Part
Three
"Okay, one more time and you guys can go home," the producer called out to the guys.
“Good.
I’m beat,” A.J. muttered, picking up his headphones.
Nick
glared over at A.J. He then glared at Kevin. Kevin had used that crappy
poem Nick had written in a song. That just happen to be the song they were
recording.
“There’s
something wrong with Nick,” Sara whispered to Brian.
Brian
looked down at her. Worried filled her green eyes as she looked at Nick.
Brian patted her on the head.
“I
know. This is the thing that he wrote about Kay,” Brian told her. “Unlike
us, he and her didn’t have good luck.”
Sara
looked up at him. “Careful, Brian. Too much affection, good-bye career.”
Brian
looked at her then at Kevin. Kevin was giving him his big brother eye.
He patted Sara once more and walked over to the microphone. In a way ,
he knew how Nick felt. Ever since he had met Sara almost two years ago,
all he had wanted to do was show the world how much he loved her. However,
she was only sixteen then. She was eighteen now.
“Brian
come back to Earth. Now sing,” A.J. said, acting like Ursula from The
Little Mermaid.
Brian
looked around the room, imitated Arial, and sung:
I had once believed that love
That it was felt above
All the
pain and hate
That we
make
But, you
led me to believe
We would
love and live
For forever
and ever
But the
hate got in the way
And you
wanted it that way
With all
this hate
Hate in
the way
The way
that doesn’t include me
It included
anyone but me
But, I
will still love you and be
Above
all other people
You will
be mine
No hate,
only love
You led
me to believe
We would
love and live
For forever
and a day
But with
all this hate
In the
way
It ended
up this way.
The
guys all stopped singing. They all looked at each other.
“Good
job. You all did it. You are free to go!”
Brian
walked over and grabbed his coat and Sara’s. A.J. gabbed his and followed
Brian and Sara out. Howie looked at Nick and whispered something to Kevin.
“I’ll
handle him,” Kevin said.
Howie
nodded and left.
“Kevin.
Please don’t put that on the US album. Or make it a single,” Nick pleaded.
Kevin
nodded and said, “Okay Nick. I’ll make sure of that.”
“Thanks.
I don’t want Kay to ever hear that,” Nick mumbled, leaving.
~*~*~*~*~
Nick
fell down onto his bed in his hotel room. It had been a year since he had
first met Tim and Kay. He knew he wouldn’t be seeing either of them anytime
soon. The group was in Sweden recording for the next album. They’d be here
till the middle of January or so. The album would come out in the spring
or sometime around them. The were pretty much done with it, other than
that stupid song Nick wrote and a song Brian had written for Sara.
“Well,
at least Brian has it worse than me. He can’t do anything till she’s older.
God, that was mean. Even if he didn’t hear it,” Nick mumbled to himself.
Suddenly
there was a knock on his door. Nick pulled himself off the bed and walked
over to the door. He opened it to see Sara standing there. She walked in
right past him.
“Nick,
do you want to talk about it?” she asked.
“About
what?” Nick asked, trying to act like nothing was wrong.
Sara
fell into a near by chair. Nick took a good look at her. She knew what
was up. Nick turned around and faced the window.
“Fine,
if you won’t talk, I will. I know that Kay only doesn’t like you because
you are a Nick. However, all she had to do was get over it. You didn’t
even help her, really. At least the press will not rip you apart if it
got to the public,” Sara said. “You are allowed to love her for what it’s
worth and let the world know it. Look at Brian. He loves me from the bottom
of his heart, but can’t let the world know like he would like to.”
Nick
looked back at her.
“Nick,
stop making yourself a wreck. If she wouldn’t give you a chance because
of your name she’s not worth moping over.”
Nick
took a deep breath and fell on to the bed behind him. He knew she was right.
He had to move on.
“I
hear you, Sara. I do. And I know you’re right. I’ll stop moping.”
“Good.
Now play me at a video game. Your choice,” Sara ordered.
Nick
sat up and smiled. Sara would never play video games with him, let alone
let him pick. He watch her smile back at him.
“You’re
on, girl,” he said, jumping up off the bed.
