Sometimes You Just... by Sakabelle
Summary: During the last show of the In a World Like This tour, Nick pulls a different kind of prank on Brian.
Categories: Fanfiction > Backstreet Boys Characters: Brian, Howie, Nick
Genres: Dramedy
Warnings: None
Challenges:
Series: None
Chapters: 1 Completed: Yes Word count: 1827 Read: 1077 Published: 06/26/14 Updated: 06/26/14
Story Notes:
I sat down to write and this just came out, I don't know where from. Enjoy?

1. Sometimes You Just... by Sakabelle

Sometimes You Just... by Sakabelle
The end of the tour was always bittersweet. If there was any show that I always remembered about every tour, it was the last one. In fact, whenever I thought back to our old shows it was always that last show that came to my mind.

Like during the last show of Unbreakable I always remembered Howie falling off the stage. Or the last show of Backstreet's Back when we put this Kevin cutout on stage and I coloured in the eyebrows with a Sharpie. Man, he was fucking pissed about that.

So like I said, the last show of In a World Like This was bittersweet. Everyone's eager to get home but no one really wants the tour to end because it's fun and because we live for this stuff because honestly? If we didn't we wouldn't still be doing it.

(I guess there's the money too, but never let the fans hear me say that.)

I wasn't really eager to get home. After all I wasn't going to be there for very long. In a couple of days we were going to be hopping on a plane to go to the UK and open for (uh, I mean, be a special guest for) McBusted. Who sort of stole our whole NKOTBSB idea, but whatever.

I twisted the ring on my finger as I sat backstage, tapping my foot on the ground. I didn't think I'd ever get used to wearing that thing. If it were up to me I wouldn't but I sort of had to. And it's not about Lauren or anything like that, it's just that I've never liked jewellery or shit on my hands. I don't know how AJ does it. And I know lots of dudes who don't wear a wedding ring.

(No one in this group, which would make it even more weird if I just didn't wear a ring. Because then fans would speculate and shit, and I already have enough of that without me giving them more ammo.)

Where was I? Oh right, twisting the ring.

Brian walked backstage. He looked over at me and gave me a little nod. Because that's where we are now, little nods. At least we've progressed from the avoiding looks and eye-rolls of ungodly disapproval. (From him, not from me.)

“Hey,” I said, but not to him. Howie walked in shortly after him and headed straight for the table I was sitting at. Good old Howie, we never had an awkward phase.

“Hey,” he said with a smile. No wink though. Probably because I'm not one of our lunatic fans who for some reason go crazy over that. If I were them I'd be much more attracted to me than Howie...

Actually, that's how it is. Nevermind.

“Last show of the tour,” he smiled, looking at me. He always knew what I was thinking without me having to say anything. Or maybe I'd said this to him before, I couldn't remember. We've had lots of conversations over the years. A product of being stuck on a bus for hours with no one to talk to but each other and some crew.

“Yeah,” I nodded. I didn't have anything else to say. Just sat there twisting my ring and wondering how much speculation would happen if I were to take it off. It was really starting to annoy me.

“Just take it off,” Howie laughing, eyeing my hand.

I gave him a look and he just laughed again, shaking his head. Yeah, he probably thought that I cared too much what the fans thought. I couldn't help it, I've always been like that. Plus they never judged him half as bad as they judged me! Fucking Howie.

“No prank planned?” he asked, and he sort of sounded hopeful. I had to mess with him a bit.

“How do you know I don't have a prank planned?” I asked, raising my eyebrow and giving him a mischievous look.

He shrugged. “I asked AJ.”

Right, because if I had some master prank planned the first person I'd tell is AJ. Because that guy totally has the ability to keep a secret and not blab everything he hears as soon as he's within earshot. Come on, Howie!

“Maybe the prank's on AJ, you don't know.”

He looked panicked for a second, I swear he did. Ah fucking Howie, he'd probably prank himself by being so worried that I wouldn't even need to do anything.

But I couldn't do that to poor Howie. Well, I could, but I was in a bit of a weird mood so I didn't really feel like it.

“Looking forward to going home?” I asked, taking a sip of my water instead of taking my pranking joke any further.

He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Bittersweet,” I nodded, finishing off the bottle and tossing it over to the recycle bin. I missed, and it fell to the ground. Brian gave me a bit of a look and I grinned like the kid I was. He just shook his head, but he did pick up the bottle and throw it in the bin. Success!

