It was not even noon and Nick was totally dead on his feet. Last nights concert had been a success and even if two of them had been down with the flu that was gracing the Backstreet camp, it was still a hit. Yawning, Nick stared out of the bus window, watching the scenery passing by him. Trees and small German villages, and a cow every once in a while. It was boring and he had long abandoned the sketchbook that he had in front of him.
The gloomy weather outside and the rain that drizzled on the window made him feel down and he longed to be back in the sunshine state, swimming in the ocean. They were on their way to the next German city and the schedule was pressed. As soon as they arrive their was time for another interview and then one more show. The schedule was much too hard to cope with and Nick was feeling homesick. He didnīt know how he could stand being away from his family, especially Aaron for as long as four months!
Beside his peers, he missed Manda too. He knew that the other guys didnīt like her, yet he didnīt care. For the first time in his eighteen year old life he was in love. She was everything that he dreamed of and he felt happy being with her. AJ thought she was a jerk and that she was only using him. He didnīt listen to those remarks, AJ was probably just jealous he concluded. Girls often swooned around him, but he paid no attention to them. Manda had caught his heart and it was her he wanted to be together with. Mentally he decided that he would ask Johnny if she could join him in a week or two since it felt like an eternity until they would meet again.
They spoke to each other at least once a day and the phone bills were skyrocketing. Johnny blew a fuse over this, yet he didnīt care. All of the other guys, except Howie had girlfriends too and they called them just as often as he did. It was just that they didnīt get yelled at! Life was unfair and when he had pointed this out Johnny and that new tour manager Clark Kent, his real name was Clark Finnley, had been very upset. They had said that it would look bad if the fans found out that he was having a girlfriend and that he needed to concentrate on the fans.
Nick felt torn. One part knew that he had obligations and that he needed to act like he was single, the other part wanted to come forward and tell people about Manda. The managing part always won and he continued to lie about his relationship with her. Even if they had only been dating for a little over a month he still felt that she was right for her.
Sighing deeply Nick felt it all overhelming.It was stressful to always be on the road. To never have any time for privacy and always have to take other people into consideration, negotiate. It was also tiresome to always having to be on top, and if he had a day when he was low people always wondered what was the matter with him, if he was pissed over something. They were doing shows almost every night and the pace was hideous. They had to do photoshoots, meet and greets, interviews and lots of meetings in between and also work on the new songs that they were suppose to record in the beginning of fall. There was very little time to relax and on top of everything Nick was trying to finish his studies as a senior in high school. It was slowly starting to become too much for him to handle, yet he decided not to let it get to him.
Biting back the tears that were burning in his eyes, partly from exhaustion, partly from homesickness, he blinked heavily. He was no baby anymore and crying was something that he rarely did. Lately it was like his own emotions became frozen and he did everything in his power not to cry.
Wiping the tears away with the back of his hand he hoped that none of the other guys had spotted what he had almost started to cry. Glancing at the seats he was relieved to see that they were all occupied with different things. Kevin, who was one of the unfortunate ones that the nasty flu bug had decided to attack, was fast asleep, snoring with an open mouth since he was too stuffed up to close it.
A moment of mischevious thoughts came to Nick and he thought about playing a prank on his older brother. The idea faded soon out when he saw that a red shimmer was seen on his friends cheeks. No doubt from a fever. Nick was known to be a real prankster, even if he did less of that stuff nowdays then he did when he was younger. At one time he put a Kit Kat bar in Howie's mouth when he was fast asleep. What made the prank such a success was that he started to chew the candybar in his sleep.
Glancing at his other side he saw AJ sitting near the aisle. He was writing on the laptop and when Nick leaned over to see what he was writing the older man glared back. Angrily.
"Donīt," he warned as Nick stretched his neck to see what was written.
"Is it a loveletter?" he asked teasingly, just to be met with another hard glare.
"None of your business," Bone snarled as he continued to type at a furious speed.
"Okay," Nick shrugged. He had no energy to tease AJ and drew back into his shell again. Brian, who sat on the seat in front of him was fast asleep too. A book lay on his lap and it looked like he had stopped reading in midsentence. He was the other victim that the flubug had caught and he was not only suffering from a sore throat, he also had an upset stomach. Nick who had been sharing a room with Brian was painfully aware that he was sick as a dog since the Kentuckian had spent the better part in the bathroom all night.
With a sigh he looked at Howie who was chatting with one of their bodyguards. The Latino looked up from his conversation and smiled briefly to Nick. Howie or Sweet D' as they called him was very nice. He was outgoing and chatted along with most of the people that he met. Nick silently wondered why such a nice guy never had met a girl that he liked more than just for dating. Howie was often out on dates, but the true love bug never seemed to strike him.
A loud growl was heard in the bus and he knew instantly where the sound came. His stomach was complaining from hunger. Pressing his hand to his stomach he tried to comfort the hunger pains that he felt. The diet he was set on had slowly died out, mainly because it was hard to keep up with just eating healthy food when they were constantly on the run. McDonald's was the restaurant that was frequently visited and hamburger and other fast food consumed.
This morning he had overslept, much due to not being able to sleep since Brian was constantly sick all night long. He had missed breakfast and all that he gotten into his stomach was one small yogurt and some orange juice. Not much for a growing teen. On top of everything he hadnīt felt like eating the sandwiches that they served after the concert. He had been much too tired and just wanted to get back to the hotel and crawl into a warm bed. Now he was paying the price.
Another growl deep in his stomach made him think that he was so hungry that he could eat a horse.
"Johnny," he called out to his manager who sat chatting wíth Clark Kent further down in the bus, Receiving no response he tried a bit louder.
"Johnny!"
Still no response. The manager was probably ignoring him and this had Nick a bit upset. "JOHNNY!" he yelled, just to be met with a slap on his arm.
