"Ok guys," Donna started, "this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna go in there and show them just how good I know you guys are. That's all you have to do. Just relax and sing like Claudia has been teaching you how. Got it?"

She only waited long enough for the five of them to nod before opening her own door. "Lets get going."

AJ opened the door and jumped off. "My god! Finally, space!"

Brian scowled. "Yeah, well, you weren't the only one crushed in there, let me tell you."

Stepping onto the sunny street, Kevin looked up the building. He checked his watch. They had arrived with five minutes to spare. That was always good. Specially when they were planning on meeting some executives of a Record Company.

Donna grinned at the five of them. She wasn't really sure about this, but it was worth a try. "Ok guys, lets get going."

The five of them entered the building, Donna going ahead. "Good morning," she greeted the secretary at front desk, "we're the Backstreet Boys. We're here to meet Mr. Tapia."

The secretary nodded, picking up the receiver. "Mr. Tapia?" She looked at the five boys, then at Donna. "A group is here to see you. The Backstreet Boys." She nodded, then hanged up. "He'll see you in a minute. Please, take a seat."

Kevin took a seat on the couch, Howie seating by his side. AJ started looking around the place, reading the inscriptions in the many certificates that were hanging on the walls. Brian and Nick stayed standing, talking about a game they were playing. Donna paced back and forth, looking at some of her papers. Donna was always looking at papers, Kevin realized.

"I don't have a good feeling about this one."

Kevin turned around, seeing Howie looking straight ahead. "What do you mean?"

"This isn't going to work out." He focused on Kevin, giving the older man a small smile. "I don't think it's going to end up good."

"You have to be positive."

Howie shook his head. "This got nothing to do with being positive or patient Kevin, you know that. We're five guys with almost no experience whatsoever."

"Yeah but..." Kevin trailed off. Howie was right, Kevin knew that much. What was there for Kevin to say to refute him? He shrugged. "We can give it a try, right?"

Howie nodded, running his fingers through his always uncooperative curls. "Sure. We can give it a try."

Nick's laughter in the quiet room changed the mood. Kevin's eyes moved over to the blonde, who was being attacked by Brian trying his best to make Nick laugh as much as he could. If there was something Brian had found out right away, was that Nick was very ticklish. Very ticklish. Sometimes Brian didn't even have to touch the kid, but only lift his hands threateningly and Nick would squeal right away.

"Shh!" Kevin reprimanded, his eyes wide as he looked at the two kids.

Brian and Nick, their faces full with guilt, nodded. "Sorry," Brian mumbled, then giggled. It was always funny to make Nick squeal with laughter, but it sure wasn't funny if Kevin was going to end up yelling at him.

"Shit," AJ shook his head in amazement, "have you guys seen just how many papers this guy has? There's got to be at least twenty! They even have Platinum albums from their artist."

"They are good AJ, there's no doubt about that." Howie stood up, not being able to stay sitting anymore. "We gotta make a good impression."

"We're gonna rock D! There's nothing for you to worry." AJ put on his sunglasses, grinning madly. "We're the Backstreet boys after all."

Howie gave AJ a small smile, sighing softly as he started looking at the very same certificates AJ had been talking about. If only he could have AJ's security. They were good, of course, but he didn't know if they were good enough to get a record deal.

"Excuse me," the secretary's voice took the five of them for surprise, Nick jumping slightly at the sudden intrusion. "Mr. Tapia is ready to see you."

Donna nodded as Kevin stood up. Donna followed the secretary, the guys behind her. The woman, dressed in a business suit, guided the six of them down a long corridor, turning right. They entered a wide hall, walking towards the door on the left. The secretary knocked softly on the door, opening it right after.

The office was quite large, a long oak desk on the left. Who the guys guessed was Mr. Tapia stood up, smiling at them. "Good morning. It's always good to see new talent."

Donna smiled back. "Thanks Mr. Tapia. This is the group I was telling you about. These are the Backstreet Boys." The guys nodded, trying to give the man their best impression.

Mr. Tapia frowned slightly. "Pretty young."

