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Kevin scribbled one more note down on the piece of paper infront of him and afterwards tested how it sounded with singing the verse. He was in the midst of composing a song and hopefully it would be well liked from the guys too. Last night he’d let Howie listen to what he’d written and he’d got approval. Kevin gathered up the music notes he had scattered around the bed. Writing music was his passion and there were one thing he couldn’t be without on this tour and that was his piano. Whenever he was in the hotel room he would bring up a small keyboard and keep on working on new songs. Standing up he sighed. The short break was over and now it was soon time to get to work again. They had media interviews in the conference room and afterwards it was time to prepare for soundcheck. Stretching his limbs he noticed that the little rest he’d got had done him good and he hoped that he rest of the guys had been able to relax too since they had a very stressful schedule ahead of them.
Especially Nick needed the rest.

He didn’t like the way his younger brother looked. Nick was much too pale for his liking and he could see the signs of exhaustion shining in his eyes. The cough that had harbored his friend for a few days seemed to be getting worse and if Nick wasn’t careful he would end up sick in bed. They hadn’t been on tour more than a couple of weeks and already things were starting to go wrong. Not big things, but small things that could end up as disasters if you weren’t careful.

Walking into the luxerious bathroom he changed into a new white t-shirt and then combed his hair. It was important to look presentable without looking preppy and Kevin was one of the few in the band that managed that kind of look without looking stupid. His wife, Kristin was something of a fashion guru and she was the one that used to give him clothing tips even if fashion had always been something he’d fancied. Not crazy like AJ but a more subtile and elegant style. He was toweling off his face after a quick wash when the phone suddenly gave away a beeping signal. With a sigh he clicked it open.

“Kevin here.”

“Kev it’s Johnny.” His old managers was on the other line. “We’ve got something of an emergency. The media people wants us to start half an hour early. I’ve been trying to reach the rest of the guys but it’s only AJ and Howie that’s been answering. The phone to Brian's room has been busy the last hour and Carter doesn’t answer so I hope that he hasn’t left to go to the bar or something. ” Johnny sounded a bit annoyed. “That would be a stupid thing to do.”

“I’m sure that he hasn’t. Not even Nick is that stupid.” Kevin grinned but he could hear that Johnny wasn’t amused.

“Oh well...it doesn’t matter where he is as soon as he is presentable enough to do the concert tonight.”

That last comment had Kevin a bit irritated. “You don’t have to worry. The only strong drink Nick would take before a show would be Nyquil. As a matter of fact the reason for not answering his door is probably due to that. Being passed out on that crap.”

There was a snort on the other line. “I hope you’re right. You’ve got five minutes to get Littrell and Carter. We’ll be waiting down in the conference room.” With that the manager said a short goodbye and hung up.

Kevin sighed. Whenever management wanted something done he would be the one that would be called. Johnny had told him that he was the designated leader of the band and the only one that had 'insight' so that other people listened to him. In Kevin's book that meant that he was the only one that could prevent the guys from doing something stupid, especially Nick since he knew that the fella had both love and respect for him.

He was the big brother in the band. The father figure.

It didn’t take too many knocks on the door before Brian opened up. His hair looked tousled as if he had been sleeping.

“Kevin?” His cousin said in surprise. “I thought we didn’t have to go in an hour?”

“Change of plans.We need to meet the media in five.” Kevin stepped inside the room, noticing the unmade bed. “You’ve been sleeping dwag?”

“Sort of. Why?” Brian had hurried inside the bathroom in an attempt to freshen himself up a bit.

“Johnny tried to call you but your line was busy all the time.”

“Oh.” There was a moment of silence as he peaked out from the bathroom door. “I talked to Leighanne.”

Kevin started to laugh when he saw the blush that had crept up on his cousin's cheeks. “It was that kind of rest, huh?” When Brian grinned at him he shook his head still laughing. “I hope you had a good time.”

“You bet ya.” Brian mumbled sticking his head back inside the bathroom again, turning the tap on.

‘I can see that,’ Kevin mused but said nothing more about the issue. It was Brians privacy and he had those kind of “rests” himself from time to time. It was hard being on the road keeping a long distance relationship and those lonley nights and days could seem endless. Kristin was at home in LA working as a backup singer for Celine Dion who was putting on some shows there and in Las Vegas. Kristin would join him later on the tour but for now she was way too busy and the closest he got to be with her was over the phone. He was used to this, but he knew that Brian wasn’t and therefore he could see how much it tensed on his cousin that he couldn’t be with his family.

When Brian returned, freshly shaven and with a fresh pair of jeans and a light blue T-shirt where it said: 'I’m a big boy now' in red pattern, Kevin asked, “You heard from Nick lately?”

