Part 8

“Oh my God, he’s not here,” Justin panted, tearing apart the sleeping bags. Nick groaned as a sleeping bag hit him in the face. “Oh my God, oh my God..”

“Hey, he’s here somewhere,” Nick said, placing a hand on Justin’s shoulder while the other rubbed the newly formed red spot on his face. “He’s fine. This is JC we’re talking about. I haven’t seen anyone, other than Kevin, who can take better care of himself. He’s like Martha Stewart, without boobs. Or like a pre-written script of 7th Heaven. You know they always know what to do and always do the right thing before the hour’s up...”

Justin was too frantic, his mind racing with worst case scenarios, to even notice that Nick was comforting him.

“Justin, what’s wrong with you?”

Justin turned around, and without a second thought, rushed over to the voice. JC’s eyes widened at the sudden embrace he found himself in. His arms circled around Justin protectively while he eyed Nick and Kevin suspiciously.

Kevin rolled his eyes when he saw how JC was watching them.

“Ju, buddy, are you okay? What happened?”

“The lump, JC, the lump. It exists. Poor Chris, he’s scared. Worse than that time when that fan ripped out his dreadlock. There’s blood, and me and Nick saw it all with Alice-”

“Wait, wait, what?” JC asked, pulling away from Justin. The youngest member of their group was actually shaking. “What do you mean Chris? Chris is supposed to be in the shack-”

JC was suddenly thrown down from behind. He fell down on top of Justin and looked beneath him to see Justin giving him a weird look.

“I’m not THAT happy to see you, JC,” Justin said, trying to breath through the weight crushing his chest. “And first thing I’m getting you when we get home is a package plan from Jenny Craig.”

“Oomph,” JC groaned as the arms he just realized were around his waist, tightened.

“Is that you, Chris?” Justin asked, trying to look over JC’s shoulder at the figure on top of him. “Cause it smells like you.”

Nick and Kevin started laughing. They were quite a sight, with Justin and Chris sandwiching JC.

“I always thought there was something funny about them,” Nick muttered to Kevin.

“I didn’t think,” Kevin muttered back. “I knew.”

“I’ve never been so glad to see you, JC!” Chris yelled happily. “I ran in here after Kevin, and Justin didn’t see you in here, so I ran out to look for you, but then I thought I saw you coming in here, and you’re here!”

Chris made less sense than usual.

“Chris, are you taking those pills again?” JC asked. “You know you’re only supposed to take one at a time,” JC said, trying to take a deep breath so he could breathe. JC tried to squirm out of Chris’ strong grasp and off of Justin, but Chris was too strong and heavy. “Hey, bud, I’m glad to see you, too, but uh...I don’t want to be seeing Justin or feeling you this close, ‘kay?”

The weight lifted off of JC and pulled him off the ground. Justin took Chris’ outstretched hand, and Justin and Chris both engulfed JC with a hug again. JC watched Nick and Kevin from over their shoulders to see if they had anything to do with the frantic behavior of his best friends.

JC pulled back to look at Justin and Chris. “Guys, what happened? J, who in the heck is Alice?”

“She’s the girl I met who let me into the tent to-”

“Something’s trying to kill me and you’re trying to get some?!” Chris yelled, smacking Justin on his head.

Justin smacked Chris back. “I wasn’t trying to get any! Me and Nick were trying to watch the feed to see what was going on in there!” Justin smacked Chris again on his head. “That’s for going into that back room alone!”

Chris raised his hand to hit Justin back, but JC grabbed his hand. “WHAT about blood and going into back rooms alone? What happened?” JC asked again, trying not to get annoyed. If they weren’t hugging, they were beating the crap out of each other.

“I couldn’t sit still,” Chris said.

“What did I tell you about taking more than one pill at a time?” JC scolded.

Chris hit JC, annoyed, on his arm. “I’m not taking any freaking pills! I was uncomfortable and...” Chris looked at Nick and Kevin watching him, and he was almost happy to see that they weren’t amused or smiling. Although Kevin was just standing there, Nick was actually looking at Chris concerned. He hated how them not laughing at him was what was going to make it easier for him to admit how he felt in that shack. “And I was scared. I felt something fly by me, so I got up. I thought they were just trying to scare me, and I was going to show them that it wasn’t going to work. To hell with trying to help them with their damn ratings. So I went deeper into the shack, and that room....” Chris trailed off. He could barely remember it without freaking, much less have to reiterate the memory aloud.

Justin put an arm around Chris. “And Chris saw the lump and heard screeching. He said that Nick had heard it on the island, too. Me and Nick saw weird drawings on the wall; Chris said the symbols were painted with blood. BLOOD, JC!” Justin rambled everything in what JC was sure was two seconds. Justin shook his head.

“If that FUCK had anything to do with this,” Justin yelled, talking about Steven, “I’m going to personally throw his ass off of that cliff!”

“What about you, Kevin?” JC asked. “You just magically slept through all of this, right?”

“I’m a heavy sleeper,” Kevin said. He didn’t owe JC any explanations.

Chris looked at Kevin goofily. “You sure freaking are. You’re like JC. He can outsleep hibernating bears.”

“I am NOT like JC!”

“I am NOT like Kevin!” came the simultaneous replies.

Everyone looked at Kevin and JC.

“That’s just scary by itself,” Nick mumbled.

“Kevin and JC,” Justin weighed on one hand. “Scary lump that blinks and breathes,” Justin said, raising the other hand to outweigh the other. Justin reweighed the options and looked at the door. “Who wants to go with me to find that lump?” Justin kidded.

Chris lost whatever small smile had made it’s way to his face when his memories of that night replayed once again.

“Those symbols,” Chris whispered.

JC looked at Chris. “What about those symbols? You said they were written in blood?”

“But they weren’t there when Kevin came in,” Nick spoke up. “Kevin said he didn’t see anything on the wall.”

“Let’s go to the feed, okay, guys? I’ll understand better if I can see, but it’ll be okay,” JC said, ignoring Nick. “There’s nothing out there. It’s a stupid folklore, and they’re trying to scare us. If we’re already scared, everything around us will spook us, like that,” JC said, snapping his fingers. “If we’re freaked, we’ll freak on each other. Don’t give the cameras what they want, okay? Nothing’s out there, and we’re all going to be okay because we’re together.”

JC was glad to see that Chris and Justin were smiling at him. He could still see the fear in their eyes and the uncertainty behind their smiles, but at least they were TRYING to smile. He didn’t know how he did it, but when it came to those four guys, he could always come up with what to say. Every time it came to trying to make them feel better, the words just spilled out of his mouth. They were the most important people to him. He remembered Lance and Joey and hoped they weren’t too worried about them. He let Justin and Chris walk ahead of him and stopped Nick and Kevin.

“I swear, if I find out that you two had ANYTHING to do with what happened tonight, you’re going to wish that you’d been voted off this island a long time ago.” JC was in both their faces. As long as he’d been with Justin and Chris, he’d never seen them so scared before in his life. “I love those two more than anything, and no one, not even some stupid imaginary black lump, is ever going to do to them what happened tonight AGAIN. Not while I’m around, so watch yourselves.”

JC turned around and jogged to catch up with Justin and Chris. He pushed himself in between them and tossed his arms around their shoulders.

“He thinks he can say that and just walk away?” Kevin was already speeding up to meet JC when Nick grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“Kev, have you ever seen me that scared? That freaked?”

“Are you talking about the time when AJ hid your Nintendo, and you got so scared you peed?”

Nick looked around to make sure that no one had heard, and he hit Kevin when he started laughing. “Shut up!” Nick hissed. When he was sure NSYNC hadn’t heard one of his more embarrassing moments, he asked Kevin again. “For real, Kev.”

Kevin stopped and looked at Nick, not understanding the point behind his question. “Yeah, that night you thought you first saw the lump. We found you praying at camp.”

