"You know that Nick's seeing like three girls right now," AJ says, right before soundcheck.

Brian looks up from tying his sneaker. "He is?" He knew that Nick was seeing, well, seeing people, but if AJ feels the need to tell Brian about it, then it must be weirder than Brian thinks it is.

"They're all staying on his bus," AJ nods. "It's like a harem over there."

Brian scrunches up his nose. "What. Is he collecting one for each city we pass through?"

AJ laughs. "Maybe!"

During soundcheck Nick tells all of the girls that he has a girlfriend and AJ snorts and Howie rolls his eyes and Brian decides that maybe he should talk to Nick.

He doesn't get a chance before the show. He's busy with Baylee and Leigh and the three girls who won a tour backstage. After the show, Nick zips right onto his bus and then Brian doesn't see him again until they're in another city getting ready for another soundcheck party.

"Hey," Brian says, sitting down next to Nick on a large speaker.

"'sup," Nick says, knocking against Brian. Nick looks tired. They all look tired.

"When do we get to meet your new girlfriend?"

Nick looks at him and asks "new girlfriend?"

"You said yesterday," Brian prompts.

"Oh, yeah. I was just messin' with them."

"Listen," Brian says. It's probably not the time to talk about it, but Brian's not sure when he'll get another chance. Maybe not until three cities down the line. "AJ told me about your bus."

Nick narrows his eyes and searches around for AJ for a few seconds before turning his attention back to Brian. "What about it?"

"How many girls are you seeing right now?" Brian asks. He's never been as good at this kind of thing as Kevin. He's never been punched though either. He's not sure what that says.

Nick shrugs. "A few."

"Three?"

Nick shrugs again.

"Four now?"

"So what?"

"So you really think that's a good idea?" Brian asks. He can hear the girls piling into their seats in the first few rows, laughing and shouting and waiting for things to start.

"Why wouldn't it be? I'm young. It's not like they don't want to be there or something."

"But why do you want them there?" Brian presses.

"Who wouldn't want them there?" Nick asks, and then says "Geez." And pushes himself up from the speaker. "It's time to start. Come on."

Brian follows Nick out on stage. Nick seems upset now and Brian would feel a little bit bad about it except that that was the point. Brian wants to make Nick feel bad about it. Nick should feel bad about it. Brian goes up and hugs Nick between songs anyway. The girls scream and Nick laughs and tries to kiss Brian. Brian jumps away.

"I don't know where those lips have been," Brian says, quietly and not into the microphone. Nick hears him anyway.

**

New city, new soundcheck.

Brian watches AJ get off Nick's bus.

"You stayed with Nick last night?" he asks.

AJ shrugs.

"How is he?"

"Fine," AJ says. AJ's voice is a little scratchy. "He's back down to three."

Brian looks at AJ funny.

AJ quirks an eyebrow at Brian. "I slept on the fucking couch. Come on." AJ walks through the loading dock and disappears backstage.

**

Nick has a redhead hanging all over him in the hallway outside the dressing room. Brian can see them lounging against the wall.

"I'll be right back," he says to Leigh, pausing to kiss the top of Baylee's head. Nick looks up when Brian comes to stand beside him.

"What?" Nick says.

Brian ignores Nick and holds his hand out to the redhead. "I'm Brian."

She laughs and shakes his hand. "I know," she says.

Nick's looking down the hall, bored.

"You must be Tina," Brian guesses, pulling a name out of a hat.

"Rachel," the redhead corrects. She doesn't seem offended at all by the wrong name guess. Not that Brian was trying to offend her. It's a thing. He calls people the wrong name on purpose as a joke to hide the fact that sometimes he just can't remember names. If it's a schtick then no one notices. Usually, the name in Brian's head, the one that he doesn't say just in case, turns out to be right anyway, but there's always that chance.

"From Michigan?" Brian guesses.

"Indiana."

"How long has Nick been keeping you hidden away?"

"Oh," Rachel laughs and pokes at Nick's chest. "I've been here since Cincinnati."

If Brian could keep the schedule straight he would be able to figure out how long ago that was. Brian has never been able to keep the schedule straight.

