Howie and Breanna talked the night away in her room. It was already Monday, almost four days since he had arrived in LA. "I can't believe your parents are letting me stay with you." He said in disbelief. "I can't either. I'm still in shock. Mom *and* dad like you a lot. They've never liked anyone I've dated. Well, mom liked Christian, dad thought he was okay, and Alexei thought he was a flake." She said with a slightly giggle. Howie laid with Breanna in his arms thinking about his past. "Breanna? You've told me everything about your past, haven't you?" He asked. She took a few minutes to think about that question. She let out a long sigh. "No." She said quietly. Howie could feel her body tense up. "What haven't you told me?" He asked quietly, playing with her hair. "I was pregnant once." She mumbled. "What happened?" He coaxed. "I was 17. It happened right before I met Eve. I was going out with this older guy and I got pregnant. He beat me a lot when I threatened to leave him. When he found out about the baby he demanded that I get an abortion but I told him no. He still beat me while I was pregnant but he always hit me where no one could see the bruises. My head, my back, my stomach. No one knows about the abuse. Alexei suspected it but I denied it. I've never lied to Lex. Anyway, I was three months along when I lost the baby. I guess now that it was for the best but it was a baby. *My* baby." she said sadly. "Did your parents know?" "No. Lex knew. He was the only one who probably would never have looked down on me because of that. I don't know how my parents would have reacted if they knew. Maybe I'll tell my mom one of these days, I don't know. Eve doesn't know, either. I never told her. She has enough skeletons in her closet to deal with." Breanna stately calmly. "Wow..." Howie exhaled. "I'm sorry." He said. Breanna shrugged her shoulders slightly. "You want to tell me something, don't you." Breanna stated. "Um...yeah. I wanted to tell you before you found out some other way." He tried explaining. "Tell me everything and let me know when you're done." She said quietly. Breanna was afraid of what she was about to hear but she wanted to hear everything he had to say before she jumped to conclusions and started screaming at him before hearing the end of the story. "I dated someone not too long ago who I thought I was in love with. She was tall and beautiful...on the outside. She was cold and hateful on the inside. I thought I was in love with her and I spent every waking moment with her. I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on her. The guys tried to tell me that I was blind and she was evil but I never listened. I even threatened to drop out of the group if they kept saying hateful things about her. Eventually they realized there was no reasoning with me and gave up. She always degraded me, put me down, and only made me feel good when it suited her. She cheated on me with almost every man in town. She flirted with other guys in front of me but I never did anything about it. I thought she was my life and my future. It's like she cast some type of spell on me. It got to the point where I realized who she really was. I tried so many times to break up with her but each time I went back to her, needing her for some reason. When I eventually broke up with her for good she came to me one day crying. She found out she was a few months pregnant and she claimed it was mine. I told her I wouldn't take her back but I would be there for the baby only. She used the baby to get what she wanted from me. She threatened me so many times that she would get an abortion if I didn't take her back or give her what she wanted. She told me I would be responsible for the death of an innocent baby. Eventually she had an abortion. Afterwards she left Orlando for New York City. She was a model at one time in her life and she wanted to go back and try it again. It was like a big weight was lifted off my shoulders but a few days ago she showed up at one of the clubs I like to dance at. She knew I would probably be there I think. That's it." He said quietly. Breanna had her back to Howie as she laid in his arms. She turned around to reveal tears streaming down her face. "Who is she?" Breanna asked angrily. "Her name's Helaina." He stated calmly staring into her eyes. "You should have known she was evil, the word Hell is in her name." Breanna stated. Howie nodded his head in agreement. "I don't want her near you. I don't want anyone to hurt you like that!" Breanna was angry with this Helaina woman but knew she didn't have it in her to actually hunt her down. Howie smiled sympathetically to Breanna. "No one will ever again. I grew up quick after that." He smiled at her with glossy eyes. He was near tears remembering what Helaina did to him. "We both lost babies." Breanna whispered.