“Not a lump I THOUGHT I saw, Kev. The lump I saw. It’s there, and I hope you don’t have to figure that out the way me and Chris had to.” Nick took a breath. “How did you feel when you saw me like that? Practically unraveling right there in front of your eyes?”

Kevin’s eyes softened when he realized the point that the suddenly grown up man in front of him was trying to make. When he found Nick scared out of his mind, his first thought was that NSYNC had been behind it, and he wanted to tear them apart worse than Britney had the Rolling Stones song she’d tried to cover. Had Nick not been so scared, he would’ve left him to go and find them to bitch them out right then and there. He remembered being so angry that he couldn’t even slow his breathing.

Kevin put an arm around Nick as they began to walk to the feedback tent.

“Point taken, little man.”

“JC’s just pissed because he doesn’t believe there’s anything out here, and that would mean that the only other people who could be trying to scare them is us. He doesn’t want to see Justin and Chris that lost and it’s tearing at him, just like I know it tore you up to see me losing it that night.”

Kevin shook his head, knowing that Nick probably couldn’t really make out the motion with the darkness. “Nicky.....”

Kevin didn’t even know how to say it. How to say how proud he was that Nick was so grown up that he could show Kevin, of all people, how wrong he was. How he could make things clearer for Kevin, make him calm down, and how happy he was that Nick wasn’t just talking to talk, he was talking because he KNEW. Somewhere in the last eight years, Nick had grown with wisdom, and no matter how many times Kevin realized it, it shocked him every time to know that Nick wasn’t that whiny, skinny twelve year old anymore. Well, at least he wasn’t ALL the time.

Kevin smiled.

“What?” Nick asked when Kevin didn’t continue.

Kevin looked at him. How could he say all of that in the right words? How could he say that Nick REALLY was his brother? That not even the lack of the same blood could tear them apart or change that?

“I love ya, man,” Kevin said simply.

Nick nodded with a smile, understanding. “I know, Kev. I know.”

JC’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion as the scene played before him again....and again....and again.

It couldn’t be.

Chris and Justin exchanged worry looks. JC was looking skeptical. That wasn’t good. That was as good as an idiot like Bush becoming President.

“I was sure that guy from Korn would get hair plugs before JC looked skeptical,” Justin whispered to Chris. “But here he is. All skeptical-ized.”

“Skeptical-ized, J?” Chris asked.

“What?” Justin asked innocently.

“Do you believe it, JC?” Chris squeaked. Chris cleared his throat when he saw Nick stifle a giggle. “Do you believe it, JC?” Chris asked again, his voice deeper.

“Yeah, JC. Do you believe it?” Nick asked, making his voice deeper, also.

Chris shot Nick an annoyed look. Couldn’t they go a straight hour just getting along?

JC shot Nick an annoyed look before turning to Chris and Justin. “It’s just them fixing it up with graphics and stuff. They’re trying to scare us.”

Alice shook her head. “We were watching the feed live, JC.” She stupidly smiled at saying JC’s name. It was like she knew him. “They can’t fix the video up with graphics until after it’s taped. They have to do it on a computer. I don’t think they can do it live.”

"If they really wanted to scare you, they'd take away Justin's bandanna," Nick smiled innocently.

Justin shot Nick a look.

JC was quick to pounce on Alice’s uncertainty. “You don’t think? Meaning you’re not sure?”

The young girl’s face was filled with uncertainty. “No, I don’t know for sure, but I wouldn’t say that I thought it was impossible if I didn’t think so.”

Justin looked at JC wide-eyed. JC shook his head. Justin was always the first to believe the worst. When there was talk about some asteroid hitting Earth a couple of years ago, Justin was the one trying to convince his parents to build an underground shelter.

“JC, it’s true! There’s a lump out there that wants to sacrifice us!” Justin said frantically.

“And we thought what Joey wore to the MTV Awards was bad,” Chris muttered.

“It’s okay, Justin. You’re too pretty to die,” Nick smiled.

Justin turned around. “What the HELL is your problem?”

“Nothing,” Nick shrugged. The truth was that Nick had been completely annoyed and angry over the fact that he had finally been trying to be nice to Justin, and Justin had acted like a jerk to him anyway. Typical Justin behavior. But who could blame him? Anyone would be pissed having to carry around that much hair.

“Don’t try and act like you’re not scared, Carter,” Justin scoffed. “You know you were so close to peeing your pants!”

Nick smirked. “Looks like Chris got closer.”

Everyone turned to look at the crotch of Chris’ shorts, and Chris turned a bright shade of red. His hands weren’t quick enough to hide the wet stain.

“Fuck you,” Chris muttered.

“What?” Nick yelled. “I didn’t hear you!” Nick said mockingly.

“You were cool a second ago,” Justin said, not wanting to let it go. “What crawled up your ass? Kevin? You guys should really keep that stuff private.”

Nick and Kevin made a face at the vulgarity and indecency of Justin’s remark. Even JC made a face. Chris just laughed.

“I heard they renamed our state back home in your honor. Congratulations,” Nick smiled.

“What?” Justin asked, confused. When had they done that?

“Fro-ida just won’t be the same, though.”

Even Kevin laughed. Justin and Nick seemed to just get sillier and sillier everyday.

“Guys, stop it,” Steven said.

Everyone looked at Steven slightly surprised. Through the rewinds, forwards, and pausing of the video tapes, Steven had been uncharacteristically quiet through it all. He hadn’t offered any explanations the way he usually did.

Kevin had been watching him since he’d entered the tent. He looked more scared than Justin and Chris put together, but Kevin had just figured that that was just an act to try and heighten their paranoia.

Steven rolled his eyes when everyone turned away from him as if he’d said nothing. Why should tonight be different from any other day?

“Look,” Steven said, shaking his head to erase the memory that wouldn’t go away, “JC’s going to keep saying it’s graphics, Justin and Chris are going to keep saying it isn’t, Kevin’s going to agree with JC, and Nick’s going to agree with Kevin for the sake of not agreeing with Justin.” Everyone looked at Steven surprised. He had gotten to know them pretty well. “You can watch that feed a hundred times, but you all already have your minds made up. We need to have Tribal Council before it gets any later,” Steven finished, covering his yawn. How was he going to fall back to sleep now?

“Tribal council?” Nick asked, confused. He looked at Kevin fearfully. Kevin hadn’t run out first, had he? He didn’t want to be left on the island alone. What even happened when it was just one left?

“Tribal council?” JC repeated.

“Tribal council?” Justin also asked.

Nick looked at the small smile on Chris’ face. “Go ahead, Chris. You know you’re gonna.”

Chris lost his smile. “Well, it’s not so funny now.”

Nick smiled when he saw the familiar jutting of the lip and puppy dog eyes. How many times had he done that?

“Tribal council?” Chris repeated anyway.

Kevin rolled his eyes. “Who’s going to Tribal Council?” Kevin asked.

“NSYNC.”

“What?” JC straightened.

“US?” Justin said, his eyes angry. “Kevin ran out of the hut, too!”

“BUT,” Steven started, taking a deep breath. He so did not feel like fighting with them so late at night. “Chris ran out of the shack first. The challenge was the first one to leave the shack, loses. Not who stays in the shack the entire night.”

Justin’s angry frown softened as he saw the unmistakable slump in Chris’ shoulders. “It’s okay, man. Don’t worry about it.”

Chris shook his head. “If I could have just waited the night out....we could have won. Then only one of them would be left against us three....” Chris trailed off.

“There would have been no way that we could have lost then. Now it’s just evened up again.”

“Don’t worry about it,” JC said, throwing an arm over Justin’s. He gently knocked Chris on the side of his head.

“I should be the one to go,” Chris said. He cut JC and Justin off as they opened their mouths in protest. “No, I should! You two are the most athletic ones. This isn’t about hurt feelings. This is about winning.”

