“You two make me sick. You know that?” Brian stated looking at the couple sitting across from him on the couch.

“I know!” Nick said with a smile on his face.

“Lay off cuz. I think it’s cute!” Kevin said as Howie agreed.

“Thanks Kev. Thanks D.” Nick said with a cheesy grin as he looked up at the person sitting behind him waiting for a smart-ass remark.

A.j. with a big smirk on his face gave Brian the middle finger and told him to “go screw himself.”

“Wow Nick,” Brian said, “don’t you have a very polite boyfriend!”

Nick looked up at A.j. “we’re gonna have to work on that attitude of yours. You heard Brian, he said you were very polite and very polite just isn’t your thing! Plus, you were very nice Brian and I don’t like that!”

“Hey!” was all Brian could manage to say before the doorbell rang.

“That’s probably the reporter from MTV. So you two need to get off each other so she doesn't start asking questions.” Howie said on his way getting up to answer the door while Nick gave A.j. a quick kiss and sat on a different couch.

:: Later That Night ::

Nick sat on A.j’s bed watching A.j. on the computer.

“I hate this.”

“Hate what?” A.j. said as he stopped paying attention to the computer and faced Nick.

“Having to hide us and I how I feel about you from the world.”

“I know babe, me too. But what management says is what goes and we both know that.”

“I know,” Nick said with a sigh, “but I still hate it.”

“Me too. And that really sucks cuz it’s not easy for me either. I want people to know about you and me and to know how much I love you, but there is nothing we can do about it. So lets just go to sleep and not stress over this for now. We have a lot of things to do tomorrow.” Said A.j. while getting ready to go to bed.

:: After about 5 minutes of silence ::


“J?”

“Yea Nick?”

“I love you” Nick said right before falling asleep.

“I love you too.” A.j. said in between yawns.

:: The next morning at 8:00 a.m. ::

“Wake up! Wake up!”

“Go away.”

“No, wake up.”

“Uugghhh…go away A.j.”

“It’s 8 o’clock get up. We have a photo shoot, a press conference, a meet and greet, another press conference, and then we’re free to go. So get your ass out of bed NOW!!”

Nick threw the blankets off of him. “Happy?! I’m up. Now get out of here and leave me the hell alone.

“As I checked last sleeping beauty, this was and still is my room. So you need to get up, go to your room, and change. Don’t forget to take a quick shower cuz you really need one!” A.j. said making a playful funny face towards Nick as he walked away.

:: An hour later ::

“Oh My Gosh!!! Is that really him?!” Brian said as he put his hand over his mouth and gave a shocked expression.

“We honor your presence Mr. Carter!” Kevin said while A.j. and Howie were cracking up and trying not to spill their coffee.

Nick sat at the kitchen table next to A.j. with the rest of the guys and stole Kevin’s coffee from him. “Shut up,” Nick while leaning over and giving A.j. a good morning kiss.

“Mmmm…minty!” A.j. smiled.

“Hey! That’s mine and I wasn’t done with that.”

“Not anymore Kev, it’s mine now.” Nick said while taking a sip form the coffee.

“All right all right,” Brian said while looking through his papers. “Lets see what we are supposed to be doing today. Shall we?”

:: Seven hours later. 3:00 P.m. ::

“Finally! Done with everything. Now we’re free!” A.j. said as he dropped himself on the couch.

“Yup.” Nick said as he sat next to A.j. “So what do you guys wanna do?”

“I’m going to see Leigh.” Howie said.

“And I’m gonna go to the airport with Kevin to pick up Kristin, Leighanne, and Balyee.” Brian said. “They are going to be here for the week. What are you two gonna do?”

“Dunno, golfing maybe? That’s if Nick is up to it.” A.j. said while talking out a cigarette and looking at Nick.

“Yea! That sounds like fun. Ha! Ha! Brian, you can’t come!” Nick said as he stuck out his tongue at Brian as the rest started laughing at Nick and his childish behavior.

