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“It’s over!” Nick Carter exclaimed backstage after the last concert in Australia, ending the Never Gone tour for the Backstreet Boys.

“Finally I can rest!” He yelled again. All four of his band mates nodded in agreement. The boys always looked forward to their tours when it would start. But, as the days would count down to the end all they could do was pray that time went by faster.

“I can’t wait to get home and sleep in my own bed.” AJ said as he walked off to a table on the other side of the room full of snacks and drinks. He grabbed a wattle bottle and chugged the whole thing down. Brian nodded. He pulled his shirt over his head and stuffed it into his small backpack. He pulled a white tank top on in exchange.

Thinking of his family back home, Brian smiled. “I can’t wait to wake up every morning next to Leigh and play with Bay all day.” Brian giggled. “Hey, that rhymed!” He softly said aloud to himself.

Kevin grabbed two bottles of water. “Hey Nick, heads up.” Kevin hollered just before he threw a wattle bottle in Nick’s direction. Catching it, Nick spun around, throwing his hands in the air.

“Touchdown!” Nick yelled. He started to do a little victory dance, shaking his bottom in each guys direction. Brian joined Nick and Howie chuckled while walking over to AJ. Kevin stood next to Brian and smacked his cousin on the head. Brian stopped dancing and pouted.

“What are you laughing at, Howie?” Nick asked while walking over to the table, meeting up with the rest of the guys. Nick grabbed a bag of chips and opened them. Kevin frowned at Nick, but let him eat his junk food.

“I’m laughing at you, you big dork!” Howie replied with a big smile, stuffing a mini muffin into his mouth before grabbing some of Nick's chips.

“Hey, I’m not a dork! You’re just jealous ‘cause you can’t catch as well as I can.” Nick pulled his bag away from Howie and slapped his hand. Howie scoffed.

“Sure, uh huh. If you say so, Nick.” He patted Nick on the back and rolled his eyes. He started walking away from him, but Nick tackled him and placed him into a headlock. Nick gave Howie a noogie and laughed maniacally. The rest of the guys stood by, laughing at the two men.

After a few more minutes of horseplay, Kevin started grabbing his stuff. “Come on guys,” Kevin said “let’s get outta here and go home!” Kevin could not wait to see his wife and finally get to spend quality time with her back home.

Nick grinned and wrapped his arms around Brian and AJ’s neck. “Yeah! I can’t wait to get away from you guys!”



“Cut!” a short, robust man with a red baseball cap screamed. “That’s a wrap for today! Good job everyone. You all did an excellent job of working out here in the cold at two in the morning. I’ll see you all tomorrow 6 a.m. sharp!” The director jumped out of his chair and walked over to his assistant who was telling him the details of the next day.

Rachel Hewitt climbed out of the lake that her scene required her to be in. She was shooting the last few scenes of her movie in Canada. She had just spent three hours doing a long scene that required her character to fight her attacker in a lake.

“Gosh! I’m freezing my butt off!” She shivered. She loved being an actress and even freezing her butt off had her feeling content.

“Here honey, take it nice and slow.” Rosita, a young Hispanic woman said as she gently wrapped Rachel in towels to keep her warm. Rosita was Rachel’s assistant during the making of the film.

“Thank you Rosita. You have no idea how cold that water is!” Rachel laughed. She shivered again, goose bumps forming all over her body. Rachel scrunched her face up. She hated goose bumps.

“Well, at least you’re such a sweetie about it and haven’t been complaining. I’ve know dozens of young actresses who would be whining their heads off right now!” Rosita explained while leading Rachel to her trailer just off the set. “Now go inside and warm up with some tea before you step into the shower. I don’t need you catching something to put off tomorrow’s shoot.” She moved a piece of Rachel’s dark chocolate locks off of her neck. Rachel giggled.

“Yes mother. Although, I wouldn’t mind staying here longer.” She said while looking down at her feet. “I’m going to miss everyone. I can’t believe tomorrow’s the last day.” Rachel always had a hard time leaving her co-workers behind. After months of getting to know people and building relationships, saying goodbye and leaving only made the experience feel bare. She tried to avoid thinking about it, but tomorrow was the last day. It was inevitable.

Rosita opened the trailer door and accompanied Rachel inside. She began making tea for the two of them.

“Aw, I know that it’s the sad part, but I got family to return to. Mama misses her sugar daddy!” Rachel laughed and plopped onto her bed.

“I just wish that I didn’t have to say goodbye to everyone so soon.”



Shit! Where are my keys? I know I left them here somewhere…

Nick Carter looked around the living room for his keys. Dressed in a gray sweat suit, he was ready to go for a run at the gym. He threw the pillow off of his black leather couch. He lift the cushions up enough for him to check if his keys were underneath. No sign of them there. Nick had a problem when it came to his belongings. He never could remember where he last put things.

