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Twenty hours already on this bus and Nick didn’t want to begin to figure out how many more there were to go. Somehow he had gotten stuck on the old man bus and he was quickly running out of things to keep him occupied. He couldn’t remember a time when he had been so bored. He was beginning to slightly lose his mind. He hated solitary confinement. Every time he tried to talk to one of the other guys they brushed him off leaving him to his own devices. This never led to anything good, idol hands and all that.

Kevin and Howie had been going over figured and dates and having telephoned conferences with management. This left no one for Nick to talk to or do anything with. It wasn’t that much fun to play video games by himself. He had watched all the movies on the bus, there was nothing on tv and he hated to read. He was ready to pull his hair out.

“Hey Nick we’ll be stopping soon so make sure you’re dressed and ready to go.” Howie said yelling down the hallway from the kitchen before he resumed his duties with Kevin.

Nick’s eyes brightened and he began jumping off the walls at the mere prospect of stopping. That meant that he could switch buses. A screaming baby would be more fun than being stuck one more minute on this bus. He watched out the window as a McDonald’s came into view and waited excitedly until the bus slowed to a stop and opened the side doors. He bounced off the bus before Kevin or Howie had even gotten up from the table. He bounced back and forth waiting impatiently for the second bus to pull in and stop. Howie and Kevin came down off the bus and walked past Nick still deep in conversation neither one paying any attention to anything else.

After what seemed like an eternity Brian and AJ came off their bus hand in hand with AJ holding the Baylee’s carrier. Nick smiled softly to himself, knowing the bus ride must have at least been good for something. Brian smiled up at Nick as they walked closer. “Hey Nick. What’s going on?” he asked eyeing the blonde curiously. “Can I ride the rest of the way with you guys? Please! I am so bored on the other bus!” AJ laughed and nodded, knowing how boring it could get when Howie got into his business mode. “Sure, just don’t keep they baby up, or you’ll be the one having to deal with him.” AJ said smirking.

They made their way into the McDonalds and placed their order. Once they reached the table Nick rolled his eyes at the two older men. Kevin and Howie were chatting on about one thing or another about the upcoming concert. “Come on guys relax. You’ve already got Nicky switching buses because neither of you will play with him. You old men need to kill the business talk until you’re back on your bus.” AJ said shaking his head smiling. “Traitor.” Kevin said throwing a fry at Nick. Nick stuck out his tongue and smiled. “I’ve been bored for hours, and hours, and hours.” Nick said sighing heavily. They all laughed and went back to eating.

“Guys, we have something to tell you,” Brian said lightly threading his fingers with AJ’s. AJ smiled down at them before bringing Brian’s hand up to his lips and kissing it gently. “We’re together.” Brian said blushing slightly.

Howie nodded and smiled. “’bout damn time Bone.” He said laughing.

AJ blushed as well and gently hid his face in Brian’s neck. Brian laughed back and patted him on the head. “So everyone’s alright with this?” He asked suddenly scared of their reactions. He sagged back against the seat as he saw the rest of the guys nodding and smiling. He never imagined they would be this accepting. “Just be good to each other. We love you both.” Kevin said smiling at his cousin. He couldn’t help the pang of jealousy he felt knowing Brian had finally gotten exactly what he had always wanted. He looked away quickly before Brian could read his expression. This was their time to be happy and he refused to ruin it.

“Thanks guys. It means a lot to us that we have your support.” AJ said leaning over and kissing Brian’s forehead. Brian smiled back relief shining brightly in his blue eyes. For once things were starting to turn around.

~*~
AJ lay awake in Brian’s arms content in the warmth that they brought him. Brian was like a little furnace. He warmed AJ from the inside out without so much as lifting a finger. He loved nothing more than to be pressed up against him, loving the way their bodies just seemed to perfectly fit together. He loved everything about Brian. Brian snuggled into his side and kissed him softly.

“We really have to do something about Nick.” AJ said sighing softly looking at Brian. Brian chuckled. “Whatever do you mean?” he asked innocently.

“I mean he has to go, and soon. We already have one little adorable interruption, we don’t need another one. He must get off our bus!” AJ said laughing.

“I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to overstep my bounds. I wasn’t sure what happened between the two of you and I didn’t want to get involved in something that wasn’t any of my business.” Brian said lying his head on AJ’s chest loving to be as close to the other man as humanly possible.