Justin and JC looked at each other, and Chris knew they wouldn’t fight it. How could they? Him being logical was a once a year type of thing.

“Besides,” Chris smiled, wiggling his eyebrows. “A guy can only go so long without, you know,” Chris winked.

JC playfully punched Chris’ shoulder. “You dog!”

Justin laughed. “You’re such a jerk!”

“Why?” Chris asked, pretending to be confused. “Because I want to check my e-mail?”

JC laughed, shaking his head. Chris knew they had been thinking of something else.

“You’re a goof.” JC sighed, repeatedly blinking to fight his tears. This was the last time they were going to see Chris in he didn’t know how long. Chris was the one who made them laugh, who was always trying to instigate everything, who was always driving him NUTS. He was going to miss him. “At least now we know that Nick Carter’s safe.”

“From what?” Justin asked, confused.

“From you two,” JC smiled. “You can’t do anything now, Curly. Mo’s gonna be gone.”

“Yuck-yuck!” Chris said, imitating one of the Stooges. He cut his fingers scissor like and aimed them for Justin’s eyes. Justin raised his hand to block the attack and made the same ridiculous noises that Chris was making.

JC laughed at his two best friends. “You’re BOTH goofs.”

“This is your final challenge.”

Steven tried not to laugh at the relieved, scared, and shocked faces the four remaining men were wearing on their faces the next morning.

“Final challenge?” Nick repeated.

One of the people from the staff started passing out toy guns and vests to each of the guys.

“What are these for?” Justin asked. He aimed the gun at Steven.

“Your challenge. You will each individually be dropped off at different ends of the island. We have tracers on your vest so we will know where you are at all times. If you encounter trouble, there is a button at the top of your vest. Push it, and you can use it as a walky talky to come in contact with someone from the staff. The button is only for emergencies, not if you get thirsty or hungry or feel like you need more mousse.”

“Why are you looking at me?” Justin asked, annoyed.

“Survival of the fittest is the last challenge,” Steven continued. “You are hunting down your opposing team. The gun is a laser/mechanical gun. Shoot anywhere on the vest and it will flash and lightly electrocute you. It’s just a small vibration,” Steven said as the worried faces set. “It’s so you know you’ve been hit and that you’re out. If you try to shoot your gun after you’ve been electrocuted and you hit the other target, you are immediately disqualified and your team loses. Once you’re hit, you’re out. Got that?”

Steven looked at all of them to make sure they were understanding the rules. Their careers were riding on this last challenge, and he didn’t want them to misunderstand anything. The guys all nodded.

“Once you’re out, hit the button on your vest so that someone can go out and get you. Remember, you’re on a monitor and your location is ALWAYS tracked, so sit down and wait. Don’t keep moving because you might be moving farther away from the person going to get you. The computer keeps track of exactly what time you were taken out of the game. The second your vest goes off, the computer sets the time, down to the second. Once everyone has been hit and brought back to camp, the computer will automatically tally which team was taken out first. We’ll have our losers and our winners.”

They all gulped. This was it. This could be either the greatest day ever, or the worst day of their lives.

Nick looked down at his gun.

And it all depended on who found who first.

Kevin looked down at his gun and vest. He shook his head gingerly, not believing that this was their last challenge after everything they had been through. Through eating worms, having to deal with Mandy all over again, and swimming with supposed sharks, this was what their lives depended on? Their careers depended on whether or not they were lucky enough to hit the other before being spotted?

Greaaaaat.

Kevin heard a crack and a furry animal scurried across his path. He shook his head again, running a hand through his long hair. Poor Nick must be freaking out. He was already convinced that there was something out there that wanted to sacrifice them. Being alone was going to be a terror for him. He knew Nick had grown up, but he also knew that no matter how much Nick grew up, his imagination would always take control over what he knew made sense.

Kevin began to slowly make himself further into the trees. He just hoped that this didn’t go into nightfall. Then screw their game. He was going to try and find Nick and make sure he didn’t have to be alone out there.

Kevin stopped when he thought he heard another crack. His eyes quickly surveyed the perimeters surrounding him when the sight of bushes moving forced his body to go into automatic. His legs quickly lowered himself to the ground to try and hide himself from whoever could be behind the bushes. He raised the gun, evening it up with his eye level and targeting it to the bushes, his finger settling itself onto the trigger. He patiently and quietly waited for the figure to emerge from the bushes.

And he smiled.

One down, one to go.

Justin rewrapped his bandanna around his head tighter. It was so hot out there. He wished he had one of those rubberband things that Britney was always messing with.

He wished he had Britney.

Justin sighed. “I’m almost home, Brit. Almost home.”

Justin sighed again, wondering where JC was. He looked around the trees that seemed to swallow him up. He was trying his hardest to NOT think about the thing that lived out there. The thing that had scared Chris so badly the night before that he peed on himself. The thing that was scaring Justin so badly that he wished he’d brought Depends instead of those damn oranges that he didn’t even get to eat. Damn Lance and Joey.

Justin smiled, remembering his friends. He wondered if they were laughing at how much of a baby he was being.

“At least I’m not Chris. I can just imagine how much they’re ragging on him right now.”

Justin lost his smile when he realized how lucky Chris was. He was home with the people he loved, and he had Lance and Joey laughing and joking with him. What he wouldn’t give for him and JC to be back home with them and their families already.

Justin squinted up into the sky, trying to see past the trees.

Soon. Soon they’d be home. He just hoped this didn’t carry off into the night.

Justin looked around.

He didn’t want to know what he could find when it got darker.

“Stay where you are and someone will be there in an estimated time of twenty minutes.”

“I am NOT sitting here for twenty minutes with him!”

“And I don’t want to sit here for twenty minutes with him, either!”

The voice coming from the small speaker sighed. “Then wait back to back and pretend the other isn’t there. Out.”

“Hey!” JC yelled. “Hello?! I’m calling you!” He stared at the speaker as he was ignored. “Great,” JC muttered, yanking his vest off.

All he knew was one second he was trying to get through some bushes he had walked into, and the next he had gotten electrocuted with all the lights on his vest going off. And to catch the smug smile on Kevin’s face didn’t make the situation anymore perfect.

And there it was again. That smug smile he had so wanted to knock off their first day there.

First day there. Wow. That seemed like so long ago. And now here they were. Their last day.

“Guess you’re not as important as you thought, huh?”

JC ignored him. He wasn’t going to give in to Kevin Richardson.

“Don’t worry. I knew it all along,” Kevin laughed. “All Nicky needs to do is shoot Justin’s fro and we’re outta here. Don’t worry, JC. It won’t be too long.”

“Why are you like this?” JC asked suddenly.

Kevin blinked at him, not expecting that as his response. “Like what?”

“So damn condescending when it comes to us? You never liked us from the get go. I get it’s about Lou, but you’re old enough to know that now it’s just petty bullshit. You know we never did anything wrong. Lou screwed you over. I’m sorry.”

Kevin watched JC wide-eyed. Where was this coming from?

“But that’s not our fault. And I’m even more sorry that you truly believe it is,” JC finished.

Kevin opened his mouth, but was cut off by Steven.

“Congratulations, Kevin. Your shot is the first one marked on the computer, so now it’s up to Nick and Justin.”

Kevin looked away from JC and to Steven, instantly forgetting what he was going to say. “You got here quick.”

“Yeah, well, they said that JC was bitching.”

JC looked at Steven shocked. He had never been so blunt with them before. He had always smiled, swallowed down whatever he wanted to say, and just let them get away with their crude remarks.

“This is the last day and you are officially out of the game. I don’t have to watch shit around you anymore,” Steven said, smiling. He could not wait to be rid of them.

“What happens if Justin shoots Nick?” Kevin asked suddenly. “Wouldn’t we be tied up?”

