After the tenth ring, AJ finally gave up and sighed. "Okay so now I'll go look in the places Brian mentioned," he said to himself as he got into his car and started driving around. He first checked the mall, even looked in every single store but didn't find the curly haired blonde teen. He then went to the arcade and once again no Justin. "Where the fuck is he!” he exclaimed as he once again jumped into his car. He remembered Brian saying something about a tree house but he had no idea where that would be so he didn't even try and figure that one out. Finally totally out of places to look he tried the beach, hoping to just find the beach he would be at. Parking his car he got out and started walking towards the beach, once again taking out his cell phone and trying the number as he walked.

Justin was sitting on one of the big rocks that was hidden from view. He was at the beach but in a secret area he and Nick had stumbled onto when they were younger while they were playing hide and seek. There was a little cave tucked in the wooded area and they found it the perfect spot to sit and watch the calm lake in the middle of all the trees. Since he ran out of Brian's house that day he'd been spending every chance he'd gotten at that spot. He sighed as his cell phone rang again. Deciding to answer his cell for the hell of it he flipped it open. "Hello?"

AJ let out a sigh of relief. "Justin... Dude I've been trying to get a hold of you for a few days now!" He said, forgetting to even say who he was, but he figured Justin would recognize his voice.

Justin pulled the phone away and looked at it for a moment, not expecting that reaction or that kind of greeting, putting the phone back to his ear he asked, "AJ? Is that you?"

"Yeah it's me... Where the fuck have you been?" AJ exclaimed in pure AJ fashion.

"What does it matter to you?" Justin countered back. He didn't like being yelled at nor did he appreciate being treated like he HAD to tell everyone his whereabouts. He only answered to his parents and that's all.

AJ sighed as he ran a hand through his sea blown hair. "It matters to me because I've... WE'VE been worried about you. I mean you did just run out of Brian and Nick's house in tears the other day."

"So?" Justin didn't see that point where they actually cared. They hadn't in the past so what's different now?

"Nick misses you, he's been asking about you," AJ said, trying to use that tactic to get the teen to talk. Sure, it wasn't a lie, Nick had been asking about Justin a lot wanting to know where his friend was.

Justin took in a sharp breath when he heard Nick's names. "He had?" Justin questioned in a near whisper. He didn't think that this Nick would miss him, since they BARELY knew each other.

"Yeah, he has and we've all missed you...ohh and Brian found something that was yours and really wanted to give it to you," AJ said as he pulled the ring out of his pocket and looked at it.

"Huh," Justin said, a bit surprised. "What is it?"

"Some ring... I guess Nick had one too." AJ replied as he watched a couple running with their dogs a few feet away.

Shit! Justin had thought he'd lost that ring somewhere else. Oh thank God, Justin sighed in relief. Putting the phone closer to his ear he tried hard to decipher whether he was hearing the ocean in the background. "Where are you?" Justin questioned.

AJ sighed, “I’m at the beach, it’s one of the places Brian told me to come look for you.”

Brian knew to look for him? The more Justin listened the more shocked he was getting. He never realized Brian had paid much attention to him, at least, when it didn't involve Nick. The only times Brian had ever approached him was when he needed something that pertained to Nick. Something must be wrong. "What's really wrong, AJ, and don't lie to me. Why are you really looking for me?"

“Well the first day because we were worried, and to give you your ring...but now well Nick’s sick with the stomach flu and we have a concert tonight and Lou will have our asses if we don’t do it...so we kinda need somebody who Nick trusts to watch him,” AJ answered honestly. “But It’s not like we’re trying to use you J...cuz we really think you’ll be a good thing to have around for Nick’s sake and ours...you just have to give Brian some time...He’ll come along when he quits being a jealous fool.”’

Justin narrowed his eyes. He really wanted to believe AJ but there was just too much past to over look that second. But Nick was sick and that was the most important thing at the moment. Nick needs him and so do the guys. Nick more, though. "Just exactly where in the beach are you?" Justin questioned as he got up and began making his way out of the little cave area. He'll be back, though, soon.

AJ tried to remember exactly where he had ended up. “I’m at the beach that is only twenty minutes away from Nick and Brian’s house.”

Justin knew that much. "No, I mean, where on the beach are you at?" He didn't want AJ coming to look for him and finding out about his little hideaway place so he intended to go find AJ.