"Well, that's right, but they've got talent," Donna hurried to reassure. "They've got great voices and the five of them harmonize beautifully."

"Well," he chuckled, "I'll be the judge of that, won't I?"

Forcing a smile on her face, Donna nodded. "Sure." She motioned for the guys to get together.

They formed a semi-circle, from left to right being Brian, Kevin, Nick, AJ and Howie, looking at each other before starting.

Kevin lifted his hand slightly, moving it down. The five of them started the song on the third hit. They had been practicing this song for the past week, wanting to have it just perfect. Donna had let them know about this interview she had gotten them with a record company and the last thing they wanted was to sound flat.

They had barely finished when Mr. Tapia started looking at them critically. "You've got good voices, I have to give you boys that, but you're a little bit too young."

"Talent isn't measure with age Mr. Tapia," Kevin interjected, hoping he wasn't crossing any line.

Mr. Tapia scrawled. "You're too inexperience to know what you're talking about boy."

Kevin bit his lip not to answer. Talent was talent. No matter the age. Nick, for example, was only thirteen but had the voice of an angel. AJ had such an amazing voice, such a wide range, that no one could actually refute it. They were good and he wasn't going to let anyone say otherwise.

The man took a step forward, coming closer to the boys. He looked at them slowly, like sizing them up to a personal table he had when it came down to passion and talent. And for the look on his face, they weren't doing any good. Mr. Tapia looked at Nick and AJ twice before gazing at Kevin and Howie. He hadn't even given Brian a second look. They didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Still, somewhere in the back of their minds, they knew it was a bad a thing. Everything about them looked like a bad thing when it came down to this man.

"I'm sorry," he started, not looking sorry at all, "you just aren't what we're looking for."

"This five men here are good singers Mr. Tapia. I'm sure you can see that." Donna said seriously, not giving up an inch. "They deserve an opportunity."

"I'm sure they do Ms. White," he said coyly, "but they won't have such an opening in my company. They are too... New Kids On The Block for my taste." He shook his head. "Pop isn't exactly hip right now, if you know what I'm saying. Grunge and rap at on." He took another step forward, standing right in front of Nick. "Besides, they are a little too young and boyish for my taste," Mr. Tapia said, placing his hand on either side of Nick's face and pressing his cheeks together.

Kevin, who was standing by Nick's side, advance towards the man and placed his arm around Nick's chest, pulling the boy to his chest protectively. "Don't touch him." He stated coldly. Kevin placed both arms around Nick's chest, keeping Nick close to him, shooting daggers at the man.

The man chuckled, turning around and walking back to his desk, not giving the guys another look. "It doesn't matter. We're not interested. Thank you and the door is on your left."

Donna wanted to tell the man something, to tell him just what kind of a moron he was for letting this guys go, she wanted to tell him exactly what he was going to die of, but she kept her mouth shut. He'd see. Oh, he'd see. She'd make him see exactly how stupid he had been.

"Come on guys," she said, motioning them to the door, "lets get going."

Kevin moved his arm to Nick's shoulder, still angered at the man's words, his instinct to protect the guys is totally high.

They stayed quiet until the door closed after him.

"What an asshole!" AJ was the first to yell to the door, making sure the man had heard him. "Mother fucker!"

"AJ!" Kevin hissed loudly, placing his hand on the kid's shirt and pulling him towards the corridor on their right.

AJ shrugged it off, fuming. "He's a moron Kevin, you can't say otherwise. Who does he think--"

"Alex, please," Donna glared at him, silencing him with a look, "we gotta leave."

Pressing his lips tight, Alex didn't say anything. He was biting his tongue, that was more than obvious, but he was staying quiet, just like Donna had asked him to.

They walked won the corridor, turned left, glared at the secretary who was looking at them funny, probably guessing what Mr. Tapia had told them, then turned right once again. It was only when they reached the street that Donna let herself fume out.

"AGH!" She turned around, glaring at the closed glass doors that led into the building. "What an idiot! I can't believe there are such morons in this industry! AGH!!!" Donna closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, trying her best to calm down. "Ok," she said, a little bit calmer, "this didn't go as I had planned."