"Well, it's good to meet you, Rachel from Indiana," Brian says, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"He's very nice," Brian hears Rachel tell Nick as Brian heads back into the dressing room.

"Yeah," Nick agrees. "He's a saint."

**

During the show Brian corners Nick at the top of the stairs, looks him in the eye, leans up on his tip toes, and acts like he's about to kiss Nick. Nick's eyes get big and Brian grabs his arms and puckers and Nick giggles a little and glances out at the audience. At the last second, Brian pulls away and grins. Nick laughs and shakes his head at him and comes in just in time for his solo.

**

"What are you doing?" Nick asks when Brian follows him toward the buses a few cities down the road.

"Leighanne says I can ride with you tonight," Brian says. "Sleepover!" Brian jumps up and down and claps his hands and grins at Nick.

Nick just looks at him. "You're an idiot."

"Yeah," Brian agrees. "You love it."

"You can't ride with me," Nick says.

"Why not? AJ does."

"Because you're Brian and I don't want you to."

"Come on," Brian says, grabbing Nick's wrist and swinging his arm back and forth. "it'll be fun. Like old times."

Nick looks almost like he's considering, but then he stands in front of the entrance to his bus, blocking Brian and says "I'm serious, man. I know what you're doing."

Brian shrugs. "I guess I'll have to have a sleepover with Howie then. Your loss." He walks away without putting up a fight.

**

"How was the sleepover?" Brian hears Nick ask Howie after soundcheck.

"Sleepover?" Howie asks, squinting up at Nick.

"Brian didn't come harass you?"

"No."

Nick looks up and sees Brian watching them. "I didn't think so," he says.

**

Nick walks by Brian after Quit Playing Games and slaps his ass. Hard. Brian jumps and looks back at Nick all scandalized with a hand over his mouth and one foot kicked into the air and Nick laughs.

**

There are only two girls on the bus when Brian boards. Rachel from Indiana and -

"Chrissy," the blonde says.

"Boston?" Brian guesses. They aren't anywhere near Boston.

"Portland."

"Close," Brian laughs and the girl grins at him.

They're chatting about being on the road and Chrissy's pet collie that's staying with her housemate when Nick finally boards the bus.

"What are you doing here?" Nick asks as soon as he sees Brian laughing with Rachel.

"Sleepover," Brian says.

Nick shakes his head and sits on the couch beside Chrissy from Oregon. "No."

Brian pouts. "Rachel from Indiana said it was okay."

Nick looks at Rachel. She just shrugs. "It's not Rachel's bus," Nick says.

The bus lurches and Brian grins.

"Shit," Nick grumps, but when Brian jumps up and collapses into Brian's lap, Nick laughs. He tries to shove him off and he's yelling a lot, but it's the kind of yelling that's interrupted by Nick's giggles, the kind that are almost silent and sound like hiccups. It's not until Brian convinces Chrissy from Oregon and Rachel from Indiana that "Get the fuck off me" really means "Someone should tickle me" that Brian finally gets dumped to the floor of the bus and kicked a little with Nick's smelly sneaker.

"I hate you," Nick says, but the words are filled with giggle-like hiccups and sound all high and Brian just laughs at him. "Seriously," Nick insists and then shrieks when Brian winks at Chrissy and Chrissy's tickling fingers attack Nick's side.

**

Nick from Tampa disappears into the back of the bus with Chrissy from Oregon and Rachel from Indiana around 11.

Brian tries not to listen to them, suspects they're being overly loud on purpose, calls Leighanne, prays, and falls asleep.

**

Brian comes up behind Nick in the last few minutes before they have to be onstage. Nick's busy talking to Drew and doesn't hear Brian approaching until Brian's hand is clamped firmly over Nick's eyes.

"Guess who," Brian says, his voice all high and lispy.

Nick snorts. "Jenna," he guesses.

"Nope," Brian says and clucks his tongue. "Guess again, sugar."

"Lisa," Nick guesses. He's giggling now.

Brian leans in and kisses Nick's left cheek and then switches and kisses the right.

