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Kevin picked his cell phone up off the table and looked around at the eyes staring back at him. “Look, since we are obviously not gonna get anything done here today, I’m leaving, okay?”

“See, that’s what I’m talking about,” Nick’s voice came over the mic from the other side of the glass. “He’s bailing out now. Why not just scrap the whole album if you can’t stick around?”

“Well, maybe I would want to stick around if you didn’t pick a fight with someone every five seconds,” Kevin retorted quickly as he glared at Nick. He watched as Nick mouthed his new favorite words—‘fuck you’—and just sat in front of the mic with a scowl on his face.

“C’mon man, we have a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it,” Brian said in a pleading voice. He knew that their time in the studio was bound to run out if they kept this up. “Why not just stay and we’ll work on different stuff?”

“No. I’m sick of being around children,” Kevin replied rather snidely and watched as a look of hurt flickered in his cousin’s eyes. “Why don’t we just take the rest of the week off and come back and try and start fresh on Monday?”

“Fine,” Brian said with a short nod.

Kevin forced a tight lipped smile and turned around, quickly exiting the studio room before anyone else could try and get him to stay. He was in no mood to deal with the constant battle being waged between Nick and AJ. He just wanted to be alone and ignore the rest of the world like he had been doing since the summer.

At first, it had been all too easy to put on his celebrity mask and be all smiles for the media, but it was becoming increasingly harder with each passing day. He hadn’t seen his ex-fiancée or his daughter since early June of the year before. After the tension that had started building between his two younger band mates had finally come to a head, Kevin had gone home where he expected to find his future wife and daughter safe and sound in the comfort of their cozy Kentucky home. Instead, all he found was a bare cabin that showed no signs of a loving family. The only traces left of his family were a picture of Kyra and a short note from Brianna.

Kev,

I’m sorry to do this to you, but I can’t keep doing this. I need stability right now, and that’s something that I just can’t get from you. I love you deeply…don’t ever forget that! But I just need to do my own thing right now. I’m so sorry, baby. I love you.

Bree

After nearly destroying the home he had designed just for them, Kevin sank to his knees in front of the fireplace. On the mantle was the only other picture of his family. Taken the previous May outside on the large wraparound porch, Kevin and Brianna stood holding their daughter; both smiling brightly at the prospect of starting their new life together. All those hopes and dreams were gone now, and all Kevin felt anymore was emptiness. How could it be fair?

Pulling into the busy Los Angeles traffic, Kevin tried his best not to let his emotions take over. All he needed was to forget and he knew exactly what would help.



“Hey, Bean, have you seen this?” Holly asked as she flipped through one of many supermarket tabloids.

Bianca glanced at her friend as they waited in line in the small grocery store in her home town. “No, what is it?”

They had spent a better part of the afternoon checking out Wilmington before coming home and now they were getting the cream Bianca would need to take care of her new tattoo. Bianca gave her friend a strange glance when she gave a nervous laugh and bit her lip.

“Give me that,” Bianca said and pulled the tabloid from Holly’s grasp. She quickly skimmed the page when the article caught her eye.

In big bold letters the headline read: Bianca—Buck Wild. Miss Parker is all for Hollywood…

“Oh my god,” she said quietly as she skimmed the article.

While most people think Bianca Parker is the average, squeaky clean Pop Princess, we beg to differ. It’s been reported recently that the 21 year old chart topper has been spotted leaving several midnight hot spots on the arms of various high-ranking Hollywood heart-throbs. The most recent has been NASCAR hunk Dale Earnhardt Jr. Parker has also been rumored to have been dating Incubus front man, Brandon Boyd and resident bad boy Eminem. The rumor mill has been in full swing about the singer’s current status since her highly publicized break-ups from Backstreet Boys Nick Carter and AJ McLean—to whom she was also engaged.

A source close to Parker stated that “Bianca has been headed downhill very quickly since her break-up with AJ. Her moods fluctuate a lot and she’s been partying to cover it all up.”

The rest of the article was filled with the same nonsense, but the last sentence caught her attention.

Miss Parker declined to comment when contacted.

“I was never contacted about this,” she cried.

“Excuse me, if you aren’t gonna pay for your stuff, I would like to pay for mine,” a woman huffed in an exasperated tone and pushed past Bianca and Holly.

“Go ahead,” Bianca said and stepped out of the line. “And who was the ‘source’ that’s so damn close to me?”

Furious, Bianca dropped everything onto the empty check out counter by the automatic doors and stormed out to Holly’s car. She had a feeling she knew who might be behind this and there was only one way to find out.



Howie looked over at Brian who was seemingly lost in thought. After Kevin walked out for a long weekend, Nick and AJ had gone their separate ways until Monday so he and Brian decided to go grab something to eat. Now they were stuck in traffic with no signs of getting out any time soon.

“You okay, Brian?” Howie asked as he inched the car forward a few inches.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m great,” Brian smiled and ran a hand through his dirty blonde curls. “I just wish this traffic would let up.”