“Yeah, we’ve got that taken care of. There’s an “Emergency Challenge” to back this one up in case of a tie.” Steven looked at them and rolled his eyes when they made no move to get up. “Ready to go, guys?”

Kevin stood up. “How’s Nick doing?”

“How’s Justin doing?” JC asked.

Steven turned around with the guide to get back to the set up camp.

“Let’s go and find out.”

Nick sighed again, running a hand through his hair. Just wonderful. It was hot, he was sweating, he was hungry, and his mission was to find a skinny guy who thought he knew everything and a curly haired jerk who talked too much.

“Just how I wanted to spend my afternoon, too.”

Nick looked around, wishing he’d spot a berry to munch on while he looked for the attack of Justin’s hair. He was sure it was thicker than the bushes he was managing himself around. Couldn’t be hard to find red, blondish hair.

Over the days, the dye had begun to come out and had made Justin look even more ridiculous. He had patches of his natural blonde hair and patches of Nick’s masterpiece.

Nick chuckled. Justin was a cross between scary and scarier.

“Speaking of fro-ness, where the hell is that boy?”

Nick froze in his spot.

No, he was seeing things. He had to be seeing things. Please let him be seeing things. PRETTY please let him be seeing things.

“With cherries on top,” Nick choked out.

The black lump.

“It’s a rock. That’s all it is.”

Nick took a step back.

“A rock that breaths. A fucking rock that breathes.”

Nick turned around to run, but his foot caught onto something, and he fell. He yelled, his hand accidentally hitting the button on his chest.

And everything went black.

“What’s going on here?” JC asked as they returned to camp.

Everyone was running around frantically, yelling things into their walky talky’s. “....Carter...” a voice breezed by.

Kevin’s head immediately raised. “Nick? What’s going on?” he asked, but the person was already gone. “What’s going on?” Kevin asked the next person who passed, but they ignored him.

Kevin grabbed the next person by their shirt collar and shoved them into his face. The stunned man gaped into Kevin’s angry green eyes.

“What....is...going...on?!” Kevin yelled, enunciating each word.

“Uh, um, Mr. Carter’s transmitter went out. The last thing we have recorded from him is a frantic yell. We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to get him,” the man rambled out.

JC shook his head. If this was the man’s way of getting Kevin off his back, he was going about it all wrong. With what he’d just told Kevin, he might as well have super glued himself to Kevin’s hip.

“The computer only keeps track of their whereabouts while the transmitter’s on. It won’t automatically track where they were once it turns off, so we’re trying to estimate his location. We know he wandered into the deep part of the woods,” the man took a deep breath as Kevin’s big hands dug deeper into his shirt, “but people are on their way there right now, Mr. Richardson.”

“How can they be on their way if they don’t know where he’s at?” Kevin growled.

“They’re going to where the estimation of his location is. They have a bullhorn and a loud speaker. Mr. Carter should hear them and yell out his location, sir.”

“Bullhorn and loudspeaker? THAT’S how you’re going to find Nick?!”

JC pulled the man out of Kevin’s death grip. “It’s not his fault, Kevin,” JC said, straightening the poor man’s shirt out.

Even though the man was obviously shaken up by Kevin, he continued to stand there respectfully. “Sir, is there anything else I can answer for you?”

“Who’s in charge of this search?”

“He’s already left, Mr. Richardson, but Mr. Richards is being caught up on everything if you’d like to talk to him.”

Kevin gritted his teeth. “Yes, get Mr. Richards out here right now.”

The man scurried away, and JC shook his head. “Why are you taking your attitude out on that innocent man?”

“For the same reason you pounced on me and Nick last night. You were worried about Chris and Justin, and we were the ones there for you to bitch at.”

JC opened his mouth, but closed it. Damn the dinosaur for being right.

A thought suddenly entered JC’s head. Justin.

“Hey,” JC yelled, catching sight of Steven. He ran to catch up with him, Kevin following closely. They pushed their way inside the small entourage surrounding Steven. JC’s eyebrows furrowed in worry. Everyone was going nuts over Nick’s radar disappearing from the screen. Maybe this was really serious. “Where’s Justin?” JC asked.

“Right here.”

JC turned around and ran to Justin, placing a playful hand on Justin’s head. He gently ruffled Justin’s bandanna. “You okay, bud?”

“Yeah, but what the hell’s going on?” Justin asked, shooting annoyed glances at the four men around him. “I wasn’t hit yet.” Justin’s face brightened. “You got Nick and Kevin?!” He quickly hugged JC, relieved.

“No, no, little man,” JC said, pulling back. He felt his own face deflate at the disappointed look on Justin’s. “I got hit by Kevin.”

Justin’s face filled with confusion. “But that leaves me and....”

“Nick Carter...” someone passing by was saying into a phone.

“Yeah, him. That leaves me and Carter. Why did these muscleheads pull me out of the woods?”

“Nick’s missing,” JC sighed, running a hand through his hair. The more he thought about it, the more worried he got.

Justin glanced over to where Kevin was, and he was arguing with Steven.

“Missing?” Justin asked. Justin shook his head when he noticed he’d gulped. “But-but we have these transmitter’s,” Justin said, lifting the shoulder part of his vest.

“Something happened. They have a recorded yell from Nick, and everything went out. They lost his location and don’t know where he’s at.”

Justin’s head immediately shot up at the darkening sky. “It’s getting late, JC. He can’t stay out there alone.”

“HE CAN’T STAY OUT THERE ALONE!” Kevin yelled at Steven.

JC turned around. “Looks like you’re not the only one who thinks so.”

Justin and JC made their way to a screaming Kevin.

“Kevin, we’re doing the best we can,” Steven said. “I promise you we are.”

“Steven, we’re leaving,” the leader of the second search team yelled.

“I’m going with you,” Kevin yelled.

“NO, you’re not,” Steven said, putting a hand on Kevin’s chest to stop him.

Kevin ripped Steven’s hand off of him and pushed him. “Like hell you’re telling me what to do.”

“You’re not going, Kevin. Think about this for a second. You have NO experience to go out there and it’s getting late. What good are you going to do Nick if you get lost, too, and we have to disengage one of the search party’s looking for him to look for you?”

Kevin stopped when he realized the sense that Steven was making. He ripped his vest off and threw it as hard as he could when he realized that Nick was alone, and there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

Nick woke up groggily, shaking his head to clear up his vision.

“Damn,” Nick mumbled, instantly grabbing his head to stop the pounding. “Did I suddenly grow Justin’s hair or what? Why does my head hurt so much?”

Then, suddenly, everything flooded back into his still throbbing head and Nick jumped up from the floor, still gripping his head in pain. He quickly looked around, but the lump wasn’t there anymore.

“I know I didn’t imagine it. I know I didn’t,” Nick breathed uneasily. He tried to walk, but fell back down, groaning in pain as his ankle shouted out in protest. “Please don’t let me have a sprained ankle. Please don’t let me have a sprained ankle. Please don’t let me have a sprained ankle.” Nick tried to stand again and fell against a tree. “Like I ever get what I ask for,” Nick grunted, hopping on one leg to a fallen log. He sat down, slowly taking his shoe off. “And I thought Kevin’s head was fat,” he muttered as he inspected his swollen ankle.

Nick’s strained face was slowly turning into what he was sure was a bright shade of red. He couldn’t remember being in so much pain before. His face suddenly brightened. He quickly pushed down on the button of his vest.

“Hello? Hello, is anyone there? I’m hurt, and I need help.” Nick lifted his finger off of the button and waited for a response.

And waited. And waited.

“Hello?” Nick said, pushing the button again. It suddenly came loose and Nick saw that one of the wires attached to it had been torn. “Just fucking great!” Nick yelled. It must have torn when he fell down.

