Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2001 23:21:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: John D <zachstack@yahoo.com>
Subject: BSB Hearts Assunder Book 2: Harmony pt 10

Previously...

Earlier in Florida...

"I'm kidding."  Bryan laughed.  "But the look on your
face just a moment ago, man.  Must be one hell of a
shopping list, eh?"  Bryan smiled warmly at Nick.

"Yeah.  Well I'm kinda running late, I still have a
few errands I have to run.  I'll see you later man."
*******************************************************

The Previous night at a bar somewhere in Tampa...

"Get the fuck out of my sight.  You're too full of
shit."  Scott continued laughing and threw the
pictures back at Dan.  His laughter died abruptly and
he was once again serious.  "If I catch you messing
around my brother's gravesite, boy..."  Scott let it
trail off, but Dan could figure out what he meant.

Scott shoved him hard enough that he was winded
against the wall before taking off.  "If pigs ever
fly, I'll give you a call.  But don't come looking for
me again."  Scott tossed the cue to another player and
walked out of the rancid bar.
*******************************************************
[BSB Hotel, Brian's room.]


Brian stared at the door for a moment.  His feelings
hurt and confused danced in his heart.  Jane Carter
had always been there for him when he needed help with
Nick, he knew that somehow she will get him back.  He
would do anything to get him back; even her.

End of part 9

-------------------------------------------------------
**Disclaimers:This is a work of fiction.  The lives of
those people involved in this are not mirrored by the
story.  Any resemblances to real people, living or
dead, aside from the members of the Backstreet Boys
and their immediate family are highly coincidental.
Please enjoy the show.**
-------------------------------------------------------

BSBHAB 2: Harmony Part 10
"Rainy Days and Starry Nights."


'Damn it!'  Nick cursed to himself.  He hadn't thought
about checking today's weather report.  It was too
sunny just a moment ago.  Nick tried to stay in the
shade of the willow tree, but even that wasn't enough
when it had started to pour.  It had only been a few
minutes of his almost day to day vigil at Brandon's
gravesite doing homework when it had started to
dribble.  "I can't believe this, this is due
tomorrow."  Nick whined eying his soaked report for
his marine biology class.  Oh well, crying about it
ain't gonna help.  Nick squinted to see if he could
make it to the gate without being soaked all the way
through to through to the bone.  'Hard to imagine,' he
thought trying to squeeze out as much of the water out
of his shirt as possible.  He wasn't having much luck
at all.

"Good God!"  Nick groaned as he splatted behind the
wheel of his blazer.  He turned the mirror to him to
try and smooth out his skin soaked hair, it was
straight enough that it didn't take very long.

A few minutes later, Nick was pulling out of the
cemetary's gravel road and onto the main roads.  Nick
had long since forsaken listening to much radio on the
way back from the cemetary.  Sometimes, it was just
too depressing.  He never really knew why, but a lot
about love is usually a mystery.  That's what makes
love such an awesome feeling even though it made fools
of everyone all the time.  Nick took a deep breath and
allowed it to escape in one long ragged sigh through
his mouth.

It had gotten to quiet in the car that all Nick could
here was the soft, comforting, and rhythmic
pat-pat-patting of rain against his windshield and the
steady hum of the AC.  Nick closed his eyes,
reminiscing about better days, when suddenly his tire
blew right from under him.

"Sh*t!"  Nick yelped, jarred back to reality when the
blazer started to swerve off to the side.

Nick swerved clear of light poles and picket fences
before he was able to put on the brakes.  Nick sat for
a moment thinking about what to do.  He first thought
about changing the tire, but 'get real.'  He thought.
He had never ever changed a tire in his entire life.
He doesn't even know which tool was which.  Amazing
what you get done in driving school when you have a
lot of money.  Nick cursed again under his breath,
grabbed his notebook and slipped out the car to check
on the damage.

"This doesn't look very good."  Nick caught himself
saying as he eyed the bare metal of his front tire.
'Just my luck,'  Nick groaned as he squatted down
closer to check on the damage closer -- for all the
good it would do for someone who doesn't know anything
of what they're doing.

