- A Little Thing Called Puppy Love -

Technically they should have never even been at the court to begin with. But they took their fifteen minute breaks seriously and so when the first second of it ticked by, no time was wasted in grabbing the basketball and rushing out of the studio before anyone even had the time to ask them where they were going. And so, being there, the saga began.

"That was a foul!"

"What was," came Brian's innocent answer. He dropped his hands on his knees, doubled over slightly as he tried to catch his breath. "You know ... You would think we would spend our break .... well, breaking."

"We are breaking," Nick said evenly as he caught the bouncing rebound from his shot. "I feel breaked."

"You feel broken," Brian corrected. "'Cause I'm beatin' you."

"Yeah those two points." Nick rolled his eyes. "I'm so proud of you, Brian."

Brian just pasted a sincere smile on his flushed face. "Thanks."

Nick shook his head, watching his friend still trying to catch his breath and wondering how much time had passed. He took an absent shot from where he was standing and threw his arms up in triumph as it swished through the net. "And the score is evening up!" He quickly dropped down his arms as Brian took a swipe at his side.

"Too bad it wasn't your ball, huh." Brian grabbed the rebound and took his own shot before Nick could even react. He straightened up for his own announcement. "And the gap widens!"

Nick caught the pass Brian threw at his chest and just stared at him, a tiny frown hinting at his lips. Somehow, there was always a catch.

"C'mon, let's go, time for you to play catch up." Brian got back into defense as soon as Nick started dribbling, but after only a few seconds the jumpshot that finally got off fell through the net.

"Ohhhh! And he scores!"

Brian ignored him and started a drive toward the basket. Unfortunately Nick came back to his senses from his little victory just in time and knocked the ball away in his block.

"Ohhh! Rejected!"

"Ohhh," Brian mocked. He looked around for the 'rejected' ball and caught sight of it rolling off the court, beyond some dumpsters, and behind the building. The concrete was uneven and the basketball was quickly moving. "Your ball," he told Nick, glancing at his watch.

"Come with me," Nick said as he started after it.

"I'll wait here."

"Bri ..."

About to argue it, Brian caught the wary look on his friend's face and silently moved after him toward the dumpsters. He didn't really blame him. "This looks like a perfect place for a crime scene," he noted. Behind the building and hidden from the light of day, it was dark, damp, and strangely quiet.

Nick said nothing but the look on his face spoke for itself.

"Sorry." Something crunched under Brian's sneaker and he looked down, making a face. "Let's just grab the ball and get out of here ..."

"I think something ate the ball," Nick mumbled. He stopped his slow movement suddenly as they came to some sort of storage area with assorted crates and boxes. He looked around cautiously when thought he heard a noise. "You wanna just leave it and go?"

"It's our only ball."

"Yeah, but ..."

"How far could it have gotten?"

"Well if something ate it ..."

Brian smiled slightly and gave his friend a small push from behind. "We'll just look behind this stuff and then we'll go."

"If you say so," Nick muttered, getting a little annoyed when Brian seemed to be pushing him out first. "Why do I go first?"

"Because you're the one who knocked the ball away."

"Yeah but it's your ball, if you want it, you go first."

"Fine, you-"

Several of the large wooden crates suddenly clattered down from their precarious arrangement, invoking a yell out of both of them as they were narrowly missed.

"Wait ...." Brian quickly grabbed his friend by the waist before he could take off. Nick started to twist away.

"C'mon man, let's get out of here-"

"Listen."

"Brian, it's gonna eat us too-"

"Nicky, listen. Shush."

Nick quieted, catching his breath, and in the sudden silence could hear a small sound. A quiet scuffling and whining sound. Then a scraping.

"Dog?"

"It could still be a monster," Brian joked as Nick suddenly started pulling the crates back. "A basketball eating one," he added as he started to help.

"How much time we got?"

"None."

Soon the miscreant was uncovered. It had long silky ears and a round, shiny noise. A spray of hair partly covered its eyes, and shaggy, long, curling hair covered the rest of it. Its ears pricked up when it saw them and it let out a bark, tail waving back and forth.

"Aw ..." Nick was in love.

The dog let out another yip and Brian frowned slightly. "Is it friendly?"

"Its tail is going."

"Could be a trick."

"Brian," Nick laughed, already squatting down. He whistled lowly. "Here boy."

The dog happily bounded over and greeted him by licking his hands. "See? Good puppy."

"It's not a puppy."

"Yeah he is."

"No, it's not."

"Yeah he is." The dog leaned its head into Nick's hand as he scratched behind one of its shaggy ears. Brian was quickly squatting down to pet him too and it was soon licking his face in glee, front paws up on his knee. It didn't take long to win him over.

"What a good boy," he cooed. "Who left you out here?"

Pausing in his petting, Nick caught sight of the face on Brian's watch and for the first time since meeting the dog remembered back to what they were there for. "Shit. We gotta go."

Brian looked at his wrist as Nick tugged him up by the arm. Damn. "What about the dog?"

"Put him on the bus," Nick said as the hurried along the side of the building. The little dog was at their feet, scampering along next to them. "Look, he thinks we've adopted him."

"What if he's not house-trained?"

Nick frowned slightly, chewing the inside of his cheek. Good point. They were back at the door of the building they had come from and Brian shook his head.

"C'mon, we don't have time. We'll stick him in the room next to the one we're rehearsing in and come back for him." He leaned down to scoop up the dog but the animal steadied its legs and growled up at him, baring its teeth. "Whoa, puppy."

"Grab him, Brian?" Nick was already starting up the steps and didn't notice the little outburst.

After a few murmurs of friendship, the little dog was back to wagging its tail and Brian gently picked him up. The animal didn't seem to mind this time.

They were halfway down the hall toward the rehearsal room when Nick caught sight of Kevin making his way towards them. "Danger," he mumbled. Brian quickly spun around and headed the other direction with the dog.

"Where's he going?" Kevin frowned as his path intersected with Nick's.

"Kevin!" Nick exclaimed excitedly. He wrapped his arms around the man in a playful bearhug, hoping to distract him.

Kevin grew suspicious. "Where'd Brian go?" he asked, absently pushing back the kid's damp blonde hair.

"Oh, uh bathroom."

"He went the wrong way."

"He did?" Nick was all innocence.

Kevin raised his eyebrows. "Yes, he did ... Where were you guys, I was just coming to look for you."

"Basketball." Nick glanced over his shoulder but he didn't see Brian anywhere. He started leaning his weight against Kevin so that he would move back up the hall. "We were playing basketball."

"Well you're late."

"I'm sorry."

Kevin frowned as Nick pushed him up the hall. "Are you hiding something?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes ..."

"Positive?"

"You're being paranoid," Nick told him. He glanced behind him again and finally caught sight of Brian jogging to catch up to them. "Brian!"

Kevin turned and opened his mouth to say something but Nick quickly cut him off.

"Did you find the bathroom okay?"

Brian's brow creased at first in confusion but at Nick's look he quickly nodded. "Uh huh."

"Nice try." Kevin gave his cousin a quick swat as he said it. "There's no bathroom down there."

Brian crossed his arms over his chest. "Then you obviously don't know this establishment as well as I do."

Kevin shook his head as he watched them both carefully. "What'd you do, you break something?"

"You underestimate us, Kev," Brian answered. He shifted under the look he was getting. "And you're making us late."

"You were already late."

-

"I have an idea ..."

Brian took a sip from his water bottle and watched as Nick started dumping out all the stuff in his duffel bag into his own. He frowned. "You're gonna put him in that?"

"You got a better idea?"

"I dunno but a barking duffel bag seems kinda obvious."

"He won't bark. Besides it's just to get him on the bus. After that we're gonna have to think of something else."

Brian shook his head. Like how not to get beaten when they were found out. "Alright. Listen you wanna get him or you want me to?"

"I will."

"Down the second hall, first door on the right. It was like a storage room. I put him in one of the empty boxes."

Nick looked shocked. "You put him in a box?"

"Did you want to lose him?" Brian countered. He gave him a push. "He's fine. Go quick, we gotta get going."

Nick nodded and took off. By the time he got to the hallway, he already knew which room to go to even without directions. It was the room that the howling was coming from. He quickly hurried his step and pulled the door open.

"Sh ... Hey puppy," he greeted softly, a smile quickly spreading across his young face as the dog stopped its crying at the sight of him. "We gotta get going."

The dog's long flowing tail thudded against the side of the cardboard, his front paws just hanging over the side of the box. Nick squatted down next to it to get him and was attacked with slobbery kisses.

"Okay, hang on ..." He unzipped the duffel bag and set it on the ground next to him before reaching for the dog. "I know this is worse than Brian putting you in the box but we're just gonna have to deal for now okay?"

He had a hard time keeping the happy wriggling pup in place long enough to zip up the bag a little bit, but he soon got him in and carefully hoisted the bundle into his arms.

With a minute to spare, Nick hopped on the bus, immediately rushing past the guys to where the bunks were. Hopefully not obvious. Climbing into his bunk, he pulled the curtain shut and hoped everyone would just leave him alone.

He felt the bus pull off several minutes later and let out a breath. So far, so good.

Nick unzipped the duffel bag and the little dog squirmed out onto the bed, tripping over itself in eagerness. He sat back against the wall and watched as the puppy ran excitedly to the foot of the bunk, sniffing frantically before coming back and putting its two front paws on his knee, licking his hand. Its tail wagged, moving its whole body.

Nick jumped when the curtain of his bunk was pulled back suddenly.

Brian. He let out a breath.

Brian cracked a small smile. "Scoot," he instructed, hitting Nick in the leg so he could climb in. He closed the curtain behind himself, settling in against some pillows as the dog bounded over to him, tail thumping against the wall. He sank his fingers into the longish hair. "Nicky, we need a plan."