“Just great,” Nick repeated, a little more quietly. “I hate being alone,” Nick muttered. He would have even preferred Justin’s company. Nick’s face immediately scrunched up. “Justin?” Nick’s squinted eyes peered up at the disappearing sun. “It’s not that hot, is it? I’m going delusional.”

Nick began to take in his surroundings, and he literally felt his steady heart rate quicken. He knew he hadn’t been seeing things and that he had seen the lump, so it was out there somewhere.

He was in who knew what part of the woods with no way to contact anyone, and he was lost. And worse than that, he was alone.

“JC, you gotta let me go help look for him.”

“No.”

Justin sighed for what could have been the millionth time. If he kept sighing that way, he was going to be in desperate need of an oxygen mask soon.

“Jayce-”

“Justin, I said NO. You heard what Steven told Kevin. It’s for the best that we wait here.”

Justin shook his head. He had had the ugliest feeling in the pit of his stomach since he’d heard about Nick’s disappearance. At first he had thought he was just hungry, and then he realized that eating would only make him sicker.

His stomach hurt because he felt guilty. He knew how scared Nick was out there, and part of it was because of him. He had instilled some of the fears in Nick’s head with that stupid practical joke that he, Chris, and JC had pulled.

But never had he expected it to backfire on them. Never had he expected for a black, blinking lump to haunt them. Never had he expected for Nick’s life to be in danger.

“JC-”

“JUSTIN! I said, ‘N-O’. What are you so worried about, anyway? You can’t stand Nick,” JC said, eyeing him. He knew Justin would fall for his careless act and spill about whatever was really bothering him.

“JC, how can you be so uncaring?! Nick is out there, scared and alone! And part of that is because of us and that joke we pulled.”

So that was it. “You’re feeling guilty?” JC asked with a smile. Justin never ceased to surprise him.

“It’s not funny, JC.”

“I don’t think it’s funny, either. I’m smiling because I’m sorta proud. I’m not sure exactly why, but I am.”

Justin’s defensive shoulders slumped a little and he looked at JC pleadingly. Before he could open his mouth, JC raised his hand.

“NO. Justin, I’m worried about Nick, too, but you’re not going out there to look for him. The search team already left, which means you’d have to look by yourself. You...are....NOT...going out there alone. Get that through your thick, curly head. No is no, and if you pull a John Bobbit and don’t listen, I’m gonna pull a Lorena Bobbit and, trust me, frizz control won’t be your biggest problem anymore.”

Justin rolled his eyes. “You’re such a drama queen,” Justin muttered.

“What?!” JC yelled.

“Nothin’,” Justin said.

He was quiet for two seconds, which was more than what JC had given him.

“But JC, he’s AL-ONE,” Justin enunciated.

“I know, I’m not retarded. I understand you, Ju.”

“What if a roach climbs on him or something and he’s knocked out and can’t do anything about it?” Justin asked irrationally. “Or a panther finds him and wants to make him his dinner?!” Justin ranted even more.

“Or what if he broke a nail?” JC muttered. “Oh no, not without a nail filer!” JC said with mock horror.

If Justin was going to say stupid things, so was he.

Justin’s eyes widened and he whipped around to face JC. “Or what if Mandy finds him?! I gotta go and look for him, Jayce!”

JC actually laughed. “Mandy finding him is worse than a panther?”

“Yeah,” Justin grumbled. “At least the panther makes it KNOWN that all Nick is is dinner to him.”

“Well, Mandy’s not on the island, so all Nick has to worry about are those pesky panthers.”

Justin gave JC a horrified look, and JC laughed. “I’m kidding, JuJu. There aren’t any panthers out there.” JC looked at Justin. “Did you like Mandy?”

Justin looked up at JC shocked. “What?”

JC rolled his eyes. “What, is all the static your hair’s creating blocking out your hearing? Did...you...like....Mandy?”

“What does that matter?” Justin shrugged.

“You did.”

“No, JC, I go out with girls that I DON’T like all the time,” Justin fake smiled, shooting him two thumbs up.

“Smart ass,” JC mumbled. “Look, if it makes you happy, I’ll go check with Kevin and Steven to see what’s going on, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Justin-”

“I said fine.”

JC shook his head. If he wasn’t trying to scare Nick right out of his underwear, he was trying to play Hercules for him. He’d never understand that kid.

Justin looked to see if JC was gone, and quickly grabbed his backpack and a sweater.

“Sorry, Jayce,” Justin mumbled as he took off towards the woods.

“765....766....767....768...” Nick sighed, rubbing his eyes.

He had tried everything to try and take his concentration off of the pain in his ankle and the anxiety in his heart. It was already getting dark, and there wasn’t a sign of anything out there.

“Kev...you gotta find me. Please.”

Nick looked at his dirty nails. “Like, oh my God,” he joked. “Nick, you are like, so overdue for a manicure, boy!” Nick snapped his fingers across the air.

The small smile that had temporarily found itself on his face disappeared just as quickly. Nick’s good leg began to involuntary shake.

“There’s gotta be something to do,” Nick mumbled.

Nick began to mess with the small button on his vest again. He had been trying desperately to stick the small wire back into the small hole of the button, but his big, clumsy hands were doing a good job of keeping that from happening.

Nick felt a small prickle on his leg and ignored it, figuring it was just the wind. The prickling continued, and Nick froze. If it was the wind, why wasn’t his entire body “prickling”?

Nick took a deep breath and slowly lowered his eyes to the part of his leg where the feeling was coming from.

“Shit!” Nick yelled, swiping the huge spider on his leg away with his vest.

Nick scrambled backwards, using his arms and the heels of his feet to push him back. The horrible pain emulating from his ankle was pushed to the back of his mind by his fear. He looked around anxiously for any signs of other spiders.

Maybe there was a nest near? Maybe they all lived together? Just great. Now all he needed to hear was that Kathy Lee Gifford had sold more records than they did to make this perfect.

“Just great, Carter. It figures you’d go and fall RIGHT on a spider nest,” Nick mumbled.

Why couldn’t he do anything right? If he wasn’t picking the right shirt, he was picking the wrong girlfriend. If he wasn’t picking the wrong girlfriend, he was saying the wrong thing to the wrong reporter. Why couldn’t he do ANYTHING right?

“Stop it,” Nick told himself. “Just stop it. Everyone screws up and you are NOT on a spider nest. You’re in the woods, and there are TONS of spiders in the woods,” Nick continued to say out loud.

He had to hear the words out loud. They needed to ring in his ears. He needed to pretend that Kevin was there and that he was the one telling Nick what he needed to hear.

“Kevin,” Nick whimpered. “Where are you?”

Nick knew how much of a baby he sounded like, but he didn’t care. That lump had been there, and he was sitting there vulnerable for anyone or anything to prey on him. Nick suddenly began to think of lions, and tigers, and bears.

Oh my.

“You are not Dorothy, so shut up, NICK!” Nick yelled at himself. Great, Nick thought, burying his face into his dirty hands. “You’re cracking up,” Nick mumbled.

“I could’ve told you that a loooong time ago,” a voice answered.

Nick screamed.

“They still haven’t found Nick?” JC asked, trying to keep a straight face.

He scolded himself for such a stupid action and just let the worry set in. Why should he care what anyone thought just because he was worried about Nick?

“Do you see him anywhere?” Steven asked annoyed, signing a million things at once. He had to give permission for them to check out every piece of search equipment. He hated how he had to give permission for everything.

“Look, don’t get attitude with me, Steven. I will have your job on a platter and make sure you never work in the entertainment business AGAIN.” Steven stopped signing and looked at JC. The seriousness on his face told him that JC was far from kidding.

JC hated throwing who he was in people’s faces, but when you encountered people like Steven, sometimes it had to be done.

