Part 89
Howie found Sarah sitting on the couch when he came in. He lay down with her putting his head in her lap and closing his eyes. He asked, "What’s for dinner?"
"I ordered dinner for all of us…including AJ…from room service and I left a message with everyone that it would be here around 5:30." Sarah brushed his hair back. "What’s wrong, D?"
Without opening his eyes, he said, "AJ hit on Becca at sound checks."
Sighing, "Nothing seems to stop him. Howie, something HAS to be done to help him."
"Angel, just like with you, AJ has got to WANT help first."
"Then you guys need to make him realize he needs help. Give him an ultimatum…either clean up or get out. He’s dragging ALL of you down and I’m NOT going to stand by watching him destroy his career first and yours, Kevin’s, Brian’s, and Nick’s in the process. This is something you all love to do. If I have to, I’ll go to management and tell them what he did to me."
"No don’t, Sarah. All that will get is girlfriends not being allowed on tour…and possibly wives."
"They can’t stop me."
"They can try."
"Fine. Then the four of you need to figure something out."
Howie looked up at her and smiled, "Kinda protective, aren’t you?"
"Yes." There was a knock at the door and Sarah said, "That’s
dinner."
"I’ll go get cleaned up."
Before Sarah or Howie could move, Nick began to pound on the door and yell, "I’m NOT PAYING for dinner. Stop your making out and open the damn door!"
Howie shook his head, "That boy….some days I think he’s grown up and then there are times like this."
Sarah laughed, "When it comes to food and Nick…he’ll NEVER change."
**************
With dinner done, everyone headed back to their own rooms to get ready for the show. Sarah started to help Howie but ended up in the bathroom and he had to help her. When she got over it, Sarah went out to sit on the couch and watch as Howie finished what he had been doing.
Howie joined her and pulled a blanket over her as he sat beside her. He brushed her hair back and asked, "Did you have it this bad last time?"
"With Jess, no…it was a piece of cake. Before I had the miscarriage, yeah…it was just as bad but I don’t know if it was morning sickness or the bulimia. When I fell down the steps, I was really dizzy. That’s why I fell."
"That was probably the loss of blood, Angel. Want something to
drink?"
"Yeah, please."
Howie fixed her something to drink and handed it to her. "Becca’s gonna stay with you tonight. You need to talk to her about what happened with AJ. I think it really spooked her."
"I’m sure it did. Jeeezzzz…..What if he’d done to her what he did to me?"
"I’m not sure Billy and the rest of security would be able to pull
Nick off AJ."
Sarah grinned remembering that it had taken Raoul and Carlos to pull Howie
back. She said, "Oh, sure they could. He doesn’t have that hot Latin
blood in him."
Howie laughed and kissed her forehead. "True."
There was a knock at the door and then Nick and Becca came in. "Ready, D?" asked Nick.
"On my way." Kissing Sarah again, he teased, "Don’t wanna leave…but I gotta go."
Sarah laughed, "You goof! Get out of here and make some money so you can support me in the manner I’ve become accustomed to! AND DO NOT FLIRT WITH ALL THE GIRLS."
Howie laughed placing his hand over his heart as he sang, "You are…my fire…my one…desire!"
Nick chimed in, "I never wanna hear you say…I want it that way!"
Becca and Sarah both laughed at the guys and Howie kissed her again as he got up to leave. As he passed Becca, he gave her kiss on the cheek and said, "Take care of my wife, Bec. She’s a sick woman."
Sarah swatted at Howie as she said, "Sick in love with YOU."
Becca grinned as she watched the two and remembered all the nights she and Sarah had sat up watching videos. "Don’t worry…she’s in good hands."
The guys left and Sarah asked, "So, what movie did you get?"
"Your favorite…’Gone With the Wind’."
"Cool…but before we start watching, do you want to see the Around the
World tape?"
"I didn’t know there was one."
"Yeah…it’s gonna be released in the fall some time but Howie has a rough cut of it. We haven’t had time to look at it though."
"OH WOW! The perks of being a wife! Let’s watch it!"
Sarah laughed, "Oh, there are DEFINITELY perks to being a BSB wife and not ones we can share with the fans either. Hand me Howie’s bag by the door."
Becca got the bag, handed it to Sarah, and watched her rummage through it. She asked, "What exactly does he have in there anyway?"
"His writing stuff…cd’s, walkman…ahhh…here it is," she said as she handed Becca the tape.
Becca stuck the tape in the VCR and then settled in a chair next to Sarah. The two sat back and started watching the tape. As soon as Nick started with ‘This is the plane…we’re going on the plane…’, Becca turned red and Sarah started razing her calling Nick a dork. Then when he did the somersaults, Sarah lost it. Becca was to get even later though.