“I’m about five minutes from that west parking lot.” AJ explained, “Where are YOU?”

Justin smiled as he spotted AJ looking out at the people jogging having a good time with the people they were with. Quietly he walked up to AJ from the back. "I'm right behind you," Justin said softly as to not startle the older man.

Even though Justin had been quite, AJ jumped almost three feet in the air. “Shit,” he exclaimed laughing at himself. “Okay, yeah, I’m easy to scare.”

Justin laughed. "Sorry." Justin remained silent as he waited for AJ to catch his breath.

Once AJ caught his breath he looked down at his watch and gasped. “Shit we gotta get going if you’re willing to come help us that is.”

Justin was a bit hesitant at first but finally he relented and nodded his head. "Where are we going?"

“The arena we have a concert in less then an hour,” AJ explained as they got back to the parking lot. “Do you have your own car here?”

Justin shook his head. "I walked here since it's a beautiful day and all, why?"

“I just wanted to make sure if you needed me to drive you or if you wanted to drive yourself,” AJ explained looking at Justin a little funny. He didn’t understand why the teen seemed so hesitant. “Justin you don’t have to do this if you really don’t want to. We’re not forcing you.”

"Nick," was all Justin said hoping that AJ would understand that he's only doing this because Nick was sick and that Nick needed him.

AJ sighed and nodded his head, he wasn’t sure what he and the other guys had ever done to make the teen not like them but he wasn’t going to ask right now. They did need him for Nick and so he would leave it at that if that’s how Justin wanted it. He led Justin over to his car and unlocked it. Once they were both settled he started on the twenty minute drive to the arena.

Justin remained silent as AJ drove towards the arena for the first few minutes before he remembered he should call him mom and let her know where he'd be going. Taking his cell out he called his mom and told her that AJ had asked him to come to the Arena since Nick was sick. Luckily Lynne, Justin's mother, understood everything and respected Justin for doing what he's doing. She knew it must be tough on them but he still continued. After the call ended he replaced his cell back into the pocket of his jeans and looked out the window.

“You and your mom close?” AJ asked, having heard the one sided conversation and knew Justin was talking to his mom. “I’m close with my mom and it’s really cool.” Okay, yeah he was fishing for things to talk about but he couldn’t stand the silence.

Justin looked over at AJ and nodded his head. "Yah, we're close." He didn't say anything else because frankly there was nothing else to say. The only thing that either one of the Backstreet Boys had in common with him was Nick and usually Justin would have to fight to at least get a little bit of time with his best friend.

Parking his car in the designated spot, AJ turned to look at Justin. “Okay, I’m seriously confused right now. I don’t remember a time that I’ve been rude to you...so I don’t understand the silent treatment and why you seem to not give a shit about me and the other guys when WE care about you. Anybody who’s important to Nick is important to us.”

Justin closed his eyes and counted to ten. Opening his eyes again he looked AJ dead straight in the eyes. "Oh really?" Justin questioned, his face showing no emotion, his tone cold. "Not that I care but if I'm so important then how come none of you ever came to my birthday parties or even wished me a happy birthday? Christmas time... ya'll never said anything! How about all those times ya'll completely ignored me when I would visit you guys while ya'll were on tour? How about all those times you told me to stop being a bad influence on Nick when we would come back to the hotel room a bit hyped up... 'cause I snuck him some candy? Or we'd play video games till the wee of the mornings... who got yelled at?" Justin stopped talking. "Do you want me to continue? Because, I can, I can list everything!"

AJ sighed he knew all the things Justin was saying were true. “You’re right...you should hate our guts,” he said, not really sure what else to say as he got out of the car. “Guess you shouldn’t even forgive me when I say I’m sorry.” He added after a minute of them walking towards the building.

Justin wrinkled his forehead. "I can't hate anyone that Nick loved... loves dearly. I just don't like anyone of you and I have my reasons for it. For the most part I don't care what ya'll think about me or treat me but I just didn't like the way ya'll..." Justin trailed off. He'd already said more than enough. He'd promised Nick he'd never tell and he would keep that promise even if it killed him. "Never-mind, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be holding any grudges. We're here for Nick and let's just leave it at that, like it was before.”

