Breanna and Eve met up the next day to hangout and just have fun. They went out shopping to various malls and to Breanna's favorite store, Armani Exchange. The girls decided not to discuss the guys too much because they wanted to just focus on being young and having fun. No boyfriend was going to tie them down. Breanna left her cellphone and pager at home. Eve was instructed to do the same. The first stop was the Sunset Strip on the Westside, West Hollywood. After rummaging around Armani Exchange they drove over to Virgin Megastore to check out the latest CDs. "I never bought this single cause I had a hard time finding it!" Eve said excitedly as she jumped up and down with the old Depeche Mode CD single for the song "Little 15" in her hands. "I'll be over here." Breanna said pointing to the section of the store that carried the books. Even though they decided not to talk about the guys no one said anything about researching them. Breanna found an entire section on the Backstreet Boys. Most of the books were written for an obviously younger crowd. One book stuck out the most, the one Nick's mom wrote about him. Breanna grabbed it and quickly flipped through the pages. "He was so adorable!" Breanna said aloud. "I had no clue he was once an innocent little boy." She laughed. "Nick Carter?" A girl around 16 asked. "Um, yeah." Breanna said. "He's so sweet and quiet and just, perfect!" The girl said dreamily. Breanna burst into laughter as Eve walked over to see what the discussion was about. "You want an autograph?" Eve asked the girl. Obviously the girl didn't know who Breanna and Eve were. "Eve, she just said something funny. Nick, sweet, quiet, and perfect in the same sentence!" Breanna said giggling as she clutched the book in her hands. The young girl didn't know what was going on. "Nick!?" Eve asked. "Well, yeah, he's sweet. That gift he stuck in my backpack last week was sweet. I don't know about perfect and quiet." Eve stated. "Wha? You know Nick Carter?" The girl asked. "Um, yeah, and, um, you don't know who we are...umm..." Eve was lost for words. "We're friends of his. We hung out with him and the rest of the guys in Vegas. Before we left he stuck some BSB CDs in Eve's bag. Honestly, we had never heard their music before and we didn't even know they were famous until the invited us to one of their concerts." Breanna explained handing the book to Eve. "Eve, check out the photo section. He looks innocent." Breanna said smiling to Eve. "So you know the rest of the guys?" The girl asked. "Yes...I'm kinda involved with one of 'em. And so is she." Breanna said pointing to Eve who was having a good laugh over some of the photos of their friend. "You're lying! Who?" She asked. "Me, Howie. She's with Kevin." The young girl didn't really believe them. "Eve, your cellphone! I told you to leave it at home. I didn't want to be bothered by the guys today." Breanna scolded Eve as she dug through her purse to grab her phone. "Sorry! I couldn't miss his call." Eve said looking apologetic. "Hello? Um, yeah. Hold on." Eve said handing the phone to Breanna. "Bree, it's Howie. He's been looking all over for you and figured he try my phone." "Argh!" Breanna said under her breath taking the phone from Eve. Eve and the young girl started a short conversation until Breanna was off the phone with Howie. "Hey Hun!" Breanna greeted. "Hi! I got a little worried when I couldn't get a hold of you." Howie quickly explained. "It's okay but you're gonna have to let me do a few things on my own." She said laughing. "Well, I needed to call you to tell you something and it's kind of important. The Firm wants to have a meeting with us this weekend. We're leaving for LA on Friday morning. Kevin and I were thinking of leaving Thursday so we could get in an extra day with you two. Maybe we'll leave Wednesday. That all depends on how things go in the studio." Howie explained. "You're serious?" She asked incredulously. "Yeah, I wouldn't lie about this. That would be cruel to you and to me." He said laughing. "Why didn't Kevin call Eve first since this is her phone?" Breanna asked. "I don't know. He should have told her something by now." He stated. "No, he hasn't called her yet. He probably left a message on her machine." Breanna said. "Yeah probably. Anyway, I gotta get back into the studio. I just wanted to tell you. I won't bother you until late tonight." He said laughing. "You're not a bother. I love you." She explained. "Even love gets on your nerves, Hun." He said cracking up. "Yeah, okay. Anyway, wanna do me a favor for one minute? I'm in a music store and we ran into a fan who Eve is talking to right now. Wanna say "hi" for a minute?" Breanna asked. "Sure. Put her on." Howie stated. "How do you know it's a girl?" Breanna asked. "Bree, most of them are." He said laughing again. "Oh, okay. Hold on." Breanna said as she motioned for the girl to come over. Eve followed. "What's your name?" Breanna asked the girl. "Maria." The girl stated, cocking her head to the side not sure what was going on. "Here's Maria, Howie." Breanna said into the phone. She handed the phone to the girl and explained that he was wanted back in the studio and could only say a quick hi. After a quick conversation Maria handed the phone back to Breanna with a large smile on her face. "You made her day, possibly her entire year." Breanna told Howie. "I'm really glad. I always feel better when I make someone happy." He stated. "Good! Then you should be feeling pretty damn good all the time." She said in reference to herself. "Should I? Hmmm...never thought about it like that before. Anyway, I really have to go and this is costing Eve money." Howie explained. "Dang, you're right. Okay, I'll talk to you tonight. I love you. Bye!" Breanna said as she hung up the phone. "Wow! That was really Howie D!" Maria said excitedly. "Yup! Anyway, we gotta run. We have other places to be." Breanna stated as Eve handed her the book about Nick. "You gonna buy that book?" Maria asked. "No. I'll just grill Nick this weekend when I see him." Breanna said with a mischievous grin on her face. "This weekend, Bree? You gonna fly to Orlando?" Eve asked. "No, the guys are coming here. All of 'em! That's why Howie called me. He couldn't get ahold of me at home or on my cellphone or pager so he tried your cellphone. He said Kevin probably called your house and left a message." Breanna explained as Maria looked back and forth between both girls. "Well, I'll let you two go. I gotta call my mom to have her pick me up. I just wanted to get the new BSB single that came out last week." Maria said. "Where do you live?" Breanna asked Maria. "Beverly Hills. About 5 blocks away." Maria explained. "Well, how about we drop you off. I wanted to go to Rodeo Drive anyway. I wanna get Howie something from the Hugo Boss store." She said smiling to the young girl. "Really? Sure!" Maria said excitedly. Eve gave Breanna a questioning look but only shrugged her shoulders when Breanna didn't say anything to her. "Maria, don't buy that single unless you're dying to hear it now. I can get an autographed copy of it for you." Breanna said. It was odd having these connections now. But Breanna loved making these fans happy even if it was her boyfriend they were drooling over.