Breanna played with Howie's soft hands. Both were silent thinking about their past. Breanna was abused physically until her baby died. Howie was abused emotionally until his baby died. After a few minutes of thinking Breanna sat up and walked to her bedroom door to lock it. She walked quietly back to the bed where Howie laid, grabbed her remote and turned on one of her Cirque Du Solei CDs. She sat on the edge of her bed lighting two small candles that were placed next to a framed picture of Howie and Breanna at Disneyland. She turned off the bedroom light and stared at Howie who remained motionless. He returned the stare with a questioning look. "I can't wait until Orlando." She quietly stated. Howie couldn't figure out what she meant until she leaned down to kiss him. He had never felt a kiss with so much power, so much searching, so much confusion, or so much love. He pulled her shirt over her head and tossed her jean shorts onto the ground. After a few minutes he finally unhooked her bra and tossed it somewhere. Howie's clothes came off eventually as the couple kissed heatedly under the sheets. "What about your parents?" He asked in between kisses. "Lex said they were going to a movie then a party at the firm where my dad works. Lex is out on a date, he's probably doing the same thing right about now." She smiled at Howie. "Okay." He breathed as he rolled her over onto her back. After an hour of foreplay they stopped what they were doing to catch their breathes. He played around with her face tracing all of the contours with his index finger while Breanna closed her eyes to enjoy the feeling. When he stopped she opened her eyes to see him staring at her. "What?" She asked confused. "You're beautiful." He stated. She grinned back at him as he leaned down to kiss her. During the kiss Breanna wrapped her legs around his waist. He took this as a sign. As he entered her Breanna let out a deep sigh, digging her nails into his back. She tried not to scream out in pleasure for fear that someone was actually home. After a few minutes Breanna couldn't contain herself and let out small whimpers and screams. She couldn't get enough of him. She took control after an hour by climbing on top of him. She controlled their love making for most of the evening tiring Howie out. "Where'd you get the stamina?" He joked to her. "From you." She yelled out as Howie tossed her onto her back. "It's not fair that you do all the work." He breathed. "But I enjoy it." Breanna replied. After a few hours of making love they both fell asleep in each others arms.

When they awoke it was to a knock on the door. Breanna turned to see that her clock read 10 am. "Who is it?" She asked. "It's Lex. You have a guest or two or three." He replied. "What? Who?" She was too tired to think about who it could have been. "Just come out of your room and bring that bum you call a boyfriend with you." Alexei joked. "Damn...this better be worth it or you're dead!" She yelled to her brother. "Just hurry up and put some clothes on." Alexei knew that something happened when he found her door locked when he got home early that morning. "Howie? Hun, wake up." She said nudging his arm. "Hmm?" He muttered, his eyes fluttering open slowly. When he saw Breanna's face his eyes widened and a smile appeared on his lips. "Hi." He said. "We gotta get up. Lex says I have company and you have to come too. It's probably some cousins or something." She complained. Howie frowned at the idea of not being able to spend the morning with Breanna in his arms. "C'mon. If I gotta get up so do you. Just throw your clothes back on from last night." She said with a sly smile on her face remembering the night they shared. "Did you enjoy yourself?" Howie asked. She nodded her head while her face turned red. "You should be proud. It's never been that good before." She said throwing his shirt at him from off the floor. He laughed. "So should you." He smiled. After they quickly threw their clothes back on Breanna walked into her bathroom with Howie following. She washed her face quickly and started putting toothpaste on her toothbrush when Howie started having wondering hands. "I really need to do this," she said pointing her toothbrush at his face, "and I can't if you don't stop it with your 'Roman Hands' or 'Russian Fingers'" she teased him. "Sorry, I can't help it." He smiled walking out of the bathroom to grab his toothbrush and razor. "Can I help with that?" She pointed to his razor. "You wanna help me shave?" He asked. "Yes, it's always been very erotic to me."