Eve and Breanna strolled into their room throwing everything onto the kitchen table. "Wanna a drink?" Eve asked as she walked over to the fridge. "Just bottled water. If we're going to be drinking tonight we might as well be hydrated. I don't think I can handle another hangover like the one this morning." Breanna stated as she slowly made her way up the stairs to her room. Once she entered her room she was surprised to see vases of roses and other flowers everywhere. There were balloons all over the place and a little note attached to the biggest one that was drifting off into the hallway.

He was obviously referring to the ending of the tour. Breanna felt so happy that she screamed aloud. "What? What is it?" Eve yelled as she ran up the stairs. "Oh my God, Bree!" She yelled. "Oh Bree, you've done it again." Eve said as she ran back down the stairs to see who was at the door. It was Mark. "Hey Mark. Don't worry! I think Howie surprised Breanna by filling her room with flowers and balloons." Eve commented as Mark came in to make sure everything was okay. Mark was a middle-aged man who had children the same age as Breanna and Eve. He felt a certain parental connection with both girls. "Would it be alright if I saw them?" Mark asked with a gleeful smile. "Sure! C'mon up stairs. I think Breanna is still in shock." Eve said as they both went up. Sure enough Breanna was still in shock, still in her doorway staring at her room. "Wow! I was on break when all of this happened. I didn't see anyone bringing in the flowers or balloons." Mark stated. "Breanna and I have had a very long day. First we think our guys are normal then we find out they're not. We come home to do a little internet research on them and we find Breanna's room ransacked with objects of endearment." Eve complained with a smile. "He really does like her." Mark said with a smile. He started to remember the times when he was younger and he was courting his wife. He loved seeing love in the making but he had never seen it move that fast in all his life. "So, how long have you known Howie?" Mark asked Breanna casually hoping to bring her out of shock. "Um, I'm not sure. Two days I think." She said as Mark's chin dropped to the floor. He figured that they had been dating for a few weeks, two months at the tops. Thinking back he realized that he must have been wrong. The day before Howie was complaining that the girls didn't know what they did for a living and he was uncertain what their reaction would be once they found out. Hiding who they were for two days was a big accomplishment in Marks opinion. He had known the boys for 5 years. Every hotel they stayed at would be the same one that Mark worked for. He knew Howie was a slow mover when it came to the women but this was another side to him that he had never seen. "Well, I just wanted to check on you ladies since the boys are at the arena." Mark said as he turned to walk down the stairs. "Mark?" Eve asked. "Yes?" "How long have you known them?" "I've known them for 5 years. I've seen them start out as nothing while staying at the Marriot all the way to where they are today. They haven't changed a bit. Kevin is still the same quiet gentleman that he's always been and Howie is still the same sweet, caring man. Brian is still the biggest goober you're ever gonna meet, AJ is still the ladies man and very brutally honest with himself and everyone else, and Nick, well, I've seen him grow from a boy into the man he is today. He's still the same kid who's addicted to videogames and causing trouble. Beware of him! He'll hide a snake under your pillow if given half the chance." Mark said as he walked towards the door. "Ladies, these guys are wonderful and very down to earth, even with all the success they've had. You're both lucky to even be friends with them. Trust me, they were very worried about how you'd take the news. Howie and Kevin mostly but the rest were worried as well." "Thanks Mark!" Eve said as she gave him a hug while Breanna looked down at them from upstairs with a rose in her hand that she grabbed off her dresser. "Bye Mark! See you later." Breanna said as she turned to walk back into her room.

