He turned around to see his younger cousin and Nick sitting on the small couch. The blond was playing on his Gameboy, Brian was leaning against him, looking at the game behind his shoulders. Since they didn't have a tv on the room, they had settled for taking turns with Nick's Gameboy.

On the other couch AJ was listening to his walkman, oblivious to the rest of the room. Howie was sitting by his side, his head slumped over the back of the couch, taking a small nap.

They had been practicing the whole morning, wanting to sound their best at their first performance.

Our first performance, Kevin pondered to himself. It sounds so... surreal.

But it wasn't. Two days ago, Lou had entered the practice room late in the afternoon and let them know that they had gotten a small gig, a ten minute presentation, at Sea World on Sunday night. The guys had been static, that was for sure. They had been running around, completely high in the feeling that finally, after all those hours of hard vocal practice, they had achieved something.

So now, almost end of March, they were sitting waiting for them to be called so they could go over to the stage. Lou hadn't been able to make it tonight for reasons he hadn't told the guys and Donna was outside, making sure the last details were done.

Kevin sighed softly, a small smile on his lips. This was what he had been waiting for all along. This exhilarating feeling that seemed to consume him as minutes ticked by and the waiting diminished.

"Kevin?"

The older man was brought out of his musings by a young Nick looking at him funny. Apparently both him and Brian had finished their game.

Kevin stopped his pacing, kneeling in front of Nick. "Yeah?"

"How much longer do we have to wait?"

"He's right cuz," Brian turned the Gameboy off. "Weren't we suppose to be up at six? It's already a quarter pass."

Kevin shook his head. He walked over to the couch, sitting besides Howie. The movement seemed to wake Howie up, who turned around slightly, opening his eyes. "Sorry," he said in Howie's direction. Howie shook his head at the comment, starting to rub his eyes.

Looking back at Nick and Brian who were standing in front of them, Kevin shrugged. "They actually told me we were pushed back at six thirty, so they should be calling us in ten or so." He smiled at Nick who had this very confused look. "What?"

Nick started biting his lower lip. "We have to be on the stage for ten minutes, right?" Nick waited long enough for Kevin to nod. "If we're signing three songs, that's more than just ten minutes, right?"

Kevin chuckled, picking up Nick's small body and sitting the blond on his lap. Mussing Nick's hair, Kevin grinned, his nose wrinkling. It was always so much fun mussing Nick's hair. "Yeah," he answered after a minute, "it's more than ten minutes, but they know we're doing three songs."

"At least we get to sing somewhere besides practice." Brian shrugged. "I was starting to think we weren't going to sing publicly ever."

Kevin shook his head. "Don't think like that Brian. We're gonna make it. It's gonna take us some time, but we'll make it."

"Kev's right." Howie started running his fingers through his curls, worried his nap had messed up his hair. "The five of us sound great together. We gotta make it."

"It's going to take us a while, though." AJ took off his earphones. He had over heard the conversation and just couldn't stop adding his two cents. "It's gonna take a lot of us. I've always read how  great groups went through shit," Kevin flinched and bit his tongue as not to correct AJ, "before actually making it. If we're gonna be big, we'll probably go through some very similar shit."

AJ was only fifteen years old and Kevin couldn't believe just how much the kid cursed. He had been planning on saying something about it, but he knew that AJ would just hate him even more and that was the last thing Kevin wanted.

"Well," Howie shrugged, "the good things is we got a gig, right? We have to make a name for ourselves and no better way to do it than to promote it."

Kevin nodded. "Yeah. It maybe something small, but it's worth it."

"It's not small!" Nick turned around and looked at Kevin. He placed both his hands on Kevin's shoulders to help his balance. "This is Sea World! It's not small!"

Kevin chuckled at Nick's words. "Your right. Sea World it's not small at all. It's just what we were needing."

A knock on the door called the guys' attention. Donna opened it, entering the room with a smile on her face. "Well guys, this is it. You're out in five."

Kevin nodded for the gang. "Thanks."

She smiled again. "I gotta run for a minute, ok? I'll see you guys outside." With that, she left the room once again.

Knowing it was time for them to be ready, Nick hopped off of Kevin's lap. Kevin stood up and saw Nick looking up at him. "Nick?"

Nick was frowning slightly. "Mom said I need to look good today. She's going to be taking many pictures. Do I look good?"

Smiling at the kid, Kevin looked him through. The five of them were wearing very similar outfits. Dressed in dark blue pants, white shirt and sneakers, Nick looked down right adorable. Kevin started running his fingers through the blond locks, brushing Nick's hair after messing it up. "You look great."

Nick gave Kevin a toothy grin that could most certainly light up the room. "Thanks!"

AJ looked at five of them. Grinning madly, he put on his sunglasses. It was a habit he had taken while auditioning for theater. Somehow, it made him looked older and far much wiser than he actually was. That, and it had always allowed him to hide his fear and anxiety in such auditions behind them. "Show time!"

Howie turned around and frowned at him.

Shrugging nonchalantly, AJ chuckled. "What? I always wanted to say that!"