"I know."

The dog buried its nose into Brian's side and he giggled. "A major plan."

"We need a name too."

"I think a plan is a little more important than a name, buddy."

"I think a name is pretty important."

"Yeah but it won't be important anymore if we don't have a plan and-"

"Guys?" They heard AJ's voice outside and a second later the curtain was pulled away. Nick quickly dived behind Brian, pulling the puppy with him. "Holy shit," AJ said loud enough for the whole bus to hear. "You have a dog -" Brian kicked at him. "Doggone it," he said even louder, trying to cover his previous exclamation.

The dog let out a muffled bark from underneath Nick.

"Go away, we'll tell you later," Brian whispered.

AJ looked like he didn't even want to get involved. "Sure thing, Bri ..."

Brian let out a breath as he pulled the curtain shut again. "Get up," he told Nick, smacking the seat of his pants lightly. "Now we really need a plan."

Nick rolled over and sat up slowly, pulling the dog on his lap. It yipped again and he quickly covered its snout with his hand. "Shush up, you."

Brian reached out a hand to stroke the silky ears. "If we're gonna keep the thing we need to think of something before Kevin's the next one sticking his head in here."

Nick leaned his head back against the wall, blowing his hair off his face in frustration. "I can say I found him in my bunk."

"That's convincing."

"It's worth a try."

Brian shook his head. "If we keep him hidden long enough we can pretend we found him at the next hotel."

"What good will that do?"

"We won't get in trouble for bringing him on the bus."

"Oh." There was a few seconds of silence where Nick seemed to be deep in thought. "How about Oreo?"

"What?" Brian frowned.

"He's black and white, like an Oreo."

"Carter, think of plans. Names come later."

"I am thinking of plans, Brian. Only names are coming." Nick sighed and draped his arm around the dog tiredly. "I always wanted a tour dog."

Brian just smiled at the dog that was happily sniffing around the bunk. It was so cute. But they both started frowning as it snuffled into the corner and started wagging its tail excitedly.

"Bri?"

"Mm."

"I think we forgot to think about something."

"Like what happens when puppy needs to go out?"

"Exactly," Nick mumbled as he started looking worried. "Look why don't we hang out in your bunk with him instead, huh man?"

"Nuh-uh!"

"If he does anything I'm sleeping with you." Nick made a face and looked at the dog pointedly. "You be good, hear?" The only response was a wagging tail. "And what're we supposed to say if that does happen?"

Brian couldn't keep a smile off of his face just thinking about it. "It won't be so bad, buddy. We'll just say you wet your bed."

Nick looked horrified. "No!"

"Then better hope it doesn't happen."

Nick looked like he was hoping pretty hard.

"Well we can't hide him forever so we need to think of a way to convince the guys we should keep 'im," Brian said, keeping his voice low.

"I can say he's my dog and that my family went away on vacation and I have to watch him."

"Yeah but when we first ever started touring your mom told you flat out to your face that you couldn't bring a dog with you on the bus, so she'd never ask you to do that. Not to mention you have more dogs at home, so why wouldn't you have to watch those too?" Brian paused. "And how come this one would just appear way out here without your mom or dad making any appearance?"

Nick frowned as his idea was shot down. "Okay okay, it was just a suggestion."

Suddenly they heard Kevin's voice calling them. "Guys?"

"Oh shit."

Brian's heart jumped. "I knew they'd start to get suspicious with us both in here ..."

Nick was pulling the top blanket up from his bed and shoving the dog underneath it as fast as he could. The furry head disappeared just in time for the curtain being pulled back, and Nick threw himself in front of the lump for good measure.

"Guys? What're you doing?" Kevin was giving Nick a funny look.

"Talking," Brian said quickly. Out of the corner of his eye he made sure nothing was obvious.

Well, it wasn't obvious if you weren't looking for it.

He hoped.

"About what?"

"Do you really think we would be talking in here if we wanted everybody to know that?" Nick answered seriously. Then he started giggling. The dog was pushing its nose into him.

Kevin couldn't seem to help the small involuntary smile on his face. Brian watched him carefully, hoping he wasn't going to figure anything out. Go away, just go away ...

Kevin caught his little cousin's eye. "Why you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're scared."

"I ain't scared of you." Brian stuck out his chin.

Kevin just shook his head, amused. "Alright, guys ..." He paused, watching their faces and knowing something was up. They had some sort of secret. "You sure you're not in trouble?"

Nick pasted an innocent look on his face and shook his head. Not yet anyway. Brian decided it was time to change the subject.

"Are we gonna stop for dinner somewhere?"

"Sometime later."

Nick silently hoped it would be soon, mostly so that the dog could use the grass outside if need be and not his bunk. He shifted as he felt the animal start to squirm under the hot blankets and gave Brian a look. A 'get your cousin out of here' look quick.

Kevin seemed to notice the exchange. If they wanted to get in trouble, well then fine. He was too tired to try and get whatever it was out of them.

"I guess I'll let you get back to your 'talking' now."

Nick just gave him a big smile.

After the curtain was once again pulled shut, Brian let out a breath. "You can let the poor thing breathe now."

The dog was already wriggling its way out from under the blankets and when it succeeded, it gave Nick's face a triumphant share of slobber. Nick grinned and kissed the mutt on the nose.

"Don't kiss him, buddy, we don't know where he's been."

Nick made a face at that as the dog licked him again, oblivious to anything it may have been carrying.

"C'mere pooch," Brian called softly, and the curly mutt answered the call happily, plopping down over Brian's lap and resting its furry chin on his knee. Brian smiled slightly and stroked a silky ear. "What're we gonna do with you?"

"You sound like you don't wanna keep him anymore."

"It's not that," Brian said slowly. The dog started licking his fingers. "I just don't know how we're gonna."

"We'll just always keep him a secret."

"We've had him for twenty minutes and already AJ knows. And Kevin thinks something's up. It's only a matter of time, buddy-boy."

Nick let out a breath. "Well we'll just keep it a secret for as long as we can and then figure out something."

Brian had a feeling that the 'secret' part wasn't going to last long. No secret ever did.

-

"And where do you think you're going?"

Nick froze for a second. "Hey, AJ," he said calmly.

AJ had noticed the kid hanging back when the bus stopped at McDonald's, and as hungry as he was he made a point to stay back and find out what was going on.

"What's with the mutt?" The so-named started sniffing at his feet, tail wagging.

"Isn't he cute?"

"Yeah," AJ allowed patiently. "But what're you doing with him?"

"He's a really good dog."

"Nicky ..."

"We found him, me and Brian. Back at the studio."

The curly pup had jumped up on AJ's leg, trying to get his attention. AJ ignored it, looking straight at Nick. "Man, you know you can't have a dog on tour."

"He likes you," was Nick's only answer. He glanced around and hoped that the dog would do it's business quick and get back on the bus before anybody else noticed. It seemed too busy trying to get AJ to be its friend.

"Nicky," AJ started again. He didn't want to be the one to break it to the kid. "What're you gonna do tomorrow when we stay at a hotel, hm?"

"He'll be good."

AJ watched the dog as it started sniffing around in the grass. "Brian's in on this too?"

"Yes ..." Nick gave him a sad look. "Don't tell, AJ."

"I'm not gonna but everybody's gonna know soon enough."

The dog did it's business and came trotting back over to the two of them, letting out a little yip. "See he's trained already," Nick told AJ proudly.

AJ just shook his head and gave Nick's shoulder a push. "Don't come running to me when Kevin finds out and wants to beat you."

"Kevin's gonna like him. What's not to like?"

AJ didn't even start giving the list that was already going through his mind. "Just go put him on the bus so that we can eat. I'm starved."

Nick picked the pup up and quickly hurried back to the bus. Luckily enough the driver had gone to get food too, so he didn't need to worry about that.

"You stay here," he directed as the mutt pushed its nose out of the bunk curiously. "Go to sleep."

The dog let out a little whine.

"I'll be back. Be good."

AJ was still waiting for him outside when he climbed back off the bus and started across the parking lot. "Puppy better not destroy the bus without any supervision."

The same thought had crossed Nick's mind but he just shook his head at AJ. "He's a good dog."

"So you say, but if he gets into any of my stuff, both of you are gonna get it."

Nick just rolled his eyes.

-

"Where were you guys?"

Brian cringed at Kevin's question. He knew exactly where they were.

"I was looking for my hat. I can't find my hat." AJ gave the whole table a frown as he slid into the end seat. Nick sank in next to him with a relieved sigh. AJ was good on his word, that much was sure at least.

"You're wearing a hat," Howie observed.

"Not this one." AJ reached for a french fry. "Another one."

Nick caught Brian's gaze on him and gave a small shrug. Everything was okay. For now. He began unwrapping the burger that was in front of him on the table.

"What time do we get to the hotel tomorrow?" Brian started to take some of Kevin's fries since his own were finished but promptly got his hand knocked away. "Ow," he complained.

"Pretty early. Eat your own."

"I did ..." Brian tried again and this time Kevin just let him with a roll of his eyes. "Is it suite or separate."

"I think suite."

Nick cursed under his breath as Kevin answered Brian's questions. Suite was no good. If it was just himself and Brian to a room off alone then it would be easier to keep the secret. Now it would be hard.

"Does it have a minibar?" AJ started in on the questions.

"Not for you it doesn't."

"Does that mean yes?"

"It means no." Kevin gave him a look.

"Oh."

"Does it have a pool?"

"Littrell, I'm not a travel brochure, alright? I don't know." Kevin was starting to sound annoyed.

Brian gave him a hurt look and leaned back in his seat. Someone was touchy.

Howie glanced at the two of them and frowned. A tired Kevin and a Brian didn't make a good mix. He tried to fill in the silence. "I'll be glad to have a real bed tomorrow."

