Breanna and Brian arrived back at her house and ran into her room. "Oh, I forgot the boxes!" Brian realized, running back out of the house to the car. He came running back into the house, zooming past the living room where AJ, Howie, Kevin, Nick, Alexei, Eve, and Breanna's parents were sitting having a conversation. "Hello to ya'll, too." Nick joked as he watched Brian run up the stairs. After an hour Breanna and Brian ran in and out of the house carrying the filled boxes to his car. After the last box was loaded Breanna ran back into the house, greeted everyone quickly, kissed Howie on the cheek and explained that she'd be back later.

Breanna and Brian agreed to ship all of Thomas's new toys and clothes ahead to Orlando so everything would arrive by the time they all went back home. They finished shopping at 3:30 and barely had enough time to pack everything, seal the boxes, load them into the car, unload them, and get them into the post office. It was almost 5pm and the office was scheduled to close. Breanna and Brian ran into the post office with 6 filled boxes, taking three trips each. They lucked out. The post office closed five minutes after they left. They were both out of breath. "We've been hauling ass all day! Let's go get somethin' to drink." Breanna complained. Brian nodded his head as they jumped back into his car. "There's a Kelly's!" Breanna exclaimed. "I have no idea what that is but okay." He agreed. Kelly's was similar to Starbucks but it wasn't as expensive and possibly better. Breanna ordered two Mocha Freeze's for the both of them. After half an hour of drinking espresso filled drinks, they decided to head home. "Hey Bree, maybe I'm just used to being paranoid, but, is that car following us?" Brian asked glancing into the rearview mirror. "I'm not sure. It looks familiar. I swear I saw it at the post office but then again, a lot of people drive Ford Escorts." Breanna stated as she turned around in her seat to watch the car behind them.

Ten minutes later they pulled up to Breanna's house. "Again, today was great! Thanks!" Brian said cheerfully. Breanna smiled in response before leaning over to give him a small kiss. "You're welcome! We're going to have to do this more often." She stated. Breanna got out of the car and stood up to stretch. Brian saw Howie standing near the front door and put the car in park and got out to greet his friend. Howie walked out of the door towards his friend where they greeted each other with a hug. Howie and Brian chatted for a second as Breanna looked around to see if the other car was gone. It wasn't. It was across the street parked under a tree. The windows were tinted so she couldn't see who was inside if there was anyone at all. Howie noticed Breanna staring at the car and walked over to her, placing his arms around her waist and giving her a small kiss near her lips. "mmmmm..." she sighed, breaking her attention away from the car. "Oh geez, get a room!" Brian complained. "Well, I'm gonna go see Izabel and Thomas. I'll see ya at the airport tomorrow night!" Brian shouted as he got back into his car. Breanna and Howie waved goodbye to their friend and continued to embrace in the frontyard as the sun went down.

"So, how was your day?" Howie asked Breanna as they headed back into the house. "Great! We had a nice lunch, shopped a little for nothing in particular and shopped a lot for Thomas." Howie smiled at the thought of his friend now becoming a father. It was nice to see everyone he was close to start to settle down. It gave him hope that he would be next. "Nothing else exciting?" He asked. Breanna walked into the house without replying. She wanted to tell him about the car that followed them but figured it was nothing and Brian really was being paranoid. "Nope, nothing else happened." Breanna replied as they made their way up the stairs to her room. "I'm so beat! I want to take a nap. Wake me at dinner time?" She asked. "No." He stated, sitting on the edge of her bed as she changed into a pair of comfortable cotton shorts and a matching shirt. "No?" Breanna asked in shock. "Yup!" "Okay, what is it? Yes or no?" she plopped down onto her bed looking around at the now empty room. "No." He stated again. "Oh, let's not play games!" She complained. "I'm not. I'm tired, too. I wanted to take a nap with you so that means I can't wake you when it's dinner time." He smiled mischievously. "I mean it, Howie. I'm taking a nap. No messing around." Breanna had a straight face on while Howie looked at her amused. "Stop your bitching!" He complained as he snuggled down into the blankets. Breanna sat on her bed watching him. He closed his eyes and turned onto his side using the sheets to cover his body. "You brat!" She scolded. "You could join me if you'd like." He smiled, his eyes still closed. Breanna smiled at how funny Howie could be when he wasn't really thinking about anything. He was always thinking, always serious, but not quite as serious as Kevin, but close enough. Once in a while, more lately than ever before, Howie would stop thinking about everything important and just loosen up. Breanna usually took advantage of Howie when he was in that mood. Breanna stopped thinking and snuggled into his arms under the sheets. "No Roman Hands or Russian Fingers, ya hear me?" She demanded. He lowered his hands to her inner thighs and caressed her softly causing Breanna to moan quietly. "What were you saying?" He whispered into her ear. "Hmmm?" She questioned as she enjoyed the feelings that he was causing. "That's what I thought." Howie stated as he stopped touching Breanna and turned towards the opposite direction on his side. "Hey!" She screamed. "What? I'm just doing what you asked me." He stated innocently. "You'll pay for that! ...Later! I'm too tired now." Howie laughed to himself before turning back over and pulling Breanna into his arms. They soon fell asleep.