AJ was totally confused now and sighed. He didn’t know how things would work if Justin did end up going on tour with them. Sure, he had nothing against the younger man but he sure seemed to have something against them. Walking through the hallways of the arena he finally came to the dressing room where Nick and Brian were. Opening the door he stuck his head in. “Bri, I found him can we come in?”

Brian was at the point that his nails were almost chewed off. It was getting closer to performing time and AJ hadn't called and hadn't even shown up with Justin. But the second he heard the knock and AJ's voice telling him that Justin was there he was thrilled. He would have walked over to the door and greeted then but Nick was still sleeping on his lap, holding on to him. Softly whispering he said, "Come in."

AJ opened the door all the way and walked into the room, hoping the teen would follow him in. “He was a bitch to find but I finally did,” he said smiling big.

Justin shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. He stood in the corner of the room, his eyes immediately falling on Nick.

Brian smiled. "Thank God! We have to go perform in a half hour. I'm not even in costume yet. Howie came in a little earlier and informed me that Lou was already here and that they are stalling him." Looking over at Justin he said, "Do you mind watching Nick for us?"

Justin took in a deep breath before shaking his head 'no.' That’s all he was... a baby sitter. He knew it! "No, I don't mind," Justin said, defeated.

Brian wrinkled his forehead and looked from Justin to AJ wondering what that was all about.

AJ gave Brian the ‘I’ll tell you later’ look before he knew they had to get out of there and get ready. “Bri, we really need to go before we get our asses chewed out.”

Nick chose that moment to open his eyes slowly since he heard talking. He looked around the room and actually smiled when he saw Justin, something he hadn’t been doing in the last few hours...smiling.

Brian looked down at Nick as the younger boy began to stir. "Hey Nick," Brian spoke. "I have to get going, the concert is going to start soon. I know I said I'll stay with you but Justin will be here for a few hours until we're done with the concert, okay?"

Justin discreetly rolled his eyes.

Nick looked like he was going to protest but just nodded his head sadly as Brian put him down on the couch. He then looked at Justin with pitiful eyes.

“Okay, Bri just tell him all he needs to know and I’ll go tell the guys you’ll be there in a few minutes,” AJ said before he headed out of the room.

Brian nodded his head and waved Justin over. When Justin approached him he started speaking. "Everything you need is in that bag right there. The only thing that's not in there is an extra diaper. We had an accident earlier. But his bottles, pacifier, coloring books, and all that stuff, you should be able to find in there. He hadn't been complaining in the past few hours but just in case he starts saying his tummy aches just make him drink some ginger ale or club soda."

Justin nodded his head, paying very close attention.

"Do you have any questions?" Brian asked as he made his way over to the door.

"What if he starts fussing... like, what if he doesn't want me here and wants you? What if he goes to the bathroom in his diapers, what am I going to do then with no spare diapers?" Justin was nervous.

Brian looked at Nick. "You're going to be a good boy aren't you?" He questioned. Then he remembered something. "Did AJ give you your ring?"

"No, he didn't," Justin said.

Nick nodded his head, his lower lip trembling but he was trying hard not to cry. “B....bye...bye,” he whispered so close to it as he held his arms out for a goodbye hug.

Brian sighed as he walked back over to Nick and hugged him. "I'm not going too far away. I'll be back in like two hours. I promise! Here, you can watch us perform on that TV over there!" Brian said pointing at the TV in the corner of the room. Brian had personally requested that someone tape this show and have it connected to the TV in that room, just for Nick.

“Otay,” Nick whispered trying his hardest to be a big boy.

"Okay," Brian said as he let go of Nick and walked towards the door. "Everything will be okay and I'll let AJ know about the ring," Brian said to Justin before closing the door behind him and walking over to the other dressing room where the rest of the guys were getting ready.

Nick looked at Justin and then closed his eyes again to try and keep himself from crying, a few tears sneaking past though. He wanted his Brian...Brian was like his daddy now and he wanted him because he made him feel better. Justin was his friend and he loved him but it wasn’t his daddy.

Justin watched Brian walk out of the room and close the door. He stared at the closed door for a few seconds before turning his head to look at Nick who looked like he was about to either scream 'bloody murder' at the top of his lungs or cry himself to the point he'd turn into a human raisin.