"AWWWW, Damn it!"  Nick stood up dripping with water
and mud after an overzealous driver whizzed past
splashing him down with the deep dark and muddy
puddle.  Nick held out his arms infront of him
inspecting his own current condition when a small car
stopped behind his suv.

"Care for some help stranger?"  Bryan jumped out of
the vehicle with an umbrella over his head and a big
teasing grin on his face.

"Oh, hey Bryan.  I'm glad to see you.  Can you help me
with this?"  Nick motioned over to his car while Bryan
came closer to share his umbrella with the soaking wet
Gene Carter.

"Hmmmm, I don't think changing the tire would to you
any good.  The axl is trashed and you have damage on
your brakes."  Bryan squatted down to gaze underneath
the belly of the blazer.

"Is that bad?"  Nick asked poutingly.

"Well, not bad if you want to end up wrapped around a
lighpole someplace, maybe."  Bryan smiled up at Gene.


"Damn.  Do you know anywhere around here where I can
use the phone to call up a tow truck or whatever?  Gas
station maybe?"  Nick asked a little crestfallen.

"Well I can let you use my phone at my appartment, if
you're alright with that.  I live not too far from
here, and there you can clean up a while before I can
drive you home or whatever."  Bryan squinted past the
rain drops to spy Gene's reaction.

"If that's alright with you."  Nick shrugged.  "I
really do want to clean up though."

"Then hop on, I have some papers at home to pick up
before I run some errands anyways."  Bryan let Gene
take the umbrella while he walked over to the driver
side.  No point in getting him any wetter than he
already was, poor kid.

"Hey, thanks man.  I really don't know much about
cars.  I would be stuck out here if you hadn't stopped
by; I never bring my cell phone with me when I visit
Brandon."  Nick said.

"Anytime, man.  I can't be preaching to kids about
doing good deeds, when I can't do my fair share of it,
right?"  Bryan smiled over at Gene as they slowly
pulled out of the side of the road.  "My place isn't
too far, so we should be able to get a tow truck out
here pretty soon."

"Preaching?"  Nick frowned his curiousity.

"Oh, haha, no, I'm a student teacher and aide over at
the High School yonder."  Bryan turned up the heater a
little for Gene's benifit.

"Wow, you're a teacher?"  Nick gasped his amazement.
Bryan didn't seem much older than he was, he had
thought.

"Oh, no.  Not yet, at least.  I am studying to become
one and right now I am in my semester where I do
student teaching and observing.  That's why I live
here, actually.  It's inbetween our school and where I
work.  Much more convenient."  Bryan winked at Nick as
they turned the corner.
*******************************************************

Moments later, they made it cheerfully to Bryan's
appartment complex after a few minutes of idle chatter
and 'getting to know yous'.  While the rain continued
to pelt the windshield of Bryan's car.

"Here we are.  My appartment's on the second floor.
My things should be stacked up on my desk, so I can
just grab 'em and pick which I want to copy over
tonight.  You can dry up in the bathroom by my
bedroom.  I can get you a spare shirt and sweats maybe
to get you through."  Bryan turned off the ignition
and unlocked the doors.

"No problem."  Nick smiled.  "Finally I get to see
this infamous Passion Chamber?"  Nick winked at Bryan
and laughed boyishly.

"No point trying to hide my hidden agenda eh?  You
being so sharp and all."  Bryan winked at the giggling
Gene Carter and stepped out of the car.  He joined
Nick in his joyous laughter that emanated warmth like
the summer's breeze.

'Woof!'  A small yelp made both Nick and Bryan jump in
surprise.

"Puddin', don't bark at Bryan like that."  An old lady
creaked out of her small sedan carrying a small fluffy
dog in her arms.

