

"Nick, it's a bit chilly out besides I don't want you swimming on an empty stomach. We'll have breakfast, rest a bit and then around noon, we'll go swimming. Okay?" Brian said as he got out of bed. "Did you even brush your teeth?"

Nick shook his head a shocked look on his face as he slapped himself in the forehead. "Ohh I forgot!" He said before walking into the bathroom to do just that.

Brian chuckled. "I'm gonna go and do that myself. After you’re done come and meet me downstairs in the kitchen. I'm gonna get breakfast ready!" Brian stated as he walked out of the room and down the hall to his own room.

Nick brushed his teeth the best he could and then headed out of his bedroom and down the stairs. He hadn't really gotten to see the downstairs last night so he decided to go looking around a bit.

Brian quickly finished brushing his teeth before making his way down to the kitchen. Quickly, he went about making the batter for some pancakes.

After a good few minutes of just wandering around, Nick walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, wiggling around in his seat.

Brian was pouring the batter on to the griddle when he felt Nick come into the room. "Hey buddy,' Brian greeted as he took a quick glance behind him and then brought his attention back to his work.

"I hope you like pancakes."

"Me tursty," Nick said as he continued to wiggle in his seat. The diapers the hospital had wasn't made for a two year old who all he knew was using it. It was made for older people who just had problems making it in time. "And me wike pancakes...but me tursty now."

"Do you want, Orange juice, milk, apple juice, water?" Brian asked as he lowered the flames and headed over to the fridge.

"Appo juice," Nick replied with a smile, he loved apple juice.

"All right," Brian said as he took out the Mott's apple juice and poured a glass for Nick. He then walked over and handed Nick the glass.

"Tank you," Nick said politely as he happily started drinking his juice, holding the cup with both hands.

"Don't drink it all," Brian pouted. "Save some room for the pancakes."

Nick giggled a little as he put the cup down half full and just sat there trying to patiently wait for his pancakes but patients wasn’t a thing Nick Carter was good at.

Brian was done with the first batch of his pancakes. He transferred them onto a plate and poured some maple syrup on them before placing them in the center of the table.

Nick eyed the pancakes but didn't grab one even though his stomach was growling. He knew better then to take something before he was told to.

Brian made another batch before settling himself down at the table. Looking over at Nick who was seated quietly, his hands folded neatly on the table, he frowned. "You don't this kind of pancakes?” Brian questioned. He knew that Nick loved chocolate chip and banana pancakes and specifically made it for him.

Nick nodded his head like crazy, he loved the pancakes. "Yeah...me wuve um."

"Then how come you haven't touched anything?" Brian asked nodding at the pancakes between them.

"You no say me could." Nick said, still eyeing the pancakes with a hungry look on his face.

"Oh, well, um. You didn't have to wait, Nick. Go ahead and eat them," Brian said as he took a fork and placed three of the pancakes onto Nick's plate.

Once the pancakes were on his plate he dug in and started to eat them like he was starving. "Yummy...yummy." he said with his mouthful.

Brian had his fork half way to his mouth when it froze. He stared at Nick shoving the food in his mouth. "Nick... the pancakes aren’t going to go anywhere, I promise. Slow down, I don't want you to pull a George W. Bush," Brian said.

Nick had NO idea what Brian was talking about with the George W. Bush thing but did slow down cuz it didn't sound like something he wanted to do. Plus, his tummy was staring to hurt a little.

They sat there for the next few minutes, each enjoying their breakfast. As soon as Brian had finished his food he looked at the time and noted that it was 11:15. When Nick was finished he spoke up. "You wanna watch TV?" Brian asked looking back at Nick

Nick nodded his head. "Yeah, me wana watch TV." He said as he got up, stretching his long arms up over his head and yawning a little.

Brian nodded his head as he gathered their dishes and brought it over to the dishwasher. He then walked Nick out of the kitchen and into the living room. He had asked his friends, who had helped with getting Nick's room together, to also have kid friendly channels only.

Nick plopped himself down in front of the TV and took the remote when Brian handed it to him. He smiled happily when the first channel he came to had Sesame Street on it. "Ohhh Big Bird!" He giggled happily.

Just then there was a knock on the door, AJ had decided he was going to come over and check on his friend. He just hoped it wasn't too early in the morning.

Brian made sure Nick was okay before heading over to the door and opening it. "Hey Age," Brian greeted giving the younger man a half hug before stepping to the side to let him in. "We just finished breakfast. There's still some batter left over... if you want any pancakes?"

AJ shook his head, "No thanks man I'm not hungry, I just wanted to come and say 'hi' and make sure everything was okay." He said as he walked into the house.

"Things are going great. Nick's watching Sesame Street," Brian said following AJ into the living room. "Hey Nick, look who it is... It's AJ. You remember him from the hospital don’t ya?" Brian asked.

Nick smiled big at AJ. "Yeah me member, you watch wit me?" he asked both Brian and AJ.

AJ smiled and shrugged his shoulders as he sat down on a chair in the living room.

Brian shook his head. "I'm going to go up and take a shower. You guys go ahead and watch some TV and I'll be back down in a few minutes," Brian said.

Nick watched Brian walk upstairs and then turned to AJ. He didn't feel as comfortable with the other man but he wasn't really scared either.

"So, did you like your room?" AJ asked once it was just him and Nick in the living room. He remembered Brian had made a few phone calls when they were in the hospital yesterday for the room arrangements. He could imagine what it looks like.

Nick's face beamed, Sesame Street totally forgotten. "Me show you!" He exclaimed as he jumped up and literally ran for the stairs.

AJ was slightly startled by Nick's sudden actions but ran after him up the stairs nonetheless. "Nick, slow down," AJ called after him.

Nick didn’t stop running until he was in his room already pulling out his new favorite toys. "Pay...pay." he said sitting down in the mess he made, his clothes still all over the floor from earlier too.

AJ ran into the room Nick had ran into and halted at the door as he bent down and took in a few deep breaths. "Whoa," AJ said between breaths. Looking around he noticed the condition of the room. "Some things never change," AJ mumbled under his breath. "This room is awesome," AJ said as he walked over to where Nick was and sat down.

"Nicky new room...Brian got me." Nick said with a big smile, showing how much Brian already had his heart.

"You really love Brian don't ya, junior?" AJ asked as he took plastic train tracks and began piecing them together.

