You Do What You Have To Do:
****************************
by: Tina and Danielle
Rated: R (adult stuff, ya know?)
copyright: 1999

Kevin and I finally got our giggling asses up and got dressed. We had a busy day ahead of us. Lots of stuff to do and not enough time to do them all.

Kevin, Howie, and AJ were flying out at 11:30 that night. Brian and I were leaving at 1am. Unusual to leave in the middle of the night? Yes. But there was a method to this madness. Traveling at night allowed us to get in and out of the airport and to the hotel without being mob by a zillion screaming girls with out-of-control hormones.

So basically it boiled down to the fact we had about 10 hours to do a week's worth of stuff. Ugh. I really hated this. I wished I was like that chick on that old tv show - Bewitched. Just twitch my nose and it would all be done. That way Kevin and I wouldn't have to leave the house until tonight when it was time to leave for the airport.

First order of business that day was getting the necessassities for the house turned on. Electricity, telephone, cable. We got the previous owner's name off the account for the water and Kevin's name put on it.

Him and I had discussed it earlier as we headed out and we figured it would be for the best if anything was in Kevin's name. Fans and the media could be relentless in finding out every little detail of your private life when you were famous. Call us paranoid if you want, but if noone could find any record of Kevin Richardson and Nick Carter living together, then there would be no questions.

As we headed towards the real estate office, Kevin said, "Howie knows about us." I swallowed the gum I had been chewing and glanced over at Kevin like he'd suddenly grown two heads.

"Howie..geez," I muttered, not knowing what to say.

Kev shrugged his shoulders and said, "He just knew. Don't ask me how. You know he's always been really tuned in to other peoples feelings so I guess he just put one and one together. He was really cool about it though."

"Really?", I asked a tad surprised. "I'm glad, don't get me wrong. But I figured he might have freaked just a little bit. I mean, he cringes just when anyone says the word "gay" around him. Kev, do you think if AJ and Brian knew they would have said something to us by now?"

Kevin thought a moment before answering, "Yeah, I think they would have said something by now. We keep expecting the worst from them but just maybe they will be as cool about it as Howie was. I think once this promo tour is over and we meet up for the the actual tour, we need to sit them all down together and tell them. There's no way I can be on the tour bus with you, Nick, and not touch you and kiss you."

I sighed, "I know what you're saying, Kev, but what if they freak? That could wreck the whole tour." Visions of Brian crying and screaming at us flashed through my mind - the words fag, queer, and pervert ringing in my ears.

I closed my eyes a moment and took a deep breath to clear those thoughts away. I realized then that we had stopped and I opened my eyes to find Kevin staring intently at me. I looked around and saw that we were parked in front of the real estate office.

"I know what you're thinking, Nick. It's crossed my mind too. There is never going to be a good time to break the news to them. Putting it off will just make it all that much harder."

I nodded my head, "Of course. You're right, Kevin. But just the thought of having to face the guys makes my stomach hurt. There is no way they could possibly understand everything we've been through to have the pleasure of being together now."

"No, there's no way they could understand completely, Nick. But they can understand love. Nickers, we've been stressing so much about telling the guys we haven't thought about our families."

I paled as his words sank in. No, our families had not even crossed our minds. Tears pricked the back of my eyelids as I all but could see the horrified look on my parents face. And I thought of my baby brother, Aaron. He idolized everything I did. Whatever Nickers did Aaron HAD to do it too. It wasn't like he was trying to upstage me or anything like that. It was just that he loved me so much he wanted to be just like me. Aaron had told me that more times than I had fingers to count. How was I going to tell him that this one time he shouldn't be like me - that when he grew up he should find a nice girl and settle down? He was going to look at me and wonder why the hell I was with a man instead of some "nice" girl and I honestly had no idea where to even start, trying to explain it to him.

Kevin's hand covered mine, that I had laying on the seat and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I looked at him and he said, "The families can wait till after the tour, Nick. Now push it out of your mind and come on. Kasey is probably wondering where we are."

I followed Kevin into the office, where Kasey was waiting for us with a big smile on her face. She escorted us into the conference room and shut the door. She then poured us both a cup of coffee before sitting down at the table with us.

