| Chapter 2 Nick looked around, he was in a field of exotic flowers. He bent down and picked one, looking at it. It reminded him of a rose, without the thorns, but it was small and blueish gray in color. The petals were perfect rectangles, and the scent was intoxicating. He heard a noise and looked up, seeing a group of people in the distance. Nick ran toward them, a feeling in his gut telling him to get there quick. "Wait!" he yelled, as the last person boarded what looked like some kind of ship and it took off. "Wait!! Don't leave me here!" he screamed, watching the vessel turn and head into the horizon. Suddenly, an overwhelming feeling of loss and fear came over him, "Don't leave me here," he cried. Nick sat straight up in bed, heaving for air and looking around. It took him a moment to realize he was in his hotel room. He threw the covers off and went into the bathroom, turning the water on and splashing his face for a moment, looking in the mirror. His eyes were red, like he'd been crying in his sleep, and his head felt stuffy. "Oh great, I am getting sick," he muttered, going back into his room and pulling out his itinerary. "Photo shoot at nine, lunch, down time, show," he read out loud. "Why on earth do they schedule a photo shoot on a show day?" he asked himself, "They know it always runs over and makes us tired." He looked around the room, "And I'm talking to myself again. This can't be good can it?" He didn't answer himself, he was afraid of what he'd say. Nick looked over at the clock, it was an hour before his wake up call. He knew he wouldn't be going back to sleep, so he decided to get an early start on the day. "Can't wait to see Kev's face when I'm the first one ready," he laughed, heading to the shower, "He'll freak. OK stop talking to yourself." Nick took his shower and got dressed. He packed his suitcase and sat it by the door. He made one more pass through the room, making sure he wasn't leaving anything, then headed down to the restaurant. He grabbed a table in the back, hoping no one would recognize him, and ordered breakfast. He thumbed through the local paper, trying to pass the time while he waited on his food. Finally the waitress sat his plate down in front of him. "Can I get you anything else?" she asked. "Um, do you have any honey?" he asked. "Sure, I'll be right back," she said, heading towards the kitchen. Nick arranged his food and looked at it, "There, no one to tell me moving my food around is stupid," he mumbled to himself. His waitress brought him a small bowl of honey and left. He took the bowl and poured it over his eggs, smiling to himself. He had stopped doing this in front of the guys because of their comments on how gross it was. He didn't tell them that catsup on their fries was gross, so why criticize him for what he liked? Anyway, he only allowed himself the luxury when he was by himself. He took his first bite and had to keep himself from moaning. Man I missed this, he thought. He had nearly finished when A.J. walked up, "Hey, mind if I sit down?" Nick shook his head and A.J. took the seat across from him. "Eating that stuff again huh?" he asked. "I like it," Nick said, hoping he wasn't about to get teased again. "Listen man, I'm sorry for upsetting you last night," A.J. said, taking his glasses off and looking at him, "You're just easy to tease, and I don't notice that it's hurting you." Nick smiled at him, "It's OK J. I guess I'm just overly sensitive about it." The waitress came over and A.J. ordered a cup of coffee. He waited until she was gone to speak again, "You never used to be. Why now?" Nick shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno." A.J. watched as Nick finished his food and sipped his hot tea. "You getting sick again?" he asked. "Think so," Nick answered, "Why?" "You don't drink tea unless you're sick," he said. "Oh," Nick said, turning his attention back to sipping the hot liquid. A few more minutes went by in silence as the two nursed their drinks. "So, we OK?" A.J. finally asked. Nick looked up at him, "Yeah, why wouldn't we be?" "Dunno," A.J. said smiling, "Can I still tease you?" Nick laughed, "If it makes you happy, have at it." "But you'll tell me if it's too much right?" he asked. Nick nodded, "Yeah." "Good, oh look here comes Kevin," A.J. said. Kevin sat down with a surprised look on his face, "You two are up early." "Couldn't sleep," A.J. said. "Me either," Nick said, letting the waitress take his empty plates and asking for another cup of tea. "Tea? Don't tell me you're sick again," Kevin said, an exasperated look on his face. "I can't help it that I have allergies Kev," Nick defended. "Yeah, but you woulda thought the docs would find a medicine that actually worked by now," he said. Nick shrugged, "Maybe there's not one." "Come on, there's a medicine for everything," A.J. said. "Well, they don't know what I'm allergic to, so it's kinda hard to make a medicine for it," Nick said. "I thought you had that allergy test done before we started the tour," Kevin asked. "I did, three times. They didn't find anything," Nick said, getting up and tossing the money for his meal on the table, "I'm gonna go grab my stuff." "K," A.J. said, as he walked off. Kevin waited until he was out of the restaurant before turning to A.J., "He OK this morning?" "Seems like it," he replied, "We'll see." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Nick, look this way please," the photographer said. Nick looked and she snapped the shot. "Damn, that flash is bright," he said, blinking his eyes. "Sorry, just a few more and we're done," she said. Nick endured the rest of the photo shoot, then was released. It was Howie's turn. Nick walked back into the dressing room, pulling his shirt off. "Man, am I glad that's over," he said, dropping his pants and grabbing his own to put on. "Yeah, I hate photo shoots," Brian said, looking up from the magazine he was looking at. "Dude, there are other people in here," he reminded Nick. Nick looked around, "So." "So, I swear you have no modesty," Brian laughed. Nick rolled his eyes, "Why do we have to be modest? I mean really, we all have a body, so what?" Brian laughed as one of the make-up artist in the room with them looked like she was about to faint. Nick glanced at her, "Hi," he smiled. She just grinned as she backed out of the room, bumping into the door on her way out. "That's why you should be modest," Brian offered, "Poor girl, she's probably traumatized." "Oh shut up," Nick laughed, as he put his own shirt on and sat down. "You guys ready for tonight?" Kevin asked. "As ever," Nick said. "You did hear what Henry told us yesterday right? About not looking into the lights at the end of the show?" Kevin asked. "Yeah, I heard. Who looks into the lights anyway?" Nick asked, giving Kevin that familiar duh look. Nick noticed a bowl of candy sitting on one of the tables, "Is that for us?" "Oh no, you are not eating that before a show," Kevin said. "Why not?" Nick whined. "Cause you get way to hyper on stage, that's why," he answered. "I thought that was the point," Nick retorted, "Please??" he begged. Kevin looked at Brian, "Why do I always feel like the bad parent?" "Because you are," Brian laughed. "Well, you're no help," Kevin said. "Hey, I'm the friend, not the parent. Hand me some to Nick," Brian said, laughing when Kevin groaned. Howie and A.J. came in, "Oh no, you aren't letting them eat that before a show are you?" Kevin gestured towards the two, "You have my permission to stop them." Brian and Nick looked at the two, then grabbed as much of the candy as they could, and ran out of the room giggling. "Well, should be a fun show tonight," A.J. said, following them. The two older men looked at each other and shook their heads, "God help us." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Thank you guys for being a great audience!" A.J. yelled, as Brian ran past him, closely followed by Nick with a can of silly string in his hand. Nick stopped and sprayed A.J. from head to toe, before yelling goodnight to the audience and running up the platform. All five stood on the platform as it lowered them underneath the stage, "Goodnight!" they all yelled, as they were engulfed in the new spot lights. Nick raised his hand up and gave the peace sign as they dropped beneath the stage. "Fuck, those lights are bright!" A.J. said, pulling silly string off himself. "Yeah, I can't see," Brian said. Nick laughed, "Bri, you aren't suppose to look at them." "I didn't I had my eyes closed," he protested. "So did I, and I can't see either," Kevin said, blinking. "Neither can I," Howie added, walking into one of the supports, "Oh good grief." Nick looked around, "Am I the only one that can see?" "I can, but I had my glasses on," A.J. said, walking over and taking Howie by the arm and leading him around the post. Nick took Kevin and Brian and led them back to the dressing room. Henry came in, "Great show guys!" "Lose the lights Henry," Kevin said, still blinking. "Why? They were great," he asked. "Cause we're all blind, that's why," Brian said. "Not all of us," Nick said, just them. "OK, we lose the lights," Henry said, "You guys need a doctor?" "No, we're fine," Howie said, "I can finally see something." "Nick, how come you can see and they can't?" Henry asked. He shrugged his shoulders, "Dunno. I kinda liked the lights myself." "Did you have your eyes open?" Brian asked. "Yeah," he said. "Well, the lights go," Kevin said, "I'm not going blind just because they look good." "OK, I said they go," Henry muttered, "OK get showered, we're outta here in thirty." The guys quickly showered and got dressed. They teamed up with their security guards and headed out the door to their buses. Each boy had a bus of his own, and had it decorated just how he liked it. They stopped, as always, to sign autographs and take pictures. Nick and Brian were standing close to each other, talking to a group of fans. "What did you flash at the end?" one girl asked Nick. "What do you mean?" he asked, confused. "When you guys were going down under the stage. You held your hand up and flashed something," she explained. "I gave the peace sign," he said. "No, it was like a light. We all saw it," she said. Brian and Nick looked at each other and shrugged. "I dunno, the lights were so bright, maybe it reflected off something," Nick said, as Lane ushered him towards his bus. "See ya in a few hours," Brian said, as he got on his. "K," Nick said, boarding his bus and heading to the back. "You wanna play cards?" Lane asked. "Naw, I think I'm gonna go to bed," Nick said. "You are sick aren't you?" Lane asked. Nick laughed, "I really wish people would stop asking me that." "Sorry man," Lane smiled, "See you when we get there then." "K, night," Nick said, going into the bedroom at the back of the bus and shutting the door. He got ready for bed, then flipped the lights off and crawled in. He settled in on his back, staring up at the ceiling. It was covered with a replica of the milky way, and it glowed just like the night sky would. This was the one thing he'd asked for on his bus. The guys all thought it was stupid, he could have anything he wanted, and he chose this. Nick took a deep breath and let it out, "They don't understand. They'll never understand how this makes me feel. Oh great, talking to yourself again Carter, shut up and go to sleep." He sighed, taking comfort in his stars and drifting to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the crewmen snuck off to a secluded corner and dialed his cell phone. "Hello? Yeah we got a problem," he said. "What is it?" the man on the other end asked. "Everyone saw, you need to get a team down here fast," he said. "Shit, does he know?" the man asked. "No, I don't think so, but you know if everyone in the arena saw it, they'll be here in no time to get him," he said. "OK, keep your eyes open. We'll be at the next venue," the man said hanging up the phone, "I just hope we aren't to late," he muttered. Chapter 3 |