Nick nodded his head like crazy as he too started to put the train together. "Me wuve Brian." He played for a few more minutes before he got a slightly funny look on his face and moved from his Indian style position to sit on his knees.

AJ nodded his head. "What did you guys do yesterday and this morning? Did you sleep well?" AJ asked.

"Brian got me Mic-onalds, and me take shower...Brian sweep wit me cuz me dream about bad bunny...den we have ancakes for brekix." Nick explained as he wiggled around a little.

AJ looked at Nick for a few moments letting the words sink in and then shook his head. "Oh okay." He then noticed Nick wiggling around. "You okay, there Nicky?"

Nick bit his lower lip and nodded his head. "Yeah, me otay." He said as he looked down, not wanting to make eye contact with AJ as he got a little red in the face, the whole time still playing with his trains.

"Okay," AJ said not believing Nick. It wasn't until a few more minutes that he heard Brian's voice from the door way. Turning around AJ smiled. "Hey Rok!"

"Hey people," Brian greeted as he walked towards AJ and Nick. "I heard your voices coming from this room... so; I see ya'll are building a train set?"

Nick nodded his head, not looking up still, and not saying anything.

AJ nodded his head as he glanced at Nick again, a confused look on his face. "Yeah we are Nick is doing a good job with it too."

"May I join?" Brian asked squatting down next to Nick.

Once again Nick just simply nodded his head.

AJ laughed, reaching over to ruffle Nick's hair. "He's giving the silent treatment for some reason."

Brian frowned as he looked over at Nick. He noticed the younger man squirm and blush a little. Turning back to AJ he asked, "Hey Alex, we were planning on an after noon swim... do you wanna join us and if so... could you do me a favor and make sure the pool is fine?"

AJ nodded his head, "Sure, I'll go do that." He said having a feeling Brian needed to be with Nick alone for whatever was going on. With that he headed out of the room leaving the two guys alone.

As soon as AJ left the room Brian turned around to face Nick. "Hey Nick, do you need to go to the bathroom?" Brian asked after he thought about the last time that Nick had gone to the bathroom and was surprised to realize that it wasn't since the shower last night.

"No," Nick whispered, his voice strained a little as he reached forward to grab one of the other trains AJ had been playing with before sitting back down into the position he had been before. He did have to go to the bathroom but was having trouble.

"Nick..." Brian said softly. "This is me you're talking to me; you know you can trust me. Now, please, tell me what's up," Brian requested gently.

Nick decided to stand up, thinking it might help him and he walked over to look at some of the other toys on his shelves. "Me otay," he answered giving Brian a smile. He was okay; he didn't think he was doing anything he shouldn't be since he didn't know anything different.

Brian wasn't buying anything Nick was saying. Sighing, he walked over to where Nick was. "Okay, Nick, why don't we get you changed for our swim," Brian said.

Nick shook his head and blushed a little. "Me no wana swim no more." he said knowing he couldn't get changed yet his tummy was hurting now cuz he couldn't go. "In widdle bit?" he asked, making sure that Brian would let him swim even if he said no right now.

Brain was starting to get worried. "Nick," he whined and then pouted. "I want to help you and how am I supposed to do that when you don't tell me what's wrong? I can’t read your mind, you know."

"I gotta go poopy," Nick said like it wasn't really a big deal a hand going to rest on his bottom. He didn't know how to explain that he was constipated, something that actually happened to adult Nick a lot too so Brian knew about that being a problem.

'Well, why didn't ya just say so?" Brian asked. "C'mon, let's get you over to the toilet!" Brian stated as he led Nick over to the bathroom. Once inside he asked, "Take your shorts off as well as your diaper and sit down on the toilet."

Nick looked at the toilet and shook his head like crazy backing away from it. "No...me no gotta...me lie." he said, trying to get out of the room.

Brian wrinkled his forehead. "Nick... Nick..." Brian said blocking Nick's path. He noticed the petrified look in Nick's face. "The toilet isn't going to hurt you. I promise. Its only purpose is for someone to sit on it and take a dump and pee. Don't be scared."

Nick shook his head like crazy again, that wasn't the purpose he saw it as.

"Nick, everything's alright. I'll be here with you. I won’t go anywhere," Brian sighed. He couldn't believe he just offered to stay in the bathroom so Nick could poop.

"Nick, everything's alright. I'll be here with you. I won’t go anywhere," Brian sighed. He couldn't believe he just offered to stay in the bathroom so Nick could poop.

"No...pweeze..." Nick said starting to cry, he didn't want to.

Brian sighed. "Fine, so I'm guessing you wanna poop in your diaper and then have me change you?" Brian questioned giving up. "I should probably tell AJ that we won't be swimming until later."

"No...me otay," Nick said totally planning on holding it now. He knew how to do that cuz normally his parents would yell at him if they had to change him...and he was sometimes better off not being change cuz of the things they would do. Hence why Nick grew up to have so many problems, his body was so used to holding it. "I wana swim...pweeze I sorry." he said thinking he was in trouble by the way Brian was acting, he just didn't understand.

"Are you gonna pee or poop in the pool?" Brian asked.

Nick shook his head as he strained himself up a little, intent on not doing that because he wanted to swim and he wanted to make sure he kept Brian happy and loving him. "I no do dat...me pwomis."

Brian noticed a look of strain cross Nick's face for a split second. He just couldn't understand why Nick would go to the bathroom. Why did he want to hold it in? "Nick, I'm asking... beginning you one last time. If you need to use the toilet, please, use it now. It's not good to hold it all in. You'll start to get problems later on in life and you don't want problems to happen to you, do you?"

"I no wana use potty...and me wana swim." Nick whispered his lower lip quivering again. He was still so scared of screwing up and he could sense Brian wasn't happy, sure he wasn't mad just confused but to a little kid he wasn't sure how to read that.

"Okay, okay," Brian said. "Let's go swim." With that they he walked out of the bathroom, out of Nick's bedroom and down the hall to his own room. Turning around he said, "Why don't you go downstairs and meet AJ by the swimming pool. I'll be there in a minute." Then Brian walked in to his room and over to his dresser. He pulled out a pair of swim trunks and changed into them.

Before AJ could get outside, there was a knock on the door. He was about to call to Brian to tell him there was somebody there, but thought he would just go and see who it was himself. Humming a little he opened the door and smiled when he saw who it was. "Ohh hey there curly."

