Chapter 7

Brian glanced at the clock before putting on his white undershirt and saw that it was about 10:30AM. He raised a surprised brow.

‘Wow, usually by this time we’re at a radio promotion, on a plane or van off to a press conference, or backstage at a television show about to do a guest performance.’ Day-off days were rare occasions as of late but when they did come around it was bliss. It’s not that he hated always having something to do and somewhere to be but it was nice to have a day with nothing planned once in a while; especially with the 100 hour “Around the World” promotion just around the corner.

Just as he put on a white and blue shirt over his head, Brian heard a knock on his door.

“Come in!” He turned to see Nick come through the door. “Hey Nick, what’s up?”

Nick sighed loudly and plopped down on Brian’s still unmade bed looking tiredly at his best friend. “Amanda.”

“Ah, girlfriend problems again, I see…” Brian leaned on the wall arms crossed as he faced Nick. “What happened this time?”

“We got into this argument about me not spending enough time with her and how she feels neglected. She was expecting me to spend the day off with her because we’ll be leaving for Sweden on the 16th.” He rubbed his temples with his hands while resting his elbows on his bent knees. “Finding out that we’re staying here in LA with Chris’s family until we leave for Sweden made her upset even more so she started yelling and that just got me riled up so I started yelling back and it was just a big mess by the end.”

Brian nodded silently. “What happened after that?”

“The same thing that happens every time we get into a huge argument,” Nick grinned dryly. “She hung up on me.”

Brain came over and patted Nick on the shoulder as he gave him a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, man. But hey,” he took the chair that was in his room and sat on it backwards. “Don’t worry so much about it. You guys argued before and always made up afterwards. I’m sure she just needs time to cool off then you guys will be okay again.” That’s how it’s been for the last year and a half of the two years they were together anyway.

Nick looked to the ground in thought before replying, “You know what? No, not this time Bri.” Brian looked at him quizzically. “I’ve had enough. I’m sick and tried of this rollercoaster ride that we always go through. I don’t need this extra stress especially with a big promotional tour coming up.” Brian nodded in understanding, agreeing with him.

“Heh, you do have a point there.” Brian stood up and placed the chair he was sitting on back to where it was. “Well, if that’s what you think is best, then I support you all the way.” Brian replied with a reassuring smile. “I’m starving, let’s go downstairs and get something to eat.”