Kevin gave Donna an apologetic smile. "We tried our best Donna, no one can say different. We did our best shot and if they think we aren't good enough, then it's them who are wrong."

Donna paused for a second, taking a good look at Kevin. It was right that he was twenty one, the older in the band, but he was also the one with the most passive and calm nature of the bunch. Brian and Nick were kids at heart. AJ was impulsive and imperative. Howie, on the other side, kept, along with Kevin, the balance of the group. He was also of a centered nature. But Kevin was the one with the most maturity, not matter his age.

She smiled. "Yeah," her voice was now within range, "you're right." She chuckled, mussing Nick's hair and laughing even harder when the blond tried to move away, "You did your very best guys. I'm very proud of you. You did great. Claudia would have been proud."

"Still," Howie said sadly, "we didn't get the job, now did we?"

Donna shook her head. "Maybe you didn't, but it was their loose, that's for sure." She placed her arm around Brian's shoulder, hugging him to her side as the boy chuckled. "When you're famous singers and every single company wants to sign a contract with you, you'll be able to turn that jerk down."

AJ nodded. "The fuck we will! He'll see." He turned around, yelling at the closed door. "IDIOT!"

Kevin gasped, wanting nothing more than place his hand on AJ's mouth so the kid would stop yelling curses back and forth.

Howie chuckled, pulling his friend off the closed door. "AJ, please, try to keep your cool."

"He's a moron!"

"We know that and he knows that, that's more than enough." Howie shrugged. "It's his lost."

"Yep," Donna agreed, a lopsided smile on her lips, "totally his lost." She sighed. It was the company's lost, that was for sure, but it didn't erase the sinking feeling that it was an opportunity down the drain. "Come on," her voice hid her bother, "lets get going."

The five of them got into the car, taking the positions they had been assigned when they came. Howie sat on the passenger side, looking out the window. He had been right. This just wasn't the chance they had been waiting for. It had totally sucked. Howie shook his head slightly. He couldn't think like that. There were going to be rougher times and there'd be no other way but to face them as good as they could.

Kevin entered first, scooting over as much as he could so the four of them could enter. Nick followed, Brian right behind. AJ sat, closing the door after him. Moron, he couldn't help but think. Asshole. Idiot for saying that to us. You'll see, he thought sourly, you'll fucking see. We'll make you see. We're the Backstreet Boys, do you hear me? We're the Backstreet Boys and we'll make you see.

Nick turned around, staring at Kevin for a second. He didn't want to interrupt Kevin, if the older man was thinking, so the blond thought starting at him, silently asking for permission to speak, wasn't such a bad idea.

Kevin, feeling Nick's eyes on him, turned his attention from the passing view to the young boy. Giving Nicky a tender smile, Kevin spoke up, "Something wrong Nicky?"

Nick stayed silent for a second. "Do you think we did our best?"

"Oh, Nicky," Kevin placed his arm around the boy's shoulders, pulling him to his chest, "of course we did Nick. You can't think different. We tried."

Nick looked up at Kevin, blue eyes meeting green ones. "But we didn't get the job."

"Yeah," he sighed softly, "we didn't. But it wasn't because we didn't give the best of us. We sang great and all the work really paid off. If that man didn't like us, then it's because he's too short sighted to know what's good for him and his company." Kevin drew Nick to his chest, hugging him tightly, in a rather weird impulse for joking, chuckling softly along Nick's laugher. "We did great Nick. I can tell you that much."

Placing his head on the older man's shoulder, Nick accommodated himself on Kevin's chest. He scooted towards Kevin as much as he could, not wanting Brian to be uncomfortable either. "We'll get a record deal, right?"

Kevin placed his head on Nick's own, smiling softly. Brian took that very same moment to turn towards his older cousin, his very own blue eyes having the very same query Nick had voiced. Kevin smiled brighter, giving himself more confidence when he saw Brian smiling back at him. "We will," Kevin stated, not only to Nick, but to Brian as well. AJ's unconvinced eyes from the window to Kevin's strong ones. Kevin nodded, more to Alex than to himself. "We will," his voice held a security he hadn't felt in a long time, "we will."