Justin quickly pulled up to the driveway of Brian's house and ran up the step and knocked on the door. He was gasping for air when the door opened to reveal AJ greeting him with a bright smile. "Hey, Age," Justin replied. "I just... just... got the... message Brian left on my, voicemail, when I was on my way to school. Nick. What's going on?"

AJ looked at Justin really weird, until he realized that Justin didn't know what had happened. "Oh shit...come on in."

Nodding his head Justin walked past AJ and into the living room. "On my voicemail Brian just said that Nick had a stroke and something about a permanent damage in the brain." Justin turned around and looked at AJ.

"Yeah, he's like freakin two years old now." AJ said shaking his head, looking towards the stairs to see if Brian or Nick was coming down. "But he's also like really cool; I dunno it's kinda hard to explain."

Justin still didn't understand. "I don't get it, J. He's ONLY EIGHTEEN! How the hell can he get a stroke... not only that but lose 16 years of his life?" Justin asked and then after a few seconds he asked, "Does he... like... remember me?"

"Probably not," AJ said with a sigh. "I mean even if he did know you when he was two, you look nothing like you did when you were one ya know."

"Where is he?" Justin asked as he darted his eyes around the room. "Does he look different or deformed or something?"

AJ laughed and shook his head. "No, he looks exactly the same, just acts like he's two."

Just then Nick came walking down the stairs, taking it slow because he still felt he didn't know how to do it very well.

Justin turned his head over to the staircase and first he saw legs walking down but the more they began to descend the more the view of the person had come in to view. "Nick..." Justin barely whispered.

Nick noticed AJ and another person standing by the front door. "AJ...we go swim still?" he asked, knowing Brian had told him to go get the pool ready. He then looked at the stranger. "Hewwo..."

"Hi, Nick," Justin said letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in. Putting on a smile he asked, "How are you?"

"Me good...who you?" Nick asked with a smile on his face. He liked meeting new people, he loved making new friends.

AJ smiled, "How about you two talk, and I'll go get the pool ready," he suggested giving Justin a smile to show it was okay, just act normal.

Justin took in a deep breath. "I'm Justin. Justin Timberlake. Do you wanna, maybe, sit down until AJ gets the pool ready?" He walked backwards over to where the couch was and sat down. For some reason he did not want to turn around and lose sight of Nick in fear that something else might happen.

"Otay..." Nick said, not sure what fun sitting down and waiting would be, but he walked over and sat with Justin on the couch anyway.

Justin bounced his legs and clasped his hands together. He had no idea just what to say and do. Thinking of something he asked, "Do you like basket ball?"

Nick smiled wide, he loved basketball, and he used to watch the big boys on his street playing basketball. "Yeah me wuv it."

Justin smiled big. "Me too! We should definitely play some ball some time, then. What do ya say?"

Just then he heard another set of footsteps coming down the stairs.

A few seconds later Brian walked into the living room with a frown on his face but the moment he saw Nick sitting with Justin he put on a smile. "Hey Justin," He greeted the younger teen. "It's so good to see you. When did you get here?"

Justin smiled and answered Brian. "Just a few minutes ago, the second I'd heard your message I got in my car and drove me as soon as I could." Justin sighed.

"Ustin gunna pay bakyball wit me." Nick said excitedly, bouncing in his seat.

"Oh really?" Brian asked amused as he looked from Nick to Justin. "You gonna get him started on that already?" He asked Justin.

"Of course!" Justin exclaimed. "Better get started at an early age and he'll be pro by the time he's 18."

"Pools ready!" AJ called from the backyard.

"YAY!" Nick screamed as he jumped up and literally ran through the kitchen and into the backyard, almost running right into AJ.

"Whoa there Nick," Brian called out as he ran after Nick. "Slow DOWN. You don't want to break anything especially your bones and crack your head or something." Oh God please don't let that happen, Brian silently prayed.

Justin quickly followed Brian and laughed when he saw Nick on top of AJ on the floor by the pool.

"Hewwo, AJ." Nick giggled as he sat straddling AJ's hips.

"Would somebody PLEASE get him off of me," AJ said, trying to sound upset even though he was laughing like crazy.

"Maybe ya'll should get Nick a dog or something," Justin suggested as he walked with Brian over to either side of AJ and helped Nick get up off of AJ.

"A dog? I don't think so," Brian said shaking his head. "I don't think he's ready for any kind of pet right now."

"Me want dog," Nick said with a huge smile on his face. "Nicky want dog!"

AJ smacked Justin over the head playfully. "Nice going Curly."

"Owe," Justin said laughing as he playfully punched AJ in the arm. "Dude, think about it. If he's gotta dog now he won't be jumping on you 'cause the dogs will be jumping on him! Makes perfect sense to me," Justin shrugged.

Brian narrowed his eyes at Justin. "No, Nick is not having a dog. If Nick had a dog... do you know just WHO will have to walk the dog, feed the dog, and wash the dog? I know and it's not you or you," Brian said pointing at AJ and then at Justin. "And I KNOW it won't be him." Brian pointed at Nick who was standing next to him. "It's gonna be me and I don't have the time right now for that!"

"I want dog," Nick said putting on his best 'I mean business' face. He even stomped his foot for effect.

AJ stood there, wondering how Brian was going to handle this. He knew Nick could be moody as a teenager, he didn't even wana know how he could be as a toddler.

Brian sighed and shot Justin a glare before putting on a sweet smile and turned towards Nick. "Nick, dogs are a lot of responsibility. You're going to need patience and you're going to have to take care of them, like feed them, take them on walks, and wash them and so much more. Do you think you can do that?"

Nick thought about that for a second and shook his head sadly. With a pout on his face he walked down the pool deck until he was on the grass. Finding a tree he sat down and brought his knees up to his chest. Every once and a while glaring over at Brian.

"Ut oh Bri, he's giving you a pretty nasty look." AJ giggled, actually finding this pretty funny.

Justin had watched the way Brian and Nick were interacting and he must say Brian had a good point but the look of disappointment on Nick's face was heartbreaking but he remained silent kinda feeling bad for what he started.

Brian sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "Whatever," he said as he walked over to where Nick was seated under the tree and sat himself down. "Nick, don't do that. I can't stand it when you're mad at me. I love you more than you know and it kills me to see you sad. How about this, if you listen and obey what I say, be a good boy, and... I don't know... give me some time... I'll see about getting you a dog. How does that sound?"

"Otay," Nick whispered softly, resting his head on Brian's shoulder. "Brian mad at Nicky?" he asked, thinking about how Brian had seemed ticked while they had been upstairs.

