5

It frustrated me to know end that something as small as playing basketball had to be turned into such a major production. We couldn't just go to a court somewhere, we had to go to a remote place, where the chances of being recognized was zilch and then make sure we had permission or could get permission to be there. Why, is still a mystery to me considering we have about 800 pounds of security with us between Brian's bodyguard and my own. Okay maybe I'm exaggerating but not by much.

I used to be terrified of them. I thought if they really wanted to, they could just stomp me to the ground. Luckily they have turned into so much more then security for me, they also became great friends. That's how I chose to look at them when I went out for something like this. They weren't there protecting me from whackos, they were my friends hanging out with me.

So, we finally ended up about thirty minutes up the road at an elementary school, PS 187 or something like that. All I know is, I was glad to finally be able to play some ball. Too bad I sucked at it. Within about ten minutes I was losing horribly, but Brian being such a great guy, didn't gloat...much.

"You know my Grandmother plays better than you" He said shooting another two point shot into the basket.

"Who cares? My grandma plays better than your grandma" That helped, he laughed and while he was distracted I ran past him and made a shot.

"That was cheating Nick!"

"Hey, I take it anyway I can get it"

I ran towards Keith, my bodyguard, "Wanna play?" He smiled, "No squeeb you go ahead"

He called me squeeb, I never got that. I have no clue what a squeeb is and I never bothered to ask him. That was his nickname for me. Of course while I was distracted talking to Keith, Brian managed to steal the ball and make another shot.

"NO fair!"

"Life's not fair squirt"

"Squeeb, squirt what is it with you people and your silly nicknames? And I seriously am not a squirt. I tower over you buddy" Brian shook his head and threw me the ball, "So...you mentioned Mike again last night"

"I did?" He nodded.

"Yup" I threw the ball from where I was standing hoping it would go in but of course it didn't. "If that went in I would've eaten my hat" He said coyly.

I was bothered that I was talking about my brother in my sleep again. "Brian, I..." I wanted to tell him right there, but stopped myself, figuring I would tell him over a midnight snack and a game of Nintendo.

"What?"

"Nothing, let's head back. I'm a sweaty mess"

He wiped himself off with a towel and threw a clean one my way, "Since you are quitting, I guess I won huh?"

"I'm not quitting I just don't want your old body to tire out on you" He whipped me in the butt with his towel as we walked out of the gym and back to the limo.
~*~**~*~*~~*
Mike almost got hit by not one car, but two on his quest to get to the Four Seasons Hotel. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and in this city, that was not a good idea. He probably looked like one of those crazy homeless people he always passed up on the street, the ones that always seemed to be conversing with an imaginary friend. He couldn't help it though, the same thoughts kept running through his mind the entire sprint towards the hotel, "This is impossible, how can this be?" Over and over again he heard himself utter the words.

When he finally was close enough to the hotel to see the huge sign, he allowed himself to smile. "This is unbelievable" He noticed people looking at him the same way he looked at those crazy people, he didn't care though, this was big. Not only had he found his little brother but he was..."My brother is a pop star!" He laughed/screamed to a crowd of New Yorkers waiting for a light to turn red so they could move in a herd across the street.

They didn't seem to care, but Mike did. How on Earth had that happened? They were in the store. He had actually waited on him. How could he not know? Then a scary thought occurred to him, one he refused to let linger in his mind. "What if Nick knew? Maybe that is why he gave me the CD?" Nah impossible. There was no way the kid would have known.

Kid? He smiled again, his brother was 18 years old. WOW! "My brother the Backstreet Boy" He laughed as he walked into the huge lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel.

He was blown away by the size and just overall extravagance of the place. It was beautiful. He walked over to the front desk, "Excuse me?" The snobby looking man looked up at him, "Yes?"

"I was wondering if you could tell me what room Nick Carter is staying in?" The hotel clerk laughed, "I'm sorry sir but we don't give out personal information on any of our guests"

"He is staying here correct?"

