Disclaimer: The Backstreet Boys are their own people. This is fiction. In real life AJ is engaged to the pretty Sarah and Nick is married to his career. This has no reflection on their true sexuality or identity.
Now on with Part 10.
Sully sat on the plane and waited for take off. He was seated next to Nick, who seemed to be calm and collected about the fact that he was probably going back to face the inquisition over where he had been. Sully too was expecting a lot of questions about where he had been. He wasn't sure that he would have the answers to all of them.
Nick was deep in thought, planning how he could work this for maximum effect and get himself an apology from Alex for his hand while also coming out on top. He knew that it was wrong to manipulate the situation but it was what he was used to. After all, he was the baby he could do a lot more than the others could and get away with it.
As the announcer began to go through the safety procedures Sully could feel the bile rising, he felt sick to his stomach with fear and anxiety with what he was about to do. No, not the flying, although he had only been on an airplane a few times. What had him so nervous was the impact that he was going to have on everyone's lives when he returned.
"I need to get off." Sully said without thinking. He fumbled with his seatbelt and tried to undo it but felt a warm hand on his. It stopped him from undoing the belt.
"You're doing the right thing." Nick said. "I know that it's a long flight but it's been an even longer path to getting you home. This really is just the last part of that journey."
Sully heard the words and knew that they had a much deeper meaning, more than just this flight. Nick was talking about a mental or spiritual journey, the type that he had undertaken in growing up. He wondered if the younger man truly believed that but before he could ask Nick seemed to be asleep.
Instead of asking the younger man what he had meant Sully too drifed into sleep. He would need as much strength as possible in the following days and weeks. Especially with the people he had to face.
Nick hadn't thought as far as a place for Sully to stay, he had been so worried about getting the other man this far that he hadn't really thought much beyond the plane ride back home. He had a few ideas about how exactly he could reunite Sully and AJ but he hadn't really thought through the logistics of the whole situation.
"You okay?" Sully asked as they stepped off the plane. They had waited until most of the people had filed off, thankful that they were travelling early and that there were no large parties of teenage girls around. The last thing that they needed was Nick to get recognised.
"Yeah." Nick said softly.
Sully felt a little sorry for Nick, he had taken the brunt of the blame it seemed and now Sully was beginning to come around to the fact that it wasn't his fault. At first Sully had blamed Nick Carter, he had kissed him after all, but it wasn't Nick's fault. Nick had been a young man, confused over his sexuality and just seeking something that he thought he wanted. Now Sully could see that it was all Lou's fault, he had manipulated the situation and in the end it had been placed at Nick's feet despite the fact that he was as innocent in the situation as both Alex and Sully.
"It'll be okay." Sully said, dropping his carry on and pulling Nick into a hug.
Nick returned the embrace after a moment. He felt absolutely nothing sexual in the embrace but he took the comfort from it that he needed. Maybe he had underestimated this situation, if nothing else Nick wondered if he and Sully could come out of it as friends.
"So, we should grab our luggage and then get out of here." Sully said after a moment, not wanting to get too emotional in the airport. He owed Nick and apology for their earlier arguments, but here was not the place to do it.
"Sure." Nick said. "Do you want to get a hotel?"
Sully paused at the luggage carousel and waited for his bag, not answering the question.
"Or you could come and stay with me." Nick supplied.
"You don't mind?" Sully asked, he hated hotels. The last time he had walked out of a hotel he had left his heart behind with Alex and it always reminded him of that.
"Nah, what are friends for?" Nick asked as he spotted his suitcase and grabbed it with his good hand.
Sully didn't comment but his smile was bright and wide. The apology hadn't been spoken but Sully had a feeling that it had been accepted, he would put it into words as best he could but he knew that Nick would acknowledge his apology even if he never said the words.
They were friends.
Now all he had to do was work on Alex. Somehow Sully thought that he would be the tougher cookie to crack.
AJ was bored. He had been out of rehab for less than a week and was already bothered by the fact that his life was now so much less structured than it had been, they were due to resume the tour in a few days and AJ wondered if he would be able to go back on the gruelling tour schedule without the crutch that drink gave him. It would be a long hard process but he knew it would be worth it.
Part of the worst thing about being in rehab was that Nick would not see him. AJ knew that Howie had begged and pleaded with Nick, had shouted and cajoled but nothing had gotten his friend in there to see him. Was what he had done really that reprehensible?
AJ supposed it was, not only had he accused Nick of being a liar and a cheat but he had also blamed him for something that was not really his fault. It was Sully that had chosen to leave, it was Sully that had kissed Nick back when the confused sixteen year old had only just begun to question his sexuality. And it was AJ's fault that Sully had left.
The note that Sully had left had said as much; he had spoken of a man that he no longer recognised, one that put work first and AJ now knew that was the case. He had been so desperate to make a name for himself and so scared that he would not be able to do so with a boyfriend in tow that he had forgotten who he was and what he was doing there in the first place.
AJ remembered how they had spoken of what they would do once they were successful, how the pair would never forget each other. It had seemed like one of those promises that you make as a child and AJ had reasoned that they had not meant it really, but maybe Sully had. Maybe they were supposed to have been together forever, best friends till death. They had sworn a blood oath to that effect and he had gone back on it.