“Yeah, okay. Well, that depends if Bea and Sam are back from the grocery.” Nick replied walking towards the door behind Brian.

~~~~~Downstairs~~~~~

“You’re Bea’s boyfriend?” Howie asked.

“Yep” Jericho replied with a cheerful smile as he stuck his hands in his jean pockets.

“Yeah, she is really private when it comes to her love life.” Chris said with a chuckle. “You guys didn’t know until now, huh?”

Kevin shook his head. “Nah, we didn’t. She never said anything and whenever we visited no guy was ever around.”

AJ nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we – er, well I just assumed that since she had Anthony to take care of she wouldn’t have time for a relationship. Not after-”

Before AJ could finish his sentence Nick and Brain appeared behind Chris and Jericho. “Hey, where’ve you guys been?”

“Oh, nowhere. Just chillin’ upstairs. Why? What’s up?” Nick replied, finally noticing that there was a new face amongst them.

“Jericho, this is the rest of the guys, Nick and Brian.” Chris said motioning towards the two blondes. “Brian and Nick, this is Jericho; Bea’s boyfriend.”

“Must you always say that when you introduce me? Hey, nice to meet you guys.” Jericho shook their hands as he greeted them. Chris shrugged and chuckled.

“Well that is what you are.”

Before anymore questions could be asked the door bell rang. Chris excused himself and went to answer the door. He opened the door but stood in front of it leaning on the doorframe with a smirk on his face.

“Yes? Can I help you miss?”

Bea rolled her eyes and gave her brother a dry look. In both her arms were three brown bags full of groceries. She would have dropped the one in the middle because the only thing supporting it was the two other bags but thanks to her leg, she was able to prevent that from happening. For the moment anyway. “No, as you can see I’m having no problem at all carrying all the food I bought for all the bottomless pits you men call stomachs” was her sardonic reply before she shoved all the bags she was carrying into her older brother’s empty arms.

“Hey! That’s only because I have the appetite of an athlete!” Chris chuckled as he walked towards the kitchen.

Bea spotted two paparazzi in a van parked across the house as she walked back to the car where Sam was unloading more grocery bags from the trunk. Good thing she closed the front door after she gave her brother the bags she was holding. Looking to the left she spotted another one trying to hide in the bushes as they filmed. Being a model of course Bea was use to this but it was still annoying. “Do you need help?”

“Uh…nah, I’m fine. There’s only two more in here anyway.” Sam struggled to hold the two remaining bags in one of her arms while she used the free one to close the trunk of the car.

“Hey Beatrice! Samantha!” The girls turned to see two more paparazzi filming them as the others Bea had previously seen came out of their ‘hiding places’ and approached them as well.

“What’cha ladies buy from the grocery?” randomly asked one man. “Damn, that’s a lot of food! Are you throwing a party?” The man proceeded to film the two while three other paparazzi blinded them with the constant flash of their cameras.

Bea smiled as polite as she could as she tried to conceal her annoyance. “No, no, we’re not.” She opened the door to her car and proceeded to release Anthony from his car seat. He had fallen asleep the moment they began to drive back from the grocery store and was still fast asleep in the back. That, however, wouldn’t last long because of all the commotion the paparazzi were causing. Two more men stood behind Bea taking pictures of her while she carefully held Anthony on her right hip and swung her bag over her left shoulder.

“Beatrice! Is it true that you and your boyfriend Jericho are engaged?”

“Is that your engagement ring?”

“…huh?” Anthony rubbed his eyes and lifted his head up from his mother’s shoulder to see what all the commotion was about. As soon as he did, however, he was met with numerous blinding flashes and voices.

“Beatrice! Beatrice! Can we get a picture of you with your son?” asked another paparazzo with a large camera in his gloved hands.

Bea placed a protective hand on Anthony’s head as she shut the car door with her foot and followed her cousin to the door.

“Samantha! What do you think of ‘N Sync? Are you going to be working with them in the future?”

“Samantha! Is it true that the Backstreet Boys are in there right now?”

Sam’s eyes widened slightly. ‘Gosh, just one day and they already know about the guys?’ Sighing, she moved the other bag to her free arm to balance the weight she was carrying as she walked to the front door. ‘Should’ve expected that. Miraculously finding stuff out is part of their job.’

Grunting slightly, Sam reached for the doorknob but before she could reach it, the door was suddenly opened. Fortunately for the paparazzi, not too much for the current residents of the house, their question was answered because it was none other than Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys who opened the door. At that point the number of camera flashes and the volume of the noise increased as the paparazzi frantically tried to take as many pictures as possible.

“Whoa!” Kevin shielded his eyes as he held the door open just wide enough so that the girls could get inside then quickly shut it. “Looks like you guys attracted quite a crowd.”

“Psh and you made it worse by getting the door.” Sam giggled. “One of them even asked me if it’s true that the Backstreet Boys are here just a moment before they saw you.” Kevin took one of the bags from her. Sam gave a grateful smile and said thanks.

“Yeah, then it started to get even crazier out there when they saw you.” Bea took the bag off her shoulder as she checked to see if Anthony was alright.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He chuckled “well, I guess they would have found out sooner or later.” Sam nodded laughing as she followed Kevin into the living room as they made their way to the kitchen. “How’s my little nephew?”

“He’s fine,” Bea replied, softly stroking Anthony’s back. “He was asleep until I took him out of the car.” Kevin nodded as he and Sam made their way into the kitchen where most of the guys were.

“Why? What happened outside?” Brian asked brows furrowed in concern as he stood from his seat on the couch. He had heard the whole thing from the moment they entered the house.

Bea turned as Brian came around the couch and stood in front of her. “Oh, nothing, just paparazzi. They just woke him up from his nap. You know how it is.”

“Oh, okay. You sure he’s okay?”

“Yeah, see for yourself.” Bea turned so that Brian could see Anthony’s face that was resting on her shoulder. His eyes were open but you could tell that he just woke up a few minutes ago.

“Hey buddy.” He smiled as he touched Anthony’s arm with two fingers. “How’s it going? Are you feeling alright?” Anthony looked up at him with his innocent blue eyes and simply nodded. Before Brian could say another word he saw Jericho sneaking up behind Bea with a finger on his lips asking him not to tell her that he was there. Then he ducked behind the wall that connected the kitchen to the living room, occasionally taking a peek. Brian nodded as he turned back to Anthony.

“Hey Anthony, you wanna go play? C’mon, let’s go!”

Bea smiled at the idea, “Yeah, you wanna go play with Brian, baby?”

Anthony lifted his head up and looked at his mother and Brian, unsure if he should agree or not. He was, after all, energized by the nap he took on their way home. But then again he didn’t know Brian that well yet.

“We can go play with Donald Duck, if you want.” At the mention of Donald Duck, Anthony smiled remembering the previous night when his doll miraculously gained a voice! He looked at Brian and nodded eagerly. “Okay!” That was enough to convince him! He just had to find out if Donald would talk to him again but all he knew was that, other than himself, Brian was the only one who could talk to Donald too.

Bea smiled as she put Anthony down and let Brian lead him up the stairs to get Donald. She really hoped that this was the beginning of Anthony warming up to Brian.

Jericho peeked from his hiding place behind the wall and saw that Beatrice was alone. Finally deciding to make his move, he stealthily made it behind her and covered her eyes with his hands.

“Hey beautiful,” he whispered in her ear.

Immediately recognizing the voice Beatrice gasped and smiled as she turned around.

“Oh my – hi baby!” She wrapped her slender arms around his neck as he chuckled and hugged her back. “What a surprise! I didn’t know you were coming over today.” Bea said after releasing him from the hug but kept her arms on his shoulders while he kept his on her waist inside her denim jacket.

“That was the point. I wanted to surprise you.”

Bea smiled as a familiar warm feeling came over her. “Aw, that’s sweet.” She leaned in for a kiss but before their lips could make contact Chris showed up behind the couple.

“Hey Bea!” Chris called with half of his body in the kitchen and the other half in the living/dining room. The couple let out a disappointed sigh while Bea rolled her eyes at her brother’s bad timing. She looked over Jericho’s shoulder.

“What?” She said with slight annoyance in her voice.

“Are you gonna help prepare lunch or not?” He said it as more of a statement than a question. “I can’t do everything by myself you know.”

“Ugh, okay. I’m coming.” She left Jericho’s arms but held his hand as she went to the kitchen with him to help her brother and cousin out. He cooked most of last night’s dinner why couldn’t he fix up lunch? God, she just knew he did that on purpose.

