Coming to the very same conclusion, Kevin let out another sigh.

They were this close to being broke, the older man realized.

The small tour when were in was squashing what little savings he had. Between the meals, the rooms and this or that thing that was needed at the end of the day, it was taking a hold on their economical status. It felt like every time he looked at the papers, there was a higher quantity under the minus sign.

He knew the tour was great for the five of them, he knew they could get recognize, maybe, if the lucky stars were on their side, even land a record deal. He knew all that and couldn't be more supportive of it, but Kevin couldn't stop thinking about how much money it was demanding.

Lou was paying them the minimal percentage it existed -- ever. Hotel and food was coming from their own pocket. And paying for both Brian and him, it was letting his pocket run dry.

Right now he only had eighty bucks that should last him for the rest of the week -- and it was only Tuesday -- and about six hundred in his account. He didn't want to touch that money, in case there was an emergency and he'd just have to use it. Medical care would be first in his list, and he had promised himself not to surrender under any circumstances. He just had to be persistence.

He sighed again just as the door to the room opened. Kevin folded the papers in one file and closed it.

Brian and Nick rushed in, chuckling all the while as the basketball slid from Nick's grasp and went rolling towards the opposite wall.

Kevin turned around, wanting to ask them about their day, before just tilting his head to the side and rising an eyebrow. Both of them were soaked wet, their clothes clinging to their skins. Blond hair was plastered against wet forehead even though blue eyes were shinning at him.

Reddish-blond hair was pushed back by very prune-like fingers, a small smile making its way to red thing lips.

"Can I ask what happened?"

The question only ticked Brian and Nick off as they started chuckling again. Brian was the first one to regain some sense of sanity, taking a deep breath as he pulled his shirt from his chest. "Well..."

Kevin shook his head. "The truth Brian. Now."

His younger cousin smiled. Brian knew Kevin wasn't really angry at either of them, just slightly worried. And Brian guessed Kevin had every right to be, after all it wasn't an every day thing that two kids came back to the room soaking wet. "We were in the back yard of the hotel. We wanted to play some ball, when we realized they were watering the plants."

Nick chuckled again, running his fingers through his very disheveled hair, trying to comb it slightly. The blond shrugged, adding his own two cents to Brian's explanation. Even if it was only a penniless shrug.

Brian shrugged as well. "We just got playing with the water."

"Something tells me it ended up in a water fight, am I right?" Kevin said with a small smile on his own. He had been in that position before, and he, too, had ended up soaking his younger cousin. Those were good times when they were back in Lexington, not having to worry about economics.

Nick laughed, nodding as he did so. "We couldn't help it. And we didn't want to end up this... wet. It was just supposed to last a minute."

"But it didn't," Kevin finished, nodding. "It's okay. I know how that is." He shook his head, walking over to Brian's and Nick's side. He took off Brian's shirt, rumbling his hair as he did so. "Go to the shower. I'll handle you the clothes in a second."

The cousin nodded, going on his merry way to the bathroom.

Kevin, then, turned around and looked at Nicky, who gave him a toothy grin, making Kevin smile. He shook his head as he did the same for the boy, taking off his shirt and picking up one of the fresh towels he had been planning on putting on the bathroom after Kevin had his own shower. He placed the towel over Nick's shoulders, trying to dry him off as he waited for his own bath. "I don't want you to get a cold."

Nick nodded. "I know." He smiled.

Kevin stood up, going over to Brian's bag and getting out some shorts and a t-shirt. Then, he went to Nick's and did the same. Clean clothes after a shower was the best way to go, then he'd have to laundry these set. He sighed. He wished he didn't have to pay for that too.

"It was fun," Nick said after a moment, draping the towel tighter around his shoulders. "It was really fun. You should have come with us."

Kevin only nodded, turning around and picking up Brian's clothes. He went over to the bathroom and left it on the toilet, letting Brian known his clothes were there. "Hurry up," he said, "Nick has to take a bath too."

"It a minute."

Kevin didn't really mind having to share his room with both kids. It was better than having to pay for three rooms. It was only rather uncomfortable when it came down to shower. Three guys having to take a shower in only one bathroom did take some time.

"Are you ok?"

Kevin lifted his eyes from the floor, coming out of his mussing by Nick's voice. He gave the blond a small smile. No need to worry the young with money problems. "Why do you ask that?"

Nick tilted his head, shrugging slightly. "I don't know. You've been kinda out of it for the past days. Did we do something wrong?"

