Nick stares at the Focus as it skids across the road from the impact of the Navigator hitting it. Sparks were flying up as the metal scratches against the asphalt. Inch by inch the car was getting closer and closer to him. Nick did the only thing he could think of to do then. He throws himself off the road down into a ditch. He rolls head over heels down the incline before he hits the bottom. A few feet away the Focus veers off the road and tumbles down the same hill and comes to a crashing halt.
Nick stares at the wreck from where he sits on the ground breathing heavily before he finally snaps out of the state of shock and climbs back up the hill to the road. He finds his duffel bag a few feet away and picks it up turning in 360 degrees to look over the whole ordeal.
He could of died and he knew it. The one thing he had wished for for so many times and the one time it could have happened he didn’t want it to. He had come this far and there was no way in hell he was going to let himself get killed now. No damn way.
Nick shakes his head at the scene before throwing the duffel bag back over his shoulder and continuing to walk down the road toward the airport.
No damn way was he going to die now.
Nick looks around his apartment and shakes his head. He should have cleaned it and he knew it. The bugs here scared the bejesus out of him. They were like the cockroaches from hell. He sighs before walking across his living room to his kitchen and picking up the trashcan. Yeah he needed to clean.
Nick lived on the fourth floor of a small apartment building consisting of seven floors. He had a living room, a kitchen, two bathrooms, three bedrooms and one of the best views he had ever seen of the ocean and the two other islands surrounding the island he lived on. It wasn’t a big apartment, but it was good enough for him. He had everything he needed and he had a car down on the road and a boat parked on the island of Gozo, one of the small islands minutes away from his home Camino. The other largest island was Malta and they knew of him there, but no one expected to see him on any of the islands.
Nick had a job working in a restaurant on Gozo that was one of two and he worked at a furniture store sometimes too, since his boss owned them all. He had finally made it up to be manager of one of the restaurants, so he was making a good amount of money now, not that he needed it though. Most of the money he had from the Backstreet Boys was in different accounts around the world. Yeah he had the good life now even though he still couldn’t speak the language there fluently, but everyone spoke English too. He knew enough of it though.
Nick walks over to his stereo system and puts on his Jimmy Eat World’s “Bleed American” album while grabbing a broom. He dances around his living room sweeping the floor here and there while singing along to “The Authority Song”.
“What the hell are you doing?” a voice asks from behind him.
“Huh?” Nick says turning around, “Oh you. What do you want now?”
“Funny,” Justin says scrunching up his face and walking over to him as Nick turns of his stereo putting the broom down as well.
“Where’s Ness?” Nick asks walking towards his balcony and opening the screen door stepping out and sitting in a chair looking at the ocean.
“She’s back at home with Alex,” Justin says following Nick out and sitting next to him, “My boys gonna be a soccer player I’m telling you.”
“Football,” Nick says.
“Huh?”
“Football not soccer.”
“Oh…I don’t care. How come that is like the only sport they air on TV here?”
“Hey you live on the Italian side I’m rooting for Liverpool again personally.”
Justin rolls his eyes, “I live three hours away by boat Nick it’s not that far.”
“So why are you here?”
“I dunno. Just thought I’d stop by because of what today is.”
“Oh that. I’m fine. I sent the guys my DVD video a few days ago it should be there for now.”
“I still feel bad about not telling them man.”
“I asked you too it’s no big deal. Of course you were the one who moved into my Mediterranean Sea.”
“Oh please.”
“You gonna tell your son?”
“Yeah when he’s old enough. He’s speaking Italian now too. I swear I really need to get me some of those tapes because Ness can speak it to.”
“That’s your own fault.”
“I know,” he says rubbing the back of his neck.
“I think I did what I had to do though.”
“I know trust me I know.”
“Do the guys visit you?”
“My group. No. I don’t let them in the house. I send the dog after them.”
“You have a yorkie.”
“I know the yorkie from hell too. I swear Ness was planning on it by naming it Titan.”
“You ever think about going back?”
“Yeah all the time then I get smacked around a little and I forget about it. I look at my son and see how happy he is just being a kid. My son not a pop star’s son. He’s just my son.”
“Yeah,” Nick sighs looking out over the ocean.
“Plus whose gonna take over your job if you leave?”
“You ever think of visiting?”
“No, there would be a media frenzy as soon as I step foot on the mainland. No way in hell am I doing that. With you it would be ten times more. Ness wants you to come over for dinner tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“She learned how to make rabbit stew.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“It tastes exactly like chicken I swear. I almost choked when she told me what I was eating.”
Nick makes a face.
“Hey its an Italian dish.”
“Yeah I know they eat it here too.”
“So you coming?”
“Yeah I guess not like I have anything better to do.”
“What no album, no interview, no TV show, no rehearsal?”
“No,” Nick smirks, “Thank God. Thank God.”
“Come on,” Justin says getting up, “There’s a feast tonight on Malta I wanna check it out.”
“I gotta get up?” Nick says.
“Yeah, c’mon,” Justin says walking through the doorway back into the apartment.
“Fine,” Nick says standing up and walking back into the apartment, “If I end up getting whacked in the head by a statue again though because you push me into it you know I’ll have to hurt you,” Nick says as his voice starts to get fainter as he walks away from the balcony.
And if you looked close enough around his apartment there is a picture hanging up on the wall by the entrance to the balcony framed in a wooden frame. It was from the Millennium tour and Kevin was laughing not looking at the camera, but looking over at Brian who was climbing on top of Nick. AJ was trying to pull Brian off by pulling on his legs and Howie was next to Kevin laughing.
Those were the good times.
“I I feel so alive for the very first time. I can’t deny you I feel so alive. I I feel so alive for the very first time and I think I could fly.” - P.O.D “Alive”
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