One of the hardest scenes I had to write is when Nick first tells Kevin. It's the first time I actually teared up writing it. It's just a very emotionally charged moment. This is Kevin, and he breaks down himself a bit, despite the fact he's supposed to be the strong one. Though, how could anyone stay strong, hearing that?
Another hard one is when Aaron shows up at Nick's hotel when he's there in NYC doing solo promo. I hated writing Aaron like that (he annoys me but still lol). Partly because his behavior comes from someone in my own life. I understood Nick so well in that moment. At the same time, to get the story where I wanted, Aaron had to be like that.
As for your second question, I was so amazed anyone liked the lyrics for the fictional album lol. A lot of those were poems I'd come up with and then rearrange a bit so that they would work more as songs. I used two real songs, "Scream" and "Story of My Life", because they fit the story. When I came up with this idea, I thought of things Nick would want to be sure to do. An album was automatically one of them, a last hurrah, you know? That BSB song "I Did It For You", I'd just gotten it, and it felt like a very fitting title for the album. Nick's love for the ocean, and the idea of him being washed away, it just seemed a good representation of what was happening to him.
And since he knew he'd never use or remotely need the money, I liked the idea of him setting up a non-profit as another way of leaving his mark in the world.