Stirred Up Memories

"Christ," AJ muttered as he glanced back at the young girls gathering at the picnic table near theirs. "Shouldn't we just call Nick over and leave?"

Kevin paused for a moment as he looked over at the young women setting down at the picnic table. "No.....we're fine."

AJ gestured with a nod toward the play area where Nick was. "But what about Nick?"

Marching over toward the trash can, Kevin heaved the empty food containers. "What about it?" he questioned, his emerald eyes boring into the tattooed rebel.

"Well....it's just that.....you know..."

"No I don't know, why don't you tell me what you're thinking," Kevin challenged.

"Jay, I'm sure everything will be okay," Howie stated, desperate to prevent a confrontation between the older man and AJ.

"Yeah, Nick's fine over there," Brian added.

Kevin however wasn't about to let the subject drop. "So please clarify what is bugging the hell out of you."

AJ's chocolate brown eyes locked in with Kevin's emerald greens with a stare down. The two men were acting like a dog with a bone and neither was going to budge.

"Oh for the love of God people, I highly doubt they are concerned about us," Brian grumbled. "Look, they haven't even noticed we're here so I doubt that the would be preoccupied with Nick playing over there."

"Exactly," Howie joined in. "Lets just go over and join Nick. We promised we would after the lunch was cleared up."

Kevin, Brian and Howie started to walk toward the play area and AJ remained seated at the picnic table.

"Oh no you don't.....c'mon you're going to play with us whether you like it or not," Kevin hissed.

Reluctantly, AJ stood up and walked over to join the others, hands clenched at his side.

"Who goes there?" Nick yelled over the side of the pirate ship.

"Could you get a little louder? Those girls might not have heard you," AJ muttered.

Brian swatted the rebel hard on the shoulder. "Knock it off!"

AJ jumped away, grabbing his arm. "Jesus...why the fuck did you do that Littrell?"

"Could you say that a little louder? Those girls might not have heard you, AJ," Brian mocked.

AJ looked back to where the girls were gathered and felt his heart drop to his stomach. "Shit...shit...shit."

"And your mouth brings the attention to us once again," Howie stated.

"Way to go Ace," Kevin spat.

Nick froze at the front of the ship when he caught sight of the two young girls approaching.

"Hey, aren't you The Backstreet Boys?"

"Oh my God...it is," the older of the three girls cried. "Holy shit, it is!"

One girl pointed at Nick. "Is that who I think it is....Nick?"

Nick looked at the girl with a puzzled expression.

"I had such a huge crush on you!"

Nick immediately started biting on a fingernail as he looked over toward Kevin for support.

"Can we get a picture with y'all?"

"And autographs! Char will totally freak when she finds out that we got to meet you guys!"

Kevin could feel his heart pounding in his chest when he realized that he had placed Nick in a situation he wasn't sure he could tactfully pull him out of. If he were prone to panick attacks, now would be the time to have one. Swallowing hard, he thought for a few moments of how to gracefully get out of the situation. Brian unexpectidly came to the rescue.

"Ladies we're grateful that you still remember us.....what did you say your names were again?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Mary Alice and this is my best friend Angel."

Nick cocked his head to one side when the girl said the name Angel. For some reason that name sounded familiar.

Brian smiled his acknowledgement. "We were having some private time together and I know this is a public place, but I was wondering, if we gave you an autograph and a quick picture, would you let us be alone?"

"S-sure, s-sure we will," the older of the two girls stammered. "Let me go back to my car and get my camera and some paper, k?"

AJ was silently steaming, taking everything within him to not turn and say 'I-told-you-so' to Kevin. He quickly felt relieved when Brian took a bad situation and made it better and his relief suddenly washed away when the girl that was left behind spoke.

"Nick?"

Nick stared at the young girl, an empty expression on his face.

"Nick can I come up?"

"I don't think that would be such a good idea," Kevin replied.

Ignoring Kevin's comment, the girl ran onto the wooden ship, totally blindsiding Nick in the process. She rushed up behind the blonde, throwing her arms around his waist, drawing him into a tight hug. "Isn't it cool that I have the same name as your sister?"

"Hey! Leave him alone!" AJ demanded as he stormed toward the ship.

Angel ignored AJ as she turned Nick to face her. "Can I kiss you?"

The color drained from Nick's face as he stared helplessly toward Brian, Kevin and Howie. His eyes were welling up with unshed tears.

AJ rushed up and grabbed the girl's arm. "Let go of him! Can't you see you're scaring him?"

The girl shot AJ a dirty look. "Nick's fine with this, right Nick?"

"I....don't....know.....you," Nick slowly mumbled.

"Of course you don't silly, we just met," Angel sing-songed.

"Sorry it took me so long, I couldn't find the camera," Mary Alice said as she ran back. "Angel! I thought you'd wait until I got up there!"

"She's getting ready to leave," AJ hollered down.

"Why? We haven't gotten any pictures or autographs," Angel protested.

"I seriously doubt you need them," AJ muttered.

"You promised us," Mary Alice cried.

"Yeah, and I'm sure Nick will let us, he is always caring about his fans!"Angel added. "Right Nick?"

Nick looked at the girl, confusion etched on his face. "Huh?"