~~~~~After Lunch~~~~~

A cold gust of wind blew causing Bea to shiver slightly despite her denim jacket. At this time of day, any normal person would be inside of their nice, warm home reading a book, watching TV, or even eating a snack but here she was standingoutside in the chilly January air watching over her son. What can you do except give in when your son wants to play soccer and you don’t want him kicking a ball around inside the house?

Anthony didn’t seem to mind the cold air much though. Hell, he didn’t seem to mind at all. All he was focused on was kicking the soccer ball around practicing just like how his Uncle Erick taught him how. When it came to play time, it didn’t matter if it was smoldering hot outside or freezing cold. All he cared about was playing and having fun.

“Be careful, Anthony!” Bea called as she followed just a few steps behind him. She didn’t want to be too far just in case he started having an asthma attack or if he accidentally fell and hurt himself.

“Look what I can do mommy!” Anthony said as he kept his eyes on the black and white ball, trying to do one of the tricks he saw Uncle Erick do. Now, all he had to do was get a running start…

“Hey,” said a male voice behind Beatrice. She turned around and was met with the kind blue eyes of Brian Littrell. “What are you guys doing out here? It’s freezing!” To emphasize his point, Brian rubbed his arms up and down.

“Anthony had the sudden urge to play soccer and since I don’t want him doing that in the house, I told him to go outside. Of course, that also meant I had to come along to watch him.”

Brian chuckled, “Heh, oh I see. Would you mind if I stayed to watch over him too?”

“No, I don’t mind.” Bea said with a small smile as she glanced at Brian who began to walk with her, then continued to watch Anthony again.

While they were outside in the cold, Samantha was inside the warmth of the heated house with the rest of the guys. Sighing, she wiped her forehead with a part of her arm that managed to remain dry. She may have been happy to be inside where it was nice and toasty; it was better than being outside in the cold freezing your butt off, of course. But being the one assigned to wash the dishes wasn’t so much fun; nope, not at all. Hearing someone approaching, Sam glanced behind her.

“Hey,” AJ smiled as he walked over holding an empty plate with a few crumbs stuck to it. “Would you mind if I add another dish to the pile?” He chuckled at her loud sigh.