Brian brought his right hand around Nick's shoulders and held him close. Resting his head on top on Nick's he said, "No, I'm not mad but there are something’s I just don't understand but anyway, don't worry about it." Taking a deep breath he looked over at Justin and AJ who were seated on the lawn chairs and looking at them. He gave them a smile that told them everything was alright.

Nick smiled, happy that Brian wasn't mad at him. "Me swim now?"

"Yes, you can swim now," Brian said as he got up and walked over to the steps of the pool. "Nick, you can swim right?"

Nick shook his head in the negative. "Mommy make me wear floaties." He said making a face. He hated the floaties but he didn't like drowning either, that had almost happened a few times.

AJ looked around the pool and spotted an adult sized life jacket normally used for the boat, but knew it would work. "Come here Nicky...you can use this and it wont let you get hurt in the pool."

Nick walked over to AJ and let him help him put the life jacket on. "Lookie Brian...me wedy now."

"Hmm," Brian said and laughed at how stuffed Nick looked. "Awesome." He then glanced over at Justin who was still sitting down and watching Nick with an unreadable expression on his face. Turning back towards AJ and Nick he said, "You guys go ahead and get in the pool. I need to talk to Justin for a few minutes." He then noticed that AJ was still in his regular clothes. "And we'll get you an extra pair of swim trunks, okay?"

Nick ran and jumped into the pool, giggling like crazy. He loved the water and wasn't scared of it at all. Most kids his age would have been scared to death to do that.

"In the mean time AJ keep an eye on him," Brian whispered loud enough for only AJ to hear and not Nick.

Justin silently followed Brian into the house as they made their way up the stairs to his room.

"How are you doing, Justin?" Brian asked as they walked upstairs to grab swim trucks for AJ and Justin and to talk.

"I don't know how I'm doing. I just talked to him yesterday morning before I went to school and everything was perfect and fine. Then this morning I check my messages and I hear this. I just don't know how this could happen so soon and so fast... so unexpected. It's like I can't believe this actually happened." Justin sighed as he sat down on the bed and rested his face in the palm on his hands that were resting on his thighs.

"I know, you're telling me." Brian said with a sigh, shaking his head. "But we just have to deal with it...and I mean he's happy...I think." He said, thinking about all they had already gone through that morning.

"You think?" Justin questioned softly as he lifted his head and looked at Brian.

"There are some things that aren't adding up in my head." Brian said, not really sure yet how to explain what was going on.

Justin sighed. "How are you doing this? How can you do this? I don't think I could do something like this if I were in your shoes. It's all just too much," Justin said shaking his head. "What aren't adding up?"

"Do you know at what age Nick was potty trained?" Brian asked, knowing that seemed to be one of the major issues right now. He could honestly tell that Nick was scared to death to go. "I think I remember him joking around one time talking about how he's glad he doesn’t have kids because they would take forever to potty train...but I never really thought about it until now.” Brian sighed, "And I'm doing this because I HAVE to do this. His parents didn't want him...I wasn't going to send him away to some stranger."

Justin frowned. "I'm not surprise that his parents didn't want him," Justin mumbled under his breath. Then looking back up at Brian he said, "I think he knew how to go to the bathroom since he was three or around that age." Justin wrinkled his forehead. "Why? You're having problems or something?"

"He had to go to the bathroom, he still does but he's like holding it in. I took him into the bathroom to use the toilet but he freaked out." Brian tried to explain. "I mean it wasn't like a normal kid just not wanting to, he seemed truly scared to death about it."

"Oh," Justin replied. He thought about that for a few minutes trying to remember anything from when Nick was eight. Anything at all that Nick might have told him but at the moment he couldn't think of anything. "He was scared of the toilet? I don't know. I can't think of anything right now, Bri."

Brian shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well...it doesn’t really matter I mean I can't force him to if he's scared. Plus, I think I read some place that if you pressure kids into it when they are ready its worse or something." He then walked to the window and looked out smiling at Nick still paddling around in the pool. "As long as he's happy, I will take him in any way."

Justin got up and followed Brian over to the window. He saw how happy Nick was splashing around in the water and he could faintly hear the chuckles along with AJ's laughter. "He does look happy," Justin agreed.

Brian turned to look at Justin, "Do you think your mom will let you come by to hang out with Nick sometimes? He could really use a friend and I'm not going to be able to hang with him all the time."

Justin turned his head towards Brian. "Of course my mom will let me but I'll ask her anyways. I'll be more than happy to be here with Nick, you know that." Justin said. "We should probably get back down there before they think we got lost and send out the search party."

Brian laughed and nodded as he walked to his dresser and grabbed two more pairs of swim trunks. "Here's one of you, and I'll leave this out so Aje can come up and change once we get down there." He said as he handed the trunks to Justin.

Justin nodded his head and started to take his clothes off as Brian walked out of the room. Quickly he changed into his swim trunks and walked down the stairs. He met Brian at the back door.

Brian walked out to notice Nick wasn't even in the pool anymore, was running around on the grass chasing a butterfly.

AJ laughed, shaking his head and smiling at Justin and Brian as they walked back outside. "You gotta like call pampers and see if they can make you some of those swimming pants things to fit him." He laughed, pointing at Nick whose swim trucks were sagging low because of all the water in his diaper, but he didn't seem to care less.

"He's mooning us and he doesn't even know about it," Justin said as he chuckled. "Good gracious!"

Brian laughed. "Definitely gonna have to see about them water proof diapers." He then turned back towards AJ and said, "I placed your swim trunks on my bed. You can go up and change now, if you want," Brian said

"Okay," AJ said with a smile as he walked into the house.

Nick came running over to Justin and Brian, now finally pulling up his pants a little, even though it didn't help much at least now he wasn't showing off his butt. "Me done swim for now...take off?" he asked, pulling on his life jacket.

Brian laughed. "Already? Nick, we didn't even get NEAR the water," Brian said finishing his sentence with a pout.

"Yea, Nicky," Justin said as he walked over and stood next to Nick. "Not even AJ."

"You swim...me pay here." Nick said as he sat down on the edge of the pool deck, but still on the grass. He once again took the position he had been in while playing trains with AJ earlier.

AJ came running back outside. "Okay, now I'm ready for some serious swimming."

Brian turned around and looked at AJ. "Nick just told us that he's done with swimming!"