We spent a few minutes enjoying the coffee and indulging in some idle chit chat. When Kevin mentioned to Kasey that we still had to go buy furnishings for the house and then get someone to watch it while we were gone, Kasey smiled and said, "Looks like I can help you in more ways than one today, guys. My sister, Sam, works as a professional shopper - you know, shopping for people who don't have the time or who don't want to do it themselves. And I'm sure she'd love to house sit for you as well. If you guys want, I can call her when we get done here."

Kevin and I looked at one another and grinned. I said, "Yes, Kasey, please call her. She sounds ideal for what we need. Lord knows we need all the help we can get."

It took nearly 20 minutes for Kasey to go through the paperwork that Kevin had to sign.
I sear to God the stack of paperwork she pushed under Kevin's nose had to have been an inch thick. When he was done, he put the pen down and flexed his fingers, saying, "Geez, I may never sign my name again." I laughed, "Oh man, there will be so many disappointed fans out there!"

Kasey smiled as she handed Kevin copies of the purchase agreement and said, "Congratulations you two. You are now homeowners of that beautiful little house."

I slid my hand underneath the table and placed it on Kevin's knee, gently squeezing it. Kasey excused herself as she picked up the telephone to call her sister. Kevin slid his hand down on top of mine and our fingers interlocked with one another. Out of the corner of our eyes we gazed at each other and smiled.

As Kasey talked to her very excited sister, she watched Kevin and Nick. She was almost tempted to drop her pen on the floor so she could get a glimpse of them holding hands. She had figured out they were lovers the day she showed them the house. It would take a blind person not to see it. Honestly, they made a striking couple. There was something about Nick's light complexion against Kevin's dark complexion that just sent fire rushing through her veins. Just thinking about it now almost had her shuddering with delight.

She ended her call with Sam and said to Nick and Kevin, "She's all excited. She'll meet you guys outside of Parsians just as soon as you can get there."

Kevin and I stood up and Kevin said, "We better get a move on then. Thank you so much for everything, Kasey."

I piped in, "Yes, Kasey, thank you. You're an angel."

We both kissed her cheek and she beamed as we left the office.

It wasn't hard to pick Kasey's sister out of the crowd at the mall. She was a minature version of Kasey. Sam waved to them as she saw them approach. As the guys got closer they saw the differences between her and Kasey. Sam had an eyebrow ring and there were two tattoos on her right arm. She wore a lot of jewlery. She looked quite striking standing there in her pale yellow summer dress.

As soon as Kevin and I got to her, she thrust her hand out to us, shaking our hands, "Hi guys, I'm Samantha, but call me Sam. You call me Samantha and I may be forced to hurt you."

Kevin laughed, "It's nice to meet you, Sam. I'm Kevin and this is Nick. We appreciate you meeting us here on such short notice."

She replied, "No, problem. Glad to do it. I adore that little house you guys bought. Kasey had tried to get me and my girlfriend to buy it but it really wasn't our ideal home, ya know?"

What she had just said caught my attention. I asked, "Girlfriend?"

Sam turned to me and smiled, "Yeah, Melinda. Most beautiful woman on the face of this earth and I'm not just saying that cause I love her. We've been together 3 years now. We have a year old baby boy named Dylan. He's gonna grow up and rule the world one day I tell ya. He's pretty much got both his mama's at his beck and call."

I looked at Kevin and found him staring wide eyed at Sam. I knew he was thinking the same thing as me. We had found a friend. Someone who was one of us and would understand. I was already thinking of a ton of questions I wanted to ask her. Shit, if she'd been in a relationshp for 3 years now she had to be full of advise and wisdom.

Sam seemed amused at our reaction to her but she said, "Ok, so what are we shopping for today guys?"

Kevin said, "Everything. I mean absolutely everything."

Sam pulled a notebook and pen out of her bag and headed over to the bench that was there. "Oh boy. Let me get some notes so I can decide on the best stores to go too. We don't have time to waste on every freakin store hear."

This time when I looked at Kevin, he returned my gaze. He winked at me and I smiled, feeling a warmth spread all the way down to my toes.



**********************