Chapter 6

“What the hell is going on?!  We have to call the police.  Maybe they can stop him!” AJ yelled as they stepped into Dee and Kevin’s house.

“Yeah…we will call the cops and report him missing.” Howie said.

“No…no no no.  We can’t call the police.  For one…if word spreads, then the press will be here.  And to be honest…we don’t need that.” Kevin said, trying to calm everyone.

Kat, Brianna and Leighanne were crying.  “He can’t be gone.  He took Katie and just ran away.  Why?!” Kat cried.

“Because he thought it was the only way out.  With everyone pressuring him to get better, to get out and date, to drop the ‘feel sorry for me’ gig, and all the pressure and stress of being a single parent, don’t you think he did the only thing he could do?” Dee answered honestly.

“Frack…you have to come back buddy.  Please.” Brian said to himself.  Inside, Brian was dying.  His best friend was now gone…and the worst feeling in the world came over him.  He felt like a part of him was missing…his little brother lost forever.

“I could have done something…I should have tried harder.” Brian said aloud.

“Dude…it wasn’t your fault.  If anything…it was that asshole over there!” Kevin snapped at AJ.

“My fault?!  Why the hell does everyone have to blame me??”  AJ yelled.

Kevin lunged at AJ…knowing that his anger was getting the best of him.  “Because you, you son of a bitch…you are the one that fucked up this whole thing!  If you had kept your head outta your ass and left Nick the hell alone…this wouldn’t have happened.” Kevin yelled as he punched AJ square in the face.

AJ held his nose as Brianna jumped on Kevin’s back. “You bastard!  How dare you hit him!!” She yelled as she started pulling Kevin’s hair out.

Dee grabbed Brianna around the waist and struggled to get her to the ground.  Kevin was wincing in pain as he rubbed his head.  Brian and Leighanne were trying to help Kevin and Dee while Howie and Kat tried to get Brianna and AJ settled down.

Brian finally lost his temper with everyone and turned to face AJ straight on.

“Damn you AJ.  You think that you are the only one in this group.  You can’t Nick everything you could to break him.  And you did.  Now he is gone.” Brian said sternly.

“Oooh…Brian said ‘damn’.  Get out the Bible and pray…cuz he just said a cuss word.” AJ poked fun at Brian.

“You better watch out…cuz you don’t want to see him get really mad.” Kevin warned AJ.

“What…all he’ll do is knell down and pray his pretty little ass off.  What good is that?” AJ antagonized.

Brian had lost is all at that very moment and lashed out at AJ.

“You God damn mother fucking asshole!!!” Brian yelled as he attacked AJ with all his might.  “Who the FUCK do you think you are?!  You treat people like shit…and you expect all of us to feel sorry for you.  Well, now have a taste of your own medicine, you piece of rotting shit!”

Brian punched AJ in the stomach and knocked him to the ground and beat on him some more.  Kevin, Howie and the ladies stayed as far back as possible.  For one, they were more shocked that Brian had lashed out like he had, and two, they knew that getting into the middle of it would only make it worse.  It was best that the two of them got this out of their system.

“Get the hell off of me you bastard!” AJ screeched.

“Well, now you finally know how it feels to be treated like shit!  Kicked around and run into the ground!” Brian spat at him.

Finally, Kevin and Howie had seen enough.  The struggled to break the two up, and then pushed them to different parts of the house to clean up.   Dee and Leighanne went to attend to Brian while Kat and Brianna went to take care of AJ.  They two of them looked they had been run over by a freight train, but everyone knew that this was probably the only way to get the frustration out.

“Baby…you look awful.” Leighanne said as she wiped the blood from Brian’s mouth.

“Don’t worry…it doesn’t hurt at all.” he said as he winced when she put a cotton swab to his face.

“Oh sure…you men all think you are so tough.” she teased and then kissed him gently.

Brianna sat there holding an ice bag on AJ’s nose to help stop the bleeding.  “Hon, look at you.  You look terrible.”

“Yeah…well, if that asshole in the other room hadn’t had hit me…then I wouldn’t look like this.” AJ snapped.

