By the time they got back to the hotel after that nights show, AJ was exhausted and Brian was hyper. As they’d planned, the group of them headed to Kevin’s room. Just as they were going inside, Jeff, who had followed them all evening, caught Brian’s arm. “Do you need help bringing your bags to your room, Mr. Littrell?” His words were polite, but there was a warning in his tone.
Amused, Brian shook his head. “Last I checked I know how to carry bags. Thanks anyways. You can head off to bed, you know.” He suggested that, knowing that Jeff wouldn’t. “We usually sit around for a while after a show and unwind as a group.”
Jeff stood quietly, his eyes holding a measuring look. “I’ll stay here.” He finally said. When Jeff let go, Brian moved to head into the room. He heard Jeff’s soft voice behind him, saying “I’m not stupid, Sir. I’ll be watching.”
What fun it was for Brian to turn and give Jeff such a wide grin that Jeff blinked in shock at him. “Good.” Brian said happily. He winked at the guy. “It’s no fun playing against an idiot. This’ll make it more interesting.” That said, Brian stepped into Kevin’s room and shut the door. He headed inside to join his friends, still smiling as his brain started to work. All evening he’d been thinking over familiar jokes that he knew and that they might be able to pull off.
He was amused to see that AJ was stretched out on one of the beds, already mostly asleep. As had become habit, Brian bent over and kissed AJ’s temple as he sat down, leaning against the headboard. In response, AJ shifted until his head was in Brian’s lap. That allowed Brian the freedom to run his hands through AJ’s hair.
Nick took a seat on the floor between the beds, while Kevin sat on the other one and Howie brought a chair over, flipping it around backwards before sitting down.
“So,” Howie said with a smirk. “Got any plans we can help out on?”
Frick and Frack looked at one another, exchanging a grin. It was Nick who answered, wearing an evil look that they had all learned to fear when it was directed at them. This time it was going to be so much more fun. The five of them had one common enemy. “Well, I think we should start simple. Just little things, you know? Like at meals, with the salt canisters.”
That made them all chuckle. How many times had Brian and Nick unscrewed the lids on the salt and pepper so that it spilled everywhere?
Brian tilted his head, thinking for a moment. “At the next hotel I’ll need someone to help me get into his room.” He said softly. His hand never stopped its gentle stroking in AJ’s hair as he thought out what he wanted to do. “There are so many room jokes. Think you can still manage to bust into a room, Frack?”
Just thinking on all of this had Kevin rolling his eyes and chortling. “Does this mean we finally get to see how you guys do some of these things? I always wondered how the hell you got into our rooms without keys, or how you managed to get the time to do some of this when we all thought we were watching you so closely.”
From his spot on the floor, Nick reached up to smack Brian’s knee. “We can’t be giving away our secrets to them!” he exclaimed.
Brian nodded in agreement. “Sorry, guys. Some you can help on. But trust the two of us. This is our forte. Here, we are kings. By the time we’re done with this guy, he’s going to be so miserable he’ll be begging to leave. Plus, if we keep you two out of it, you can honestly say you had no idea if you’re asked. Covers your butts.”
“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Howie asked.
“Be our alibi.” Nick and Brian said together. That had everyone laughing.
As the others discussed the show that night, and the upcoming one, Brian looked down at the head in his lap and the man who was sleeping there. If someone seriously thought they were going to come between him and AJ, after all they’d been through, than that idiot had another thing coming. Yes, Brian would admit that he was the gentler one in the relationship, but if you pushed his buttons he could get just as mean as AJ. He could be a hell of a lot more devious, too.
By the time the evening wound down for them, Brian was ready to climb into bed beside AJ and pass out. But first he had to take care of the first part of their plan. So he gently slid AJ’s head off his lap and onto the pillow, then followed the guys to the door. They all exchanged grins as they said their good nights, opening the door for Howie to go out first, then Nick and Kevin with Kevin holding an arm around Nick to talk to him.
Jeff’s face was priceless as he looked at them all from his spot down the hall. His eyes quickly snapped to Brian, who still stood in the doorway, grinning. Even as Jeff pushed away from the wall and was marching down, Brian called out “Night guys! Night Jeff!” and smartly shut the door before hooking both the lock and the latch.
