I'm back to reading this! This chapter confirmed what I thought was going on, with having the fans or whoever vote for things to happen to the boys. That is such a delightfully creepy premise! In this day and age of social media, I could almost see something like that really happening. In the midst of all the drama, I have to say that Kevin's line to Nick, “You act like this is the first time you’ve been in handcuffs,” made me cackle out loud. Love the comic relief, and loving this story!

Author's Response: So, I didn't get the notification of these reviews for some reason! Anyways, I'm so glad that you're reading this again. I guess you need something to do now that Sick as My Secrets is wrapped up. I'm glad that you're intrigued by the premise. I totally think that this could actually happen. People are so connected to social media now that I'm surprised we haven't heard about it being used for something terrible already. I don't have time to respond to all of the reviews that you've left at this moment as I'm trying to get my kid to bed, but I will!! Thanks so much for the feedback!

Aww, I loved the conversation between Brian and Nick.

Oh shit, who just got shot?! I love that the boys tried to fight back; too bad it didn't work. Must read on!

I'm glad you're rebooting this story! I don't remember all the details of the original, but I remember liking the old-school suspense feel that it had, and that is definitely still the case here. Great start!

Author's Response: I'm so happy you're happy to see this story being posted. I have four more chapters written already, working on a fifth. Just been on a roll. Interestingly, I haven't deleted the original. It's still on here so I can reference it. I'm glad it still has a great old school suspense feel cause that's what I was going for. Thanks for the review!

Oh yeah, just be friends; I'm sure that'll work out great. ;) I like how you have the scenes in each chapter sort of parallel each other. It was nice to see Brian and Nick back to their separate lives, but feeling the same frustration with the people around them and longing for each other. Somehow I don't think it will be long before they're back together.

Author's Response: Thanks! I did want to show that even though they aren't really "together" at this point in the story they both do have similar issues underlying. You may be right about them not being apart for long... ;)

Oooh, this did heat up quickly! Loved it! You may be making a slash fan of me because I didn't giggle or cringe at all reading the last scene. I like how, once Brian actually got with Nick, you made Nick seem not so perfect - saying he wasn't a great kisser, his hair wasn't as soft as Brian had expected, etc. That made it so much more believable - reality doesn't usually live up to the fantasy. Not that Brian seemed to mind much. ;) Going back to earlier in the chapter, it was weird reading Brian singing Nick's lyrics and remembering that Nick isn't in the group. I liked Nick joking around about Backstreet's Back and "where'd y'all go?" I remember being confused about that too when that song became popular in the States because I didn't know, at the time, that they'd already released another album in other countries. I also liked the beginning of the chapter with slap-happy AJ; I think you were spot on with how you wrote him there. I was watching his Instagram story yesterday where he was making chocolate bars with his friends, and I decided AJ might be kind of annoying to hang out with in real life LOL. At least that's how he always seems to come across in his social media videos. Anyway, I think you showed the side of him well in this chapter!

Author's Response: Yeah, I didn't really want to go for much of a slow burn LOL. I'm glad you liked the kissing scene and thought it was believeable because I really didn't know how I felt about it when I was writing it. I feel like Backstreet's Back definitely would have been weird to you guys in the US so it's nice to know I wasn't totally off the mark with that. Poor AJ lol - I agree that he seems like he'd be sort of annoying to hang out with in real life. Thanks for the review! x

I'm enjoying these weekly updates of yours; I found myself looking forward to this one. I loved the awkward morning-after scene, although that was pretty shitty of Brian to blow Nick off like that with the "I have a girlfriend" line - true or not. It's interesting that he decided to tell Kevin about it - I didn't see that one coming! And Kevin was very chill about it. I think the advice he gave Brian was good... he does need to decide what he wants one way or the other, either go back to Leighanne and forget about Nick or break up with Leighanne. Somehow I don't think he's going to just forget about Nick, LOL. One other thing I wanted to mention - the fact that this story is set twenty years ago instead of in the present makes it extra interesting because the world was a different place for the LGBTQ community in 1997. Pop stars who have since come out, like Lance Bass and Ricky Martin, were very much still in the closet in the late 90s. I'm not sure how much the time period will come into play in this story, but that plus Brian's faith plus the fact that he does have a girlfriend add some great conflict or potential for conflict.

Author's Response: Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying the regular updates! Brian could have let down a bit easier, but I guess he was sort of freaked out about the whole thing. I originally wasn't going to have Brian say anything to Kevin, but then he just blurted it out as I was writing, lol. I feel like it's unlikely he will just forget about Nick, you're probably right in that theory ;) I did think about the timeframe of this and how different things were 20 years ago. It's also sort of hard to get back into the mindset of how not progressive things were back then, as well as remembering that there's no Twitter and instant access to the guys all the time. So it did give me some interesting angles to play with. Thanks again for the review!

I love how you used the Melissa situation to fuel this story. I really do. At least some good has come out of it. Let's hope Nick has enough support that it won't hurt his career in real life, but for the sake of fanfic, I could see something like that causing his downward spiral - it's sure been happening to enough other celebs lately. It is sad, but hot mess Nick does make for a good story LOL. I was able to sympathize with Lauren from the moment you mentioned him drinking and driving. Clearly, he does need to get his shit together if he's going to be a good father to Odin, and I don't blame her for what she did. I'm enjoying this so far and looking forward to more!

Author's Response: Right? I think I needed something to come out of it for me. I hope that everything stays stable. So far it seems it hasn't touched the group or Nick. But for the sake of plot I blew it up and let it be what caused his spiral downward. Hot Mess Nick is fun to write when it's not true LOL. And yes, I definitely was aiming to have people be able to get why Lauren made the choices she made while seeing why he's so angry about it. Thanks ZDR!