"Hey guys where do you think Howie and Chris are?" AJ asked.
They were 10 minutes before departure and hadn't seen either Chris or Howie in hours.
"I'm sure they'll show. Howie knows we gotta go." Kevin reassured everyone.
"Here's my cell number and my email address."Nick gave Steph a peice of paper.
"Thanks. Here's mine." Steph returned the favor and they hugged before backing up.
"IT was really nice meeting you Kat." AJ handed her a piece of paper."
"Same here Alex." she smiled up at him.
"Brian you be good okay? Mind what your wife says ok?" Steph said hugging him.
"Same goes for you Mister." Katie laughed hugging Kevin.
"Guys we're ready to go yet we're still one Backstreet Boy short." Kevin said.
"Katie?" a girl said coming onto the side walk.
"Oh hey Kel, how was school today honey?" Katie smiled giving her a hug.
"Good, wheres Chris?" she asked.
"We aren't quite sure right now." Katie replied.
Nick walked up on the bus and went to throw his stuff in his bunk when he heard something. After looking around and not seeing anything he just shrugged and turned to leave. Just then he saw something move out of the corner of his eye.
"What the...oh man..."Nick ran off the bus and outside, "Uh guys I think I found our excapees."
Kevin followed Nick onto the bus and to the bunk area. Nick pointed to Howie's bunk and pulled back the curtain slightly.
Howie lay there sleeping with an arm around Christina holding her protectivly close.
"They look so peaceful." Kevin smiled.
"Hey gu- whoa."Aj whispered coming on the scene.
"They look so cute." Brian smiled.
Everyone walked off the bus and told the girls and JC what was up.
"...So they're asleep?" Katie asked.
"Yeah. They look so cute." Nick smiled.
"Where do you guys go next?" Steph asked.
"Minneapolis."
Steph and Katie looked at each other and smiled.
"Road trip." they laughed.
"We'll watch Kel." JC volunteered.
"Yeah, we'd be happy too." Missy added.
"We'll just follow you guys in the car." Steph stated, her mind working overtime.
"Hey, you girls ride on the bus, I'll drive. I haven't driven in ages." Kevin's bodygaurd volunteered. It was agreed Steph and Kat would ride the Boys' bus.
~*~
She opened her eyes to find herself warm and comfortable. She closed her eyes and cuddled closer to the warmth at her back. Her eyes sprang open when she realized the warmth behind her was a body and it's arm was around her waist.
"Go back to sleep." he whispered.
"But..."
"Sleep." his arm tightened around her waist drawing her closer to him.
Christina closed her eyes and let sleep take over her body
~*~
"Christina..." he called softly.
"Mmm..." she mumbled on the brink of reality.
"Wake up, we're in Minneapolis now."
Christina sat up straight, hitting her head. "Minneapolis?"
"Yeah, we have a show tonight."
"I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be hom." Christina frowned.
"Well see-"
"Come on the choo-choo and ride it." a loud voice rang out inturupting their conversation.
"Was that Katie?"
"Whats what I was trying to say. Steph and Katie are here, Kel is staying with Missy and JC at home." Howie smiled at the sleepy look on 'Stina's face.
"Hey kids nice of you to join us." Katie said stickin her head in.
"Katie thats not a face I wanna see when I"m barly awake." Christina smiled and got out of the bunk.
~At the Venue~
"So you guys, when are we gonna go back home?" Steph asked the girls.
"I guess we could get a hotel room and leave tomorrow morning." Katie suggested.
"Sounds fine." Steph replied.
"Earth to Chris." Katie said.
Christina was stting completely still, staring off into space. She kept thinking about her parents and her talk with Howie.
"She's so out of it." Katie laughed.
~Meanwhile guys dressing room~
"What do you mean pregnant?" AJ asked.
"Don't know how they did it but all three managed to get pregnant, they waited as long as they possibly could to tell me. Their all in the 5 month area." Bob the tour manager said.
"Are they gonna be abole to finish the tour?" Brian asked the question on everybody's mind.
"You have a month of touring left, they're here for the rest of the week until we can get their replacements." Bob replied.
"So you expect us to find and train 3 dancers within a week?" Kevin repeated unbelievingly.
"Exactly. I've already got ppl lined up for auditions back in O-Town."Bob stated.
"DO they at least know who the fathers are?" Brian asked.
"Your make-up artist, a stage hand, and one of them had a bf."
"So we need a new make-up person and a stage hand?" AJ asked.
"Man..."
"Ten minutes to show time guys." Bob said then left.
The guys left the dressing room and walked toward the stage. IN a room right off the stage. In a room right off the stage the girls stood in formation to practice The Call .
"Guys, we dont need to get ppl to audition." Howie stopped.
"Um...then how do u propose to get dancers?" Nick asked not catching on.
"We have three perfect dancers right there." Howie pointed to Steph, Katie, and Chris, who'd stopped and were coming over.
