“So, your vision brought us here to Ohio.” Gabriella voiced as she and the group casually walked through the city of Columbus. “What exactly are we looking for?”

Logan shrugged, “I’m not sure yet… I’ll let you know what I feel like we’re getting close.”

“Did you guys know that a song called “Hang On Sloppy” is the official state rock song?” Josh asked no one in particular as he scanned through an Ohio tourist pamphlet and munched away on a hotdog he had brought from a stand earlier. “This thing is so informative.”

Darren shot the younger man a look, “Have you never been to Ohio Josh?”

Josh shook his head as he took another large bite of his hotdog. “Nooomp.” he managed to say as chewed his food. “Ooooh wow, did you guys know this state gave America it’s first hotdog in 1900?”

The other three immediately stopped walking, turning to give him a ‘are you fucking kidding me?’ look. “I’m serious!” Josh exclaimed, pointing to the pamphlet. “It says here a man by the name of Harry M. Steven created the popular dining dog!” he took yet another bite of his hotdog. “Man… no wonder there were sooo many hotdog stands we passed by!”

Gabriella rolled her eyes, “Thank you Captain Informative.”

As the group continued to walk along the streets of Columbus, they passed by a large arena. Gabriella looked up at the large structure and did a double take. Schottenstein Center. She slowed to a stop as the other three continued walking; this place looked so familiar to her, but why? She’s never been here, let alone have been to Ohio before, but she remembers seeing this center.

“Hey, you guys?” she called out, causing the other three to finally stop walking and turn around to look at her. She pointed up towards Schottenstein Center, “I’ve seen this before.”

“Schottenstein Center?” Darren asked as he walked up beside her. “It’s an arena.”

Gabriella nodded, “I’ve definitely seen this building… like I’ve been here before.” And that’s when it hit her… she remembered this place because she had a dream of coming here a few weeks ago. In her dream, she was by herself when she wandered up to this arena. “That’s what it was, I had a dream of coming to this place! Do you guys think that means something?”

Logan shrugged as he began walking up towards the entrance of the center. “I think it means we’re getting real close guys… I say we check it out.”

Darren and Gabriella nodded as they followed Logan up to the entrance of the center. Meanwhile, Josh had busied himself in finishing off his hotdog and reading the interesting facts of Ohio that he didn’t even realize his friends had left him. “Hey, did you guys know that fifty percent of the United States population lives within a five-hundred mile radius of Columb-” he cut himself off when he looked up to no longer see his friends, and that he was standing there, talking to himself.

“Guys?” he asked as he looked around, finally finding them near the entrance of the arena. “Hey, wait for me!” he shouted as he tossed his rubbish into the nearest trash bin and ran over towards where they were.

“What do you’ll think we’ll find here?” Gabriella asked no one in particular as they walked through the large doors of the center.

Logan began to look over the posters of sports and concert dates, as well as the sports and music memorabilia that decorated the foyer of the large arena. “I’ll let you guys know when I feel him.”

“When you feel him?” Josh repeated, as he now caught up with the group. “What do you mean?”

“His presence is definitely here… the question is, where?”

As they continued to wander through, Logan bypassed a poster tacked to the wall that definitely caught his attention and caused him to stop and stare at it. On the poster were nine men with big letters printed that said “NKOTBSB”. Above each individual were names, what he presumed to be their last names, and the information read as such: “New Kids On The Block - Backstreet Boys. One night, one stage. Once in a lifetime.”

He continued to stare at it until he finally broke his attention from it and caught up with the rest of the gang, who were now standing outside doors that led into the actual arena itself. For some reason, the doors were closed and were guarded by the Schottenstein Center’s security guards.

“Excuse me, sir?” Darren called out, catching the attention of one of the security guards.

“If you’re here for the sound check party, continue on down that way and enter through those doors.” the guard replied as he pointed off in his left direction.

Darren’s face contorted in confusion, “Sound check party? No, we’d like to get into the arena sir, if that’s okay.”

The guard scoffed, “Yeah, you and fifty million other people! Look, if you don’t have any sound check passes, then you have no business being here. The show doesn’t start till later on tonight, 7:00 to be exact, so come back then.”

“So, there’s people in there?” Josh asked.

The guard shot him a pointed look, “What part of ‘sound check party’ do you not understand? Of course there’s people in there! And apparently, since you guys don’t have passes, it looks like you WON’T be joining those people in there, now will you?”

