Breanna and Howie spent the evening at her house talking about what was going to happen to her life if things went on as they were, and what might happen to their relationship. Breanna wore a satin nightgown that was too short for the cool November weather. Howie wore boxers and nothing more. They laid in bed together wrapped in each others arms. Breanna only had one fear and that was losing Howie. Her fear was his fear. Things were too perfect and fame had a very negative effect on many things he loved. He couldn't see life without her but he knew that asking her to marry him would scare her away. After a couple of hours Breanna finally fell asleep while Howie played with her hair. Since he had met her she hadn't gone to cut it off like she always told him she would. It was now passed her shoulders and very straight. He let out a quiet giggle at the thought of their children's hair. His was very curly and hers was very straight. He gave himself a quick mental kick for thinking of something like that. "We're not even married! I'm thinking like a school girl in love." He thought to himself. Finally he drifted off to sleep thinking of how his life had been blessed in the past year.

When Howie awoke, it was to Breanna nudging him with the phone in her hand. "Get up! It's for you!" He growled and told her to take a message. "No, it's Brian. Answer it!" Finally Howie sat up in bed and took the phone from Breanna. She slithered back down under the sheets on her back, watching him talk on the phone. "What's up, Bri?" "Hey, not much. I just had an idea and thought I'd run it passed you. We're not sure what single to release, right? Why not just release One Time? It's the most anticipated song, anyway." Brian said into the phone. Howie didn't like that idea but knew that the other guys would vote 4 to 1. "Why ask me? I have no choice in the matter. I'll get out voted." Brian laughed in agreement. "Yeah, I know. Anyway, I'm taking Thomas to Sea World but I thought I'd tell you that we're going to release Breanna's song so you get to tell her." Howie groaned again. "Alright, man. I'll tell her. Give me a call later and we'll figure everything out." After Howie hung up the phone Breanna sat up in bed and looked at him like she was expecting bad news. "Well, it's not terrible news" He said with a nervous laugh. "What is it?" "We're releasing One Time first. I have no choice in the matter cause the rest of the guys agreed to it. And if we didn't agree to it, the record company would have released it anyway." Breanna rolled her eyes and laid back down in bed. "It's 9am. I'm going back to sleep. Explain what all this means to me later, k?" Howie nodded his head and pulled Breanna into his arms before falling asleep.

The next few weeks were a big blur for Breanna. She didn't want people to know that Shy Rose and Breanna Winterson, Howie's girlfriend, were one and the same. Howie suggested colored contacts and a new clothing style. She was used to wearing trendy slightly conservative clothes but now she opted for a sporty style with a innocent girl kick. When she came home from her first photo shoot for Jive, Howie's chin dropped to the floor. This woman standing in front of him looked like a model. She had on loose fitting Nike pants and a black Nike sports bra with violet and pink butterflies sewn into it in various places. Her hair was piled on top of her head with little curls falling down the side of her face and her bangs were cut straight across. She took Howie's advice and wore green colored contacts. Breanna had her hair dyed a dark auburn red color with blond highlights and she now had bangs. She didn't want to look like herself because she wasn't ready for the new fame she knew was coming her way.

She did photo shoots, video shoots, hours of dance rehearsals for the new song, and countless interviews. Each time she was "Shy Rose". Howie couldn't believe what has happening to Breanna. From just one song, she was in heavy demand. She was in as much demand as the Boys were but she wasn't even officially signed to a label. She wasn't even planning on it! Unfortunately her schedule hardly ever included the guys. They always interviewed them separately but photo shoots were always together. For some strange reason they always paired Breanna up with Brian or Nick in the shoots. Howie didn't seem to mind but in the back of his mind he knew that there would be problems in their relationship coming up soon. Stress levels were at an all time high. "Why can't they know that Shy Rose is Breanna, my girl?" He constantly thought to himself but every time he asked himself that question his conscious would kick him in the ass. "Do you know how selfish you sound? You were lucky! You became famous slowly, you had time to adjust. She's being thrown into this only because she was bored walking down the hallway visiting you!"

The single was finally released to the radio stations and went to number one for airplay. The song was requested so many times on stations across the country that it set new records. It was finally released on MTV and was number one on TRL everyday until it was retired. When Jive finally released it as a single in the US, it went to number one the first week. By that time the guys were in Europe doing promotion for the new album with Breanna in tow. Breanna's world was spinning around her and she barely had enough energy to hold on to Howie. She only performed a few times but with interviews and photo shoots, Breanna had nothing in her. Her daily schedule was sleeping until 6am, at a studio for a photo shoot or a TV appearance by 8am, lunch, doing interviews for magazines, newspapers, TV, and radio for most of the day, dinner, concert rehearsal, meet and greets, a small mini concert, then back to bed. She saw Howie all the time but they never spent time alone unless it was when they were asleep in each others arms.

The relationship wasn't falling apart much to rumors on the internet. "No one sees or hears about Breanna anymore. She's out of the picture. He's always with Shy Rose. That ho must have sent her packing" was posted on one of the newsgroups. Breanna wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry. Howie thought it was disgusting. First they call Breanna a ho because she was dating Howie, now that Breanna is supposedly out of the picture, Shy Rose is the ho. Women were too complicated for him. He couldn't figure them out and he didn't want to try. Breanna and Howie were spending their first official day off together. It was Christmas Eve and they were in Paris, the city of love.