“Come on, Bri, I know you. Don’t try and pretend that nothing is bothering you,” Howie looked at him with a serious expression.

Brian sighed forlornly and shrugged. “I dunno…I just feel like everything that can go wrong will. I was so excited about us getting back in the studio and now nothing is working. And then there’s Julie. I dunno what’s going on, but she just seems really reluctant to come visit me out here.”

“Well, first, I know what you mean about getting back to work. I was really happy to be working again, but AJ and Nick need to get past their problems and Kevin needs to sort through his situation before we can all be as focused as we need to be. And about Julie, I’m sure she just doesn’t want to intrude on us. Not that she will, but maybe she feels like she will,” Howie said with a smile. “I think maybe you just need to talk to her.”

“I have. I called her today and she finally agreed to come visit for a few days or so, but I still don’t feel like she wants to come. You know?”

“I wouldn’t think that she doesn’t want to see you though,” Howie replied and sighed gratefully when the traffic began to move a little more.

“Anyway,” Brian said after a minute of silence. “Are you still seeing, uh, what’s her name?”

Howie laughed at Brian as a slight blush crept across his cheeks, but nodded. “Yeah…Mia. And don’t worry, I know you and the other guys haven’t really met her yet.”

Brian laughed, but he was still embarrassed about not knowing her name. “So, you are going out again?”

“Yeah, sometime this weekend. It’s nothing serious or anything though,” Howie said casually.

Brian nodded. He was just happy that his friend was finally getting back into the dating scene. He knew that Howie had been having a hard time after losing his girlfriend Ivy almost a year and a half earlier, but he had finally learned to cope with it and he was moving on.

“I will be so glad to get out of this traffic. I’m starving,” Howie mumbled.

Suddenly, the shrill sound of Brian’s cell phone sliced through the air startling both of them. Checking the caller ID, Brian saw the block letters that read BEAN’S CELL.

“Hello?”

“Brian?” Bianca questioned, the angry tone in her voice was evident.

“Yeah, what’s up, Bean?”

“What is Nick’s new cell phone number? I really need to talk to him.”

“What’s wrong?” Brian asked concerned.

“I just need to talk to Nick and I would really appreciate it if you could give me the number,” she answered as she began to lose patience.

“Okay, okay,” Brian said quickly and then rattled off the familiar digits. As soon as the final number was out of his mouth, Bianca had ended the call leaving Brian very confused.

“What was that about?” Howie asked. His expression seemed to mirror Brian’s.

“I have no idea, but she was pissed about something.”

“It’s about time,” Howie said quietly as the traffic finally began to pick up. “Maybe we’ll get to have dinner before midnight.”



Nick walked into his hotel suite and flopped across the bed, letting himself relax. Sitting up to look around the spacious room, he groaned and realized that he should have accepted Howie and Brian’s offer to get some dinner. Instead, he was stuck here alone. Bored out of his mind.

He entertained the thought of dragging out one of his game consoles, but decided against it. Picking up the room service menu, he glanced over it and decided he was pretty hungry. After ordering a cheeseburger and fries and a large banana split, he changed into an old t-shirt and shorts and made himself comfortable on the bed, flipping through the channels on his television. While he waited for his dinner, Nick scanned the movie channels and decided he wanted to see Daredevil.

“I’m all set for the night,” he smiled happily to himself. “I don’t need anyone else to keep me occupied.”

After his cheeseburger was brought up and he was just getting into the movie, his cell phone began to ring. Groaning to himself he picked it up and answered without checking his caller ID.

“Hello?”

“You son of a bitch! What the hell is your problem?” Bianca’s voice rang loudly in his ear.

“Bean?”

“How could you pull something like that?” she cried, obviously upset.

“How could I do what?” Nick asked, thoroughly confused. “What’s going on?”

“Have you seen the Enquirer?”

“No, I haven’t. Why?”

Bianca then began to read the article to Nick. “Why do I get the feeling you were that source, Nick?”

Furious and trying his best not to explode, Nick took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. “Look, Bianca, I don’t know who told them that, but it wasn’t me. Besides, don’t you know not to believe everything you read?”

“I don’t believe you, Nick,” she yelled and he had to pull the phone away from his ear.

“Well guess what?” he cried, finally losing all patience. “I really don’t give a rat’s ass what you believe. I didn’t go and tell some tabloid anything about you, but whoever did sure gets my approval. They should have talked about what a spoiled little brat you are. How you always have to be a diva!”

“Fuck you, Nick.”

“No thanks, baby,” he replied with a smirk he was sure she could hear through the phone. He listened as she let out an irritated shriek and then hung up.

Switching off his cell phone, Nick leaned back against the headboard of the bed and clenched his fists. Where did she get off calling and accusing him of spilling that information to a sleazy tabloid? He was going to kill Brian for giving her his new number.