"You're kidding me, right?" he asked incredulously.

"No, I'm dead serious. Of course, if you don't think you'd win…" she trailed off.

"How can I not win? It would be impossible for me not too, Lily. You have to the be most insane person I've ever met. Do you honestly think that I would agree to this?" he asked, motioning around him.

"Why wouldn't you? You're a shoo-in. But if you're afraid to strut your stuff…."

"Of course I'd be a shoo-in! How could you loose a look-alike contest for yourself?"

"You never know, it could be done. Of course, you can't just go on stage and be all pretty. You have to dance and sing. Do you think you can handle that?" she asked.

"But if they figure out who I am…"

"They won't, because the majority of people here look like you!"

"I haven't agreed to this!"

"Sure you have! You're contestant number 8," she informed him.

"You've already signed me up?" he exclaimed loudly.

"Just because you look like him is no reason for you to be ashamed," she said for the benefit of the people around them who where starting to give them odd looks and double takes.

"Lilia, you are insane. I'm not doing this, you can't make me," he said stubbornly, crossing his arms.

"And now, we have contestant number 8, who goes surprise, surprise, by the name…Nick Carter," the announcer said. Lilia laughed as she pushed him forward, towards the stage. Nick's face turned beet red as he stood on the stage, frozen, as if trying to figure out what to do next.

* * * *

"I can't believe I lost!" Nick moaned.

"Well, Nick Carter would never fall on his ass while performing you know," Lilia said, trying to control herself in spite of the hilarity of the situation.

"I lost a Nick Carter look-alike contest. I am Nick Carter, how is that possible?" he questioned incredulously.

"Apparently it is. I told you that you shouldn't have It's Gotta Be You, no one likes that song," Lilia said, shaking her head.

"It's not like I had time to prepare!" he retorted. He turned his head.

"Nick, it happens to everyone…No…no, that's a lie. It would only happen to you. If it had be Brian on the other hand…" she trailed off.

"Lily!"

"Joking, joking. If you want, we could go to a music store or something, where you'd be recognised by everyone and you could deny who you really are," she offered.

"No thanks. There's nothing like not being recognised by a room full of people that are supposed to be your fans," Nick said shaking his head.

"Well, c'mon Carter, we have a whole day left to contemplate your identity crisis," she said, dragging him towards the parking lot.

"Where to now?" he whined.

"You'll see."

"Damn."

* * * *

"How do you do this?" he asked.

"Do what?"

"I think you know. More importantly, why are you doing this?" he asked, sighing.

"Because I enjoy your suffering. Actually, I felt it necessary to repair your bruise ego. If they don't notice you here, then you might as well drop off the face of the planet," said Lilia with an air of certainty that was exasperating to Nick.

"What makes you think that I'm going to sit through this whole concert?"

"It'll give you an idea on what you're doing wrong in your performances. Otherwise they wouldn't be doing it all the time in order to mock you guys," Lilia offered. Nick sighed.

"I don't want to see the Backstreet's Back boys, okay? I honestly don't," he exclaimed.

"Sure you do, they're a funny act to watch. BSBB has almost as big a following as you guys do," she said.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yes. That's what you get for being a crappy dance teacher."

"I'll see you in hell," he said bitterly.

"Darling, I do believe that you're there now," she said, laughing as they sat down in the grass in front of a tree, and prepared to watch the concert in the park.

"Hey, look! It's one of them!" a voice called. Nick looked up expectantly and smiled to see two little girls standing in front of them.

"Hello," he said politely.

"Can we have your autograph?" one of the girls asked. Nick beamed at their recognition and was more than happy to oblige.

"You even look like him!" the other one commented. Nick froze.

"Look like who?"

"Nick, of course silly. He's the guy you play on stage, isn't he?" the girl asked.

"You don't think I'm Nick Carter?"

"When mommy brought us here, she said that we would see people that look and sound like the real Backstreet Boys, but weren't really them," the girl explained. Nick sighed, and shot Lilia an evil look as she giggled at his pain.