"He what?" AJ asked with wide eyes as he saw Nick sitting down playing with the grass, once again not making eye contact. "Uhh...Bri...he's getting that look from earlier again."

Brian whipped his head around and looked down at Nick. Walking over to where Nick was sitting and plucking the grass he squatted down and asked spoke quietly. "Hey buddy, what's the matter?"

When Brian walked over to Nick Justin looked back at AJ. "What look from earlier?"

"Go bye bye," Nick whispered his voice strained...his body was finally winning out even though he tried to hold it longer so he could swim more.

"He's concentrating very hard," AJ said giggling a little, having a feeling what was going on.

Brian suppressed his chuckles as he calmly spoke to Nick. "Do you need to go potty Nick, 'cause if you do we better get there fast," Brian said.

"No go potty," Nick said in the same tone of voice as he moved away from Brian as much as he dared to move. "Go bye bye." he said again.

"Come on Bri...let's just go swim...let him play with the grass a little...he'll come play when he wants to." AJ said with a smile, knowing they wouldn't get anywhere with that today, maybe they could try more when the poor kid wasn't getting used to so many new things.

Brian looked up at AJ and quickly caught on to what he was doing. "Okay, that's fine. You play here with the grass while Justin, AJ, and I go bye, bye, and play in the pool," Brian said as he stood up and walked over to Justin who was looking confused. He winked at Justin as he grabbed his hand and led them towards the pool.

"Why the confused look, Curly?" AJ asked, noticing that Justin looked totally confused.

Nick did just that, sat in his little spot and played with the grass as he finished up what he was trying to do.

Justin shook his head and realized that he was in the pool. "Huh? Oh, uh, what look from earlier and why did ya'll just leave him there?"

Brian swam to the other end of the pool and was now swimming back towards them.

"He's filling his pants." AJ simply said before dunking his head under water and then swimming a little ways.

It took a few seconds to figure out what AJ meant by that and when it dawned on him he blushed. "Oh," he said as threw his legs up and started floating on his back enjoying the warm sun shine.

Brian swam past Justin and then turned back around and stopped by Justin. "Hey Justin?" He asked quietly. "Do you know who Mr. Winky is?"

Justin turned his head towards Brian and nodded his head. "Yah, it's Nick's favorite stuffed teddy bear. Why?"

Brian just shrugged and said, "I'll tell you later." He then swam over to where AJ was.

Feeling he was ready to come back now, Nick walked over to where everybody was and rested on his stomach on the pool deck, just letting his hands play in the water. He knew he couldn't go in the pool, but he wasn't going to ask to be changed either...so he opted for just doing this. "Spash spash," He said as he splashed the water with his hands.

Brian looked over to where Nick was and smiled. Turning back towards AJ he said, "Now what do we do?"

"What do you mean?" AJ asked, not sure he understood the question.

"Well, we let Nick be alone by himself so he can do his business in his diapers but now he's playing with the water. How are we gonna get him up stairs to change his diapers?" Brian asked.

AJ made a face he hadn't really thought about that. "Umm...tell him its time to go upstairs and get changed?"

"He won't listen to me!" Brian said. "Did you not hear him telling me to go bye bye just a few minutes ago when I asked if he had to go?"

Just then Justin, with his eyes closed, unconsciously floated his way over to where Nick was playing with the water.

Giggling softly, Nick decided it would be fun to splash Justin with the water so he took a lot in his hand and threw it at him, laughing a lot when Justin jumped up in shock.

AJ laughed out loud when he noticed what had happened but then thought more about what Brian had said. "Umm...well he doesn't seem to care...do we have to do anything?" he asked, showing he knew SO much about kids...yeah right.

"What the..." Justin said as he felt water fall on his face as he went under the water. "Is it raining?" He asked once he resurfaced wiping his hands over his face. When he heard giggling he turned around and looked at Nick. "Hey!"

Brian laughed at the way Nick and Justin were acting. For a moment it was hard to tell just which one was the two year old. Taking a deep breath he turned back towards AJ. With a frown on his face he shook his head. "Just leave him with poop still in there? Alex, he could get a rash or some kind of disease or something," he said recalling a TV program he saw it somewhere.

"Okay then Mister smarty pants, you figure out how to get a 170 pound two year old to get changed if he doesnt want to." AJ laughed, knowing Brian was probably right, but this could be interesting.

Nick giggled more and splashed Justin again as he sat up, but as he went to sit down on his bottom a loud pop could be heard and Nick landed hard on his butt. His diaper had just exploded because it was so full of all the water, not making a mess really, but still scared the shit outa him. Once he was done being dazed, he started crying.

Brian sighed and just as he was about to turn around and say that they were done with the pool he heard a loud farting noise and soon Nick was crying. Quickly he swam over to where Nick was and Climbed over the edge. Looking over to AJ and Justin he said, "Hey guys why don't you two go inside and shower or change or something?"

Justin nodded his head not really knowing what else to do or what to make of this. He quickly got out of the pool and walked into the house.

"Yeah, you'll need to call pampers, water filled diapers and something pointy doesn't mix." AJ laughed, knowing he probably shouldn’t' be but it was funny as he walked into the house.

Nick looked at Brian with big blue eyes. He wasn't hurt, but was a little shaken up. "Meany diapy...go boom."

Brian shot AJ a glare and shooed him away with his hand free hand. Looking down at Nick he said, "Yea, the meanie diaper did go boom but its okay. It happens. I think," Brian said. "You want to go up stairs and take a shower? We'll get you all cleaned up and dressed. Then we'll have some lunch, how does that sound?" He asked as he wiped the tears from Nick's face with his fingers. "It's nothing to cry about."

Nick sniffled and nodded his head as he stood up; walking bowl legged towards the house. "Me no swim in diapy no more...daddy always get mad me when do dat...me should member dat dis time...but me didn't."

Brian looked at Nick. "Don't worry about it Nick. I'll remember for you next time. I'm not mad. Frankly I'm glad it didn't happen while you were IN the pool but whatever," Brian said with a smirk in his face.

"I poopy too." Nick whispered, as he tried to walk into the house without the weird jelly stuff of disposable diapers getting all over the place. Thankfully if anything it would be that falling on the floor not other stuff. He said acting like Brian didn't already know that little bit of information.

Brian nodded his head. "Why didn't you tell me you had to go to potty?" Brian asked softly. "We could have taken care of that earlier and you could still be out there playing in the pool with all of us." He opened the door to Nick's room and escorted them into the bathroom.

