Chapter 1

nick crept over to brian sitting on the couch in the back of the bus. "hes asleep," nick whispered.

"do you have the stuff?" brian whispered back.

nick nodded and pulled the can of shaving cream from behind his back,"aj went to find a feather."

"k, lets go then." the two boys snuck up to the bunks and started to pull the curtain back.

"hey guys, i found one!"

"shh!!" nick said quickly closing the curtain back.

brian quickly put his hand over ajs mouth,"do you want him to wake up...?"

aj shook his head and held up his hand in apology. brian nodded to nick who pulled the curtain back again. brian moved his hand off ajs mouth, reached over and gently flipped kevins hand over so it was palm up.

nick sprayed some shaving cream into his hand and nodded to aj who started to tickle kevins face with the feather. kevin rubbed his hand across his face smearing the shaving cream. nick tried to surpress his laughter but ended up snorting.

aj smirked and tickled his face again, getting the same reaction from both kevin and nick.

"what are you guys doing?" howie asked coming up behind them.

they tried to shush him but it was too late. they heard keving mumble under his breath, starting to wake himself up. the three boys glanced at each other and lunged in different directions, directly out of kevins line of fire.

kevin yawned and sat up. it took him all of five seconds before he realized what the guys had done.

"BRIAN. AJ. NICK. NOW!!"

the three guys came over, trying to look as casual as possible and not laugh at kevin.

"yeah kev? dude, you have something on your face," aj said trying to keep a straight face.

kevin glared at him and wiped his face of on the bottom of his wifebeater,"funny aj."

aj smirked,"i thought so."

kevin rolled his eyes and got up,"i hope you still think its funny tomorrow during the extra hour of rehearsal."

nick, brian, and aj looked at each other, jaws dropped,"but kev..."

kevin smiled, walked right past them into the back lounge, and turned on the tv. they looked pleadingly at howie who laughed and shrugged,"hey...dont look at me..."

they frowned and went to their bunks to pout in privacy.
****carter house****

"aaron, concentrate," his tutor said to him in slight frustration.

aaron sighed dramatically,"but emma, weve been working for hours. theres only so much my brain can handle."

emma rolled her eyes,"aaron....weve only been working for 15 minutes."

"oh...well...this is boring..." he whined.

"are you implying that i bore you carter?"

aaron quickly shook his head and emma couldnt help but laugh,"let me go talk to your mom and see what she says."

aaron nodded and emma went into the kitchen,"mrs. carter?"

"yes ms. darling?"

emma laughed,"sorry. jane....is it okay if i take aaron to the park for his lesson? i think hes got cabin fever..."

jane nodded,"sure. just have him back in an hour. the boys should be here by then."

"oh thats right, their coming in tonight. im going to meet THE nick carter," emma said sarcastically.

jane laughed,"yup. so go ahead and take him. remember, be back in an hour."

emma nodded and went back to tell aaron and get her stuff.
****bsb tourbus****

"come on kev, we were just messing around," nick whined.

kevin shook his head. nick, brian, and aj had been whining about the extra rehearsal time for the past hour and he still wasnt about to crack.

aj sighed,"kev...."

kevin smiled and shook his head again. brian frowned,"just give up guys...besides were here," he said as they pulled into the drive of the house.

the two other guys frowned along with him,"stupid meaniehead kev..."nick mumbled under his breath as he collected his stuff.

kevin rolled his eyes and headed off the bus. the other four followed, all at a slower pace except for nick. he burst through the front door of the house and yelled,"mom! dad! im home!"

jane hurried out of the kitchen,"nick! boys!"

nick raced over to her and picked her up in a hug,"i missed you mom."

jane smiled and kissed him on the forehead,"i missed you too. now let me hug my other boys."

nick made a face but let go of her. he looked around,"its too quiet. where is everybody?"

"um...bj and leslie are out with friends, angel is at basketball practice, aarons at the park, and your dad is out 'fixing' the boat again," she said as she hugged each boy.

"how far is the park?"

jane rolled her eyes,"just wait nick. aaron will be back soon. are you guys hungry?"

"starved," brian said.

aj stared at him,"brian, you and your damn do-"

"alex..."