~*~*~*~*~
Kevin
looked around the room for his pager. It was going off, but he couldn’t
find it. He finally found it under a bunch of papers. He looked at it.
“TIM!”
Kevin yelled going to the phone. He picked it up and dialed Tim’s house.
“May I speak to Tim?”
“This
is he.”
“It’s
Kevin. You paged?”
“Man,
you’re still up?”
“Yeah.
I was just going to see if Nick and Sara were still going at their video
game.”
“Oh,
well I just wanted to tell you that for winter braek me, Kay, and Alexis
and her family are coming to Sweden. We may stop by, if that’s okay,” Tim
said.
“Um,
I don’t know. Howie would love to see Alexis, but Nick,” Kevin said, as
he heard a cry of triumph from Nick in the other room.
“What
about Nick. He doesn’t have to see Kay. Kay will most likely be out sightseeing
and only stop by for a short time. She wants to look into going to school
in Sweden.”
“Where
she now?”
“University
of Kentucky.”
“Cool.
I think that’ll be okay. You’ll miss Sara though.”
“Sara?”
“Yeah.
A.J. and Brian’s friend. Her winter braek will be over a week earlier than
Kay’s I guess. She’s also going home for Christmas.”
“Okay.
I gotta go. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Kevin
hung up the phone. Maybe he could get Nick done recording so he could send
Nick home with Sara in two days. That’s what he would have to do. Nick
seemed to have cheered up in the last hour since Sara had talked to him.
She had that affect on people. She could calm A.J. down in a second, convince
Brian to keep his head on straight, and help Kevin see he was pushing the
guys to hard too quickly. Kevin opened up the door that connected his room
to Nick’s. He saw Nick and Sara on the floor in front of the TV. Nick looked
a whole lot different than he had that afternoon. Kevin made up his mind.
Nick would go home before Tim and Kay arrived.
“Nick,”
Kevin said. Nick and Sara stopped and looked at him and he went on to asked,
“how about we finish you up recording you tracks so you can go home and
spend Christmas with you family? You can leave with Sara.”
Nick
looked at Sara then Kevin. He then said, “Sounds good to me.”
~*~*~*~*~
Brian
walked into the studio after he had taken Sara and Nick to the airport.
Howie was on the his cell phone with Alexis.
“So
when are they getting here?” Brian asked the room.
A.J.
looked up and grinned, “Latin Lover has been on the phone there since you
left. Lexi is still on the plane.”
“Sweet
D. is going to go broke,” Brian mused, hanging up his coat.
“Nick
gone?” Kevin asked.
“Yep.
Sara too,” Brian said sadly.
Howie
hung up the phone and looked at Brian. “Someday you’ll spend Christmas
with her.”
“Look
at it this way,” Kevin said, “at least we didn’t hook her up with who Nick
came up with when you fist met her.”
“Who?
Justin Timberlake?”
Everyone
in the room burst into laughter.
“I
was right?!” Brian asked, totally shocked he was right. He shook his head
and looked at Howie. “So when are they going to get in?”
“They
are landing as we speak,” Howie said happily.
Brian
sat down in a chair and put on a sad face.
“What’s
got B-rok so down?” A.J. asked.
“Howie
gets his girl for Christmas and I don’t even get Nick,” Brian complained.
“Get
over it,” Kevin said. “We got work to do. Nick may be done, but we are
far from done.”
They
guys all went into the recording booth and worked for about two hours before
they were interrupted.
“Kev!”
Tim said, waving.
“Okay,
you are done, boys,” the producer said.
Kevin
ran out of the booth and hugged Tim.
“Where
are the others?” Kevin questioned, as he picked up his coat and put it
on.
“The
hotel. Is it okay if we all go over there. I know someone who would really
like to see Howie,” Tim said, smiling over at Howie.
“Me
too,” Howie said, opening the door.
Kevin
watched Howie leave followed by A.J. while he asked Tim, “How’d Kay end
up with a friend who was almost four years older than her?”
“They
took a class together at Belleville Area College one summer and became
friends,” Tim said. “Let’s go.”