AJ had spent many hours on the therapists couch working these issues through. Now all he felt was an immense amount of guilt over what he had done to Nick and a plan for the future that he would never get too big for his boots again.
All he had to do now was carry out that plan.
Sully knew that there was a limit on how long he could wait before he went to see Alex, it was not as if he had a lifetime to do it. The Backstreet Boys were due out on tour soon and if he didn't do this soon then he would have to wait a few months before he could do it. While that sounded like a good idea Sully knew that the issue had to be resolved before they went back out on tour. If not for Alex's sake then for Nick's.
Nick had risked his whole career and his friendships to get Sully back to Alex and try to rebuild the damage that he thought he had done. Now it was up to Sully to finish the job and if he could get Alex to forgive whatever perceived injury he though Nick had done.
That meant facing AJ. Sully was not looking forward to it but he knew that now was the time.
"Nick, I think we should go out." Sully said, it was his second day at Nick's house and the pair had spent a little time together just talking, he hoped that they would stay this way.
"Oh." Nick said cautiously. "Where did you have in mind?" He also reserved his answer until he heard what Sully was planning.
"I thought we could go and see Alex. You and he need to talk before the tour and I think that I ought to speak with him too." Sully said. "You were right when you said that Alex needs his friends around him, that includes you."
"He asked to see me." Nick said softly. Sully waited to see if he would get anymore out of him but it was clear even this much had taken Nick a lot to admit. "I couldn't..."
"Hey." Sully said as he moved to hug Nick. Nick felt nothing of the feeling that he once would have. The only person on his mind was Alex and he knew that Sully was right, they all needed to fight their demons and get through this together.
"Sorry." Nick said as he pulled away. "We should go."
"Okay." Sully replied with a smile. "Just let me grab a jacket."
"We're in Florida, it won't be cold." Nick retorted, but Sully grabbed it anyway. Nick smiled when he saw it, a leather Jacket was hardly what they needed in Florida, but if Sully wanted it with him then he would not argue. Everyone had their quirks.
The drive was slow, Sully wasn't sure if that was because everything seemed to be moving in slow motion or if Nick was deliberately driving slowly so that he wouldn't have to get there so soon. They drove in silence and Sully was glad of that as it gave him time to work out what he was going to say. At least to plan out some of it.
Sully eyed the house that they drove up to with great suspicion, this was not at all the house that he had imagined. The size and flamboyance of the house was not what he had imagined his friend in, Alex had said that he would never leave the childhood home that he had grown up in and Sully was a little disappointed to find out that it was not true.
"You okay?" Nick asked as he saw the frown that crossed Sully's face.
Nick was worried that the other man still had his misgivings about this and was doing it for the wrong reasons. Nick himself had wondered if this was the right thing to do, what if Alex didn't want to see Sully. Still, they were there now and there was not a lot that he could do about it now.
"Yeah." Sully said with a sigh. "I just never pictured Alex in a place like this."
"Things change. He couldn't stay in the neighbourhood when the fans started to come around, they were bothering Denise, his grandparents. Hell, even the kids and other people in the neighbourhood were getting hassled." Nick said. "His house isn't that big, I mean other than the few things that they showed on MTV cribs which when you think about it makes sense."
"What do you mean?" Sully asked, not that he had ever seen the programme that Nick was talking about. He had avoided all news about Backstreet Boys for the last five years because it hurt too much to see his friend and the band that he had left behind.
"AJ has a small home cinema, but when you're as recognisable as he is it's not like you can go out." Nick said with a smile. "Believe me, I know what it's like."
Sully realised that they were at the entrance to a house and that Nick was parking in the driveway. He didn't know if getting him to talk was a ploy on Nick's part to calm him down or not but he wanted to get this over with and having his new friend at his side was a help. At least this way he would not have to face the consequences alone.
They waited only a moment before the door was opened and Sully was faced with the face of a woman that he had not seen in over five years. Denise McLean was older than he remembered, as if time had affected her in a way that he would not have expected. Alex's career had taken her from the harsh background that she had come from but it had brought with it a lot more problems and one of those was watching her son going through the type of crisis that no mother expects or wants for their child.
Denise was surprised to see Alexander Sullivan, she had thought that he had long ago abandoned her son and to see him here now, with Nick at his side was a shock. But to her credit she did not react badly.
"I don't know whether to hit you or hug you." Denise said as she took in the older version of her son's childhood best friend.
Sully smiled wanly and was astonished when he found himself pulled into an embrace, obviously she had decided to go with a hug. When she pulled out of his arms Denise slapped him hard across the face and swore in a language that Sully did not understand, in some ways he was glad.
"If you hurt my Alex again I will hunt you down and kill you," she said, using the protective tone that only a mother would. "And I expect you to explain all of this to me once you have made your peace with my son."
"Yes Ma'am." He said apologetically, using the title that he had used when he was small.
Denise rolled her eyes slightly and then allowed him entry to her house, or at least the house that she shared with her son.
"As for you, you have a lot of explaining to do as well." Denise aimed at Nick. He had the foresight to look repentant and she let it go at that. "He's in the den."
Nick thanked her and led Sully through the house and into the room where Alex was waiting, not that he knew that it was them but he was expecting some visitors.
Next chapter coming soon...
Alex and Sully are finally reunited but will they still want to be friends???