"So, let's fire up that laptop!" Eve shouted as she ran upstairs. Breanna pulled the laptop out and turned it on. It took a while to load but once it did Breanna and Eve quickly signed online. They went to the most popular search engine on the internet and typed in Backstreet Boys. "How many sites do you think we'll find?" Eve asked curiously as they stared at the screen. "I don't know. Probably 20 if we're lucky. I know they're kinda famous but I can't believe they are as famous as everyone makes them out to be. I've heard their names mentioned here and there but I don't know a lot about them. That's never been our type of music." Breanna was rambling on. "Oh shit!" Both girls screamed aloud. Instead of the 20 sites they were expecting they found 2000. Some of the sites were divided into each separate member with Nick having most of them. "Figures." Eve complained. "He's the youngest, tallest, blondest." Breanna defended. Breanna didn't want to look at the Howie sites. She was afraid of what she might find. Instead Eve took control of the laptop and clicked on Howie's name. 15 sites came up. Breanna held her breath as Eve clicked on the one with the best description. "I can't look!" Breanna said laughing as she covered her face with her hands. "Oh wow! Um, I wonder what he looks like with the rest of his clothes off." Eve said jokingly. Breanna took her hands away from her face as her jaw dropped to the floor. It was a picture of Howie with his hair loose and a pair of boxers standing with his feet in the water at a beach. He was staring out to sea. "He looks better," was all Breanna could say as she stared at the picture. "Ok, I don't want to know anymore. I want to find out who he is by being around him." She said. "Ok, let's look for info on the guys. Like musical stats." Eve said. "No, that wouldn't be fair!" Breanna said as she and Eve fought for control of the laptop. Breanna had every intention on seeing a Kevin site. Eve pushed Breanna off the bed while Breanna grabbed Eve's arm which pulled her down with Breanna. Both girls started wrestling on the floor. "I WANT TO SEE HIS SITE!" Breanna screamed as Eve tried to pin her. "NO! We're not going to see one of his sites. I don't want to." Eve said back to Breanna as she rolled back on top of Breanna. "You're afraid of what you might find. He's the same guy as he was yesterday!" Breanna shouted back. They were laughing uncontrollably. "I'm gonna kick your ass!" Eve shouted as she tried to sound angry only to burst into giggles. "We saw a Howie site. You made me look at it. I was afraid of what I might find. So, it's only fair you bitch!" Breanna screamed back as someone picked her up off the floor. It was Howie. "We're back." He said not sure whether or not he should smile. Breanna pushed her hair out of her face as Kevin picked Eve up off the floor. Nick, AJ, and Brian were in the doorway staring at the fallen laptop with their name listed on the search engine. "I kinda had my money on Breanna." AJ said. "Me too!" Brian said. "Oh, I was rooting for Eve. Those quiet girls can sure make a lot of noise." Nick said nonchalantly. "Well, I mean...from what I've seen." Nick tried to cover his slip up. "You mean from what you've *experienced*" AJ commented. "You ok?" Howie asked. "No, well, yeah, I guess. I still didn't find out any answers." Breanna said as she gave Eve the evil eye. "I told you, we'll talk about it later." He said. Breanna took a deep breath. "Just forget about it for now" She told herself. She looked around her room trying to think of what to say to Howie when she remembered the balloons and flowers. She turned around as Howie was about to say something and threw herself into his arms with a long kiss. "Ah yeah! There's that tongue!" Nick said. Breanna flipped him off as everyone laughed. Howie picked her up while they were still kissing as Breanna wrapped her legs around his waist. "Oh, I think we should go!" AJ and Brian said together. Kevin and Eve quickly got up and ran down the stairs hand-in-hand. Nick stood in the doorway laughing. "You stud!" He shouted as Eve ran back upstairs to drag him down by his ear as she closed the door.

Breanna and Howie ended up on the bed kissing like mad. He was undoing the back of her dress as she pulled his shirt off over his head. After five minutes of passionate kissing and the stripping of their clothes Breanna pulled away. "What are we doing?" she asked unsure. Howie laid there with Breanna on top of him barely dressed as he took a deep breath. "I don't know." He lightly pushed her off of him and sat up. She felt like he was rejecting her but she didn't want to go any further with him. They barely knew each other. Now he's famous. He could have any woman in the world that he wanted. She was afraid that he had. She sat up with her back to him staring out the window. He turned and grabbed her. He pulled her onto his lap as they sat on the edge of the bed not talking for half an hour. "Ok, what do you want to know?" He finally asked her. "Who you are. That's all I want to know. I don't want to know about the group because I already know the group. You sing. You dance. You're talented. You travel constantly. You have fans all over the world. You have thousands upon thousands of fan pages. You can have any woman in the world. Why me?" She finally said what she was dying to know without really realizing it. "Is that what's been bothering you?" He asked. "I guess. I've been wondering about that since yesterday. This whole-you-being-famous thing hasn't really bothered me. Or, at least it hasn't hit me yet. I just want to know who you are." She said. "We're both barely dressed. You're the most vulnerable when you're naked. Might as well be honest now." She joked as he smiled and tightened his grip on her. "I like you because you're you. You're not fake. And you liked me for me before you ever found out about all of this," He said as he waved his hand in the air indicating his life. "That's all I can say. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you by saying that I've never been propositioned by beautiful women before, because I have, but I never took any of them up on their offer. I've been looking for someone real for a long time but I never thought I would find one especially here. Maybe that's why we're moving so fast. I can't believe you're real and I'm trying to be as close to you as possible. I'm afraid after we leave here I'll never see you again or once you realize how hectic my life is you'll never want to be apart of it." "No, I wouldn't do that." She said as she played with the ring on her finger that Eve had given her. "That doesn't look right." He said pointing to her ring. "What's wrong with it?" She asked. "Nothing. I mean you just have one ring. It doesn't look right. Your hand looks lonely." He said with a nervous laugh. "What are you talking about, boy?" She said laughing as she pushed him back onto the bed. "No, wait. Hand me my pants." She grabbed them off the floor and handed them to Howie. He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a narrow box. "Here." He said handing it to her. "What is this?" She said as she opened it. Inside the box was a silver bracelet that had aquamarine stones in the shape of hearts set a quarter of an inch apart. Breanna didn't know what to say. "No, don't cry!" Howie said. She didn't realize that she had tears streaming down her cheeks. Howie took the bracelet out of it's box and handed it to her. "Look at it closer." He said. She turned it around in her hand staring at the stones. "Closer." He said. She held the bracelet in front of her eyes. After a few seconds she realized that it was engraved on the inside. She read "Angel, you take my breath away. May this never end. Love Howie." She read it over and over again, glancing up at Howie once in a while. It took a while before it hit her what he had just given her. She couldn't stop crying as Howie held her in his arms. She handed the bracelet back to him while she cried. "If you don't want it I..." She put out her hand. "Could you put it on for me please?" She said wiping her eyes.