...trying to solve the fucking mess...

"You must be kidding." Chris looked at Joey, blinking. "I'm not going to do it."

"If you don't, you'll end up looking like Nick Carter all your life." Joey argued, sitting down. They were outside the room where BSB were supposed to be sleeping.

               Supposed to, because Jive had changed plans in the last minute and so, Joey and Chris were alone there.

"I could have a better chance seducing him if I'm Nick Carter." Chris said, full of confidence, smiling wickedly. "I could learn to like being Nick Carter."

"If you could do that, you would have done it already. And you hate being Nick." Joey shook his head, and Chris lowered his, defeated.

"You're right. I don't have the guts to come to him, no matter how I look." Chris laughed sadly. "So… you sure my only ticket out is that?"

"Absolutely."

"Then let's go. "

"Where are we going?" Joey asked, surprised.

"To the gym. I'll never get Justin interested in Nick Carter with this fat ass."

* * *

"I can't believe you're actually believing that." Nick shook Chris's head, as he looked at his friend Howie at the *N Sync's rehearsal room. "That's insane."

"It's the only way out of Chris' skin." Howie answered, calmly. It seemed that the long haired man was no longer worried at all. "You've got to be sure he'll be happy."

"But…"

"You want to spend the rest of your life being the oldest *N Syncer?" Howie pointed out, and Nick sighed.

"No, but…"

"Then you have to help Chris to get his man's love. It isn't as if you're not gay too, Nick." Howie pointed out, but Nick kept shocking his head.

"Yeah, I am… but AJ is not!"

* * *

               Everyone was surprised by the sudden change in Nick Carter's behavior. In three weeks he lost 20 pounds, gaining muscle. He worked twice as hard as everyone else in the group, always being serious, sincere and loveable during interviews, always ready for everything.

"I was in the experimenting phase." He explained, smiling, to the guy from the 'Out' magazine. "I mean, I still know and believe that I'll find love with a man, but I have also come to realize that flaming is not the way to find him. I'll go solo for now."

"There has been no pressure from the others to make you take back your original statement?" The reporter, whose grey eyes were shining with excitement, asked. "Or from the other pop groups?"

"Oh, no. The guys are cool with me." Nick chuckled, seeing Brian's deep frown across the room. Now he was never alone, since Jive still didn't trust him. "There was a little awkward talk, in which I promised I wouldn't kiss them like that because, well, they ain't interested. But other than that, we're cool. The other groups haven't said anything. Least not to me."

"So, Nick, tell us. Is there anyone you would like to try and convince you to stop being a bachelor?" The interviewer continued, obviously pleased. Nick took another look at Brian, who seemed close to hyperventilate.

"Nah." Nick smiled, at the same moment the camera flashed. "I mean, there are a lot of hot guys in the world but… Right now, I'm not looking for one."

* * *

               JC finished reading the Out magazine that Justin had brought
and handed it to Chris. The younger member of *N Sync had asked the two older ones to talk in private, so they were alone in the bust that he usually shared with Joey.

"He was pretty civilized." JC agreed, when it became obvious that Justin was not going to speak. "But why does it concerns us?"

"Well, I…" Justin swallowed, then looked at JC straight in the eye. "I was wondering if one of us could do the same."

               Chris opened his mouth to say something,( what, Nick really didn't know), but JC beat him to it.

"Chris ain't coming out of the closet, Juju. We've discussed this before."

"I wasn't talking about Chris…" Justin mumbled, blushing, hurrying to finish before either men could interrupt him. "Look, I know you'll say that Nick will make fun of me, and that people will say I'm just copying him, but…"

"He wouldn't." Chris quickly interrupted, only to find his mouth covered with JC's palm.

"Probably Nick wouldn't." JC agreed. "But the fans would. Why do you do this, Justin? You seemed happy enough using Britney as your cover…"

"But I…" Justin blushed, then looked pleadingly at Chris. "What I want is to go out with him. Once."

"Wha?" Chris shrieked, shocked.

"Look, I know you're mad 'coz AJ is straight, Chris, but… " Justin began, blushing even harder. "But if he wasn't, you would go for it. Right?"

"I…"

"Don't worry, Chris." JC placed a hand in Chris' shoulder,sympathetically. "We all know about your love for AJ. And we're ok… Just as we've been ok with Justin's secret crush on Nick."

"HEY! Who told you about that?" Justin turned his attention to JC, missing Chris' deep blush.

* * *

"He likes me!!" Nick jumped up and down, not caring a lot for Chris's glare. They had managed to meet backstage of one of Fuman's new shows because after the cease of fire between them, Nick had agreed to meet Chris to exchange tactics. "He likes me!!"