"Yeah, me too ..." AJ trailed off as he heard something from out in the parking lot. A dog barking. He glanced at Nick and knew from his face that he heard it.

Howie heard it too. "I think it's mean when people leave their dogs locked up in their cars."

AJ couldn't help starting to laugh at the irony of the statement but as a result he started choking on the burger he had just bitten into. He started coughing for air as the food lodged in his throat.

Kevin gave him a whack on the back and pushed a soda cup towards him. "You alright? Take a sip."

"Fine, I'm fine," AJ said after a gulp of the soda. He still thought what Howie had said was funny. "Poor dog, huh Brian?"

Brian kicked him under the table.

"Ow!" AJ objected.

Kevin automatically hit his cousin in the arm. "Don't kick him."

"He kicked me first."

"I did not!"

"Brian, quit it," Kevin said seriously.

"I'm not doing anything." Brian sent AJ a look.

"What're you looking at me for?" AJ demanded.

"You know why."

Kevin watched Brian for a second but he didn't say anything. The whole place was full of secrets. But if things went as they always did, he knew that he would probably figure it out soon enough. He wanted to enjoy his peace of mind while it lasted. At least try to. His gaze fell on Nick. "Nicky, you not hungry?"

"I'm, uh, gonna eat on the bus."

"On the bus," Howie repeated. "Any particular reason?"

Nick glanced down at his saved food. "No ... I just wanna eat on the bus."

Brian glanced down at his own crumpled up wrapper and empty box of fries. Darn. Why didn't he think of that? Now Nick was going to starve over a dumb dog. A cute dumb dog, but still.

Kevin was still studying Nick. "You feeling okay?"

"Uh huh, fine."

"Are you worried about something?"

Nick shook his head just as he heard the dog's barking start up again. Great. Just great.

"You sure."

He nodded again. Fine, everything was fine. Stop drilling.

By the time they started to clean up and get ready to head back out, the dog was still barking and Nick was starting to get a little more than worried. Once they were outside it was going to be really obvious where the barking was actually coming from.

Brian was thinking the same thing. "Kev?"

"Yeah, buddy."

"Can you get me more soda?" He pushed his empty cup toward the older man as he started to slide out of his seat.

"Why can't you do it?"

"'Cause I'm cold and I'm gonna go back to the bus now and get a sweatshirt."

"You can't wait one more minute while you fill up your soda?"

"I'm really cold."

Kevin shook his head but picked up the cup and started to stand up. Brian took the chance to move toward the exit. As he sprinted across the parking lot where the bus was parked he noticed that the noise had stopped. Debating in his mind whether that was a good or bad sign, he pulled open the door and climbed on quickly.

Content in the fact that nothing looked out of place or smelled funny, he was feeling a little reassured as he made his way to the bunk.

But then he pulled open the curtain and found it empty.

"Puppy?" Brian moved past the bunks quickly and scanned the back room, heart starting to beat a little faster.

There. In the corner on the messy floor, the shaggy little animal was contentedly gnawing on something held between its paws. At Brian's call the dog raised its head and started thumping its tail against the floor.

"What do you have there?" Brian whispered. "That's not a chew toy," he scolded softly, pulling what remained of the baseball cap out of the dog's mouth.

The dog sneezed in response.

"Bless you." Brian heard the guys outside and quickly grabbed the mutt, hurriedly transporting him back to the bunks. He was just shoving the curtain to Nick's bunk shut when he heard the bus's engine starting up. Just in time.

He took a deep breath and tried to relax. Having a dog shouldn't be this much of a hassle.

"Here you go." Kevin was pushing a soda at him.

"Thanks ..."

"Where's your sweatshirt?"

He hesitated. "Uh- I don't need it now, I think that McDonald's keeps the AC on all the way." Brian moved slightly as the dog pushed its nose into his back through the curtain. He gave Kevin a forced grin and prayed it wouldn't bark.

"I know that smile. You're up to something."

Brian shook his head. "You keep sayin' that."

"Because I know you, and I know when you're up to something."

Brian's smile faded. "You're wrong this time, Kev." He gave the older man a push.

"Alright, pal," Kevin said tiredly. He shook his head as he moved to the back and Brian just rolled his eyes. He was starting to get used to that look.

Nick caught his arm. "Does he know?" His voice was a whisper.

"No, but he's gonna."

"Why?"

"Because he knows something's up."

"Oh." Nick pulled back the curtain slightly and was greeted by a licking tongue. "What a good dog ... You hungry?"

"Speaking of good dog ..."

"He is a good dog," Nick said as he started unwrapping his burger.

"Yeah well ..." Brian reached around him into the bunk and felt around for the baseball cap, holding it up in front of Nick's face when he found it. "Funny AJ mentioned his hat before."

Nick stared at the chewed accessory and frowned. "Shit." The now ragged rim was hanging from the rest of the hat by several threads, and the adjustable plastic strap in the back was a mangled mess.

"My thoughts exactly."

"Was that all he got?"

"I hope so, I didn't exactly have time to look."

Nick pulled the hat out of Brian's hand and tossed it back into the corner of the bunk. "That's all you can chew on," he informed the dog with a serious expression.

The pup just sniffed at the half-unwrapped burger excitedly.

"Now we don't have to buy him a chew toy." Nick started to break the burger into small pieces. They could look on the bright side of things.

"Now he thinks hats are chew toys."

Nick shook his head as the dog scarfed up the pieces of food from his hand. "Aw, you were hungry, weren't you? See Bri, he was just hungry."

"Tell me that when it's your sneakers he's eating."

"He was just hungry," Nick repeated. He started to give the dog some of the french fries.

"Aren't you hungry? You can't just give it all your food."

Nick didn't answer him.

"We'll buy him dog food when we get to the hotel."

"Okay." Nick gave the pup's shaggy head a pat. "Hear that? You're gonna have puppy chow."

"Yum," Brian laughed. He heard the TV start up in the back room and hoped the dog didn't leave anymore evidence back there. "So what's with AJ."

"What about him?"

"Well he knows. Is he gonna keep it a secret?"

"He said he would."

"Well that's good." Brian took a small sip of his soda and pet one of the dog's silky ears absently. "Listen I think if we both keep hanging out up here they're gonna know something's up. So maybe I should go hang out with them for awhile."

"Yeah, you're right." Nick started to climb in the bunk. "I wish that we didn't have to hide him and we could just keep him for real."

"I know, buddy."

"Well maybe when they find out they'll want him too."

"Maybe ..." Brian didn't sound convinced. He straightened up. "I'll check on you guys later. Be good."

In the back of the bus, Brian found the three of them watching some sort of movie. A loud movie. He didn't recognize it though, so he just plopped down between Kevin and AJ. He let out a breath and leaned into Kevin heavily.

Kevin glanced down at his cousin. "You tired?"

"Yeah ..." He was.

-

"My hat's gone."

Brian was half asleep and not really paying much attention to the television or any sort of conversation when he heard AJ's voice. The statement didn't register at first.

"You told us before," he heard Kevin say.

"Yeah but this time I'm serious."

There was a pause. "Why weren't you serious the first time?"

The response was slightly inaudible to Brian over the sound of the TV but the next thing he knew he was being shaken.

"Brian, where's my hat? I swear to God man, if-"

Brian turned his head into Kevin and made some sort of muffled whine of objection. Couldn't AJ see he was sleeping?

"Aje, leave him be." Kevin sent AJ a look, but the younger man really wasn't paying too much attention. "He's tired, it's late ..."

"My hat," AJ huffed. His eyes still flashed on Brian.

"You're overtired," Kevin continued in the same tone.

"You don't understand now, but when stuff of yours goes missing too you'll-"

"Shut up," came Brian's muffled objection. He wasn't lifting his head. AJ watched him a second and then shook his head, expression not changing. It was one of his favorite hats. He just knew ...

"I know, why don't I just go ask Nick."

This time Brian lifted his head, sleep-mussed hair and all, and glared at AJ with all the energy he had left.

"Let him alone, AJ," Kevin interrupted. "He's probably sleepin'."

AJ just stood there.

"And why would Nick take your hat?"

AJ glanced at Brian before his eyes settled back on Kevin. His jaw tightened. This secret wasn't going to last. "He didn't ..."

Brian sat up straighter. "AJ," he complained tiredly.

"What."

Brian didn't answer and AJ shook his head, starting toward the door. Brian let out a huff and got up after him but Kevin caught his arm.

"Easy ... You wanna fill me in here?"

Brian shook his head.

"Do it anyway."

"It's a joke." Brian shook him off. "Leave me alone."

"Fine," Kevin muttered irritatedly. He leaned back in his seat and glanced over at Howie when it was just the two of them in the room. "Is it just me or do they get stranger everyday?"

"You noticed it too, huh?"

-

The humming of the bus was almost putting Nick to sleep until he suddenly heard voices above him.

"- ... destroyin' my stuff wasn't part of the deal-"

"I'm sorry! I'll buy you a new one."

"They don't make that one anymore!"

"I'll get one specially made ..."

"You can't."

"I said I was sorry!"

"Look Brian, it was cool and all for like, a minute, but now-"

"Guys?" Nick started to sit up, blinking in the light. Someone had pulled the curtain of his bunk back, and he knew why when he saw the soggy mangled hat dangling from AJ's hand. Uh oh.

"Hey Carter, enjoying your last night with the demon animal?"

Nick frowned. It wasn't like the dog had attacked him. Just his hat. "He was hungry ..." His voice was sleepy.

"Go back to bed," Brian started, but AJ interrupted him.

"I told you it had better not get into my stuff and what's it do? Not only get into it, but destroy it."

"It's just a hat," Nick said tiredly. He felt movement under his arm and glanced at the resting dog. "He's a good dog," he mumbled.