The younger Kentuckian shook his head. “Nope. Not since we he was down the lobby. Why?” A joking smile crept up his face, “Is he missing?”

“As a matter of fact. Yes!”

“Huh?” Brian frowned over the news.

“Johnny said that he’d tried calling him several times and he didn’t answer.”

“Really?” Brian tied up his sneakers.

“Yup. Anyway we have to try and find him. Johnny made that very clear.” Kevin stood up and moved towards the door. “We gotta go now. Five minutes are up soon.”

“Okay.” Brian grabbed his key card. “Let’s go then.” With that the both men walked over to Nick's room which was across the corridor from them. Several knocks later they found out that Johnny was right when no one opened the door.

“Strange.” Brian pounded on the door again. “Nick it’s me.Open up!”

The door remind closed. “It’s no use:” Kevin sighed as he looked at the clock. Time was ticking away and he knew that Johnny would soon call him and start questioning about their whereabouts. When he would have to tell him that there were no sign of the youngest member he just knew that Johnny would chew his ass out, even though he had nothing to do with it. There was no time to waste and he had to act. Had to find out where the blonde's wherabouts were.


“You don’t think he got a woman there already do you?” Brian asked nervously, annoyance shining in his eyes as he said the words. Kevin knew how much his cousin hated the way Nick kept living. Partying it up, getting as many asses as he wanted a night, but to Kevin it wasn’t all that strange. Nick was young and single and living it up. Besides he’d slowed down considerably, especially after that drunk driving incident and after many serious long talks he knew he could trust the blonde again. That he wouldn’t do anything as stupid again and jeopardize not only the tour but his whole life. The last thing Kevin wanted was another AJ on his hands.

“Don’t think so, but you never know with Kaos. He can be fast at times.” Seeing Brian's dislike Kevin quickly added. “He probably went over to Q’s room.” Picking up his cell in an attempt to call Q he went on while dialing the numbers, “ Realx bro. You know how Kaos is. Never wants to be alone.”

Brian didn’t have a chance to answer since Q’s dark voice could be heard on the other line.

“Hi bro. It’s me Kevin. Sorry to disturb you but you don’t happend to have Nick there with you, do you?” There was a brief silence and after a while Kevin said, “Really? Oh okay I try again then. Thanks bro and see ya.” With that he hung up, feeling more confused than ever.

“I take it that he wasn’t there, “ Brian sighed, running a hand over his face in a nervous gesture.

“Nope.” Kevin shook his head. “He said that Nick went straight to his room the minute he got up and that he hadn’t heard from him ever since.”

Brian frowned at the news. “You don’t think that something happened do you?”

“Like what?” Kevin let out a nervous laugh. “That he got kidnapped? No I don’t think so. His probably sleeping like a baby and doesn’t hear us banging the door.” He knew that it was a weak excuse but what else could’ve happened? Nick had a tendency to stay in his room when he had a time off mostly since he didn’t want any fans to disturb him when he had a time off.

“How can’t he hear this? “ Brian knocked as loud as he could. “I’m sure that they hear it in the rest of the hotel.” Once again he shouted for his little brother to open up, only to be returned with silence again. Seeing that Kevin had clicked his phone open he asked, “What you gonna do?”

“Call D and Jay and here if they know anything.” The five minutes were up now and he knew that neither of the parts would be all that happy, yet there wasn’t much he could do. “And if that doesn’t work I’m calling the reception desk to see if they can open up the room.”

The younger man shook his head. “Nick won’t like that.”

“Well tough case for him. If he doesn’t open he has to learn to deal with the consequences!”

To the both men's despair, no one had heard from the blonde. Johnny was annoyed as hell that he was missing and was throwing a fit telling Kevin who was in the battle zone how much he disliked that they went out without security or telling anyone about their whereabouts. When he’d calmed down he said that he would send someone from the desk up to open the door.

“l take it that he wasn’t too happy over the news?” Brian said when Kevin had hung up.

“That is a mild way to put it,” the older man sighed. “Anyway he’s sending someone up and we have to wait here.” Kevin put his head against the wall. “ This reminds me of the older days.”

“Yeah it sure does.” Brian agreed. “Do you remember that time when we thought that Nick was missing and it turned up that he had gone swimming and hadn’t told anyone?”

“IF I remember.” Kevin let out a snort. “As I recall I was the one that got the crap for that one since Lou had assigned me to be in charge and therefore it was my fault.”

Brian went silent. “You had to take a lot of crap for what we did, didn’t you?” he asked slowly.

The older man looked up. Surprised over the sudden comment. He’d never thought that anyone realized that whenever one of the younger guys screwed up he was the one that had to take the heat. He was the oldest, the most responsible one. “Sometimes.”