“Yeah, no problem.” She took the plate and placed it into the side of the sink that was filled with slightly soapy water. “I’m doing the dishes anyway…”

“Here, le’ me help you out.” he offered as he began to roll his long sleeves up.

Samantha shook her head and smiled then proceeded to wash a cup, “Thanks but it’s alright. I’m fine, I can manage, AJ.”

AJ wagged an index finger at her teasingly, “Stop being stubborn, Sammy. I know you’re our PA and all but you don’t have to go this far! Here, move over” He replied slightly laughing. He held her waist from behind and moved her slightly to the left to make some room for himself then lightly bumped her with his hip.

“Hey!” She said with a laugh. Samantha then did the same to AJ but only caused him to take a step to the right. “I’ll do the dishes, okay? You just go relax or something.”

He gave her a look but she merely returned it with a cute smile. “You gotta relax too. 6 stops around the world in 100 hours is gonna be tough; not only for us but for you too.”

Samantha sighed and put a newly cleaned plate onto the dish rack to dry. Just as she was about to reply Chris walked into the kitchen carrying a plate and glass cup.

“Anthony finished his milk and cookies earlier but left his dishes on the floor.”

Sighing for about the tenth time that evening, she took the dishes from her cousin and tossed the remaining crumbs and milk into the sink before letting them sit in the soapy water. Turning back to AJ to reply to him, Sam said “As much as I would love to be relaxing right now, after waking up an hour early just to buy food for everyone, Kuya Chris assigned me to dish duty after everyone finished eating lunch.”

Chris looked at AJ then at Samantha and replied, “What? It was her turn; it’s always been her turn after my sister does them.” Then he left without another word. Sam gave AJ a ‘see I told you’ look before continuing to wash the dishes. The sooner she got to work the sooner she would be able to finish and relax.

AJ chuckled, “Aw, my poor lollipop.” He put his hands on her shoulders and began to softly massage them. “See, if you just said ‘yes’ when I said that we should go to Vegas and elope I coulda got ya outta here. You wouldn’t have to do dishes at my place.”

Sam couldn’t help but blush as she played along with him. She turned around, causing him to stop his massage, and raised a brow as she put her arms on her hips. “Mhm, but I’m sure that if I did say ‘yes’, you would have me do something other than dishes every night, wouldn’t you?” She replied, making the sexual innuendo perfectly clear.

AJ laughed and winked, “Ooh yeah, you know it, honey. It would be something way better than dishes too.” He said wagging his eye brows suggestively.

Samantha laughed and playfully slapped his arm. “AJ, calm down!”

~~~~~Outside~~~~~

Beatrice watched the scene in front of her with a fond smile on her face, momentarily forgetting about how cold it was. Anyone who didn’t know them would have looked at the scene and automatically assume that they were a happy little family: mother watching her son play with his father. But that wasn’t the case with Beatrice, Brian, and Anthony. The good thing was, though, that Anthony and Brian seemed to be getting along pretty well and Bea and Brian were at the very least, friends again.

“Wow,” Anthony stared in amazement. He thought that the only person who could do cool soccer tricks was his Uncle Erick but apparently Brian had some tricks up his sleeve too! In actuality, all Brian was doing was picking up the ball with his foot but to Anthony, since he never saw anyone besides his Uncle Erick do something like that before, it was enough to astound him. “Brian! Can you do the trick Uncle Erick is trying to teach me?”

“Uh…” Brian’s eyes widened slightly as he nervously looked over at Bea who watched on with an amused expression. He cleared his throat and picked up the ball with his hands. “What… uh, what trick would that be?”

Anthony raised his arms to receive the ball from Brian and raised it up above his head. “Uncle Erick can hit the ball with his head a lot of times!” To demonstrate, he threw the ball slightly up in the air then hit it with his head. He tried to continue and keep the ball in the air but the ball fell to the ground on his third attempt. “Uh, but it doesn’t fall.” Anthony explained as he picked the ball up again in his small hands.

“Sweetie,” Bea called over to Anthony from her spot on one of the decorative large flat rocks of their backyard. “Uncle Erick is different. Brian can’t do the tricks he does.”

Brian, seemingly insulted, gave Bea a look, “Excuse me, I can so! That didn’t look so hard.” Brian took the soccer ball from the child’s outstretched hands and positioned it above his head not unlike to how Anthony had it. Anthony watched in anticipation while Bea merely used her hands to support her as she leaned back with an amused expression on her face. Brian lightly threw the soccer ball into the air then hit it with his head and managed to keep it airborne with about seven hits before it fell to the floor.

“Eh, tada!” Brian said with a big smile on his face stretching his arms out. He looked towards Anthony and awaited his reaction.

Anthony slightly tilted his head to the side. “But Uncle Erick doesn’t drop it.” Brian’s smile slightly dropped at his response while Bea covered her mouth with her hand trying to conceal her smile and prevent her giggles from escaping. It brought a fond smile to her face as she remembered how Brian always loved to show off and mess around.

