You Do What You Have To Do:
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by: Tina and Danielle
Rated: R (adult stuff, ya know?)
copyright: 1999
Brian must have walked 10 miles as he paced back and forth across the living room, looking at his watch every two seconds.

"Dammit, where is he?!", he muttered to himself.

Brian had finally managed to doze off and sleep for a couple of hours. He was so stressed about this whole situation with Nick and Kevin he felt an ulcer coming on. When he'd gotten up to get ready for a press conference that him and Nick had to do, he knocked on Nick's door to make sure he was up and getting ready as well.

There was no answer so he knocked harder. Still no answer. "Shit, he must be really pissed at me," Brian said to himself as he opened the door. The bed was made and the room was clean. Brian checked the bathroom and it was clean as well - the only sign of Nick being in there was a damp towel hanging up to dry.

"Shit, shit, shit," Brian kept muttering as he went off looking through the rest of their suite. Hoping to find either Nick or a note for him. Nothing. Brian slapped his hand down on the bar, "Damn it to hell!" Where was Nick? Brian's heart was slamming in his chest and his stomach was hurting - AGAIN! Had he drove Nick off? If anything happened to Nick, Brian wouldn't be able to live with himself.

So, Brian had been pacing the floor for almost an hour now. If Nick didn't come in soon, Brian would have to leave for the press conference and wing it alone. He debeted about calling the police and reporting Nick was missing but that was a little extreme.

The door finally opened and Nick came in his arms full of shopping bags. Brian just stared at him in disbelief. He'd been out shopping. Of all the damn things.

"Nick, where the hell have you been? We have a press conference to go to. We're gonna be late."

I for some reason found Brian's highly aggitated persona very amusing. And he'd actually said a curse word - hell. God was in heaven rolling his eyes at Brain's potty mouth I was sure.

"I know, Brian. My cab got stuck in traffic. Let me put my stuff up and I'll be ready to go."

Brian followed me to my room as I put my bags down on the bed. He went to peak in one as he said, "Geez, Nick, what did you do - buy out a whole Nintendo store?"

I slapped his hand and he jumped back, "It's none of your business what I bought. Keep your nose out of my bags. I'm ready. Let's go."

I couldn't help but notice that Brian looked me up and down with a frown on his face.

I put my hands on my hips and glared at him, "What is it now, Brian?"

"Aren't you gonna change? Geez, get out of that sweatshirt. You're making me sweat just looking at you."

"I already told you, Brian. I'm cold. Now, I'm leaving. You coming or what?"

I walked past him out the door. I heard him mutter, "Shit." I smirked, "Tsk, tsk, Brian. You are becoming such a potty mouth."

It took 20 minutes to get to the convention center where the press conference was being held at. The conference was expected to last for almost an hour. Kevin hadn't called me back yet and I hated to turn my cell off for fear of missing his call. But then if he did call during the middle of a press conference, I couldn't exactly talk to him anyhow, now could I? Reluctantly, I turned it off and Brian and I got down to work.

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Kevin, AJ, and Howie had just finished up a big press conference at Radio City Music Hall. It had gone very well. The three guys patting themselves on the back for a job well done.

Kevin said, "Howie, do you have a copy of Nick and Brian's iteniary? I don't know what I did with my copy."

Howie pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and said, "Sure, here you go."

Kevin took the paper and walked off till he was able to get off in a corner by himself. He looked at the paper and checked his watch. Perfect.

He dialed a number and patiently waited. Nick's recorded voice came on:

"This is Nick. I'm probably either beating Brian's butt at Nintendo or actually working for a change. Leave me a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can and if this is B, I really want to talk to you."

Kevin closed his eyes and that last sentence and stifled the urge to sob.

"Hey Nickers, it's me. Sorry I missed your call earlier. We haven't stopped since we've been here. I can tell this is going to be an exhausting month. We just finished a press conference and it seemed to go really well. AJ and Howie said something about going out clubbing tonight. I might go with them just so I don't have to be alone, ya know? I'll try and call you back later, babe. Bye."

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As soon as our press conference was over and I ran off to a quiet corner and pulled out my cell phone. The light was blinking indicating I had a message.

"Dammit, I knew he'd call when I didn't have this thing on."

I turned it on and listened as Kevin's voice talked - music to my ears. But my happiness turned to - hell I don't know what it turned to - as I listened to his message. Maybe I was just being overly emotional but he sounded "cold". I found myself shivering again as another chill swept through my body.

I dialed his number right back. It hadn't been that long ago that he called. Maybe I could catch him. But the phone rang and rang. When his voice mail picked up again, I quietly hung up the phone and bite my bottom lip to keep from crying.

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Kevin held the phone in his hand as it rang and rang and rang. He knew it was Nick. He turned the phone off and headed off to find AJ and Howie.



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