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“This is going so much better than I expected.” Angelo grinned as he looked at the account balance. “Like, a lot better.” He turned to his younger brother. “You can go ahead and make that first payment any time now.”

“I already made it.” Carl refilled his glass with scotch and raised his eyes to meet Angelo’s.

“You did?” Angelo quickly scanned the screen. Carl wasn’t lying; there was a withdrawal notification for five thousand dollars time stamped for a few hours earlier. Angelo looked at the total account balance again and his smile intensified. At this rate, Carl was going to be able to make the second payment well ahead of schedule.

“People are really into this stuff, huh?” Carl sat down at the kitchen table across from his brother. He took a long swallow of scotch before checking the other laptop screen; the one with the live video feed of the Backstreet Boys.

“This just proves how sick the world really is.” Angelo shook his head, but the smile never left his face. “The NetPhanton Twitter account already has over a million followers. Have you checked it out lately? The Backstreet fans are totally getting outnumbered by the sickos; it’s hilarious!”

“Yeah.” Carl forced a smile. “Hilarious.”

The smile left Angelo’s face. “What’s wrong with you? The plan is working, the money is rolling in. Why are you not happy?”

“I am happy.” Carl knew that he had to choose his words carefully. “I just don’t want things to get out of hand. Like, with AJ; we didn’t have to put those drugs in the vodka ...”

Angelo shrugged. “We didn’t have to kidnap them in the first place, but we did. You agreed to this, little brother. You can’t get soft now that the plan is starting to pay off. The numbers speak for themselves; the more we torture these losers, the more people are going to vote, and the more money we’re going to make.”

“I’m not arguing with any of that.” Carl sighed. “It’s just – we just agreed that we weren’t going to kill them and now it seems like ...”

Angelo interrupted his brother with a long, drawn out laugh. “What you may have assumed and what we actually agreed to do are clearly two different things. Those little shits have seen our faces. Did you really think that we were just going to let them walk away?!” Angelo laughed again. “Don’t look so sad, Carl. The Backstreet Boys were always going to die, and by the time we’re finished with them, they’re all going to be wishing for death anyway.”

“How many more times do you think he’s gonna be sick?” Nick winced as he listened to AJ retch into the stainless steel toilet for the tenth time that morning. “Listening to him puke is starting to make me feel sick.”

“Poor you!” Howie rolled his eyes at Nick as he turned away from the sink. He handed the wet washcloth to AJ and helped him sit back against the wall. “Life’s hard for you isn’t it, Nick? I’m sure AJ is totally broken up over the fact that his puking is making your tummy upset.”

“He wasn’t intentionally trying to be insensitive!” Brian immediately jumped to Nick’s defence. “He’s obviously just worried about the fact that AJ’s been puking his brains out ever since he woke up.”

Howie rolled his eyes again; this time at Brian. “So, you and Nick have your first meaningful interaction in, like, ten years and all of a sudden you’re defending his stupidity? I hate to burst your bubble Brian, but Nick bailed on the whole Frick and Frack bullshit years ago.”

“I can defend anyone I want!” Brian stood up and took a step towards Howie.

Brian could feel the anger bubbling up his throat. He didn’t completely know why, but he was suddenly feeling fiercely protective of Nick. The image of the knife cutting into Nick’s face and the notion that he could have been killed was still fresh in Brian’s mind. Even worse, the idea that Nick could have died while their relationship was still strained was eating away at Brian’s conscience.

“And, right now, you’re choosing to stand up for Nick to help ease your guilt.” Howie, too, took a step forward; closing the gap between him and Brian. “I can see it in your face, Brian. You’re worried that we’re all going to die and that you’re going to have to face God without having repented for all of your sins.” You know that you’re a self-centred, self-righteous asshole and you think that making amends with Nick is going to save you. Well, I hate to tell you, Brian, but you can’t fake your way through the pearly gates.”

Brian stared back at Howie; his mouth agape. He couldn’t believe that Howie had actually had the audacity to call him out. The other guys never challenged his behaviour, or questioned the motives behind his actions. Did they all feel the way that Howie did? Did they all think that he was a fake?

“What’s the matter, Brian?” Howie taunted. “Do you have nothing to say now that you can’t tell a lie? Maybe it’s a good thing that you’re currently in the lead for the next little game that these lunatics have planned for us.”

That was it. Brian lunged at Howie, catching him around the waist and tackling him to the cement floor. Howie grunted in surprise, but he held his own as Brian’s elbow slammed into his chest. In a matter of seconds, the two men were rolling across the width of the room; both of them fighting for control as they dodged each other’s fists.