“Hey B, we better get going if we want to be on time.” Kevin yelled from the kitchen.

“Yea, I better leave to.” Howie said.

“All right. Bye guys!” Nick and A.j. yelled at the same time.

“Well, aren’t they in a hurry to get rid of us?” Kevin said as he walked out the door with the guys.

:: At The Golf Course ::

“Dude, you realize that we’ve been here for 3 hours already?” Nick said looking at his watch.

“We’ll play one more hole and then we’ll go.” A.j. said while putting.

“OMG! Did you see that? I made a hole in one for the first time today!” Nick said while jumping up and down.

“Good job!” A.j. said while giving him a kiss. Both not realizing what they just did in public.

“Ok, we can go home now. My job here is done!”

“Whatever,” A.j. said. “Lets go.”

:: A Week Later ::

Brian came into the house after doing some grocery shopping. “Everyone get down here right now. We are going to have a very serious group meeting called upon by me.”

“What’s up cuz?” Kevin said.

Howie came down the stairs, “is everything ok?”

Nick and A.j. came up from the basement, “what?”

Brian looked at all of them and said “kitchen table now” and walked into the kitchen.

They all looked at each other confused and followed Brian.

“Ok, now that we are all here and sitting down, what’s going on?” Kevin asked.

He threw the Star Magazine on the table. “This is what’s going on.”

They all looked at each other in shock with their faces turning white.

“OMG!” Nick said as he took the magazine and looked at it closely. A.j. and him on the front page kissing.

They all looked at each other again, not knowing what to do or say.

“This is from when we were golfing about a week ago. How but? We were alone?” A.j. said.

“OMG,” Nick said, “if my parents see this they will kill me.”

“Its been two years,” Howie said, you guys should keep hiding this.

“I’ll call management and have them set a press conference as well as see what they have to say about this. Don’t worry. Everything will be ok.” Kevin said as he took the big brother role.

Just as soon as Kevin was about to walk out of the kitchen, Nick’s phone rang. He looked at it then at the guys, “it’s my mom.” He picked it up, “hello…hi mom…yes mom I saw it…yes it’s true and real…yes…for two years now…what?!…how could you?… but…no…I will not end it with him to make you happy…he makes me happy,” Nick said with tears going down his cheeks as the others looked on helplessly and A.j. rubbing his back. “I…no…I don’t care what you and dad have to say about this, it’s my life. You may be my mother, but only by birth, NOT BY CHOICE! Why can't you understand that I love him and he loves me?! No…no he isn’t just saying that. He means it and so do I…I didn’t tell you because I knew that you would act like this…like what? Like a bitch. No one knew except for the guys, management, some of our friends, and now the whole world! You know what, fuck this shit and fuck you and dad. Call me when you get your senses back!” Nick said as he hung up the phone and started crying so hard.

A.j. hugged him so tight. “Shhh…Nick. It’s ok. Calm down.
Take a deep breath. I understand that they are your family, even if they don’t act like it most of the time, and that what they say to you is important, but don’t get yourself worked up over them. They aren’t worth it. I love you and the guys love you and that’s all that matters. They are our real family, as long as they support us, which they do, then that’s all we should care about.” A.j. said as he wiped Nick’s tears away.

“That’s right frack. We love the both of you and we support the both of you no matter anyone has to say. Got that?” Brian asked.

Nick just shrugged his shoulders and went up to his room.

They all just looked at each other. “You ok?” Howie asked A.j.

“No, but I have to be in front of Nick. I’m scared you guys. I'm scared for Nick and I'm scared about the out come of this situation. I don’t know what to do. What’s the press gonna say? What are the fans going to say? My family, management what about them?”

Kevin walked up to him and hugged him. As soon as Kevin walked up to him, he started crying. “I can't do this A.j. said.”

“It’s going to be ok. Don’t worry about anyone but you two. Remember, no has a say in this but you guys.” All right? Kevin said.

“Never forget,” Brian said, “like I was telling Nicky, no matter what anyone says, we love the both of you and we support the both of you. You guys have nothing to worry about.”

