| Chapter 87 Lyn woke up and looked around. She was still in the living room, and the sun was shining through the windows. She looked over at the clock, 8:30. "Oh shit," she said sitting straight up. Nick was asleep next to her on the couch. She shook him until he sat up looking at her. "We're late," she signed. He looked over at the clock, "Damn." They both got up and ran to their rooms, quickly changing clothes. Nick beat Lyn out and went over to her room, looking in. She was brushing her hair, and brushing her teeth at the same time. "Hurry," he signed to her. She spit in the sink and mouthed to him, "I am." Nick headed into the living room and grabbed the paintings he wanted to take to the gallery and took them out to the car. She finished and grabbed her keys on the way out the door. They got in the car and sped down the road toward the hospital. "I knew that movie was to long," Nick said as they pulled into the parking lot. "Oh, don't go blaming the movie, you're the one that wanted to stay up after it was over and talk," Lyn said smiling. They got out of the car and headed in. It was 9:10 when they walked into Ted's office. Lyn walked up to the receptionist, "Hi, we were suppose to be here 10 minutes ago." "Yeah, follow me," the receptionist said, leading them to a room in the back. After a few minutes, Ted walked in with Dr. Jansen. "Morning," he said. "Morning. Sorry we're late, we overslept," Lyn said. Ted smiled at her, "No harm done. You remember Dr. Jansen?" "Yes, good to see you," Lyn said holding her hand out to shake his. Nick was watching, trying to read their lips. Dr. Jansen walked over to him, "Morning. So you decided to try this huh?" Nick nodded his head, "Yeah, can't hurt to try." "Well the tests are pretty intensive, but we'll go slow," he said. "OK," Nick said. "And if you don't understand something, stop us and let us know," Dr. Jansen said. "I will," Nick said. "Alright guys, if you'll follow me, we'll get started," Dr. Jansen said. Nick got up from the table and took Lyn's hand as they walked down the hall, to a new set of offices. They were led into an exam room of sorts, with alot of different machinery in it. They sat Nick down at one, and started his tests. Lyn found a chair in the corner, and sat down, watching. All the techs knew sign language, and had no problem telling Nick what they wanted him to do. She watched as they ran Nick through at least five different tests. She looked up at the clock and realized they'd been there for three hours already. Lyn watched Nick, she could tell he was getting tired, and was hoping they would be done soon. They finished the test they were working on and told Nick he could take the headphones off. He took them off and put his cap back on, feeling self conscious without it. "Nick, we're done for today. I need you back here at 9:00 AM in the morning OK," one of the techs said. "OK," he said, getting up and walking over to Lyn. She kissed him when he got over to her, "How you feeling?" "A little tired," he signed. "Well you're done, so we can go back home," she said. "No, we gotta go by the gallery first," he reminded her. "Oh yeah, OK," she said as they left the office and headed down to the car. They made their way downtown and found a parking spot not to far from the gallery. Lyn helped Nick carry the paintings in. He walked up to the girl at the desk, "Um, I think I need to see Thomas." She looked at him, "You're Nick right?" "Yes," he said, reading her lips. "Right this way," she said, taking them down the hall, to Thomas's office. "He'll be right in," she said. Lyn sat her paintings down, looking at Nick, "Have you met him yet?" "No, I talked to his assistant the last time I was here. He told me to bring these to him," Nick signed. Just then Thomas came through the door. Nick saw him and dropped the paintings he was holding. Lyn couldn't believe her eyes, Thomas was the spitting image of Brian. "Hi, you must be Nick," Thomas said holding his hand out. Nick came to himself enough to shake the man's hand. "I'm Lyn," she said, introducing herself. "Nice to meet you," Thomas said, "Well, let's have a seat and see what you have." Lyn motioned to Nick to sit down, which he did. "Thomas, I don't know if your assistant mentioned to you that Nick is deaf?" Lyn asked. "No, he didn't," Thomas said. "Well, he reads lips really well, so just make sure you look at him when you talk to him, or I can translate