"Oh, Nicky," Kevin said softly, joining Nick on the bed as he draped his arm around Nick's shoulders, pulling him against his side. Nick relaxed in Kevin's arms, snuggling on Kevin's chest. "It's not you or Brian. It's just that there are things to take care of during this tour and I've been thinking about them." A white lie never hurt anyone.

Nick thought about it for a moment, nodding. "I know that. But we're supposed to be having fun too. You should hang out more with us."

Kevin chuckled slightly. Maybe Nick wasn't wrong. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Done!" Brian said, jumping slightly as he got out of the bathroom, pants on but t-shirt in hand as he dried his hair with the towel. "Your turn Nick."

The blond nodded, standing up and picking up with clothes. "I won't take long."

Brian nodded, going over to where Kevin was sitting and placing his wet hand on Kevin's neck. The older man yelped, glaring at his cousin who should probably end up wet once again just by doing that. They would have started a fight if it wasn't they were in a tight schedule and, well, he didn't want to make a mess in the room.

*****

The five of them got together in Kevin's room, along with Lou, Donna and Denise. There were some things that had to be thought about. After about a week of doing close to nothing in their rather small tour, they had finally gotten a small gig in a small pub in town. It wasn't much, the pay was lousy, but it was something. That was enough for the guys for now.

"Well, the time and place has already been set. The clothes are rather open. Just get together about it. Nothing too flashy. Remember that's a pub."

Kevin sighed. That was pretty clear. Lou smiled at them and left with Donna, saying they still had some things to go through. Like money, Kevin thought sourly. When he had asked Lou about how much they were going to get paid because of this, the older man had given him a smug grin and patted Kevin on the shoulder. That was enough for Kevin to know that it wasn't much. Probably not even enough to cover the food of the day.

"Well," Denise started, who had been silently appointed their wardrobe designer -- not that there was much to design. "I was thinking something simple. Just jeans, a white shirt and probably a button up shirt on top of that."

"That's so lame Denise," Alex said over his sunglasses, which surprised Kevin because they were indoors. The young man shrugged. "You gotta be shitting me. Jeans and a button up shirt in a bar?" He chuckled. "They'd kick us out."

Kevin looked at Alex pointedly. "We can change clothes," he said slowly, "there's no need to say it like that."

Alex turned around, big brown eyes glaring at clear green ones. "Like that? What do you mean by that?"

"You don't have to curse to give your opinions Alex. You should know that."

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Alex questioned rather exasperated, standing up from his seat on the couch. "You're no one. Do you get that? You're not my father!"

Kevin sighed. "Certainly, I'm not. But someone should tell you not to do it."

"Fuck!" Alex said before leaving the room in a rush, slamming the door after him.

"Jerk," Brian muttered under his breath. Nicky only nodded. Kevin turned around and gave them a stern look. Neither of them said anything else.

Denise sighed. "I'm sorry for that," she said politely, her voice lowering a notch, with unexpected humbleness -- something Kevin hadn't seen all the time he had known her. "He's... he doesn't take criticism well."

"I can see that."

She turned around and looked at the closed door. She sighed again. "I better and ask Lou when we leave tomorrow."

Kevin stood flabbergasted. She wasn't going to go after him.

"Don't bother," Howie said softly, reading Kevin's mind as the older man worried. He shrugged, giving Kevin a small smile. "AJ is like that. Give him some time to cool off and he'll be better."

"He shouldn't react like that."

"You're not the only person who has told him that," Howie said sadly.

Kevin shook his head. "I don't understand him, you know? I've really tried. But every time I seem to get a little bit closer, he just acts almighty."

"That's just that, an act." He paused, his eyes daring over to the boys.

Kevin's eye met with Brian, giving him a small smile. Brian and Nick seemed to get the hint and went over to the TV, turning it on, the volume rather low.

Howard walked towards the older man, taking a seat on the bed, looking right at Kevin. "I don't think you should try and tell him what to do."

"Someone has to tell him what's wrong," Kevin fought back.

Howie nodded knowingly. "I know. But he doesn't take this whole parental figure well. You see..." Howie sighed softly. "I don't even know if I should be telling you this, but Alex's father left him and Denise."

"Oh," was all Kevin could say. Oh, alright. No wonder Alex behaved the way he did. He couldn't imagine not having met his father, hearing his advice and being grounded by him everyone in a while.

Howie shrugged. "You shouldn't do it. That's all."