"Me no go potty." Nick said firmly as he walked into the bathroom, he didn't mind it so much when he knew it was for a shower and not to use the toilet.

Brian sighed. "But you did go potty in your diapers. You just said so yourself. Never mind, forget I said anything," Brian said as he looked at Nick for a moment. "Can you take your diaper off and throw it in the garbage and then get into the shower?" Brian questioned.

Nick nodded his head, willing to do anything now because once again he thought Brian was mad at him. He slowly took his swim trunks off and then got the totally messed up diaper off that was practically hanging off of him anyway and put it in the trash can. Looking at Brian with sad eyes he got into the shower like he was told.

Brian walked over to the shower and turned the water on making sure the water wasn't too hot or too cold before detaching the extendable shower head and using it to water Nick's body.

Nick continued to just look down at the floor and not up at Brian. He knew it was best to not look the person in the eye when you're in trouble. Now, he was just waiting for Brian to do something.

Brian then grabbed the soap and began soaping up Nick's body. Frowning, he wondered why Nick hadn't stopped staring at the floor of the tub. In a soft voice he asked, "Nick, is everything alright?"

"I'm sowwy," Nick whispered, still not looking up. He knew sorry didn't work, but it was worth a shot.

"Sorry for what?" Brian asked as he brought the shower head back and washed the soap off.

That Nick wasn't sure of, he just knew Brian was mad at him...what he wasn't sure. "I...dunno."

Brian chuckled. "Look at me Nick," Brian said. "Please..." he said when Nick didn't look up. Putting on his best pout said again, "Please, Nicky?"

Nick looked up finally and giggled a little at the pout on Brian's face.

"Okay, good. Listen to me and listen well. I don't want you to feel like you can't come to me for anything. I want you to trust me and tell me everything even if you think it's dumb or whatever." Brian said as he reached over for the bottle of shampoo.

"Me no want you to be mad at me." Nick whispered, still looking at Brian.

"I'm not mad at you," Brian sighed. He really needed to watch his actions and the way he says things because Nick seemed to be really sensitive and emotional. "I'm sorry if I made you feel or think that I was. Forgive me?"

Nick smiled, happy to know Brian wasn't mad at him. "Me forgive" He then got another weird look on his face as he looked around the bathroom. "Me no ike bathroom."

'Oh brother!' Brian thought to himself and before he gave off any indication of his frustration he reminded himself of what he just promised Nick. Nodding his head he quickly rinsed Nick's hair before turning the water off. Grabbing the towels he wrapped one around Nick's waist while he placed another one on top of Nick's head.

"I'll be right back," Brian said as he quickly exited the bathroom and over to Nick's dresser. Pulling out a jersey and sweatpants and on his way back into the bathroom he grabbed another diaper before entering the bathroom.

"Me glad you don't take shower wit me." Nick said when Brian had walked back into the room. He never had enjoyed when his daddy had taken showers with him...it hurt when his daddy took showers with him.

Brian was getting ready to put Nick's diaper on when he froze at what Nick had just said. He'd jumped to conclusions the last time he had given Nick a shower, maybe he was assuming things now too? Shaking his head he asked, "Why are you glad that I don't take showers with you?"

Nick hesitated for a second, but in the back of his little mind he remembered Brian saying he could trust him. "It not fun when daddy take shower wit me...hurts."

Brian's eyes grew wide with shock, surprise, disbelief, but most of all because of disgust at Nick's parents... his father. "Why does it hurt?" Brian questioned. He needed all the information he could get before jumping to outrageous conclusions.

Nick didn't know what to say, he didn't know how to explain what his father had done to him while they took showers together. "He hurt Nicky..." he said, trying hard to explain what had happened but he didn't know what had happened. His lower lip was quivering by this point just thinking about it...his hand subconsciously going to touch his bottom.

OH MY GOD! Brian's mind screamed as his eyes followed where Nick's hand went. Looking quickly back up at Nick he saw the hurt etched in his eyes. Darn it! Gulping he asked, "Does he ALWAYS sh...shower w...wi...with you?"

"Mommy gives me bath most time." Nick said as he moved from Brian walking into his bedroom in only his diaper. He didn't like being in the bathroom...he wanted to leave...so he did.

Brian stood there for a few seconds before he realized that Nick wasn't in front of him anymore. Looking around he noticed that Nick was not in the bathroom either. Grabbing Nick's clothes he walked out of the bathroom and into Nick's room.

Nick was back in front of the train set he and AJ had made earlier, he looked up at Brian with a smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes and his eyes looked sad to anybody who really knew him. "Me hot...I wear dis?" he asked, just meaning his diaper. It made him feel free, something he never really felt.

Brian looked at Nick dumbfounded for a second, so many thoughts running through his mind. "Whatever you want to do, Nick. Whatever makes you happy," Brian whispered out before quickly walking back to the dresser and replacing the clothes he'd taken.

"Otay," Nick smiled as he went back to playing with his train set, finding something that could keep him occupied for more then ten minutes.

AJ knocked on the side of the door. "Hey dudes, how goes it?" he asked, noticing that Nick looked cleaned up and happy, it was the look on Brian's face that bothered him.

Brian turned from where he was watching Nick to where AJ was at the door. Behind him he could see Justin standing with his hands shoved in his front pockets of his jeans. "Nick just finished his shower," Brian said.

Justin looked at Brian when his statement sounded more like a question. Brian looked dazed and Justin had to wonder just what was it like for Brian to give Nick a shower. Meaning, was it that difficult for Brian to seem bothered or out of it? "You okay, Brian?" He asked as he walked into the room and sat on the bed right across from where Nick was playing with the train set.

"Hey J...can you stay here with Nick...I'm going to go talk to Brian." AJ said as he backed away from the door, giving Brian a pointed look that said 'come with me.'

"Choo...choo," Nick giggled as he crawled around on his knees pushing the little wooden trains. Like most kids he forgot what had just happened and was back to having fun again...the scary things still in the back of his mind to come out again, but for right now they were hidden.

Brian looked at Nick before looking at Justin and then back at Nick. He didn't want to leave Nick alone but he nodded his head and walked out of the room with AJ leaving Justin with Nick.

"Sure, no problem," Justin replied to AJ knowing that they needed to talk about what's going on with Brian. He was confused at the way Brian looked at him before leaving but decided not to pay it too much attention. Sliding off of the bed down to the floor he grabbed another train piece and started to say 'choo choo' along with Nick.