“I don’t think we ever realized that,” Brian went on, remorse evident in his voice. “And if we knew I’m sure that we wouldn’t have done quite as much as we did.” He looked guilty.

Kevin let out a small laugh, amused more than annoyed. “And you want me to buy that? Brian I KNEW that you guys knew that I got alot of the crap of what you did.”

“Maybe so.” It was Brian's turn to smile. “But my point is that we didn’t know how it affected you. “ He looked down on the floor. “And if we'd known we would’ve tried to behave a little better.”

“Okay.” Kevin didn’t know what to say. He was in no mood having to listen on Brian's guilt trip besides he didn’t think it mattered anymore. They were all adults and they had all done stupid things in the past, but that was history now. “You were young, I was young...” He paused, “and we were all in a stressful situation. Things happened and its time to move on.” Kevin mused over the psycological words that came out of him. His dad would’ve been so proud if he’d heard that he was taking the higher road.

“Excuse me,” A dark haired cleaning lady said in broken english. “You’re the gentleman that called and wanted room 1533 to be opened?”

Kevin and Brian who had been engrossed in the conversation looked up a bit startled. “Yes.” Before they had a chance to say anything more the woman picked up a key and opened the door. Instantly the two men stepped into the room only to find Nick's two suitcases hazadily thrown up on the kingsize bed, but it didn’t look as if anyone had slept in there. As a matter of fact it didn’t look as if anyone had been in the room at all.

“Wierd,” Kevin mumbled to himself. Didn’t Nick say that he was going to take a cat nap?

Brian looked just as surprised. Strolling into the room the both men saw that the bathroom door was slightly opened and as in insticnt they opended it up. The room was dimmed with fog and suddenly they both knew where they could find their friend. The both men looked at each other as Kevin pulled the showercurtain aside.

And true to their words; there in the bathtub was there missing person.

Nick laid with his head resting against the back of the tub and he appeared sleeping peacefully. Music was blasting into his ears through headphones and it was no doubt the reason why he hadn’t woke up when they had been knocking.

Neither of the men could hide their laughter now and the cleaning lady who was waiting outside called out to them, “Now when you found your missing friend I will be leaving you.” With that she closed the foor leaving them all alone in the room.

Brian was giggling so hard over the sight that greeted him. Nick looked like a giant baby where he slept and he was snoring loudly. Sticking his hand into the water he found it was cold and he shrugged away instantly. “Shit.”

“What is it?” Kevin had been much too busy making sure that no one could come inside the room.

“The waters cold. It’s freezing.”

“Oh crap.” Kevin said. “It’s no good. He’ll freeze to death.” The older man started to act. “We have to wake him up.” With that he shook his younger friends shoulder only to get a grunt back. It was no doubt that Nick was heavily in sleep and he made no attempt to wake up. Taking off his headphones he said, “Come on, you gotta wake up.” Another shake on his shoulders.

This time there was a low moan but no further actions were taken.

Both men took their turn in waking the younger man up but it was futile.

“He's really cold,” Brian observed. “You think it’s dangerous?”

“I hope not.” Kevin tried to stay calm but he didn’t like it that Nick kept on sleeping as if he was uncounsious. He gave another shake, this time harder than ever before and at the same time yelled “NICK wake up!”

This most have startled the blonde so much as he shot up from the bathtub like a canonball. “What the fuck?” He looked so confused that the two men started to laugh.

“Where the fuck am I?” Nick looked around and as he came to realize that he was in a bathtub and Kevin and Brian had joined him, staring at him while doing their best not to piss in their pants from laughter he said, “What are YOU doing here?”

“We tried to wake you up,” Brian explained while Kevin picked up a towel from the rack.

“Oh,” Nick sank back into the tub, his arm covering his eyes as if he had the monster of a hangover. “I must’ve fallen asleep in the bathtub.”

“So it seems.” Kevin handed him the towel. “Here dry up. You must be absolutely freezing after sleeping in that ice water.”

Nick nodded greatfully accepting the towel. “You go and wait outside, I’ll be out in a minute.” The both men did as they been told and left the room, still laughing over the situation that been played out minutes ago.

“We’ve gotta tell Johnny that Nick's been found,” Brian said as he sat down on the bed.

“Yup.” Kevin agreed. He frowend when he heard the deep coughs coming from the bathroom. That didn’t sound too good and the fact that they had found their little brother asleep in a ice cold bath tub didn't help matters either. If Nick wasn’t careful he would end up with pneumonia. Picking up his phone he rang down to Johnny only saying two sentences.

“The missing person has returned. We’ll be down in five.”