Kevin
followed Tim out the car and hopped in. He saw Brian come out as Howie
and A.J. sped away in their rented car. Kevin waved to Brain and Brian
got in the car.
“No
Nick?”
“Nope.
Went home and took Sara with him,” Brian said.
Tim
nodded and started up the car and sped off to the hotel. All the way over
Tim and Kevin did a lot of catching up. They had not seen one another since
that summer visit. By the time they had finished they had reached the hotel.
A board Brian leaped out of the car and was followed by Kevin and Tim.
They road the elevator up and went down to the room where Tim and Kay were
staying. Tim unlocked the door to find Alexis, Howie, Kay, A.J., Alexis’s
older sister Ashley, and Alexis’s younger sister Tammy in there. Tammy
was only about ten and was fascinated by A.J. just being in the room.
The
first word’s out of Kay’s mouth were, “Where’s Nick?”
“He
went home for Christmas,” Brian said.
“Wow,
he didn’t add that…” A.J. started but was stopped by elbow in the side
from Kevin.
“Went
home?” Kay said, showing sadness. However, it was quickly replaced by her
normal state. “Oh, heard I was coming so he fled the country.”
“Yeah.
He didn’t even know you were coming,” A.J. shot back.
Kay
just stuck up her nose into the air and grabbed her purse.
“I’ll
be downstairs in the restaurant,” she said. “I don’t know what I ever saw
in you Alexander James.”
Brian
watched her leave the room. Everyone started talking. They were all happy
too for Brian. Kay wouldn’t be all cheerful. Maybe he’d go talk to her.
He opened the door and left the room. He tripped over someone sitting on
the floor. He looked to see Kay on the floor. She looked at him.
“Why
did Nick really go home? Was it because I was coming?” she asked.
Brian
looked at the sorry state she was in. Where was Sara when you needed her?
“Nick
didn’t even know you were coming, really,” Brian explained, sitting down
next to her. “He had been in this really bad mood, well state of being
since this summer. But it just got worse as December came. My friend Sara
went off gor winter break last week so we flew her out here to try to cheer
him up.”
Kay
gave him a look. A look to kill.
“NO,
no, no. Not that way. She has this way with all of us. Also I wanted to
see her. But not until about three days ago when Tim called did she work
her magic and get him over this funk he was in. Just then Kevin found out
you’d be coming and he didn’t want Nick to go back into the funk. So he
told Nick he could go home for Christmas to be with his family. He doesn’t
even know you’re here,” Brian repeated.
Kay
hung her head. Brian put his hand on her shoulder.
“I
learned something. Not all Nicks are the same. Me and my stereotypes have
cost me the love of my life,” Kay said, putting her head in her hands.
“Now thatI’m out of high school
I’ve met a lot of Nicks that are not like the others. But none like Nick
Carter.”
“Too
bad you didn’t figure that out before you broke the big lug’s heart,” Brian
said.
Kay’s
head shot up as she wailed, “I know, I know! I tell myself that every damn
day. Nothing makes it any better.”
“Sara
would,” Brian said suddenly.
“Yeah,
Sara can fix everything,” Kay mumbled.
“She
can calm A.J. down with in a matter of minutes,” Brian explained.
“Screw
A.J. He’s just as bad as the high school Nicks,” Kay grumbled. She stood
up and walked off down the hall.
Brian
opened up the door and told the room he was going back to the hotel. He
trudged down the hall and out the car. He pulled out the keys Kevin had
tossed him and hopped into the car and drove back to the hotel they were
staying at. He got off the elevator and started for his room. In front
of his room stood Sara. He shook his head to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
“You’re
not dreaming, Bry,” Sara said, reading his mind.
Brian
took a few steps closer to her. “Is Nick here?”
“Nope.
His plane got out before mine was grounded. Ice on the wings. I was sick
of the airport so I got a cab and came back here,” Sara explained, brushing
the snow off his coat.
Brian
smiled. “So I got you all to myself?”
“For
the moment. I think I would like to go to bed though. Waiting at an airport
for hours and hours doesn’t agree with me. Also, I was on so many planes.