"I know." Chris growled in the couch. It looked weird in Nick's face. "You've got the looks and my irresistible personality. Of course Justin likes you."

"He's going to ask you out." Nick continued. "He told us. So you've got to say yes. And fix that hair. And… and… what are you going to wear?! Shit… You've got to…"

"I'll be in my best Backstreet Nick behavior." Chris promised. "On the other hand, you haven't done a thing!"

"It's not lack of trying, man!" Nick yell made Chris whince. He hadn't realized his voice was so high when he was complaining. "I mean… You do know he's straight, right? And you…"

"I know, I know. I'm not a good catch." Chris sighed. "But apparently, the only way we'll back on our bodies is if you manage to seduce him."

"I'll…"

"Nick?" Kevin entered the room, looking stern, as always. "We have to go."

"Sure." 'Nick' nodded. He had accepted that someone had to accompany him to the Fuman Show, and between the always ranting Howie, the worried AJ and the skulky Brian, Chris had settled for the quiet Kevin. "I'll be going now."

               There was a long, uncomfortable silence between them, which
Chris couldn't stand for long.

"Hey, Kirkpatrick!" He called, making Nick look up. "Tell Justin I'll be glad to pick him up at his hotel, tomorrow at 11:00!"

               And he was gone, followed by Kevin. Neither he nor Nick noticed that the older Backstreet Boy was smiling as he left the room.

* * *

"What do you think you're doing?!" 'Nick' demanded, when he was AJ and Howie waiting for him.

"Chaperoning." Howie explained, smiling.

"We don't want you to ravish the golden *N Syncer." AJ joked. "Loose lips."

"Hey! I apologized for that!" 'Nick' pleaded, and then begged, and then, when nothing else worked, skulked all the way to *N Sync's hotel.

               'Chris' opened the door of the room, and, strangely, smiled when he saw the two other Backstreet Boys behind his body.

"Hey," Howie let himself in, followed by a very nervous AJ. "Are the cards ready?"

"Sure, Joey is waiting." 'Chris' grinned, before lifting his eyes to meet 'Nick' and winked.

               Which left 'Nick' really confused.

               But he didn't had time to be confused as Justin came out of the bathroom, looking his best.

               And seeing Nick's eyes shine behind his own eyelids, Chris couldn't keep pouting. He did his best Nick Carter's smile impersonation and let Justin out just in time to hear Joey say to Howie.

"Our kids are growing up. Isn't it cute?"

* * *

               Midnight found AJ alone, in the balcony of the room Chris and
Justin were supposed to share.

               He was drinking a beer, trying to think of a good way to let Chris down easily.

               All night he had seen Chris throw strange looks at him. The same Nick used to throw in Justin's direction.

"AJ, can we talk?" Chris called behind him.

               Shit. AJ thought, getting a bigger gulp of his beer.

"Sure." He said, and inside, he swore the next tattoo he was getting was a "I'm straight, dammit!" sign on his ass.

* * *

"I bet Chris is kissing Justin right now." Howie said, as he lazily flipped the channels.

"Yuck. I didn't need that visual." Joey answered, yawning. "But even if he is, I don't see Nick doing much."

"He's trying. Is not as if Chris is such a great bait." Howie sighed. The whole body-shifting experience had him tired.

"But he has a great personality. "Joey continued. "When he's in his own body."

               There was a long, comfortable silence during which Howie leaned closer to Joey, resting his head on Joey's shoulder.

"I like how your hair looks now." Joey finally said, and Howie closed his eyes, smiling. It wasn't the first time Joey said something totally random, out of the blue, non related to Chris and Nick's craziness. But it was the first straight forward compliment Joey ever said to him.

"I'm glad." He said, feeling how Joey shifted position in the couch.

               Then Joey kissed him, and Howie forgot everything else.

* * *

"I'm sorry." Justin said, as 'Nick' pulled the rented car in the parking lot of the hotel.

"Nah. I'm sorry." 'Nick' answered. "I shouldn't have tried acting like someone else."

"Yeah. It was weird. Like dating Chirs." Justin laughed, not noticing when 'Nick' took a little time before joining in. "Still… I liked some parts of this."

"You did?" 'Nick's eyes shoot wide open, and Justin laughed even harder.

"Yeah. Would like to try it again, too. With Nick-Nick, not Nick acting like an hyper Chris…"

"Sure." 'Nick' offered his hand, as Justin had made clear earlier that he was not going to kiss him in that weird date.

               Then Justin smiled, and looked up.

"I wish Chris had better luck with AJ." He murmured.

"WHAT?!" 'Nick' yelled, feeling as if he was going to faint.