When they got to the part where the guys were shown trying to get some sleep, they saw Howie with the little stuffed Pooh Bear and they both recognized it. Sarah covered her mouth to stop the gasp from being heard. She thought to herself, "God…I didn’t realize he had taken it with him."
Becca asked, "Isn’t that the one I gave Jesse when she was born?"
Sarah’s voice cracked, "Yeah."
Becca looked over as a tear escaped down Sarah’s cheek. "I take it you didn’t know he had it?"
"No. I gave it to him when we first stated dating but I never realized he took it with him. God…I wonder if he kept it when we broke up too?"
Becca howled, "That’s so romantic…he’s got something that is close to your heart and YOU sleep with his boxers under your pillow. Sarah…you’re sick!"
"Look who’s talking…’THEY"RE GRRRRRREATTTT! Give me a fuckin’ break?"
Both girls broke out in hysterics as they continued to watch the video. When they got to the part where Howie didn’t want to use the chapstick, Becca started in on her and didn’t stop when Howie was saying he had to look good for his home country.
Becca cracked, "More like he had to look good for you!"
"Damn straight." About that time, the phone rang and Sarah reached back to answer it. "Hello."
"Hey, Angel. How ya feelin’?"
There was a lot of noise in the background making it difficult to hear him.
"D? What’s going on?"
"We’re getting ready to go on and I wanted to call you. I love you."
"I love you too, D. Knock ‘em dead!"
"Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah…some."
"Gotta go, Angel. I’ll see you after the show."
Howie hung up and Sarah turned in time to hear AJ’s remarks about being tired of the guys and Becca say, "Not as tired as they are of you right now."
Sarah looked at Becca. "Howie told me what happened this afternoon. Are you okay?"
"As long as I stay away from him, I’ll be fine."
"What about Nick?"
Becca looked away trying to avoid Sarah’s eyes expecting to hear a lecture.
"You haven’t told him, have you?"
Defensively, she responded, "NO! Howie said he’d be with me AFTER the show when I told him."
"Whoa! BACK DOWN! I wasn’t gonna lecture you. Before you tell Nick, you need to know something. Back in Nashville, something happened to me similar to what happened to you…only, I didn’t have someone to stop him."
Sarah stopped to get control of her voice and Becca asked, "Does this have to do with why you were so upset and scared?"
"Yeah, and why I changed my clothes."
"So he hit on you?"
"More than that. Look, AJ is out of control and I know it’s no excuse but we can’t give up on him. That night, he was late and management was pissed. Kevin and Howie were worried that he’d miss the show so I offered to go find him and get him to the venue. I found him on his bus, changing clothes, and that’s when it happened. He grabbed me in a hug and at first, I wasn’t bothered but something about his whole attitude scared me." Sarah took a breath and continued, "Becca, AJ raped me that night."
"Oh my god!" gasped Becca, shocked that Sarah seemed so calm. "How did you manage to come back in?"
"I had to, Becca. Howie had sent Raoul to get me and he’d never have gone on if he’d known what happened."
"When did you tell him if you didn’t tell him before the show?"
"On the bus, headed to Pittsburgh. He and Kevin were floored and then at the hotel, he and AJ got into a fight on the elevator. Bec, my reason for telling you all this is to make sure you tell Nick. This is NOT something to just let go. Nick’s gonna be mad but maybe if AJ’s not around, Howie and I can keep him calm for you."
Becca sank back into her chair. Softly she asked, "How are you and Howie dealing with it?"
"We’re dealing with it. Becca, you gotta know, AJ is NOT in control. As rebellious as he comes across, he’s REALLY a sweet guy who’s very sensitive and he NEVER hurt me when we were together. After he had done it, he realized what had happened and he was really upset. Howie and I are both hurt by his actions but from our experiences, we know he needs us. AJ stood behind both of us last year and it’s time for us to give back to him."
"You’re gonna forgive him?"
"Forgive….maybe but there’s A LOT he has to do first. If he gets help, straightens up, and sticks to it, I think Howie and I will be able to forgive him. Becca, it’s not an easy situation and how you choose to deal with it is up to you but you HAVE GOT TO TELL NICK. I can see the fear in your eyes now but just remember, Nick loves you and Howie and I will be there to support you."
Sarah stuck the next video in the VCR and they began to watch the movie. As the movie played, Sarah fell asleep leaving Becca to think. She rubbed her stomach as she thought about what had happened. A million things were going through her mind. How was Nick going to handle this? What if Howie hadn’t been there? Would AJ have raped her too?