As he suspected, Jeff almost instantly started to pound on the door. Brian ignored it, as well as the shouting, as he dressed down for bed, brushed his teeth, and shut the lights off. He climbed into bed beside AJ and curled around his body. Still Jeff knocked and yelled in the hallway. Brian was content to listen to him until he tired himself out, but apparently AJ wasn’t.
Fumbling in the darkness, AJ eventually found the phone on the nightstand and brought it to his ear. He somehow managed to dial a set of numbers, ignoring Brian, who propped himself up on his elbow to watch whatever AJ was doing.
Brian watched as AJ lay like he was asleep, the phone to his ear. After a moment Brian heard a voice answer on the other end, and then AJ was saying “Hey Marcus, it’s just me. Yeah, I know it’s late. Sorry dude….yeah, yeah I know….Ok, I’ll owe you one. Big, I swear.” There was a pause in which Brian heard Marcus laughing. “Ok, so I need a favor, man. This new guy, Jeff? You know about him and why he’s here and shit?” Another pause. “Yeah, basically. Well, I doubt any of you thought we’d take it lying down. We managed to get in a room together, but the fucker’s out in the hallway banging and shouting trying to get in…..I know, right? What a jerk.”
Another pause, and this time AJ was the one who let out a raspy laugh. “I knew I could count on you, man. I just want some fucking sleep and this dick won’t shut up. Thanks a mil, Marc. Night.”
After getting the phone back on the base, AJ rolled over and pulled Brian down to snuggle with him. “Marcus says he’ll get rid of him.” AJ mumbled. He was already drifting back to sleep.
Brian chuckled and pulled the blankets over them. “Love you, Alex.”
“Love you too, Bri. Now shut up so I can sleep.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So started the prank war of the Black and Blue tour. Brian and Nick embraced the war in earnest, throwing themselves into their pranks. After that first night, the two spent the next day ensconced together on the bus, plotting out what they wanted to do. AJ was amused by it all. He took a step back from it all and let Brian have his head. This was his area of expertise .It was where he would shine at. So AJ just contented himself with watching everything unfold.
He didn’t have long to wait. Once they reached the new hotel and were getting ready to head upstairs, Brian created a ruckus by dropping one of his bags ‘on accident’, causing it to spill everywhere. The little twinkle in his eyes told AJ exactly how ‘accidental’ it had been. Not wanting to ruin Brian’s plan, AJ stayed close to Howie, stepping up to the front desk to check in and get their keys.
“Wonder what they’ve got planned.” Howie murmured. He looked discreetly over his shoulder, smirking in amusement as Jeff started to try and help gather things back up.
AJ found himself watching from the cover of his hat and sunglasses. “Not sure, but I bet it’ll be great.” He answered. Just then he saw Brian taking advantage of the crowd that had gathered to try and help, using them as cover to slip around and toward the staircase. He paused at the doorway, giving AJ a huge wink before darting up the stairs.
Shaking his head, AJ set about getting his room key. He’d been paired with Howie this time. “Got any plans for tonight?” Howie asked him as they went to the elevator. Jeff was still behind them, now struggling to carry all of Brian’s bags and at the same time, trying ot figure out where he was. Come to think of it, AJ realized that Nick was missing too.
But to put lie to that thought, Nick came darting into the crowd suddenly. AJ stood outside the elevator and watched as Nick deliberately tripped himself, making him bump into Kevin, which in turn knocked him into Jeff. The two hit the ground in a pile of limbs.
It took everything AJ and Howie had not to bust a gut in laughter. Because he was watching, AJ saw that, as Nick stood up, he slid something into his pocket.
“Did you see what he grabbed?” Howie asked in surprise, raising his eyebrows. “That little shit is way too slick.”
“Amen to that one, D.”
In short order, everyone was in the elevator, Jeff included. At the last second Brian tore through some people and darted in just before the doors closed. His cheeks were rosy and his eyes were sparkling, but he wasn’t even acting like he was out of breath. “Sorry, guys, nature called. Must be all that greasy food I had at the pit stop. Doesn’t agree with my stomach.” He explained.
AJ dropped his head down a little, turning his face away so that no one would see the smile he couldn’t stop from coming out. Because he had turned that way, he noticed how Nick moved just slightly, using AJ and Brian as a small shelter so he could pull out the cell phone in his pocket and another one with his other hand. Catching AJ watching him, Nick winked at him.