Nick held onto his blankie with all his might as he started to cry quietly. He wanted to scream, he wanted Brian back but he knew that Brian told him to be good and he needed to listen. It was just hard because he felt like shit and wanted him.

Justin started to feel like AJ had lied to him about Nick missing him and needing him. Taking tentative steps towards Nick he said, "Hey Nick, what the long face?"

“M...me want Brian...me no feel good,” Nick cried as he held his hands up asking for Justin to hold him. If he couldn’t have Brian Justin was a pretty darn good substitute.

"Oh," Justin said and before he could completely sit down he felt Nick's arms around him. Wiggling a bit he finally got his right hand free so that he could place it around Nick's body and hold him close. Just then AJ barged into the room, out of breath apologizing about something Justin couldn't quite decipher. But he tightened his hold on Nick when he felt the younger boy's body stiffen. "Why don't you just walk in here dressed as the boogey-man? You scared Nick!" Justin said in a voice that was soft and not angry or sarcastic in the least.

AJ looked down at what he was wearing and blushed a little. “Sorry...I just wanted to give this to you before I forgot,” he said handing Justin the ring.

“Me have one does,” Nick whispered as he saw the ring again. “Bri gave me...say it from you,” he said looking at Justin with the best smile his sick body could muster.

"Thanks," Justin said as he took the ring from AJ. Just as quickly AJ had come in he was gone. Looking back down at Nick in his arms he said, "Huh?" He didn't hear what Nick had said because he was relieved and happy that the ring wasn't lost and now was back on his middle finger of his left hand.

"Me have one does," Nick said again as he pointed at the ring that Justin had just put on his finger.

"Yea, I know you do," Justin said. "You know what these two rings resemble?"

Nick shook his head, his blonde hair moving back and forth as his head did the same thing.

"They represent trust and friendship. The reason I wear it is because it reminds me that I'm not alone in this big world that I have my best friend by my side. My best friend who'd stick with me through thick and thin, good and bad, doesn't judge me, tells me everything, get in trouble for the other, and much more. This ring keeps me down to earth and I know I'm not alone because my best friend is always going to be there for me..." Justin trailed off and then playfully poked Nick in the stomach. "My best friend is you... and what I said about my ring... it goes both ways. You can do that with me too, trust and all." Justin ran his hands through Nick hair.

Nick giggled a little when Justin poked him playfully in the stomach. "You me est frwend too," he said as he looked at the shiny ring. "Me no wear mine yet...Brian say he get me chain to put on," he said touching his neck as if to let Justin know what he meant.

Justin smiled. "That'd be the best thing to do," Justin said just as he heard the loud screaming. "Ohh, I think the show's starting. You wanna watch Brian, Howie, Kevin, and AJ work?" Justin reached for the remote waiting for Nick's response.

Nick turned his sick head to look at the TV and sighed, a big pitiful sigh. "Yeah me watch."

Justin turned on the TV just in time to see the Boys run out on stage and open up with 'Everybody (Backstreet's Back)' and the crowd going wild.

Nick's eyes went wide and actually lit up a little when he saw the guys running on stage and dance. "How day do dat!"

"Practice," Justin said, he too getting excited as the show began. No matter how many times he'd seen them practice and perform and rehearse these songs and dances he'd always find himself being anxious and awed at their talents. "A lot of practice," Justin couldn't help but think back to just the Boys were doing when Nick had that stroke.

"Me wana do date when me big," Nick said as he sat up a little but groaned and lied back down.

Justin couldn't help but smile at Nick's enthusiasm. Ever since he'd known Nick that was all Nick could talk about. "Don't worry, you will!" It's almost as if Justin knew the future.

"Owie," Nick mumbled as he put a hand to his head. He had a headache and his stomach was starting to hurt again because the Tylenol he had taken was wearing off.

Justin looked at Nick a bit worried. "You got a headache?" He bent over to look in Nick's bag. "Did Brian give you anything for that?"

Nick thought about what Justin was asking, trying to remember what Brian had given him. "Icky red stuff."

Justin wrinkled his nose and looked through the bag hoping to find that 'icky red stuff.' He smiled when he came across a bottle of Kid's Tylenol syrup. "This?" Justin questioned showing Nick the bottle.

Nick made a face and nodded his head. "Yeah, ick red stuff."