“What?” Howie asked.

“Nevermind,” I said. I didn't really want to get into it.

It was silent for a moment. As silent as backstage could be, anyway. Which wasn't very.

“Hey Nick?” he started again, leaning his head to the side. Ugh, Howie. If you wanted to have a heart to heart you could have just said it. He always starts his serious conversations that way. Unlike Kevin, who starts his conversations with “Hey Nick.” same words, different tone.

It's always in the fucking tone.

Anyway, Howie's tone was more like a high pitched awkward question.

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah?” I drew out the word, because I knew he hated that.

But he ignored it. “You wanna pull a prank on Brian?”

I glanced over at Brian. He was just sitting at a table all by himself, eating some fries and looking at his phone. Probably texting Leighanne or Baylee or tweeting. In that order.

“Hell yes.” I grinned.

* * *


Howie fucking sucks at pranking. He wanted us to pretend to lose Brian's phone. Worst prank ever. That's not even a funny prank or anything, it's just stupid.

Anyway, I came up with a better idea. And Howie really didn't like it but I didn't give a shit because it didn't involve him.

I like to think I'm a pretty good actor, so this was no problem for me. Right before Love Somebody I acted like I was shocked. Like I opened my eyes really wide and tried to speak but no sound came out. I mean, sound came out but it didn't because I was just moving my mouth and not trying to make any sound, you feel me? Good.

Sooo I guess by now people know that Brian's had this vocal issue. Yeah, without going into a lot of detail it's getting better but he still wasn't very confident about it. It actually really fucking sucked because he used to have the best voice in the group and now somehow that's me? I mean I always had the second best voice in the group so I guess it makes sense but still, it sucked for him.

Anyway, Love Somebody. So I was really acting my ass off making it look like I was trying to talk but couldn't, and I walked over to Brian.

He gave me this look like he was really confused. I pulled the mic away from my face. “My mic's not working,” I said, opening my eyes really wide so he'd know it was serious.

He looked out into the crowd of people who were all waiting for the song to start. And it actually was starting. Oh also, because I'm fucking awesome I got the tech guys in on this too. Like I said, last show of the tour, bittersweet, the crew's always up for messing around.

“You have to sing my part, bro,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. Man, my mic didn't even pick that up. They must have really turned it off! I'd have to buy those dudes a beer later.

He looked at me in sort of horror, but the song was starting and he had to sing it because those people were expecting it. Well, they were expecting me to sing it but last show of the tour, so really they couldn't know what to expect. They were just lucky that there was no cardboard cutout of Kevin.

Man, actually they were really unlucky because that was awesome.

Anyway, Brian. So he looked at me in horror but the music was playing and without breaking eye contact with me he just started singing it. “Is it too much to ask for one minute to breathe...

I smiled, patting him on the back and then turning to the fans. The chicks in the front row looked really confused, and I just shrugged my shoulders and grinning, shaking my mic a little bit to show them it was totally broken.

Brian kept singing and by the time it was Howie's turn to sing his part he was laughing and smiling and playing up the crowd like it wasn't even a big deal. And you know what? He sounded great.

Somehow, by the end of the song my mic was working again. Imagine that.

* * *


After the show was over we were all beat. That's another thing about the last show of the tour – it's like at the end of it you're tired from the whole tour, not just that one show. Because you don't have the thrill of a show the next day or the day after that to energize you. You're just tired and ready to go home (or to the UK to open for some shitty supergroup that's not as good as ours.)

I leaned against the wall of the elevator as the doors shut, closing my eyes for just a second. I was the only one in there because everyone else had decided to go out to celebrate, but I needed a few minutes to talk to Lauren and chill out before heading to the after party to show off my wicked DJ skills.

Except that I wasn't alone in the elevator for long, because just as the doors were closing Brian came rushing inside.

“Sorry,” he laughed, looking a bit sheepish.

I shrugged, looking up at the display over the doors.

“Hey Nick?” he said softly.

I looked down at him. “Yeah?”

“Thanks,” was all he said, pressing his lips together with a bit of a grateful smile.

I shrugged. “I dunno what you're talking about, bro.” The elevator stopped on our floor and the doors opened. I stepped out, him following me.

He nodded. “Well, thanks,” he said again before turning and heading to his room.

I shook my head, walking towards my own.

Sometimes you just know.
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