Breanna awoke to a ringing phone. She was far from pleased. "What!" She growled answering the phone. "Um, Bree?" AJ asked cautiously. Something was bothering him and Breanna could sense it. Breanna took in a deep breath before replying. "Yes? What's wrong?" she whispered trying not to wake Howie in the process. "Do you have cable in your room?" "Yeah, why? What's up?" She asked again. "Is Howie with you?" "Yes, but you still didn't answer my first question. What about the cable?" Something wasn't right with the tone of AJs serious voice. He was normally hamming it up to get attention. "Um, okay I'll just get down to the point. One of the entertainment channels on cable has you on it...and Brian. Kissing." AJ bluntly explained to Breanna over the phone. Breanna almost choked. "What? That's ridiculous! Brian and I have nev...never done anything...oh shit!" Breanna exclaimed. Howie was awake listening to Breanna's half of the conversation with his eyes closed in mock sleep. "What Bree?" AJ demanded. "Brian and I went out to lunch and I gave him a peck like I always do. And at the mall. And in the car when he dropped me off...with another car following us all day. SHIT! Why didn't I figure that out? What else is being said and just be honest. Don't spare me." She said quietly. "You know me, Bree. I wouldn't spare you. The truth is too important. Um, well, they said that you were cheating on Howie with Brian while Brian was involved with another local LA woman. And it was going to break the group up and break Howie's heart." AJ finished explaining. "But I would never do that to him!" Breanna defended. "I know Bree, but they have video footage of you kissing Brian at lunch and at the mall and in his car like you said. Also, they have footage of you and Howie kissing in Vegas and in front of Brian after he dropped you off earlier today. It doesn't look good. But I know you and I know Brian. I believe you wouldn't do this but they used some pretty fancy camera effects to make the kisses between you and Brian seem a lot longer than they were." AJ hated having to break the news to Breanna but it was all part of the job of being a Backstreet girlfriend. Most of the girlfriends never stuck around because they couldn't handle the media. This would be a test for Breanna. Most likely from this point on, all the fans would look at her as a slut even after the story was proven false. AJ hated this with every ounce of his soul. Breanna was like a little sister and she was the one who brought happiness to his best friend. Howie deserved Breanna. "But it's not the end of the world!" AJ reminded himself. "Well, Bree, honestly there is one thing I am worried about." AJ stammered. "And that would be?" She asked with slight resolution. "When D finds out. His ex hurt him pretty bad that he's wary of women all together. This would, I don't know, it'd crush him. I'll do everything I can to prove to him that it's not true, but he's gonna find out very soon about this story. Want me to break it to him?" AJ asked. "No, AJ. I'll tell him. It's better he finds out from me. I hope he understands. God damned media!" Breanna cursed. "No, god damned paparazzi" she exhaled. Howie was going crazy inside of his mind trying to figure out what was going on. "Thanks, AJ! I love you and I owe you!" "You're welcome, I love you, and you don't owe me anything but if you insist that you do, then just make D happy." "You know I will." She replied unsure of what she would tell Howie. "I know. Take care beautiful and good luck!" "Thanks, I'll need it! buh-bye." Breanna hung up the phone and inhaled. She grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels until she reached the channel AJ had warned her about. They were rebroadcasting their entertainment news from earlier that evening and it just happened to be the one about Breanna and Brian.