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Rochelle felt as if her hand were literally glued to her mouth. She couldn’t convince herself to lower it, nor could she bring herself to look at Leighanne or at any of the other women who were huddled around her in shocked silence. So, she just stared at the computer screen; watching as Brian slumped forward and slowly slid to the floor as his restraints were released. Tears began to slide down Rochelle’s cheeks as she watched Brian curl himself into the fetal position and start to cry. His sobbing was making it so much worse.

“Can I open my eyes?” Lauren pressed her hands to her stomach as Odin began to kick. Odin – the name that Nick had chosen for their son, the name that was still a secret to everyone but the two of them. “Is it over?”

“Yeah.” Leigh whispered; her eyes trained on the computer screen as the footage flipped back to Howie and the other three guys. “The bit with Brian is over.”

Lauren opened her eyes and dared a quick glance at the screen. She had closed her eyes as soon as Brian had reached his third strike. Her stomach was still churning just from hearing him scream. She had no idea how Leighanne had kept her eyes open, how she had watched her husband endure so much pain.

“I think – I think I just need – I just need a break for a minute.” Leighanne stood up from her perch on the edge of the sofa as soon as Brain disappeared from the screen. Her head was pounding in time with her heart. She could feel her face heating up with a mixture of fear and embarrassment.

“Where are you ...?”

Leighanne held up her hand to silence Rochelle. She forced herself to look into the other woman’s face; to stare into the eyes of the woman who her husband had just admitted to wanting to sleep with. Leighanne knew that Rochelle wasn’t to blame for Brian’s words, but she couldn’t help the anger that was threatening to burst out of her mouth. She needed a minute to think things through and to come to terms with all of the words and admissions that had just tumbled out of her husband’s mouth. She needed to be alone before she unloaded her own bag of truths.

“I’m just going back to my room.” Leighanne drew her eyes away from Rochelle and settled them on her son who was curled up into a corner of the couch; the glow from his phone screen illuminating his tear-streaked face. “Do you want to come with me, Bay?”

“Whatever.” Baylee extricated himself from the couch and stood up to follow his mother. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to hang around and listen to what everyone had to say about his dad, but he could sense that now was not the right time to tell his mom something that she didn’t want to hear. “Is someone gonna call us if something else, like, you know, happens?

“We’ll call you.” Kristin reached out and gave Baylee’s arm a squeeze as he moved past her. “We promise.”

“Okay.” Baylee nodded. He could feel his eyes getting hot with tears once again. For the first time in his life, he wished that he was still a little kid; that he was at home with a babysitter like the rest of his ‘Backstreet cousins’.

Kristin checked to make sure that Leighanne wasn’t paying them any attention as she tightened her grip on Baylee’s arm and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Bay, I know that all of this is hard for you. It’s hard for me too. It’s hard for all of us.” Kristin paused and checked again to ensure that Leighanne was already moving towards the door. “If you need to talk about anything that just happened, or about anything that your dad said, and your mom doesn’t want to talk, you can always talk to me. Okay?”

“Okay.” Baylee nodded again and swiped at the fresh tears that were already wetting his cheeks. He had so many questions, but right now his mind was too jumbled to say anything more.

“The poor kid.” Leigh shook her head as soon as Leighanne and Baylee had left the room. “He shouldn’t have had to witness any of that.”

“None of us should have had to witness any of that.” Kristin agreed with Leigh’s statement. She rubbed at her eyes and turned her attention back to the laptop as the sound abruptly returned to the video feed. Every time that the feed switched from one room to the other, there was a delay in the audio component.

“... it seems to have stopped bleeding.” Howie’s exhausted voice drifted through the speakers. “I don’t think the gash is very deep.”

Kristin sucked in her breath. Her full attention was now on the real-time image of her husband. The last time that she had seen Kevin, he had been lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. The entire time that she had been watching the situation with Brian unfold, part of her mind had been consumed by her husband; waiting to see if he was dead.

“Oh, thank God!” Leigh gave voice to Kristin’s thoughts. “Kevin’s alright!”

“It just grazed my shoulder.” Kevin flinched under Howie’s touch. The wound may not have been deep, but it still hurt. “I’m fine.”

“It needs to be wrapped up.” Howie continued to inspect Kevin’s shoulder. “Would it kill these guys to bring us some gauze?”

“I’m such a fuck up.” Nick drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. He didn’t know where to look. He didn’t want to look at Kevin, and he definitely didn’t want to look at the iPad screen anymore. He could actually feel the contents of his stomach rising up his esophagus. He had successfully managed to scar both of the Kentucky cousins for life. “All of this is my fault.”

“Nick ...” AJ trailed off. He was at a loss for words.

As much as he wanted to make Nick feel better, AJ kind of agreed with the blonde. It was Nick’s stupid escape plan that had lead to Kevin getting shot and, even though he hadn’t admitted to it, Brian had lied to avoid having to say Nick’s name. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Brian would save Nick above anyone else. AJ could only hope that their captors weren’t smart enough to figure out Brian’s unwavering loyalty to Nick on their own.

“This is your fault, Nick.” Howie coldly delivered the words that AJ had been too chicken to say. “We should never have listened to you. I don’t know why I keep falling for your bullshit. I don’t know why I constantly let you talk me into doing things that I don’t want to do.”

“D, come on, man.” Kevin winced as he attempted to reposition himself. The skin on his shoulder stretched as he struggled to maneuver his tightly bound hands, causing a fresh trickle of blood to run down his arm. “Didn’t we just talk about not turning on each other?”