"I'm sorry sir I can't give you that information"

"Yeah he's staying here, they always stay here" Mike turned around to see a trio of young teenage girls staring back up at him. They all had his brother's name as well as the rest of the band plastered all over their shirts.

"Oh, thanks"

"Sure, we are waiting for at least one of them to make an appearance, we saw Nick and Brian leave a while ago but they were fast so we didn't get to talk to them or anything"

"They left?" Mike's heart sank.

"Yeah but they'll be back. Hopefully the others will come down soon" He noticed that all three were holding copies of his Mother's, just thinking that sent chills down his spine, but his mother's book in their hands. Then he realized that he was too. He forgot that he had stolen the book from poor Ariana with not so much as a single explanation. Ah well, if he was right and Nick was his brother, maybe he could just bring HIM to the store and have HIM sign another one for her. He smiled again.

"Thanks for the info…" He extended his hand.

"Tori" she interrupted, "And this is Ashley and Meighan" He nodded to them all, "I'm Mike" He was tempted to finish with, "Nick Carter's long lost older brother" but stopped himself. He had a feeling they would have tackled him to the ground if he did that. Protecting their Idol to the death.

"So, are you like a fan or something?" He laughed, "Or something"

They quickly grew tired of the older man and turned their attention back on the elevator in hopes of just a glimpse of one of the boys. Mike however looked down at the book he had been carrying and realized that he had never bothered to even look through it or read it. So he decided to take a seat in the lobby and read while he waited for his brother's return.

It had been so long since he had seen any pictures of his Mom and brother. His dad had thrown the two he had in his wallet away one day leaving Mike to only recall them in dreams. Another horrible thought suddenly filled his mind, replaced by the one he had previously, what if he was wrong? It has been a very long time since he had seen a picture, maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him. But as he turned page after page of the book seeing old pictures and reading old stories, he knew it was them. He also realized that he was nowhere to be found.

"It's like I never existed" he said aloud, suddenly angry at his Mother and even a little at his brother. The girls screamed which caused Mike to look up, hoping to see his brother. Instead he saw the other one who had been to Virgin yesterday, signing autographs and posing for a picture with those three girls.

Mike took a deep breath and slowly made his way over to Kevin who hesitantly smiled at him she stood there being hugged by the girls. Meighan ran over to Mike and handed him a camera, "Will you take a picture of all of us with Kevin please?" He nodded and snapped the picture hoping they would finally go away, which they did not.

He hadn't realized that Kevin was staring at him waiting for a pen or something already grabbing the book he had in his hand to sign it. "NO!" Mike said more forcefully they he had intended causing Kevin to pull back and shrug at him. "Sorry, I was just waiting for...do you know when Nick Carter will be back?"

"No sorry" Kevin's bodyguard, sensing Kevin's discomfort stepped in front of him, "Sorry, Kevin's done signing for now"

"I don't want his autograph, I just want to know when Nick..." Again Mike was answered with a shrug from Kevin as he was led out the door and to an awaiting van.

He once again took a seat on the chairs and leafed through the book stopping on a collage of pictures of Nick when he was a baby. Mike could remember when most of them were taken. He remembered how badly his brother used to cry when it came to getting his picture taken. He would have to tickle him under his chin to make him laugh. That was his ticklish spot, under the chin.

As he flipped through page after page and read a little bit, he got the sense that his mother was nothing more than a money grubbing stage Mom. He also realized that most of the pictures she had used, pictures that he used to be in, were altered to leave him out. He was probably lying somewhere on a cutting room floor.

He suddenly began to feel like maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. It was clear that he was no longer wanted. He got up to leave when he heard the girls squeal once again. When he looked up he saw them swarming around his brother and his friend, Bodyguards surrounding him. He smiled as he wrote but his body language said get me out of here. Which was precisely what Mike's heart was saying to him, get me out of here.

He stood there staring and unsure of what to do.