Kevin thought about it for a moment. He turned around, Nick and Brian were whispering softly, probably talking about incident, even though their eyes glanced at the TV every other moment. "Can you keep an eye on the kids? I gotta do something."

Howie was about to tell him not to bother, not to go after Alex, but decided against it. Maybe if someone different went this time, Alex would react different as well. He only nodded.

Kevin gave Howie a small smile and left the room. When he reached the hallway, Kevin couldn't help but sigh. What now? He had no idea where Alex could have gone and wondered what in the world had made Kevin followed him. It wasn't like it was Kevin's fault, he had only been trying to correct Alex, but then again, the younger man was right. Kevin had no right to tell him what to do.

But if Denise didn't do anything, if she just let Alex be, then the boy would learn that he could do whatever he pleases -- not that he didn't do that already. He was only trying to help.

Kevin sighed again. If he was going to sin of something, it'd definitely be of trying to help everyone. He sighed again.

It was earlier in the day, so he couldn't go to a pub. He had known from a comment here and there from Howard that Alex was the partying type. He was also too obviously young when it came down to having a drink in the small bar of the hotel. Then? The simplest answer came to mind. His own room. The room he shared with Howie.

Kevin took a couple of steps, reaching the door to rooms down from his own. He knocked on the door, waiting for a response.

"Go to hell Howie! I don't wanna talk with you!"

"It's not Howard."

There was a pause inside the room and Kevin feared Alex wouldn't let him in. He waited a minute, two, wondered if the safest thing would be to get back to his own room when there was the distinctive click of the door being unlocked.

Kevin took a deep breath, waited a couple of seconds and entered the room.

Alex was sitting in what Kevin thought was his own bed, the TV on and his eyes locked on the flicking image. Kevin sighed again. This was going to be hard.

"I'm sorry," Kevin said out of the blue, surprising both Alex and himself. What had made him say that?

Alex turned around, look at Kevin briefly, then turned back to the TV.

Kevin sighed. "Alex, don't be like this, alright?"

"Like what?" Alex said, standing up and turning to glare at the older man. "The one who was out of line was you."

"Me?" Kevin snorted. This boy was really starting to get on his nerves. "The one was insulting for no reason whatsoever was you Alex, so don't blame this on me."

"I can say whatever I want."

"No you can't," Kevin said warningly. "You're fifteen Alex. You're a child, not an adult."

"Fuck you," Alex said angrily.

"See?" Kevin said, pointing at Alex, who only glared back. "There's no reason to insult. You can say I'm wrong, or I'm out of my way, or this isn't my business. Why do you have to curse?"

"Because I can."

Kevin chuckled ironically. "It sure shows you didn't get rules back home."

"That's not of your fucking business."

"It is when there's another kid in the group," Kevin added sternly, "and whatever you say has influence on him."

"Nick is fine."

"He's hearing you insult every five minutes. You're only two years older than him, in two years he might wonder why you could insult and he shouldn't."

Alex sighed. "Don't worry about that."

"Why not? You're fifteen Alex, get that. Fifteen."

"You're not my father to tell me what to do."

"I know I'm not. If I was, you wouldn't be cursing as much."

Alex glared at him and turned around. He hated talking about his father.

Kevin sighed softly, slapping himself over the subject. He shouldn't have brought up the subject like that. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Forget it," Alex said, his voice short and cold.

"No, I'm sorry." Kevin thought about his words carefully. "I'm sorry about it."

Alex shook his head. "Fuck, I'm telling you, I don't care, alright? That bastard is good wherever he is."

Kevin didn't think so, sighing softly. "You don't mean that."

"The hell I do."

"You don't," Kevin said softly. Maybe he was stepping over his boundaries. He had no right to analyze Alex, not that he knew how to do that, either. "I lost my father a couple of years ago," he whispered.

Alex turned around, brown eyes looking at Kevin's hung head. "Really?"

Kevin nodded. Neither of the guys knew this, except for Brian, of course. It wasn't a subject that was easy to bring in any given conversation, and he didn't see the point in talking about it. But tonight it was different. "He died of cancer."

Alex grimaced. "I'm sorry."

Kevin only nodded at the boy's words. "He was great. He taught me a lot of things. I don't know how I would have grown up if I hadn't had him."

Alex shrugged nonchalantly at it. "I'm doing just fine."