AJ led Brian across the hall to where he knew the master bedroom was and walked him over to the bed. "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" Sure, AJ understood Brian would be having troubles with what was going on, but something else seemed off besides that.

Brian stood there looking down at AJ who was seated at the foot end of the bed. "He hurt Nicky..." Brian said trailing off.

"Who hurt Nicky?" AJ asked, not understanding what Brian was talking about, but he could already feel his blood boiling for whoever it was. Nobody hurt his friends…nobody.

All Brian could hear was Nick's voice quivering as he told him his father that hurt him. All he could see was where Nick's hand went while he was telling him that it hurt. Repeating it again he said, "He... showered with... he hurt... father... Nicky... hurt." He couldn’t even formulate a coherent sentence in his mind.

AJ's eyes went as wide as quarters. "That bastard...I knew I hated that man from the moment I saw him." he mumbled. "It was then that it really hit him what Brian said.”You mean...that bastard hurt him...when he was just a little tiny boy?"

Brian felt his chest tighten. All this time he was forcing Nick to go to the bathroom... to go potty... oh god, he was a horrible person. The way Nick's face showed fear and the way he was horrified at the thought of using the toilet. Brian felt like a horrible person. "Nick said that he was glad I didn't take showers with him and when I asked him why... he said his dad took showers with him and that it hurt. When he said hurt... he started whimpering while his hand went over to cover his behind," Brian said. "All this time I was trying to get him to..." Brian started trembling.

"Trying to do what?" AJ asked gently as he walked over and wrapped an arm around his good friend. He was having a hard time really processing what Brian was saying but he was trying to comfort him the best he could.

"I was trying to get him to use the toilet..." Brian gasped out as he started to quietly sob into AJ's shoulder.

"You didn't know Bri; I don't think he's mad at you for it." AJ said as he held Brian in his arms and let him cry. "Guess...you'll just have to take things at his pace...even if it's inconvenient."

"I just... I never knew. Before the stroke... before all this... when we we're together he never once mentioned anything like this... even when we were making love. He never once said anything!" Brian exclaimed as he pulled back from AJ and started to wipe the tears away.

AJ sighed, wishing he knew what to say to make everything better. "Maybe he didn't want to remember so he blocked it all out." He then smiled a little. "Maybe God let Nick have the stroke, because he knew Nick deserved a second chance at a good childhood...and he knew we could help him have it."

Brian felt like he had been kicked in the crotch when AJ said those words. Did that mean God wanted him to be with a man with the brain capacity of a two-year old? Did God not what him to be with Nick? But then he started to think of all the things that Nick might not be telling him... things that his parents might have done and what AJ said started to take some meaning and some sense. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair. "Maybe."

AJ noticed his words hadn't really helped his friend so he just hugged him more, opting to comfort him without words since words ever really came easy to him anyway. "I don't really know the reason...all I know is you love him and it shows."

Brian let himself be hugged by AJ, enjoying the feeling of having someone to hold him again. "I do love him, so much. It hurts to be the only one that has memories of all the good times and bad times... special, intimate, romantic times and moments.... between him and I... things we've shared."

"I can't begin to even imagine how you must be feeling, but I definitely respect you for helping him now." AJ whispered.

Brian nodded his head and headed in to his bathroom to wash his face. "I can't believe his parents would do something like that!" Then he thought of something else. "Oh my god, what if they're doing the same things to his siblings... to Aaron?"

AJ tensed up at the thought, "I don't know...but I mean we can't really do anything about it...I mean would a mentally disabled person really be able to testify that well in court?"

"No," Brian said thinking about it. "But what if Aaron can testify? He's like older than Nick now."

"Do you really want to open that can of worms now?" AJ asked, just looking out for everybody. "I mean maybe you should wait a little while until things get more to a norm?"

"More to a norm?" Brian asked. "The man I love had his Brain turned into a two year in a matter of minutes and the cause of the head trauma's could possibly be because of his parents... and you're telling me that I have to wait till things go back to the norm?" Brian questioned more lost than upset. "I don't know what to do. Maybe you're right!"

"I just meant wait a little while because Nick needs to feel safe and who knows maybe the safer Nick feels the more you'll begin to understand…and the more information you'll have." AJ explained. "Plus it's always possible Aaron doesn't really know anything."

Brian sighed. What AJ was saying made a lot of sense. "I just thought of something. What are we going to do when the twins, BJ, and Leslie ask us about Nick... I highly doubt his parents told them anything!" Brian said thinking about Nick's siblings.

"We tell them, because quiet frankly we're going to have to tell everybody about this." AJ said with a sigh, knowing none of them wanted to do it but it was how they all would have wanted it. "Cuz you know we all signed that contract saying that if anything happened to any of us we would still want to continue the group."

Brian sighed, again. Sometimes he just hated his label. "Right." With that he quietly walked out the door and back into Nick's room.

Nick watched Brian and AJ walk out of the room and then looked at Justin with a smile. "Pay wit me?"

<><><><><>

Justin diverted his gaze from the retreating backs of AJ and Brian to the big blue excitement filled eyes that were looking at him. Smiling, he said, "Sure." Then he sat down across from Nick and... looked at him.

Nick handed Justin a green train and picked up his own blue one. "Day gotta get to the station." He said as he put the train on the track and started to make it drive fast to the station.

Justin looked at the green train in his hand. Wasn't Nick's favorite color green and his blue? He recalled times when Nick would be over at his place and they would just lounge around eating M&M's. Nick had always took the green ones and left the blue ones for him. The rest they would just eat not caring who got what. Looking back up at Nick he wondered if this meant anything, if somehow Nick was asking him to be him. Shaking his head he focused back to the play at hand. Adjusting his position to that he was sitting on his bent knees he placed the green train on the track. "Choo, choo!"

Nick giggled, so happy to see an adult playing with him. His parents would never play with him and this was a great change. "All bored!" Nick called once his train made it to the station.

Justin smiled. "Where are these people going Nick?" He questioned. His train was on the opposite side at the other station, also, boarding and unloading passengers.

"Orando and ampa." Nick said, saying the only two places he really knew about. Orlando and Tampa.

"Oooo, so, you're at Tampa at the moment and I'm in Orlando, is that right?" Justin asked. "I think everyone's already on board and we're ready to depart!" Justin reached his right hand up in the air and held on to an invisible string pulling it down. "Choo choo."

