Previously...
Earlier in Florida...
"I'm kidding." Bryan laughed. "But the look on your face just a moment ago, man. Must be one hell of a shopping list, eh?" Bryan smiled warmly at Nick.
"Yeah. Well I'm kinda running late, I still have a few errands I have to run. I'll see you later man." *******************************************************
The Previous night at a bar somewhere in Tampa...
"Get the fuck out of my sight. You're too full of shit." Scott continued laughing and threw the pictures back at Dan. His laughter died abruptly and he was once again serious. "If I catch you messing around my brother's gravesite, boy..." Scott let it trail off, but Dan could figure out what he meant.
Scott shoved him hard enough that he was winded against the wall before taking off. "If pigs ever fly, I'll give you a call. But don't come looking for me again." Scott tossed the cue to another player and walked out of the rancid bar. ******************************************************* [BSB Hotel, Brian's room.]
Brian stared at the door for a moment. His feelings hurt and confused danced in his heart. Jane Carter had always been there for him when he needed help with Nick, he knew that somehow she will get him back. He would do anything to get him back; even her.
End of part 9
------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimers:This is a work of fiction. The lives of those people involved in this are not mirrored by the story. Any resemblances to real people, living or dead, aside from the members of the Backstreet Boys and their immediate family are highly coincidental. Please enjoy the show. -------------------------------------------------------
BSBHAB 2: Harmony Part 10 "Rainy Days and Starry Nights."
'Damn it!' Nick cursed to himself. He hadn't thought about checking today's weather report. It was too sunny just a moment ago. Nick tried to stay in the shade of the willow tree, but even that wasn't enough when it had started to pour. It had only been a few minutes of his almost day to day vigil at Brandon's gravesite doing homework when it had started to dribble. "I can't believe this, this is due tomorrow." Nick whined eying his soaked report for his marine biology class. Oh well, crying about it ain't gonna help. Nick squinted to see if he could make it to the gate without being soaked all the way through to through to the bone. 'Hard to imagine,' he thought trying to squeeze out as much of the water out of his shirt as possible. He wasn't having much luck at all.
"Good God!" Nick groaned as he splatted behind the wheel of his blazer. He turned the mirror to him to try and smooth out his skin soaked hair, it was straight enough that it didn't take very long.
A few minutes later, Nick was pulling out of the cemetary's gravel road and onto the main roads. Nick had long since forsaken listening to much radio on the way back from the cemetary. Sometimes, it was just too depressing. He never really knew why, but a lot about love is usually a mystery. That's what makes love such an awesome feeling even though it made fools of everyone all the time. Nick took a deep breath and allowed it to escape in one long ragged sigh through his mouth.
It had gotten to quiet in the car that all Nick could here was the soft, comforting, and rhythmic pat-pat-patting of rain against his windshield and the steady hum of the AC. Nick closed his eyes, reminiscing about better days, when suddenly his tire blew right from under him.
"Sh*t!" Nick yelped, jarred back to reality when the blazer started to swerve off to the side.
Nick swerved clear of light poles and picket fences before he was able to put on the brakes. Nick sat for a moment thinking about what to do. He first thought about changing the tire, but 'get real.' He thought. He had never ever changed a tire in his entire life. He doesn't even know which tool was which. Amazing what you get done in driving school when you have a lot of money. Nick cursed again under his breath, grabbed his notebook and slipped out the car to check on the damage.
"This doesn't look very good." Nick caught himself saying as he eyed the bare metal of his front tire. 'Just my luck,' Nick groaned as he squatted down closer to check on the damage closer -- for all the good it would do for someone who doesn't know anything of what they're doing.
"AWWWW, Damn it!" Nick stood up dripping with water and mud after an overzealous driver whizzed past splashing him down with the deep dark and muddy puddle. Nick held out his arms infront of him inspecting his own current condition when a small car stopped behind his suv.
"Care for some help stranger?" Bryan jumped out of the vehicle with an umbrella over his head and a big teasing grin on his face.
"Oh, hey Bryan. I'm glad to see you. Can you help me with this?" Nick motioned over to his car while Bryan came closer to share his umbrella with the soaking wet Gene Carter.
"Hmmmm, I don't think changing the tire would to you any good. The axl is trashed and you have damage on your brakes." Bryan squatted down to gaze underneath the belly of the blazer.
"Is that bad?" Nick asked poutingly.
"Well, not bad if you want to end up wrapped around a lighpole someplace, maybe." Bryan smiled up at Gene.
"Damn. Do you know anywhere around here where I can use the phone to call up a tow truck or whatever? Gas station maybe?" Nick asked a little crestfallen.
"Well I can let you use my phone at my appartment, if you're alright with that. I live not too far from here, and there you can clean up a while before I can drive you home or whatever." Bryan squinted past the rain drops to spy Gene's reaction.
"If that's alright with you." Nick shrugged. "I really do want to clean up though."