“How are we not going to turn on each other now, Kev?” Howie directed his growing hostility towards the oldest member of the group. “Were you not listening to Brian? Did you not hear what he said? Did you not hear those assholes tell him that he was going to die? We’re all going to die, Kev. So, what’s the point in keeping our feelings to ourselves?”

“I heard ...”

Howie interrupted Kevin before he could start. “Nevermind, Kev. I’m being stupid. Brian didn’t say anything about you. He wants to fuck AJ’s wife, he hates the fact that I even exist, and he apparently loves Nick more than his own mother ...”

“We’re family, Howie ...” It was Kevin’s turn to interrupt. “It’s different.”

“I thought we were all supposed to be family.” Howie shot back; his voice painfully patronizing. “Brothers; remember?”

The sound of the lock turning over in the door silenced Kevin’s rebuttal. Brian stumbled into the room and immediately sank to the floor. His chest was still bare; the angry red letters that adorned his skin were already starting to blister, and his face was so puffy that the whites of his eyes were barely visible. Brian said nothing as he assumed a position similar to Nick’s; drawing his knees up and hugging his legs. He kept his eyes down, too afraid and too embarrassed to look anyone in the face.

“Get cleaned up.” Angelo tossed a package of gauze and a bottle of antibacterial lotion into the room. He could feel his smile growing and stretching against the fabric that obscured his face. All five Backstreet Boys looked ragged. They were all wearing down and turning against each other. Everything was going according to plan. “We don’t want any of you dying from an infection before the next game starts.”

AJ got to his feet before anyone else could move. He intercepted the rolling bottle of lotion before it could disappear under the row of cots and passed it off to Howie without looking at him. He swooped down next to Brian as the door slammed shut and the lock slid back into position. Wordlessly, AJ snaked his arms around Brian’s bare shoulders; pulling him into the tightest embrace that his body would allow.

Brian’s body heaved with a new round of tears at AJ’s gentleness. He didn’t deserve any form of compassion. The stamp on his chest was warranted; he was a fake, a hypocrite, a liar. Until now, he had kept himself hidden. He had built up a wall of funny faces, stupid voices, and obnoxious behaviour to keep the real Brian a secret. Nobody was supposed to know about the insecurities and the desires that existed beyond his carefully constructed ‘good Christian boy’ persona, but now the whole world knew.

“I’m sorry, J. I’m sorry.”

AJ tightened his grip on Brian’s shaking frame. He could barely understand him through his sobs. “Why are you sorry?”

“For not letting you guys in. For – for admitting what I did about – about Ro ...”

“We already knew, Bri.” AJ dropped his voice to a whisper in the hopes that the cameras wouldn’t be able to pick up what he was saying. “As much as you think that you just revealed all of your deep, dark secrets, you didn’t say one word that took any of us by surprise. I’ve told you for years to stop pretending, to stop trying to run from the inevitable. You said it yourself; we can all read you like an open book. All of your lies and your omissions weren’t keeping the real you hidden from us. Maybe some of the fans and the better part of the media were fooled, but the people who know you, who truly care about you, always knew different.”

“But what about ...”

“Ro?” AJ squeezed Brian’s shoulder and let out a short laugh; continuing to keep his voice low. “My wife’s hot, dude! It’s not like you actually slept with her. It is what it is, man. You said what you had to say in order to keep yourself safe in that particular moment. Besides, I’m pretty much responsible for your previous extra-marital tryst, so I don’t really have any right to be pissed at you.”

Brian slowly pulled out of AJ’s embrace. His face was so swollen with shame and tears that he could barely make out the younger man’s features. Still, he managed to find AJ’s stare and to hold his gaze for several seconds. The unwavering support that radiated back gave him hope; maybe, all of the guys wouldn’t turn against him after all.

“Bri – Bri, do you want me to – do you need ...”

Brian shifted his swollen eyes upwards to where Nick was towering over him. The sight of Nick looking so awkward and unsure instantly brought more tears to his eyes. Their relationship was a mess. AJ had been right; Brian missed Nick with a ferocity that was almost frightening.

“I think you need some of this ... stuff.” Nick finally managed to string a sentence together. He held out the bottle of lotion and the gauze. “Howie’s done with Kev’s shoulder. It’s not bad. He’s not gonna, like, die or anything from it.”

AJ snorted. “Thanks for that update, Dr. Carter.” He rolled his eyes up at his youngest band-mate and gently nodded his head to suggest that Nick should be the one to help Brian. “Let me get out of your way.” AJ pushed himself off of the floor and patted Nick lightly on the arm. “You got this, Nicky.”

“The next poll is up.”

Howie delivered the news quietly and with exactly zero emotion as soon as AJ rejoined him and Kevin on the other side of the room. He was beyond the point of caring. He didn’t even bother to ask AJ what he and Brian had been whispering about. What did it matter if they were all going to die anyway?

“Already?” AJ looked to Kevin before settling his attention on Howie. The Latino’s distinct lack of emotion hadn’t been lost on him. “What is it?”

“See for yourself.” Kevin nodded in the direction of the iPad that was lying next to him on the cot. “Seems like our captors have turned all 90s fan-girl on us.”

AJ cast a sidelong glance at Kevin as he reached for the tablet, but his confusion disappeared as soon as he looked at the screen. “Which boy is your favourite?” AJ read the question aloud. “What in the actual the fuck ...?”

“Don’t even worry about it.” Howie waved his hand over his head dismissively. “We already know who the favourite is. Nick’s got this one all wrapped up.”

Phantom @NetPhantom (3 mins)
Don’t worry @brianlittrell – your wounds will heal. Now, tell us; who’s your favourite @backstreetsboys? Cast your vote now!