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** KEVIN **

“Are you sure that you’re all right?” I killed the engine and leaned back in the seat, looking worriedly at Howie. “Maybe you should have some more water.”

“I don’t need more water, Kev.” Howie grumbled. He unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed open his door. “I’m fine.”

I sighed heavily as I followed Howie out of the car and up the walkway to Nick’s front door. It was only eight o’clock in the morning and I was already more than hoping for the chance to take a nap. My body felt as though it had been shattered into a thousand pieces and put back together with crazy glue. I still hadn’t recovered from the realization that the body on the table wasn’t Nick’s. I didn’t think that I would ever be able to forget the feeling that had come over me when I had first looked down and recognized that it wasn’t him.

While I was immensely grateful that the dead man wasn’t Nick, I could see how everyone had made the mistake. The man on the table, whoever he was, was a damn good doppelganger. The hair, the eyes, the nose, the build, the ears, the tattoos; everything about the dead man screamed Nick Carter. The police had based their initial identification off of pictures and off of the fact that Nick’s ID had been found on the body. It was easy to see how the mistake had been made. It was only because Howie and I knew Nick so well that we had been able to spot the difference. Any other casual observer would have immediately confirmed the police department’s incorrect identification.

“I need some Advil.” Howie announced as we stepped into the foyer. “I have a killer headache.”

“Me too.” I confirmed. “I wish there was a way to simply stop thinking.”

My mind had been running nonstop since leaving the coroner’s office. The dead man had obviously gone to great lengths to look exactly like Nick, and he had been killed as a result. If the man’s murder was indeed a case of mistaken identity, it stood to reason that the person who had killed the doppelganger had been attempting to kill Nick. If Nick had been the intended target, he was still in jeopardy; wherever he was.

Howie snorted. “I won’t be able to stop thinking about this until it’s over. Who the hell was that guy on the table and why did he look exactly like Nick? This whole thing is fucking creepy.”

I simply shrugged my shoulders and trailed after Howie as he made his way into the kitchen and began rooting through the cupboards in search of Advil. “It wasn’t a coincidence.” I muttered. “The dead guy’s tattoos were an exact replica of Nick’s.”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Howie located the Advil and popped two in his mouth without hesitation. He pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and took a long drink to help him swallow the pills. “I feel like we’re in an episode of Criminal Minds.”

I shook my head and ran an unsteady hand through my hair. “We still don’t know where Nick is. Come to think of it, we still don’t know where Lauren is either.”

“I know.” Howie frowned. “We also can’t forget about the fact that Brian and AJ are beyond pissed off with us at the moment.”

“Where are they anyway?” I grumbled. “I can’t believe that AJ hung up on me like that.”

“I think I see them outside.” Howie gestured towards the back door. “At least they didn’t take off like we expected.”

“I suppose that’s something.” I relinquished; motioning for Howie to follow me outside. “I’m going to need backup.”

The first thing that I saw when I stepped outside was AJ. He was standing in the middle of the deck; his face pulled up into the biggest grin that I had ever seen. The second thing that I saw was the Nick and Brian hybrid. The two of them were holding each other so tightly that I wasn’t sure if it would be accurate to describe them as two separate people. Both of them were crying, but Brian’s cries were more violent, more heart wrenching. My cousin wasn’t just crying, he was sobbing uncontrollably with his face pressed into the small space between the base of Nick’s neck and his shoulder. My heart ached as I watched the two of them cling to each other. I knew that, no matter how happy I was to see Nick, the embrace that we were about to share would never mean as much to him as Brian’s crushing hold.

“What the hell?” Howie pulled the back door closed and kept his hand wrapped firmly around the doorknob to steady himself. “Nick?”

“He’s here!” AJ was positively giddy with relief. “Do you see him? He’s not dead!”

“Yes, AJ.” I sighed. “I see him.”

Nick and Brian slowly pulled apart. Both of them were wiping roughly at their wet cheeks as they turned to face me and Howie. I could see Brian massaging his chest as the two of them moved to join us by the door. I gave him a concerned look, but he purposefully ignored me; choosing instead to grin stupidly up at Nick.

“Hey.” Nick offered. “I hear you guys have been kinda worried about me.”

“Kind of worried?” Howie brushed past me and enveloped Nick in a warm hug. “We thought that you had been murdered and that your body had been dumped in a park!”

Nick’s arms tightened around Howie’s back. “I’m not dead.”

Howie responded by urging Nick’s head down onto his shoulder. He held him almost tenderly, similar to the way in which one would comfort a child. Howie whispered something in Nick’s ear and a wave of fresh tears escaped Nick’s eyes before he whispered something back. I couldn’t make out their words, and it was blatantly clear that whatever they were saying would remain between the two of them forever. For some reason, that realization annoyed me to no end.

“We can see that that you’re not dead.” I clipped, interrupting Nick and Howie’s moment. “It would have been nice to know that before we went to the coroner’s office to identify your body.”

Nick released his grip on Howie and stepped forward to greet me. He looked almost nervous. “You’re mad?”

“Of course I’m mad!” I reached out and pulled Nick against me, patting him forcefully on the back. “You scared the shit out of me!”

Nick slapped my back a few times in response before pulling away. A massive smile had replaced his anxious expression. “Did you cry?”

“Yes, Nick.” I sank down onto one of the patio chairs and rubbed at my eyes. “I cried.”

“Awesome.” Nick sat down on the chair next to mine and patted my leg. “It’s nice to know that I mean so much to you.”

I stopped rubbing at my eyes and stared into Nick’s face. I had never been as thankful to see his annoying smirk as I was at that very moment. “You do mean a lot to me, Nick.” My voice was rough and unsteady and I hated myself for the way it sounded. “Even if you do piss me off to no end.”