Why didn’t you stay to see me take off. You always do,” Sara said, as Brian
opened the door.
“We
had to finish up recording,” Brian said.
“Okay,
where were you just now?” Sara questioned, giving him an accusing look.
“What
are you doing?”
“Playing
the jealous girlfriend. I don’t get to do that often,” Sara replied with
a smile.
Brian
pulled her into his arms. “That’s cause you got nothing to be jealous about,
other than my good looks.”
“Just
for that you get nothing,” Sara said, slipping out of his arms.
She
walked over to the couch and fell down. Brian stood where he was for a
moment before he walked over to find her asleep. Brian pulled a blanket
up over and kissed her on the forehead and went to bed.
~*~*~*~*~
Kevin
opened the door to Brian’s room. He saw Brian asleep on the couch sitting
up. He walked up to it to see Sara asleep long ways on the couch too. Kevin
suddenly had the thought that Nick might be around somewhere.
“Brian,
where’s Nick?” Kevin asked, shacking Brian awake.
Brian
opened his sleepy eyes. He was greeted by the sight of Kevin’s worried
face. He looked down to see Sara still there, so he didn’t know why Kevin
was so worried.
“What?”
Brian asked, rubbing his eyes.
“Where
is Nick?” Kevin repeated.
“Home,”
Brian said, getting up off the couch.
“Why
is Sara still here?”
“Her
plans were grounded so she came back here,” Brian said, as he went into
the bathroom.
Kevin
looked down at Sara, then walked over to the door to yell at Brian while
he took a shower. He knew he wouldn’t wake her up. She was like a rock
when she was sleeping. Nothing could wake that girl up.
“I
got a call from Jive this morning!” Kevin called, picking up the phone
to call Tim to ask him if he could take Sara to the airport.
“What
did they say?!” Brian asked.
“We
got to do more dance tracks! Too many slow songs! Gotta get rid of two!
I was thinking that song Nick came up with! He really doesn’t want it out!
Tim? Can you take Sara to the airport? Thanks,” Kevin said, hanging up
the phone.
“Does
Nick know?!”
“No,
I have to call him. He might find that good news!”
“I’ll
tell him,” said a voice behind Kevin.
Kevin
turned to Sara. She looked perfect as usual. Nothing could mess that girl
up. Not even sleep.
“Did
I wake you?” Kevin asked.
“No.
I can tell Nick, if you want.”
“Okay.
Is it okay if Tim takes you to the airport? We got a lot of work to do,
seeing we gotta write more songs now,” Kevin said. “I already asked him.”
“Fine
with me. I’ll get my purse, seeing my bags are already in Chicago by now,”
Sara mumbled going off to find her purse.
The
bathroom door flew open and Brian stood with a robe on. Water was still
dripping from his hair.
“Is
Tim already here?” Brian asked.
“Yeah.
He’s downstairs.”
Brian
stuck out his bottom lip. Kevin gave him a look.
“Fine,”
Kevin said, knowing he was not wanted in the room, “I’ll leave.”
Kevin
opened the door and left the room. He saw Howie coming out of his room.
“D,
we have to do more dance tracks. More songs. Everything has been pushed
back,” Kevin said.
“You
mean we won’t be on tour till 2003?” Howie asked.
“Yep.”
“Fine
with me.”
“Fine,
you tell A.J.,” Kevin said, walking down the hall as Sara came out of Brian’s
room.
“Wait,
Sara’s here! She can tell A.J.,” Howie said.
“No
way. I get to tell Nick. Bone’s your best friend, you get to tell him,”
Sara said, getting into the elevator.
~*~*~*~*~
Kevin
and Brian sat at the piano in the studio. It was after Christmas and New
Years and their break was over. Nick had come back. Tim, Kay, and the others except
Alexis had all gone back to the States. Nick had found out and didn’t really
seem to care that he had missed them.
“We
need a subject of some sort,” Brian said.
“But
what?” Kevin asked, hitting the middle C a couple of times.
“Dunno.
Time?”
“As
in we’re running out of time?” Kevin jokingly asked.
“No,”
Brian said, looking at his older cousin.
