"Now five, six, seven, eight." JC called as they moved in perfect formation.
"Good job guys, if they were to see you they'd be proud."Missy complimented after the music had stopped.
"Thanks Miss." Katie replied drinking the long needed water her body craved.
"Missy, our chances of meeting the Boys' out here in North Dakota are slim to none. The closest they've been to us was about 350 milez and we could'nt even get tickets. Keep dreaming." Christina retorted.
"Chris you really need to lighten up a little. Dreams can come true you know." Steph said coming into the conversation.
"No Steph, dreams might come true for you but not for me."
"Chris, girl, you can't live in the past forever. You have to be strong. Be strong for yourself and be strong for Kendall." Katie, Missy, and Steph all gave Chris a hug before going back to dancing.
The girls finished their dance to The Call and decided to quit for the day.
"Last Chance for lunch guys?" JC asked.
"Always, JC, always." Missy replied kissing him lightly.
The gang walked into The Last Chance, a local cafe they'd dubbed the Backstreet Hangout. Steph's mom owned the place and had allowed the girls to decorate. They'd painted the walls black and blue to accomodate their album and had posters on the wall.
"Mom! Why do you have this awful music on. We gotta have some Drownin everyone needs some BSB."
"Hey girls, do you guys ever get sick of BSB?" Steph's mom Mary asked.
"Mrs. Bower, getting sick of BSB would be like saying Marilyn Manson can sing." Katie replied.
"Ok, dear, I just don't see how you girls can obsess over one group for over 4 years." Mary sighed dropping the subject.
~*~
"James you gotta stop the bus, I really gotta go." Nick whined to the bus driver.
"We'll be stoppin after we get back into the U.S."
"Well hurry! How long til we get there?"
"Nick go sit down or something. We still got about 15-30 minutes before we get to the port."
Nick sighed and walked to the back of the bus and sat next to Brian who was watchin tv.
"Hey Bri."
"Hey Nick."
"Whatchya doin?"
"Watchin tv."
"Cool."
"Nick go bother someone else." Brian shooed him away.
Nick got up to find Kevin and AJ talking on their cell phones, he knew they'd tell him to leave so he sought out Howie.
"Hey D. Before I sit down, are you gonna kick me out?"
"Nick, sit, talk do something." Howie laughed at Nicks expression as he sat down.
"Howie? Do you ever get sick of being famous?" Nick asked.
"In some aspects I wouldn't give this up for the world, but some I do. Why do you ask?"
"I'm tired of girls using me. Why can't I just find someone." Nick sighed.
"I completely understand Nick. That's one of those bad parts of fame. Finding girls who aren't after you for for being a Backstreet Boy." Howie agreed.
~*~
"Mary, we gotta show you The Call we finally got everything down. Wanna see ?" Christina asked.
"Sure honey lemme jus change the song." the girls got into position. Only the three of them danced so they got where the guys were being, would be. Katie danced AJ, Steph-Nick, and Christina-Howie. They'd watched the guys dance to that song over and over. They cuold move effortlessly with the guys.
The music had just started and the girls were lost in the song when the door opened. The people walking in were ignored as the girls danced.
"Oh my gosh, guys look at that." one of them said.
They were silent as they watched the rest of the song.
Steph, Chris, and Katie all struck the final pose as the music stopped, freezing for five seconds like they'd been taught. Once breaking the pose; they heard calpping. Looking up at the audience the girls were speechless.
Standing before them, was none other then the Backstreet Boys.
"Hey cool you're the Backstreet Boys." Chris broke the tense silence with the obvious.
"Thta's us." AJ smirked.
"Welcome to our town. Why are you here?" she asked.
"We just came back from Canada and SOMEONE we won't mention any names, NICK, had to use the bathroom so we just decided to make it a food stop too." Howie replied.
"I see well I"m Leeann but my friends call me Christina, and I think these are my friends Katie, Steph, Missy and thats JC. I've never seen them so quiet usually I'm the quiet one." Christina introduced everyone.
"So why are you talking now?" Howie questioned feeling intrigued by this mysterious girl.
"Hey, its not like I'll ever get the change again and I'm not a screamer or a fainter. See we breathe the same air, you guys aint gettin imported air or nuttin." Chris replied.
"Come on guys have a seat, Nick the bathroom is over there." Mary said joining the conversation.
The girls along with Missy and JC all sat with the guys. Missy sat between Kevin and JC. On the other side of JC was Katie, then AJ, then Steph, then Nick, then Howie, then Chris, then Brian.
"Where did you guys learn to do that?" AJ asked.
"Well, we love dancingand we love you guys so we kinda started watchin live performances and stuff." explained Katie.
"That's pretty cool. Do you guys like have a coreographer?" Howie asked.