"Well then say goodbye to the 'good dog' 'cause it ain't gonna last."

"I'll watch him, swear ..." Nick pleaded. He yawned and glanced at the dog again. "He's sorry, right puppy?"

The dog made no sign of being sorry.

"No he's not and he can't stay."

"But you like dogs." Nick started looking worried.

"Yeah, but we can't keep one on tour. If we could we would have brought our own dogs."

"But maybe ... maybe now we can."

"No. And it's probably all dirty, you shouldn't be sleeping with it. Next time we stop the bus I think it's bye bye doggie."

Nick was frowning more. "You're gonna tell?"

"Maybe."

"You promised!"

Brian elbowed AJ in the side when he saw his younger friend's face fall. "You're gonna make him cry," he hissed.

"Too bad. It's gonna be worse when he's even more attached to it and it has to go."

Nick did look near tears. He started pulling his blanket over his head. "Go away, I hate you."

"Nicky," AJ started.

"I hate you, go away!" came the muffled objection.

"You're being such a baby." AJ started reaching for the blanket. "You know perfectly well we can't-"

"Leave him alone already." Brian tried pulling AJ's arm back.

"We can't keep some animal you found somewhere. It's ..." AJ trailed off and decided to try a different tactic. "Listen to me." He yanked the blanket down. "I bet it belongs to someone. And here you are taking it hundreds of miles away from its owner."

"It doesn't have a collar," Brian argued.

AJ gave him a look. "You're just as attached to it, aren't you?"

"No ..."

"Oh please."

"Go away," Nick started up again. "You're a liar, you can't keep secrets, and I hate you!"

AJ stared at him. "Anything else?"

"And go away!" Nick kicked out at him, catching him in the leg. AJ's face darkened and he moved to hit him, but Brian pushed him away.

"Leave him alone!"

"He kicked me!" AJ shoved him back.

They were about to go at it but Kevin had heard the noise and was making his way through the doorway just in time. He caught each by an arm and jerked them away from one another.

"What the hell are you fighting over?" he demanded.

They were too busy glaring at each other to answer.

"Well?" Kevin tightened his hold on them and Brian actually let out a cry. AJ made a pained face.

"Ow, Kevin."

"He was gonna hit Nick," Brian said quickly.

"He kicked me," came the objection.

"AJ shoved me."

"You shoved me first!"

The patience Kevin liked to think he had was quickly evaporating. "If this is about that damn hat, I swear to God I'll beat you both with it."

"It's about the fact that- Ow!" AJ cried out as Brian's foot connected with his shin.

Brian suddenly found both his upper arms in Kevin's tight grasp. "What the hell is wrong with you today?!"

"Lemme go," he protested.

"Answer me!"

Brian glared at him. He should have be on his side, not AJ's. "Nothing."

"Then quit it, will you?" Kevin hit him upside the head as he let him go. "Just stop. You're being a real pain."

"Yeah," AJ said.

Kevin turned to him. "You, don't even start," he warned.

AJ held up his hands.

Kevin watched them both for a minute, not sure what to even say. They were driving him nuts. He glanced toward Nick's bunk, but the kid had safely hidden himself behind a closed curtain before the episode had even begun.

"He's not asleep," AJ started. "Why don't you check-"

"Shut up, AJ." Brian sent him a look.

"Guys ..." Kevin shook his head. "Look, why don't you both do everyone a favor and just go to bed."

AJ looked nowhere near sleep and Brian wouldn't even look at him anymore.

"Alright? Quit fighting and just go to sleep."

"I'm not even tired," AJ argued.

"Too bad. It's late and we're gonna be at the hotel early in the morning."

"Then I'll sleep at the hotel." AJ pushed past him through the door. "I'm not tired."

Brian was just standing there quietly but his blue eyes narrowed when Kevin's gaze fell on him.

"Look Brian-"

"No, leave me alone," Brian interrupted. He started to back away. "It's always my fault, you're always yellin' at me. I'll just go to bed and try and stop being such a pain!"

"Brian," Kevin started, but the kid had already disappeared into his bunk.

Damn.

He wasn't even going to yell at him, he was going to ask him if he was alright. Kevin shook his head, hesitating in the doorway for a second. He had half a mind to drag him out of there and talk some sense into him, but he figured it would be safer if he just let it be for that night.

-

What woke Nick up was the fact that the dog was already up, walking all over him and sniffing all around like mad. He rolled over and shut his eyes again to the world of sleep he was still half in, but the dog noticed his movement and pounced on his face, licking frantically.

"Okay, okay," Nick whispered quickly. "I'm awake, shh ..."

The small dog sat back on its haunches and looked at him expectantly, tail thumping against the blankets. Pulling himself up on his elbows, Nick shook his head slightly.

"What're we gonna do with you? You got Brian and AJ in a fight, you know that?"

The pup raised a shaggy eyebrow.

"Well it wasn't your fault directly but ..." Nick broke off his words. "Why'm I talking to a dog."

At that the dog let out a huff and started to pace the bunk again. Nick watched the curly animal a minute and then pulled his curtain open, starting to slide out. His little friend was soon peeking out after him but he pushed the wet nose back in, sliding the curtain shut after it.

"Stay ..."

"Nick?"

He jumped about a foot, spinning around quickly. "Hi Kev," he said, trying to still his beating heart. Did he see? "What's up."

"You're up early."

"So're you."

"Couldn't sleep," Kevin admitted with a shrug. "We're stopping in about twenty minutes anyway, I was just about to wake you guys up."

He didn't see ...

Kevin was studying him. "You feeling okay?"

"Feel fine." Nick let the older man feel his forehead without an objection. "I'm fine, Kevin." He knocked the hand away when Kevin tried to mess his hair. "Stop."

"You've been acting weird lately."

"Well you always act weird but we put up with you."

"Funny. Listen, can I ask you something?"

"Want me to wake up Brian?" Nick offered quickly.

"Yeah," Kevin allowed, knowing his cousin probably wouldn't be thrilled to have anything to do with him. "But that wasn't my question. About Brian and AJ ..." He waited for Nick to say something but the kid was silent. "What's going on between them, huh?"

Nick gave an innocent frown. "I wasn't aware there was anything going on between them."

Kevin shook his head. He knew the kid didn't lack that much perception. "Nicky-"

"I'm gonna wake up Brian." But his arm was caught.

"Hold up ... You haven't noticed anything going on between them?"

"It's nothing important."

"But you've noticed something."

"They're just fighting ... It's just a fight."

"About?"

Nick gave him an annoyed look. "How come you can't ever figure out anything by yourself?"

Kevin used his other hand to lightly swat the back of Nick's head. "That's not true."

"Then figure it out yourself. Lemme wake up Brian."

"Argh," Kevin muttered, letting him go with a push.

But he figured Nick's waking up of Brian was enough to wake up everyone else, so he just stood back and watched from the doorway.

"Brian!!!" After hollering his name and not getting an answer, Nick pulled back his friend's curtain and basically tackled him awake. But this of course caught Brian off-guard, who fended for himself, which concluded the ceremony with the two of them falling out of the bunk with a painful sounding thud to the floor.

It was silent for a second.

"Ow, Nick. Get off."

"Morning."

"Get off."

"Did you sleep well?"

"Get off!"

Kevin ended it himself by grabbing Nick off of his still drowsy cousin. Brian picked himself off the ground slowly.

"Can I wake up AJ?"

"No," Nick and Kevin said simultaneously.

Brian looked surprised.

"I'll wake them," Kevin said, giving them a push toward the back of the bus. "Go watch TV."

Once everyone was up and about, the only thing on Nick's mind was how he was going to get the dog into the hotel without anyone noticing. Not only were the rest of the guys a problem, but the fact that most hotels didn't allow pets, especially the hotels they stayed in.

He was hardly even paying attention to the cartoons on the TV as they tried to pass the time until they stopped.

"Quit fidgeting," Howie told him finally.

"I'm not."

"You are."

Nick didn't answer, he just rocked his leg back and forth absently and tried to think. He could use the duffel bag thing again, he just had to find the duffel bag.

"Bri, where's my duffel bag?"

"Mm?" Brian looked over at him tiredly.

"Where's my duffel bag."

"I think it was up front."

"Can you help me look for it?" Nick wanted to talk to him, but he didn't want to act suspicious.

"You can find it yourself, bro."

Stupid, stupid Brian. "Please?"

"You're such a baby, Nick, geez," AJ muttered. "Go get it yourself."

Nick glared at him and got to his feet, annoyed. The only thing that was worked in his favor was the fact that Brian got up to follow, just to spite AJ. He kicked his leg on the way out.

The duffel was lying right on a seat in the front and Nick grabbed it, giving Brian a look. "Will it work?"

"Man, it's gonna be so much harder in the hotel, so just think about that for a second."

"I have. You're not gonna help me anymore?"

"I will ..." Brian didn't sound all too enthusiastic about it.

"I'll just do the same thing as yesterday," Nick said as they moved toward the bunks. They were going to stop any minute. "And nobody will know."

"Sure." Brian pulled open the curtain to his younger friend's bunk expecting to find a licking tongue to greet him, but instead he found nothing. An empty bunk. No pup. "Nicky."

Nick's eyes were wide. "Oh shit."

Brian's stomach sank. He felt the bus starting to pull to a stop. "Sorry, Nicky."

"Sorry?"

"I don't think the dog's gonna get to see the inside of the hotel."

Nick didn't answer right away.

"Maybe they'll like him."

"Nick!" they heard from the back of the bus. Kevin didn't sound too happy.

"Maybe not."

"How's he know it's me?" Nick complained. "It could be your dog."

"Lucky guess."

Nick let out a huff.

"Cry. Maybe they'll feel sorry and let you keep it."

"They're not gonna feel sorry if I cry."

"You never know."