Justin removed the small measuring cup and opened the bottled. He poured the red liquid up to the mark in the plastic cup and smiled at Nick. "It'll help the pain in your head."

"Icky," Nick groaned as he took the cup and drank down the medicine. "My tummy hurt again," he said with a pout, rubbing his once again cramping up stomach.

"Uh," Justin said as he took the plastic cup and put the bottle away. "Do you have to use the potty?"

Tears came to Nick's eyes as he nodded his head. "Me no wana go...me scared," he whispered.

"But we don't have any more diapers and we can't have you walking about buck naked," Justin said, sighing. Thinking of another tactic he said, "Remember what I told you about the ring? What it means to me and the importance of it?"

Sniffling, Nick nodded his head as he wiped at his eyes.

"I won't let anything bad happen to you if you go use the potty," Justin said. "I'd rather die than have anything bad happen to you anymore. That's a promise!"

"O...Otay," Nick whispered as he slowly got up off the couch groaning tears coming to his eyes anymore. "Yucky," he said as he walked with Justin into the bathroom. Being the bravest he could he sat down on the toilet, looking at Justin with scared to death eyes but he didn't move.

Justin looked back at Nick and held his arms out for him to hold on to. "I won't leave and there's no need to be scared. All you gotta do is your business and it'll all be over." He hated seeing Nick so scared, he didn't know why he was that scared.

Nick rested his head on Justin's shoulder as he did what he had to do the whole time big alligator tears were falling from his eyes. He knew he had no reason to be scared because it was Justin that was with him, but he didn't know how to make the bad memories go away. "Mommy made me eat poopy outa potty," he mumbled against Justin's shoulder, opening up to him a lot like he had Brian...the two people he trusted with his life.

Justin froze. Pulling back from Nick he said, "She what!?" His eyes were wide and when he saw the tears rolling down Nick's face and the pain etched in his eyes he felt his own eyes water. "Oh my god, Nicky," he all but cried out. "Oh god, I didn't know. I'm so sorry; you should have told me about the toilet. No wonder you were so scared of it, Oh god."

"I otay," Nick whispered even though he was everything but okay. "And me done now...me wana get up."

Justin nodded his head. "Um, you went potty right?" Justin questioned.

Nick nodded his head as he stood up, ready to get his diaper back on and out of there. "Yeah, me done wana go watch Brian, AJ, Kevin and Owie."

Justin grimaced a bit before nodding his head. "Um, Nick? Don't you think you should wipe your butt before putting the diaper back on?"

Nick looked totally confused about that. He had no idea about going potty like a big boy. He just stood there giving Justin a totally confused look.

Justin noticed the way Nick was looking at him confused. "You know when Brian changes your diaper when you've gone potty in it... he cleans off the poop..." Justin said and continued when Nick nodded his head. "Well, you've just gone poopy, even though it wasn't in your diaper; you still have clean your bum." Justin explained hoping that made sense.

"Oh, otay," Nick said with an nod of his head. It made sense but he still wasn't sure how you went about doing this. He then remembered seeing other people going potty and looked over at the toilet paper. "Wit dat?"

Justin nodded his head. "You take a little bit of the toilet paper and wipe..." Justin said as he waved his hands in circular motions hoping that would help the words come out easily. "Your butt till it's clean and THEN you put your underwear or in your case diaper on."

Nick listened very closely as Justin explained what to do then he attempted to do it himself. He grabbed a little bit of the toilet paper which in his case ended up being three squares. He then wiped it over his butt and put it in the toilet. "All done!" he said with a big smile on his face. This going potty stuff wasn't so bad...once you were actually not on the toilet going potty.

Justin smiled. "See, your already becoming a big boy," Justin said as he grabbed the diaper and helped Nick put it back on. "Let's watch the rest of the concert."

Once he was all cleaned up and feeling much better from the Tylenol and having gone to the bathroom he watched the concert with Justin happily. "Look AJ shakes his butt!" he giggled as he pointed at AJ shaking his ass and doing pelvic thrusts on TV.

"Hmmm mmm," Justin said. He knew this routine and he knew what was to come. "Just wait you'll see him get down on the floor and do the wave with his body."