"Oh hey, Mrs. Douglas."  Bryan smiled and started to
make his way to help the old lady.  It was Mrs.
Douglas.  Bryan's grandmotherly neighbor.  She was a
widow some few years ago from a marriage that had
lasted some 20 odd years.  She was never too happy to
see Bryan.  These last few months, she had been urging
him to find someone.  'The single life just didn't
suit such a sweet young man' She repeatedly told to
him.  She loved him like her own son.  In fact, she
practically has seen Bryan grow up in the appartment a
few doors down.  Bryan had been such a great surrogate
grandson to her, that she pretty much has taken care
of him since he was 5 -- his parents always left him
with her to babysit whenever they went out.

"Good evening, Bryan."   The old lady's warm smile
perfumed the air like the sweet savoury smell of a
grandmother's kitchen.  "I hope you don't mind lending
a hand to an old lady like myself."  Mrs. Douglas
smiled at Bryan knowing full well that Bryan could
never resist being the gentleman.  "I see you have
company."  Mrs. Douglas smiled past Bryan to Nick, who
was now also making his way towards the old lady's
car.

"Oh, I'm sorry.  Mrs. Douglas, this is Gene.  He's a
friend I met not too long ago."  Bryan took a grocery
bag out of the backseat of her car.

"Hi, I'm Mrs. Rosemary Douglas,"  She extended her
delicate slender arm towards Nick who took it almost
like you would your grandmother's extended hand.  His
delicate fingers wrapped around hers gently, almost in
a familiar manner.

"I'm Gene."  Nick beamed at her, suddenly overwhelmed
by warmth and a sense of comfort around this lovely
old lady.  He extended a hand before realizing that he
was still filthy with dried mud.  "Whoops, sorry Mrs.
Douglas, I had a small mishap with a tire."

"Oh you poor boy,"  Mrs. Douglas reached over to dust
off Gene's shoulders.  "In this pouring rain you are
going to catch a cold.  Would  you like to come in and
have some hot tea?  Or is there something else you
boys have planned instead?"  Mrs. Douglas smiled
knowingly at Bryan.  It earned her an easy going
frown.

"Haha, no, actually we were just gonna go up to
Bryan's so I could get out of these dirty clothes and
call a tow truck for my blazer out on the side of the
road. Some few minutes from here."  Nick smiled
politely at Mrs. Douglas.

"I hope you don't mind me borrowing Bryan for a little
while.  He's just such a gentleman.  He always offers
his help to this fragile old woman."  Mrs. Douglas
smiled up at the Gene who towered over her.

"That's alright, Mrs. Douglas."  Nick smiled back at
her and went to offer his help to Bryan.  "I used to
help my mother unload her car all the time.  It would
be a pleasure to help with the groceries if you think
that my hands aren't too dirty to handle them."  He
flashed her a big smile of sparkling teeth.

"Thank you so much, you two are such fine young
gentlemen.  That's alright, sweety, you can help me
with Precious' dog food."  Mrs. Douglas slowly walked
around the car to unlock the trunk where the big heavy
bag was stored.

Nick wrapped his arms around the big load, and heaved.
 It wasn't too heavy, he thought, but he was certainly
going to need both arms.

" Here, let me get the door for you."  Mrs. Douglas
walked over to her Appartment's door to unlock it.  "I
hope you don't mind to just set it on the kitchen
counter, dear?  Precious needs to use the bathroom
real quick."  Mrs. Douglas held the door open for Nick
while Precious lightly padded over to the small grassy
lawn in front of her appartment.

"No problem, Mrs. Douglas."  Nick carried the bag into
the house.

"My, he is quite the gentleman, Bryan."  Mrs. Douglas
whispered to Bryan when he walked past while she
gathered Precious into her delicate arms.

"Mrs. Douglas, Gene and I are only friends."  Bryan
smiled and politely got on the defensive.

"You two look so sweet together."  Again Mrs. Douglas
commented on Gene and Bryan, disregarding the latter's
comments.  "He's such a dear."  Mrs. Douglas smiled
and entered her home.  "Oh thank you so much.  You two
have been such wonderful gentlemen.  Again, I would
ask you to stay for something to drink, however, I
think that it is past Precious' bed time."  She looked
at Bryan and winked at him behind her little furry
silkie terrier.

