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“Are you almost packed, sweetie?” Kristin asked from the doorway of their bedroom, watching Kevin choose clothes to put in the large suitcase on his bed. 


“I think I’m over packing, I keep putting stuff into this suitcase and taking stuff out. It’s not like I’m going on the whole cruise with them, I’m just meeting them in the Bahamas for the beach party and their one deck party.” Kevin said, folding some shorts and placing them inside the suitcase. 


“I think you’re not just over packing but you’re overthinking it too. Are you still thinking about Nick?” 


Kevin sat down on the bed and sighed, he hadn’t heard from any of the guys since their conference meeting and he wasn’t sure how to take that. He supposed they’d get to talking once they were in the Bahamas because they’d planned to have lunch or dinner together. 


“Kind of, I guess I’m still having doubts if I’m doing the right thing throwing myself back into all of this again. It’s been six years. That isn’t too long, is it? I don’t know if Nick is actually okay with me coming back either, I think he just didn’t want to hurt my feelings. He’s done that before.” Kevin explained. 


“Baby, you’re going to be fine. I’m sure Nick is happy you’re coming back. He always looks up to you. The fans miss you, remember those ones you told me that you ran into at the grocery store? You were so happy when you got home that you couldn’t stop smiling. You still keep up with what the guys are doing, I know how much you miss them.  I think it’s great that they’re welcoming you back like this. You just need to stop being such a worry wart.” Kristin laughed as she sat down next to him and kissed him on the cheek.


“I suppose you are right. Maybe I’m worried for nothing.” Kevin chuckled. 


“There’s no ‘suppose’ in this equation. You need to relax. I’m right because I’m your wife. The wife is always right.” Kristin teased as she laughed at him. 


“We’ll see about that,” Kevin laughed, moving her onto the bed and climbing on top of her, kissing her. They kissed for a long time, cuddling and simply enjoying each other’s company. Kevin definitely felt a bit more relaxed afterwards. 


“Thanks for making me feel better.” 


“I told you before, the wife is always right.” Kristin winked. 




Kevin didn’t even know why he felt nervous when he flew to the Bahamas but he did. He had a nice hotel room and knew the guys wouldn’t be there until the next day so he did his best to relax the night before. In the morning he headed down to the beach from the hotel. He could hear the guys talking and the crowd cheering, his stomach did a couple of flips before he let himself be seen. 


“We love you, Kevin!!! We miss you!!!!” 


Kevin smiled at the couple of fans that yelled to him as he passed by and waved at them. They made him feel a bit more comfortable while he walked up to the stage. He could hear the guys speaking to the crowd. He also couldn’t believe that none of the cruisers knew he was coming and that they had managed to keep it all a secret, because he knew how good the fans were at finding things out. His return to the band was a well guarded secret so for now everyone was making jokes about the five microphones being on stage until the girls started screaming. More and more people noticed that he was there, and he finally walked up the stairs. The sound was deafening, even louder than during the Unbreakable Tour when he’d joined the boys on stage for two songs. As Kevin looked out over the crowd full of fans he simply smiled. He missed this. In that moment he knew he was making the right decision. 



After the beach party where the guys entertained the crowd with games and stories, Kevin went to go and get ready to join the rest of the Backstreet Boys for a short dinner before they all got ready for the evening. The cruise had activities planned but Kevin didn't know they were, he just knew he was going to the deck party that night that had a prom theme. They ate on one of the boys balconies of their cabin. It was small but they seemed to enjoy themselves. It felt like old times. 


"So is this cruise like going to be like an annual thing? It seems like y'all have a good time." Kevin asked, taking a drink from his glass of champagne. 


"I'm kind of excited for the prom tonight since I didn't go to my high school prom." Nick said. 


"That's right, you and AJ didn't get to do that. That should be fun, I’m looking forward to it." Kevin smiled. 


"Wait until you see our suits." AJ winked as he and Nick laughed. 


Kevin had to laugh when he saw Nick in the bright orange tuxedo, the same one that Jim Carrey wore in the movie Dumb and Dumber. AJ wore the one that Harry had on in the same movie. Nick’s hair was a mess as well. 


“You look ridiculous in that, Nick. I’m surprised that you didn’t get Brian to wear the blue one, the two of you used to watch that movie all the time.” Kevin teased. Nick looked wistfully at Brian and then blushed as he stared at the floor. He muttered something before looking to see if Brian was in earshot and then whispered to Kevin. 


“Brian wouldn’t do it. We had an argument the other day so I asked AJ to.” 


Kevin opened his mouth to say something to Nick, but they were being told to go out on stage so he followed them out. It was a great party. Kevin had such a fun time mingling with the guys and the fans too. He had one of them as his prom date that management had chosen at random and they shared a dance together. Kevin finally managed to get Brian on his own for a couple of minutes when the party was starting to wind down. 


"Hey, is everything okay with you and Nick?" he asked, tapping Brian on the shoulder. Brian glanced over at Nick, who was doing some kind of dance across the deck. 


"Why do you ask that? Everything is fine...if you're talking about why I didn't wear the tux he wanted me to wear, he's just being dramatic. You know how Nick is. Are you having a good time? It's like old times, isn't it?" Brian said, taking a drink from the cup he was holding. They'd been dancing a lot, doing various line dances and were very thirsty. 


"Sorry, I just was concerned. I'm not trying to pry. I just noticed that things were a little awkward between you two." Kevin pointed out. 


"I promise, it's okay. This isn't like last time we were in the Bahamas doing that concert. Just have fun and don't worry about it. The fans seem to be happy about you being here."


Kevin remembered when they had all gone down here to do a performance years ago, it was their first time here. They'd all been tired and cranky. This time was definitely different since he'd been away from things. Everyone seemed more relaxed and things weren't tense like they were when he left the group. He could see himself fitting back in perfectly now. 


"That they do, cousin. That they do. I wish we could tell them now." Kevin smiled as he picked up a drink as well. They clinked their glasses together and drank until the cups were both empty. He was sad when it was time to go and so were the fans, but he knew he would see everyone again soon.