“Now come on AJ…you can’t really be mad at him.” Brianna protested.  “Afterall, his very best friend in the world is gone…how else was he supposed to feel?” she asked softly.

“I guess I have been a real jerk lately.  As a matter of fact…for a very long time.” AJ said as he got up and limped away.

He walked straight down the hall to the bathroom where Brian was and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” Brian said softly.

“Dude…let me in…” AJ demanded.

“If you are here to beat his ass again AJ, then I suggest you just turn around and leave.  I don’t think he wants to see you anyway.” Leighanne said as she stepped out the door.

“Look, I am here to be sincere and apologize.” AJ said.

“Fine…but you touch him…and I will hurt you.” she threatened.

AJ just looked at her with skepticism and doubt.   He then looked over at Brian and said, “Dude…I am really sorry.  I shouldn’t have ever said those things about Nick or Heather.  Heather should be resting in peace…if she knew all the pain that I had put Nick through…I…I…I am just so sorry.” AJ said and then walked away.

“AJ…my friend and brother…you are forgiven.  I am sorry for what I did to you too.  I just hope you can forgive me.” Brian said.

“Of course…my friend…of course.” AJ said as he walked over and they hugged.

Everyone in the house finally felt at ease.  Now all they had to do was find Nick.  Dee and Kevin’s wedding was in less than 48 hours…and they were hoping that he would be there.

*** *** ***

“I know sweetie…I know.  We will stop here in a little bit.  We will get a hotel room and then I can feed you.  Katie Lynne…I am so sorry to put you through this.” Nick said sadly.

“Dada…hungie…dadaaaaa.” Katie cried.

“Babykins..I know sweetie.  Just a little further.  Just a little bit.  We just need to get to the Virginia state line and then we will find a place to stay.” he said trying to comfort her.

He knew that she was uncomfortable, and hungry.  She probably was exhausted and needed to be changed, but, he couldn’t stop…not until he got to an out of the way town to find a hotel room.  He decided to stop in a small out of the way town called Mitchell’s Mill.  He figured there would be little interference, and since no one was looking for him, he and Katie would be safe.

Once he stopped and checked into the small motel, he immediately ordered some pizza and then pulled out some food for Katie.  He had packed her favorite foods…oatmeal, cookies, and her favorite…carrots and peas from Gerber.

After he fed Katie…the pizza arrived.  The girl who was delivering the pizza got this look on her face when he opened the door.  “Oh my God…do you know who you look like?” she asked, trying to remain calm.

“Miss, what are you talking about?” he said, trying to cover it up.

“Has anyone ever said that you look just like Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys?” she asked getting more excited.

“Yeah, I have heard that a few times.” he answered.  “How much will that be?”

“Umm,…that will be $17.99.” she said.

“Here is $25.00.  Keep the change.” he said politely as he took the pizzas out of her hand.

The young lady just stared, still trying to figure out if it really was Nick.  She then said thank you and smiled brightly.  Nick smiled as he watched her run back to the car and scream.

“And to think this is what I am giving up.” he said to himself as he slumped down on the bed.  He rolled over and turned on the television to watch the late night news.  Katie was asleep next to him, as he listened to the uneventful news of the town.

Then, suddenly, he heard something that shocked him.

“And now on to our headlines…members of the Backstreet Boys, a popular male singing group, were seen this evening at the local police station down in Orlando.  Are the Boys into trouble?  Alexander James McLean, the rebel of the group was seen with a bandage across his nose as he entered the station.  More to come, right after these local messages…”

“Dammit, AJ!  What have you done now??” Nick sat up to watch.

“And now…back to our top story.  Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson, Howard Dorough, and AJ McLean were seen making a statement to the Sargent on duty.  What were they doing there?  Well, sources say that is had to do with the fifth member of the group…Nick Carter.  What exactly is the situation, we aren’t sure…but we will keep everyone informed.  And now, on to the weather…”

“God…I told them not to try and find me.  Why can’t they just respect that?” he asked himself as he turned off the television and lights, and tried to go to sleep.

The entire night he tossed and turned…wondering if what he was doing was really the right thing.
 

Back to Previous Chapter            Back To Chapter Index          On To Next Chapter