>>>>> <<<<<

Kevin packed up the last of his things. The apartment looked so empty since Brian had moved out. Howie was supposed to come by later to move his stuff out, too. Kevin had no idea where he was going to go after this. He was thinking of moving in with his girlfriend, Shania.

A photo on the wall was the last thing that he took down. It was an autographed picture of them with Aaron on their last US tour. He wiped away a tear and put it in the box.

"So, I guess this is it," he said to no one. "I'll be leaving now." Normally at the sound of that, Howie would yell out goodbye, or the other boys - who were always at the apartment anyways - would ask him to stay.

But this time there was no one. Not a single noise, except that of Shiloh, Howie's kitten. Kevin smiled and picked up the purring calico cat.

"Hi Shiloh... How are you?" Kevin asked, rubbing his face against the cat's soft fur. "Are you gonna miss me? I don't think Howie will."

Shiloh purred. Kevin put him down and picked up his box. "So... bye."

>>>>> <<<<<

"Personally, I'm glad to be rid of them," Cassie said, laying her head on Howie's shoulder.

"Cass, how can you say that? I've spent the best six years of my life with those guys! In fact, if I wasn't for Brian and LeighAnne, we never would've met."

"Sweetie, I'm not glad to be rid of them as in I've never liked them, I'm just glad to be rid of them because anyone who makes my Howie upset deserves to be hurt. Badly."

"That's wrong... No, they're good guys, really. They're just sorta... Well, they're going through a hard time. With Shania pregnant, AJ's father dying, Nick having the drinking problem, and Brian needing surgery, well, they're just having problems. I'm sure things will clear up soon."

"Yeah, I thought that, too. But-" Cass glanced at her watch. "Kevin is moving out of the apartment right now."

>>>>> <<<<<

Brian sadly shot a basket at the net. It rolled around the rim and fell off, rolling into the wet grass at the end of the court. He sighed and walked over slowly to pick it up.

"Excuse me, aren't you Brian Littrell?" asked a young girl coming up. "One of the Backstreet Boys?"

"I was... Now I'm just an ex-teen hearthrob," he said, half joking, half serious.

"Why do ya say that?" she said, dribbling her own basketball, and shooting it. It went perfectly into the hoop, not even hitting the rim.

"Show off," Brian said with a smile.

"Hey, it ain't my fault you can't play!" she said. "Now tell me, why are you an ex teen hearthrob? Last time I looked, "One Last Cry" was racing up Billboard charts."

"Look, I'd really rather not get into it. It's kinda personal."

"If you can't tell a fan, who can you tell?" she said. "Here, this might make it easier. My name is Becca and I'm 19 years old. There, I've introduced myself. Now, spill."

Brian sat down on the bench and grinned at her.

"Okay, Becca... My name is Brian and I'm 25 years old. The reason I'm no longer a hearthrob is because, well, the Backstreet Boys are no more. We split last night."

"You're joking, right?"

"Dead serious."

"You can't do that! Aren't y'all under contract or something?"

"Becca, a contract isn't going to keep five guys with five totally different dreams and ambitions together for long. We just went our seperate ways. You act like it's the end of the world... There'll be other groups. Look, there's C-Note and there's *N Sync still. Those guys can keep you just as entertained as we can."

"But you're unique. You're you. AJ, Brian, Howie, Kevin and Nick. The Backstreet Boys. Five guys who sing well and look damn fine doing it!"

"Sorry... It's over. Now, do you want to shoot some hoops or what?"

"Double or nothing... You start."

>>>>> <<<<<

"Hi AJ," Nick said, pushing past him into the house. "I just came to get my stuff."

"What stuff? This is my house, remember?"

"Look badly... I left some stuff here. It's not a big deal. I'll just get it and leave, seeing as how I'm obviously not welcomed here."

"AJ? Is everything okay? I heard voices," Amanda asked innocently, coming into the living room. "Oh. Hi Nick."

"I obviously interrupted something. I'll come back another time," Nick said, heading towards the door.

"Hey Nick, c'mon, can't we talk about this?"

"There's nothing to talk about Bone. What's done is done. End of story. End of Backstreet Boys. It was nice while it lasted, though."

>>>>> <<<<<

"Don't you dare let him leave this house," Amanda whispered urgently to AJ. "You guys have got to work this out."

"I don't have any choice, dear..." AJ whispered back forcefully. He gave Nick a fake smile. "Look, Nick, I know that we've had our differences recently-"

"Uh, a bit more than differences. You guys like totally ganged up on me the other day!"

"What?! Like hell we did! I believe it was you who started the fight! You were totally drunk off your ass. You had no frickin' idea what you were saying!"

"Calm down, AJ," Amanda said soothingly.

"No, I'm not gonna calm down! This jerk thinks he can walk right in here and accuse me and my boys of starting a fight! Nick Carter, I want you out of my life. Get out of my house and never come back again."

"With pleasure," Nick said cooly. "Amanda, It's been... real."

Amanda watched Nick helplessly as he stormed out the door.

"Well, at least you're calling the rest of the guys your boys again," she said with a smile.

>>>>> <<<<<