"How are we doing, Johnny?" asked Lou Pearlman from his seat in his office.
"Pretty well! 'N Sync and Britney Spears are tearing up the charts!" happily replied Johnny Wright.
"Good! Then it doesn't matter. We don't need them. We never did. Those Backstreet bastards should have left a long time ago!" Lou's eyes glowed with fury as he mentioned their name. He had done so much for them! He made them! And how do they show their gratitude? By leaving everyone who had helped them those five years they were together and suing his friggin' ass off!
"Calm down Lou! You saw it coming. We all did. It happens all the time! Nobodies become big pop stars in some manufactured bands! When they make it big, they think they don't need us anymore!"
"Yeah, well," Lou grunted.
"Hey look on the bright side! We still got Imajin, Solid Harmony, Don Philip, Britney, and 'N Sync! And some new acts coming along, like C-Note! They're going to be big, Lou! Just as big as BSB or even more so!"
Lou thought about it. "Yeah! What the hell am I so worried about! Alright, Johnny! They're in the past! Let's focus on the future!"
Meanwhile, the Boys made it to their homes alive. Each of them took separate cabs, so they would be harder to recognize, and the people who did identify them, wouldn't get to all of them at once.
"Aaron! Angel! Leslie! B.J.! Nick's home!" announced Mrs. Carter as Nick's siblings ran down the stairs to meet him.
As soon as Nick stepped through the door, Aaron tackled him.
"Hey, Aaron! I've missed you, buddy!" laughed Nick as he peeled Aaron off him.
"Me, too! Hey, let's go play Ninja Turtles!" grinned Aaron, hopeful.
"Aaron! Your brother is probably unimaginably tired! Let him rest! Then you'll get to spend all the time you want with him," informed Mrs. Carter.
"Too tired even to play Nintendo?" smirked Aaron.
"Sorry, Aar, I'm too tired even to play Nintendo," stated Nick.
"Now run along, Aaron," commanded Mrs. Carter.
Aaron finally gave up with a shrug and went to bother his sisters, who had run up to their rooms after greeting Nick. At least THEY knew, unlike some people, that Nick would probably be too tired to do anything and would want to be left alone for a while. But, tomorrow was another day!
"So, sweetie, how have you been?" asked Mrs. Carter as she embraced her eldest child.
"It's been great! Learning new routines, rehearsing endless hours, keeping our voices in check, eating out all the time, signing autographs, trying not to get recognized everywhere we go, and facing hundreds of screaming, crying girls!"
"Oh, what was I thinking!" she stated sarcastically.
"I know, but I wouldn't rather do anything else!"
"That's my boy! Hey, why don't you get some rest. And tomorrow you'll get a big home-cooked breakfast!"
"Thanks, Mom. Ooh, sleep, yes! See you tomorrow, goodnight."
"Goodnight, honey."
Nick staggered up the stairs and into his room. He immediately collapsed onto his bed, taking in every scent of his room, and feeling the soft sheets and pillow against his face. Then he thought of something.
'Damn it! I stink. I need to take a shower,' he thought to himself. He was all icky from the show that they just did.
He reluctantly got up and walked into the bathroom. After a nice, relaxing, long shower, Nick snuggled into his bed and fell asleep.
Brian and Kevin were staying at their condo for only one or two days. They were going to fly back to Kentucky to be with their families, but needed a while to catch their breath before embarking on another venture to the airport, on the plane, and back home.
A.J. and his mom, Denise, arrived home together. As soon as A.J. unpacked and got everything together, he wanted to hit the local clubs. But his mom wouldn't let him.
"Mom, I'm 21! You can't exactly tell me what to do anymore!" A.J. whined.
"Oh, can't I? I don't care if you're 51! You're not going out! It's late, people might recognize you, you just got home and you've been working so hard! You need to take it easy now, A.J.! All this stress and pressure and then partying it's going to wear you down!"
"But-"
"No buts! Now I haven't said this in a long time, and I missed it too, go to your room!"
A.J. finally realized he wasn't going to win this battle.
"Fine, but I'm going tomorrow!"
"Ok! Goodnight, Alex."
A.J. sighed. "G'night."
Howie had gotten home a while before. His mother and him were very close. They could spend hours talking to each other, which they did. As soon as he walked through the door, the first thing his mother noticed was-
"Howard, you cut your hair!" Mrs. Dorough exclaimed as she hugged him. He had it cut like in the "Quit Playing Games" video.
"Hi! Yeah, I decided it was time when the fans started pulling chunks of it out!"
"It looks very nice! Well, come on, sit. We have a lot to talk about."
He did as he was told and they immediately started chatting. It was mostly about the tour and the upcoming album and releases. Then came the more disturbing topic.
"So what's with this legal business? I mean I read about it and everything, but I want to know if that's the whole story."
"Basically, they cheated us and tried to control us and we didn't want it anymore. I know we did the right thing, but I feel kind of bad about it. I mean, without Lou, and Johnny, and Donna, and Jive, we wouldn't be here."
"I understand, but no matter how much they did for you, it doesn't make it right to deceive."
"I know. I promised myself I wouldn't worry about it any more. It's done and over with. Now, it's time to be normal again. For the next six months, I won't be known as a Backstreet Boy, just plain and simple Howie. God knows I love what I do, but sometimes it just gets to you."
"Speaking of back to normal, I need to go shopping tomorrow and..."
"Awwe, Mom! Do I have to? You stay in one store for hours! Can't you get someone else to take you?"
"No, your father's working, John's taking the kids somewhere, PollyAnna has a date, and Angie's in Georgia. That only leaves you!"
"Ugh, well can I at least take off while your shopping? I'll drop you off and pick you up in a few hours. Otherwise, I'd be bored out of my mind!"
"Do whatever you wish. Just don't get trampled or anything."
"You know about that?!"
"Howard, everybody knows about that!"
"Oh, jeez! You know what? I'll buy you a car tomorrow."
"A car?"
"Yeah and I'll teach you how to drive it, too. That way you won't have to drag us along with you."
"Ok! That'd be great! A 1999 red Mustang, please."
"Sure. Whatever you want, Mom."