"You're coming with me anyway, it's your dog too. So you can cry- Kevin will feel sorry for you."

"No, he won't," Brian muttered.

"You never know," Nick mocked.

Brian stared at him a second and then gave him a push to the back.

The little dog looked pretty content in the company of Kevin, AJ, and Howie. Kevin, AJ, and Howie were the only ones who didn't exactly look content.

Kevin was the first to speak. "Nick-"

"You got me a dog?!"

He figured acting innocent was the best first defense.

Kevin obviously didn't. "Carter, why the hell is there a dog on the bus?"

"I ... don't know."

If looks could kill. "You're saying you've never seen this dog before?"

Nick was trying hard to ignore the curly little pup who had thrown itself at him upon his arrival. It let out a hoarse bark at the lack of attention it was suddenly receiving.

Nick didn't look at any of them. He had the sudden feeling that his original hope of them falling in love with the dog at first glance wasn't exactly becoming a reality.

Howie raised an eyebrow. "Well he seems to know you."

Brian had stayed silent the whole time until he heard the door up in the front of the bus opening. "Time to get off," he interrupted.

"Hold up." Kevin pointed to the dog. "We gotta do something about this."

Nick took a breath. "He's mine, I'm keeping him." There, he said it.

"The hell you are. We can't have a dog."

"I can," Nick argued.

"No you can't."

"Yes I can."

AJ rolled his eyes and plopped back down in a seat. There they went. It might take awhile.

"No. Get rid of it, or I will."

Nick reached down to pet behind a shaggy ear. "No ..."

"I'm serious."

The bus driver was suddenly calling back to tell them to start getting off. "C'mon guys, let's go!"

"Go ask him if you can have a dog on the bus," Kevin said.

"I'm keeping him."

"Then I'll get rid of it."

"I hate you," Nick interrupted.

"Nick-"

"I do! You're the meaning person I know and I hate you ..." Nick quickly picked the dog up and disappeared toward front of the bus.

Kevin was frowning.

"How did he even get that thing on here?" Howie was saying.

Brian realized all three of them were looking at him. He frowned.

"What?"

"When'd you get the dog, Brian?"

Oh right, now that Nick was out of the room, the blame fell on him. He didn't answer.

Kevin let out a breath at his cousin's silence. "Listen Littrell, go tell Nick he can't keep it."

Sure, use him as a tactic. He wasn't about to make it that easy. "I like the dog," he said petulantly. And without waiting for an answer he followed after Nick.

Kevin let out a muttered curse. "I don't need this right now ..."

"Why don't we get rid of all three of them," AJ said tiredly from his position on the couch.

"Aje."

"It was just a suggestion. Think of how quiet it would be."

Howie shook his head with a slight smile. "I think you would make up for that in due time."

"Oh whatever."

"C'mon," Kevin said suddenly. "Grab your stuff. Let's just get off the bus. We can talk about it inside."

Nick and Brian had already grabbed their stuff and were waiting in the lobby of the hotel. If they had known where to go they would have gone there already, but as it was they had to wait for the rest of the guys anyway.

"I am keeping him," Nick whispered as they waited. He dropped down onto one of the stiff couches and shifted the living duffel bag on his lap.

"Okay," was all Brian said.

Nick frowned. Okay? "You alright?"

"Fine." Brian dropped down next to him.

"You don't seem too-" But he cut himself off as the other guys approached.

"Ready?" AJ held up a key.

"Where's the dog," Howie asked in a low voice.

Nick gave the duffel bag a gentle pat and started to get up.

Kevin shook his head, slightly amused. "If someone approaches you about it, we're not with you."

"Fine, I don't even wanna be with you," Nick returned.

Kevin rolled his eyes. He had just been teasing. He wasn't even sure that the animal should come up with them to the room, but it was too late now. If he mentioned it now it would cause a scene, and he really didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of the lobby. It was already inside the hotel.

Once they got to their room and the door was open, Nick immediately started toward one of the back rooms but someone caught his arm.

Kevin steered him toward the main room. "Hold it a sec. We gotta talk now."

"I wanna drop off my bags."

"It can wait."

Nick let out a huff and grabbed one of the armchairs as the rest of the guys sat down. Here they went. He started to unzip the duffel bag and a curly little head pushed out, licking his hand.

"Alright, lemme start," Kevin said. "I'll make it simple. No dogs."

Nick's eyes narrowed.

"You can't keep him. He shouldn't even be in this room right now. So start saying your goodbyes."

"You can't tell me what to do."

"No? Then here." Kevin dug his cellphone out of his pocket and tossed it at him. "Call Lou. Or your mom. Ask them what they think."

"That's not fair."

"Nick, it's not fair to the dog," Howie started. "He'll be cooped up all day, he'll never get to go out or run around. And it's more of a hassle for us. He can't be on the bus for twenty-four hours, and then we won't be able to stay in hotels because no pets are allowed."

"They don't have to know ..." Nick gave the shaggy head a rub. "And he'll be happy. Doesn't he look happy?" The tail thumped against the armrest of the chair.

Kevin frowned slightly. "Nicky you can't. I'm sorry."

"No you're not. And I can, Kev. Please. Give it a try. A trial period."

"It's not gonna work, bro. We don't have time for it."

"And it smells," AJ added.

"So do you," Brian told him with a glare. "And we keep you."

AJ returned the look. "I do not smell!"

"You do-"

"Brian, hush up," Kevin interrupted.

Brian glared at him. "Tell AJ to hush up."

"Brian-"

"Ugh."

"Isn't he cute though?" Nick interrupted. "You wanna hold him?"

Kevin shook his head. "No."

Nick sank back into the couch with a sad expression.

"You have dogs at home," Kevin said.

"I'm not at home, am I?" came the annoyed response.

Kevin frowned. Was that what it was about?

"We'll take a vote," Howie suggested.

Nick let out a breath. He knew what the outcome of that would be.

"Whoever doesn't want the dog, raise their hand."

Nick and Brian watched silently as each of the three others lifted a hand.

"That's not fair," Nick objected.

"Why isn't it? Majority wins." Kevin watched him a second. "Look man, I'm not trying to be mean. You know yourself we can't keep him. Stop making up excuses because we can't."

"How 'bout me and Nick keep him, and you guys have nothing to do with him," Brian said.

"Oh that'll be easy," AJ said sarcastically. "I mean it's not like we live in the same places or on the same bus. Gee, we'll never even notice. Great idea, Brian."

"You know what, AJ? You can-"

Kevin's hand quickly covered Brian's mouth. "Relax."

Brian tugged his hand down with an irritated look. "You relax."

Nick pet the dog tiredly. This wasn't turning out the way it was supposed to.

"Start thinking what you're gonna do with it," Kevin told them. "Cause he's got to go."

"That's mean. We were gonna give him a good home."

"Well you can find him some other good home."

Nick shook his head and got up from the couch with the dog. Not if he could help it.

-

"Well that went well," Brian muttered as he entered the bedroom.

Nick had already stored himself on the bed closest to the window and wasn't answering.

Brian shook his head and dropped his bag on the ground with a thud as a furry head lifted up curiously. "Well at least we don't have to hide you anymore." He dropped down on his stomach gently on the same bed as Nick, the dog between them. "Right?"

The furry cause of problems just licked his hand sedately, as if it knew that was exactly what it was. The cause of problems. Nick stayed silent.

"Nicky's not happy, Scruffy, is he."

The furball cocked its head to the side as he scratched behind a silky ear.

"Yeah, he looks pretty depressed, Scruff."

"His name's not Scruffy, Brian. Damn."

Brian raised an eyebrow at the dog, feigning surprise. "Ah! He speaks, Scruff."

"That's not his name."

"Well he doesn't have a name, he might as well be a Scruffy," Brian started.

Nick started to shake his head.

"What's wrong with Scruffy? I like Scruffy."

Nick made a face, turning to face him. "Brian, come on."

"What's wrong with it?" Brian shook his head at the pause. "What would you pick then?"

"I don't know ..."

"Then he might as well be Scruffy," Brian repeated. "He likes it too."

Nick rolled his eyes, giving up with a breath. The name fit. He had just wanted to be the one to come up with it. "Fine, I don't care. The way things are going it's not gonna matter what his name is anyway."

Brian laid his head down and let out a sigh. He really was getting attached to the thing himself. A wet nose pushed into his cheek.

"We have a break coming up," Nick said softly. "Maybe we can keep him until then ..."

Brian patted the pup's soft head. "And then take him home?"

"Yeah."

"Would your mom let you?"

"Maybe ..."

"Maybe I could."

"You live with Kevin, man."

"I hold the power."

"Yeah right." Nick sighed sadly. "But then it'll be the same as all my other dogs anyway. They can't come on tour anyway."

"Yeah ..."

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"We need to get him a collar."

Brian propped himself up by his elbows. One second the kid was talking about the whole thing being temporary, and the next thing you know the conversation had turned toward collars.

"Yeah," was all he said.

"And dog food." Nick shifted to his side. "You wanna go out and get him dog food?"

"Maybe in a little bit."

"A leash too ... Well, he doesn't really need a leash, huh."

"No," Brian agreed in a monotone. Nick didn't seem to notice.

There was a long pause, interrupted by a knock.

"Guys?"

AJ and Kevin were in the doorway.

Nick looked away and Brian dropped his head back down into the bed. Kevin's expression didn't change but AJ rolled his eyes at their actions.

"Geez you guys are path-"

Kevin quickly covered his younger friend's mouth and dropped a gentle hand on the top of his head. "Hush ... Guys, we're thinking about getting pizza to the room, are you hungry?"

There was no answer.

Brian was silently growling into the bed. Didn't Kevin know it was too soon after the argument to try and talk to each other? Common sense should have told him not to even attempt it.

