"You shouldn't be so hard on Nick," Brian was scolding AJ and Howie while Nick was on the phone with Agent Bryant, "I get the feeling we're on his nerves lately to begin with, without you two being jerks to him."
AJ shrugged, "Aw c'mon, the kid can take a joke. He knows we're just screwing with him."
Brian shook his head, "I'm not so sure. You know he's been sensitive about it ever since we didnt' believe him about the mob last year, and all of that proved to be true. He thinks we don't respect him, I guess."
"He doesn't really give us a whole lot TO respect," Howie pointed out, "Sneaking off the bus through a bathroom window... acting like a crazy person, or a child or something..."
Brian rolled his eyes, "And throwing his cell phone around ISN'T childish?" he asked. Howie fell silent appropriately. "I'm just saying," Brian continued, "That maybe we should give Nick a little more space."
Suddenly Nick burst into the living quarters of the bus, glowing and grinning from ear to ear. "Dawgs," he cried, "I'ma saaaaaave the world! AGAIN!"
AJ, Howie and Brian all exchanged uneasy glances. "What?" AJ asked for them all, blinking up at Nick.
"Agent Bryant called," he supplied, filling them in, "He has a real important case to solve and he thought of ME first to help him with it!" He paused, then embellished, "He said I'm a great agent."
AJ raised an eyebrow. "Was the case... by any chance... where his missing mind is?" he quipped.
Nick didn't seem to get it. "What? No he didn't say what the case is, exactly..." Nick grinned, "But we're going to Europe!"
"Europe?" Brian sat up straighter, "Europe??"
Nick nodded, "Yup! Europe. It's gonna be great! I'ma save the WORLD, for REAL this time, not just Kevin." He beamed proudly.
Brian furrowed his brow, "Nick.. we can't go to Europe right now, I've got things going on this summer before the tour and all that."
"Um... so?" Nick looked confused.
"So... I can't postpone my life to go gallavanting around the European countryside with you and a demented cop who thinks YOU are the best agent he's got."
Nick looked hurt a moment, then shook his head, "No.. no, Bryant asked ME to go to Europe. Not all of you. Just ME." He paused, letting that sink in, then, just for good measure, added, "You know... alone."
AJ and Howie raised their eyebrows simultaneously and looked at Brian to see what his reaction would be like. Brian paused. "Alone??? Oh hell no."
"And why the hell not?" Nick whined, "I'm a freakin' adult! And even if I wasn't," he added in a huff, "You ain't my dad ANYWAYS."
AJ spoke up. "Yeah, what was all that about space before, BRok?"
Brian shot AJ the Look of Death. "Nick, you're not going to Europe ALONE, what're you crazy?"
Nick set his jaw, determined, "Not ALONE... with Agent Bryant."
"The guy who let you get dumped into the Hudson River in a Hum-V?" Brian snapped.
Nick blinked in surprise. "Um.. Bryant didn't have ANYTHING to do with that, he wasn't even there, stupid."
"You should ask Kevin to go with you. Or bring at least one of us," Brian suggested.
Nick scoffed. "Yeah, because you guys -- who were THERE when the Hummer thing happened, at least -- did SO much to help me." He rolled his eyes.
"Hey, I was gonna jump into the freakin' Hudson to save you," AJ said defensively, "That Goose guy was damn strong."
"Right," Nick rolled his eyes.
"AND," AJ added, "I'm not doing anything this summer. You should take me."
"I'm not bringing ANYBODY," Nick replied firmly, "I'm a grown-up! I can do this by myself!"
Brian pinched his upper nose and closed his eyes, breathing deeply to keep his cool. Ever since Kevin had left the band, he'd felt it was his moral duty to be the father figure the way Kevin always had been. Nick had filled in Kevin's place in the interviews and fan relations, but Brian had been the support beam that'd taken the brunt of Kevin's dirty work behind the scenes. When he'd assumed the responsibilities, he had deeply underestimated how hard it would be to maintain happiness among the three other, younger guys. Especially in the case of Nick. Brian now understood why Kevin was so annoyed by Nick so easily: it was the frequentness with which he was doing SOMETHING to cause trouble. Whether it was taunting AJ, putting little pretzels on Howie's face while he was sleeping, or yelling thirteen octaves higher than a situation required... all in about ten minutes' time... Nick was constantly doing something for which Brian had to yack at him to knock it off. Nick saw this as him being picked on, since he was the one getting yelled at the most, but... and Brian had to admit it, now that he was in Kevin's position... Nick was the one doing things that deserved the yelling. "Nick," Brian said, mentally counting to ten because he knew Nick wasn't going to relax any time too soon. "Going to Europe alone is insane. It's not safe. In your case, it's like begging for trouble. Or worse. We only want you to bring one of us along for your own good - so you don't get killed."
Nick glared at Brian, folded his arms over his chest and pouted, very childlike, "I'm NOT a kid, Brian."
"We can still CARE, Nick," he replied, "We care about you, you know? Please, just... take one of us along, please." Brian could tell Nick's reserve was thinning because of the pitch he'd taken when he'd dropped the "Please"-bomb. He looked at Nick in the most sincerest of ways possible and touched his heart posessively. "I would just feel... a lot.. better, knowing you're in safe, capable hands."
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine," Nick answered with a groan, "But I'm not taking someone safe OR capable, I'm taking AJ."
AJ whooped loudly with excitement and pumped his arms up in the air, hopping about the bus's living quarters. "WhoOoo-hooo! I'm a sidekick, a sidekick, I'm gonna be a sidekick..." he sang in a goofy voice.
Nick rolled his eyes at his 'sidekick'. "NOT by my choice," he reminded AJ. He looked around at the other three guys. "One of these days, ya'll are gonna see I'm trustworthy." With that, he got up and left the room.
Howie looked at Brian, a small smirk on his face. "So much for giving him space."
Brian sighed, "Some things are better in theory, I guess."
Saving the Day for Blondes 2: The Amazing Story of How Nick Apprehended The Infamous Masquerade Murderer Without ANY Caffeine In His Body! by Pengi