"Then hop on, I have some papers at home to pick up before I run some errands anyways." Bryan let Gene take the umbrella while he walked over to the driver side. No point in getting him any wetter than he already was, poor kid.
"Hey, thanks man. I really don't know much about cars. I would be stuck out here if you hadn't stopped by; I never bring my cell phone with me when I visit Brandon." Nick said.
"Anytime, man. I can't be preaching to kids about doing good deeds, when I can't do my fair share of it, right?" Bryan smiled over at Gene as they slowly pulled out of the side of the road. "My place isn't too far, so we should be able to get a tow truck out here pretty soon."
"Preaching?" Nick frowned his curiousity.
"Oh, haha, no, I'm a student teacher and aide over at the High School yonder." Bryan turned up the heater a little for Gene's benifit.
"Wow, you're a teacher?" Nick gasped his amazement. Bryan didn't seem much older than he was, he had thought.
"Oh, no. Not yet, at least. I am studying to become one and right now I am in my semester where I do student teaching and observing. That's why I live here, actually. It's inbetween our school and where I work. Much more convenient." Bryan winked at Nick as they turned the corner. *******************************************************
Moments later, they made it cheerfully to Bryan's appartment complex after a few minutes of idle chatter and 'getting to know yous'. While the rain continued to pelt the windshield of Bryan's car.
"Here we are. My appartment's on the second floor. My things should be stacked up on my desk, so I can just grab 'em and pick which I want to copy over tonight. You can dry up in the bathroom by my bedroom. I can get you a spare shirt and sweats maybe to get you through." Bryan turned off the ignition and unlocked the doors.
"No problem." Nick smiled. "Finally I get to see this infamous Passion Chamber?" Nick winked at Bryan and laughed boyishly.
"No point trying to hide my hidden agenda eh? You being so sharp and all." Bryan winked at the giggling Gene Carter and stepped out of the car. He joined Nick in his joyous laughter that emanated warmth like the summer's breeze.
'Woof!' A small yelp made both Nick and Bryan jump in surprise.
"Puddin', don't bark at Bryan like that." An old lady creaked out of her small sedan carrying a small fluffy dog in her arms.
"Oh hey, Mrs. Douglas." Bryan smiled and started to make his way to help the old lady. It was Mrs. Douglas. Bryan's grandmotherly neighbor. She was a widow some few years ago from a marriage that had lasted some 20 odd years. She was never too happy to see Bryan. These last few months, she had been urging him to find someone. 'The single life just didn't suit such a sweet young man' She repeatedly told to him. She loved him like her own son. In fact, she practically has seen Bryan grow up in the appartment a few doors down. Bryan had been such a great surrogate grandson to her, that she pretty much has taken care of him since he was 5 -- his parents always left him with her to babysit whenever they went out.
"Good evening, Bryan." The old lady's warm smile perfumed the air like the sweet savoury smell of a grandmother's kitchen. "I hope you don't mind lending a hand to an old lady like myself." Mrs. Douglas smiled at Bryan knowing full well that Bryan could never resist being the gentleman. "I see you have company." Mrs. Douglas smiled past Bryan to Nick, who was now also making his way towards the old lady's car.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Mrs. Douglas, this is Gene. He's a friend I met not too long ago." Bryan took a grocery bag out of the backseat of her car.
"Hi, I'm Mrs. Rosemary Douglas," She extended her delicate slender arm towards Nick who took it almost like you would your grandmother's extended hand. His delicate fingers wrapped around hers gently, almost in a familiar manner.
"I'm Gene." Nick beamed at her, suddenly overwhelmed by warmth and a sense of comfort around this lovely old lady. He extended a hand before realizing that he was still filthy with dried mud. "Whoops, sorry Mrs. Douglas, I had a small mishap with a tire."
"Oh you poor boy," Mrs. Douglas reached over to dust off Gene's shoulders. "In this pouring rain you are going to catch a cold. Would you like to come in and have some hot tea? Or is there something else you boys have planned instead?" Mrs. Douglas smiled knowingly at Bryan. It earned her an easy going frown.
"Haha, no, actually we were just gonna go up to Bryan's so I could get out of these dirty clothes and call a tow truck for my blazer out on the side of the road. Some few minutes from here." Nick smiled politely at Mrs. Douglas.
"I hope you don't mind me borrowing Bryan for a little while. He's just such a gentleman. He always offers his help to this fragile old woman." Mrs. Douglas smiled up at the Gene who towered over her.
"That's alright, Mrs. Douglas." Nick smiled back at her and went to offer his help to Bryan. "I used to help my mother unload her car all the time. It would be a pleasure to help with the groceries if you think that my hands aren't too dirty to handle them." He flashed her a big smile of sparkling teeth.