AJ was rolling his eyes again, an annoyed look on his face. "I'm not even gonna waste my time," he muttered, disappearing back through the door.

"Guys?"

There still wasn't an answer, but the dog gave him a curious look and after nudging both Nick and Brian and not getting a response from either, squirmed out from beneath their arms and off the bed towards Kevin, shaggy tail wagging.

Nick turned his head at the dog's new movement. "Watch out Scruffy, he hates dogs."

Kevin raised his head as the animal's paws landed on his knee. At least he was talking. "I don't hate dogs."

"You might as well."

"Look, man-"

Nick shook his head. "I don't wanna hear it." And he turned his head away again.

Kevin watched them for a minute. This whole thing was being blown out of proportion. He knew he was right, he wasn't trying to be mean about it, there was just no way.

The little dog let out a yip at him.

Nick stared at the wall, waiting for the older man to leave. He didn't want to talk. It wouldn't change a thing. If anything it would just end in another argument, because they weren't going to agree.

Kevin must have picked up the dog because he felt the animal being dropped on the bed between them.

"Guys, c'mon. You're gonna lay here all day and mope about a dog?" Kevin gently prodded Brian in the ribs as he said it. The kid hadn't moved since he came in.

Nick didn't answer, he just stared at the wall. There had to be some way to keep the dog, he just had to figure out what it was. He rolled over. "Kev."

"What."

"If we keep him I'll never bother you again."

Kevin sat on the edge of the bed. His eyes looked amused, even though he managed to keep his expression straight. "Listen pal. It's not that I don't want you to keep the dog, it's that we can't-"

"You want me to?"

Kevin shook his head. Wrong choice of words. "No, that's not what I meant-"

"That's what you said." Nick sat up and grabbed the older man's arm. "You said that it's not that you don't want me to. So you want me to. You wanna keep him too."

Kevin shook his head again. He almost felt bad at Nick's now hopeful expression. "Carter, hold up. I worded that wrong. You're wording it wrong."

The dog was getting excited at Nick's enthusiasm. It yipped again.

"Shut up," Kevin told it. "Nicky, I didn't mean it that way."

"Yes you did. And we can, you'll see."

"No," Kevin said firmly.

"Yes," Nick said. His voice was sad. He let go of Kevin's arm and punched him hard in the shoulder instead.

"Let's drop this now, alright? I came to ask you about food."

"I'm not hungry ..."

Kevin caught the back of his shirt before he laid back down. "Stop."

Nick tried to punch his arm again. "Go away, Kevin."

"We're gonna eat. C'mon, Brian." He reached over and tickled at his cousin in the ribs again. "Git up. We'll talk later." He couldn't take anymore of the same old conversation.

Brian rolled over onto his back. This was not going well. "What's Scruffy going to eat."

"You named it?"

The blue eyes narrowed. "Yes. You don't like it either?"

"He's a he, not an it," Nick was telling Kevin.

Kevin was just shaking his head, not really listening to either of them. They had named it. Great. That was something like the third step of attachment.

-

Later that night, they had a plan. If they couldn't win them over all at once, then the next best thing was to work on them separately. Easiest first.

"Howie?"

They caught him alone at about a quarter to eight. He was lounging in one of the armchairs, reading something.

"Hey, D?" Brian tried again.

"What, guys?" Howie never looked up from what he was reading.

Nick dropped down on the couch. "Can we talk to you?"

"About what."

No, that wasn't going to work. They wanted to get to the point in a roundabout way.

"What're you reading?" Brian asked, trying to sound interested.

That made Howie look up. "Is this about the dog?"

Brian quickly pasted a look of surprise on his face. "No!"

"Uh huh ..."

"But while we're on that topic ..." Nick cleared his throat. Brian shot him a look. Too fast.

Howie chuckled. "I knew it."

Brian frowned. "Knew what?"

"Guys, it's not going to work. What is this, divide and conquer?"

Brian looked disappointed. "C'mon 'D, help us out," he said, shaking the older man's arm. "Pleeease? It'll be-"

"Brian," Howie interrupted.

"What?"

Howie just shook his head, studying the two sad faces in front of him. He did feel badly. But no. He didn't want anything to do with it.

"I think you should be spending your time trying to find a home for it, don't you think? I mean, if you don't want it to end up in the pound."

Nick and Brian exchanged a look.

"You don't have a lot of time," Howie continued. "So I wouldn't waste it still trying to think of how you're going to keep it. Alright?"

The two of them were silent.

"Alright?" he repeated.

"Sure Howie," Brian said, grabbing Nick by the arm and pulling him from the room.

"That sucked," Nick muttered. "He knew from the beginning."

"I can get AJ," Brian said suddenly.

"You can? How?"

"Watch and see."

AJ was where they suspected they would find him, stretched out on top of his bed, headphones on. Brian quickly moved toward him as Nick sat on the edge of the other bed to watch.

"Hey you, listen up," Brian said as he pulled off the headphones.

AJ looked irritated. "What."

"I'll give you twenty bucks to say you want the dog."

Nick almost laughed. But that would get them a three fifths vote.

"A hundred," AJ countered.

"Yeah right. Thirty."

"Fifty."

"Forty."

"Okay." AJ held out his hand, a smug smile on his face. "I want it now."

Brian rolled his eyes but quickly pulled out his wallet. All he had left in there were two twenties, but he pulled them out and handed them over. "Now swear of your life that you will."

"Will what?" AJ asked as he stuffed the bills in his pocket.

"Say you want the dog."

"You should've had me promise first, don't you think?"

Brian glared at him. He hated little brothers. Absolutely hated them. "McLean, I swear to God."

"That's nice."

"If you're not gonna do it, give me my money back."

AJ shook his head. "Uh-uh. You gave it to me."

Brian looked ready to strangle him. "Either promise or give me my money back."

"Or?"

Brian hit him in the arm. "Give it back."

AJ shook his head again. "Go away, Brian."

Brian stared at AJ. He was losing his patience, any second he was just going to go off on the kid. "Can you stop being a brat for a second and just give me my money back?"

Nick watched silently. He should have known the two of them wouldn't be able to work something out. Not after the past couple days. "AJ-" he started.

AJ just started pulling his headphones, ignoring them, which did it for Brian. AJ saw it coming and quickly tried to defend himself.

"Hey guys?"

Nick glanced over at the door at Kevin's voice as the two of them wrestled. "Hey, Kev."

"Is this serious?" He had heard them arguing over some thing or another and figured he would come and see what was going on. He wasn't too surprised to find it to be AJ and Brian.

Nick shrugged as Kevin entered the room. "Pretty serious."

"Hey guys, hang on a second?" Kevin's voice sounded tired. He gently pulled Brian away from AJ. "What's the problem."

"He stole my money."

"He attacked me."

Kevin glanced behind him. "Nicky?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

"Aje, give him his money back."

"Don't you wanna know how I got his money?"

Kevin held on to Brian as his cousin pulled toward AJ again. "No, not really. Brian, will you calm down?"

Brian just held his hand out toward AJ. "Give."

The forty bucks dropped into his hand. "I was playing anyway," AJ told him.

Brian rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Okay, everybody's happy. Let's leave each other alone," Kevin said, giving Brian a push toward the door. "Nick, get out, c'mon."

"Nice idea, genius," Nick muttered to Brian as he passed him.

Brian shrugged. "I tried."

-

"Maybe we could paper-train him ..."

"Maybe he’s just hungry." Nick stared at the dog from his position on the floor, his back resting against the bed. One second he was petting the pup and the next it was pacing in front of the door, whining like crazy.

"I don’t think that’s a hungry whine," Brian mumbled. He felt like he was half asleep.

"It could be."

"I don’t think so, man. I hope it is, but somehow I don’t think so."

"Here boy ..." Nick patted his knee as he called to the dog but it just gave him a long look and then turned back to the door, whining again. "Man," he muttered, starting to get to his feet.

Brian watched as his younger friend went and picked up the dog. "What’re you doing, Nicky."

"Putting him in the bathroom."

"Right, why didn’t I think of that," Brian answer, voice sarcastic. "Be sure to point out the toilet paper."

"Shut up, Brian. I just don’t want him to piss on the carpet."

Brian lifted an eyebrow. "So it isn’t a hungry whine."

"Shut up, Brian."

"Put him in the bathtub."

"No," Nick objected. "That’s mean." He paused, gently setting the shaggy animal down on the tile. "Maybe he’s already paper-trained."

"Maybe." Brian didn’t sound too convinced.

"Go get newspaper."

Brian let out a breath, not wanting to move from his prone position on the bed. "Nick," he muttered.

"C’mon."

"Nick ..."

"Please?"

"Fine." He let out a huff and used the last of his energy to pull himself up.

There had to be a newspaper somewhere. Didn’t they get a complimentary one from the hotel? He swore they did, but he couldn’t find it. Not in the kitchen, not in the main room, nowhere.

He stuck his head in Howie’s room. "D?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know if we have a newspaper?"

Howie lifted his head. "A newspaper?"

"Uh huh."

"Haven’t seen one around ... Why?"

"No reason," Brian muttered.

No newspaper. There were always newspapers around when he didn’t want them, but the one time they needed one? None. Nada. Zip.

One last desperate try. He didn’t want to, but he did.

"Kev?" He stayed in the doorway.

"What?"

"Do you have a newspaper?"

Kevin looked up at the question, taking in the appearance of his tired, bed-headed cousin. "Newspaper?"

Were they deaf? Why did people do that. "Geez, yes. Newspaper."

"No, Brian. Go to bed."

"We don’t get a complimentary newspaper?"

"What do you want with the newspaper?"

"I wanna read it."

"No, you don’t."

"Yes I do," came the annoyed answer. "Geez."

Kevin shook his head at him. He was half-asleep. "Go to bed, kiddo."