~~~~~Inside the House~~~~~

“Finally, I’m done.” Samantha wiped the sink dry with the paper towel she used to dry her hands before leaving the kitchen. Passing by Howie, who was using his laptop on the couch, she picked up a couple folders filled with papers Christian had asked her to sort out before turning a corner and entering the hallway. The hallway lead to several rooms: the game room, a large bathroom, and Nick and Howie’s guest rooms. She heard sounds of a game of billiards going on in the game room and figured that the rest of the guys were in there since Brian was still outside.

‘Ugh, this is one reason why I hate washing the dishes sometimes.’ Sam thought as she looked forlornly at her prune-like hands. She decided to go to the restroom for the bottle of lotion that was in there before starting on the papers. Just as she was passing by Nick’s room, she felt something hard and smooth underneath her foot that caused her to softly cry out before falling none to gracefully onto the carpeted floor. Wincing she massaged the sole of her foot as she looked around for the object that she had stepped on and found that it was one of Anthony’s action figures.

‘We really gotta start talking to Anthony about leaving his toys on the floor.’ Sam sighed as she put the toy in her pocket. Looking around her she finally noticed that the papers she had been holding were now spread around the floor. Whining pitifully she got on her hands and knees and began to gather them up into a pile.

“It’s over Amanda. I’m tired of this bullshit. If you can’t trust me then this relationship isn’t going to work out.” Nick paused as he listened to what she had to say before continuing. “I warned you right from the beginning how hard it was going to be. I warned you and you said you accepted it. You accepted me. You know how difficult my lifestyle is; how busy I can get!” Nick exclaimed into his cell phone as he stood from his bed.

“Oh, yeah? Well then smartass, tell me this. How does Brian have time for his girlfriend? Or Kevin who has a wife, huh? You’re all in the same situation but you’re telling me it’s difficult for you to make time for me? Bullshit, Nick, that’s bullshit! How is it different with them, huh?"

Nick growled under his breath. He should have known that breaking up with her wouldn’t be easy. “You wanna know the difference? The difference with them is that Leighanne and Kristin don’t bitch at Brian and Kevin like this! They don’t argue with them about the littlest thing! You’re constantly bitching at me about the littlest shit!” Nick replied angrily as he paced around the room.

“Oh so now I’m a bitch, huh? Well, can you really blame me? How am I supposed to trust you when I hardly ever see you anymore? You’re a flirt! I know you! For all I know, you could be cheating on me with a backup dancer, some slut you picked up at a party, or even that personal assistant of yours!” By this time both were breathing heavily and shouting into their cell phones like the person on the other line was deaf.

Nick paused for a moment, taking in what Amanda just said before replying in a lower voice. “So, it finally comes out. That’s what you think of me, huh?"

Trying to walk on your feet while bent over picking up papers wasn’t an easy position to keep your balance on. Samantha figured that out a little too late when she accidentally lost her balance causing her left shoulder to fall onto Nick’s guestroom door. Pushing herself up she smiled triumphantly at the pile of papers now piled neatly in her arms. Just as she was about to walk off towards the restroom she heard yelling coming from the door next to her. Letting curiosity get the best of her, she leaned closer to the door until her ear was mere centimeters away from it. What was going on?

Amanda was suddenly filled with anxiety and regret as she heard the tone of his voice. “No, no, I didn’t mean that. I didn’t mean that, baby. I-I was just upset."

"No, you’re lying… that’s how you really think of me, huh?"

"No! No, of course not, Nicky! I love you and I didn’t mean what I said. You know that right? You know that I didn’t mean it ‘coz you love me.” The next words he said to her hit her like a ton of bricks.