Breanna was sitting on their bed reading the BSB newsgroup and laughing at some of the posts when their phone rang. Brian was downstairs hanging out with AJ and decided to answer the phone to give Breanna and Howie their time alone. After the phone rang they heard Brian and AJ cheering. "What's going on down there?" Howie yelled. "JIVE!" Brian called out. "What?" Howie was confused. "Jive! On the phone. For Breanna." Brian screamed back. "Oh, okay." Howie didn't like the sound of what he was hearing. "Pick up the phone, it's for you." Howie said with little interest as he walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Breanna picked up the phone in a daze, trying to figure out why Howie looked a little distant. "Hello?" "Hello Breanna! It's Chris calling from Jive." "Hi Chris! Merry Christmas! What can I do for you?" Breanna asked in her 'personality' voice. "And Merry Christmas to you, too! We have a question for you that we'd rather ask in person but it's Christmas Eve and you guys are in the middle of a big tour so..." "Okay? What is it?" Breanna asked beginning to become impatient. Chris cleared his throat before continuing. "Well, I'll just get to the point. We want to sign you. Today." Breanna was taking a sip of water and almost choked when she heard what he had to say. "WHAT? Sign? Me? Why?" Breanna was mostly afraid of losing Howie. She couldn't figure out why she was basing her life decisions on him when she swore up and down when she started dating him that she would never do so. "Why, Breanna? Have you been on the internet lately? Or opened a magazine or turned on the radio or TV? You're the most popular unsigned artist out there!" He said enthusiastically. "See? That's where I have a problem. The word artist. I'm not an artist. I'm a girl who made up a silly song walking down a hallway on the way to visit her boyfriend, the real artist in the picture. I'm only popular because I recorded that song with the Backstreet Boys. If there was no Backstreet Boys I would never have even made it this far. I know I'm going to fall right on my face if I sign with Jive and release something. I have no clue what I'd release anyway." Howie was in the bathroom listening to everything she was saying. "Breanna, Max agreed to work with you. So did Mutt Lange. Do you know how many artists would give their right arm to work with Max and Mutt? Breanna, even if you do fall on your face, just give it a try. You'll never know until you try." Breanna didn't like what she was hearing but at the same time she loved it. "I don't know. Let me think about it." They said their good byes and hung up.

Breanna took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Hun, you can come out now." Breanna giggled. Howie walked out of the bathroom with a sheepish grin on his face. "We're not going to talk about it tonight. We're going to go to bed. And I don't feel like sleeping." Howie's eyes got wide and a sly smile crept across his face. He walked over to the door and opened it quickly. "Goodnight, guys!" The rest of the guys said their good night greetings and kept on talking to each other. Howie became annoyed. "Good NIGHT, guys!" Brian took the hint. "Um, alone time, guys. Let's get outta here." "Thanks, Bri! See ya!" Howie shut the door and ran towards the bed and threw himself on top of it, landing on Breanna who giggled. "I love you."

The next day was Christmas, their last day off and they were still in Paris. "I wish we could be home right now but Paris will do" Breanna stated as she played with Howie's hair. They were cuddled up in bed as the fireplace warmed the room. It was dawn and the city was covered with the color of gray and blue. Unfortunately it was raining but Breanna and Howie didn't seem to notice. "So, what are you going to do?" Howie asked Breanna. She looked at him with a confused face. "I mean, are you going to sign with Jive?" Breanna let out a sigh and shook her head. "I don't know what to do. I never wanted to work in front of the microphone. I always wanted to work behind it." "This is a chance in a lifetime. Who knows where this could take you. Maybe you could sell a few million albums and use the money from that to start your label." He suggested. Howie put away his selfish feelings about Breanna becoming famous. "If it was meant to be, it will work out in the end." He reminded himself. Breanna smiled at his suggestion and pondered the consequences. "What will happen to us? I don't want to lose this. But if I sign with Jive then I'll have your schedule. I won't be around ever and when I am you probably won't be around. Our schedules will clash. What do I do?" She asked him. "Sign with Jive. Live your life to the fullest and don't worry about me. We'll work things out. Just do this. This is an experience you'll learn from. It'll bring you joy and a lot of grief but in the end you'll only remember the good times." Breanna nodded her head in response. "So are you going to do it?" He asked as his eyes danced from the fires reflection. Breanna nodded her head slowly. "I guess I am. But I don't want to be a solo artist. I want to be part of group." "I don't think that's going to be possible." "I know. How's it feel to want, right?" Breanna joked as Howie laughed at her. "You're already famous. Now all you need to do is release an album and tour. Not too hard!" He stated. "Will you help me with the album?" She asked. She was scared about recording without him by her side. Recording One Time was easy because he was there with her. "If I can I'll help you. But I can't promise you anything." She frowned but understood what he meant. "C'mon! Let's go exchange gifts with everyone!"