Nick brushes Brian's hand from his face and turns to look at him.

"I thought I was too dirty for you."

Brian shrugs. "I know where you've been now."

Nick scrunches up his nose and Brian turns and walks away.

**

"AJ says that Nick's running a whorehouse on that bus," Kevin says, stopping Brian just as Brian is about to hop onto his own bus.

Brian blinks at Kevin. Usually it's Brian who is weeks behind everyone else. Usually Brian's the last one that people tell anything to.

"I wouldn't call it a whorehouse," Brian says. "It's just Chrissy from Oregon and Rachel from Indiana in there now."

"Now," Kevin repeats.

Brian shrugs. "Well, Chrissy misses her collie, so I don't know. She might have left. Rachel seems pretty clingy. She'll be around for a while longer."

Kevin frowns. "I don't like it."

"I'm taking care of it," Brian says. "Don't go getting yourself punched."

**

"Kevin's jealous," Brian tells Nick in Seattle.

"Of what?"

"Rachel from Indiana."

Nick squints and then looks around for Kevin. "He is not."

"Where is Rachel anyway?" Brian asks, pulling Nick down to sit next to him.

"I sent her home," Nick says with a shrug.

Brian's about to ask why when AJ stops a girl walking around aimlessly backstage and says "Who're you?"

"Brenda," the girl says. She's chewing gum.

"She's with you?" Brian asks, pointing to where Brenda is explaining things to AJ, Marcus looming directly behind him.

Nick shrugs. "For a little while," he says.

Brian stands up and pokes Nick's shoulder. "I hope you paid for Rachel's flight home."

**

Brian adds Rachel, Chrissy, and Brenda into their pre-show prayer and Nick stops squeezing Brian's hand and starts crushing it, his nails digging into Brian's palm.

**

"Get off," Nick says, when he walks onto his bus to find Brian there again, this time hanging out with Brenda and Chrissy, who apparently doesn't miss her collie quite enough to go home yet.

"Nope," Brian says. "Sorry, man. I'm here to stay."

"We'll see," Nick grumbles.

"Brenda from -"

"Vancouver."

"Brenda from Canada agrees that you have smellier feet than I do."

"She hasn't smelled your feet," Nick says and then turns to Brenda. "And anyway, she didn't seem to mind when she was sucking on my toes last night." Brenda blushes and Nick leans over and lets Chrissy kiss him, long and slow. Brian turns to smile at blushing Brenda.

"Did Nick smuggle you across the border? We're not supposed to smuggle things across the border. I'm pretty sure people count too."

"I hid with the luggage," Brenda grins.

Brian elbows Nick. "I like her. She's funny."

**

Nick is standing in a corner backstage when Brian finds him. He's clearing his throat repeatedly and holding his guitar.

Brian presses a hand to Nick's back and plucks at Nick's guitar strings.

"Do you want to play some ball on Saturday? Day off?"

"Why?" Nick asks. He pulls the guitar out of Brian's reach.

"Day off," Brian says again. "Leigh and Bay are going to visit Leigh's mom. Do you want to?"

"Is this what you did to AJ?" Nick asks.

"I didn't do anything to AJ. When?"

"You did," Nick says. He takes off the guitar and sets it on a chair. "I've figured it out. You don't like what we're doing, you drive us nuts, become our best friends again, guilt us onto your side without saying anything about it. I'm not falling for that."

"I'm not falling for it either," Brian says. "That sounds pretty lame of me."

"Yeah," Nick agrees.

"So anyway," Brian continues. "Basketball. Saturday. Be ready at 9 a.m. Good show, man." He reaches out a fist and Nick rolls his eyes, but his fist connects with Brian's anyway.

"Good show," Nick mumbles.

**

"Where are the cheerleaders?" Brian asks when Nick finally opens his door at 9:17.

Nick shrugs. "They're not coming."

Brian grins and tosses the ball to Nick. "You just don't want them to see you lose."

**

Nick does lose and badly, but he laughs through the whole game and he doesn't bring up the nonsense about Brian trying to brainwash him again. Instead he says, "When did you become fun again?"