Brian
began to pick out a melody and make up some words.
Times
of trouble come and go.
Times
of joy came and went
People
never know when the time will come
When they’ll
have trouble
Or they’ll
have joy
No one
can see that
One moment
you’re on top of the world
The next
the world’s on top you
“Let
me try that,” Kevin said.
They leave
you with memories
Memories
of….
Joy.
Memories
of…
Pain.
Certain
people remember
Joy
Certain
people remember
Pain.
Times
of trouble come and go
Times
of joy came and went
You can
never get them back
They come
and go as they please
Times
of trouble come and go
They leave
you feeling alone
Times
of joy came and went
They leave
you full,
Hoping
for the future.
(Times…
Hildreth)
“I
think that’s too depressing for us,” Brian said, hitting another note on
the piano, then played a minor cord.
Kevin’s
ears perked up. “Do that again.”
Brian
looked at him unsure of what to make of it then played it again. Kevin
played another minor cord. Brian played his again and Kevin played another.
Brian caught on to what Kevin was getting at. They sat at the piano pounding
out what they had come up with when Nick walked into the studio. He had
just arrived in Sweden the day before and was still a little jet lagged.
He had used his time away from the guys to do some thinking. Also time
to catch up with his Beatles loving friend Paul. Paul had made him watch
the movie Help! over and over. When he heard Brian and Kevin playing away
the words just came to him.
“Oh,
help, oh, help me now/ I need some place to hide/ From the pain,” Nick
sung.
Nick
had paused so Kevin and Brian sung, “ Oh, the pain.”
“Of
this life/ Oh, I need….”
“Oh,
I need,” Brian and Kevin sung as Nick went on, “ to fall into your
gaze (alright) For the gaze you hold me in (oh, hold me in) Keeps the pain
of this life/ Vanish for a time, oh for a time (alright)”
The
guys all stopped as Brian and Kevin hit the stop button on the tape recorder.
“Nick,
you’re here,” Brian said.
“That’s
what I seem to be,” Nick said, giving Brian a sideways look.
“Got
any more to that song?” Kevin asked, rewinding the tape.
“No.
I just came up with that off the top of my head,” Nick said, sitting down
in a chair. “Where’s Howie and Bone?”
Brian
looked at Kevin and Kevin looked at Brian.
“You
don’t know, do you?” Nick asked, then asked another question, “How’s Tim?”
Once
again Brian looked at Kevin and Kevin looked at Brian.
“I
know they were here. Sara told me. I’m okay with it. Kev, thanks for looking
out for me and sending me home.”
“I
just thought,” Kevin started, but Nick quieted him with a raised hand.
“It’s
okay. I needed to get away. Also got to catch up with an old friend,” Nick
said.
Brian
turned back to the piano and stopped the tape as he said, “How can you
have an old friend? You’re the baby here.”
“Ha.
Ha. Ha,” Nick mocked laughed.
Kevin
hit play on the tape player so they could listen to what they had come
up with.
From the
pain (oh, the pain) of this life
Oh, I
need (Oh, I need) to fall into your gaze (alright)
For the
gaze you hold me in (oh, hold me in)
Keeps
the pain of this life
Vanish
for a time, oh, for a time (alright)
“Nick,
do you mind if we finish this?” Kevin asked.
“Nope.
As long as you give me credit,” Nick said, hitting himself in the chest,
thus hitting his necklace into his chest. “Ouch.”
“Good
job,” Brian said, laughing.
Nick
shot them a look and walked out the door and started down the hall. He
walked passed an open door of a recording booth were someone was recording.
The door was open so he walked in. Recording was a beautiful young girl
was in there singing away with the most wonderful voice he had ever heard.
“Hey,
Carter,” said Ray, one of the mixers and producers.
“Hey.
Who’s that?” Nick asked, eyes not leaving the girl.
“Vivietta
Quinntin,” Ray said.
Nick
nodded and watched her closely. Her short chestnut hair swayed back and
forth as she sung her song. She turned a bit and looked Nick in the eye.
She had the greenest eyes that Nick had ever seen.