The elevator dinged and Nick whipped the one phone back into his pocket, palming the other one. He used a moment that Jeff was distracted by trying to talk to Brian and stepped up and slipped Jeff’s cellphone back into his pocket without him being any the wiser.
More security was waiting for them when they headed into the hall .The usual crew stood around, giving them all smiles. Each was assigned to a different boy. Marcus, Tim, Calvin, and Rex were assigned to AJ, Howie, Kevin, and Nick.
Using the chaos that normal ensued upon arrival, Marcus stepped up to AJ to give him a brief and friendly hug. When he pulled back, he murmured “Don’t fight him on the rooms. We took care of it for you, the guys and me.”
“Really?” AJ asked in surprise. It touched him a little.
Checking first to make sure that no one was close enough to hear, Marcus nodded and smiled. “Your and Howie’s room is right next to Brian and Nick’s room. What Jeff doesn’t know is that they’re joined rooms. It’ll be easy enough to do the switch.”
Now, that really touched him. “Thanks, bro.” He said huskily. Marcus just gave him another grin. “We’re all on your side, J. What they’re doing is fucked up. Any way we can help, we will, don’t worry about it. You’ve got everyone else on your side.”
That touched feeling stayed with him as he and Howie headed into their room. Once the door was shut, AJ locked it and moved ot the adjoining door, pressing his ear against it. Howie caught sight of it and started to laugh. “How the hell did you manage that one, J?” he asked with another laugh.
“Didn’t. Security did.”
“Security?” That caught Howie’s attention.
Turning, AJ shook his head in amazement. “Marcus said that he and the others are on our side. They’ll do anything they can to help us out, including switching reservations without Jeff knowing so that things like this can happen.” There was wonder in his voice as he said this. Aside from the fellas, no one had ever done anything like this for him before.
Howie stepped forward, putting a hand on AJ’s shoulder. “We are all on your side, Age. Why does that surprise you so much?” he asked him softly.
It took AJ a minute to think of his answer. “I’m not used to this kind of loyalty, Howie.” He admitted. Slightly embarrassed, he rubbed the toe of his shoe in the carpet. “For years, well, you know how I lived. Then I joined the group, and yeah we were all friends, but Nick and Kev, I don’t know. I always knew that they liked me sometimes, and tolerated me, but no one but you really liked me.”
AJ cleared his throat, getting the lump of emotion out of the way. “Sometimes it amazes me that you’re my friend, after I kicked your ass the way I did when I was little. I just, I’ve never had so many people care so much. At the same time, I can’t help but wonder if they’re doing it for me or if they’re doing it for Brian. He's such a nice guy, he just inspires that kind of loyalty. As for me, well, I’m me.”
In one swift move AJ found himself wrapped tightly in Howie’s familiar arms. “You’re an amazing person who is worthy of loyalty and love and friendship, Age. What happened when I first met you is the past. Who you are since then, that’s what matters. I stood by your side through everyone ragging on you for your fights with Brian, and I’ll stand by you through this.”
Pulling back, Howie smiled and looked at AJ with eyes that were wet. “Brothers?” he said softly, holding out a hand. AJ felt his own eyes get a little wet as he took Howie’s hand. “Brothers.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the other side of the door the three remaining Backstreet Boys wiped at their cheeks, swiping away the tears. They had been ready to open the door to let Howie and AJ in when they’d heard AJ say “I’m not used to this kind of loyalty, Howie.” Shamelessly they had listened in to the rest of the conversation.
When it got quiet on the other side, Kevin walked over to the other end of the room to stare out the window. For a few minutes he was silent. Then he spoke in a soft, achy voice. “I never really stopped to think about how he’d felt before.” He admitted. “Once you two fixed things, everything just seemed ok. AJ was ok with us. I never stopped to think about how we’d been wrong about him and how our treatment must have made him feel.”
“No shit?” Brian swore, surprising them. He looked from one friend to the other. “He’s a gentle guy inside. How could you think it wouldn’t hurt him to have two people who were supposed to be his friends always taking someone else’s side without any of the information? Just assuming that he was the one that was wrong.”
Nick put his hand on Brian’s arm in a calming gesture. “We’ll make it up to him with this. We’ll show the both of you how much we support you. We may have been dumb before, but we’re here for the two of you now.”
“He’s right.” Kevin agreed. “We won’t let you two down.”