“Rise and shine…….… wakey wakey……………. c’mon, wake up drunken monkey!”

He cracked his eyes open and was greeted by darkness; thank god. As his eyes glazed over to where he heard the voice, he saw a silhouette of someone beside him.

“Good morning sleeping beauty!” Josh whispered.

Logan pushed himself up from the bed slowly, his hands immediately going to his pounding head, “Ugh… what happened last night?”

Josh snickered, “Seems like you had a little too much fun with Jack and Jim last night!”

He groaned, “Uggh, please don’t mention those names!! I can’t get the smell or taste outta my mind!”

“Maybe you’ll think twice the next time you try to drink everyone and their mom’s under the table. C’mon, daddy Darren wants us all up and ready. He and Gabriella are already downstairs, getting an early start on the free continental breakfast.”

Logan began to massage his temples, trying desperately to ward away the massive migraine he was plagued with, “What time is it?”

“Uh… 5:28.”

“5:28?!?!” he exclaimed, realizing that he barely had two hours of sleep… well, they all did. “What time are we supposed to be down there?”

“6:00 sharp.”

Sighing heavily, he begrudgingly tried to get up from the bed, “I swear, just kill me now! This hangover is sooo not the business.”

Josh chuckled and sighed at the sight of his hungover friend. “You know, I really should let you go through this day in this condition, maybe then you’d learn a lesson about what happens when you have too much Jack and Jim…”

“Please….” Logan begged earnestly, “no names!”

“But, daddy Darren said to help you so you can be alert and ready for our training.” Josh finished as he placed his hands on Darren’s head and closed his eyes. A faint green glow illuminated the dark room for a few seconds, and he removed his hands when the room darkened once more. “There. Better?”

Logan’s eyes suddenly became wide, more alert. He was no longer stricken with the immense headache the hangover had left him with; no longer felt nauseated or tired. “Oh god, thank you dude!” he was able to get up from the bed just fine this time.

Josh smiled as he stood up, “You’re welcome. Get yourself ready and meet us downstairs… all the good pastries are probably gone now.”

As Logan disappeared into the bathroom to start getting ready, Josh stepped out of his room and into the hallway, seeing Brian coming out of his room. “Hey Bri!” he called out, catching his attention.

Brian slightly turned to see Josh, “Hey Josh!” he greeted as he juggled his cup of coffee in one hand and used his other hand to close the door to his hotel room. “Sleep well? I’m sorry you all didn’t get much of it…”

Josh gave him an incredulous look, “I should be asking YOU that. I slept just fine, but you… how are you…”

Brian smiled and shrugged, “You’ll get used to it. You can tell I’ve become too accustomed to this lifestyle.”

Josh nodded, he had a point. “Where you on your way to?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

“I had ran downstairs to get myself some coffee before I came back up here to round up the other guys. After that, we’re gonna head down to get ourselves some breakfast.”

“You guys… don’t do room service?” Josh drawled out slowly, hoping his question didn’t come off as rude… he was genuinely curious.

“Although we’ve become accustomed with this lifestyle, we don’t exactly tend to let it BE our lives, you know? Sure, we get comfortable with the perks of being an international celebrity from time to time, but you always gotta humble yourself and keep one foot on the ground while your head’s in the clouds.” Brian replied with a warm smile. “If not, and you become too wrapped up in the luxuries and all the selfish rewards… well, you ain’t living for no one but yourself, you’ll truly have nothing and no one. It’s true when they say… money can’t buy you happiness.”

Josh could only nod, taking in all that Brian was telling him. His wisdom was profound, which definitely reminded him a lot of Darren. “That’s amazing.”

Before anything else was said, a hotel door flew open, revealing Nick who casually walked out, stretching his arms. “Good morning starshine, the earth says hellllooooooo.” he exclaimed as Johnny Depp did in his movie “Charlie & The Chocolate Factory”.

“If you ever wanna get this guy outta bed, there’s one word and one word only that’ll do the trick.” Brian spoke softly to Josh.

He shot him a look, “Yeah? And what is that.”

“Food.”

“Did someone say food?” Nick asked excitedly.

Brian rolled his eyes, “See?”

Only then Nick caught on to the joke that was said about him, “For your information BRIAN, you know good and well that I only eat healthy food now! I’m all about the egg whites and wheat toast baby!”

Brian groaned as he walked away, heading over to AJ’s room next, “Ooh gosh, here we go!”

Just as Josh turned to walk away, he found himself doing a double take at seeing a woman, who emerged from Nick’s room. “Oh baby, this is one of our newest security guards, Josh.” Nick introduced as he brought the woman over towards him, “Josh, this is my girlfriend, Lauren.”

