By the time Marcus and Emily arrived at the concert venue an hour and a half later, only after grabbing a quick bite to eat for lunch, and then stopping to gaze into every store window on the way, Emily was completely exhausted. No doubt the lack of sleep the night before and the trauma of the morning had at least a little something to do with it.

Marcus escorted her past the throng of overly anxious fans, through a door in the back and into the arena where the boys were scheduled to perform in a charity concert in less than two hours. She peeked out at the wide open arena, at all of the empty seats that would soon be filled with her brother's fans and smiled. He deserved all of this.

She turned when Marcus poked her in the side and winked, turning to the nearest security guard and grabbing his a radio, whispering quickly into it, "Ranger Blue, come in Ranger Blue."

Emily giggled, knowing that this was the code name Marcus always used when he wanted to get in touch with one of the boys personal security guards. 'Ranger Blue' was Nick's.

"Ranger Blue to Big Poppa."

Emily had to stifle her laugh this time. These guys could be as serious as they needed to be, but only when necessary. Otherwise... and that was most of the time, they were complete and utter goofballs.

Marcus smirked and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Big Poppa back. I have just returned to the venue with Baby Blue and I need a G.W. on Boy Blue."

Emily rolled her eyes at him and he shook his head.

"Hey girl!" He joked, poking her in the ribs and trying his best, but failing miserably to keep a straight face, "there will be NO eye rolling. This is serious business!"

"Yeah..." She responded not able to hold her laughter back any longer... "but 'Baby Blue'? Seriously?"

It was Marcus' turn to laugh now, "Yep. You LOVE it don't you!?"

She rolled her eyes again and the two of them chuckled.

"Oh, by the way," Emily added, a questioning look on her face, "what's a G.W.?"

He grinned, "Guesstimated whereabouts."

Emily snorted, trying her absolute best to hold back her laughter as Marcus shot her the stink eye.

"I'm pretty sure," she giggled, "that's a new one for the books!"

It was Marcus' turn to roll his eyes.

"Ranger Blue to Big Poppa," the radio interuppted, "I have an E.W. on Boy Blue."

"Exact whereabouts," Marcus responded to the baffled look on Emily's face.

"Boy Blue is in the hold. Repeat... Boy Blue is in the hold." The radio chirped again.

"I don't even wanna know," Emily responded shaking her head before Marcus even had a chance to answer this time.

"The hold is his dressing room... Nick's in his dressing room. God do you have a lot to learn chick!"

"Okay, wow," Emily said as she sped off down the hall ahead of Marcus, "So you dorks officially have WAY too much time on your hands."

She took off at a run, Marcus chasing her through the hallways of the arena. She screamed loudly, laughing hysterically as he caught up to her just outside the door of Nick's dressing room. The two of them stumbled inside, Emily completely out of breath from laughter and Marcus shaking his head as he reached out and gave her a noogie. Emily hadn't enjoyed herself this much in a long, long time.

"Whoa!" Nick exclaimed, jumping up from his spot on the couch as they collapsed into the room, "well hold the presses then! I don't think I've seen this girl laughing this much in weeks!"

She rolled her eyes at him and he laughed as he sauntered across the room and gave her a giant hug.

"I was just torturing Marcus," she said with a smile after he'd given her a high five and left the room. "Have you heard the silly code names they use for you guys?"

Nick smiled, "You mean... 'Boy Blue... I Sure have."

He reached over and hugged her again, like he couldn't get enough of her happiness. Because he probably couldn't.

"So... how'd it go?" he whispered before breaking the embrace. "I mean, you don't have to talk about it... I just, did it go okay?"

Emily pulled away and looked up into his eyes. She could tell he was searching them for some kind of relief. For some kind of clue that things had changed... that things were going to get better. He smiled. She wondered what he must have seen there.

"Actually," she answered as she strolled to the refreshment table in the corner of the room and helped herself to a fistful of Chex Mix and a can of Cherry Coke, "It went really well Nick. I'm glad you made me go."

He smiled brightly as he joined her on the couch. "I'm really happy to hear that Em."

Emily nodded in agreement and passed the can of coke to him, "can you open that?" she asked. He did, and then passed it back. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments before he reached over and put a hand lovingly on her shoulder.

"I just want to make sure you remember Em, that you can always talk to me... anytime... about anything. I just need you to know that, okay." He said it as if he thought she'd forgotten. As if she could possibly forget something he'd told her every single day, several times a day, for the past five years.

"I know Nick..."

She smiled at him, hoping that her smile would give him some assurance... would let him know that even if she never talked to him about any of this, that she still really did know that she could.

"...and thank you."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek before standing and heading towards the door. "I have to get over to wardrobe and makeup now. You gonna come out and watch the show tonight?"

Emily mulled it over for a few seconds before she shook her head. And then she watched as the smile on his face vanished and was replaced by a concerned look.

"I'm just really tired," she said quickly, and it was true. She could feel herself fading fast. "I think I'm just gonna hang out back here tonight and try to get some rest."

"Oh... well okay sweetheart," the concern didn't disappear from his face completely, but he nodded, seeming to accept her answer. "I'll leave the tickets with Marcus in case you change your mind. He'll be back here tonight if you need anything... and we're only doing a few songs, so we shouldn't be too late."

Emily nodded at him and smiled, "I'll be alright Nick." She sometimes... most times, wished he wouldn't treat her like such a little girl. She was 17 after all... not five.

He looked at her and sighed, "You know I worry about you."

She knew. How could she not know.

"I know." she answered, "But tonight I'm okay... honest."

He smiled at her and turned to leave, "Get some rest Emily. I love you."

"Love you too Nick."

He walked out the door finally leaving Emily alone in his dressing room. She grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep.

After all she'd been through in the last 24 hours, she slipped into her dreams quicker than ever.