History

Chapter 1

It was a lazy Sunday at the Richardson house. Kevin woke up and stretched, looking for his wife. He smelled something good cooking and smiled. She was up before him today. 

“Hi, honey.” 

“So you're finally awake then. I was wondering when you'd get up.” Kristin giggled, mixing the eggs in the bowl in front of her. Kevin kissed her on the cheek gently and smiled. It had taken a few years but he finally had the home life he wanted. Mason, their son was still asleep in the other room. 

“Well, you did keep me awake last night.” he whispered huskily, wiggling his eyebrows and making his wife laugh again. 

Kristen smiled back at him as his phone rang, but Kevin ignored it. 

Whatever it was could wait until after breakfast, couldn't it? 

“The Backstreet Boys have just announced their second cruise…”

Looking away from the computer, he smiled as he watched his son playing with their dog across the room. It was 2011 and just another day at home for him, but he still liked to keep up with what the other boys were doing from time to time. He still kept in touch with his little brothers when he could. He’d had dinner with them in Japan when they were on tour there and he was there at the same time. It was like old times. Especially when AJ had forgotten his wallet and Kevin offered to pay. After that dinner he found himself missing them even more than he did when he was doing Broadway or acting. 

He wasn't sure what to think about the fan cruise the guys were having. From what Brian said they were fun. He often missed the fans as well, whenever he got recognized in public he always felt happy, as if he was expecting them to just kind of forget he existed once he left. 

Luckily that wasn't the case when he found some of them at the grocery store once. They seemed really happy to see him and he was just as happy to see them. For him it was like seeing old friends. He looked at them and held their hands to say thank you to them for still being fans, something he had always done to make sure the fans knew that he appreciated them. 

“We miss you, Kevin. We wish you would come back.” the one girl had told him enthusiastically. He gave her a huge hug and they all took pictures together. He started thinking about how much he missed the fans again and performing. 

“Maybe one day,” he'd said with a sad smile. 

After the girls had walked away he couldn't stop thinking. As much as he'd tried to be normal again, as much as he tried to just be regular old Kevin- he couldn't avoid feeling the slightest bit empty. He missed the other boys. Seeing Brian at family gatherings once in a while wasn't the same. He tried to keep in touch, but Nick was always busy with some project aside from the occasional text. Howie would answer, but he'd always be in a rush. AJ would talk for a while on the phone but it would get awkward after a few minutes of silence and how are you doings. 

Did the other guys even miss him or was that just for interviews and for show? He wondered if he asked to come back, would they welcome him? Nick was angry at him for a while after he left. 

“Kris…”

“Yes, sweetie? Is everything okay?” Kristin asked, noticing his expression. He looked lost. She hugged him and kissed him gently on the cheek.

“I’m okay, I was just thinking.” 

“What are you thinking about?” 

“You know that interview we saw once where AJ said the door was always open?”

“I do. You ask me about it every so often.” she answered. Kristin knew what he was about to ask her and had seen it coming for a while. He’d brought it up a few times because she and him both knew how much he missed the guys. He would get misty eyed and smile a sad smile while he remembered. How he missed performing and being a group together. Kevin would often look up what was going on with the boys on the computer, and then start reminiscing or want to call one of the guys. He would watch old videos every now and then that he'd taken on his video camera. Videos from tours long since over and buried in a box behind some things in the closet along with his old tour clothes that he kept. He'd look at them and miss them. Miss the fans. Miss performing. Broadway was fun, but it wasn't the same as a concert. Neither was acting. He was inspired to sing again.