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Mike couldn’t calm himself down. As he stood in the lobby of the hotel and waited for his brother to come down, he almost got to the point of hyperventilating. The panic had only escalated throughout the day especially when he had gone home after a stressful day at work and went to his jar to take out the money he had planned on using to pay for dinner that night. The jar was completely empty, lying on its side on his bed.
At first his thoughts were irrational, maybe the jar opened up by itself and all the money fell out and is now under the bed. He had gotten on his hands and knees to peer under the bed to find nothing but a few socks and some dust bunnies.

Then he thought maybe he had moved the money to another location. So, he ran around the house taking down all the shoe boxes, empty food containers and wallets he could find. Still no money, his house was in a shambles. Things thrown everywhere, hoping against hope that maybe if one more thing was turned over he would come across his money.

It wasn’t until 5:30 that he sat on his sofa, lit up a joint and resigned himself to the fact that his father had stolen it from him. He had called Melinda and left her the oddest message at that point. He couldn’t even really remember what he had said, something like can you lend a friend $500? Not that he would need that much but hell… maybe he would.

He placed his hands on his forehead, and then thought about canceling. He could make up some kind of excuse for not showing up. Maybe he could say that he didn’t feel very well or something. He had actually even dared to dial his brother’s hotel room, now that he finally had the number. After only the first ring he hung up and decided to suck it up. He would just try to corner Nick alone and tell him the story. “Oh Nick see, your father is a lying, cheating, stealing son of a bitch. He decided to take my money and leave me with nothing. Isn’t he great? Don’t you love the fact that you found us? You are SO lucky. Now do you mind paying for your big brother’s dinner? Oh and everyone else since I was supposed to do that too?”

“Just fuck it…I’m going” He had said to his empty house. He would deal with his father later.

He paced nervously after going to the ATM machine and extracting the remaining $120 he had in his account. “Hopefully they are all on diets” He muttered under his breath.

As he walked into the hotel he noticed a group of people standing outside holding signs and screaming. They were waiting for the Backstreet Boys to surface. There cries were so loud he had to actually cover his ears as he entered the building.

“This whole thing is insane” He had said to himself.

Now waiting in the lobby for his brother to make his way down, almost ten minutes late, he had almost turned around and left twice already; both times getting as far as the front door before turning around and coming back. The people working the front desk probably thought he was a loony tunes. Finally he saw the posse make their way out of the elevator and head straight for him. He stood up and straightened the suit he had decided to wear. They however were all in jeans.

Great move Alexander! He grumbled to himself when he finally saw his brother smiling and making his way towards the place he was standing.

Nick grabbed Mike in a hug and kissed his cheek “Hi brother” He had said which for an instant calmed Mike down. After all this was for Nick wasn’t it? Who cared about what the others thought? Right?

“Hey Nickers” Mike whispered into Nick’s ear.

When Nick pulled away Mike got a chance to really take in his brother’s appearance. They really did look a lot alike. The main difference besides the hair color was Nick’s baby face, versus Mike’s more mature looking features. The two were about an inch off height wise.

“You look good” Nick said winking at him as one by one the boys lined up to say hello.

“Mike, this is Howie…” Mike extended his hand which Howie took in a firm hand shake, “Pleasure to meet you Mike”

“Same here”

“And this is AJ…we like to call him Bone”

Mike did the same to AJ, “Yeah and we like to call HIM doofo burger!” Mike laughed, this one was young too.

“This is my Brian” Brian laughed when Nick claimed ownership to him as if he was a pet or something, “Nick has told me a lot about you Brian” Mike said grabbing this stranger’s hand but wanting to hug him. That’s how much he felt he had grown to know Brian purely from Nick’s ramblings about him.

“I am really looking forward to getting to know you” Brian said.

“And you have already met Kevin” Nick said kind of hesitantly. Kevin extended his hand and Mike shook. That seemed to ease his little brother’s mind.

“Nice to see you again” Kevin lied.

“Sam to you” Mike also lied.

“Well where are we going for dinner? I’m starving man!” AJ said rubbing his stomach in circles the way a pregnant woman would.

“Since Mike is paying he should pick” Nick was quick to announce which almost made Mike go running for the toilet.

