Ten Years

After all, it had been one hell of a party.

"What're you thinking about?"

Brian looked up from his reverie and into the bright blue eyes of his taller, blonder friend. "The hurricane that went through here. I feel like we should've boarded the windows."

Nick chuckled. "Nah, we would've heard the wind go by. Besides, Kevin would've taken care of all the safety shit. You know that."

His voice softened as he reached down to finger one of the flying paper plates. "Yeah, I do."

There was a moment of silence before Nick's voice came again. "Hey, man, don't worry about nothing. Every good party comes with one hell of a mess."

Brian arched his eyebrows in concession and nodded his surrender. "Yeah, that's true." He paused and managed to pry his gaze from the pool long enough to smile tentatively at his friend. "We're thrown a lot of good parties in our time, haven't we?"

Nick's laughter bounced off the beer bottles and danced across the Japanese lanterns that still glowed above them. "Hell, yes! We're the kings of good party-throwing."

"Funny, but I distinctly remember that being AJ's territory," Brian retorted with a mischievous smile. Nick rolled his eyes in mock exasperation.

"What would you know? You always went to bed early."

"And you were always late to check-in the next morning," Brian countered with an expectant gaze. "Don't play innocent with me, Boy. I know where you've been."

Nick chuckled again and plopped down into the hammock. "Not half as well as we know where you've been, buddy. I'm still having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that you got the wife knocked up."

Brian winced. "Must you use such crude terminology? I've got a kid running around here somewhere..."

Nick looked up doubtfully. "All due respect, Bri, his legs ain't long enough for running yet. He's got at least another month or two before you can start fitting him for basketball shoes."

Brian rolled his eyes playfully. "Har har...you're freakin' hilarious, Nick."

Nick shrugged good-naturedly. "I may not be too funny, but I can throw one hell of a surprise party."

Brian nodded his appreciation, allowing a nostalgic smile--the countless one of the evening--to cross his softened features. "That you can, Frack. That you can. I'm still surprised."

Nick turned to Brian with a twinkle in his eye. "What? You didn't expect me to make an effort to commemorate the most important event in all of Backstreet history?"

"In all honesty?" Brian began expectantly, eyebrow raised. When Nick nodded, he expelled a sigh. "No. Of course, I didn't expect for you to ever use the word 'commemorate' correctly in a sentence, either."

Nick groaned. "Man, I have basic knowledge of the English language. You guys underestimate my verbal skills."

Brian chuckled. "All due respect, Nick...we don't exactly have much to go on."

Nick dipped his chin and frowned teasingly. "You know, you're not any funnier than I am."

Brian sighed. "Maybe not, man. Maybe not. I'm definitely not as cool as you are, though."

Nick frowned seriously. "How do you figure?"

Brian's laugh was hollow. "I wouldn't have gone this route, Nick. After everything that happened this year, I would've been hard-pressed to make an excuse to see any of you."

Nick grinned with pride. "So you're saying I've finally become the bigger man?"

Brian eyed him up and down before grinning mischievously. "I don't know about that, Nicky. Seems to be that you've always been the bigger man."

Nick nudged him with annoyance, but smiled nonetheless. "Hey, man, be nice. I just got through throwing you a surprise party."

"And you have no idea how much it means to me," Brian finished, staring at the alcohol-diluted chlorine with a newfound intensity. "Seriously, Nick--it was a long year. There were a lot of hard feelings. It must have taken a lot for you to overlook all of that and get us together again."

Nick shrugged modestly. "Not really, man. All I know is, well--us? We're destiny, B. The five of us make something really fucking incredible when we get together. I had a lot of fun spinning records on my own this summer, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't miss that Backstreet magic."

Brian smiled knowingly. "Yeah, I missed it too."

"So you understand, then. You understand that I couldn't let the big one-oh go by without some kind of informal bash. We've had too much history not to celebrate it."

Brian grimaced at the kindness in the younger man's voice. "Yeah, but Nick...to make it a surprise for me, even though I screwed you over when you first introduced the solo idea...you have no idea how much that means to me." He lifted a hesitant gaze to Nick's smiling features and his heart fell when he saw the sadness in his friend's eyes. "I'm still so sorry about that, man. I don't know what went on with the rest of us."

Nick shrugged and looked modestly into the pool water. "It's cool. Well...it's not cool, and it wasn't cool then, but it's over. Y'all were upset because you thought I was leaving you behind. I wasn't, though." He furrowed his brow and looked to Brian with an unusually serious countenance. "I'd never leave you guys behind, man. Y'all are my family. You know that, right?"

Brian smiled. "I know that now. I should've known it before, but it didn't really register until I saw those thank-you's in your album." He exchanged his melancholy smile of guilt for a bonafide grin. "You went and waxed poetic on us, Nick."

Nick blushed crimson. "Yeah, well...I had to think of some way to remind you guys that you can't lose me. Hell, I gave y'all the best ten years of my life. I'm not about to turn my back on that."

Brian chuckled and patted Nick's thigh with his hand. "It took this to really sink it in, but neither are we. We're not going anywhere. Or, rather, I'm not."

Nick glanced over his shoulder to the bay window, where AJ was attempting to steal a piggyback ride from Kevin while Howie looked on in adult amusement. "They aren't either. They act like a bunch of hardasses, but they aren't going anywhere. There's a lot of love in this little family."