Brian started chuckling as well, shaking his head. "Well, at least that made us forget about nerves for a second."

"That's it baby. I live to serve!"

Nick looked at AJ funny. "Alex? Are you drunk?"

Brian burst up laughing. "Oh, that was rich."

Glaring at the kid, AJ stopped himself before shooting him the finger. "I'm not drunk Nick."

Howie shook his head. "He's telling the truth Nick, he isn't drunk. He's just like that all the time."

Getting in each other's nerves, Kevin couldn't help but smile. At least now they were getting along, which was great in itself. He had been starting to worry. They had been working together for almost two months now and if they didn't learn how to deal with each other, things could have gotten nasty.

"We better get going guys," Kevin said. "It's time."

The four of the nodded, walking out of the room. Smiling, Kevin followed them. Nick turned around, his eyes finding Kevin's. Kevin placed his hand on Nick's shoulder as they walked into what Kevin thought was some sort of lounge. People were talking about the shows and times, going over and over the schedules. There was a food table to the side and the only thing the guys had left to do was wait for their call.

"Don't you think we should pray?"

Kevin thought about Brian's suggestion for a moment. "Yeah, maybe we should." He motioned for Brian to walk over to his side.

Nick nodded. "Mom says praying is always good." Kevin's arm moved over his shoulder once again, pulling the blond close to his side.

"Sure," Howie turned around, waiting for AJ to join him. "J?"

Alex looked at Howie, his eyes squinting behind his shades. "I don't think so."

"Alex," Howie said slowly, "this is important, alright? Just a quick prayer."

AJ sighed softly. He knew religion was rather meaningful for his older friend. Howie was one of the few people he knew still went to church at the age of nineteen. Shrugging, he walked over the rest of the gang.

Kevin placed his other arm around Brian's shoulders, Howie following them and hugging Brian and AJ. AJ, still slightly reluctant, hugged Howie and Nick.

"God," Kevin started, his eyes closed, "illuminate us tonight as we do our first show. The only thing we want is for it go smoothly. Lets us do our best, that's all we ask for. May You watch over us. Amen."

"Amen," Brian said calmly, his eyes still closed after the prayer. He had prayed last night before going to bed and asked for his voice not to crack and not to throw up on stage. He had prayed for Kevin not to worry to much and end up with a coronary at the age of twenty two. He had prayed for the two of them to be calm. He had prayed for the group to sound as good as Brian knew they could sound. And even as much as he wished his family could be here to see him in his performance, Brian knew they were happy for them as he opened his eyes.

Nick nodded confidently. "Amen." He opened his eyes and started biting his upper lip. This was going to be hard. He had sang in front of people before, but this was a whole audience they were talking about. Still, this was what he had been waiting for since his first audition. Placing his hand on his shirt, feeling the crescent moon underneath the clothing, Nick started calming down. Running his fingers through the edge of the pendant through his shirt, Nick smiled softly to himself. It was going to be fine.

Howie crossed himself before saying, "Amen." Taking a deep breath, he smiled peacefully. He knew they were going to do good. The five of them sounded amazing together, they just had to. They had been practicing so hard for the past week -- for the past month -- this was their chance to show them thhey could do it.

Frowning slightly, AJ opened his eyes. "Amen," he said after a moment. He had never been a very religious guy. Most of the things he knew was because after a while, some of Howie's knowledge about it had just rubbed off. He believed in God, that was for sure, but he wasn't really the guy to pray. But if Howie and the guys wanted to do it, to ask God for serenity, then AJ wasn't going to discuss with them. After all, a little bit more help would never hurt anyone.

Donna walked in the room, looking over at the guys. "You're looking amazing fellas. You're gonna do just great."

Howie chuckled slightly. "Yeah, well, we kinda have to, don't we?"

She shrugged politely. "You'll be fine. Just don't get nervous, that's all. Claudia said you were more than ready." Just then a young guy tapped Donna's shoulder, she turned around and nodded. Smiling at the guys, she spoke up. "Well, that's our call. Go out and blow them away."

Kevin nodded, brushing off his shirt. That was something he always did when he was nervous. He was more than nervous actually. This was their first performance and it had to be better than just fine. It had to be perfect.

The five of them walked over to the door leading to the outside and the stage. Before AJ stepped outside, Kevin placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder. AJ looked up at Kevin, half glaring. Before AJ could complain about it, Kevin spoke up. "We're gonna rock, aren't we?"

Somehow, Kevin's words were exactly what AJ needed to get started. And that most certainly put Kevin on AJ's good side -- at least for the night. "We sure are baby."

Brian nodded, a huge smile on his face. "We're gonna be great."

"Amazing!" Nick hopped up and down, excitement visible on his face and his bright blue eyes.

"The best thing they've ever seen!" Howie's voice was high with emotion, his tone teasing.

Kevin nodded. "We're gonna rock."

Smiling at the each other one last time, the five of them walked out of the room and onto the stage for the first time. The first time in what would be many, many performances.