"Hm...let's talk to Bob after the show." Kevin replied.
"Hey guys goodluck out there, we're gonna go sit down." Steph said.
"Thanks Steph." Nick smiled and watched the girls leave.
The girls took their seats in the VIP Box and got ready for the show to start.
The opening acts were really great and had the crowd pumped for the guys when all the lights went out. The crowd started screaming when the boys descended from the ceiling. They sang several fast songs including the old school, i.e. Party.
During The Call, AJ looked over at Katie and smiled flirtasously. He sang a few more lines then did a pelvic thrust to the music.
Kati snapped at that point and stood up screaming, "Work it baby yeah."
"Katie must you scream in my ear?" Chris rolled her eyes.
"Oh lighten up Chris." Steph poked her in the side.
THe guys ran off stage for a costume change and came back out with dress clothes on.
"Baby...I know your hurting..."
At the first sound of the song Christina stood up and swayed to her favorite song. Her eyes kept wandering back to Howie evern as the other guys sang lead.
Howie looked over at Christina and found her lookin back at him. The two were lost in their eyes.
"I'd rather die...then live without you...I'll give you all of me....honey thats no lie."
He winked and smiled at her causing her to literally fall back into her chair.
Steph and Katie looked at each other neither knowing what to think.
~*~
"Great performance guys." Bob said.
"Hey Bob, we think we solved the dancer problem." Aj explained.
Kevin explained the situation and Bob agreed to have the girls replace the old dancers.
"Hey sexy." Katie smacked AJ on the butt making her presence known.
"Hey girls we have a problem." Nick said.
"We need three dancers and we want you." the guys all laughed at the look on their faces.
"Ok..." Steph sighed.
"Sure." Katie smiled.
"I can't" Christina whispered.
"Why not?" Brian asked.
"Because I have to take care of my sister." she replied looking down.
Howie slipped an arm around her waist giving her his support.
"Not a problem honey." a blonde woman said.
"What?"
"I'm Nicks mother Jane, I offered to take care of Kel. I'll be on tour with Aaron soon, but we'd love to look after her."
"Ok..."Christina agreed still kind of shaky.
"Bob, get over here." Kevin yelled.
"You bellowed." Bob smirked.
"These are our new dancers. Get Fatima down here right away. Their gonna stay on tour with us." Howie explained.
"The contracts will be here tomorrow." Bob said, meeting dismissed.
"So what do we do now?" Steph asked.
"We're goin on to Milwaukee which is about 5 hrs away then and spend the night there." Howie replied.
"Come on boys time to go." Rob, one of their bodyguards told them.
They all got on the bus and spent the next 5 hours loungin around. None of them could sleep because of the high energy rush and for that nap Howie and Chris had that morning.
"We're here guys. No ones out there so you can get off right away." Rob said coming onto the bus.
They all got off the bus and went to their rooms. Steph, Katie, and Chris all shared a room as did Brian and Nick, and Kevin and Howie. AJ was the one who got a seperate room.
Christina couldn't sleep so she quietly walked out of the room and walked towards the elevator. She went to the top floor and onto the roof where she sat on one of the ledges. She thought about the long day she'd had and sleep crept on her before she knew it.
~Next morning~
"Guys have you seen Christina?" Katie asked.
"No, why?" AJ replied.
"She wasn't in the room this morning."
"She left during the night." Steph replied.
"How do you know?" Katie asked.
"I heard her."
"Hey guys whats up?" Howie came onto the scene.
"Christina's missing." AJ said.
"What?" Howie questioned becoming worried.
"She left last night and hasnt come back." Steph answered.
Howie looked frightened for Christina as the group held a meeting to go look for her. They'd looked everywhere when Howie remembered something she'd told him yesterday.
~Flashback~
"If this is the first time you've broken down then how did you get threw it all?" Howie questioned.
"Well I waited til night time then I'd go outside and stare up at the stars and just reflect on everything. The stars make me feel a lot better. My mom once told me that if something ever happened to her she'd be up there watching down on me." Christina replied a single tear rolling down her face.
"That's beautiful Christina." he replied.
~End flashback~
"Come on Chris you better be here." Howie said taking the stairs 2 at a time.
He opened the door to the roof and looked around. He finally spotted her near the edge laying down. He ran over and took her in his arms.
"Hmm.." Christina mumbled opening up her eyes then shutting them again.
Howie hugged her to him as Chris became more awake.
"Howie? What's wrong?" Chris asked groggily.
"Everyones been lookin for you all morning. You gave us quite a scare. Thank God you're ok." Howie kept her in his arms trying to calm himself down.
"I came out here last night and I guess I musta fell asleep." she replied laying her head on his shoulder.
Howie just held her for a few more minutes, thinking how right she felt in his arms.
"Come on goofy, lets go downstairs." Howie got to his feet and helped Christina up.
Nothing could prepare Christina for the reaction inside.
Chapter 3
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