Katie and Steph looked at each other, then at Chris trying to figure out what to say.
"Missy and JC kind of run things now." Katie answered carefully.
"What do you mean now?" Kevin wondered.
Christina froze at that question. She could feel the tears sting her eyes as she got up to go.
"Excuse me guys, Kate, Steph. I need to see if Kel's back yet." Chris whispered getting up.
Katie and Steph walked her to the door sensing her tears. They each gave her a hug. She turned around to go but was stopped.
"Don't we get a hug?" AJ asked.
Christina turned around and found all the guys standing in a line. She reached out to hug AJ and hugged all the other guys with no problem but when she got to Howie her senses were in over drive. He smelled so good and there was something about him that drew her close. She felt a tear fall as his arms wrapped around her slim waist. She couldn't take it any more, so she tightened her arms around his neck and started bawling.
Katie and Steph looked at each other then back at Chris who still clung to Howie.
"What's wrong with her?" AJ asked.
"This is the first time shes broke down. Her parents were killed in a plain crash about 10 months ago. We could see this coming we just didnt know when." Katie replied.
"At least she broke now while someone was here instead of alone." Aj replied trying to comfort Katie who was worried about her friend.
"Yeah thats true, so Alex, what are the plans after this?" Katie smiled recalling a time when she just dreamed of calling him Alex.
"Well, we have about a month of touring left, then we'll be headin into the studio to record for the new album, After that we'll be rehearsing for the new tour and away we go." Aj had such a passion for his music, Katie could tell he loved every minute of it.
Let us leave AJ and Katie and work our way to Nick and Steph why dont we.
"So you used to live in the Broncs?" Nick asked.
"Yeah. My parents wanted to move out here years ago but kept puttin it off til last year. We moved here, I met these crazy ppl and here we are." Steph explained smiling.
"That's pretty cool. How do you think Howie and Chris are doing?" Nick replied looking at the couple standing by the door.
By this time Howie'd gotten her to calm down a little but was unsure what to do. He realized she wasn't going to calm down any time soon, so he led her outside. Seeings how there were ppl outside Howie took her onto their bus.
Christina still clung tohim as Howie sat down on one of the couches.
"They...l-left me." she cried looking up at Howie, "Please don't leave me."
"I'm right here sweetie, I'm right here." Howie stroked her hair trying to comfort her the best he could while Chris slowly gained control of her tears.
Coming out of her mini-transe, Chris realized where she was.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry." Christina sat up straight and backed away from Howie.
"Christina it's fine, don't worry about it." Howie put his hand on her arm reassuring her.
"No it's not. I don't even know you and I...oh my gosh I'm so embarrassed."Chris hid her face in her hands.
"Chris look at me." Howie moved her hands away from her face and looked into her eyes, "It's ok Chris, you obviously had a reason for crying like that and I just want you to know I'm hear if you need someone to talk to."
'Stina remained quiet for almost 15 minutes.
"Last Christmas, Dec. 1 to be exact, my parents were returning from Boston on a business trip when their plain went down in a snowstorm. My mom was the one who coreographed everything we do. She accompanied my dad, who was a contractor. They were scheduled to come home 2 days later, but Kel caught streph throat and I convinced them to come home. If I wouldn't have told them, they'd be alive today. I wouldn't be raising my sister.
"It's not your fault Chris, you were concerned about your sister. Most ppl would have done the same thing." Howie responded putting an arm around her.
"Thanks Howie." she smiled up at him, "I'm really sorry for breakin down like that."
Chris and Howie talked for over an hour without once realizing the time.
"You know Howie is such a hard name to say at the drop of a hat, I think I'm gonna call you...well when I think of something you'll know."
"If you say so." Howie smirked.
"You know I just realized this is my first time on a tour bus." Christina looked around taking in her surroundings not wanting to miss anything.
"Come on I'll give you the tour."
Howie led her through a door to where 6 bunks were. He paused to point out some stuff.
"Which bunk is yours?" Chris asked.
"I forget. Keep all hands in the vehicle at all times." Howie laughed pulling her through yet another door.
"I'm likin this room." Chris giggled when she saw the back of the bus, containing 2 couches. In the middle along the back was a tv and vcr, off to the side was a cd player and strewn all over the floor was a nintendo type game.
They walked back into the bunk area and stopped.
"Ok, mine is right here, across from me is Kev. Brian is above him, Nick's above me and Aj is right by Kev."
Chris climbed into Howie's bunk and smiled up at him.
"What are you doing Goofy?" Howie sat next to her.
"Testing out your bunk for comfort." she giggled bouncing for affect.
"And does it pass your inspection?"
Christina lay on her side facing Howie, with her eyes closed. By now Howie was laying next to her watching her face waiting for a reply.
Chapter 2
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