AJ shook his head softly. “Nothing happened. We hung out, went on one date and then when it should have went further I couldn’t do it. And then a lot of shit happened and I didn’t want anything to do with him like that. I loved you, I’ve always loved you. Even when I tried to fool myself into thinking I could handle being with someone else something else would happen to show me that there was only you for me. I just think he’s lonely.” AJ said leaning down and kissing the top of Brian’s head.

Brian smiled into AJ’s chest secretly thrilled. Self-consciously he had been worried about what had happened between AJ and Nick. He was glad he finally had the whole story without having to prod or beg for it. He kissed the center of AJ’s chest, right by his heartbeat. “I love you,” Brian said sweetly.

“I love you too Angel.” AJ couldn’t believe the turn of events the last few days had brought. Brian loved him. He would never get tired of hearing those words come out of his mouth.

“I think he needs to get a girlfriend.” Brian said laughing. AJ snorted, “Yeah right. He’ll never find a girlfriend.” Brian slapped him playfully. “That’s a mean thing to say. I’m sure he’ll find someone eventually.” Brian said looking at AJ. AJ laughed, “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that he was too hung up on Kevin to fully commit himself to anyone else.”

Brian froze and sat up quickly in bed. AJ looked at his boyfriend curiously as he began to bounce excitedly. “What’s the deal baby?” AJ said laughing softly. “Are you serious?” AJ nodded confused.

“Yeah…why?”

Brian’s eyes sparkled in the faint lamp light making him appear even more angelic than he normally did. He smiled. “Kevin has been in love with Nick for so long.” He said smiling. AJ sat up too. “No shit, are you serious?” he said mimicking Brian’s earlier actions. Brian nodded enthusiastically.

“Actually, it’s why he left in the first place. In all honesty it’s the key to what happened between you and me too.” Brian said pulling the covers closer to him. AJ looked at him curiously urging him to go on. “Kristen found out about Kevin’s feelings and threatened to go to the press. She told Kevin he could either leave the group or she would go to the press and ruin him and Nick. Kevin tried to kill himself, or he damn near succeeded. He slit his wrists. I found him bleeding on the bathroom floor of a hotel room. He told me everything that had happened but swore me to secrecy. He never wanted Nick to know. He didn’t want to bring Nick down with him so he decided to leave. I freaked out after seeing all of this and continued to deny my feelings for you. I was scared of what Leighanne would do. I knew it would be hard for us to have a normal relationship and I got scared. So instead of telling you how I really felt and actually doing something about it I made you believe I only wanted you for sex. Never in a million years did I ever imagine that Nick would feel the same for Kevin.” Brian said shaking his head.

AJ smiled and pulled Brian to him, wrapping his arms securely around the other man, momentarily forgetting about Kevin and Nick. He held him tightly in an attempt to show him just how much he loved him. “I know things between us are going to take some time to fix and I know what we will face will be hard. The public, our fans, our families may not be as happy about us being together as we are, but I love you with all of my heart and I will stand beside you and fight to be with you until the end baby. I spent too much time without you to give a damn what anyone else wants anymore. I want you and that’s all that matters to me.” AJ said staring deep into Brian’s blue eyes.

Brian fought to keep his eyes from tearing up. “I love you too baby. I feel the same way. I’ve spent so much time longing to be near you and to be loved by you. I need you more than anything. You’re stuck with me baby and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

“I think we should do something about this.” AJ said pulling away from Brian so he could lean back against the headboard. He settled him and brought Brian back against him. Brian smiled. “I do too, but what should we do?” he questioned.

“I guess we could tell one or the other and urge them to do something about it, but then we may have to wait twelve hundred years for one of those two to make a move. Maybe we should just lock them in a room together somewhere.” AJ said laughing, “Or put them both on the same bus alone and see what happens. It helped us grow closer.” Brian smiled.

“That seems like a great idea.” He said curling up in AJ’s lap. He laid his head against AJ shoulders as AJ brought his arms down around him snuggling Brian back against him. “I really love you,” Brian said softly closing his eyes. AJ smiled and kissed the top of his head. “I love you too angel.” He could really get used to this.

“So I guess the next time we see Howie we ask him to ride with us.” Brian said sleepily. AJ smiled. “We have to do something and quick or Nicky may not make it to the next city!” AJ said laughing.