"I did love you, Mandy.” This isn’t how things were suppose to go! She wasn’t going to lose him. No she wouldn’t; she couldn’t! “I just fell out of love with you,” Nick continued before she could get a word in. “You aren’t the same person that I knew. You’re too controlling and you constantly fight with me over the littlest thing.”

Nick ran a hand through his hair as he sat down on the edge of his bed. “I tried so hard to work everything out between us Amanda, I really did.” He paused and sighed deeply “It’s just… I’m up to the point were I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m tired. I’m tired of always trying to work everything out just to keep you happy when I haven’t been happy for a long time now.”

“No, Nick, baby. Yo-you don’t mean that. We can work this out, I know we can!” Amanda pleaded as tears blurred her vision and her heart pounded. “I… I love you.” She sounded so pitiful and broken that he almost wanted to change his mind but knew that things would be better for both of them this way.

“No, we can’t” his voice held such decisiveness that she knew the inevitable was about to come. “We’ve been trying to work it out for six months now – I’ve been trying to work it out and save this relationship. But I’m at my limit and I don’t think this is gonna work anymore, no matter how hard we work at it.”

Amanda remained speechless. She didn’t know how to reply to that.

“I’m sorry Amanda, but it’s over.”

Nick hung up and leaned back onto the pillows. It was the first time he actually had the last word in before she hung up on him in a fit of rage. He didn’t really know what else to tell her. He didn’t like hearing her cry because of him; he didn’t like making any girl cry but it couldn’t be helped. Even though he didn’t love her anymore like he did at the start of their relationship he still cared for her. If they had continued their relationship it wouldn’t have been fair to both of them. She wanted a guy who would always be there for her no matter what and with the current circumstances and his lifestyle; he just wasn’t the one for her. What was the point in staying in a relationship where there was no happiness and trust? She might not have wanted to admit it but they both knew the end was near. It was difficult working to keep something that wasn’t making you happy anymore.

Nick’s thoughts were interrupted by a soft noise that came from the door and sounded as if someone was at there. Had someone been listening in? He got up to go and check.

Sam looked sympathetically at the door as if she could actually see Nick through it. She felt bad for him, she truly did. As much of an ass he was to her, she knew that it must have been tough for him and for Amanda too. But what Nick said was true. There was no point in staying in a relationship where there was only one person who was working to keep it together. It would be unfair to both of them.

Realizing that it suddenly grew quiet Sam decided it was time to go. If Nick found out that she had eavesdropped on his conversation with Amanda she was sure they would get into another confrontation, and that was something she wasn’t up to at the very moment. Standing up from her crouching position, Sam headed towards the bathroom once again. She would have made it with no trouble at all if she had been quieter or if she hadn’t stayed to listen for so long. But, unfortunately for her, that’s not what she did. The moment she took a step away from Nick’s door it suddenly swung open revealing a set of blue eyes that stared down into her brown ones. Caught off guard, Sam stepped back two steps and stumbled with her words before saying the only thing she could think of saying at the moment.

“Uh… I-I’m sorry about Amanda…” She had said it so softly that she wondered if Nick had heard her.

She looked down feeling guilty as she was unable to hold Nick’s hard, piercing gaze. “Nosy much?” She heard him say to her in a cold voice.

She flinched and replied guiltily, “Um… I’m sorry, I was just passing by and-”

“Psh, ‘just passing by’ my ass.” Nick rolled his eyes. “I bet you wanted to listen in on my conversation.”

Pushing down her rising feelings of anger and annoyance, Sam finally had the courage to look at him straight in the eyes.

“It was an accident; I didn’t plan on listening in on your conversation. I said I was sorry, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever” he replied in the same mocking manner that was really getting on her nerves. Here she was trying her best to keep her temper down in order to be nice to him and here he was still being an ass to her. What an ass!

“Look, if you don’t believe me then fine, whatever. Sorry for trying to be nice to you, I’ll make a note not to do it in the future.” Deciding to abandon her trip to the restroom, Sam turned on her heels and began to walk away but was unable to before Nick replied.

“Nice? You call eavesdropping on my personal calls ‘being nice’? Psh, I wonder what you call being mean then.”

Sam, unable to turn down the challenge in his voice, turned back around and faced him. “You know what, what is you’re problem, huh? Here I am trying to be sympathetic and nice to you but all you’re doing is still being your hella-annoying, jerk-ish self.” If she was a cartoon character she was sure that by this point steam would be coming out of her ears. Sam held the folders in one arm as she placed her other on her hip. “Oh, how could I forget? This is how you are; you’re head is always too far up your ass to even hear anything I say.”