"I don't think you are," Kevin dared to say. "You've been doing what you want for quite sometime, I can guess. But that's gotta change. If your own actions decided only your life, like it used to, then I wouldn't say a word. But now it's different. What you say or do reflexes on the rest of us. We're barely starting, and not getting along it's not going to help."

Alex looked down, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Maybe Kevin was right. "I know. I've been... rather selfish these past couple of days."

Kevin only shrugged. No need to blame things on anyone. "It's okay. I just wanna help you. What I say... what I criticize it's not because I want to get on your case. I just wanna help you."

Alex looked up, tilting his head to the side. He remembered Howie's thoughts about the older man. He was a country hick, sure, but he didn't seem half bad. "Thanks."

Kevin gave the younger man a small smile. Maybe his words hadn't been much, but for Kevin, it was more than enough. He nodded. He stood up and walked over to the door. He paused just as he reached the doorknob. "If you ever need me, you know where to find me."

Alex nodded, even though Kevin didn't see him.

Kevin smiled, closing the door after him.

*****

The five of them stood in the middle of the room, and couldn't help but sight softly. The so called pub was nothing more than a scrawny, lame bar downtown. Kevin looked at the place and felt like leaving. He couldn't believe they were going to sing here. They'd get kick out. The customers were mostly big guys with tattoos, a couple of young kids, not even old enough to drink, only looking for a place to brake the law. Apparently, they had found it.

Kevin turned around and sighed softly. Nicky was staring at the place with equally stunned eyes.

"This is it?" He asked, surprised.

Kevin had to nod. "I guess so."

"We can't sing here," Alex said over his glasses. "They'll kill us. They'll throw beers at us and then kill us."

Kevin chuckled. Maybe the younger man was being a little over dramatic, but noone said he wasn't half right. "We can't do much," he said. "We signed a contract. We gotta sing here."

Brian grimaced, his face almost in physical pain, echoing Howie's feelings. "At least we'll try."

And they would. They were a group. They'd do anything for a break.

Kevin nodded slightly, looking around, trying to find the office of the manager -- if there was an office in this place.. Finally, seeing a small passage, Kevin believed that to lead to the manager.

He sighed softly. "Howie," he said, turning around, looking straight to the second older man in the group, "I'll be back in a minute, alright? Just stay here and don't talk with anyone."

Howie smiled softly. He knew exactly what he meant. He, too, was afraid that in case any of them spoke to one of the customers, they'd end up in trouble.

Kevin walked over to the hallway, looking down at it. He sighed again, walking through the passage and wondering if he was right or not. At the end of the hallway, he found a small staircase -- that didn't look safe at all -- leading up. He made his way upstairs. When he finally reached a door, he knew he hadn't been that wrong after all.

He knocked on it, waiting for a response.

"Dru, I'm telling you not to fuck with me!" The door was opened in one quick movement, Kevin almost taking a step back -- which would have ended up with him going down the stairs.

The man frowned, the smell of cigars deep in the air. Kevin wanted to grimace, but stopped himself from doing just that.

"Who are you?" He asked with a snarl.

"I'm Kevin Richardson. I'm part of the Backstreet Boys, we signed with you to sing tonight."

"You did?" The man asked, walking back into his office.

Kevin followed him, looking around the small room and thought that maybe this wasn't managing after all, but only a storage. There were piles of papers all over the floor, going half way up the walls. There was a very old guitar against one of the walls, resting besides another pile of papers. There were amplifiers and strings left all over the room. Kevin sighed. Suddenly, he was sure they had made quite a mistake in coming here.

The man picked up a half eaten box of pizza and placed it on top of one of the piles, picking up a beer, going through the papers with the other hand. There was a cigar in the ashtray half way down and Kevin didn't like the smell at all.

"Oh, yeah, Backalley boys," the man said, going through the papers and taking a drink of his beer.

"Backstreet boys," Kevin corrected softly.

He waved it off, not caring about misspeaking. "I've got the papers here. Five of you, right?"

Kevin nodded.

"Where's the other four?"

"Downstairs, waiting for me." Kevin said sternly. He didn't like this man at all. How in the world had Lou agreed on them singing here? He didn't know.

"Yeah, alright." He looked up at Kevin. "I'm Walter K. People call me K. What did you say your name was?"

Kevin wanted to groan. "Kevin. Richardson."

"Yo, Kev, the guys downstairs, right?"

Kevin only nodded.

"Lets go then," K said, picking up his cigar as he walked out of the office.

Kevin only followed him, seeing the guys all together by the side of the bar. Howie seemed frightened. He'd have to ask later why that was.