“Brian! Brian; fuck, man, stop!” Nick threw himself into the middle of the fight. He looped his arm around Brian’s chest and jerked him away from Howie’s flailing body. The force of the movement sent them both topping over backwards onto the floor, and Nick let out a moan of regret as his back connected with the cement and absorbed most of Brian’s weight. “Fuuuuuck!”

“Let me go!” Brian struggled to break free of Nick’s iron-clad grip. “For fuck’s sake, Nick, let go of me!”

“You need to calm down!” Nick used his height to his advantage. He swung one of his long legs out and around Brian’s torso, effectively flipping Brian over onto his back and pinning him to the ground at the same time. He straddled Brian’s chest and pushed his shoulders into the cement, breathing heavily as Brian continued to twist beneath him. “Relax, Bri. Relax.”

Brian tried one more time to lift his shoulders off of the ground, but he finally allowed his body to go limp as he stared up into Nick’s wounded expression. The blonde was struggling to catch his breath, and Brian could see the pain flicker across his face as he straightened his back. Brian immediately felt guilty. He hadn’t meant to hurt Nick. He had only meant to hurt Howie. Stupid, fucking Howie; this was entirely his fault.

“Seriously!?” Kevin shot Brian an undecipherable look over the top of Nick’s head as he strode over and knelt down next to Howie who was still sprawled out on the floor, panting heavily and staring at the ceiling.

Kevin sighed heavily as he looked down into the Latino’s angry face. There wasn’t much else he could do with his hands stuck behind his back. “D, are you alright?”

Howie snorted. He pushed himself into a sitting position and gave Kevin a weak smile. He knew that Kevin was itching to help him, and he didn’t want to make the older man feel worse by telling him that he wasn’t okay. How could he possibly be okay after everything that had just transpired?

“I think that we all need to take a step back and reassess what’s happening here.” Kevin chose his words carefully as he repositioned himself on the floor. He could tell that Howie was upset; that he was feeling betrayed by the one person in the room who he had expected to stick up for him. “We’re all going to have to put our personal feelings aside if we’re going to make it through this ...”

“We don’t need a lecture, Kev.” Howie interrupted. “I should have known better.”

“Howie ...” Kevin raised his eyes to the ceiling for guidance. “I’m not saying that you can’t have an opinion. I’m saying that we all need to make a conscious effort to not take things so seriously. We’re all stressed out and at least one of us isn’t thinking clearly ...”

“I’m assuming that the one person that you’re referring to is me.” Brian spoke up from beyond Nick’s frame. He pushed himself up onto his elbows so that he could get a better view of his cousin, and Nick quickly slipped off of him. “Why are we not discussing the fact that Howie just called me a ...”

“For fuck’s sake, everyone just shut the fuck up!” AJ pleaded. He forced himself to open his eyes and to look at each of his bandmates in turn. If his head hadn’t been pounding, he probably would have screamed at all of them for being so stupid.

“AJ, we’re ...” Nick started, but AJ held up his hand to silence him.

“I don’t need to hear that you’re sorry.” AJ looked pointedly at Nick. “You all just need a fucking reality check. Nick, you miss Brian, and Brian misses you. The two of you need to just man the fuck up and hug things out so we can all move on with life. Brian, I love you man, but Howie’s right; sometimes you are a self-centered asshole and it pisses us all off when you use your faith as an excuse to be a dumb-shit. Howie, Nick will never side with you when the going gets tough. It may be a harsh blow to your ego, but you gotta deal with it. Kev, nobody needs you to solve their problems. In case you’re interested, we all want to gouge your eyes out with a spoon when you give us a lecture.”

“AJ ...” Nick tried again, but he was once again silenced by AJ’s hand.

“I’m also gonna call myself out so that the rest of you ladies don’t get your panties in a twist.” AJ rubbed at his forehead and closed his eyes briefly before continuing. The light was hurting his brain. “I hate taking sides, so I’m always gonna stay quiet until Brian or Nick backs me up. Sorry if that upsets any of you, but I guess I’m just as much of a selfish prick as Brian. Now, I’m currently fighting the need to suck back another bottle of vodka, and I really don’t give a shit about anyone else’s feelings at the moment. All I want is for you to all shut the fuck up so I can nurse my hangover in peace.”

“AJ ...”

AJ sighed. He had a splitting headache. “Yeah, Nick?”

“Thanks.”