Prologue

The arena was dark. People were screaming his name over and over, chanting it almost. They sounded like a bunch of Indians doing some weird rain dance, but they weren’t asking for rain. They wanted him to come out on stage. Teenage girls screamed, pushed and shoved their way up to the front of the stage, so that they could get close to him when he came out. Maybe, if they were lucky, they’d get to touch his hand, or maybe a sweaty towel.

Finally the band began to play, with a heavy beat on the drums and electric guitar when the lights started to come on, one by one, showing a smokey stage with one microphone stand in the middle of the stage.

Then he came out.

Nick Carter, the youngest Backstreet Boy, who just happened to go solo, was on his first solo tour.

He came out on stage, with a guitar strapped on him and began to play one of the songs on his debut album. He banged his head along with the music, and his hair was already drenched in sweat by the time the first song ended. A stagehand rushed out on stage and took the guitar away from him and Nick just stood there, out of breath and tried to look out at the audience.

But he couldn’t really see anything because of the smokes and lights.

He put his hands on top of his eyes, trying to block the lights so he could see when the band jumped into another song and he shook his head, walking back up to the microphone stand. He slowly started performing the song, thinking about how long it had been since he had performed with the other four guys; how long it had been since he had actually seen the audience that he was performing to; and how long it had been since he had nobody around telling him where to go and what to do.

He closed his eyes, singing into the microphone and didn’t move, pretending he wasn’t on some big stage, in a huge arena that was packed with fans who could barely hear him over the loud music or see him because of the smokes and light. He opened his eyes up by the end of the song and looked at the audience screaming and cheering even though he didn’t really do anything.

He knew he didn’t want that anymore.

Nick walked offstage, in a daze almost with his bodyguards surrounding him after finishing his show a hour later. He looked around seeing fans rush up to the gates as they made their way to his bus and suddenly his manager walked up to them. He looked over at her and rolled his eyes as he started to step up on his bus.

“Nick!”, Tracy, his manager who was in her early 40’s said as Nick stopped and looked back at her, “What’s going on with you tonight? The show sucked.”

“Glad to know you could actually understand a fucking word I was saying.” Nick muttered as he walked on his bus, wiping his face with a towel that someone, he didn’t know who, had given him after walking offstage.

“What’s that mean?” Tracy asked as she crossed her arms, looking at him.

“I hate how you have this tour going. I’m so far away from the fans that I can’t even see them for the smoke you have rising up on stage, making me look like I’m Jesus, walking on clouds.” Nick said as he walked over the refridgerator and grabbed a bottled beer out.

“You’re not supposed to drink.” Tracy said as she walked up to him and started to take the beer out of his hand.

“Try it on someone else. I’m drinking.” Nick said as he popped the top off and took a sip of it, smacked his lips together and smiled, “I’m sick of it.”

“Sick of what?” Tracy asked, “The tour? What? Wanna go back to your four pathetic band mates?”

“Shut the fuck up.” Nick said as he pointed the beer at her, “Don’t ever talk about them like that.”

“Tracy, someone needs you outside.”, one of the security guys said as Tracy turned around and walked out of the bus. Nick rolled his eyes, taking another long sip of his beer before walking to the back of his bus. He walked over to his small closet and took out another t-shirt; taking the one he performed in off and put the clean one on. He looked down at it, cracking up laughing when he noticed that AJ had given it to him a few months back. He reached for his jacket, putting it on and grabbed his beer before walking off of the bus.

“Fuckers.” Nick thought as he looked over to see Tracy having a discussion with security and walked off, putting his baseball cap on and taking another sip of his beer.

Chapter One

The arena was dark. People were screaming his name over and over, chanting it almost. They sounded like a bunch of Indians doing some weird rain dance, but they weren’t asking for rain. They wanted him to come out on stage. Teenage girls screamed, pushed and shoved their way up to the front of the stage, so that they could get close to him when he came out. Maybe, if they were lucky, they’d get to touch his hand, or maybe a sweaty towel.

Finally the band began to play, with a heavy beat on the drums and electric guitar when the lights started to come on, one by one, showing a smokey stage with one microphone stand in the middle of the stage.

Then he came out.

Nick Carter, the youngest Backstreet Boy, who just happened to go solo, was on his first solo tour.

He came out on stage, with a guitar strapped on him and began to play one of the songs on his debut album. He banged his head along with the music, and his hair was already drenched in sweat by the time the first song ended. A stagehand rushed out on stage and took the guitar away from him and Nick just stood there, out of breath and tried to look out at the audience.

