Brian watched his best friend from the other side of the room, shaking his head in disappointment. He couldn't believe what Nick was doing. For the last six months on tour, he had seen Nick go from loving father and husband to someone he barely even recognized. And he knew that Katelin had no idea. They would be going home in a few days, for a concert at home and then a well-deserved break. They had been working non-stop for the last year on this new album and it was all about to come to an end with a homecoming concert in Orlando.

"What's up Rok?" AJ questioned, taking a seat next to his friend.

Brian pointed to where Nick was. "That."

"What can we do?" AJ sighed, lighting up a cigarette. "He's a big boy. Old enough to make his own decisions."

"Doesn't he realize what he's about to throw away?" Brian threw his hands up in frustration. "Whatever. I can't babysit him all the time. I have a loving wife waiting for me at home."

"And me, a loving fiancee." AJ grinned.

"I can't believe you finally did it," Brian said, smiling. "AJ McLean. Finally about to be a married man."

"Better believe it." AJ put his cigarette out in the ashtray and stood up. "Speaking of which, I'm going upstairs to my room to call her. See you later."

"Later Bone." Brian waved and then returned his gaze to Nick, wanting nothing more to run over and wring his little brothers neck. He had no idea what he was about to give up.

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

"Mommy!" Little Brian shrieked, running into the kitchen where Katelin was studying. "'Ayleigh took my 'ookie."

Katelin tried to hard not to laugh at the fact that her youngest son couldn't pronounce his k's. "I'll get you another one honey." She stood up and grabbed another "'ookie" from the jar and handed it to him, before glancing at her watch. "Go get your sister and get ready to leave. We need to go get your brother from school and then head down to Daddy's concert, okay?"

"Yah Mommy!" Brian ran back in to the other room where his sister was playing.

Twenty minutes later, they were all strapped into Katelin's car and on their way to pick up Aaron from kindergarten. After collecting the last of her children, Katelin began to make the drive to the Orlando Arena where they would be meeting up with Nick, whom none of them had seen in six months.

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

"Excited to see your family, Nick?" Brian asked, nonchalantly. He was insanely curious to see what Nick's reaction would be. If he would even care at all.

Nick gave him a funny look. "Why the hell wouldn't I be? Do you know how much I miss those kids?"

"The kids, yeah," Brian stated, obviously. "But what about your wife?"

Nick glared at him. "Don't even start, Rok."

"Don't you even feel bad, Nick?" Brian asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. "Do you even realize what you're doing?"

"I'm not dealing with this right now, Frick." He grabbed a water bottle and began to walk out of the room, where he would be meeting his wife and children. "You have no idea what's going on."

Brian watched, shaking his head angrily, as Nick walked out of the room to meet Kate and the kids. He really did have no idea what he was doing. He was going to take one look at his children, at his wife, and want to kick himself in the ass.

"Daddy!" Aaron cried, taking off as soon as he got a glimpse of Nick's blond head walking down the hallway of the arena. He ran over and jumped into his father's arms.

"Hey little man!" Nick greeted, happily, giving his oldest son a huge hug and kiss on the cheek. "How have you been? How's school?"

"Good!" Aaron replied, cheerfully. "Mommy and the twins are back here."

Nick nodded and proceeded to walk to where he had spotted his wife and other two children standing with Leighanne and Hunter. "Hi."

Katelin's head snapped up and she smiled, slightly. "Hi." The two of them stared at each other for a minute, almost uncomfortably, before Nick leaned down towards her face, ready to give her a kiss. At the last moment, Katelin turned her head and Nick caught her cheek. Sighing almost inaudibly, he pulled away and bent down to greet his other children.

The gesture did not go unnoticed by Leighanne, who quietly excused herself, and then went to go find her husband. She walked down the hallways a little bit, Hunter in tow, before she found him in his dressing room, staring blankly at a sheet of music in front of him. She knocked on the door. "Excuse me? Someone told me I'd find Brian Littrell in here? I don't know. You look like a poor replica."

Brian spun around and grinned at the sight of his beautiful wife and child. "Hey baby."

Leighanne squealed and ran into his arms. "I missed you." She hungrily kissed him, as she hadn't seen him in at least a month. Unlike Katelin and Nick, Brian and Leighanne had arranged some time for Leigh and Hunter to join Brian on tour late last month.

While Hunter busied himself on the floor with some toys, Leighanne decided to bring up the subject of their best friends. "So, care to tell me what's going on with Nick and Kate?"

Brian sighed. "I have no idea. Why? Did Kate tell you anything?"

"Just the usual," Leighanne replied. "She's busy. He's busy. They rarely have the time to talk to each other." She studied Brian's expression carefully. "Why? What else is going on?"

"I can't tell you, Leigh," Brian said, regretfully. "I'm sorry. I wish I could. But I promised Nick."

"Well, you don't have to say anything now." Leighanne fiddled with the wedding ring on her finger. "I can pretty much draw my own conclusions. How the hell could he do this to her?"

"We don't know everything Leigh." Brian's voice had almost a warning tone to it. "Don't go jumping to conclusions. Maybe Nick isn't the bad guy here. We don't know what's going on with the two of them."

"I just thought that after everything that has happened," Leighanne began. "That from here on out it would be nothing but smooth sailing for them."

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