“Yea,” Howie added, “your gonna hear a lot of harsh and negative things from a lot of people, but your gonna also hear a lot of nice and positive things. There is always a good side and a bad side to everything. None of that is important as long as the two of you know what you both want and need.”

“Why don’t you go talk to Nick and relax, you’ve had a long day” Kevin said as he stopped hugging him.

“You’re right, I need to talk to Nick,” he said getting up. Before he walked out of the kitchen doorway, he turned around and said, “I don’t know what Nick I would do with out you guys. Thank you so much for everything. We love you.”

“We love you both as well, now go upstairs!” Brian said with a smile to try and lighten things up.

“I'm going! I'm going!”

:: Upstairs In Nicks Room ::

A.j. walked in and saw Nick laying down on the bed.

“Hey.”

Nick looked up, “hi.”

“You all right?”

“I’ve been better. You?”

“Same here.” A.j. said as he laid down next to him on the bed.

Nick looked at A.j., “now what baby?”

“I honestly don’t know. Kevin is gonna call management to see what they have to say about all of this and then I guess we’re gonna have to have a press conference to state that we’re “gay” and together.”

“You scared?”

“Yea babe, I am. Are you?

“To death, but as long as I have you than I'm going to be all right.” Nick looked at A.j. smiling as he said that.

“That’s one thing I'm definitely not scared about!” A.j. said with a smile as he gave Nick a passionate kiss.

“I love you.” Nick said.

“I love you too baby.”

:: Down Stairs In The Kitchen ::

Kevin hung up the phone after having a 30-minute conversation with management.

“So?” Howie said.

“They want them to lie about it and say that it’s all fake.” Kevin said. “That’s the only way that they will set up a press conference.”



“What?” Brian said. “That’s crazy! They can't lie about it, they have hid it long enough. It’s…”

“Yea,” Howie interrupted, “they deserve to be happy and show everyone their love. I mean it has been two years.”

Kevin just sighed, “there is nothing we can do about it.”


“There has to be.” Brian said.

Howie looked at them, “what about… no, that’s not gonna work.”

Kevin just looked at them all and gave an evil smirk, “I’ve got it. We will tell Nick and A.j. that management agreed for them to tell everyone the truth, and we’ll tell management that they agreed to tell everyone that they aren’t together and that it was just a publicity scam. That way management can't stop them from telling the truth and Nick and A.j. won’t have the stress of not telling anyone and they can finally be happy together and be a real couple.”

Brian and Howie just looked at each other and then at Kevin with huge smiles on there faces and said at the same time, “that’s a great idea!!!”

“Oh yea! And I'm sure management is going to love it!” Kevin said with a smirk and then laughed.

“It’s 10 p.m. how bout we tell them tomorrow?”

“Yea,” Kevin said. “Who’s up for a movie and pizza?”

“Sure,” Brian said.

They looked at Howie, “sure, why not?”

:: The Next Morning ::

While everyone was still asleep, Kevin called management.

“Hi Peter, it’s Kevin. Yes, we’ve talked as a group and we all decided to tell the public that it was a scam. Yes, Nick and A.j. agreed as well. No, they are both locked in their rooms now not wanting to talk to anyone. Please don’t call them, they are both pretty upset about everything and we don’t want to stress them even more. Ok great, just call me and let me know when the conference is. Thanks Peter, bye.” Kevin just smiled to him self as he hung up the phone with the head of their management company.

:: An Hour Later After Everyone Is Awake ::

“ Alright guys, I talked to management, and they agreed for the both of you to tell everyone that you’re together.”

Nick and A.j. looked at each other and then at Kevin, “are you serious?! No way would they have agreed.” A.j. said

“After two hours on the phone,” Kevin said, “they got sick of me and said ok. Ask Howie, he was with me”

Nick looked at Howie, “is it true?”

“Um…yea…yea it is,” Howie said confused not knowing what Kevin was talking about but still played along. “Those were a long two hours, I was even willing to beg them to say yes.”