“Come on, I just saw them!” He said through his teeth, putting the cushions back into place. When bending over to look under the couch, he heard his keys fall from the hood of his sweatshirt.

“Aha! I knew they were somewhere nearby!” He smiled to himself and grabbed his wallet from the coffee table, heading out for his workout.

While driving to the gym, Nick’s cell phone began to ring. Picking it up, he saw that it was his friend Kevin Zegers. He and Kevin had worked in a movie together while the Backstreet Boys were on a break.

“Hey Kev, what’s shaking?” The blonde answered on the phone. He pulled up to a red light and shifted in his seat. His friend’s voice sounded far away, but Nick could still make Kevin out.

“Hey. There’s this really cool club that’s opening here in L.A. this Friday. Everyone is going to be there. I was thinking maybe you’d like to come and check it out.”

Nick held the phone close to his hear and bit his bottom lip. It had been almost a month since the tour ended and Nick barely went out partying. He was about to say ‘yes’ quickly, but a disturbing thought crept into his head.

“I don’t know man… a new club means that you-know-who will probably be there. I don’t think I want to see her gallivanting—”

“Come on!” His friend said, cutting him off. “Just ‘cause she’s going to be there doesn’t mean that you should restrain yourself from coming. I mean, you’re over her right?”

“Hell yes!” He spat into the phone. “Of course I’m over her!”

“Then what does it matter?”

Nick pondered this for a moment. What would it matter? He thought to himself. I’m sure that AJ wouldn’t mind coming along. Maybe even Howie, too.

“Why not?” He replied, sighing. “Look, I’m driving. I’ll call you back.”

“Okay. Later.”

“Peace.” He hung up the phone and tossed it to the passenger’s seat.

“What am I doing?” He whined aloud. “It’s totally going to suck!”



Rachel looked into the short, Filipino’s eyes. “Please, just stop bugging me about it. If I wanted to go, I would have said yes the first time you asked.”

“Come on! Everyone’s going to be there! Don’t starve me from celebrities, Rach! I need them!” Rachel’s best friend, Eva Clarke, pounced on her in a desperate attempt to convince her into attending a new club opening. She had been begging Rachel since they went shopping for the day, about four hours ago. Lunch had been so frustrating for Rachel that she actually stopped talking to her friend.

“Just go with one of the girls! Let me stay home and relax. I've only been home for a few weeks.” Rachel really didn't want to spend her time off going to a club. She came all the way to L.A. to live with Eva for a few months so she could catch up with her friends, as opposed to staying at her apartment in New York and sleeping all day.

“Not just anyone can waltz up to the door and go in! You need connections! And that’s where you come in!”

“So that’s all I am to you, a connection? I see how it is.” Both girls laughed and continued to shop around in the Fred Segals boutique in L.A.

“Please, let’s just go. It will be fun!” Eva picked up a red shirt with black music notes on the front and held it up to her chest. “Does this look cute on me?”

“Definitely cute. And my idea of fun isn’t being surrounded by stupid, drunk, loud, crazy people all night long!”

“Hey, I’m not that bad!” Eva joked, flashing her pearly white teeth in a wide smile.

“You know what I mean. Unless it’s you and the girls, I hate being around drunk airheads.” Rachel hated going to celebrity party clubs. She could handle her friends when they were drunk because she loved them and watching them do stupidly funny things made her laugh. But, her tolerance would not remain high around strangers. Especially around snooty celebrities.

Eva flipped her long black hair over her tanned shoulders. “Hmmm, I wonder if they have this in a small. You need to get over the whole ‘I’m-better-than-everyone-else’ thing and go mingle!” Eva looked through the stack of the red shirts, searching for her size.

“Hey, I do not think that I’m better than everyone else!” Rachel looked over at Eva who wasn’t paying attention to her. “Give me that!” Rachel grabbed the red shirt out of Eva’s hand and walked over to the sales lady on the other side of the store.

“Do you have this in a small?” She smiled and handed the petite woman the shirt.

“Let me check. I’ll just be a minute.” The lady turned and left in search of the size.

“Rachel, please. I really want to go!” Eva pushed her full lips into a pout and raised her eyebrows. “Please…” She whimpered.

Rachel glanced at her friend and sighed. That face worked on her every time. She could not count the times her friend had pulled that face on her starting from junior high.

“You better not ditch me for some air headed beefcake!”

Eva jumped into the air and hugged Rachel tightly, kissing her cheek repeatedly. Rachel laughed and pushed her friend off.

