History

Chapter 7

Kevin took a taxi to the hotel he was staying at which wasn’t far from where Nick lived in Franklin. He supposed he could have just asked to stay at Nick’s house, but he didn't want to intrude and wasn’t sure how Nick would react to him being there. Part of him felt Nick wouldn’t mind, because Nick seemed like he had grown up a lot since they last spent time together. However, on the other hand all he could think about was their fight….

“GO AWAY. I HATE YOU!!!”

“Nick, please listen…” 

He got to the hotel, thinking things over and decided he would stay there instead...just in case the conversation with Nick took a turn for the worst. He also texted Nick to let him know he was staying in the area and invited him out for dinner. Once he settled into his room, Kevin took a nap until he got a text from Nick.

Would you like to come to dinner at the house? Lauren insists on having you over...hope I’m not bothering you. She says she’d rather cook for us then have us eat out. Hope that is okay.

Kevin decided this would be a perfect time to talk, Nick surely would have more time and be more comfortable at his house. He agreed and got ready to go, then took another cab to Nick’s home. 

Nick’s house was in a suburban type neighborhood, vastly different from where Kevin lived in LA. It was very quiet. The house was two stories with a wrap around porch, a swing out front. It was different from the houses Nick had in the past, houses by the beach and near the party spots.

“Kevin, I’m so glad you could make it for dinner. Come on in. Nick’s in the shower.” Lauren smiled when she came to the door, a well fed pug at her feet. Kevin recognized Nick’s dog right away and the dog seemed to remember him because he was friendly. 

“Hey, Nacho.” Kevin said, bending down to pet the dog. Nacho sniffed his hand and barked, wagging his tail as Lauren beamed at them. 

“Nick couldn’t stop talking about you yesterday, he was so happy to see you on set. You should have stayed to watch.” Lauren said when she closed the door behind them and led Kevin towards the living room. The house was decorated, but it was very cozy and you could tell someone lived there. Pictures lined the walls along with some of the Backstreet Boys various awards that Nick had displayed. A trophy case lined one wall of the living room. Kevin looked around and took everything in. The house definitely represented that Nick had grown up. 

“I didn’t want to intrude. There’s a reason I came down here, Lauren. I want to talk to him about something kind of important and I want his opinion….I felt it was better to talk in person.” 

“It’s not anything serious, is it?” Lauren asked with concern. 

“Oh, no. Nothing like that. Just group stuff.” Kevin laughed. They sat down in the living room on the large brown leather couch. A MTV moon man sat on the coffee table, and Kevin smiled at it. Lauren brought him a drink while he waited for Nick to finish in the bathroom. 

“You and Nick have been together for a while now, haven’t you?” Kevin said after Lauren sat down on the couch across from him. She was very pretty, tall with long dark hair and blue eyes. She definitely seemed like Nick’s type. Kevin had met Lauren before, when he had gone out to dinner with the boys in Japan on the This Is Us tour. He didn't tell any of them that he kept up with what the group was doing after the night he sang with them on the Unbreakable tour. After that night he had realized how much he missed all of them, and now was as good of a time as any to come back. The guys were between albums right now and figuring out what they wanted to do. 

“Yes, we have.” Lauren beamed. 

“Do you think you’ll be getting married anytime soon?” Kevin asked with a hopeful smile. Lauren started blushing. Kevin liked to see that they were in love and it was so obvious that this girl was good for Nick. Judging by how things were going, they were going pretty serious between them.