"Where?"

Kevin looked at K, then walked over to the guys. K looked them over, his eyes staying just a little bit too long on Nick. Kevin took a couple of steps and stood besides the blond, placing his arm along Nick's.

"You the alley boys?" K's words were slurred and Kevin wondered if he wasn't a little over tipsy.

"Backstreet," Howie said, looking at the man straight in the eye.

"Whatever," K said, taking a puff of his cigar. Kevin grimaced at the smell. "See the stage over there," he said, pointing to the couple of square feet on the end to he bar, only a mic there to relent the stage look. "Look for Dru. He'll set you guys up?"

Alex glared at the man, frowning over his sunglasses.

"Nice look dude," K said, grinning at Alex. The younger man would have given him the finger, if it wasn't for the fact that this had guy had hired them.

K grinned again, the disappear over a cloud of smoke.

"That was the guy?" Brian asked, turning around and looking at his cousin.

Kevin nodded sadly. "That's the manager, I think. He was the only one in the office."

"That guy was a prick," Alex said, watching his words. He would have used a more colorful language, but decided against it.

Nick frowned, looking at his friends. "Are we really gonna sing here?"

Howie looked around, bike riders and very weird looking guys all over the place. "I think so. At least we'll get paid."

Kevin wanted to say something about it, but decided against it. Maybe they would get paid at the end. "Lets go, the sooner we get this over with, the better."

Howie nodded. Nick and Brian stick closer to Kevin, their eyes going around the place. They bumped into a couple of guys in the way and Brian feared he'd get pickpocket in this place. Alex glared all the while.

It was somewhat of an adventure talking with Dru -- he had a piercing on the nose and two earrings. He was looking at the five of them funny and Brian thought the man was giving odd looks at Kevin. He didn't say anything, thought, Kevin was stressed enough as it was.

They were finally done, the mics on and the five of them stood to the side of the so called stage for a moment, waiting for the song to end before standing to sing. There was no band with them, so they were going to do it acappella, which, in Kevin's point of view, didn't help either of them at all.

The song finally ended, and all five took their places. Kevin took a deep breath before start singing with the other four. Everyone in the place started staring at the guys with big eyes, looking like they didn't believe there were actually five kids over there, singing.

The guys did their best, singing beautifully. But as the line says, beauty is in the eye of the beholder -- this case, in the ear of the beholder. And for this gang gathered in the bar, those five were anything but beautiful. They started booing, but the guys continued singing. They started screaming, the five not missing a chord. The crowd started throwing cans of beer on the stage, one crashing by Brian's feet.

Ok, so maybe Alex hadn't been that dramatic after all. But for Kevin, that was it. He stopped, looked at the guys and motioned them to get off the stage. They looked at each other and followed the older man through the crowd.

There were snide comments, a couple of cat calls and many insults. Alex started insulting back, but Kevin turned around and looked at AJ sternly. Alex stopped, thinking about it carefully. Maybe Kevin was right., Getting on a fight with these kind of guys -- who were about a foot taller than him and forty pounds heavier -- wasn't really the best way to go.

One guy grabbed Nick by the shoulder, turning him around. Nick stood frozen in his place, not really knowing what to do. The guy towered him, looking down at the blond, a sneer in his lips. Kevin, who was at the head of the line getting out of the place, turned around and took a step towards Nicky. He placed himself behind him, placing his hand on Nick's shoulder. Nicky relaxed the minute he felt Kevin's hand on him.

The guy lifted his eyes slowly, finding himself on Kevin's eye sight. Kevin, with his imposing 6" tall frame, stood without even flinching. The guy seemed to think about it, then shrugged, turning around and talking with another guy. Kevin held Nick's hand tightly in his, motioning for him to keep walking, which the blond did. Kevin didn't see Nick's small smile of pride as he held Kevin's hand in his.

They got through the crowd, reaching the small clearing by the bar. Kevin sighed, running his fingers through his dark hair. "I'm gonna go talk with that guy," Kevin said, looking at the boys. Both Brian and Nicky were looking rather reluctantly at the crowd. Even AJ seemed a little surprise, maybe even worried, though he couldn't be sure, his brown eyes were covered with the shades. Howie nodded, silently agreeing with staying with the boys.

Kevin turned around, trotted towards the hallway and was up in the office in no time. He banged on the door, opening barely seconds after he had knocked.