Nick gave me a small, almost uncertain, smile in return and my eyes immediately welled with tears. I wanted so badly to pull him against me and hug him the way that Brian had, but that would have been out of character for me and Nick hated it when I didn’t act like my stereotypical self. I knew that it made Nick anxious whenever I showed any type of emotion, and the last thing that I wanted to do was push him away from me. Still, the act of holding back my relief was agonizing. I wished that Nick and I shared the same type of relationship that he and Brian shared. It would have been nice to be able to properly show him just how happy I was that he was alive and well.

“Where have you been?” Howie sat down on the other side of me and looked at Nick expectantly. “Where’s Lauren? The police have been trying to track her down since Sunday morning. They were saying that there’s been no activity on her cell phone for days.”

“Lauren is at her mom’s house in Florida.” Nick explained. “We went to Engagement Island to get away for a little bit before I dropped her off. Lauren saw that you guys had been trying to call her, but we made a promise to each other that we wouldn’t answer our phones during our time on the island. Since none of you left a message, she didn’t think that she needed to call you back.”

“I called Lauren’s mom.” Howie shook his head. “She didn’t answer my calls either.”

“She’s doing some crazy, hippie, new-age cleanse.” Nick muttered. “She’s completely cut herself off from all forms of technology. She’s not answering her phone, she’s not watching TV, she’s not going on social media...”

“That’s beyond weird.” AJ stated as he and Brian joined the rest of us around the outdoor table. He looked pointedly at Nick. “Although, that doesn’t explain why you didn’t answer your phone. I must have called you like fifty times.”

Nick’s face flushed. “I lost my phone in the ocean. I – I forgot that it was in my pocket. I just picked up a new one today on my way home.”

“I don’t understand how this is possible.” I sat back in my chair and rubbed at my temples. “How did you not see or hear any of the news reports? How did no one see you and freak out? The police said that there’s been no activity on your bank account or on any of your credit cards since the middle of last week.”

“The island is secluded. Lauren and I were too busy doing – doing other things to go online.” Nick shrugged. “I didn’t use any of my credit cards because we purchased everything that we were going to need before we drove down to Florida. I paid for everything else in cash. We took my boat over to the island, which was already gassed up and ready to go. Nobody else was around us the entire time that we were in Florida, and I drove straight through coming back. I only stopped twice for gas and every time that I needed food I went through a drive through.”

“What about Nacho?” Brian demanded. “You and Lauren purposefully left him alone for a whole week? I was seriously contemplating taking that tubby pest back to Georgia.”

Nick’s blush deepened. “The last time that we left him in a kennel one of the staff members turned out to be a seriously crazy fan. The chick ended up taking like a hundred pictures of us when we came to pick him up, and she actually tried to convince us to let her buy Nacho. Lauren was so freaked out that we swore that we would never put Nacho in a kennel again. We left him tons of food and stuff … he was fine.”

“You didn’t turn on the radio?” I raised my eyebrows and quickly steered the conversation away from the dog. Who the hell cared why Nacho had been left alone? It wasn’t as though the fat beast was in any danger of starving to death. “The news coverage was on practically every single station.”

Nick shook his head. “I didn’t turn the radio on for the entire trip. I scored an advanced copy of the new Linkin Park album and I’ve been listening to it non-stop. It’s been driving Lauren crazy.”

“The clerk at Verizon didn’t say anything to you when you picked up your phone?” Howie was incredulous. “You must have had to show ID.”

“He was old.” Nick shrugged again. “He wouldn’t have known who I was from a hole in the ground. He didn’t even ask me for a credit card or a driver’s licence because I have the premium replacement plan. He literally just asked me for my account number and handed me a new phone.”

“Your ID!” AJ’s head snapped up. “The police brought us your wallet. It’s on your coffee table right now. How do you explain that?”

Nick fiddled with the hem on his t-shirt. “I lost my wallet a few weeks ago, right after we returned from overseas. I had to have everything replaced.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his new wallet for emphasis.

I snatched the wallet out of his hands and flipped through it in annoyance. “You lost your whole fucking wallet?”

“It happens.” Nick gave me a dirty look. “You don’t have to be so patronizing.”

“Sorry.” I dropped the wallet on the table and sighed. “I don’t suppose that you have an explanation for why the guy that Howie and I just went to look at could be your long lost twin?”

“Well ...” Nick looked at each of us in turn. “I might have an idea about that too.”

It was my turn to be incredulous. “We’re waiting.”

“He’s kinda like a stalker.” Nick’s face was now positively burning with embarrassment. “He sends me letters detailing how he wants to be just like me. The guy’s wacked out. He’s copied my tattoos and my hair cut. I’m pretty sure that he’s even had some work done to make his face look like mine. The whole situation is kinda like that creepy Eminem video; Stan.”

“Jesus.” Brian whispered. “How long have you known about him?”

“He surfaced around the start of our twentieth anniversary promotional stuff.” Nick supplied. “The guy’s weird, but he’s harmless. I didn’t see any point in mentioning him to you guys, or in reporting him to the police, because he’s never done anything violent or excessively crazy. I think he even came to one of our VIP experiences, maybe during one of the North Carolina dates.”

“He’s harmless alright.” I snorted. “He’s dead.”

“Shit.” Nick’s face paled as he instantly made the connection. “Do you – do you think that this poor guy died because whoever killed him thought that they were killing me?”

I dropped my eyes to the table and resisted the urge to let out a massive sigh; that was exactly what I thought. “You need to talk to the police, Nick.”