"sorry jane. you and your...ugly little rat just ate a whole bag of chips."

brian pouted and pet tyke,"hes not ugly."

jane gave aj a look and kissed brian on the cheek,"of course not sweetie."

aj rolled his eyes,"my point is, they ju-"

"nick!!" aaron yelled running into the house.

nick spun around and hugged his brother,"aaron!!"

"i missed you, did you bring me anything?"

nick rolled his eyes,"i missed you too and maybe..."

jane paused her conversation with kev and glanced out the front door that aaron had left open,"aaron...wheres emma...?"

"shes coming, i ran ahead of her."

"whose emma?" howie asked.

"aarons tutor. you guys will like her. shes just like nick except mature," bj said coming into the house.

"....and if i didnt miss you so much i would smack you for that comment. now come here," he said pulling her into a hug.

bj made a face but hugged her brother back. the front door opened once again, this time by emma.

"aaron charles carter...."

aaron smiled sweetly and started to hide behind nick who wasnt doing much but staring at emma. emma shook her head,"aaron just because hes bigger doesnt mean hes gonna protect you..."

brian laughed and offered emma his hand,"hi, im brian."

emma smiled,"nice to meet you, im emma."

bj smirked,"nick, close your mouth."

nick blushed and closed his mouth and mumbled,"sorry."

bj rolled her eyes,"anyways...emma you already met brian, thats aj, howie, kevin, and the big dork with the blonde hair in his eyes is unfortunately my brother nick. guys this is emma."

she nodded and smiled,"nice to meet all of you."

aj elbowed aaron who was still hiding behind nick,"apologize...."

"um...sorry emma, i promise not to do it again," aaron said smiling innocently.

emma rolled her eyes,"yeah right aaron and i REALLY believe that."

a horn honked outside and emma glanced out the window,"thats my ride. ill be back tomorrow aaron..."

"wait, emma why dont you stay for dinner. theres enough food right jane?" aj asked.

"yes alex and she can stay if you promise not to hit on her or her friend."

aj smiled sweetly,"of course i wont jane. i promise."

jane rolled her eyes,"emma why dont you go see if amanda wants to stay..."

emma nodded and went out to the car. a few minutes later she came back followed by her friend. "hi mrs. carter," amanda said.

"amanda...."

"sorry. hi jane," amanda said laughing.

jane smiled,"better. amanda let me introduce you. this is nick, kevin, aj, howie, and brian. boys this is amanda."

amanda smiled,"hi guys. nice to meet you. hey bj, aaron."

bj waved on her way up to her room and aaron ran over and jumped on amandas back,"are we gonna finish our basketball game?"

"if you get off me. you know your not light aaron..."

"i am too," aaron said pouting just like his brother.

emma rolled her eyes and lifted him off her back,"aaron. go put your books away then we'll play. same teams if bj agrees."

aaron nodded and raced upstairs. jane smiled,"why dont you guys go out back while i finish dinner..."

they all nodded and headed out to the large backyard. emma sat down between howie and brian while amanda was off to the side talking to kevin. aj and nick stood a little ways off watching both.

aj elbowed nick,"watch this." he walked over to amanda and kevin and tapped her on the shoulder. she turned around slowly,"yes?"

aj smirked,"excuse me...are your legs tired? because youve been running through my mind all day."

amanda raised her eyebrows,"and obviously i trampled what little braincells you had left. excuse me kevin." she smiled and him and went to sit with emma, howie, and brian.

ajs jaw dropped and both nick and kevin burst out laughing. nick walked over to him and put his hand comfortingly on his shoulder,"just one question....i was watching that why...?"

aj frowned and gave him a look,"i would like to see you do better with emma..."

nick blushed and glanced over at emma who was deep in conversation with brian. he sighed,"i will. once i can get my brain to function."

aj sighed dramatically,"well then i guess you dont plan to talk to her sometime before the millennium."

nick frowned and smacked him. kevin rolled his eyes and mumbled,"and people think their cute," before walking back into the house.

"hey, we are..." aj said pouting just as a basketball smacked him in the back of his head. "what the fu-"

nick quickly covered his mouth,"aaron, careful with the ball."

aaron nodded and smiled sweetly at aj who was about to run after him. aaron laughed and raced over to emma and amanda to ask to come and play.


Chapter 2a