Safe and Sound (Book 4 of "The Story of Us" series) [Completed]

Epilogue 1 - Never Grow Up

Note: This is the first of two separate songfic/short stories that ended this series.

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[Nick]

Sometimes I can't believe that I'm almost 46 years old. I never really thought I was going to make it to see myself at this age. Hell, I'm lucky after all the shit I've been through that I'm seeing 2026.

"Nick, look at you," a lady said as she hugged me tightly. "You still look like you're 25."

"You know you go to hell if you lie," I said as she laughed. She looked familiar and I was sure I'd met her many times before but it had been so long.

I looked around at the crowd that had gathered in the arena. It had honestly been so long since I had seen a crowd like this. My Mom and sister was sitting over to the side and I smiled at them as I sat down in a seat in the front row. Hell, it had been so long since I'd actually been to a real concert that I wasn't performing at.

I was a ball of nerves. I don't know why I was so nervous, but I hadn't felt this way since the first time I took the stage in our very first big headlining show. Or maybe it was my first solo show without the guys. Regardless, I was nervous.

I heard some cheers and looked over, seeing Harley walking down the aisle with Sadie and Noah. Sadie was tall, like Harley and Ella and looked a lot more like Harley than she did as a toddler. I couldn't believe that she was almost 15. And Noah was like looking in a mirror and I knew he was going to be nothing but trouble like I was.

But Harley was still Harley. I couldn't look at her without smiling.

"She okay?" I asked as Harley nodded and sat down next to me. "I think every Backstreet Boys fan that's still alive is here. The amount of people that have came up to me..."

"I know," she whispered. "It's a little weird... being away for so long and then being in the spotlight again."

Just as the words left Harley's mouth, a guy with a video camera walked up to us and a woman with a microphone.

"Nick, Harley, can we talk to you two for a minute?" the lady asked as I looked at Harley who nodded and we both stood up. I looked back at Noah who was playing with his phone and at Sadie who was leaning over and talking to my Mom. "We're here with Nick Carter and his wife Harley Harper Carter. Both were huge stars in the 90's and 2000's but they took a step back out of the entertainment industry and now they're back.."

"Well," Harley said, interrupting the woman. "We're not technically back," she said as the woman looked at us. "We're not here as Nick and Harley the singers, we're here as parents."

"How do you feel about your daughter headlining her own tour so quickly in her career?" the woman asked. "Ella has only released two songs and she's selling out stadiums. How do you feel about that?"

"We're proud, but we've been through all of this and we're helping her make the right decisions," I said, taking a deep breath. "She's come out and talked about things that happened to her when she was younger, and since she's been back with us, all she has wanted was to be a singer, be like her mother. She loved Harley before she even knew we were her parents."

"But musically I think she takes after Nick more," Harley said as I looked at her. "I was always more of a writer, which she does, but she's like Nick where she likes to produce things and actually make the songs."

I stood there listening to Harley talk about Ella and smiled.

And then I saw him.

Him being Dylan Sawyer, her boyfriend. Might I add boyfriend that is in the biggest boy band right now. And he's two years older than her.

If Jon Harper were still alive, he would laugh his ass off, I'm sure of it. But Jon had passed away two years before peacefully in his sleep. So I know that I have to carry on the tradition of being a total bitch to the guy my daughter is dating.

"She's nervous," Dylan said as he walked up to me and I stared at him. I didn't like the kid. Blonde hair, blue eyes, tall and had one of those baby faces. Plus he had a tattoo. I remembered when Ella hated my tattoos. "She's trying to act like she's not, but she is."

The journalist Harley was talking to immediately walked over to talk to Dylan and I sighed, looking over at Harley who gave me a smile.

"Why is he here?" I asked as Harley put her hands on the side of my face.

"Nick... he's her boyfriend. She loves him."

"Why can't you be bitchy about him like your Mom was about me?" I asked as she chuckled. "I just... I don't like him. I know boys like him. I was him."

"Look at him, Nick," Harley said to me as I groaned. "He is you 25 years ago. Don't go and grow a mustache."

"I don't know why you don't like him, Daddy, he's hot," I heard Sadie say as she stood up and took a step closer to us. "I would date him."

"Go sit down," I said as Sadie giggled and sat back down. I looked over at Dylan as a few girls had walked up to him, asking for pictures and autographs.

"Come on, let's sit down," Harley said, taking my hand and leading me back to our seats. We sat down and I looked over seeing Noah texting on his phone, probably to his girlfriend, which I also didn't like, but she was cute. And it was innocent. Not like this Dylan guy is with Ella because I'm not stupid. I know what Harley and I did when we were their age. We had already lived together at their ages. Thankfully Ella hasn't went that far yet.

[/Nick]