Nick grew livid, if he wasn’t already by this point, and his eyes turned into slits. “You know what my problem is? I’ll tell you what. I thought that I just got rid of all my problems but no, how could I forget? One half of my problems came from my, now ex-girlfriend, but the other half is still here – you!” He slightly nudged her shoulder with his index finger to emphasize his point. “You know why? Because you and Amanda are just the same; both of you are bitches! Bitches that always bitch at me for the littlest thing and are always fu-”

Nick would have finished his sentence if Sam hasn’t just slapped him across the face. The sound echoed throughout the hallway. It suddenly turned silent where nothing was heard except their slightly ragged breathing; the silence so thick that it was almost tangible. AJ and Kevin quickly opened the door to the game room and found Sam glaring up at Nick odiously while he slowly turned his head back to her direction, a similar expression on his face.

“Don’t you ever, ever compare me to your slut of a girlfriend, Carter.” If looks could kill, many Backstreet Boys (especially Nick Carter fans) would’ve been devastated after this. Both Sam and Nick stood almost perfectly still, exchanging death glares, trying to keep their bottled up frustrations and anger inside before it did anymore damage than it had already done.

AJ and Kevin stood there quietly just observing, both prepared to act as referees if need be. But they knew that Nick would never actually hit Sam, even if he was seething with contempt at the moment. Both felt the need to say something, anything to help the situation but the tension in the air was stifling and made them feel uneasy. Howie, who was watching the scene from the middle of the hallway a few feet away from them, felt the same as the other two; they all had the urge to help Sam and Nick get along but didn’t really knew what to say without setting one of them off. Or maybe this was just a bad time for making peace. It was best if they had time to cool off before they tried anything.

Finally ending the tense staring contest, Sam turned away from Nick and stormed off towards the living room. Just as she passed by Howie he quietly asked her, “Are you alright?” Not wanting to let her anger out on Howie since he didn’t even do anything, she kept her gaze straight ahead and merely nodded. She then proceeded to climb the stairs presumably to her bedroom.

Keeping his gazed locked at the spot where Sam had been a few moments ago, Nick took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. When he looked up he found the gazes of his three band mates directly at him and without a word he left, heading towards the kitchen and presumably outside in the backyard to cool off as well