How about McDonald’s? He wanted SO badly to say but instead he said, “You decide Nick. I’m not too familiar with anything more than fast food and pizza”

“Fast food sounds great to me” Both Nick and AJ said at the same time.

“How about the Tavern?”

“The Tavern?” Mike asked, it sounded like a cool place; maybe it was a cozy diner or something.

“Oh I hate that place, it’s too hoity toity” AJ complained, “They don’t even know what a hamburger is there”

“Awe come on…what do you say Mike? It’s a really good place” Howie said. Mike looked over at his brother; Nick answered with a shrug. “Okay sounds good to me”:

“Excellent Tavern on the Green it is!” Mike’s eyes grew wide

“Tavern on the Green? You mean THE Tavern on the Green?”

“Yeah I think so…is that okay with you? I mean we could go somewhere else”

Mike swallowed hard, “Uh…no that sounds great but it might be a little out of my price range”

“Oh relax man…Nick was only joking about you paying for us, we are treating you” Brian said wrapping his arm around Nick.

“Oh no you don’t have to do that”

“Please, we want to, I mean you are family right?” Kevin asked. He didn’t sound sincere. He sounded like he wanted to catch someone in a lie.

“I insist on paying at least for my brother” Mike looked over and winked at Nick.

“Well why don’t we figure out who is paying for who AFTER dinner, come on man I’m starving. Can we stop and get a hot dog on the way?”

“Jeez for a little guy you eat like a horse man” Brian joked to AJ as they left the building and smiled at the crowd who were yelling and screaming their names.


~*~*~*~*~*~
By the time we had reached the restaurant, I had my headache back and a semi ripped shirt complete with a thin line of blood flowing freely from the scratch marks left there by my fans. I didn’t get why if the loved me so much all they ever seemed to do was hurt me.

It started with a friendly, “Nick can you take a picture with us” and escalated to a near frenzy when one of the girls behind the picture taking duo grabbed for my hair. The next thing I knew I had a security guard pulling at me from one direction while the girls where pulling at me from the other. I heard my shirt tear and felt the intense burn as my flesh was being ripped into by nails. Very sharp nails.

I heard my brother vaguely screaming “Get your hands off of him” Then I was picked up and whisked away in the van while the crowd screamed after us.

“God are you okay?” Mike said once we were safely on our way, he grabbed my arm to get a look at the damage.

“He’ll live. Right Kaos?” I nodded while Mike continued to hold my arm in shock. He wasn’t used to that…unfortunately I was.

“Does that happen a lot?” I shook my head, “No not really”

“Yes it does, that’s why we don’t like him or anyone else roaming out of the building without a body guard” I rolled my eyes at Kevin. He’s such a drama queen sometimes.

“God Nick!! You are lucky something like this didn’t happen to you when I met you at the pizza place!” Mike yelled…yes, I said yelled.

“Relax Mike; it’s no biggie…If I didn’t do that I would have never found you”

Mike looked at me and smiled while still holding my arm. “You are going to need a band aid or something”

“Yeah I know” I said as slowly pulled my arm away from him, nursing it with my other arm.

“You okay lil man?” Kevin asked looking at my arm and then my face.

“Yeah I’m fine. It’s no biggie”

“Okay well happy to hear that”

“Man we really need to start slipping out the back entrances” AJ said to no one in particular as the van continued on towards the restaurant. I watched my brother as he looked out the window. He seemed uncomfortable and I felt bad for him. The van was absolutely quiet for the rest of the way in fact, it wasn’t until we were led to the private room in the back when Brian broke the tension.

“So…Mike…tell us what Nick was like as a kid”

Mike was sipping on some ice water sitting back and I think secretly wishing that no one would look or speak to him.

“Nicky…” He looked over at me and smiled. “He was just a little ball of energy. He used to run around the house in his diaper and a cape”

“Cape?”

“Yeah…well, not a cape but a small towel. He would jump on the bed and call him self super duper” Everyone laughed.

“You were such a dork!” Howie said after taking a sip of tea.

“At least I don’t do it anymore, unlike you”

“Oh good comeback”

“Thanks D” I winked at him, more to imitate him than anything else.

“SO, how did you guys come to meet my brother hear?” I didn’t mean to but I had to look over at Kevin when Mike called me his brother. He tensed up in his chair. I knew I shouldn’t have looked.