Josh stared at the woman, mesmerized by her eyes. The way he stared at her wasn’t out of lust or like, but because her light colored eyes were eerily reminiscent of Tracy. Before him wasn’t Nick’s girlfriend Lauren… in that moment, he saw his beloved Tracy.

Lauren smiled, which caused Josh’s heart to flutter. Same exact smile. “Nice to meet you Josh.” she said as she reached out her and leaned in for a kiss.

Breaking himself out of his trance, Josh accepted her hand and shook it, leaning in to give her a ‘cheek kiss’. When he pulled back, he no longer saw Tracy, but actually Lauren. “Nice to meet you too.”

“I want it thaaaaaat waaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!” AJ belted out as he walked over towards them from his room, breaking Josh out of the awkward moment. “Man, that was great.” AJ laughed.

Brian shook his head as he walked over with Howie, “Don’t blame a man for having a good time.”

“Ooooh no Rok. You’re like the coolest ever when you’re drunk, I fucking love it, but I feel bad when you are!” AJ explained as they all made their way towards the elevator. “The fans have A LOT more to look forward to with this year’s cruise!”

“Cruise?” Josh asked as they loaded into the elevator cab.

“Last year we hosted our first ever BSB cruise, allowing fans to get as close and intimate to us as possible.” Howie explained, “We planned a lot of fun themed events and… it was crazy, it was great!”

“The turnout went so well, we decided to do it again this year.” Brian added.

Josh nodded, wondering if they’d be invited out to work with them on the cruise. Being away from land and out on the open sea would make them vulnerable, but… he figured he’d share that information with Darren and from there let him make the call.

Once the elevator doors slid open, Nick and Lauren were the first to exit. “Nick, save some doughnuts for the rest of us!” Brian joked, causing Nick to flip him off.

Josh laughed at their antics as he wandered over towards where he saw Darren and Gabriella sitting. “Hey guys.” he greeted as he sat down next to Darren.

Gabriella cocked an eyebrow, a small smirk on her face, “You’re quite chipper this morning. Did you not relieve Logan of his hangover?”

“As much as I wanted to let him suffer, I did what was asked. He should be coming down here in a bit.”

Darren nodded as he took a sip of his second cup of hot, fresh brew. “What about you? You feeling better today?”

Josh nodded, his eyes cast down on the table. “Yeah, I do. Sorry, I was just in a funky mood last night.”

“There’s no need to apologize,” Darren said as he shook his head, “we were just worried is all.”

Josh tried to give a warm smile, to let them know that he’d be okay, but he wasn’t convincing anyone. In that moment of silence that had befallen them, they looked up to see Howie, AJ and a young woman approaching them, plates in hand.

“Hey you two!” Howie addressed both Darren and Gabriella, “Mind if I sit here and join you guys?”

“Please, do!” Gabriella replied as she pulled back the chair that was positioned next to her, allowing Howie to seat himself next to her.

“Hey, just wanted to introduce you guys to my fiancée.” AJ said as he grabbed Rochelle’s plate of food so that she could shake their hands. “Rochelle, this is Josh, Darren and Gabriella. Guys, this is my fiancée, Rochelle.”

“Nice to meet you all.” Rochelle responded with a smile, shaking each one of their hands.

“Likewise.” Darren said with a smirk as he shook her hand.

“Well, just wanted to come over and introduce her to ya’ll, we’ll see you guys around!”

Gabriella watched as the couple walked away, seating themselves at a table that wasn’t very far from them. “They’re a beautiful couple.” she looked back at Howie, Darren and Josh. “I’ll tell you this much, they’re gonna have a beautiful baby!”

Howie nodded in agreement, “I always tell AJ that he’s gonna make a great dad!” he stated as he began to slather some cream cheese on his baked slice of bagel.

“Mhmm. Do you have any kids yourself Howie?”

Howie simply smiled as he pulled his phone out from his back pocket. He pushed a button, bringing it to his home screen, which was a picture of his wife and son. “This is my wife Leigh, and that’s my son James.”

Gabriella grabbed his phone and stared at the picture, “Oooh my, he’s just adorable! He’s a perfect mix of you and your wife.”

“Thank you. Many people say that he looks just like his mom while he sleeps like his daddy.” Howie joked before he took a bite of his bagel.

Gabriella laughed, placing his phone down beside him, “You have a very beautiful family Howie.”

“Thank you.” Howie managed to say as he swallowed down his food. “What about you? Are you married with children?”

Gabriella sighed, “Unfortunately no. I’ve been married once, which didn’t end to well, and…” she paused, her memories rendering her silent in that moment. Her hand slowly crept up to her stomach, as if she could still feel it’s kicks. “No… no kids.”