Josh immediately glared at the burly man, before being pushed back by Logan and Darren. Gabriella sweetly waltzed up to the obviously agitated guard, smiling as they batted her beautiful, innocent brown eyes. “Sir… I’m sorry that we tend to be asking you questions that definitely seem to be riling you up.” as the man stared into Gabriella’s hypnotizing brown eyes, he began to feel himself calm a bit. “It’s just that…” she continued, “we really need to get in there, because we’re looking for somebody.” she placed her hand gently upon his shoulder as her eyes began to gleam pearly white orbs. “Won’t you help us?”

Instead of fearing the fact that the woman’s eyes had just turned completely white, the man simply nodded, as if in a trance. “Yes… come right this way.” he said as he stood up from where he sat and pushed the door open for them to walk through.

“Thank you.” Gabriella replied sweetly as she leaned in to give him a chaste kiss on his cheek, “Your kindness shall be rewarded.” she whispered before she pulled away and walked in through the doors, leading the other three in as well.

The guard simply nodded, “My pleasure.” he said as he closed the door behind them and sat back down on his chair. A few seconds later, he quickly shook his head, as if to rid himself of thoughts that seemed to be floating in his mind. He glanced around, not able to recollect what had just happened. Shrugging, he focused himself back on guarding the doors.

“What was that about?!” Josh asked incredulously as they now made their way over towards where the “sound check party” was being held. “Did you promise to show him your goodies later or something?”

Gabriella chuckled sarcastically and rolled her eyes, “No, I did not flirt with the man if that’s what you mean. Lets just say… I have the gift of persuasion.”

“Alright you guys,” Darren spoke out, “time to tune ourselves off, we’re here for a reason. May we not be distracted and lets spread out.”

The group nodded as they all dispersed into different directions. Gabriella, Josh and Darren resulted in looking through the crowd while Logan seemed to be drawn towards the people that were on the stage. There were four men that were on the stage, that were joking around with each other, answering questions and singing whatever song that was requested. He’s never heard their music before, but he listened in.

“When you come back I won’t be here… she said and gently pulled me near… if you wanna talk, you can call… and no it‘s not your fault…” Logan stared at the man with dirty blond hair that started the melodic song off. “I just smiled and said ‘let go of me’… now there’s, something I just gotta know… did someone else steal my part? She said it’s not my fault…”

When the other three chimed in with the chorus, Logan was taken aback at how amazing their harmonies sounded. It blended together so well, so smooth, so effortlessly. “Then my heart did time in Siberia, was waiting for a lie to come true, cause it’s all so dark and mysterious, when the one you want doesn’t want you too…”

“I was drifting in between… like I was, on the outside looking in, yeah…” Logan stared wide eyed at the bald man who was singing this next verse. Though they were indoors, the man wore dark sunglasses to hide his eyes from the world. He was sporting dark facial hair and sideburns and was covered in tattoos. His voice was booming, raspy yet velvety, and he seemed to sing with so much passion. “In my dreams you are still here, like you’ve always been…”

Logan’s eyes widened as the group of four began with the chorus once again. That man… he was the one! He’s the one they’ve been looking for! But what of the three? Could those three other men also be the ones that were being called to serve?

As the song began to wrap up, Logan made his way back towards the entrance, to which he saw Gabriella walking up to him as well. “How did you…” Logan started.

“I am telepathic you know!” Gabriella reminded jokingly, “I was tapping into each of you to see if any of us had luck. Once I picked up on the positive confirmation from you, I set out to find you and had informed the others as well.”

Josh made his way through the crowd and over towards them when he had received Gabriella’s telepathic message. “Where’s the guy?”

Logan pointed up towards the stage, straight at the bald man, who was now wearing a hat. “That’s him… that’s the guy?”

“Are you sure?” Josh asked just as Darren approached them, “This guy looks like he could kick our asses if he wanted to.”

Logan simply nodded, “I’m positive. He’s a direct match with the presence I’ve been feeling.”

Darren slapped a reassuring hand down upon Logan’s shoulder, “Good job guys. Now, we just have to find the remaining three.”

Logan glanced back up at the stage, dismayed when he saw the group exiting off the stage. “I think I know who the other three might be…” he said as he walked them over towards the nearest poster that was tacked on the wall. He simply pointed to the poster of nine men.

“NKOTBSB?” Gabriella questioned in a weird tone. “But, there’s nine of them.”

“They’re two different groups.” Logan explained as he tried to point the four men out he saw up on stage. “I believe these four men make up one group… the group that was just up on stage.”

“I know of New Kids On The Block, but not this other group.” Darren stated as he continued to stare at the poster.

“Oooooh, I didn’t know those guys were performing, I love New Kids On The Block!” Josh exclaimed excitedly as he began to do their signature pendulum dance. “Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh… ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh… ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh… the right stuff!” Josh came to a stop when he found three pairs of eyes staring at him. “What? It’s a classic!” he said innocently.