“Wow!” was all Nick could say.

“So,” A.j. said, “when is the press conference?”

“I don’t know yet,” Kevin said, “they are supposed to call me and let me know.”

:: At The Press Conference, Two Days Later ::

They were all sitting at a table that was above ground level. Howie was at the end, than it was Kevin, Nick, A.j., and Brian at the other end.

Kevin looked at Nick, “are you ready?”

Nick gave Kevin nervous laugh, “as ready as I will ever be.”

Kevin patted him on the shoulder, “you’ll be fine!”

“I hope so,” Nick said as he looked at A.j. to see what he was doing. He was playing with the hem of his shirt.

“Don’t be nervous,” Nick told him.

“I'm not, are you?”

“A.j., you’re playing with the hem of your shirt. You ARE nervous. And yes, I am very nervous.”

“Good, that means I'm not the only one.” A.j. said as he stopped playing with his shirt.

Brian over heard that and looked at A.j., “trust me, we are all nervous, but you’ll be fine. Don’t worry, Howie, Kevin, and myself discussed this already. If it gets too much for you and Nick, we will take over. Plain and simple. You guys don’t and won’t have to handle this by yourselves.”

A.j. smiled and relaxed a bit. “Thanks B, you have no idea how much that means to me.”

“Anything to help!” he said as he prayed to himself that he is right and that everything will be ok.

“Ok everyone, welcome to the conference. The guys here have something very important to tell you. Please hold all of your questions to the so they can be answered. Thank you” Peter the head of management said.

Howie was the first to speak, “good morning everyone.”
Everyone answered back good morning including Brian to try and lighten things up. The press as well as the guys laughed at him.

“Lets cut to the chase shall we,” Kevin said, “everyone knows why we are here today. I'm sure you’ve all seen the magazine cover with the picture of Nick and A.j. on it. They are here to tell everyone what is really going on. Like Peter said, keep all of your question till the end. Any questions that are blurted out during the conference and before we give you guy the ok to ask them will not be answered now or later. With all of that being said, we will begin.”

“Well said cuz!” Brian said with a smile.

Nick looked at A.j. and gave the “you start please” look.

“Alrighty then,” A.j. said. “Like Kevin mentioned earlier, the front cover of People Magazine had me and Nick on it kissing. As I'm sure, many of you are wondering if it is real or not. The answer is (short pause) yes, it is real.”

As soon as A.j. said that, all the guys could hear are gasps form the people in the audience and as well as from management.

Nick continued, “A.j. and I have been together for two years now.”

More gasps!

“That will be enough!” Kevin stood up yelling and pounded his fists on the table to emphasize his point. “If this continues, the conference will be cut short and no questions will be answered.”

“Thanks Kev,” said Nick as he finished what he was saying, “like I was saying, A.j. and I have been together for two years now. The only people that knew about us were the fellaws, management, some of our friends, and certain family members. We wanted to keep it private.”

The guys talked for another hour before they agrees that it was time to answer questions.

“First question,” Nick said. “You in the blue and yellow.”

“Why wasn’t anyone told about this?”

A.j. and Nick looked at each other. “Because we didn’t know how everyone was going to react…”

“…and,” Nick continued, “ we wanted to keep our personal life…PRIVATE!”

“Kevin, Howie, and Brian, how are you guys dealing with all of this?” asked a lady.

“You mean with them two being together?” asked Kevin. The lady nodded. “We are perfectly fine with it. As long as they are happy, then so are we.”

“We support them 100% and more.” Added Howie.

“They know what they want. If they want to and need to be together, then by all means, go right ahead. We want the best for them and if you see them together, then you know that they were made for each other.”

“But Brian, weren’t you raises catholic and believing that only a man and a women should be together? Are you just going to forget everything you were taught and raised to believe in?” Some one else asked.