“I’m sorry about your marriage.” Howie muttered, feeling bad that he had asked that question.

Gabriella forced a smile and shook her head, “No, it’s completely fine. They say talking about it will continue to help me move on from it all.”

Howie simply nodded, truly feeling bad for bringing obvious painful memories. “Well, that man was a damn fool to let you go, because you are a beautiful woman with a great heart… and I know the man that finds you will be the luckiest man in the world.

He wouldn’t let me go… she thought bitterly. She quickly tried to rid herself of the past that was trying to come back to haunt her. “Thank you Howie, that’s very nice of you to say.” she replied sweetly.

Howie smiled and winked, “I’m only speaking the truth sweetie.”

As silence descended upon the group, with Howie finishing his breakfast and Josh excusing himself from the table to make himself a plate of food, Gabriella found herself entering the negative thoughts once more. Her eyes darkened as she thought of the man she had vowed to love till death do them part. She loved him even when he brought death to her that would do them part, but there was no love from him in return. The only thing he sought from it all was pleasure, money and power.

Darren looked worriedly over at Gabriella, knowing she was battling with thoughts from Howie’s question. Without thinking, he reached his hand over the table to grasp hers, which were wrung tightly together. Upon feeling the contact, Gabriella broke herself out of her negative trance and looked up at Darren, who was holding on to her tightly wrought hands, urging her to let go. When he gave a warm smile, she did the same in return, being reminded that she was safe with Darren around.

“What’s for breakfast?” they heard Logan ask as he walked up and took the seat Josh left vacant.

“Waffles, bagels, scrambled eggs, toast, fruits…” Howie replied, holding up his banana for emphasis. “How you feeling? You sure did put those drinks away last night!”

Logan beamed brightly, “I feel like a million bucks!” He was so glad that Josh had healed him and that he wasn’t sitting there before them feeling like he had when he woke up.

Howie cocked an eyebrow, “Wow. I’d love to know what you do to get rid of hangovers.”

Logan chuckled, “Maybe one day I shall share the secret with you.”

Josh walked back up to the group, two plates in hand; one topped with waffles, and the other filled with scrambled eggs, sausage and a slice of toast. “I wake the guy up, and now he takes my seat?”

“Here Josh, you can sit here.” Howie said as he grabbed his empty plate and stood up. “I’m done anyway and gonna talk to the others for a bit. I’ll see you guys later.” and with that, he walked away from them.

Josh took the now vacant seat, “Man, this hotel’s continental breakfast is good! Truly a five star hotel with five star food!”

Logan shot his hand out and snatched a sausage from Josh’s plate, to which Josh glared at him in return. “I love you!” is all Logan said as he ate the stolen sausage.

Josh rolled his eyes and he stabbed his fork into the fluffy pieces of scrambled eggs. “I swear, I should’ve left you to deal with the hangover.” he cracked in a light tone.

“Good morning guys, and the lovely lady!”

The four of them looked up to find Jen walking over towards them, “Good morning!” they chorused their reply.

“I just wanted to introduce you to a few people that you’ll also be working with on the security staff.” they looked behind her to find a group of men walking up towards them. “Of course, you all know Q, then there’s Buddy, Vinny, Mac or also known as the Mac Daddy, Philip, and our first ever set of twin security guards, Dominic and Damien.”

As the group did their introductions, Darren couldn’t help than to notice that something felt extremely off in that moment. He was sure it was his guardian, Michael, trying to tell him something, but he couldn’t get a definite lock on what it was.

“So, you guys here are Q’s friends, huh?” Mac asked no one in particular.

Q quipped in with a nod, “Yup… I can’t exactly remember how we know each other, but we do!”

Logan and Josh couldn’t help than to snicker at the obvious results of Gabriella’s persuasive work. Meanwhile, Darren remained wary of what was going on around them. He couldn’t deny the definite presence that seemed to be in close proximity, but he couldn’t track down who or what had him feeling that way. When he looked at their new colleagues, he felt nothing negative, but all around them was a different story… he picked up on a malevolent energy, as if it had just entered the room they were in, but couldn’t track it down.

“Hey, you alive in there?”

Darren snapped out of his thoughts and found himself staring at one of the twins, Dominic, who was waving his hand back and forth in front of his face, a small smirked curved his lips. “You guys ready to learn the ropes?”

Darren simply nodded, “Sorry, yeah.”

As he began to follow the group of security guards out, he couldn’t help than to look back at the boys, who were still eating and socializing. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake the feeling of the malicious presence that definitely seemed to be there, and his imminent thoughts. He could only hope that nothing would happen while they are gone.