But he couldn’t really see anything because of the smokes and lights.

He put his hands on top of his eyes, trying to block the lights so he could see when the band jumped into another song and he shook his head, walking back up to the microphone stand. He slowly started performing the song, thinking about how long it had been since he had performed with the other four guys; how long it had been since he had actually seen the audience that he was performing to; and how long it had been since he had nobody around telling him where to go and what to do.

He closed his eyes, singing into the microphone and didn’t move, pretending he wasn’t on some big stage, in a huge arena that was packed with fans who could barely hear him over the loud music or see him because of the smokes and light. He opened his eyes up by the end of the song and looked at the audience screaming and cheering even though he didn’t really do anything.

He knew he didn’t want that anymore.

Nick walked offstage, in a daze almost with his bodyguards surrounding him after finishing his show a hour later. He looked around seeing fans rush up to the gates as they made their way to his bus and suddenly his manager walked up to them. He looked over at her and rolled his eyes as he started to step up on his bus.

“Nick!”, Tracy, his manager who was in her early 40’s said as Nick stopped and looked back at her, “What’s going on with you tonight? The show sucked.”

“Glad to know you could actually understand a fucking word I was saying.” Nick muttered as he walked on his bus, wiping his face with a towel that someone, he didn’t know who, had given him after walking offstage.

“What’s that mean?” Tracy asked as she crossed her arms, looking at him.

“I hate how you have this tour going. I’m so far away from the fans that I can’t even see them for the smoke you have rising up on stage, making me look like I’m Jesus, walking on clouds.” Nick said as he walked over the refridgerator and grabbed a bottled beer out.

“You’re not supposed to drink.” Tracy said as she walked up to him and started to take the beer out of his hand.

“Try it on someone else. I’m drinking.” Nick said as he popped the top off and took a sip of it, smacked his lips together and smiled, “I’m sick of it.”

“Sick of what?” Tracy asked, “The tour? What? Wanna go back to your four pathetic band mates?”

“Shut the fuck up.” Nick said as he pointed the beer at her, “Don’t ever talk about them like that.”

“Tracy, someone needs you outside.”, one of the security guys said as Tracy turned around and walked out of the bus. Nick rolled his eyes, taking another long sip of his beer before walking to the back of his bus. He walked over to his small closet and took out another t-shirt; taking the one he performed in off and put the clean one on. He looked down at it, cracking up laughing when he noticed that AJ had given it to him a few months back. He reached for his jacket, putting it on and grabbed his beer before walking off of the bus.

“Fuckers.” Nick thought as he looked over to see Tracy having a discussion with security and walked off, putting his baseball cap on and taking another sip of his beer.

Nick walked most of the night, until he finally caught a ride with a semi truck that was going down the highway. He would have called someone but he didn’t have his cell phone with him. So he just went ahead so he could get as far away from that tour, his manager, and everybody else that was trying to control him.

Sometime that next morning, before lunch, the semi truck stopped to eat breakfast in some small town. Nick had no idea where he was, but decided to get out of the semi and look around. He ran his hands over his face as the sunlight hit his eyes, and he opened them up, schwinching them a little and began to walk across the street to a little café when all of a sudden he heard a car horn, and saw a car coming at him.

“Shit!” Nick yelled as the car squealed tires and Nick jumped, and fell flat on his ass.

“Oh shit, I’ve done killed someone.”, the young woman said as she jumped out of the car and ran over to him, “Are you dead?”

“Am I dead? Hell I don’t think so. Are you a angel?” Nick said as he lifted his head up and looked around, “I’m in the middle of a highway though.”

“Uhh… Well you were walking across it.”, she said as Nick looked up at her, schwinching his eyes again, “Here get up.”

“Okay.” Nick said as he took her hand and he stood up, wiping his ass off, “Thanks.”

“No problem.”, she said, smiling back at him when all of a sudden another car horn blew and they both jumped, looking to see some cars behind her, “Gotta go. Sorry.”, she said as she ran back to her car and Nick walked to the other side of the street, watching her as she drove off.

“Damn, almost get killed.” Nick muttered as he opened the door to the café to see a bunch of old people sitting around. He looked down at his t-shirt that read “Fah-Q”, another way of saying, “Fuck you”. He moved his arms across his chest and walked over to a corner booth and sat down.

“Hey there.”, the waitress said as she walked up to him, opening up her notepad, “What can I get you?”