Bryan shot Mrs. Douglas a playful warning look but
couldn't help but smile when the elegant old lady only
smiled back.

"That's alright, Mrs. Douglas.  I have to get going
soon also.  I have some homework to do, and a paper to
redo before my bedtime."  Nick shrug at Bryan
helplessly and gave Precious a little scratch behind
the ears.

"Oh, that's unfortunate.  I was really hoping on
treating you both to something nice for being such
great helpers."  Mrs. Douglas smiled at Bryan again
while she mouthed the words 'He's wonderful'.

Bryan gave up at trying to convince her that they were
just friends.

"So can you just give me a ride home, Bryan?"  It was
Nick's turn to smile at Bryan.

"Oh, yeah."  Bryan stood straight up and slowly made
for the door.  "I wouldn't want to keep Precious up
too late."  Bryan smiled at Gene.  A gesture that
didn't go unnoticed by Mrs. Douglas.

"Well, I am going to thank you boys again for your
help and send you your way before I delay you too
long."  And to Bryan, she added in a whisper.  'Go for
it!'

Bryan couldn't help but laugh at that parting comment.
*******************************************************

After a few minutes to run up to Bryan's appartment to
pick up the notes and papers he needed to have
xeroxed, Nick and Bryan were back on the road again.
Nick -- or in this case -- Gene decided to just stick
with his dirty laundry and spare Bryan of having to
lend him some clothes.

"She's an awefully sweet old lady isn't she?"  Bryan
opened up conversation.  "She's been so great all of
my life."

"Yeah, she seemed so cool."  Gene added.  He wasn't
entirely oblivious to want went on between Bryan and
Mrs. Douglas earlier.  He snickered and then added,
"So when you planning to ask me out?"

Bryan just about crashed the car into a lightpole.

"I..I.."
*******************************************************

Somewhere in a hotel room in Florida...

"David, how's the fort back there?"  Dan wedged the
phone between the side of his head and his shoulder
while he got some of his own notes out of his suit
case.  "Yeah, not much here either.  I have a feeling
about our Scott McGill though.  I think he is going to
come through for us eventually.  It may need a little
more prying on my part, but I'm sure he'll talk.  I've
never heard so much hate in one voice ever in my life
before."

A moment of silence, David, on the other end, had just
found out that there was at least one invitation from
Brian Littrell that was sent somewhere in Tampa Bay.

"Well, that's not necessarily news to the world
though.  They were best of friends after all."  Dan
pulled his dress shirt out of his pants, and started
to flip through the notes he took earlier on.

"I'm gonna keep checking my end of the trail, while I
suggest you do the same.  Right now, I think I'm going
to take a nice hot bath before I start researching
again.  Keep me posted on what's going on over there,
bye."  Dan hung up after David was able to return the
greeting.

Dan sighed and tossed the cordless phone that he had
put up in place of the regular phone onto the bed.  He
dug through his luggage when the phone started to
buzz.

"What?!"  Dan growled.  He never much liked David
ever.  He was only using him.

There was a laughter on the other end so abrupt that
it made Dan feel a little confused.

"Who the f*ck is this?"  Dan frowned hard enough that
it was almost possible that whoever it was could feel
it through the receiver.

"Scott,"  That one word, that one name, left Dan
breathless for a second.

"Scott, I..."

"Shut up and listen.  You want to talk to me about my
brother?  No, I said shut up!"  Scott's voice rang out
of the phone when Dan was about to reply.  "Tomorrow
noon, go to the restaurant in the lobby, I will meet
you there for lunch.  We will discuss some things and
rules if I am going to talk to you."

"Wait?!?"  Dan scrambled to talk, but the phone was
already buzzing.  Scott McGill had hung up.

end of part 10

-------------------------------------------------------
If you like, hate, love, can improve on, or whatnot
about what you just read, email me at
zachstack@yahoo.com.  All your comments, and critism
are welcome.  Thank you for reading.

~J~