Forever by emily_michele
Story Notes:

This is my attempt at culminating the fantasies and fanfiction of my 14-year old self and a group of my closest friends at the time. I was inspired to write it all down after attending an NKOTBSB concert this past summer with some of those same friends. Teenybopper fanfic rules do apply because, well, that's what we were at the time. I have, however, tried to grow it up a little.

Chapter 1 by emily_michele

If someone had told me 14 years ago that I’d be where I was tonight, I’d have laughed in his face.  Oh sure, I’d probably believe the married with children part, and I’d believe the career I’d ultimately end up with, but that’s where the believability would stop.  Never in my wildest childhood dreams would I ever believe that I’d end up backstage at an NKOTBSB concert in Louisville, Kentucky giving Kevin Richardson a pep talk before he took the stage for the first time in five years as a Backstreet Boy.


    “It’ll be fine, babe.”  I smiled, gave him a squeeze on the arm, and leaned in for a quick peck on the lips.


    “Yeah, it’ll be fine, dad.” Kevin’s eyes widened and he turned quickly toward the voice coming from behind him.


    “When did you get here?” he asked incredulously as he jogged toward his twelve year old son who stood proudly against a red painted cinderblock wall behind us.  I watched with a beaming smile and tears in my eyes as my husband of 8 years melted into Scott’s arms.


    “About ten minutes ago.  And we almost didn’t make it. Security didn’t recognize me and we weren’t on the list of guests allowed backstage.  Chris created a scene so I could run past them without them seeing me.  It was kinda fun, like in a movie.” Scott rattled on with a big grin without taking a breath.  He talked with his hands much like the way his mother always has.


    “Oh,” my face dropped. “Chris brought you...because Mom has band camp this week, right?”  Then Amelia stepped out from behind that red wall he’d been leaning against, and it was my turn to run in that direction with outstretched arms.


    “Well, my assistant director is taking over tomorrow, but we’ve got to get back to Pennsylvania by tomorrow night,” she said matter-of-factly.  My childhood best friend held a hand in front of her mouth and giggled as she leaned into my hug, proud of the little secret she’d been able to keep.  I had wanted so badly for Kevin’s firstborn to be there for his dad’s  ”comeback”, which was appropriately about to happen in his home state in front of thousands of loyal fans and a large part of his extended family.  But his mom, now the band director of a 200-piece award-winning high school band in Clarion, Pennsylvania,  had camp scheduled weeks in advance, and we’d kind of sprung this on her at the last minute. 


    “I know you’re going to think this is strange, but apparently it’s a red flag if a former N’Sync member shows up trying to get backstage at a NKOTBSB concert  Guess they think I’m trying to get in on this great gig?” Chris Kirkpatrick poked his head around the corner, immediately followed by two security guards. Kevin walked over and shook the hand of the man he’d entrusted to “father” his son for about 300 days out of the year.


    “It’s okay guys. They belong here.” Kevin nodded to the two large men in black uniforms and they turned and walked away.


    “So the way I understood it, this is a big surprise to everyone?”  Amelia asked.


    “Just the band and security are in on this one. They’re gonna stage it just like they did at the Staples Center a couple weeks ago, but the guys don’t know.” Kevin smirked just as the first few notes started playing for “I Want it That Way.”  He and Brian had been talking about the possibility of Kevin joining the Backstreet Boys for the rest of the tour and maybe even singing on the album they were set to start recording once the tour ended. Kevin had already been doing some writing for them, and considering the dip in his career lately, he’d really been missing the guys.  Not to say it didn’t take a lot of convincing on my part.  For the past five years or so we’d lived quite the “normal” life.  Oh, he’d do a few appearances here and there, and he did split some time between home and Los Angeles when he’d find a little work to do. The truth is that we’d been living in Lexington, Kentucky, just an hour or so away from where he’d grown up. His mom, though aging, was doing a bit of baby-sitting for us and I was working part-time as a pharmacist at the University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital.  The media thought they were still in LA-- not that the media was really around much these days, but Kevin was enjoying being able to go out in the city relatively unbothered.  Of course, he’d occasionally be recognized by women in their twenties who’s been young teenagers at the height of his career, and he’d sign the occasional autograph and take a few pictures.  Truth is, we’d been happy, but there was always something that was a little different about him- something he was missing.  Tonight, he’d found it.


    As a stage manager ushered him down the long tunnel beneath the far end of the stage, a security guard led the rest of us to a video monitor near we could go out into the audience once he’d made his appearance and the crowd had settled down a bit.  That was when I really started to get sentimental.  Gosh, how I’d missed this.



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