Remember Me This Way

Chapter Seven

"And once again, that was, the Backstreet Boys!"

Nick turned off the TV in the hotel room. He always got amused by delayed television airings. They were back in NYC, doing some more promotion for the album. Even after all these years, seeing himself perform on TV always amazed him. He got up, stretching till he heard his back crack a bit. He glanced around for his wallet and groaned when it wasn't where he thought he left it.

"God damn it..."

He hated this. He did. The doctor had warned him that he could travel, tour, do his career just fine for now. However, the unfamiliarity was going to likely throw him off a bit, and that he'd have to be patient with himself. He wondered if the drugs were even doing him any good. They had to be right? He hadn't forgotten the songs recently, much to his great relief. He'd just been getting confused on where his things were, something Nick knew he had to get used to if he was going to pull this off.

He tossed off the blankets from the bed, stripping it down. No wallet. He checked his suitcases, throwing clothes around the room. They landed on lamps, the TV, the couch. A pair of underwear that Nick only wore during performances so he didn't flash people on national television caught on the ceiling fan and swung around like a victorious army flag. Still no wallet. The room looked like a war zone, as if a clothes grenade had gone off and spared nothing.

"Oh fuck me sideways!"

"That's a nice greeting." Nick glanced over to the now open door. There stood Brian, chuckling to himself. In his hands, he held the wallet. "This what you're looking for?"

Nick grinned, trying to look amused rather than irritated. "Where did you find that?"

Brian raised a brow. "In my sock."

'How the hell did it end up in his sock?' Instead of giving a real answer, he simply laughed. "So my telepathy was off and it landed in your sock instead of mine."

"Something's off anyway."

Nick simply responded by sticking his tongue out at him. It was simpler and easier than saying what was really going on. He had no idea how he was going to get Brian off his back, but he knew he needed to do a better job making everything seem normal.

"So where you off to?"

"See Kevin, we're supposed to meet up after his show tonight."

As Nick grabbed his wallet from Brian, he hugged him. Brian hugged him back just as tight, before pulling away and giving the younger man a long stare. He simply smiled casually, hoping to trick the hardest Backstreet Boy to fool besides Kevin. He figured it was something in those Littrell genes of theirs.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, come on. Even you said yesterday I seemed to be back to my old self again man."

It was true, as Nick fought to use more memory tricks and the drugs went through his system, it felt easier to keep everything under control. It was nothing close to what was once normal, but enough of a difference to keep everyone fooled for at least the moment. He finally had the dance steps down, he was using the GPS system regularly to keep himself from getting lost, and as for songs, he was listening to them and singing along twice as much as he used to so that he'd keep the lyrics in his head. It was the little signs that were still around, little signs however, he could tuck away easily.

"Alright...I just got a feeling something's up. I'm here if you need to talk Nick, I mean it."

It was statements like that, that tested him like nothing else. He felt like scum when he simply replied, "I know Brian, I know."