“Lauren?” Nick looked up at Leighanne and faked a smile. “Lauren’s great!”

“Good to hear. What’s she up to while you’re here in Atlanta?”

Nick bit his lip. “She’s um....I think she’s in LA working on her website.”

Brian raised an eyebrow. “You think?”

Nick flapped his mouth open and closed like a fish. “I mean, I....”

Leighanne picked up the aspirin bottle, opened it, told Nick to hold out his hand, and shook two pills out into his palm. She placed it back on the nightstand and handed him the glass of water. “Take these. You’ll thank me in the morning.” Nick obeyed, tossing the pills into his mouth and washing them down with a big gulp of water. She sat down on the edge of the bed and patted his knee. “Now, tell us what brings you for a visit.”

Nick looked back and forth between Leighanne and Brian and sighed. “I just-” He paused and looked down at his lap. “I just didn’t want to be alone. Sure, the other guys are in LA, but I just needed to get away from there.”

“Why would you be alone, Nick?” Brian prodded. A million terrible scenarios crossed his mind. “Did something happen?” Nick looked up at him and bit his bottom lip.. He nodded silently with tears glistening in his eyes.

“What happened, Nick?” Leighanne cuddled up to him, wrapped one arm around his neck, and laid her head on his shoulder. Brian smiled slightly at his wife and watched Nick’s mouth twitch nervously. He wanted to say something, but the words just weren’t coming out.

“You know, you two have been such good role models for me. I really haven’t told you that enough.” He leaned his head against Leighanne’s.

“Thanks, Nick,” she replied. “That really means a lot coming from you.”

“Coming from Nick Carter the fuck-up?”

“You’re not a fuck-up Nick,” Brian chastised. Leighanne winced at the language.

Nick crossed his arms indignantly. “I used to be.”

“I’m not going to argue with that, but it’s still pretty harsh. Now, what’s going on?”

“You two really are sickeningly happy together, aren’t you?”

Leighanne pulled her head up from his shoulder and smiled as she reached across to Brian, grabbed his hand, and gave it a squeeze. “Yeah. We are.”

“But-” Brian cut in. “It’s not all sunshine and roses. It takes a lot of work. Relationships, even stable ones, are a lot of give and take. Now, what happened with Lauren?”

“You know, when I met Lauren, I thought we were perfect for each other, and I even thought that up until yesterday.” He stared blankly ahead with a faraway look in his eyes.

“So, what happened yesterday?” Leighanne asked him. Nick looked at her, then looked down and started playing with a loose thread on the comforter. Brian and Leighanne both stared at him intently, waiting for an answer.

“There was a ring,” he finally announced quietly.

“A ring?”

“Yes. A 6-carat, brilliant cut, five-hundred thousand dollar solitaire in a display case at the Tiffany’s on Rodeo Drive.” He paused and stared into both sets of questioning eyes. “And I bought it. I bought it even before....” He trailed off and looked away from them, clearing his throat.

“Before what, Nick?”

“Nothing. It’s-- it’s not important. But anyway, yeah. I bought a ring. I bought a ring, and I proposed to the woman I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with. Me, the guy who said he didn’t believe in marriage. Too bad she still doesn’t. I’ll spare you the gory details that resulted in me hopping on an airplane and getting sloppy drunk, then showing up on your front porch and falling into the wrong bed.”

“Oh, Nick, sweetie. I’m so sorry.” Leighanne pulled him into a hug. “I really like Lauren, I do. I believe that if it’s meant to be, it’ll work itself out, and if it’s not meant to be, well, things will still work out. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. If there’s anything we can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask, okay?” She stood up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then held out her hand to Brian. He grasped it and stood up. with her. “Get some rest, Nick. We have church in the morning.”

“We?” Nick raised an eyebrow at Brian.

“She’s the boss, man. Breakfast is at 9. Sunday school starts at 10.” He followed Leighanne out into the hallway and pressed a kiss to her lips. “You’re pretty good, you know that?”

She smirked and trailed a finger down his toned chest and stomach. “You know...I’m pretty good at a lot of things.” Brian gave her a throaty laugh and pulled her down the hallway to the master bedroom.