Just as Justin said that AJ got down on the floor and did the wave, also humping the floor a little bit getting the female fans to scream like crazy. It wasn't quite the same reaction down in the dressing room though. Seeing the movements AJ was making made Nick think of some very terrible times and he was quickly hiding his face in Justin's shirt saying 'no' over and over again.

Justin immediately turned the TV off and turned towards Nick. "What's wrong?" Justin questioned worried.

"AJ scare me...scary..." Nick whispered not moving his head from where it was hidden almost between Justin's back and the back of the couch.

"How did he scare you Nicky?" Justin questioned as he turned around in his seat so that his upper half body was twisted, to get a better look at Nick.

"He hurt floor," Nick whispered, trying his best to describe what AJ had been doing that scared him. He didn't know how to tell Justin that AJ humping the floor reminded him of when his daddy used to 'play' with him.

Justin wrinkled his forehead trying to figure out what Nick meant by that. He then remembered what Nick had told the other day about how his dad had hurt his bottom. Putting together what AJ was doing to the floor and what Nick had said, Justin's eyes grew wide. "Oh." He pulled Nick into his arms and held him close, protecting him from whatever he could though he knew he couldn't necessarily protect him from the inside. But he was going to try his best.

"Me tell AJ me no like...he no do no more," Nick said with a nod of his head a very determined look on his young face. Yes, he physically looked like an eighteen year old but the glow in his eyes and his facial expressions made him look a lot younger.

Justin nodded his head. "Yeah, and if you want we can tell him together, okay?" Justin said as he let out a big face splitting yawn. He was tired and the sleepless nights he'd had the few days prior were catching up to him.

Nick looked at Justin yawn and giggled. He wasn't really sleepy cuz he had slept a few hours earlier. "Justin sweepy?"

"Nah," Justin said. "I think I'm good." He looked back at the blank TV screen and then towards Nick. "What you wanna do, now?"

Nick looked down at his bag and then got off the couch to look through it. He giggled when he found his binkie and popped that into his mouth even though that hadn't been what he was looking for. But then at the bottom of the bag he found his Spider man Coloring book. "Color wit me?" he asked as he held up the crayons and book.

Justin stretched and nodded his head before pushing himself off the couch and sat down on the floor by Nick. "Okay."

After coloring for a good forty-five minutes Nick was yawning again, his medicine really starting to kick in. Being the normal kid he was he was trying to fight sleep and continue to color but it became quite obvious that he was tired when his head started to bob forward and his eyes fell shut.

Justin chuckled. "Sleepy huh?" He asked as he put the crayons back in the box and placed everything back into Nick's bag. "C'mon, let's get you onto the couch so you can sleep," Justin said reaching his hand out to Nick after he stood up.

Nick didn't protest and let Justin help him to the couch. Once they were both settled on the couch Nick let himself fall asleep again, where he was for the rest of the night before the guys came back.

It was after midnight before Brian, AJ, Kevin and Howie got back downstairs after the concert. Already changed and showered all four of them slowly and quietly entered the dressing room where Nick and Justin were. AJ laughed quietly when they all paused in the doorway to watch Justin and Nick both fast asleep, Justin's arms wrapped protectively around Nick.

Brian felt his heart jump into his throat but decided to keep his emotions and jealousies that coursed through his body before anyone noticed. He quietly walked over to the couch. "I guess they were really tired."

Howie walked over to Nick's bag and picked it up. "We should get them and go back to your house or something," Howie suggested.

Nick opened his eyes when he heard people talking around him and when he saw Brian he smiled big. "You back," he whispered.

"I'll go make sure the car is ready for us," Kevin whispered before walking out of the room.

AJ continued to stand by the door just watching everything. He had noticed the way Brian had tensed up when he saw the way Justin and Nick were laying on the couch. He knew Brian was jealous of Nick and Justin's relationship, so now he was watching in hope to figure out what to do about it.

Brian nodded his head when Kevin whispered. When Nick woke up he smiled. "Hey Nick, yah we're back," Brian whispered as he brought his index finger to his lips, telling Nick to be quiet since Justin was still asleep. But that didn't do much good since Justin arms around Nick tightened and he woke with a start. "Okay, we don't have to be quiet," Brian joked. "Sorry, if we were too loud."