Logan shook his head, “Anyway, I believe that these four, these Backstreet Boys, are the one we’re looking for.”

“Celebrities?” Josh quipped. “These four musicians are going to be our successors? I highly doubt that.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Darren simply stated.

Josh sighed, “But… this is gonna be hard!”

Gabriella glanced over at the group of people she assumed to be their staff. “Not quite.” she replied with a smile.

Josh glanced over towards where she was looking, “Don’t tell me you’re gonna offer your goodies up to those dudes and one woman.”

Gabriella playfully slapped Josh as she rolled her eyes, “Will you stop it with that? The only way we can get close to these guys is if we work for them.”

“As what?” Logan questioned, “Three security guards and one makeup artist?”

Gabriella cocked an eyebrow, “I do NOT do other people’s makeup, thank you very much! I’d do what I do best… protect people.”

Josh laughed, “Yeah… a female security guard, that’s rich! Don’t you wish you had Darren’s little nifty trick right now, so you could transform into a dude? Perhaps if you ask Gabriel, he could change you!”

“Are you ready to be serious?” Gabriella asked in a pointed tone, which immediately quieted the humorous one. “Okay, we gotta think of something because it’s not like we can just waltz up to them, asking for a job.”

“What about your gift of persuasion?” Logan suggested.

“I can do that no problem. It’s just that… we can’t walk up as a group of four random people, seeking to join their team.”

Meanwhile, Darren was watching and observing the group of staff members that were milling around. When he noticed one of the security guards, an African American man, walk away from the group, his eyes began to gleam a dazzling blue color as he observed the man, from head to toe. Once he had a mental picture of the man, from his body, height, face, to even his clothing and accessories, his eyes returned to its chocolate brown color as he looked over at the three. “I have an idea.”

~*~*~*~

“Hey, can we make sure the wardrobe is all organized on the racks?” a short brunette questioned to her staff members. “Last gig, it was not organized, and we had everyone scrambling to find the boys their attire; I do NOT want that to happen ever again, especially tonight!”

“Hey Jen!” a male’s voice called out to her.

The woman, named Jen, turned to the voice that was calling out to her. “Q!” she simply replied before she went back to instructing people of what to do.

“I was looking everywhere for you!” Q said as he began to follow her around the arena.

“Weird…” Jen muttered in a low tone, “because you had just walked away from us not too long ago, and… as you can see, we were still in the same place.”

“Right…” Q replied in an uneasy tone. “Anyway, I have this really good friend who’s looking for a job, and I need you to help hook it up!”

Jen shot a look at him, as if he had lost his mind. “Q… you know good and well we aren’t hiring and that we just DON’T hire random people!”

“But these people aren’t random! They’re my friends, and let me tell you, they’re DAMN good at what they do! You see that guy over there?” he asked as he pointed over towards Logan. “He’s one of them.”

Jen squinted her eyes to see where he was pointing. “You mean the guy standing by the tall blond and the chick?” she asked, to which Q nodded. “The blond guy and the chick are your friends looking for work too?”

Once again, Q nodded. “Yes, and there’s also another guy, who probably ran off to the bathroom or something.”

“Let me get this straight…” Jen drawled out as she turned to solely focus her attention on Q. “You want me to hire your four friends because they’re looking for jobs?”

Q’s eyes looked off to the side, as if he were thinking, until he finally nodded. “Uh… yes.”

“And what do you suppose they’d do? The three guys be security guards and I make the woman a makeup artist?”

“Well… the girl doesn’t do makeup on other people. She protects.”

“She protects?” Jen repeated, making sure she heard her friend right.

“Yes… don’t let her looks fool you, she’s amazing at what she does and has been doing, which is guarding people.”

Jen could only stare at Q as if he had lost his mind. “I don’t know if I…”

“Please.” Q interjected. “Please, do this for me. At least just talk to the group for me, and then make your decision.”

Jen remained silent as she continued to stare at the three people. While the two men looked as if they could be valuable assets to the team, she found it truly weird that he would ask her to consider a female to be a security guard as well. She figured, all he wants is for her to talk to them, and then make her decision… she could at least do that. “Fine!”

Q smiled and grabbed Jen in a tight hug. “Thank you! You won’t regret it, I promise!” he said as he jogged off, leaving Jen alone to approach his friends.

Jen simply sighed as she handed the clipboard she was holding to a fellow co-worker. “Take three, I’ll be right back.” she announced as she began making her way over towards the three who seemed to be waiting for her.

