Unmistakable.

THIRTEEN - Tears of pearls

Sunday, 8:00

Nick's POV

Before our Munich show tonight, we've agreed to go on a radio show, which I'm nervous about because paparazzi and the press are starting to notice how depressed I've become, it's gotten to the point where I have to put on a fake smile whenever I go outside with the boys.

"Hey Kiddo, you ready to go?" Kev pats me on the back. "I guess." I groan. "You'll be alright, Nick, we've got your back if they ask you any weird questions." He says. "Yeah, man, remember that time you got asked if a tattoo would improve your sex life when you were 15?" AJ laughs. "Don't go there." I chuckle. "There he is!" Brian smiles. I stand there, confused. "Who?" I ask. "You man! You've barely smiled all week, and you've locked yourself away from us. It feels like forever since we've seen you laugh." He replies. I roll my eyes. "I'll talk to you all about it later." I say, picking up my bag, ready to go. We set off to the booth where we're going to go on the radio and put our headphones on. We get the ' ready to go' sign, and the host introduces us.

"So, boys, how is your new album going?" He asks. "Good! We've had over eleven million albums shipped in the USA!" Brian answers. "That's a lot! Congrats, guys!" The host says. "And you're on tour right now?" He follows. "Yeah, right now we're in Frankfurt, but we're going to Munich later." AJ says. "How many cities do you plan on doing shows at?" The host asks. "Eighty four!" He answers enthusiastically. "What lucky fans!" The host laughs. "Now, Nick. We haven't heard much from you, how are you doing, man?" He says. "Yeah, bro, I'm great. There's no need to worry about me." I let out a forced chuckle. "You sure? You've been looking pretty down behind the scenes lately." He says smugly. I pause before answering, why can't people just leave it alone. "Honestly, not to be rude, but my personal life isn't really anyone's business." I snarl, annoyed. Howie glares over at me almost to say,'Don't take it too far'.

"Haha... alright..." He awkwardly laughs. "I guess I can't ask you if you have a girlfriend? I know that some of the other boys do." He says. I'm so done with this now. Who does he think he is? "No. I don't." I huff. The guys look at me with a sorry expression, I nod at them to say it's okay to continue. "Right... you seem pretty agitated, Nick. Have you been broken up with or something?" He jokes. Right, that's it. This guy thinks he's so smug, but I've had it. "Dude, can you just drop it?" I raise my voice. "Alright, Nick, I think we're done here, aren't we?" Howie jumps in. The guys all collectively agree, and the host wraps things up. This better not attract more press. I can imagine the magazine articles already. 'Backstreet boy Nick Carter becomes defensive about love life on radio show.' Can't wait.

y/n's POV

I decided to go into work today, Izzy persuaded me to get ready and go, so now here I am, breaking down in the café staff toilets. As soon as I walked in, memories of Nick started flooding my head, and I couldn't handle the emotion of it all, so I ran to the toilets to break down. I hear a knock at the stall door. "y/n, are you in here?" Izzy asks. "Yeah." I sniffle and blow my nose. "What's wrong? I just saw you run in here, and I got concerned." She says. "Everything reminds me of Nick, Iz, I can't take it it. It's so painful." I sob. "Come out of the stall, babe." She says. I unlock the door and stumble out of the stall miserably. She lifts my chin to look at me and wipes my eyeliner smudged eyes. "You look like a panda." She giggles, pulling me in for a hug. I let out a half laugh-half whimper, and more tears flood my eyes. "Isabelle?" I ask. "Oh god, what are you thinking? You never call me isabelle unless it's serious." She says, concerned. I pull back and look at her with blurred vision. "I'm thinking about moving to another city for a fresh start, we've been here in Ghent for so long and whenever I'm reminded of Nick, which is all the time now, mind you, I break down like this." I explain with a shaky voice. "What?! You're leaving me?" She almost yells. "You can come with me!" I say. "y/n, you know I can't..." She says, tearing up.

"Izzy, either way, I need to get away from here. Staying isn't good for my mental health. For christ's sake, I can't even do my job." I sniff, wiping a tear from the corner of my eye. "But what about me? I'm not going to have my best friend living with me anymore." Her voice breaks. "Please don't cry, Iz. It's just what's best for me!" I begin to cry again. I lift her hand and hold it in mine. "You can come visit, and we can go out and do stuff all the time!" I smile weakly. She immediately starts sobbing, too, and we quickly become a weeping mess on the staff toilet floor. "Hey, you wanted me to 'get out there,' didn't you?" I faintly chuckle. "Not like this!" She cries out, hugging me tightly. "I've already seen a really nice apartment a few hours away from here. It's near a music store where I can get a new job and start fresh." I say. "I wanted to tell you before I bought it. They said its still available if I want it, and the store says the job is mine if i accept it within the next two days." I smile. Izzy let's out another harsh weep. "I'm (sob) so (sniff) proud (cough) of y- (sob) you." She hugs me tighter if that's even possible. "Iz I can't breathe!" I yelp. "S-sorry." She weakly laughs.

Time skip, 6:30pm

I start packing my bags, feeling emotional as fuck. Me and Izzy have lived together around two years now it's going to be so strange without her. I walk out of my room with all my belongings and meet her in the living room. "You better come visit me bitch." I say. "Of course I will!" She half-whisper, clearly trying not to break down again. We bring each other in for one last hug before I leave, and she grins at me. "I'm so happy for you, y/n." She sniffs. "Me too, I need this." I smile back.

Nick's POV

Once we get back from the studio, we all sit down together in the living room. "Right, Nick, can you explain what's been going on with you lately? We're worried for you." Kev asks. "Yknow when you thought I left early to get groceries the other morning?" I say. "Yeah..." He says. "I actually went to go tell y/n that I wasn't who I claimed to be, I didn't want you guys to worry about me not getting back in time." I say. Kevin sighs, but signals for me to continue. "She blew up at me, told me to leave, and now we aren't talking." I sigh in defeat. "Oh, Nick... Is this why you've been pushing us away and have been so quiet?" Howie asks. I nod, looking at my feet in shame. "We know you loved her man, I'm sorry it ended badly." He says.

"Maybe you should call her? Try to fix things?" AJ suggests. "I couldn't. She hates me." I whisper. "You never know, maybe she misses you just as much as you miss her." He says. I think about it. Maybe trying to fix things wouldn't be so bad, even if she rejects me, at least I could be able to move on. "You're right, I'll give her a call." I say, standing up and heading to my room. I pick up my phone and call her number. Please pick up y/n. The phone rings for a while, then goes to voicemail. Fuck. I sit on the bed and push my fingers into my hair. Should I go see her and speak to her face to face? Yeah, that'd be more personal! Maybe she'll take me back! I'll just pick a free day and fly back to Belgium, perhaps tomorrow? We have two free days before we go to the Netherlands, that's plenty of time to get y/n back.

I need her in my life.