“Um, some coffee.” Nick said as he tried to smile at her and rubbed the back of his head, “Where am I?”

“Lakeland.”, the waitress said as she smiled.

“Florida? Oh, not far from Tampa..” Nick said softly as the waitress interrupted him.

“Georgia.” The waitress said as she smiled and turned around to go get his coffee.

“Georgia? My show was in North Carolina.” Nick muttered to himself as he looked out the window to see the truck driver that had driven him there drive off, going down the highway, “Great.”

“Here you go.”, the waitress said as she handed him his coffee and walked away.

“I think I’m stuck in Mayberry.” Nick thought to himself as he took a sip of his coffee and shook his head.

“I don’t have much money with me.” Nick said as he walked out of the café and looked around, “There’s no way I can get anywhere on that. What the fuck have I gotten myself into?” He looked over to his right, to see a payphone and he walked over to it, pressing ‘0′ to make a collect call. He waited until the operator told him to dial the phone number and Nick paused.

He didn’t know anybody’s number. They were all programmed into his cell phone and laptop.

“Fuck.” Nick muttered to himself as he banged his head up against the payphone and then leaned up against the wall, sliding down it and sat on the sidewalk. He sat there as a old couple walked out of the café and threw a dollar down at him. Nick picked up the dollar, giving them a ‘what the fuck’ look and finally realized that they thought he was homeless and he cracked up laughing, wondering how far this Lakeland was from where Brian lived.

“Here son, go buy yourself some new clothes.” An old man said as he walked by Nick, handing him a five-dollar bill.

“Excuse me.” Nick said, as the old man turned back around and looked at him, “How far is um damn, Atlanta from here?”

“About four hours.”, the old man said as he started back walking down the sidewalk and Nick kicked a newspaper stand that was beside him.

Nick continued to sit there outside of the café, letting old people give him money and thinking that if they kept it up, he might get enough to get to where Brian was, or atleast to Tampa. He had already fucked up and ran away to an apparent hell with no McDonald’s.

“Fuck.” Nick muttered as he looked over to see the girl that almost ran him over walk into a store across the street. He looked down at his watch to see that it was going on 5 o’clock and smiled, standing up. He looked both ways before crossing the street as she walked out of the store and looked at him, “Gonna run me over again?”

“No thanks, I’ve had enough drama for today.”, she said as she looked over at her car, “I’m Daisy.”

“Daisy?” Nick asked as he stuck his hand out to shake hers, “I’m.. Nick.”

“Something wrong with my name?” Daisy asked as she looked at him, “It’s not my real name. People just call me that.”

“It’s a cool name. Listen, I’m not from here -”

“Obviously -” Daisy said as she started to walk over to her little white ‘96 mustang with a removable top.

“Like, I don’t know anybody and I’m stuck here. I need to get to Atlanta or Tampa.” Nick said as Daisy looked at him, “What?”

“Why those places?”

“Because I don’t know anybody around here, and you owe me.” Nick said as Daisy put her hand on her hip, looking at him, “You almost killed me this morning.”

“You were far from being killed.” Daisy said as she shook her head at him, “I can’t drive to Atlanta or Tampa. I’m not that good of a driver.”

“Obviously.” Nick muttered as Daisy looked at him.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“I can’t drive there. I just got my car yesterday because I saved up enough to get it, and it’s not all that good. I’m not the best driver in the world and I can’t I’m sorry.” Daisy said as Nick shrugged his shoulders and looked down pouting.

“Okay. I guess I’ll just go find some homeless shelter to sleep.” Nick said as he started to walk down the sidewalk slowly.

“We don’t have a homeless shelter here.” Daisy said as Nick turned around and looked at her.

“Well yo, what do you have here? There’s no hotel. There’s no McDonald’s. For God’s sake, there’s no IHOP man!”

“We have a Movie Gallery.” Daisy said as she stuck her thumbs in her pockets and shrugged her shoulders, “If you don’t know anybody, why are you here?”

“Passing through and the semi that I was riding with left me.” Nick said, “I was trying to get to Tampa or atleast to Atlanta.”

“Can’t you call someone?”

“Don’t know the numbers right off hand.”

“Look them up.”

“Unlisted.” Nick said as he looked down and back up at her, “I know someone’s e-mail address.”

“Well I have the internet.” Daisy said, “Wanna use that?”

“Sure.” Nick said as he smiled, walking over to her car, “The least you could do since you almost killed me.”

“I did not almost kill you.” Daisy said as Nick got in the car and shut the door while she cranked up the car.