for you, either way," she said. "Um, can I ask why he's staring at me like that?" he asked. Lyn laughed, "You look just like his best friend, so much so, that you could be his twin. And you have the same name too." "Really? How interesting," Thomas said. Thomas looked at Nick, "You want to show me what you brought?" "Yeah, sure," Nick said, handing the paintings across the desk to him. Thomas took his time looking through them. Lyn and Nick sat nervously waiting for him to say something. "I must say these are quite impressive," he said, still looking down at them. Nick looked over at Lyn, and she signed to him what Thomas had said. Thomas looked up, "Nick, I believe I have just the place for these. We are having an exhibit coming up on �heavenly art', your work would fit right in." Nick smiled, "Great." "I'll have my assistant get all the details, and catalogue your paintings, and get them in," Thomas said. "When is this exhibit?" Lyn asked. "It starts next week and runs for a four week stretch," he answered. Nick looked over at Lyn, "Ask him if I have to be here when it opens?" "He want's to know if he has to be here when the exhibit opens?" Lyn asked. "It is traditional to be, yes, but just for the opening night," Thomas answered. Lyn told Nick, and he nodded his head. "So everything is settled?" Thomas asked. "Yes, I believe so," Lyn said. A knock came at the door, and a tall man walked in. "Tom, you would not believe who I just saw," he said. "Shane, I'm with someone," Thomas said. The man stopped, just then realizing that other people were in the room, "Oh, I'm sorry." Shane looked at Nick, stared a hole through him actually, then realized why he thought he knew him. "Oh my God, Tom do you know who this is!" Shane said. Lyn was trying not to laugh out loud, and Nick was trying to read their lips. "Yes, this is Nick, he's a new artist to the gallery," Thomas said. "Tom, this is Nick Carter, from the Backstreet Boys," Shane said. Thomas looked at him, and Nick nodded his head. Shane walked up to Nick and held out his hand, "Hi, I'm Shane, Thomas's other half, and a huge fan." Nick's eyebrows raised a little, and he smiled, "Hi, thanks." Lyn stood up, prompting Nick to. "We were finished weren't we?" "Oh yes, I'll have my assistant call you with the details on the opening," Thomas said. "Thank you," Nick said, shaking both men's hands and turning to leave. Lyn followed him out. They hurriedly walked out of the gallery and back to the car. As soon as Nick got in he busted out laughing. Lyn had tears in her eyes, she was laughing so hard. "Oh my God, I can't wait to call Brian and tell him I met his twin and his boyfriend," Nick said. "I thought I was gonna lose it in there," Lyn said. They laughed for a few more minutes, before Lyn started the car, and they were on their way home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Brian, do you know where I packed my watch?" Tara asked. She was in the floor, unpacking their bags. Brian walked into the bedroom, "No, you didn't wear it home?" "No, I thought I packed it," she said, "But it's not here." "Maybe you left it at Lyn's," he suggested. "I might have, I'll have to call her and see if she found it," Tara said. Brian sat down on the end of the bed, smiling at her. "OK, what have I done now?" she asked. "Nothing. You just look cute down there, surrounded by all our clothes," he said. She looked up at him, pushing her hair back out of her face, "Well you could help you know." He slid off the bed and walked on his knees over to her, "OK, what do you want me to do?" "Well, take your dirty clothes and put them in the laundry, and put up your travel stuff," she said. Brian grabbed a handful of clothes, "I liked this better when I was a spectator." Tara laughed, "I'm sure you did, now go," she said throwing a pair of his underwear at him. Brian got up and took his clothes over to the laundry basket, dropping them in. Then came back over and took all his travel stuff into their bathroom and put it away. When he came back out, Tara was sitting on the bed. Brian looked around, "You put your stuff away pretty fast." She smiled at him, "Uh huh." He walked over and sat down next to her, "So what do you want to do tonight?" "Absolutely nothing. I want to take a nice long bubble bath, and go to bed early," she said. Brian smiled, "That sounds fun." She smiled at him, "Yeah, it could be." The phone rang, and Tara reached over to