Howie and AJ went out clubbing like always. Kevin opted to stay home this time to talk to Eve. "Things haven't changed a bit." AJ mussed over a beer as he stared at Howie across the club enjoying himself with a group of girls. "Go join him! You like the ladies. Anyway, I'm gonna go. I have to practice a few new songs." Mya said to AJ pointedly as she got up and tugged on her mini skirt. "Mmm...I kinda like what you're wearing. It would look wonderful on my floor in the morning." AJ said slyly. "You're awful!" Mya said leaning over to give AJ a kiss before she left. "No, just horny." AJ stated as she walked away. "She's leaving?" An out-of-breath Howie asked as Mya walked out the door. "Yeah. Practice. Something we should be doing." AJ stated as he took another swig of his beer. "Hey sexy, wanna dance?" A tall, beautiful blonde asked Howie as she ran her long nailed fingers through his hair. "Ah, the wicked witch *didn't* die!" AJ joked. "Fuck off, AJ." The woman stated. "Well, to answer your question, no I wouldn't like to dance. Not with you, anyway." Howie said slowly. "You're loss. I'll be seeing you soon on my doorstep when you're begging for more. That prediction has never failed me in the past." The blonde answered. "No, I was a fool back then. I think I'm smarter now." He told her as she leaned in closer to Howie, face-to-face. "I somehow doubt that." She said tilting her head to the left, leaning in closer. Howie leaned in more. AJ's chin dropped as the whole scene unfolded before his face. "Never doubt me." Howie replied as he stood up and backed away. "You always doubted me whenever it suited your needs. You used me. Not anymore." Howie said as he left. "Back off, Helaina. He's taken and actually happy at the same time! Something you're not capable of making a man feel." AJ said as he got up to follow his friend out.

Breanna and Eve took Maria home and wrote down her address so they knew where to send or deliver the CD when the guys got into town. For the rest of the afternoon and early evening Breanna and Eve drove around town, flirted with some of the local hotties who passed in their Porsches and BMW's, and shopped around LA. Breanna stopped at the Hugo Boss store to buy Howie a shirt she had been eyeing for months. It was a navy blue button down shirt that didn't really button down until the middle of the breast area giving a good view of any mans chest. The sleeves were tailored well with creases in just the right spots. It had the trademark Hugo Boss emblem and looked extremely expensive. It was something she constantly told Eve would look good on any guy and she planned to buy one for her future boyfriend if it was still in style by the time she got one. After a quick lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe at the Universal City Walk, the girls decided to go to the beach to just chill out on the cool sand and watch the waves. They talked about their budding relationships and all the future problems that were bound to come their way with their famous boyfriends. The girls agreed that they loved Howie and Kevin too much to give up on their relationships but they also agreed that they would try not to let people know who they were dating. "We'll just tell people we're dating nice guys and leave it at that. If they want to ask questions we don't have to answer. If the guys need us as dates for award shows or anything of the sort, we'll just dress up, change our hair, and makeup and no one we know will really recognize us. Well, none of our friends normally watch those shows on TV but ya never know." Eve said planning out their way to hide the truth of who their boyfriends were. "At one point everyone's going to find out. We'll just try to hide as much as possible. Maria was the last fan we'll admit to anything." Breanna added. With that agreement the girls decided to go home. "We have school tomorrow!" Breanna wailed as they walked back to the car. "Shut up! I don't want to know." Eve smiled back. "I have to get all my crap together for tomorrow so I guess we should head on back home." Breanna said as they climbed into the car. "And I think I have a few messages to check not to mention a phone call I know I should be getting sometime soon!" Eve said laughing. "And if he doesn't call his ass is grass?" Breanna asked playfully. "Damn straight!" Eve said as both girls laughed.