“Don’t forget what I can do. Especially all of us together,” JC said, referring to NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. “That stint you pulled with Mandy was emotional distress for Nick. Fuck up number one for you. Whatever this lump that people are claiming to see, fuck up number two for you. If that’s real and you knowingly put us in danger on this island with that thing alone, we can press attempted murder charges on you,” JC said, getting angrier. Steven was going to understand the business he meant.

“But-but-” Steven said, the severity of what JC was saying taking forever to sink in.

“And we live in America, Steven. People get sued for THINKING the wrong thing. The charge WILL stick. And if this lump isn’t real, that’s you messing with our mental stability. Fuck up number three. You sent us out into the woods, with NO food, no way to possibly survive alone, thinking the transmitter won’t go out. IT DID. Fuck up number four. Now, I may not remember every little thing in those contracts we signed, but I remember one detail that I made sure was in all of them, even in Backstreet’s. That our safety came first. We would never be put in a situation where our lives were on the line. Guess what, Steven? Nick’s out there alone,” JC said, pointing out into the trees. “You have NO clue where he’s at, and if lumps are appearing, who knows what else is out there?”

Steven had to keep stepping back because the more JC spoke, the more in his face he got.

“Something happened to where that transmitter broke. Fuck up number five for you. I mean, really, Steven. What are you? The fuck-up-onitor?” JC spit next to Steven’s shoe. “You better get your shit together and make sure that Nick Carter gets his ass here safely, because if he’s hurt, you better BELIEVE there’ll be a lawsuit on your hands.”

JC smiled at the overanxious look on Steven’s face. His mouth was just hanging open.

“And if I’m like this, you don’t even wanna know what KEVIN will do.”

“Mr-Mr. Chasez, we’re trying our hardest.”

Mr. Chasez? JC smiled. Steven was definitely scared.

Steven instantly spun around and pushed through the papers being shoved into his face. His fingers were quickly running across the keypad on his cell phone.

JC smiled again. Maybe now he’d hurry his ass up.

“Now all you need is tits and you can be a girl,” Justin smiled. Nick’s scream was higher than any fan he’d ever met.

Nick glared at Justin, even though all he wanted to do was hug him. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Oh, so you’d rather I leave?” Justin shrugged. “Okay,” Justin said, turning around.

“No, no wait!” Nick yelled. “Uhm...” Nick looked around uncomfortably. “Maybe you could stay awhile?”

Justin smiled at Nick. “Or I could help you get out of here?”

Nick smiled back at Justin. So maybe all that hair wasn’t preventing Justin from thinking. “That would be good, too.”

Justin looked at Nick’s disheveled hair and pulled a cap out of his backpack. He threw it at Nick, who caught it in the air.

“And you say my hair’s messed up,” Justin muttered, making his way to Nick.

Nick smiled. “How did you find me? Are you alone?”

“I don’t know how I found you, and yeah, I’m alone.” Justin bent down to help Nick to his feet. “I guess I just got lucky estimating your location and the direction I was going in. JC’s gonna kill me when we get back.”

“Why?” Nick asked, leaning on Justin as he hobbled into an upright position.

“Because we were fighting about me leaving earlier. He said he didn’t want me out here alone, especially since there were already people out here looking for you.”

Nick looked at Justin, who was purposely concentrating on helping Nick to avoid eye contact. “So why did you come look for me if there’s a search party out here?”

Justin cleared his throat. “Because, uh, I felt, um...” Justin scratched his chin for something to do. “Because I was kinda worried and I felt bad about you, uh, being out here alone,” Justin rushed out. He looked up at the trees, pretending that something caught his attention. “...you know, I felt bad that you might be scared because of some of the jokes that I had somethin’ to do with, you know?”

Nick smiled. Justin looked at Nick when he didn’t answer, and Nick’s smile grew wider. Maybe Justin wasn’t such a prick after all.

“Yeah, I know,” Nick finally answered. “Let’s get outta here, JuJu.”

Justin laughed, smiling brightly at Nick.

“What?” Nick asked.

“You called me JuJu. It was weird. Almost like we were...”

“Friends?” Nick smiled.

“Yeah,” Justin laughed again. “Somethin’ like that.”

Nick shook his head as he hopped on his one good foot, leaning on Justin for support.

“Wait, watch out!” Nick yelled too late.

Justin stepped into the same hole Nick had earlier and fell, knocking his head on a log. Nick lost his balance and fell down with him.

“Justin? Dude, are you okay?” Nick asked, worried.

Justin sat up slowly, shaking his head to clear it up. “Shit,” Justin muttered.

“Are you okay?” Nick asked again.

“Yeah, um, I think so.” Justin blinked a couple of times to get his bearings again. “Man, that’s some hole, huh?”

“It’s what got me,” Nick said. “I was backing up when I fell.”

“Backing up from what?” Justin asked, looking at Nick.

Nick’s face fell, and Justin felt something tighten in his stomach when the fear settled on Nick’s face. Just please don’t let him say it was the-

“The lump,” Nick whispered. “It was here, Justin. I wasn’t seeing things. I was backing up from it, and I didn’t see the hole, and I stepped into it and got knocked unconscious.”

“That explains your bump,” Justin said, trying to change the subject. Blinking lumps weren’t exactly what he wanted to be talking about right then. Talking about anything else would be better. Like the rash JC was forming on the inside of his thigh that Justin was so nicely ignoring.

Nick’s fingers instantly browsed his forehead, stopping on the apparent bump. Nick’s face scrunched in pain as his fingertips surveyed the small lump.

“I didn’t realize I’d fallen face forward,” Nick muttered.

“OW!” Justin yelled.

“What?!” Nick yelled back. “You scared the CRAP out of me!” Nick yelled.

Justin started laughing and Nick looked down to see what Justin was laughing at. Nick was gripping the cap Justin had thrown at him tightly against his chest. Didn’t he just have that thing on?

“You ripped that off of your head so fast!” Justin gasped, still laughing. “I don’t think hats can protect you, Nick!”

Nick looked at Justin bored. “Sure they can....when they’re infested with your lice.”

Justin stopped laughing and looked at Nick with the same bored look.

“Whatever.”

“Why did you scream, you psycho?!” Nick yelled.

“Because I was trying to get up, and I fell back down when I put pressure on my foot. My ankle hurts!” Justin said, raising his foot above his head.

Nick shook his head. “Great, this is just GREAT! Did you hurt yourself, too?!”

“No, Nick, I just love to scream OW to get a party started.”

“You come out here to rescue me only to hurt yourself instead?!”

Justin scrunched his face when he realized the truth behind Nick’s words.

“Man,” Justin said, shaking his head. “JC’s gonna KILL me!”

“Not if I don’t do it first,” Nick replied.

“And how’re you gonna do that, Gimp Boy?”

“Like this,” Nick said, picking up a small rock and chunking it at Justin’s head.

“Ow!” Justin whined, rubbing the sore spot on the side of his head. He picked up a rock and threw it at Nick.

“Ow!” Nick yelled, rubbing his own sore spot.

Justin and Nick both eyed each other angrily. Suddenly they both picked up rocks and began throwing them at each other.

“Ow!”

“Ow!”

“OW!” Nick yelled.

“Double OW!” Justin yelled, rubbing his chin. “I thought you said we were friends earlier?!” Justin yelled, the rock in his hand poised in the air above his head.

Nick also had a rock in his own hand, poised to take aim at Justin’s head.

“I lied,” Nick said.

“No wonder you and Mandy are so meant to be,” Justin smirked. “Ow!” Justin yelled when Nick threw his rock at him.

“OW!” Nick yelled again, after feeling the effect of the rock that had just been in Justin’s hand. “STOP it!” Nick yelled.

“You stop it!” Justin yelled, another rock already in his hand.

“NO, you stop it!”

“You!” Justin yelled.

“No, you!” Nick yelled back.

“You started it!” Justin whined.

“You said something mean first!” Nick pouted unknowingly.