answer it, "Hello." "Hey Tara, it's Lyn," she said. "Hi. How are things?" Tara asked. "Good, is Brian around?" Lyn said. "Yeah, he's right here," Tara said. "Tell him to get on the phone, Nick want's to talk to him," Lyn said, laughing. "Uh, OK," Tara said, "Nick wants to talk to you." Brian smiled and ran downstairs, putting the receiver in the machine, "Hi Nick." "Hey, you would not believe what I saw today," Nick typed. "What?" Brian asked. "Your twin," Nick said. "My twin? Last time I checked I didn't have one," Brian typed. "You do now. He's the head of the art gallery here, his name is Thomas, and I swear he's the spitting image of you," Nick typed. Brian laughed, "Poor guy." "That's not all, his boyfriend is a big fan of ours," Nick said. "OK, now that's really funny," Brian typed, laughing. Tara sat down next to Brian, reading what was going on, and laughing too. "Man I swear I almost busted a gut after I got out of there," Nick said. "Yeah, I bet," Brian typed, "So, did you get your paintings in?" "Yeah, in an exhibit that opens next week. I have to go to the opening," Nick said. "Cool," Brian typed. "Bri, I'm a little worried. I don't want people seeing my scar, and I can't wear my cap to this thing," Nick typed. "Do what we did in the As Long As you Love me video," Brian typed. "You mean the dew-rag and the hat?" Nick asked. "Yeah, it looks good with a suit," Brian said. Tara started laughing, "The boy is living with a clothing designer and he's asking you what to wear." "Tara's laughing at us," Brian typed. "Yeah I bet she is, just stick your tongue out at her and tell her it's from me," Nick typed. Brian did. "OK, done. Remind me next time I see you to slap you for that suggestion," he typed. Nick laughed. "HaHa," he typed. "Nick, when did you decide to move up there?" Brian asked. Nothing scrolled across the screen for what seemed like several minutes. "Howie told you?" Nick finally typed. "Yeah, on the way home," Brian said. "Man, I know I should've told you, I just didn't know how," Nick said, "We were having such a good time before you guys left, I didn't want to ruin it." "I understand, but man you're my best friend, when were you planning on telling me?" Brian asked. "Well I was going to when we came up for your party, that's when I sign the papers," Nick said, "Brian, I'm sorry. I know I should've told you." "It's OK I guess. I'm just a little surprised that you would want to live up there full time," he typed. "Well, it's more convenient for me to stay here, than to ask Lyn to move all her business stuff down there," Nick said. "Yeah, I didn't think about that," Brian said. "So are we OK?" Nick asked. "Yeah, you know I can't be mad at you. I'll just have to get used to you not being here is all," Brian typed. "Yeah, so will I," Nick said. Neither one of them typed anything for a few moments. "Bri, I need to go. Lyn wants to go for a walk before it gets to dark," Nick typed. "Yeah, you need to do that to get your strength back up," Brian said. "That's what Lyn keeps telling me, anyway, I'll talk to you later OK," Nick said. "OK, have fun," Brian typed. "K, tell Tara hi for me," Nick said. "I will, bye," Brian typed. "Bye," Nick typed and hung up. Tara looked at Brian as he put the receiver back, "So you work things out?" "Yeah, I guess," he said. She started laughing to herself. "What?" Brian asked. "I'm just trying to imagine you with a boyfriend," she said. "Now I know how those nasty rumors get started," he said laughing. Tara got up and started upstairs. "Where you going?" Brian asked. "Bubble bath, bed," she said. Brian got up and ran ahead of her. "Brian! What are you doing?" she said, running after him. "First one in gets the jets," he said. Tara flew past him and into the bathroom. Brian ran in and stopped, "Dang girl, I didn't know you could run that fast." She smiled at him, "Honey, there are a lot of things you don't know about me." "Oh really? You care to fill me in on some?" he said. "Yeah, sure," she said, walking past him and closing the door, locking it. Brian backed up a little, "Um, well you don't have to tell me now." She laughed, "I'm not telling you anything." "Then what are you doing?" he asked as she moved closer to him. She backed him up against the wall, reaching over and turning on the water in the tub. She turned her attention back to him, smiling as she leaned in and kissed him, "I'm showing you," she whispered. Chapter 88 |