"Thank you so much, you two are such fine young gentlemen. That's alright, sweety, you can help me with Precious' dog food." Mrs. Douglas slowly walked around the car to unlock the trunk where the big heavy bag was stored.
Nick wrapped his arms around the big load, and heaved.
It wasn't too heavy, he thought, but he was certainly going to need both arms.
" Here, let me get the door for you." Mrs. Douglas walked over to her Appartment's door to unlock it. "I hope you don't mind to just set it on the kitchen counter, dear? Precious needs to use the bathroom real quick." Mrs. Douglas held the door open for Nick while Precious lightly padded over to the small grassy lawn in front of her appartment.
"No problem, Mrs. Douglas." Nick carried the bag into the house.
"My, he is quite the gentleman, Bryan." Mrs. Douglas whispered to Bryan when he walked past while she gathered Precious into her delicate arms.
"Mrs. Douglas, Gene and I are only friends." Bryan smiled and politely got on the defensive.
"You two look so sweet together." Again Mrs. Douglas commented on Gene and Bryan, disregarding the latter's comments. "He's such a dear." Mrs. Douglas smiled and entered her home. "Oh thank you so much. You two have been such wonderful gentlemen. Again, I would ask you to stay for something to drink, however, I think that it is past Precious' bed time." She looked at Bryan and winked at him behind her little furry silkie terrier.
Bryan shot Mrs. Douglas a playful warning look but couldn't help but smile when the elegant old lady only smiled back.
"That's alright, Mrs. Douglas. I have to get going soon also. I have some homework to do, and a paper to redo before my bedtime." Nick shrug at Bryan helplessly and gave Precious a little scratch behind the ears.
"Oh, that's unfortunate. I was really hoping on treating you both to something nice for being such great helpers." Mrs. Douglas smiled at Bryan again while she mouthed the words 'He's wonderful'.
Bryan gave up at trying to convince her that they were just friends.
"So can you just give me a ride home, Bryan?" It was Nick's turn to smile at Bryan.
"Oh, yeah." Bryan stood straight up and slowly made for the door. "I wouldn't want to keep Precious up too late." Bryan smiled at Gene. A gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Mrs. Douglas.
"Well, I am going to thank you boys again for your help and send you your way before I delay you too long." And to Bryan, she added in a whisper. 'Go for it!'
Bryan couldn't help but laugh at that parting comment. *******************************************************
After a few minutes to run up to Bryan's appartment to pick up the notes and papers he needed to have xeroxed, Nick and Bryan were back on the road again. Nick -- or in this case -- Gene decided to just stick with his dirty laundry and spare Bryan of having to lend him some clothes.
"She's an awefully sweet old lady isn't she?" Bryan opened up conversation. "She's been so great all of my life."
"Yeah, she seemed so cool." Gene added. He wasn't entirely oblivious to want went on between Bryan and Mrs. Douglas earlier. He snickered and then added, "So when you planning to ask me out?"
Bryan just about crashed the car into a lightpole.
"I..I.." *******************************************************
Somewhere in a hotel room in Florida...
"David, how's the fort back there?" Dan wedged the phone between the side of his head and his shoulder while he got some of his own notes out of his suit case. "Yeah, not much here either. I have a feeling about our Scott McGill though. I think he is going to come through for us eventually. It may need a little more prying on my part, but I'm sure he'll talk. I've never heard so much hate in one voice ever in my life before."
A moment of silence, David, on the other end, had just found out that there was at least one invitation from Brian Littrell that was sent somewhere in Tampa Bay.
"Well, that's not necessarily news to the world though. They were best of friends after all." Dan pulled his dress shirt out of his pants, and started to flip through the notes he took earlier on.
"I'm gonna keep checking my end of the trail, while I suggest you do the same. Right now, I think I'm going to take a nice hot bath before I start researching again. Keep me posted on what's going on over there, bye." Dan hung up after David was able to return the greeting.
Dan sighed and tossed the cordless phone that he had put up in place of the regular phone onto the bed. He dug through his luggage when the phone started to buzz.
"What?!" Dan growled. He never much liked David ever. He was only using him.
There was a laughter on the other end so abrupt that it made Dan feel a little confused.
"Who the f*ck is this?" Dan frowned hard enough that it was almost possible that whoever it was could feel it through the receiver.
"Scott," That one word, that one name, left Dan breathless for a second.
"Scott, I..."
"Shut up and listen. You want to talk to me about my brother? No, I said shut up!" Scott's voice rang out of the phone when Dan was about to reply. "Tomorrow noon, go to the restaurant in the lobby, I will meet you there for lunch. We will discuss some things and rules if I am going to talk to you."
"Wait?!?" Dan scrambled to talk, but the phone was already buzzing. Scott McGill had hung up.
end of part 10
------------------------------------------------------- If you like, hate, love, can improve on, or whatnot about what you just read, email me at zachstack@yahoo.com. All your comments, and critism are welcome. Thank you for reading.
~J~