"What the hell are you doing here?" K asked angrily, cigar in hand. He turned around and looked over the small window towards the stage. Songs were already filling the bar. "You're suppose to be singing!"

"We're leaving! Your crowd hates us!"

K chuckled smugly. "No shit, Sherlock."

Kevin stared at the older man. "You knew they'd throw us out," it was more of an statement than a question.

Taking a puff of his cigar, K gave him a smug smile. "So? That's what's more fun. Seeing a pathetic little group that attempts on singing in front of my guys. That's what I like about it."

Kevin couldn't believe it. This man had tricked them. And Lou, that idiot, hadn't seen through his facade. "Go to hell," Kevin said his words carefully, lowly, menacing. He turned around and ran down the stairs. The sooner they were out of there, the better.

K followed Kevin, going down the stairs two at a time. But Kevin was faster. He reached the guys in seconds, looked at them and told them, "lets go."

K placed his hand on Kevin's shoulder, turning him around. "Don't you fucking dare to leave!" He yelled, Kevin staring at him with a deep frown, his lips turning up in a snarl. "You have a contract! You gotta finish singing!"

Kevin snorted, glaring at the man all the while. "Why? So you and your guys can have fun by us singing? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

K laughed, stating with a grin. "So? You don't sing, you don't get paid."

Kevin glared at the man. "We wouldn't want it even if you paid us." He turned around, grabbed Nick's hand in his, and looked at the guys. They got the message and left all in one quick movement.

"You pussies!"

Kevin turned around to stare at the man one last time. Kevin paused. "Go to hell!"

They left the building barely second afterwards. Reaching the street, Kevin could still hear K laughing after them.

"Idiot," Kevin muttered under his breath. "Jerk!" He yelled, turning around and seeing the closed door. "Moron!"

"Breath Kevin," Brian said, placing his hand on Kevin's shoulder.

The older man let Nick's hand drop, his hands clenching into fists, pressing them against his eyes. He was so freaking mad at the asshole. He had gotten them, and gotten them good. And they had fell for it. Along with the prick of Lou.

"He's just a lying fuck," Alex said, not being able to contain the curse from his lips. "To hell with him."

Kevin took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I'm sorry guys."

"Sorry, for what?" Howie asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I shouldn't have gotten like that."

Alex snorted, taking off his sunglasses. He shrugged. "You can get mad. Hell, if there's someone who should get mad at something it's you."

That got Kevin of his axe. "What? Why?"

Alex chuckled, lifting his eyebrows along with the corners of his lips in a sneer. "It's not healthy to be so nice all the time. Gosh, you make me look like an asshole."

Giving in to the smile that went to his lips, Kevin chuckled as well. He could totally see the amusement in the comment. It was pure fun. "Yeah, well, you don't need help with that."

Howie burst into laugher, Nick and Brian giggling along.

Alex gave him the finger. Kevin just laughed.

After a moment they finally settled down.

"What do we do now?" Howie asked, looking right at Kevin.

The older man took a deep breath and looked around. They still were on the other side of the street from the bar. Kevin sighed. "We'll leave, I think. Lets go to the hotel and tell Lou."

The guys nodded, agreeing with Kevin.

"How?" Brian asked after a pause.

Kevin laughed. They were right. Donna had bring them here, how were they suppose to leave? "In bus, I think." They only had the money for bus. He wouldn't pay for a cab that would take us to the same place with almost the same time.

"Fine by me," Alex said, shrugging.

They waited a minute and the bus rolled by. They hopped up, taking three rows of two single seats almost on the back. Howie with Alex, Brian sat next to an old lady and Nick sat with Kevin, Nicky to the window.

"Kevin?" Nick asked softly.

Kevin turned around, his eyes twinkling slightly, obviously clearing. "Yeah Nicky?"

Nick frowned slightly, his blond locks falling onto his eyes. "Are you still mad?"

Kevin chuckled slightly, shaking his head. "No, I'm not mad. I was, but not anymore."

"I don't like it when you're mad," Nick said with a pout.

Kevin nodded, agreeing with him. He placed the lock back behind his ear, touching his cheek softly. "I know. I won't get mad, not much at least," he said with a laugh.

Nick chuckled too, nodding.

Kevin leaned over, tickling Nick's on the belly. The blond squealed and Kevin continued torturing the blond. He mussed his hair, taking a deep sigh after he hadn't finished making the blond laugh. Nick, too, breathed out, settling for the time. He leaned his head against Kevin's chest, taking in another breath.