"Still," Brian added with a hint of awe. "No matter what. It's almost like a fairy tale. It's like, no matter how much we hurt each other, there's still that bond running beneath it all."

Nick nodded in agreement. "Aww, hell yeah. And that won't ever go away. That's what punched the numbers that got me in touch with AJ, Kevin, and Howie. I figured that, despite the hard feelings, there was still a lot of love left. And I figured it'd be enough, you know?"

The staple phrase brought another smile to Brian's face. "Yeah, man, I know. I just can't believe you threw this thing as a surprise party."

Nick tossed an arm around Brian's shoulder gleefully. "Well...you were the last one to join us, Bri. It's only fitting that you were the last one to show up at the ten-year bash."

"Besides, this way Nicky couldn't possibly be late," AJ cackled, slamming the screen door shut behind him. He skidding to a halt directly in front of the hammock, though, and his eyes bulged when he saw the mess that they'd made of the backyard. "Shit, Nick, I think we about destroyed your house."

Nick waved a dismissive hand. "Nah, not at all. You just reminded me why I hired a cleaning service."

"We really should help you pick some of this up, though," Kevin interjected. "I mean, all of this waste can't be good for the environment."

AJ rolled his eyes and mock-whispered to Brian and Nick. "See? Ten years, and he's still hugging trees with the best of the flower children." After a parental shake of the head, he turned to Kevin. "Kev, man, the whole environmental thing went out of style YEARS ago."

Kevin arched an eyebrow. "So did silicone, Bone, but you don't seem to mind a trip to the Playboy mansion every now and then."

AJ sighed. "Nah, I've been good lately. I've got a good girl this time, and I'm determined not to screw it up."

Howie chuckled, emerging from the house with the last six-pack of beer. "Anyone care to place a bet on how long AJ stays faithful this time around?"

AJ groaned. "Gee, thanks, D. Your never-ending faith in my love life just astounds me."

"As it should," Kevin retorted, taking the beer that Howie offered. "You haven't exactly given us a good reason to maintain any faith at all."

Brian turned to Nick long enough to tune out the playful argument that was starting. "That's what I did, man. I gave you no reason to keep the faith."

Nick frowned in surprise. "What the hell? Are you kidding? Rok, you've been my best buddy from day one of this lovely Backstreet extravaganza! When I got homesick, you told me bedtime stories to make me feel better. When I was tired, you'd let me ramble to you across the bunks until I finally fell asleep. When the others ditched me because I was too young to have the adult kind of fun that they were after, you'd stay in and hold a MarioKart-a-thon with me. I mean, sure, the support wavered a bit when it looked like I was planning to abandon you guys, but that's hardly enough to make me overlook ten years of friendship. I don't hold those kinds of grudges, and neither do you."

"Not anymore," Brian consented. "But who knew how long I was going to keep that charade going?"

"Until Kevin came to kick you in the ass," Nick answered with a smile. "I know how it works here in Backstreet camp. You may not listen to me, but you'll sure as hell listen to Kevin."

Brian rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because he doesn't shut up until I do."

Nick's eyes twinkled. "Need I remind you that you're talking to the guy that kidnapped you and your family this afternoon?"

Brian shook his head at the memory. "I really ought to kill you for doing that."

Nick grinned. "Yeah, but you won't. You couldn't, because the mission's accomplished. Not only are we all back together, but now you know you can't lose me. Or any of us, for that matter." He paused to think. "Besides, if you were going to kill anybody, it'd be AJ. No matter what I do, I can guarantee that he's done worse."

Brian nodded in agreement. "Point made."

"So see? Kidnapping you and your family was a good thing. We even left enough time for the girls to bond again."

Brian winced. "That's a scary, scary thought."

For the first time all evening, Nick sobered. "Not as scary as the idea of not spending our ten-year anniversary as a group together. No way in hell was I doing that."

Brian grinned. "Hey, man...all kidding aside? I'm really glad you didn't."

Nick laughed. "Yeah, this whole thing kicked ass, didn't it?"

Brian chuckled, taking the opportunity to scan his surroundings again. "It definitely kicked your backyard's ass."

Nick shrugged. "It's all replaceable, though. You guys aren't."

Brian shook his head in surprise and cocked his head towards Nick in amazement. "Damn, Nick when did you grow up?"

Nick laughed. "Sometime between puberty and the third lawsuit against Jive."

Brian wasn't laughing, though. "And I missed it."

Nick smiled softly. "Nah, man, you didn't miss it. You were there for all of it. You were just too close to it to see all of the improvements."

Brian's smile matched Nick's exactly. "Either way, you grew to be quite a man, Frack." He paused at the satisfied smile on Nick's face. "Regardless of how big you get, though, you can't lose me either. Hell, you can't lose any of us."

Nick nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"Do you really?"

Nick sighed. "After today? Definitely."

"Good," Brian concluded, the beginnings of a mischievous grin on his face. "Because I have every intention of getting you back for that whole kidnapping incident, and I wouldn't want there to be any hard feelings."

Nick grinned. "Quite the contrary, man. I'll be looking forward to it."

Brian smiled nostalgically out along the mess of a backyard that had helped to put the Boys back together. "Eh, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. I've got the next ten years to come up with some form of payback."

Nick looked up in pleasant surprise. "Really? You think we'll survive that long?"

Brian glanced over at the other three, who were engaged in a heavy debate over the pros and cons of a midnight edition of "spin the bottle", and smiled. "Definitely."