Brian wipes his forehead on a towel and then tosses the towel at Nick. "I'm always fun."

Nick shrugs. "Not always."

"You love me," Brian insists. He wraps an arm around Nick's neck and pulls Nick down so that he's all scrunched up and level with Brian.

"If I agree will you let me go?"

"Only if you also admit to Chrissy and Brenda that you lost to an old man."

Nick gasps. "Never."

Brian pulls Nick in tighter. "I guess your head's going to be stuck right next to my sweaty armpit forever then."

"I can't tell Chrissy anyway," Nick says in between bouts of laughter. "She went home. Missed her dog or something."

"Pick a replacement yet?" Brian asks.

"Not yet," Nick says, his voice muffled. "Shit, you stink, dawg."

"Take a deep breath and I'll let you go," Brian compromises.

"Man, I might pass out."

Brian laughs. "Lick my armpit."

"Dude," Nick says, and pushes himself away from Brian. Brian reaches out to pull Nick back in, but Nick wards him off. "Ew. No fucking way, man. That's the nastiest thing I've ever heard you say. Geez."

**

It's two days later and Brian finds Nick sitting on the edge of the stage with Howie. He plops down beside them.

"Where's Kelly?" Brian asks.

"Kelly?" Howie repeats. Nick just shrugs.

"Shirley?" Brian tries. "Dana from Wisconsin? Betsy from Alabama?"

"I wouldn't date someone named Betsy," Nick says.

"You wouldn't?" Howie asks. "You dated someone named Willa."

"Mandy. And anyway, like that turned out so well," Nick points out.

"So no replacement yet?" Brian asks.

"Wow," Nick says. "Why are you so obsessed? No, okay?"

"You are a little odd," Howie points out, leaning over Nick to look at Brian.

"Everyone's always telling me that," Brian sighs.

**

Brian sees it coming from across the stage. Nick spots him, gives him a look, takes the most round about way he can think of to approach Brian, casually wraps an arm around Brian's shoulders and then as soon as Brian's done singing, Nick sees his chance and takes it.

Usually it's at that time that Brian jumps away. Instead he stands there and tilts his cheek toward Nick, lets Nick land the overly wet kiss, doesn't even try to wipe it off.

Nick gives him a look and goes to find Howie so they can do their little stair routine.

**

Brian is standing on the stairs before soundcheck when Nick comes up and wraps him in a hug.

"You smell like perfume," Brian says.

"You smell like cheese," Nick counters.

Brian sees Brenda from Canada standing off to the side of the stage and waves to her. He waves to the girl with the dark curly hair standing next to her too.

"Who's that?" Brian asks, unfolding himself from Nick's hug.

"Diane from Montreal," Nick says. "Brenda's cousin, I think." He leans in to kiss the end of Brian's nose and Brian brushes him away.

"Does she speak French?" he asks, keeping Nick at arm's length. Nick shrugs, frowns, and walks off in the other direction.

**

"Where is everyone?" Brian asks when he climbs onto Nick's bus and finds it empty. The bus driver just shrugs at him.

"Did Brenda get deported?" Brian asks when Nick finally climbs onto the bus.

"Yep," Nick agrees. "Diane too. I guess that means you win."

"Yeah?"

"It's just you and me now."

Brian frowns. "Oh. I only came over here to hang out with the girls. I might as well head back to my own bus now."

Nick kicks at Brian. "Shithead."

Brian kicks him back. "Doofus."

"I'm allowed to see people," Nick says, suddenly. "You can't stop me from seeing people."

"I never tried to stop you from seeing people. I want you to see people."

"I guess I could try one person at a time for a while," Nick suggests. "See how that goes. But not because that's what you want me to do. It's what I want." He turns to look at Brian.

"Howie's available," Brian suggests.

"I hate you," Nick says. His fingers dance over Brian's hand.

Brian smiles and leans in, presses his lips to Nick's. "I love you too," he says.

"You always win," Nick says and kisses Brian again.

"I always win," Brian agrees.

Nick's eyes light up. "Except at video games," he says and tosses Brian a controller. "Come on. I'm going to kick your ass."