“Hi.” she greeted with a genuine smile. “You guys’ must be Q’s friends. My name’s Jen.” she introduced as she held her hand out.

“Logan.” the man replied as he shook her hand.

The female was next. “Gabriella, but you can just call me Gabi.”

“Josh.” he was the last to introduce himself as he shook her hand.

The smile remained on Jen’s face. “Nice to meet you all. I believe there’s one more, from what he said to me…”

“Right here!”

They all turned to the voice and saw a man jogging up to them. “Sorry, I bumped into Q and got wrapped up in talking to him for a bit. I’m Darren.” he said as he shook her hand.

“Jen.” she replied. “So, I heard you four are looking for a job? He’s also mentioned that you guys are the best at what you do.”

Gabriella nodded, “Yes, we are very good at what we do.” she placed her hand upon Jen’s shoulder as she spoke, her eyes turning white once again. “We’d love for you to give us the positions of being security guards.”

An unexplainable feeling suddenly overcame Jen, making her feel extremely calm and completely fine with everything going on in the world. “Of course, which is why I came over here to address you four! If Q says you guys are the best, then we want nothing but the best on our team, and having met you guys only seconds ago, I feel like this is truly meant to be! I have a feeling that you four will be true assets to our squad. Welcome to the Backstreet family!”

The four beamed proudly, until Josh lightly elbowed Darren in his ribs, “Uh oh, trouble coming, ten o’clock!”

The four turned to find Q walking up to them, and their smiles immediately fell. “Hey Jen, I was looking for ya girl.” Q said as he walked up beside Jen. “Who are these guys?” he asked as he looked the four over.

Eyes widened, Gabriella immediately shot her hand out, grabbing Q’s arm. “Ahh Q, always the jokester! Remember, you just asked Jen if she could hire us because we’re your good friends that we looking for a job.” her eyes turned white once again.

Q found himself hypnotized by the shorter woman’s stare. “Aww yeah man, that’s right! So, what’s the status Jen? Are they good or what?”

Jen simply nodded, “They’re officially apart of the Backstreet team.”

“Great… thank you guys.” Jen said with a smile as her eyes began to turn back to normal. “Would you guys be able to introduce us to exactly whom we’d be guarding for?”

“Absolutely!” Jen exclaimed as she signaled Q to move the arena barrier that separated them. “Come on back this way and I’ll introduce you all to the guys.”

Gabriella threw a look back at the four, who only grinned and shook their heads as they followed Jen underneath the stage. “These four are truly great and genuine guys.” Jen informed them, “Having that said, they tend to be rather mischievous and funny, though they’re all grown adults.” she joked as she led them into the changing room. “I’m sure they’re around here somewhere…” she muttered to herself as she began to look for the boys she has come to call her brothers.

“What it is Jen?!” a tall blond man asked as he crept up from the side. “What you looking for?”

“Not what, who.” she corrected as she grabbed the blond by his arm and gently pulled him over towards them. “And I’m looking for you guys, where the rest of the fellas?”

The blond shrugged, “Around here somewhere.”

“Aye yo Nick, Donnie wants to shoot some hoops!” another man, who had dirty blond hair, voiced as he bounced up towards them. “Two on two… me and you against Donnie and Jordan!”

“Brian!” Jen exclaimed as she also grabbed him by his arm and brought him over. “Now we just need the other two…”

“I’ll go get those two.” Q said as he walked away, in search for the other two members.

“Okay… Nick and Brian, I want you guys to meet the newest additions to the security team! This is Josh, Logan, Darren and Gabi.” Jen introduced.

Nick and Brian held out their hands to shake the hands of the other four. “Nice to meet ya’ll.” Brian spoke in his Southern twang, his genuine smile plastered on his face.

“I do NOT want to hear another one of your lame jokes AJ!” they suddenly heard Q say in a monotone voice. They turned to see him walking in with the other two members, who immediately came to a stop upon seeing the four new people.

Being the charmer that he naturally was, the tattooed man immediately introduced himself to the four. “Hello, the name’s AJ.”

As he went down the line of shaking the men’s hands, when he came to Gabriella, he smiled warmly as he shook her hand. “Gabriella…” he repeated her name. “Such a beautiful name. Nice to meet you sweetheart.”

The shorter brunette man, they've come to know as Howie, was the next to personally introduce himself before asking Jen if they were fans. “No fellas… these are your new security guards, as in they will be joining our team and tour.”

The four men, they’ve come to known as the Backstreet Boys, all smiled warmly at their new recruits. Darren, Josh, Logan and Gabriella simply looked over at each other, knowing deep down inside that this was it… these were the four that God has selected.