Justin giggled to himself. “Aw, is Nicky Wicky gonna cry-OW!” Justin yelled, rubbing the spot on his nose where the new rock had hit. He grabbed four rocks and threw them at Nick.

“OW!” Nick yelled when the four different rocks hit him. “That’s not fair!”

“What, and looking like that is?!” Justin yelled, waving his hand in Nick’s direction.

“Whatever, Justin. My ass looks better than your face!” Nick said angrily.

They both had their arms positioned mid-air again, armed with small rocks.

“I need something bigger,” Nick said, looking at the rocks above his head.

“That’s probably why Mandy came crawling to me to begin with,” Justin said.

Nick narrowed his eyes at Justin and threw the rocks with more force than he’d thrown the others.

“Ow, OW, OW!” Justin yelled, his arms flailing to rub the spots that had all been hit with Nick’s rocks. “Can’t you take a JOKE?”

“Yeah, I’ve listened to your songs, haven’t I?” Nick smiled.

“You know what your problem is?!” Justin yelled.

“You?” Nick answered.

“Why are you always fighting with me?!”

“Why do you exist?”

“Why are you such a jerk?!” Justin yelled.

“Why aren’t you a representative for Chia Pet?!”

Justin narrowed his blue eyes. “Why aren’t YOU the little doughboy?! He’d look better with blonde hair, ANYWAY!”

“Why are you impossible?!” Nick yelled.

“You don’t understand anything,” Justin said, still looking at Nick angrily.

“And you’ll never know me!” Nick yelled.

They were both quiet for two seconds before simultaneously yelling:

“Why are you sounding like Britney?!”

“Why are you sounding like Mandy?!”

They both stopped and gaped at each other.

“Oh God,” Justin mumbled, rubbing his face. “We sound like we’re married.”

Nick looked around, knowing something else he’d rather have his attention on.

“Where the HELL is that lump when you need it?!” Nick yelled.

“Justin!” JC yelled, rampaging through the small camp. “Justin!”

JC knew he was gone, but he was hoping Justin had just left and would hear him screaming from wherever he was at and come back, knowing the death grip that JC would inevitably squirm around his neck if he didn’t.

“Hey,” JC said, grabbing one of the people rushing around him. “Tell Steven that Justin left to go find Nick alone, and that I’m going to go and find Justin. Tell him to remember my words from earlier.”

JC headed back to their spot and grabbed what he was going to need. All he knew was Justin better hope that “lump” found him before he did.

Kevin rubbed the sweat off of his forehead, desperately looking for a sign of a blonde kid hiding somewhere behind a tree. If he knew Nick, Nick would be freaking out if he was alone.

Kevin heard a crack and turned around, hearing another crack. He looked below his shoe and realized he’d just cracked a small branch. But he could’ve sworn the other crack had come from behind the bush he was watching curiously.

And there it was, another crack. Kevin turned swiftly when he felt a whoosh of something slide right by him. Kevin looked up at the trees and noticed the still leaves. The wind wasn’t blowing.

Kevin turned back around when he heard another crack.

That lump did not exist. Nick was wrong. That lump just couldn’t exist. It wasn’t possible.

“AAAUGH!” Kevin yelled when something suddenly emerged. His ears perked up, picking up another yell mixed with his. He realized his eyes were shut tight and he wasn’t going to figure anything out with them closed. He opened his eyes and they grew wide with surprise.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Kevin yelled.

“What the hell am I doing?! What the hell are you doing yelling like that?!” JC yelled.

“ME?! What about you!”

“I only yelled because you yelled,” JC defended.

“Whatever,” Kevin scoffed, straightening out his clothes. “You thought I was the lump,” Kevin said.

“No, YOU thought I was the lump,” JC said, still trying to calm down the rapid pace of his beating heart.

Kevin coughed, rolling his shoulders. “Whatever, I know lumps don’t, um,” Kevin coughed again, “...exist.”

JC also coughed, straightening out his shirt. “Of course they don’t.” JC looked at Kevin. “What are you doing out here?” JC asked.

“Oh, I was just looking for the perfect spot for a picnic. What do you THINK I’m doing out here?! I’m looking for Nick. He’d probably rather be stuck out here with Justin than with that lump,” Kevin muttered. “The lump that doesn’t exist,” Kevin quickly corrected.

“Then he got his wish.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kevin asked. “And what are doing out here?” Kevin asked annoyed.

JC just smiled at him. “You’ve got a brat to look for, and so do I.”

“What?” Kevin asked confused. “I saw them bring Justin back.”

JC smiled at the fact that all it took was saying ‘brat’ for Kevin to know who he was talking about.

“Well, Mr. Invincible took it upon himself to come and look for Nick. He felt sort of responsible for whatever fear Nick might be feeling and felt bad.” JC shook his head. “The stupid kid.”

Kevin’s eyebrows raised in surprise that Justin was out there looking for Nick alone. JC caught his look and rolled his eyes.

“Justin isn’t an asshole, Kevin.”

“His childish pranks and snide remarks would prove otherwise,” Kevin spit out.

“That doesn’t make him an asshole,” JC argued. “That makes him YOUNG. How many pranks has Nick pulled, and call me crazy, but for every “snide” remark that Justin had, Nick met him with one.”

Kevin rolled his eyes, not allowing himself to think about JC’s words. He always did that when someone was close to proving him wrong. It was such a habit now that he honestly never realized when he did it.

“Whatever, you’re holding me up.”

“You’re not supposed to be out here alone,” JC said.

“And neither are you,” Kevin countered.

“I’m pointing out the obvious, Kevin, because I think it’d be smart if we looked for them together. We gotta be better out here as a team than alone,” JC reasoned.

Kevin didn’t want to work with JC on ANY project, but Nick was important to him, and if finding him meant pushing his pride aside to work with someone who was the equivalent of a pretzel, then he’d do it.

“Fine,” Kevin said, “but we AREN’T a team. My team is out there somewhere,” Kevin said, pointing out beyond the trees.

“No, I would’ve thought he’d be up there somewhere,” JC said, pointing up at the sky.

Kevin rolled his eyes, and JC wished they’d pop out of his head already. How did Nick put up with this guy?

Kevin looked at JC and shook his head. All he wanted to know was how did Justin put up with that guy?

Justin felt like ripping his vest in half. Every time he tried to contact someone with the stupid button, all he got was static in return, and he was pretty sure that all they were getting was static, also.

“Hello?” Justin tried again. He lifted his hand off the button, and all he was still greeted with was the crackling noise. “This is just great,” Justin said, ripping his vest off of him.

Justin looked at Nick and the forlorn look on his face. He was staring off into what he could not see behind the trees. He was probably imagining what Justin had been imagining for the past couple of hours: a rescue.

“I’m sorry,” Justin mumbled, playing with the rocks around him.

Nick looked up surprised and put his mouth in a straight line. “I’m sorry, too,” Nick mumbled. He hated apologizing and always would. He looked curiously at what Justin was doing, but he couldn’t see it from his angle.

Justin looked up when he heard Nick grunting, and watched in surprise as Nick half crawled, half carried himself across the ground separating them. Nick positioned himself roughly by Justin, and took in deep gulps of air to steady his heavy breathing.

Justin let a small smile crawl across his face when Nick peeked over Justin’s leg curiously to see what he was doing. Justin pulled back a little so he could see.

Nick smiled when he saw that the small rocks Justin had been playing with spelled out a name: BRITNEY.

“You miss her?” Nick asked.

“So much I think I’m going nuts,” Justin smiled. “Or is that from having you around?” Justin laughed harmlessly.

Nick laughed with him, and Justin was glad he didn’t take it personally.

“Probably from having me around,” Nick smiled. “How long have you two been together?”

Nick envied the way Justin’s entire face lit up at the chance to talk about Britney.