“Why don’t you tell him the story Kev?” I said.

“It’s a boring story”

“I have never heard it”

“I’m sure you must have read it somewhere” He said looking Mike straight in the eyes.

“Nope…sorry. I really wasn’t much of a fan” The guys all laughed.

“But now you will be right?” AJ asked raising an eyebrow. Mike nodded.

“That’s okay Mike. Harold…” I bent towards Mike and whispered, “That’s Brian’s brother” He nodded. Brian seemed to think that was the funniest thing ever. He chuckled before he continued, “Anyway, Harold hates our stuff but he buys at least ten copies of everything we have ever done”

“Well, now I will too” Mike said smiling at me. I looked down at the menu, suddenly filled with love for my brother and so grateful for this opportunity.

“I love you Mikey” I suddenly blurted out in front of everybody. How embarrassing that was, but I couldn’t help it. It just kind of popped out of there.

“I love you too kiddo” Then I saw the glances exchanged between the others; especially my best friend and his cousin.

The waiter came by and took our orders. I decided to get whatever Mike did. Not that I was being an idiot but I wasn’t in a thinking mood. Kevin and Brian decided to excuse themselves and go to the bathroom. I knew there was going to be a conference and I wanted to hear what they had to say. Mike seemed to visibly relax when Kevin left which made AJ laugh, “That’s okay Mike. He makes us uptight to” Mike laughed but was a little embarrassed that his disdain was that evident.

“Are you okay?” I asked him. I really felt bad for dragging all the guys with me.

“I’m fine. How about you?” He pointed to my arm and head. “Oh that? I already forgot about it”

“I don’t know how you guys do it” He said sitting back and taking another sip of his water.

“Hey Mike, I am going to the bathroom, you mind?”

“No go ahead”

“Okay” I got up and made my way to the bathroom but not before looking back to make sure he felt at ease. He seemed to like Howie and AJ. He also really seemed to like Brian too; Kevin, not so much but maybe in time.

I walked into the bathroom and about dies when I heard Brian, “I hope I’m wrong”

“Wrong about what?” I asked walking in ready to fight. Both boys stopped speaking and looked as if I had caught them in the boys’ locker room smoking.

“Hi Nick” Kevin said washing his hands and combing through his hair with his fingers.

“Don’t hi Nick me. You hope your wrong about what Bri?”

“Nothing, it doesn’t really concern you”

“Bullshit”

“Why are you getting so defensive?”

“Because I think you guys came in here to bash my brother. I saw the looks you gave each other”

“You’re being paranoid”

“I don’t think so Brian”

“Okay you want to know what we were discussing?” Kevin asked me walking away from the mirror and towards me.

“Yeah I do”

“Don’t Kev…”

“No Brian, the boy wants to know and we should tell him”

“Tell me”

“Your brother is flying on something”

“What?” I was confused I didn’t have a clue what he meant.

The two looked at each other again. “Did you notice his eyes?” Brian asked me.

“No, what are you talking about?”

“They were glazed over”

“He worked all day, maybe he’s tired”

“Nick…” Kevin sounded disgusted. “He wasn’t tired”

“What are you trying to say exactly Kevin?” I said taking a few steps toward him ready to replay my little pummeling incident from the other day.

“He means I’m high” I turned toward the door to find my brother standing there, with a slight frown on his face.

“No he didn’t”

“Nick…I’m sorry. I tried but I need to leave. I really don’t feel the need to be put under a microscope. I was high Kevin. Because I felt SO nervous about having to put up with you and your bologna”

“Mike, he’s an ass” I said now totally focusing on my brother.

“I need to go home. I’m sorry about leaving you. I’m not mad at you okay?” Mike said gently grabbing both of my arms so I would focus on what he was saying.

“Don’t go”

“I really need to”

“Mike…”

He turned to leave, “I’ll call you Nickers. Nice to meet you Brian. Tell the others I said the same” And then he left. Just like that. Left me in the bathroom at Tavern on the Green. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. So I just stood there in shock.

“Nick…” Brian said placing his hand on my shoulder. I pushed him away. “Leave me alone” I pushed past him and ran into a stall.

The two stayed in there with me for a while but when eventually they walked out and back to the table. That’s when I decided to leave myself, only I bypassed the table and headed straight for the front door.