Finally Angel connected with why Nick seemed distant. "Oh my God, thats right! I forgot! You almost died..."

Nick looked helplessly over at AJ.

"Nick, c'mon let's go," AJ rasped as he tried to guide Nick away from the young girl.

The girl wasn't going to let the issue drop. "You overdosed on those pills and you almost died..."

"What is she talking about?" Nick mumbled.

"And they've kept you hiding all this time...away from the public and away from the fans....."

"Girl, you're getting on my last nerve," AJ hissed, as he pulled his young brother away from the young woman.

In a surprise move, Nick stood stock still, refusing to budge. "Who are you?" he asked suddenly.

"My name is Angel, just like Aaron's twin sister."

"Aaron?"

The girl put a hand to her mouth. "Aaron? Your brother.....don't you even remember your brother?"

AJ grabbed at Nick's arm, desperate to lead him away. "C'mon Nicky, lets go."

"Yeah, c'mon Nick, we'll take you back," Howie and Brian pleaded from the ground.

Shocked and at a loss for words, Kevin stood next to his cousin, his mouth gaped.

"Seriously Nick.....lets go!" AJ urged.

Nick jerked his arm away from the rebel. "NO!"

"Nicky...." AJ tried again.

"No AJ, let it go for a minute," Kevin warned. It took him a few moments of watching the scene unfold in front of him, but suddenly he realized that these girls may not have been a bad thing for Nick after all. It was starting to seem to him that something was being triggered in Nick's mind, he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing but he hoped and prayed that this was going to work out as a benefit to his young band brother.

Nick faced the young woman, unchecked tears were sliding down his cheeks. "How do you know me?"

"I am a big fan of you guys. I listen to your CD's all the time. I had to buy two copies of Now or Never because I played the first one so much it started skipping."

Nick stared at the girl. "Huh?"

"Now or Never, you know the first CD you recorded?"

Staring at the girl, Nick starting blinking his eyes in a rapid motion, placing a hand to the side of his head. "I...I don't know what you're talking about."

"You gotta remember that CD.....I saw you when you had one of your tour stops in Phoenix," the girl pressed.

The young girls comment had Nick completely confused. She was saying things to him he had no idea what she was talking about. Places she insisted he had been to and things that she said he had done. The next move left Nick in complete shock.

"I just so happen to have Help Me downloaded on my iPod.....listen!"

"AJ....." Kevin quietly growled with a shake of his head when the rebel singer started to make a move to stop the girl from handing Nick her ipod. He still wasn't sure if any of this was a good idea, but he was praying that maybe something would tap into Nick's memory.

At first Nick stared at the iPod as if it were a foreign object but quickly placed the ear pieces in with familiar movements. Everyone watched Nick's facial expression for a hint of recognition as he listened to himself singing. With the pieces still in, he winced as he studied the girl's face and then quickly jerked the earpieces off.

"That's you Nick, you sang that....isn't it a good song?"

Holding a hand up to shield his eyes, Nick moaned, "My head hurts."

Instinctively, AJ wrapped a protective arm around his young brother, guiding him off the play structure. "Show's over, c'mon Nicky."

The guys formed a protective shield around their young brother as they hurried back toward the car, ignoring the girl's pleas for them to come back. Once they were inside the safety of the vehicle, Nick stuck his bottom lip out.

"I wanna go home," he sobbed.

Kevin looked at Nick through the rearview mirror. "Nicky how about we go get something to eat?"

"We just had a fricken picnic," AJ groaned.

Kevin shot a dirty look at the rebel singer. "Nicky how about we go to Dairy Queen for some dessert?"

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "I wanna go home," he whined his reply.

"Nick, let's stop and get some ice cream.....you love ice cream," Brian reminded.

"Bri....don't--"

Nick's soured expression brightened. "Ice cream?"

"Yes Nick you can have an ice cream cone or a sundae...whatever you want," AJ added.

"What about the lactose intolerence thing," Kevin reminded.

"Crap....I forgot about that," Brian sighed. "Maybe he doesn't have that anymore."

"Well you better hope so since you promised the kid ice cream," Kevin replied. "If not, you can explain to his nurses about what he had."

Nick ignored Brian and Kevin's conversation, running a hand absently through his hair.

"Okay, Dairy Queen it is, I guess," Kevin groaned as he started the car.

"How many keys have girls thrown hotel keys to you on stage?" Nick quietly asked to no one in particular.

Kevin stomped his foot on the brakes, sending the car into a fish tale. "What did you just ask Nick?"

"It's dumb, forget it."

This time AJ turned around in the front seat to look at the young blonde. "Yeah I heard you say something about hotel keys and girls.....do you remember something?"

Nick looked directly into AJ's eyes. "I saw something like a bunch of girls screaming but they weren't mad, it was weird, they were crying and smiling at the same time and I saw some stuff being thrown at me but I don't know why."

"You asked about hotel keys," Kevin commented.

"My God, stuff is starting to come back to him," Howie breathed, looking calmly at the young man sitting next to him.

"Is there anything more you remember?" Brian asked.

Nick put a hand to the side of his head. "My head hurts," he mumbled as he leaned forward in his seat.

"I'll give you something for that when we get to DQ," Howie said as Brian rubbed the young man's back.