“We’ve been together for about two years,” Justin smiled. “We used to be together when we were little, but then MMC ended and we went our separate ways. Then she somehow hooked up with my mom and the group she manages, but my mom thought it’d be best if she went solo. But it was then we started talking again as friends. Then she opened for us, and....” Justin’s smile was spread across his entire face. “And we fell in love. The rest is history,” Justin smiled, placing little flowers he’d picked from around him to place around her name.

“You’re mushy,” Nick smiled.

Justin laughed. “Eh, it happens when you sing stuff like ‘God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You’,” Justin smiled.

Nick laughed. “True, true.”

Justin was going to ask Nick about Mandy, but he didn’t know how quick Nick could reach over him to grab the rocks he’d arranged in Britney’s name and smack him with them. He sat up a little more to block the rocks from Nick.

“So, what about Mandy? What’s that girl all about?”

Justin felt Nick stiffen up and saw the angry look cross his face. Justin let out a relieved breath when Nick seemed to relax and the angry look left his face.

Nick shrugged. “She’s the past,” Nick said. “I don’t really even talk about Mandy to the guys. You know you’re really on my good side if I open up about that girl.” Nick sighed and threw a small rock towards a tree. He smiled when he noticed Justin flinch out of the corner of his eye. “So don’t take it personally if I don’t want to open up about her right now,” Nick said, not looking at Justin.

Justin softly laughed. “Trust me, I won’t take it personally. Kinda hard to after all the shit we’ve put each other through on this island.”

Nick laughed with him and looked up at the trees surrounding them. “This island,” Nick repeated softly. Nick shook his head. “This place is my worst nightmare come true.”

“Tell me about it,” Justin said. “I didn’t expect to go through everything we have. And I thought the Lou stuff was bad.”

Nick looked at Justin carefully. Lou. He’d been a nightmare for all of them in the end. There was no greater betrayal than from someone you trusted as much as family.

“The Lou stuff was bad,” Nick said.

Justin looked at Nick. “Yeah, you know, huh?”

“Yeah,” Nick said. “Of all the things for us to have in common.”

“You’d think this would be the thing that would make everything okay between us,” Justin said, referring to more than just him and Nick. “The fact that we know what it’s like to be betrayed by him should be a damn good reason for all of us to be friends.”

“But it isn’t,” Nick said.

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Nick shrugged.

“I don’t understand what we did to you guys,” Justin said, leaning against the log behind him. “We never uttered one bad thing about you guys.”

“Competition,” Nick said simply. “You stepped into our territory and it was like you were being formulated after us. How do you guys feel about O-Town, honestly?”

Justin bit his lower lip. “We don’t really like them,” Justin admitted. “Not the guys in particular, just the group aspect of it all. It makes us look really bad.” Nick raised an eyebrow, and Justin laughed. “Okay, it makes ALL OF US look bad.”

Nick smiled when Justin’s face showed he was realizing Nick’s point.

“So that’s why you didn’t like us,” Justin said. “We were not only a reminder of Lou’s betrayal, but you thought we were trying to copy you. We must’ve symbolized to you everything that O-Town’s symbolizing to us.”

Nick nodded his head. “Yeah, except I have to give you guys SOME sort of props. You’re not as bad as O-Town is.”

Justin laughed. That compliment was better than nothing, coming from a Backstreet Boy. “Yeah, O-Town’s pretty bad. And the fact that Lou is behind them doesn’t make it any better. It makes it look like he manufactured us, and God, their song!” Justin laughed, covering his face. “Cheesi-ness!”

Nick laughed with Justin. “Yeah, you’re right! Something about a girl with Jennifer Lopez’s body and a smile like Janet Jackson’s or something,” Nick said, continuing to laugh. “As beautiful as all those women are, I wouldn’t want to put them in one person!”

“I know!” Justin agreed.

“Attitudes!” Nick and Justin said at the same time, and they busted out laughing harder.

“You not only combine the looks, but you get all those women’s attitudes in one. We’d never survive!” Justin laughed.

“We’d all be moving back to this island so fast,” Nick snapped his fingers, continuing to laugh.

Justin’s laughing quieted and he looked at Nick. “I really didn’t know she was your girlfriend.”

Nick took a deep breath and refused to make eye contact with Justin. Just thinking about Mandy still upset him because he still loved her.

“I never would have, Nick. I know you think that even if I had known, it wouldn’t have made a difference, but it would have. I swear it would have.”

Nick nodded his head. “I know.” He sighed, rubbing his eyes to keep them from watering any more. “I know, man. It was just easier to convince myself that it was all you than her. It’s easier to think you seduced her or something. I mean, that’s still bad on her part, but at least I’d think that it wasn’t that she went out purposely looking to mess around on me.” Nick shook his head. “You’re a slick one,” Nick laughed, looking at Justin.

“I am?” Justin asked. “I am,” he said with more confidence. He wore a huge smile to show he was just kidding.

“Yeah, you got me to talk a little about Mandy when you know I don’t want to.”

“Sometimes it’s better to talk,” Justin said.

“Like I said, Mandy is the last thing I want to talk about with you.”

“But-”

“I know, talking helps to release stress or whatever. Man, you’re starting to sound like Kevin,” Nick laughed. “Don’t do that. It’s scary. You’re too young to be lost to the grown up world.”

Justin laughed. “Hey, how about JC and Kevin?” Justin asked, changing the subject.

“I bet when the search party finds us and gets us back to them, they’re still gonna be fighting amidst all the chaos with us,” Nick said.

“Nah, I don’t think so,” Justin disagreed. “They would be too worried about us to worry about each other.”

“No, I know Kevin. He can fight like three fights at once. He’s like Super Rocky or something.”

“I’ll bet you,” Justin said. “Fifty bucks they’re not fighting.”

“You’re so on,” Nick smiled, shaking his outstretched hand. “Man, those two are so alike it’s scary,” Nick said, pretending to shiver.

“I was thinking that the other day when they were arguing about something. I was like, ‘Another JC?!’ I’m telling you, we’d be better off with Freddy Kruegar and those scary nails of his.”

“Yeah, at least when Freddy gets mad at you, he doesn’t sit you down to point out all the obvious reasons of why what you did was wrong and how it’s time to grow up,” Nick agreed. “I promise you, man, every time Kev lectures me, I’d swear he’s this close to pulling out a notebook and making me write lines!”

Justin laughed. “Yeah, JC actually made me do that once.”

Nick started laughing. “What?! Really?”

Justin nodded his head. “Oh yeah. I was just thanking God that there weren’t any of those cone hats in the bus, or else he’d a made me sat in a corner with one of those things on.”

Nick laughed, slapping his leg. “Oh, that’s nothing. One time I thought it would be funny to put super glue around the circle of a condom. I sealed the package back up and put it in AJ’s stash, and I only hoped that the moisture in the package would keep the glue moist...”

Nick stopped talking when his laughter overtook him. Actually, Justin’s laughter was what was forcing him into a fit of giggles. That and the look he remembered on AJ’s face.

“And,” Nick spouted out in between laughs, “it worked! AJ came out of his hotel room with a towel wrapped around himself practically banging down me and Brian’s door,” Nick said, still laughing. “He was so mad he couldn’t even talk, so he just opened up the towel,” Nick laughed harder. “I was already laughing and Brian got mad because AJ was just standing there flashing us. AJ saw me laughing and immediately knew it was me. We had to take him to the hospital and everything. Man,” Nick said, wiping the tears from his face, “Kevin lectured me into sunrise.”

Justin was still laughing, his head leaning on Nick’s shoulder. He slapped Nick a high five. “I gotta give you mad props for that one, man,” Justin laughed. “And a big thanks for the idea,” Justin giggled.

Nick laughed. “Who’s the victim gonna be?”

Justin smiled evilly. “JC’s never gonna know what hit him.”

***

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