Justin felt Nick shift a bit in his arms and he subconsciously tightened his hold on him, not wanting to let go or have anyone else get a hold of him. Then he thought that there might have been something wrong with Nick and that was why Nick was moving... hence why he woke with a start only to see Brian standing over him and Nick. "Uh, no, you didn't wake me up," Justin said, tiredly.

"Justin...too tight," Nick giggled a little when he felt Justin tighten his grip on his stomach. He was feeling a lot better then he had earlier, what he had almost seeming like a twenty four hour bug after all.

"Oh sorry," Justin said as he completely let go of Nick and sat up straight, throwing his legs over the edge of the couch so that his feet were back on the ground. Rubbing his face with his hands he mumbled, "What time is it?"

Howie walked over and ruffled Nick's hair before answering Justin's question. "A little after twelve, we're heading back home now."

"Yah, we should get going and meet Kevin at the back exit," Brian said as he held out his hand for Nick to take. "C'mon, let's go guys."

Justin sighed as he watched Nick, Brian, and Howie make their way towards the door before he too got up and walked, following them quietly but stopped when he saw AJ at the door watching him with an unreadable expression on his face.

"He's jealous of you," AJ said as he walked out with Justin. He honestly wanted to make the teen feel a part of the group so he was trying to be honest with him. "I'm not exactly sure why so I'm trying to figure it all out...sorry if I was staring."

"Guess what Brian...me went potty ike big boy cuz me had to poopy bad and Justin say me had to...so me did and cried...but it otay cuz me know you and Justin no hurt me," Nick rambled telling Brian what he had done very proud of himself even though if you would have looked down at the bulge in his basketball shorts right now you wouldn't have known since he had wet himself while he had been playing with Justin and had been asleep.

Justin yawned. "He's got nothing to be worried about. He's already got Nick, no competition," Justin said tiredly as he shrugged. He didn't care anymore. He was too sleepy to care at the moment, anyways. "Don't worry about what I feel... I mean, about you staring." Justin couldn't think straight. He really needed to sleep. He could barely keep his eyes open nor could he walk properly.

Brian looked at Nick quickly. "Justin forced you to go to the bathroom?" He questioned, anger slowly rising within him.

"Cuz no more diapers," Nick said with a shrug like it was no big deal he didn't feel like Justin had forced him per say.

Brian didn't listen to what Nick said, his mind was already working on what he was going to say to Justin. Spotting his cousin and Howie, who had walked ahead of them, by the van, Brian nodded his head. "We're all here." He let Nick get into the van before he himself got in, waiting for AJ and Justin to join them.

Justin stopped short when he noticed the car they were getting into. It looked rather small. Heck, it looked like it couldn’t even fit the backstreet boys much less adding him into the mix. "Um, I should call my mom or dad and have one of them come pick me up," Justin said completely forgetting the fact that AJ had his car there.

"I'm driving myself...I came from lunch with a friend before coming here so I drove myself," AJ said, knowing Justin was thinking there wasn't enough space. He then looked at Brian and groaned seeing the look on his face. "How about you ride with me J?"

Kevin looked at his cousin funny, something didn't seem right. "Bri are you okay?"

Brian was completely lost in thought as he stared off into space and it's not his fault that Justin just so happened to be in his line of vision but he wasn't necessarily looking at Justin. Kevin's voice had brought him out of his daze. Shaking his head he said, "Yah, I'm okay. I think the post-concert high is going away. I just dazed out or something." He then looked over to where AJ and Justin were, standing and talking. "What's going on?"

Justin ran a hand through his hair before nodding his head. "I don't want to be a problem, I can just call my parents, if it is," Justin said feeling like he would be a burden on them.

AJ shook his head, "It won't be a problem at all I mean I only live like five minutes from your house anyway. It's late and your parents are probably already asleep."

Nick started bouncing in his seat getting impatient. "Me wana go home...me wana go home," he started chanting, now that he was feeling much better he was back to his annoying hyper active self.

Brian groaned as he brought his hand up to his face and held his forehead. "And I wanna sleep."

Howie chuckled. "I doubt that'll happen especially since Nick looks like he ready to last another 6 hours or so. You want us to stay at your place to help or what?"

Justin smiled a tired, small smile. "Thanks," he said as he followed AJ to where the car was and got into the passenger side, his head immediately resting against the back of the seat.