“That’s
good, Viv,” Ray called into her. “Take a brake and come meet your fellow
label member.”
Vivietta
set down her ear phones and came out to meet Nick. She was a small little
thing next to Nick. She must be only about five feet five or six, maybe.
She stuck out her hand for Nick and Nick took it.
“Vivietta
Quinntin, if they didn’t tell you,” she said with a warm smile.
“Nick
Carter,” Nick said, “of Backstreet Boy fame.”
This
got a chuckle out of Vivietta as she let go of Nick’s hand and picked up
a bottle of water.
“I
knew that,” she said.
Nick
hit his own head, “Well, of course you knew that. Jive most likely bragged
about me to you when you signed.”
Vivietta
laughed as Nick stood up taller.
“Nick,
stop making a fool of yourself,” A.J. said, poking his head in the door.
Nick
put on a sad face and looked at A.J. A.J. stepped into the room further.
“I’m
A.J.,” he said, sticking out his hand.
“Vivietta,”
Vivietta said, shaking his hand.
A.J.
turned to Nick and asked, “Where’s Brian and Kevin?”
“Down
in the piano room,” Nick said. “They’re working on a song.”
“Cool.
I guess you heard then, seeing you’re back,” A.J. said.
“Yep.
Where’s Howie?”
“At
the hotel with Alexis. Let the love birds alone.”
“Howie
has girlfriend now?” Vivietta asked. “How sweet.”
“Yep,
left me all alone,” A.J. said with sadness. “Now I only have Nick and Kevin.”
“And
Brian,” Nick quickly added.
A.J.
hit himself on the head and left the room. Nick turned back to Vivietta.
She was looking up at him through her green eyes. Nick smiled.
“Well,
I best be going. You most likely have more work you could be doing,” Nick
said, going to the door.
“Yes.
I guess I’ll be seeing you around, right?” Vivietta asked.
“I
sure hope so,” Nick said, exiting the room and heading back down to the
room where Brian and Kevin had been. He opened the door to see and hear
Brian and Kevin singing and playing the song for A.J.
From the
pain (oh, this pain) of this life
Oh, I
need ( I need, oh how I need) to fall into the gaze
For the
gaze of your eyes hold me (oh, hold me in)
The place
I can hide for the pain
But only
for a time, oh only a time (alright)
Oh, help,
oh, help me now
I need
(oh, how I need) to find out
What I’m
doing with my life
Oh, help,
oh, help me now
I need,
oh, how I need you now( you and you)
“That
rocks guys,” A.J. said, jumping out of his chair. “Nick came up with that?”
“Part
of it,” Nick said.
The
guys all turned to see that Nick had entered the room. Nick sat down in
a chair and looked at Brian and Kevin who were still seated at the piano.
“That
should be our first single,” Nick suggested.
“We’ll
see,” Brian said. “It’s not done. But, I think that’ll be all for today.
I’m beat. I’m going back to the hotel.”
“I’m
going to stay here. Maybe come up with some more,” Kevin said, turning
back to the piano.
“Now,
don’t over work yourself,” Brian warned. “Does any one want to some with
me?”
“I
do!” Nick said, jumping up.
Brian
went over and grabbed his coat and looked at Nick. Nick still had his coat
on.
“Didn’t
think you’d be staying long, huh? Never took your coat off, Nicky?” Brain
teased.
Nick
suddenly realized he had never taken his coat off. He looked at Brian and
smiled.
“Guess
not,” Nick said, following Brian out the door.
They
started down the hall in silence. Brian stopped in front of the door that
led to the recording booth where Vivietta was. He peeked in the door.
“Wow,
that girl can sing,” Brian commented, moving on down the hall.
Nick
took one last look in the room. He saw Vivietta singing her heart out.
Nick smiled and followed Brian out. He stood up taller as they left the
studio into the cold winter air. He was moving on. Slowly, but he was.
“I’ve
regained my life,” Nick said mostly to himself.
Brian
looked at him as they got into the car and said, “That’s good Nick. Moving
on is the best thing for both of you.”
Nick
nodded, knowing what Brian meant. Everything would be okay from now on.
