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Chapter 18

"Can you tell me where we're going now?" Nick asked as he looked at the clock. They had been driving for almost forty-five minutes and Brian still had not given Nick as much as a clue as to where they were going.

"We're almost there. You'll find out then," Brian responded, keeping his eyes on the road.

"That's what you said twenty minutes ago dude. Come on, just tell me. I'm going to find out anyway. I know keepin this a secret is bugging the hell out of you."

"No, the look on your face will be so much more priceless when you see this for yourself. You're just going to have to wait."

"I feel like a kid at Christmas eve begging to open presents with his father standing over him yelling no," Nick commented as he looked over at Brian, hoping that he would cave in and tell him where they were headed. Brian grinned at him, smashing all of his hopes for learning their destination early.

"This'll be better than any present that you've ever gotten before," he assured Nick. "It's well worth the wait."

"You sure about that?" Nick questioned. "It might suck, ya know? Why don't you just tell me and I'll let you know if it's as good as you think or not."

"Nice try, Nick, but it's not gonna happen. You're just going to have to wait," Brian said. "Besides, we're almost there, for real this time."

"You're just trying to torture me for all the pranks on pulled on you in the past aren't you? This is gonna be something really silly and you're just trying to get me all worked up about it. Well it worked Brian so you can quit with the game and tell me already!" Brian laughed again, amused at Nicks reaction.

"We're here," Brian said as he parked his car. Nick looked over at Brian questioningly.

"What? You buy me a building?" Nick questioned.

"No," he replied with a chuckle. "It's inside the building, dumbass."

"Let's just get this over with," Nick said as he quickly exited the car. He shook his head. He couldn't believe that Brian was doing this to him. He was positive that this was going to turn out to be something really stupid. There was no way that Brian could have come up with something great so quickly. Sure, he knew the Nick of the past, but he didn't know the Nick that he had become. Brian had only been around for a few days and hadn't had enough time to do a lot of catching up between all the problems that Nick was having at his house.

Nick followed Brian closely as the sun shone brightly. By all accounts, it was a beautiful day. The weather was almost perfect for early January. It was Nick's visit to the graveyard that had brought a black cloud over everything positive the day had brought. There was still a feeling of sadness in his heart and there was no way for him to ignore it any longer. All these years only perpetuated his pain. It was this feeling that Nick hoped that he would never have to deal with. It would only bring back the painful memories of his past.

Brian glanced over at Nick as they stepped into the elevator of the building. He really had no idea what was about to happen. Brian had been working on making this happen since the first day he had seen Nick. He knew that this was something that, no matter how much time had passed, Nick would love. Brian looked down at his watched and hoped that everything was ready for them. Figuring all the extra time he had spent at Nicks' house left everyone enough time to prepare, he relaxed. This was going to be well worth having to deal with Nicks' constant complaining. The look on his face, that Brian knew would be there, would assure him that all of this was not in vain. He just knew it.

"I've been working on this since right after the first time I saw you," Brian confessed, breaking the silence that had fallen over them since they had entered the building.

"The gift or the prank?" Nick replied. Brian looked him Nick seriously.

"Look, this isn't a prank. You'll see soon enough," Brian stated. "I wouldn't do that to you after all of this time."

"That's what you want me to think."

"Stop being so bitter, man," Brian answered. "This is for real."

"Alright," Nick sighed, giving in. Brian had become seriously defensive about what he was doing for him. Maybe he had thought wrong. He was thinking about a different time, when they were both different. After all, things had changed. They had changed.

"Come on," Brian said once the elevator doors opened. Nick followed Brian. His eyes looking over all the closed doors in the hallway that they were walking through. He couldn't quite figure out what Brian may be hiding in a place like this or what he possibly could have in mind. Brian stopped in front of one of the doors and quickly turned around to see Nick. "Remember, this is for real." Nick nodded as Brian opened the door and stepped in. Nick followed and stopped and let his eyes scan around the room.

Alex, Kevin and Howie were sitting at the table in the center of the room. Nick looked at them questioningly. What the hell was going on? He just couldn't piece things together. Nick stood there looking at each of the guys, waiting for some sort of explanation. Nothing was offered. Nick continued to look around the room but seeing nothing that could help him figure out why he was here.

"So? What's this all about? Someone wanna fill me in?" Nick asked.

"I've been making a lot of phone calls since I got here," Brian started. "There was only one thing that came to mind when I thought about things that you would really appreciate. I mean, the last time we were together, we left somethings unfinished. We all knew how angry you were with the unfinished business. So, I called in some favors. And if you're up to it, I got us the chance to make another album."

"What?" Nick replied, shocked by what he had just heard.

"Brian called us all together and we talked about it," Alex started. "Turns out, we all wanted to get back in the studio as it was. What better way would there be then to make another BackStreet Boys album?"

"I don't know if I can do that," Nick answered, shocking everyone.

"Why not?" Howie asked.

"It's been so long.." Nick said softly. "What if... What if we can't?"

"What do you mean 'can't'?" Kevin asked. "Nick, we've all got music in our hearts man. We can do this."

"Weren't you the one that wanted to end this?" Nick spat at Kevin. "You were the one that said that we couldn't do it any more."

"That was then, Nick," he replied. "We've had more than enough time to get our shit together, but if you don't want to do this, then fine man. Whatever, I'm not gonna force you. Just think about everything that Brian had to do to pull this off."

"What about all of our kids?" Nick questioned, changing the subject, knowing that he had lost that battle.

"They're all old enough to take care of themselves," Alex replied. "It's not going to be as crazy as it was when we were younger."

"Okay, but is there going to be a single? A video?" Nick asked.

"We're not sure yet," Brian replied. "It all depends on how we feel about the songs that we have. If we think we have something that we think is good enough, I mean."

"When would we start?"

"Whenever we're ready." Nick was quiet for a while. The others were watching him. Looking for a sign. Nick shook his head.

"Just give me a couple of days and I'll be ready."