"What's going on?" AJ questioned as Brian placed his head in his hands while he continued to speak with Izabel. Brian quickly waved AJ off as Izabel explained the situation. "How am I supposed to tell the others? How am I supposed to tell Eve?" Brian whispered into the phone. AJ listened on and was soon consumed with the thoughts of something terrible happening to Breanna. She had taken a turn for the worse. She had full blown cancer. She was sick in the hospital dying. But his thoughts were soon washed away when logic came into play. Brian had been talking to Izabel about Alexei, not Breanna. How would the conversation quickly switch over like that? AJ looked towards Brian hoping he would explain what was going on. "Bri, what is it?" AJ asked. Again, Brian waved him off not bothering to look at his friend. "Man, what is going on!?" AJ shouted. Kevin woke up quickly and glared at the other two. "Something happened." AJ explained quickly as Brian was starting to end his side of the conversation. "Just let me know how she's doing, ok? We're landing in twenty minutes so we'll see you in less than an hour. I love you." Brian clicked off his phone and turned his attention towards the other guys with tired, glossy eyes.

Howie glanced at his watch and realized that he was going to be late picking up the guys if he didn't get back to the hotel soon. He had taken a long nap earlier that day was was wide awake and refreshed. It was almost midnight as Howie jogged down the shoreline of Santa Monica. He wore a loose fitting Nike jogging outfit and an extra jacket over it to help conceal body heat as the temperature continued to lower as the night grew longer. His hair hung lose as the frozen particles of ocean mist clung it as the sky continued to snow off and on while he ran. He tried to work out in the gym at the hotel but was recognized by too many fans and decided that working out near the ocean would help clear his mind. Once he made it back to the hotel, he entered through the back entrance but was greeted by a fan. He stopped and gave her an autograph and even posed for a few pictures, smiling happily all the while. He was drenched in an ice cold sweat but emitted the smell of sweet ginger belonging to his Tommy Freedom cologne that Breanna had given to him when they first got together. After more than 5 minutes he made it to the elevator and graciously walked into the parting doors; happy to see the room level buttons light up as he continued to ascend to his room. After walking into his room, he checked his waiting voice mails then climbed into the warm shower. Before long, Howie had finished showering and was slipping on a pair of khaki's and a black over sized sweater he had "borrowed" from Brian the week before. He pulled his hair back and grabbed his keys, stopping for a moment to ponder the feelings that were floating in his mind. He shook the thoughts out of his head for the hundredth time as he made his way towards his room door. Howie once again walked into a waiting elevator and quickly thought about his wallet. He remembered placing it in one of his pockets when he left his room and sighed with relief. But absent-mindedly he reached for his back pocket to double check as he started to drift into deep thought again. He just couldn't shake the feeling that his life was about to change completely that week. For better and for worse.

Izabel ran around the house double checking everything. She did all of the dishes and as many loads of wash as she could. She ran through all 10 rooms to make sure everything was in order. The room she and Brian would be sharing was already ready to live in but Kevin and Eve's room needed flannel sheets and a thicker comforter. Sarah's room couldn't be more ready for her arrival while Thomas' room needed a few extra comforters and a night-light. Nick's room was ready as was AJ's but Howie's room wasn't even close. Since Breanna would not be in the house, Izabel thought it best that Howie stay there with the rest of the guys. Everyone, including Howie, had agreed to stay in Breanna's house when visiting but he never felt comfortable being there with Breanna and truth be told, either did she. Though none of them had ever been to her new house, the sleeping arrangements had been made long before she bought it.

"What is it? You've got that look..." Kevin stated as he studied Brian's face. "I'm not gonna do it, but you are." Brian replied glancing from Kevin to Eve. Kevin looked towards Eve then back at Brian. "Do what?" Kevin asked, totally oblivious to what was going on. "Break some bad news to her." Brian answered. "I think she's heard enough bad news for one day." Kevin stated. "I'm tired of sitting here and not saying anything...what the fuck are you talking 'bout, Bri?" AJ demanded after what appeared to be 10 minutes to utter silence from him. "Do you really want to know right now?" Brian asked threw clenched teeth feeling anger and sadness build up. Brian had become good friends with Alexei over the past three years. It was because of Alexei that he finally found Izabel again, though he knew Alexei didn't have a clue who she was when he dragged them all out to that club years before. But Brian knew that breaking the news to AJ would be much harder. Alexei and AJ were much closer; almost family. Brian wasn't worried about someone becoming overly emotional - a wreck- once they found out. He was more worried about the long term affects of losing someone close. They had all lost people in the past and each person to leave their lives left a hole; something that could never be filled. Losing someone, period, to Brian was something he could never comprehend. Life goes on, but things are never the same. "Yeah, I wanna know." AJ stated, his voice bring Brian back to reality. Brian nodded his head before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He opened his eyes and looked over at Thomas. He was curled up asleep using Nick's lap as a pillow. Brian glanced over at Eve who was still asleep before turning his attention back to the others. "Okay...Alexei was in a car accident on the way to the mountains to propose to his girlfriend..." Brian looked at the other two who looked as if they were holding their breath, awaiting the answer they didn't want to hear. "...and, they never made it." Brian exhaled and watched as the other two reacted. "How's Breanna?" AJ questioned as he pushed his own personal feelings aside. "That's the scary part. Izabel doesn't really know how she's doing. She's in some sort of state. She's not really talking. Izabel took her to stay with her parents until after the funeral." "Does Howie know?" Kevin asked. Brian shook his head. "We get to tell him." Brian replied. "No, *I* get to tell him." AJ stated. "I'm not sure how Eve's going to take this news." Brian said, looking at Eve as she slept. Kevin looked down at his hands thinking of what he was going to tell her. "They were really close." Kevin said as he looked towards his wife. "I'll just have to tell her and be there for her if she needs me."

Howie drove slowly to the airport, taking his time to think. He had no clue what he was thinking about. He spent most of his time thinking about thinking. He laughed to himself at how silly it was to think about nothing. After a while he pulled into the airport parking lot near the United Airlines terminal. He hoped out of the car and looked down at his watch. He still had 5 minutes until their flight was scheduled to arrive. Howie started walking down the stairs of the parking structure instead of using the elevator. He had parked on level 2 and didn't see the point. Once he made it to the ground level he ran across the street to the actual terminal. Once inside the warm building he realized how quiet it was. He looked at the nearest monitor and saw that the guys would be ten minutes late because of the icy runways. He walked down the corridor of the airport to the gate and realized that he was being recognized by a lot of the younger people who were leaving or arriving from a flight. Being the polite man that he was, he smiled at the ones who recognized him. He finally found the guys gate and sat down and grabbed the nearest magazine. Luck would have it, he and the rest of the guys graced the cover with Breanna. Howie looked at the date; it was recent. He flipped through the pages to the article and realized it was a "Where-are-they" type of article. 'Now, this is gonna be interesting.' Howie commented to himself as he started to read it.