Nick just sat there with wide eyes as he watched Justin actually playing with him. He honestly had NEVER seen an adult play before. Well except for the times that his daddy said he wanted to play with him...but he had never had much fun with that.

Justin stopped pushing his train on the tracks when he noticed that Nick hadn't moved his train. Looking up at Nick he frowned. "What's wrong? Is it not time for departure from Orlando to Tampa yet?" Justin questioned thinking that maybe he should have waited a bit longer at his station.

"N...no it is." Nick said shaking out of his thoughts. "Me happy you pay wit me...is all."

"Oh," Justin said. Then scratching his head in confusion he sat back on his knees thinking about what Nick just said. "So, wait. No one plays with you?"

Nick shook his head sadly as he let his own train start going towards where Justin's train was. "Nope...too busy...daddy pay sometimes...but me no ike it when daddy pay."

Justin reached over to his train and began to move it when Nick's started to approach. "Why don't you like it when your dad plays with you?" He never once removed his eyes from Nick's face. There was just something so sad and... and something... Justin couldn't quite find the right words to describe what was present in Nick's face and voice but it was there.

"Hurts when daddy pays," Nick said having the same reaction he did when asked about why he didn't like to take showers with his dad.

Justin just stared at Nick. He didn't understand why Nick's hand went towards his backside but the more he watched his best friend the faster the wheels in his mind turned. With wide eyes he gently and quietly asked, "Nicky? What ... how does your daddy play with you?" Taking his left hand he placed it right above Nick's right hand that was closet to him, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Nick looked down at the ground and didn't say anything. His daddy has told him if he said anything he would get hurt worse.

"Nick," Justin said softly. "Look at me. You can trust me."

"He hurt me..." Nick whispered, still having no idea how to explain what his daddy would do to him.

"How?" Justin questioned. He didn't want to ask and he didn't want to pressure Nick into talking but he wanted, no, he needed to know just what was going on.

Nick looked up at Justin with lost confused eyes, afraid because he didn't know the answer Justin was looking for. He trusted Justin but what if Justin got mad.

Justin saw the confused look in Nick's eyes. Sighing he said, "I don't mean to pressure you or anything. All I want to do is help you because I love you. I won't hurt you, ever." Justin meant ever single word of that. He did love Nick, more than just friends. He had for a long time but ever since Nick joined the Boys Nick had been head over heels in love with Brian. Justin would be lying if he said that didn't hurt but he would take whatever he could get from Nick even if that meant Nick would never know just how deep his feelings went.

"Daddy hurt bottom." Nick whispered, looking down again, his hand rubbing over his diaper. "When pay...and take shower...he say it fun game."

Justin gulped. Quickly crawling over to Nick he wrapped his arms around him, protectively. "Oh god, Nick, I didn't know." He kissed Nick's right temple and continued to hold him, fighting the urge to storm out of the room to go find Nick's father and beat the living hell out of him.

Nick snuggled into Justin's arms and looked up when he saw Brian and AJ walk into the room.

Brian walked into the room and immediately stopped in his tracks at the sight he was met with. He felt like his heart was being ripped out of its cavity and his breath being knocked out of him. There was Justin holding Nick, HIS Nick, in his arms. "What's going on?" Brian asked, his voice a little cold. He was jealous.

Nick was out of Justin's arms in a second at the cold tone in Brian's voice. He then ran to his bed, grabbed the teddy bear that was his substitute for Winky and cowered in the corner of the bed.

AJ looked on with wide eyes. He didn't get what was going on. He hadn't even noticed the cold tone to Brian's voice at least not that much.

Justin, startled by Nick's sudden movements as well as Brian's tone of voice feel back on his ass, looking wide-eyed between Brian and then at Nick. "Hey, guys." Justin greeted them unsurely. He didn't know what to make off from that little scene. It almost felt like they've been caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing.

Brian remained silent as he ignored Justin and walked over to where Nick was lying in his bed. "Hey Nick, what happened? Why did you get scared and run to your bed like that?" Brian asked not realizing that his tone of voice he used earlier was harsh or cold.

Nick moved away from Brian a little more, holding his bear even tighter. "B...Brian...mad at...Nicky." he said as tears started falling down his cheeks.

Brian's hand froze midway as he was trying to touch Nick, to comfort him. "I'm not mad at you, Nicky. I could never be. Remember what I told you last night and then this morning?" Brian questioned, as he brought his hand back to touch Nick's shoulder.

"You talk mean." Nick whispered, still not relaxing yet. Every time his parents got mad bad things would happen. His mom had fun shoving his head in the toilet right after somebody had gone. His dad had too much fun 'playing' and showering with him. Nope, he didn't like making people mad...and the more he tried to hide the worse it was, but he still did.

Justin watched the scene before him unfold. Quietly he got up and walked over to the side of the bed where Nick was curled up. "Nicky? What's wrong? Why are you curled up in the corner like that? We're not gonna hurt you, no one in this room is going to hurt. Trust me!" He sat on the edge of the bed and placed his hand on Nick's head, running his fingers through the soft, silky strands.

Brian's watched silently as Justin made his way over and started talking to Nick. Swallowing the lump in his throat he fought the urge to scream at Justin to not touch Nick and to get the hell out of his house. "Yeah, Nick. I will never hurt you. I promised you that and I'm not the kinda guy that breaks promises. I won't hurt you!" Brian said instead.

"No yell at Nicky," Nick said actually sounding very firm about that as he relaxed to both Justin and Brian, glancing over at AJ who was still standing in the doorway. "You no mad...you no yell."

"I didn't yell at you Nick," Brian said still not liking the fact that Nick was resting his head in Justin's lap.

AJ walked over to Brian and whispered in his ear. "I know you're jealous, but he can sense it and thinks you're mad."

Nick sighed as he sat up, his hand going to his crotch, scratching himself without shame. "Otay...no do no more."

Justin watched as AJ whispered something into Brian's ear and didn't miss the way Brian's body stiffened. Bringing his hands up to Nick's shoulder he began to gently massage them. It was a habit, something that they used to do to one another whenever the other was stressed or just for the heck of it.

Brian closed his eyes and inhaled. "I won't yell at you anymore Nick. I'm sorry." Brian exhaled and held his arms out, waiting for Nick to crawl into his arms.

Nick practically leapt into Brian's arms, snuggling into them. Sure he loved Justin's arms, but Brian was the one that saved him...was the one that was taking care of him. He loved his Brian. "Nicky wuv, Brian."