"Shut up," AJ whispered irritated. "People are trying to sleep."
Shrugging, Nick ignored that comment as he stroked the sore area on his arm. His yelling gave result as the dark man looked up, obvioulsy wondering what the rowdy teen wanted this time. "What?" he asked with a tone of annoyance.
Trying to ignore that they all seemed to be upset with him he mumbled, "I..I..just wanted to know..whe..when weīre stopping to eat. Iīm totally starving." He held his stomach as to prove his point.
"Well Carter," the manager said with a calm tone in his voice, "If you hadnīt overslept you wouldnīt be hungry right now. BUT you decided that sleep was more important and now you get to deal with the consequences. So Nicky you better have this clear; weīre NOT stopping!" There was an irritated expression on his face.
Upon hearing these words Nick thought he would die. Starve to death and he whined, "But I aaaammmmm sooo hungryyyy!" He felt that they were unfair, "Besides it wasnīt my fault that Brian didnīt wake me up." He pouted.
"Nick, Brian is sick, so donīt blame it on him" Johnny said harshly. "It was your own fault that you slept in and that was very irresponsible of you to do so. We all had to wait for you to get your ass on the bus." He paused briefly, "So it doesnt matter how hungry you are, we are NOT stopping until it is time to do so. You will have to wait!"
"But..but," Nick started, feeling the tears once again stung in the corner of his eyes. Swallowing hard he tried to get his emotions in check. He was NOT a cry baby!
"Nick," Clark said as he saw how upset the teen was becoming, "we will stop for lunch in about two hours, maybe less..think you can wait that long?" Clark was a nice guy and Nick had gotten to like him alot. Johhny, Donna and Lou he was starting to dislike more and more.
Swallowing hard, he nodded, "I guess I donīt have any choice."
Feeling sorry for the young man Clark continued, "Donīt you have something in that backpack of yours?"
Shaking his head he mumbled gloomily, "Nah I forgot."
"Or it is already gone?" Johnny filled in. Nick glared back, saying nothing. Management was constantly on him over his weight. They were saying that he didnīt take care of himself in the way he should be and they were hounding him over that he was getting fat. Nick didnīt think he was gaining THAT much weight even if he felt that he sometimes had a hard time zipping his pants.
Manda didnīt think he was fat at all and he listened to her, screw the management.
Sulking, Nick sank back at his seat, staring out on the landscape. The rain was pouring down and he felt even more low than before. That and hungry. It was bad that the management didnt allow him to eat, especially since all he could think of was food. As he felt sorry for himself he felt a knock on his shoulder. Turning around he was met with AJ peering at him with a concerned look in his eyes.
"You alright man?" he asked as he had set the laptop aside.
Nick nodded, not offering any more of an explanation. There were no need to say anything since AJ could clearly see that he was feeling far from fine. His stomach growled loudly, making him well aware of his predicament.
"You sure?" The voice were kind and Nick looked at his friend with an mixture of curiosity and surprise. No snide remarks came over the skinny mans lips and this had Nick a bit confused. The guys, especially AJ and Kevin had felled not too nice comments about his weight lately. This time Bone seemed genuinely concerned.
"Mhmmm," the teen mumbled as he continued to stare outside. A sigh was heard across the aisle and then silence again. Thinking that AJ had lost interest he continued to sulk. A headache, that came from the lack of food no doubt, was forming around his temples and he massaged his forehead. Dizziness was also threatning to overhelm him and he needed one thing: FOOD!
A rustle was heard and AJ came over to sit beside him. Nick moved his cd player and looked at the young man who held up something. "Here man," he said gently as a bag of potato chips were placed infront of him.
Surprised, Nick took the bag, eyeing it he felt his mouth start to water. Hunger gripped his intenstines and he wanted to dive into the bag and comfort the pain that he felt. But a small voice inside his head whispered "You need to lay off that Carter, youīre getting fat."
It was like AJ had sensed his hesitation as he said, "Aww come on man, eat it. You know I donīt want you to starve to death." He laughed nervously.
Pushing back the voice in his head Nick nodded and tore up the chips bag with his teeth. "Thanks dude." Sticking his hand down he pulled out a handful of chips and it felt so good when he felt the taste.
"Hey, take it easy," AJ grinned widely as he watched the blonde devour the whole bag like he hadnīt seen food for ages. To Nick it felt like an eternity since he had been without food for close to 15 hours!
Suddenly AJ dived back into his backpack and pulled up a coke and a banana, "Here you go," he said before returning back to his own seat.
"Wow thanks!" Nick said truly grateful, expressing his gratitude towards the skinny man.
"No problem," AJ grinned, "Now you have something to keep you occupied, just donīt overdo it man."
"Mhmmmm." The teen didnīt waste any time and soon he was happily munching on potato chips and a banana. After eating up it all, down to the last crumb he belched louldy, "Ummm sorry." Nick covered his hand over his mouth. He felt full. Maybe too full.
Scrunching up the empty chip bag a feeling of disgust swept over him. He felt like a pig and he certainly had acted like one. Not thinking at all what he had stuffed into his mouth. As another burp escapaed his mouth he caught AJ grinning back at him.
"Man one can think that you haven't eaten for a long time the way your wolfing down the food."
Being in the process of thanking his friend Nick opened his mouth when AJ commented, "Now that youīre full maybe we can get back to sleep and donīt listen to you whining about being hungry all the time." This was AJ, being nice, but then hitting with a comment when he least expected it. But deep inside Nick knew that AJ really cared about him. And he loved his brother. No matter what.
Peering over at Nick, atop his glasses, AJ continued slightly amused "That is ..if youīre not starting to whine beacuse you feel too full..are you Kaos?"
Little did he know how right he was.
