“Nick!” Kevin commanded. “Leave Howie alone and focus!”

Brian and AJ chuckled as Nick pouted and said, “But, Kevin! We’re almost done for the day!”

Nick threw another fruit snack at Howie. Howie, in return, pulled some ninja like moves and caught the flying snack, spun around in his chair, and threw it back at Nick. Nick caught it in his mouth and started to laugh.

Kevin threw up his hands in defeat and said, “Kids! What are you going to do with them?”

“Didn’t you miss us, cousin?” Brian asked, joining in the fruit snack fight that had ensued.

Kevin rolled his eyes and smiled.

“Man, this is such a waste of fruit snacks!” AJ said, as Brian, Nick, and Howie flopped on the floor laughing.

“You’re a waste of fruit snacks, AJ.” Nick retorted.

“Oh, what a witty comeback.” AJ said, laughing and snapping a photo of them for Instagram.

“You’re just jealous.” Nick said, sticking his tongue out as he went to get something to drink.

“Of what? Being a blonde fruit loop like you?” AJ asked, amused.

That had everyone, even Kevin, laughing. Nick came back from the kitchen, stuck his tongue out at AJ and said, “I’m the coolest blonde fruit loop you know!”

“You’re the only blonde fruit loop we know, Nick.” Kevin said, finally joining in the fun.

Everyone burst out laughing. They haven’t had this much fun in a while. The other four were extremely happy that Kevin was back for this album. The fans were happy as well. They’ve been in London for only two days and had only been to the studio once and fans were already following them.

Today, on the way back to the house they were staying at, there were enough fans following them to fill a bus! And dang, there were some pretty girls in London. Not that any of them would admit to it because they all had wives, or in Nick’s case, a girlfriend. But each of them had looked at their fair share of good looking fans.

“So, what’s on the agenda for tonight guys?” Brian asked, getting fidgety.

Brian was always on the move, and always had to have something to do. He was like a teenager with ADHD. That’s what made him and Nick such good friends.

“I say we go tear up the town.” Nick offered. “Let’s show London what these Americans are made of.” Nick and AJ whooped at that.

“Nickolas!” Howie and Kevin said in a sharp tone.

“Don’t be such party poopers.” Nick demanded.

“Yeah, we deserve at least one night of fun while we’re here!” AJ chimes in.

“They have a point.” Brian agreed. “Come on you old men. What are you guys afraid of? Being left in the dust?”

That got Kevin and Howie’s backs up. Neither of them ever backed down from the younger guys’ challenges.

“Alright, let’s go.” Howie agreed, challenge in his voice.

Nick, Brian, and AJ all smiled their best ‘challenge accepted’ smiles at him.

“How about you, Kevin? Are you in?” AJ challenged again.

Kevin’s eyes had an unstoppable fire in them and he said, “Let’s light up London, boys!”

The boys whopped and headed out the door and piled into one of the two cars they were renting.

“So, boys, where are we headed?” Kevin asked from the driver’s seat.

They all looked at Nick. He usually knew all the hot party spots, being as he was the youngest in the group.

“Let me drive and I’ll get us to the hottest spot in London.” Nick said, looking at Kevin.

Kevin narrowed his eyes at Nick. Nick Carter wasn’t exactly the best driver in the world, especially when he was this excited.

“Oh, come on guys.” Nick said, rolling his eyes. “I’m not going to get us into an accident, I swear.”

They all looked skeptical and Kevin’s eyes were still narrowed.

“Do y’all want to go out tonight or not?” Nick asked, serious for one of the few times in his life.

Kevin sighed and said, “Alright, let’s switch seats. Just don’t kill or injure us, okay?”

“Yeah, Nicky.” AJ said, I don’t think the fans would like you as much anymore.”

“Oh, leave Frack alone! I’m sure he won’t kill us!” Brian said, standing up for his best friend. “At least not tonight.”