“I promise. You’ll have the time of your life!”



The time of my life, my ass! Rachel thought as she sat on a stool at the bar even though she didn’t have a drink. She had been sitting there for the past two hours, turning down the frequent offers to dance. She watched as Eva danced with a young man on the dance floor. Some would call him handsome or ‘hot’, but Rachel thought he looked just like another Abercrombie & Fitch clone.

I’m leaving. She sighed, reaching for her purse in the chair beside her while keeping her eyes on Eva. As she began pulling away, her hand grazed something.

“Hey!” A male voice exclaimed, whipping around to face who violated him.

Rachel looked up in horror into a tall, handsome, blonde man’s face. She recognized him instantly. It was Mr. Backstreet Boy, Nick Carter.

“Oh gosh! I’m so sorry. I wasn’t trying to grab your butt; I was just getting my purse and I wasn’t looking!” Rachel explained, struggling to get her words out. She didn’t understand why she was so flustered. He made her really nervous for some reason and that was something that she wasn’t used to.

The blonde just laughed. “It’s alright.” Rachel looked away blushing. She couldn’t but think he was incredibley handsome.

“My name’s Nick Car—”

“Carter” she finished. “I know.”

Nick smiled warmly at her. “Is it safe to sit down? Or are you going to try and get another feel?”

Rachel laughed and nodded her head. “The coast is clear. See?” She placed her hands in her lap. Nick sat down on the stool beside her and asked the bartender for a beer.

“Do you want a drink? It’s my treat.”

“No, I don’t drink.”

“Well, how about a water or soda?” Rachel furrowed her brows in thought for a minute.

“I wouldn’t mind a sparkling water.”

“You heard the lady, one sparkling water for…” He turned to Rachel, waiting for her to say her name.

“Rachel.” she answered shyly.

Nick smiled at her and extended his hand. She started to lend her hand over to his, but just then an intoxicated man stumbled behind Nick, bumping him into Rachel. Nick held his hands out to catch his fall, only to land on Rachel’s chest. Her eyes widened and she pushed Nick off of her.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to reach for… those.” Nick’s face turned crimson in a matter of milliseconds. “I guess we’re even now.” He laughed nervously.

“What? That’s not even! Even is touching my butt, not my boobs!” Rachel laughed with him. He’s so adorable when he blushes!

His expression turned into a sincere apologetic look. “I really am sorry.”

“Its okay, it’s not like you meant to do that on purpose. Right?” She smiled, raising an eyebrow. She was fully captivated by him now.

“Hmmm, you never know.” He leaned in, raising his eyebrow also.

This sent chills down Rachel’s spine. Normally, she wouldn’t be flirting with someone who had a reputation like Nick’s. But there was something about him that made it impossible for her to turn away.

Just then, Eva came waltzing over with her boy toy in arm. Rachel silently prayed that Eva wouldn’t say anything to embarrass her in front of Nick.

“Wow! Thank God! You found a guy, too! I’m going to leave since you have company. See you at home.” Eva kissed Rachel’s cheek and looked over at Nick.

“Oh, he’s delicious. I could just eat him right—” She whispered in Rachel’s ear.

“Okay, buh-bye now, Eva!” Rachel said quickly cutting her friend off and pushing her towards the opposite direction. “Have fun!” She watched as Eva left with her date.

Rachel turned around, eager to continue flirting with Nick. But she was met with Nick’s back instead of his face. She listened as Nick talked to another Backstreet Boy, Howie. It seemed that Howie was a little tipsy and wanted Nick to take him home to insure he’d be alright.

“Yeah, D., I’ll take you home. Don’t worry. Just let me finish chatting with my new friend.” Nick whispered, pointed his head in Rachel’s direction signaling Howie to leave the two alone.

Howie shook his head. “Nooo! I need you to take me home now! I don’t feel so well.”

“Now?”

“Yes!” Howie whined. Nick looked back over to Rachel.

“I’m really sorry; I need to take my friend home.”

“Oh, no, it’s not a problem.” Rachel forced a smile. Her thoughts did not reflect her expression. Stupid, stupid Howie! Don't take him away from me! Grrr!

Nick got up and extended his hand again. She extended hers and they shook hands. Jolts of electricity shot through her body. She almost didn’t want to let go.

“It was nice meeting you, Rachel.”

“It was nice meeting you, Nick.”

Nick grabbed Howie, who had been tapping his foot impatiently and reluctantly turned to leave. Rachel sat in her seat watching the two men leave her all alone at a club she didn’t even want to be at in the first place. Rachel crossed her arms. She had finally met a guy who really got her interest and his friend was taking him away! She couldn't help but get a tiny bit jealous. Ugh, this sucks!