The three remaining Backstreet Boys gave one another concerned glances before sighing and returning to their previous activities.

~~~~~Later That Evening~~~~~

“Well…”

“C’mon Bea. I wasn’t that bad, was I?” Brian asked as he wiped his shoes on the floor mat before entering the house. Bea followed after Anthony and did the same before removing her shoes and leaving them at the side of the sliding glass doors.

“Well, do you want me to be honest?” Brian nodded in affirmation. “Alright then. You were… okay. You were alright.”

“I was okay? That’s it?! Aww, c’mon.” Brian looked at her incredulously. “I’m no soccer star but I think I was pretty good.”

“Well, compared to Erick…” Bea started as she helped Anthony remove his jacket but never completed her sentence before Brian’s exclamation of protest.

“Hey! You can’t compare me with him it’s not fair!” She shook her head and laughed quietly. Yup, same ol’ Brian; his antics always could make her laugh.

Bea and Brian followed Anthony to the living room where he plopped onto the loveseat and began to curl up and get comfy. Howie smiled and chuckled from his position on the sofa. Bea sat on the footrest next to Anthony and rubbed his back, his eyes began to slowly drift closed. “Anthony, sweetie, don’t fall asleep yet. C’mon baby, I’ll help you to your bed upstairs so you can take your nap there.” Anthony yawned again and shook his head.

“I’m okay, mommy. I’m not sleepy yet.”

“Yes, you are. It’s almost four o’ clock and that’s your usual nap time.”

To prove that he wasn’t the least bit sleepy yet, Anthony sat up and shook his head. “No, I don’t wanna go to sleep yet. I’m not sleepy, mommy.”

Bea gave him a skeptical look before turning to Brian and Howie. “I better change his clothes before he falls asleep here on the couch.” She picked Anthony up and was about to head towards the stairway before Brian stopped her.

“I can do it, Bea. Here, give ‘im to me.”

“Are you sure? You’ve never done this before.” Brian resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“I know but I’ve taken care of little kids before. Don’t worry; I know what I’m doing.” He carefully took Anthony from his mother’s arms and held him close to his body. Anthony, who was already half asleep from exhaustion, shifted in Brian’s arms and rested his head against the crook of his neck before sighing and drifting further to sleep. Brian smiled softly and climbed up the stairs cradling his son in his arms.

Bea sighed and decided to rest her legs from all the standing, walking, and running she just did outside. “Hey Howie, what’s up?” she asked after plopping down next to him on the sofa. Howie stopped typing on his laptop and sighed before answering her.

“Oh, nothing much,” he said in a slightly exhausted tone. “Just another major argument between Nick and Sam.”

Bea raised a brow and giggled, “Another one? And here I thought by this time they would decide to stop speaking to each other to avoid another argument.”

“C’mon. We’re talking about Samantha dela Cruz and Nick Carter here.” Howie raised a brow to emphasize his point. “They’ve had so many arguments in the past where we all thought that they would stop speaking to each other or that Sam would quit but she hasn’t (not that I want her to, just to let you know). Somehow, they always seem to find some reason to get at each other’s throats again.”

“Hmm, yeah, that’s true.” Bea nodded as a thought came to her. “What I don’t understand is how can they argue so much when they’re pretty much employer and employee.” She paused but before Howie could reply she answered her own question. “Oh! But then again, technically my brother was the one who hired her so she’s technically working for him. She just happens to be helping you guys as your personal assistant.”

Howie nodded “Mhm, pretty much.”

There was a moment of silence with the two just sitting there thinking when Bea broke it with another question. “How bad was the argument this time?”

Howie shut down his laptop and placed it on the center table to give Bea his full attention. “Really bad. It might even be the worse they’ve had so far.”

Bea raised a brow in mild surprise. “Really? Why do you say that?” She folded her legs to the side and let her left arm support her weight.

“Sam slapped Nick. Hard.” Howie slightly flinched at the memory of it. The sound just reverberated throughout the hallway into the living room, and probably the rest of the house, that he jumped up from the couch and practically ran to the source of it.

Bea looked skeptically at Howie. “Ha-ha, that’s a good one D. The girl won’t even let me kill a spider when I see one in the house. I highly doubt that she would actually have the guts to slap someone.”

“Well, either you don’t know your cousin very well or she’s changed because she did slap him.”

“Wow… that’s new. He must have really pushed her this time then. What did he do?”

“Um, well I didn’t hear the whole argument but by the time I got there I heard Sam say something about not to compare her to Amanda.”

“Ooh, yeah. Nick deserved it then.” Bea said plainly which made Howie chuckle at the directness in her voice.

After his chuckles died down and another moment of silence passed, Howie sighed. “I know it’s probably not likely to happen, but I’m hoping, hoping, that they don’t act like that during the entire 100 hour trip.” He slouched further into the couch just imagining those two having a shouting contest inside the enclosed space of the plane while the rest of them tried to get some rest before the next stop. Now, that didn’t seem very appealing.

Beatrice laughed at the painful expression on Howie’s face then nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I understand, buddy. If only we could force those two to get along somehow before you guys leave tomorrow night.”

Howie laughed halfheartedly, “Yeah, if only that were possible…”

The two remained silent, lost in their own thoughts, as they thought of possible ways to get Nick and Sam to stop arguing with each other. It seemed like an impossible task to accomplish when it came to those two because they probably could keep arguing for hours. But everyone had their limits and people got tired, right? So maybe, one possibility could be wearing both of them out until they had no choice but to get along? But on the other hand, what consequences could that plan lead to? Both of them might end up being worse off than they originally were.

Suddenly, Bea gasped as her eyes grew wide with excitement. “I have an idea!”

“No, I’m not going to kill Nick, Bea.” Howie said lightheartedly with a playful roll of his eyes. Bea lightly slapped his arm.

“I wasn’t going to say that, you dork, but that probably would make things a whole lot easier for both sides.” She laughed and repositioned herself on the sofa so that she was facing Howie, legs tucked underneath her. Howie left one leg hanging over the edge of the sofa while the other rested on top of it in an angle.

“Okay, okay. What’s your plan?”

Beatrice smirked mischievously as she lowered her voice as a precaution in case Sam or Nick happened to pass by or be in earshot.

“Okay, well…”