“Oh, gee, thanks Frick.” Nick said as everyone laughed. “Way to boast my confidence.”

“Hey, let’s get off the topic of Nick’s low confidence and get going!” Howie said into the laughter.

“Alright, alright, we’re going.” Nick said as he started the car. “Are you boys ready to show London how to rock the night?”

The boys whooped again as Nick put the car in drive and took them to the place that would change their lives forever.

…..

Four Hours Later

All five boys stumbled into the rental house to find their wives (and girlfriend) up and looking rightfully pissed.

“Where have you been?” Leigh demanded, sparks shooting from her brown eyes.

The boys stopped dead, a little woozy, and each tried to control their swaying.

“Ba-ba-baby,” Howie started, stumbling over his words.

“Howard Dwaine Dorough,” Leigh spat. “You’re such a dog. You swore to me that you wouldn’t go out partying while we were here.”

“Bu-but, baby.” Howie tried to come up with something that would cover his ass.

“Don’t ‘baby’ me, you drunk bastard.” Leigh snapped. “You probably slept with some London skank, didn’t you?”

Howie didn’t have anything to say to that. In fact, neither of the boys did. They all had gone a little wild tonight and didn’t have any excuses for it.

“I bet they all did.” Lauren hissed, coming to stand next to Leigh. “Now that they’re all back together, they’ve turned into a bunch of dogs.”

Brian burped, swayed forward, and said, “No-now, I take offense to that, I-I am no-not a do-dog. I wou-would never che-cheat on my wife, no ma-matter how pla-plastered I am.” He ended his speech with another burp.

All five girls glared at him, and Rochelle said, “I think he’s the only one we can believe.”

All of the girls nodded and Leighanne grabbed Brian’s arm and lead him to their room. The rest of the boys swayed uncomfortably where they stood.

“You know what girls?” Kristen asked, standing up. “I don’t think I want to stay in a house full of dogs.”

Rochelle, Lauren, and Leigh all agreed.

“We’re leaving boys.” Lauren said. “And y’all are in a world for of shit when you get home.”

The four girls turned on their heels and headed toward their rooms to pack their stuff. The boys stumbled into the living room and collapsed onto chairs and coaches.

“We messed up big time boys.” Nick slurred, falling asleep as soon as he said it.

“Hell yeah we did.” AJ agreed, falling into a slumber as well.

It took all of five minutes for the four of them to pass out. As they were sleeping, Lauren, Kristen, Leigh, and Rochelle left the house and headed back to the states without a word to their boys.

AJ was wakening a couple hours later by the smell of eggs and bacon. He got up off the chair he fell asleep on and stretched. He moaned as his head started to pound.

“Damn hangover.” He grumbled as he padded into the kitchen to find the source of the good smelling food.

Brian and Leighanne were at the eight burner stove, making massive amounts of scrambled eggs and bacon.

“Food..” Nick moaned, coming into the kitchen right behind AJ.

“Eat,” Leighanne demanded, pointing her spatula at them. “You’ll need it.”

AJ and Nick grabbed plates and piled them high. As they sat down at the table and begun stuffing their faces, Kevin and Howie came padding in, no doubt attracted by the smell of food. They each grabbed plates as well and joined Nick and AJ at the table. They ate in silence, thinking about their major screw up last night.

As they all finished their plates, Leighanne asked, “How do y’all feel?”

“Like shit,” AJ groaned, closing his eyes, trying to bloke out the pain of his headache.

Nick grunted in agreement as he put his head on the table.

“Y’all need more rest.” Leighanne said, the mother in her taking over. “You don’t have to be in the studio today, so go back to sleep. In your beds. Now.”

Not one of the five boys argued with her. They all dragged themselves to their bedrooms and dropped on their beds like rocks.

As Leighanne watched them go, she sighed in sadness. She didn’t know what to do in this situation for her husband and his brothers. She started to clean up the breakfast mess as she thought it over.

…..