Brian thought about that question for a second. “Yes, I was raised catholic and taught that only men and women should be together. No, I'm not just going to forget everything I was raised with. I’ll admit, when that first told me that they were going out, I was in shock, and thought it was wrong, and that it was a sin. But, as time went by and with the help of these guys, they showed me how to understand that love comes in my ways, shapes, and forms. That it’s ok for people of the same gender to be together. Do I believe that this is the right thing? I honestly don’t know. I have nothing against people of the same sex who want to be together, but what I was taught will always be in the back of my mind. I support Nick and A.j. and every other couple of the same gender 100%, and I always will. And for those of you that are going to ask if Nick and A.j. knew about everything that I just said and about how I feel, the answer is yes, they do. They understand where I'm coming from as well as support me and my beliefs.”

“Is that true?” A lady in the second row asked.

“Yes, it is.” Said A.j. “He has told us all of this from day one and yes, we, Nick and myself, understand and support his beliefs. As long as he and everyone that we care about supports us is all that matters.”

“Which I…we totally do.” Brian added.

The group answered a few more questions and then ended the conference. As soon as they went to the back, Peter, the head of management started yelling at them for not following the “plan.”

“What the hell is wrong with you guys? That wasn’t the plan. Why the hell didn’t you follow the fucking plan?”

“What plan?” Nick and A.j. said at the same time while looking at Howie, Kevin, Brian, and then looking at Peter.

“Ummmm…” was all Kevin, Howie, and Brian could say. Each looking at each other for answer.

“You mean to tell me that YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT THE PLAN?” Peter said glaring at Kevin.

“No, we don’t know anything about ANY plan,” said A.j. while looking at Kevin, “care to explain?”

“They wanted you guys to tell everyone it was all a scam that you guys aren’t together and they you guys aren’t even gay. Brian, Howie, and myself thought that it wasn’t fair for the both of you to keep your love a secret. So, we told Peter that we all agreed to follow their plan and we told you that they said it’s ok to go public.”

“You wanted us to do what?!” Nick yelled. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you want to do that to us? Isn’t two years long enough?” as soon as Nick ended his sentence, he walked out of the door but not before pushing Peter out of his way.

Peter was pissed. “That son of a bitch is going to regret that.”

A.j. glared at him. “You’re right about one thing, his mother is a bitch, but if you do anything to him I WILL kill you. You understand that?” he walked out of the room to go find Nick.

Kevin looked at him, “you will have to go through ALL of us. Not just A.j.”

:: At The House ::

A.j. went to Nick’s room to see if he was there. He looked around the house and couldn’t find him. There is one place he has to be. A.j. thought to himself. The ocean. His second home.

:: At The Ocean ::

A.j. walked around looking for Nick while thinking. He was distracted from his thoughts when he saw a figure in the distance.

A.j. sat next to Nick. Neither of them said a word for 20 minutes.

“A penny for your thoughts?”

Nick just sighed. “I’ll give you a dollar for yours because I don’t know what to be thinking right now.”

“Deal! I guess you could say the same about me. I’m at a loss of words right now. There are sssooooo many things going through my head right now. I just need time to sort everything out and just think things through. This isn’t easy for me and I know that it isn’t easy for you either.
But, in my opinion, I think that as long as you and me have each other and everyone that supports us, then we will be fine. This is going to be hard as hell to get through with out everyone…but especially with out you. I love you Nick and I don’t know what I would ever do with out you and I never want to find out.”

“And I thought Brian was supposed to be the smart one!”

“HEY!”

“I'm kidding! I'm kidding!” Nick said. “ I love you more than life it self and I would be lost without you. Believe it or not, you are my other half and I know that as long as you love me and that as long as I have you by my side we can beat anything!”

“Good,” A.j. said while getting up. “Now lets go home. I'm getting hungry.”

Nick looked at him, “you’re starting to sound like me. The guys aren’t going to like that!”

“Nah, they wont. That will make bad press and not to mention it will mess up Brian’s kiss ass image and the angel everyone thinks he is.”

Nick just laughed at him and walked away.

A.j. yelled at Nick while he was walking away, “I still want my dollar!!!”