Brian rolled his eyes resignedly. Absolutely no help. He turned to go.

"Bri?"

He turned back, looking at Kevin hopefully.

"You can call for one. Call the front desk and ask for them to bring one to the room."

"Oh ..." Brian smiled slightly. "Thanks." He turned to leave again.

"And Bri?"

"Mm?"

"Look in the ads for a home for the mutt."

The smile faded as soon as it had come.

"Alright?"

Brian muttered something under his breath and quickly left the doorway.

-

"I still think he’s hungry ..."

They had gotten the newspaper, laid it down in a corner of the tiled bathroom, and showed it to the dog, but it stayed untouched.

"Sure, Nicky," Brian mumbled, his tired eyes focused on the TV where cartoons of Nick’s choice played across the glowing screen.

"Do you think he can eat pizza?"

"I ... don’t know."

Nick shifted against the bed, stretching his legs out on the floor. Maybe he was thirsty.

"You think he wants water?"

"Do not give him liquid."

Nick stayed silent, watching the TV absently. He felt bad for the thing, he didn’t like listening to it cry. He let out a sigh.

Maybe the dog was just crying because it was in an unfamiliar place. That was probably it. He didn’t blame him.

Then, in the middle of a commercial break, the crying stopped. They both started to relax a little. Maybe the dog was tired too.

But then Nick heard something.

He turned his head just in time to see Scruffy relieving himself behind the fake tree in the corner of the room.

"Shit!"

Brian opened his eyes, sitting up quickly. "What?" He caught sight off the dog too and his stomach dropped. "Oh God."

"Oh God," Nick repeated, already on his feet.

Brian jumped up too. "Scruffy, no ... Bad dog."

The dog was finished by the time they reached him, and just stood there, looking sad. It’s shaggy tail didn’t even wag.

"Aw, he looks so sad," Nick said.

Brian shook his head. "Well he should be sad."

"It’s not his fault."

"Okay then, put him in the bathroom and you clean it up."

"Me?" Nick’s eyes widened. "That’s not fair."

"Why not?"

"Because! That’s not fair."

"I’ll do it next time."

"There might not be a next time!"

"Nicky, that’s ridiculous."

Nick just rolled his eyes as he picked up the dog and went to go drop him back on the newspaper in the bathroom. He tried not to be mad at the poor animal. It wasn’t its fault.

Its brown eyes watched him, head tilted to the side, and he had to pet the poor thing. It looked so dejected.

When he came back out Brian was watching him from a chair.

"If there’s not a next time you owe me big," Nick stated. He stared at the spot for a second and then grabbed the stem of the fake foliage, pulling the large pot over the stain.

Brian was watching his every move. "That ain’t cleaning up, Nick." His voice was serious.

"Is now."

"Clean it up, man."

"I don’t see anything to clean."

"Don’t make me get up."

Nick said nothing.

"I’m serious."

"How do I clean it up then?"

"I don’t know ... You’re the one with dogs."

Nick let out a giant breath, as if everything always fell on his shoulders. He tugged the plant off the spot and then paused.

"Can’t the maid clean it?"

"Oh, and then what? There’s no dogs allowed in the hotel, man. Unless you want to find something else to blame it on."

Nick just rolled his eyes and went to grab a towel from the bathroom. The pup was laying on the newspaper quietly now, and lifted its head as he entered again.

"Couldn’t you have just used the newspaper?" Nick asked it.

The silky tail thumped against the floor gently.

"Course not." He pulled a towel off the rack and went back into the room, throwing it down on top of the spot. "This is your towel," he told Brian in an annoyed tone.

"Thanks, bro."

Nick did the best job he could blotting up the stain without ever actually touching the towel, but in the end he pulled the potted tree back over it again.

"There. No one has to know."

"So you still think he was hungry?"

Nick aimed the towel at him as if to throw it.

"You throw that at me and you will be in so much pain."

Nick brought his arm down. "I’m gonna put it in Kevin’s bathroom."

Brian started laughing. "Don’t."

"Why?"

"Cause you would be in even more pain. For an even longer time."

"Might be worth it."

"Don’t," Brian said, still laughing.

-

The dog was barking.

At first Nick thought he was dreaming. He almost didn't even remember the dog being in their room until he opened his eyes and saw its moonlit silhouette by the window. Then he remembered, and quickly jumped out of bed.

"Shush ..."

It didn't.

"Brian," Nick complained loudly, but his friend never stirred. Nick turned his attention back on the dog, who let out another loud bark.

"Come on, what's the matter? Are you afraid of the dark?"

It pushed its wet nose into his face.

"You can't bark when you're inside," Nick told it seriously. "That's against the rules." The response was just another bark. "You have to go out or something?"

The dog just started pacing again and Nick looked at the digital clock on the nighttable. One o’clock. He sighed and got up, pulling on a sweatshirt and sneakers, not bothering with the laces. He shot a look in Brian’s direction. "Brian," he tried again loudly, but since he didn’t get any response again he just left him.

He didn’t want to wake anyone, so he didn’t turn on any of the lights. He would have been better off had he taken the chance, because he bumped into every piece of furniture there was to bump into. When he neared the door he knocked into the narrow table there and something fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

He cursed under his breath as he squatted down and blindly tried to look for what had dropped in the dark. The lights flipped on suddenly and Nick found Kevin looking at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Walking the dog." It was only an ashtray that had fallen so Nick quickly picked up the now two pieces of it and stuck it back together, placing it back on the table. He got to his feet fast and studied it.

"Great, Nick," Kevin muttered.

He wasn’t sure if the man was being sarcastic about the walking the dog part or the broken ashtray. The thing didn’t even look broken if it was glanced at quickly anyway. He looked up.

"Why’re you awake."

Kevin pointed with an annoyed look at the animal that was now sniffing at his feet. "He’s not exactly quiet."

"You heard him?"

"The whole hotel heard him."

"That’s not true," Nick muttered, reaching for the deadbolt on the door. Kevin had to be sarcastic about everything. It always had to go his way.

Kevin was still looking at the ashtray. "You should have turned on the lights."

"I didn’t want to wake anyone."

"If they slept through the noise they can sleep through the light."

Nick rolled his eyes and pulled the door open.

"Hang on, where are you going?"

"I told you."

"No, where."

"Outside."

"No shit." Kevin hadn’t gotten all the sleep he wanted yet. The last thing he wanted was the kid wandering around outside the hotel in the middle of the night. "Damn dog," he muttered. "Man ... Tie your shoes."

Nick ignored the comment. The dog was pushing its nose through the slightly open door. "I’ll be right back. You can time me."

But of course, Kevin wound up going with him. Nick couldn’t figure out if the man just didn’t trust him or if he was afraid of something happening. And they weren’t exactly in a bad area, as far as Nick could tell.

He had a feeling it was that trust factor.

They got outside going the back way, deliberately not through the front lobby in the direct sight of hotel personnel. It was chilly outside, and as he put the dog on its feet Nick was glad he was wearing a sweatshirt.

"Two questions," Kevin said suddenly, catching his arm before he could walk along the streetlight lit grass after the dog. Nick glanced at the animal disappearing into the darkness dubiously. "He’ll come back to you, just listen."

"You want him not to."

"Just listen, will you, geez." Kevin let his arm go, still keeping his voice low. "And don’t go getting all upset at me or I’ll leave you out here alone and the goblins’ll get you."

Nick rolled his eyes at the older man’s words but in all honesty he really was glad that he had gone with him out there. The idea of him leaving him alone wasn’t exactly a pleasant one.

"You’d be upset if one of your dogs were lost, right?"

Nick nodded.

"Okay, and wouldn’t you be upset if someone found that dog and didn’t do anything about trying to get him back to you?"

Nick frowned. Damn hypothetical questions. "Maybe I would have put a collar on my dog if I didn’t want him lost."

"What if his collar fell off?"

"Maybe it’s not that easy for a collar to just slide off." The dog started barking and growling several feet away at something that was invisible to them and Nick moved away from Kevin.

"Look all I’m saying is that the right thing to do would be to see if the dog belonged to anybody and is just lost."

Nick silently picked the dog back up.

"Right?"

Nick just shrugged, starting back toward the building.

"Man, I just think that you should check it out. It’s the right thing to do."

"You just think I should get rid of it in any way I possibly can." Nick’s glare faded when he saw the look on Kevin’s face. "Okay fine."

Kevin pushed the button for the elevator, staying silent.

"Kev? How would I go about doing that?"

-

"Your room smells."

Brian looked up from his spot on the bed. "It was fine until you came in, man," he said in an even voice.

Nick grabbed onto AJ’s arm as he lunged toward his friend.

"But seriously," AJ continued, gently knocking Nick’s jaw. The kid couldn’t have held him back if he wanted to, but he let him. "It smells like..."

They waited.

"Is it?"

"Is it what?" Nick asked innocently. He really didn’t notice a smell, but he had a feeling he knew what the guy was getting at.

"You might wanna open the window, that’s all." AJ gave the younger man a slight push towards it. "Open it up."

"It’s cold out."

"I think it’ll be a fair trade..." AJ looked down at the dog that was sniffing at him and bumping into his legs. "Huh, dog."

"He has a name."

AJ glanced at Nick and shook his head. "He’s not yours. You stole him."

"We didn’t steal him."

"You did too."

"Did not."

"You did too."

"Did not," Brian cut in.  He sat up and glared at AJ.

"I bet there’s some poor little kid sitting at home crying because smelly little Fluffy is gone and thanks to people like you, is never coming back."

Nick and Brian stared at him.

"Did Kevin send you in here?" Nick asked finally.

AJ shook his head.

Brian let out a breath and finally stood up. The way things were going, it was going to be a relief when the dog was gone. "I’m gonna go buy it food."

"It has a name, Brian," AJ said sarcastically.

