If I Knew Then

Chapter 17: Lose Control

When Brian and Nick were dropped off at their hotel, Nick followed Brian into the elevator and his mind was racing. They'd just found out a whole lot of information about their manager and he couldn't believe it. There were things he had a idea about because of conversations his mother and Lou had but he didn't put two and two together until the talk with NSYNC at McDonalds.

"I'm so fucking mad, Nick. I can't see straight." Brian ranted as they waited for the elevator to go to their floor.

"I don't blame you. Are you feeling okay, you should probably calm down..." Nick suggested.

Brian glared at Nick, who decided to back off for the moment.

"I'm fine."

"Look, I know that all this stuff with Lou is going on, but I have to ask....are you considering going to a doctor? Even during the game you looked exhausted. You can't keep putting yourself last. I don't want you to get sick." Nick said softly.

"I'm not getting sick. You sound a lot like Leighanne. Is she putting you up to this, Nick? I don't need the two of you telling me how to take care of myself. I'm an adult. I do not need you to coddle me."

"We just care about you, that's all. Maybe you should listen to what she's saying. She's worried and so am I. The chest pain is not normal, Brian. You need to take care of it before something happens." Nick protested. Brian ignored him and they were silent the rest of the way to their floor. The elevator dinged and the two of them stepped out, heading down the hallway to Kevin's room to talk to the rest of the guys. They also stopped to get AJ and Howie, to bring them into the discussion. AJ was drinking but not drunk yet so they were able to talk him into coming.

"Would you mind telling me where you two went off to after the game and why we are calling a meeting without our managers present?" Kevin asked, standing in the room in his boxers and a shirt with his arms crossed. He had been about to go to bed and was annoyed that his cousin and Nick had disturbed him because they had to be up early the next day.

"Shut up and let me talk, Kev. You can nap later, this is important." Brian hissed as he closed the door once AJ and Howie were in the room. Kevin opened his mouth again to argue back but he decided not to.

"Okay,"

"First of all, I want to say that the reason our managers are not here is because this is about them. I went....well...rather Nick and I went and talked to NSYNC after the game. Johnny took us all to McDonalds." Brian explained.

"I knew I smelled French Fries on Nick's breath." AJ said, as Howie laughed and Nick scowled.

"Did not."

"Did too." AJ laughed.

"Enough. Anyway...." Brian continued, interrupting before the two of them started bickering. He went and started telling the others what Justin and JC told him about Lou, the whole time everyone was silent and in shock. Brian went on to tell them what he was finding out on his own with the help of his parents back home.

"So what are you saying, Lou is stealing from us? He's been stealing from us this whole time?" Kevin said finally, sitting at the end of the bed and looking at Brian in complete disbelief.

"Yes, he's taking one sixth of everything....as if he were a member of the group. I want to pursue a lawsuit against him but I can't do it alone. I need you guys to back me up because if we don't he's gonna keep taking advantage of us for the rest of our careers. We deserve to get paid what we earned. End of story." Brian told them. He could see Nick trying to catch his eye but he ignored him.

"All right, but what happens when we try to sue him? Lou's said if we left the label nobody else would pick us up." Howie asked.

"We considered this too, and he's full of crap. Look at how our album sales are doing right now, we are starting to get noticed over here....someone will definitely sign us to their label. We have to do something, guys. Are you with me?"