"Shut up."

AJ shook his head. "Can I come with you?"

Brian stared at him as he grabbed his jacket off the back of a chair. "Man ... you’re something else."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah, whatever, go grab a jacket. Nick, you can watch the thing."

Nick had taken his place on the bed and already looked like he was starting to doze off.

"Nick."

"Uh huh ..."

"You have to stay awake."

"Uh huh ..."

Brian just shook his head and shut the door behind him as he left. If the animal felt like destroying stuff while Nick was asleep, at least it would be limited to their room.

Except AJ couldn’t find his jacket, so he came back and opened the door.

"Hey Nicky?" He didn’t get an answer, so he hit Nick’s foot as he passed by. "I’m gonna borrow your jacket okay?"

Still no answer. AJ grabbed the article of clothing and started back toward the door.

"Later, buddy."

The door was ajar.

-

"Purina..."

"Iams?"

"Friskies?"

"Brian, that’s a cat food. See? Friskies. There’s a cat on the front of it. Haven’t you seen the commercial?"

"So? It could be for both."

"Well if you want to poison it and get rid of it that way then I guess you could-" AJ cut off as Brian gave him a shove into the cardboard dog biscuit boxes. "I’m just sayin."

"We’ll just get Purina puppy chow. I’ve seen that commercial."

"Are you sure? Compare shop, man, you want the best. Be a real consumer, be a-"

"Now I think I know why you wanted to come with me."

AJ stared at him, mouth slightly open.

"Don’t look at me like that. Let’s just get this one and go."

"Are you sure you want that big?"

Brian looked down at the bag he had in his hand. He was right. He quickly grabbed a smaller one. "C’mon."

-

Kevin stared down at the shoe.

It was mangled, soggy, unattached from most of the heel. It was missing the tongue. The shoelaces were a soggy tangled mess.

It had once cost a hundred dollars.

"Nick!!!" he hollered, immediately starting for the kid’s room.

The sound of his voice had awoken him from sleep, but it was the look on his face and the shoe in his hand when he came through the door that had Nick on his feet in two seconds.

"Kev?"

"I’m gonna kill you." Kevin was moving toward him. "Then the dog."

The sleep-filled confusion on Nick’s face immediately morphed into pure fear. The guy looked serious. Dead serious. Enraged.

"But-" Nick cut himself off when Kevin kept coming and darted toward his quickest route of escape.

The bathroom.

"I swear to God," Kevin muttered as the door slammed shut. He grabbed the handle just as he heard the lock fasten. "Open the door."

There was no answer. Nick sank down on the edge of the tub and leaned forward on his knees. He told himself to stop shaking. Kev wouldn’t kill him. He might cause him some serious pain, but he wouldn’t kill him.

The thunderous knocking on the door halted. "Open the damn door!"

Would he? It was just a sneaker.

Nick took a deep breath. He shouldn’t have fallen asleep. He should have gotten more sleep last night. Brian shouldn’t have gone out to get the food. Damn, damn, damn.

"Nick."

He wasn’t going to answer. Maybe he would go away and he would have some time to write a will first.

"I can kill the dog first and then you," Kevin warned loudly from the other side of the door, growing annoyed. If they had just listened to him in the first place, none of this would have happened. But no. Now he had no sneakers.

"You’re evil," Nick yelled back. And at that moment, he really seemed to be. He wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. Where was Brian, what was taking him so long?

"If you don’t open the door I swear I’m gonna break it down, man."

Nick wondered if that was possible. It kind of made him more nervous.

Kevin took a breath. Okay, he was scaring the kid. A little too much maybe. It was just a sneaker. "Okay, Nicky, come out. If you come out now I’ll only hit you once."

"No."

Kevin let out the breath and sat down on one of the beds, dropping the sneaker to the ground. He wiped his slimy hand on the comforter, making a slight face.

His anger was fading. He was still pissed though. Not pissed enough to seriously damage his younger friend, but still pissed. The dog had to go.

"Nicky, get outta there already."

No answer.

"Kev? What are you doing?"

Kevin looked up as Brian came in the room, dropping a bag on the dresser. "Hey you. C’mere a sec?"

Brian took a cautious step closer and Kevin took his arm, pointing to the half eaten shoe on the ground.

"You see that?"

Brian looked surprised, and then worried. "Yeah ..." He started to pull his arm away but Kevin quickly smacked him. "Ow!" Brian pushed at him, making a hurt face. "Kevin ..."

"Guess who did that."

He pushed at him again. "Where’s Nick?"

Kevin pointed to the bathroom. "Tell him I’m not gonna kill him." He raised his voice. "Nicky, get out."

"You told him you were gonna kill him?"

"Just tell him to get outta there."

"Nick, get out here," Brian said loudly.

"Is Kevin gone?" Nick asked back.

Kevin chuckled. "Tell him yes," he said in a whisper.

Brian gave him a look.

Kevin gave his cousin a gentle nudge. "Tell him."

"Yeah, he’s gone ..." Brian said it with a roll of his eyes.

The door opened slowly and Nick stepped out cautiously, but not cautiously enough because Kevin quickly caught him and wrapped his arms around him. Nick screamed as the older man fell backwards on the bed with him.

"You lied," he protested to Brian, trying to elbow Kevin to get up.

"You thought I was gonna kill you?" Kevin tightened his hold on the younger man. "Did you?"

Nick didn’t answer, he just twisted in the hold. It was more of a hug than any sort of planned torture, but he was still nervous about it.

"You still think I’m gonna kill you, don’t you?" Kevin sat up slowly, still holding onto the younger man. "I’ll tell you what, just get rid of the mutt and I won’t even make you buy me new sneakers."

"You have other sneakers," Nick muttered, trying to get off his lap.

"What’d you go out and buy?" Kevin asked suddenly, glancing at Brian. Nick was still trying to get off of him.

Brian just shrugged. "Food."

"For you?"

He shook his head.

"Look guys, I know the furball somehow means a lot to you, but it’s just not gonna work."

"You’re not even trying." Nick stopped struggling and just leaned back with a sigh.

"There’s nothing for me to try, man."

"You should have kept your sneakers in a high place," Brian told him. He frowned suddenly. "Besides ... I had shut the door so that couldn’t happen."

"Oh ..." a new voice said from the door. "You had the door shut for a reason?"

Brian turned and glared at AJ.

AJ was staring at the shoe on the floor. "Damn... and I thought my hat was bad."

"It’s your fault anyway," Brian objected. "You should buy Kev new sneakers."

"Hey, all I came for was the jacket. It’s not my fault there’s a rabid dog in our hotel."

"He’s not rapid," Nick spoke up.

"Speaking of the thing, where is it anyway?"

"Wait, lemme guess," Brian said sarcastically. "You forgot to shut the hall door too."

AJ looked surprised. "Damn man."

"Did you?"

"Well, did you shut it?"

"Shit," Kevin muttered under his breath. "When we find him, this dog is gone, boys. Gone." He pushed Nick off of him and got up from the bed. "Somebody better go find it."

-

The puppy search and rescue party started out in the suite, which was puppy-less, and continued out into the hall, which wasn’t good. Nick had visions of the hotel manager finding it and kicking them out of the hotel. Then what would they do? He didn’t even want to think about it.

"This is kind of more of a hassle than I thought it’d be," Brian said honestly as they turned a corner of the long hall. The burgandy carpet with the floral border seemed to stretch on forever, empty.

"It’s just a stupid mistake."

"Oh, is that what it is?"

Nick didn’t answer.

"I was thinking about what AJ said before, you know about Scruffy belonging to someone else..."

Nick muttered something under his breath.

"What?"

"That’s what Kev said last night too."

"Well what do you think about it?"

"I think finder’s keepers, loser’s weepers."

"So if someone found him right now, then he belongs to them? C’mon, Nick."

"I don’t know... You don’t like him much anymore, do you?"

"It’s not that. I just see the reality of it."

"He’s not used to everything," Nick objected. "Once he gets used to everything, then it’ll all be fine, you’ll see. Then there’ll be no problems."

Brian just shook his head. He was such a kid.

"There he is!" Nick squatted down and whistled lowly. The dog happily bounded over and started licking at him. "Hey you, where do you think you were going, huh? Were you running away from Kevin?"

Brian nudged him with his foot as he heard the ding of the elevator. "C’mon, someone’s coming."

-

He couldn’t believe it. What were the chances.

"Well," Brian mumbled.

Nick just shook his head, a little mad. Why did they have to go pick up that paper? Well because they really didn’t think it would lead to anything, that was why. Nick couldn’t remember whose stupid idea it was to begin with.

There, under the ‘pets’ section in classifieds, was a description of a lost dog matching Scruffy’s description exactly. Excect the lost dog’s name was Martin.

"He doesn’t look like a Martin," Nick muttered, glaring at the newspaper. He wanted to tear it up. He didn’t look like a Martin one bit.

Brian just shrugged.

"What’re we gonna do?"

"Well I think we have to call.... I mean, it’s the right thing to do."

He would feel bad. But they didn’t have to call. Nothing was making them.

"Well we’re gonna have to lose the dog someway or another," Brian continued. "So it might as well be the right way."

Nick sighed. Why did he have to go and say that.

"You can make the call." He knew it was the right thing to do, but even as Brian picked up the phone and started dialing, it didn’t feel right. Scruffy pushed his nose into his hand, and he pet the shaggy head slowly.

He’d always wanted a tour dog.

"You really don’t look like a Martin..." Nick whispered. Maybe they had already found their Martin. "You look like a Scruffy."

But Brian was already hanging up the phone. "He’s theirs."

"Oh."

There went the tour dog.

"Sorry, little man."

"Yeah, sorry."

"Maybe next time."

Yeah, next time they would just have to learn how to keep a secret.

The End