Howie stood in front of Regan's door, awaiting her arrival. Regan opened the door and let Howie in.
"Is she sleeping?" Howie asked.
"Yes," Regan said, quietly. They walked into the kitchen and sat down. Regan took a breath and began the speech she had been working on for the last hour.
"Howie, I don't think I can see you anymore," Regan said.
"What?!" Howie cried.
"I'm in way over my head, Howie. I drove head first into this relationship without realizing the consequences of dating an icon in the music world," Regan said. Howie grabbed her hand.
"Please don't do this Ray, you know how I feel about you," he said.
"And I do love you and care about you but..."
"But?"
Regan took a deep breath. "Everywhere I go, fans are coming up to me and taking pictures of me. I was on the damn cover page of AOL! I'm not used to this, Howie. And..I don't want Savannah in the public eye. Lately, I've been telling people she's my sister but that cover won't last long. Please Howie," she begged as tears began to swell in her eyes, "if Savannah's father knows I'm dating you, he'll come back. Or if Savannah is in the press, he'll find her and I can't have that happen. She's all that I have," Regan started to cry. Howie leaned over the table and wiped her tears away with the back of his hand.
"You have me," Howie said, gently. "I promise you or Savannah will not be in the media."
"Fans are smart, Howie. I'm already all over the internet," Regan said.
"What are you saying?" Howie asked, afraid of the answer.
"I think I need to disappear for awhile," Regan whispered.
"Ray, if you disappear baby, I'll find you," Howie said. Regan looked into his eyes and looked back down to the table.
~~~three weeks later~~~
"Damn," Ashleigh mumbled under her breath as she walked out of the bathroom. She walked over to the calendar and looked at the date. "It's the 31st?! This is not good," she said to herself. She was a week late on her period. And she was NEVER late.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Gwen stayed by AJ's side while he performed his JNN shows the past couple weeks. He had went back to normal and stopped drinking. Gwen was working from their tour bus and faxing her drawings. Everything was going perfect. Gwen was scheduled to be at a fashion show in LA the next day and was trying to get out of it.
"Baby, I have to go," Gwen told AJ, while on their bus. AJ sighed.
"Okay, I understand," he said.
"Are you going to be okay?" Gwen asked. She was worried he'd loose himself again.
"I'll be fine, Baby," AJ assured her.
"Positive?" she asked. He laughed and grabbed her by the waist. He nibbled her neck and ear.
"Positive," he whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ashleigh?!" Nick called out in his house as he walked through the door.
"In here," Ashleigh said, from the living room.
"Hey Sweetie," Nick said, kissing her cheek.
"Hey," she mumbled.
"What's wrong?" Nick asked.
"Nothing."
"Wanna go to the beach tonight?" Nick asked. Ashleigh shook her head as she switched through the channels on the TV. "Okaaay...wanna go out on the boat?"
"You wrecked it last time, remember?" she asked. Nick grumbled and looked down to the carpet.
"Want to go to a movie? I could call the theatre and get us our own," Nick said. Ashleigh shook her head. Nick was puzzled about why she was so gloomy. He sat next to her on the couch and tilted her head toward him with his hand. He could see a look of worry in her eyes and couldn't figure out why. He kissed her cheek and kissed over to her lips. He ran his hand up the back of her shirt.
"You know what I really wanna do?" he breathed heavily into her ear. They continued kissing and Nick's hands started to roam up her shirt. She pulled away and pushed him off.
"I'm not in the mood," she snapped.
"Ash, what's wrong?" Nick demanded. "Is it that time of the month?" Ashleigh's eyes began to water when he said that and looked away from him. She shook her head and ran up the stairs. She slammed their bedroom door shut and left Nick more confused than ever.
~~~~~~~~~
Regan and Savannah were returning to Florida from their vacation the two of them took to Hilton Head. Regan pulled her 2001 Ford Focus into their driveway and got Savannah out of the car. They took a two week vacation to get away from awhile. Regan did a lot of thinking while relaxing at the beach and convinced herself she would be better off without Howie. Although, she knew deep down in her heart she was wrong, her brain over-powered her heart. They walked into their house and Savannah ran off to play with her new Barbie's. Regan plopped down their bags and walked into the kitchen. She pressed 'play' on her answering machine and started listening to her messages. On the fifth message, a voice came out that sent chills down her body. She froze completely and dropped her can of Pepsi.
"So Regan, I hear you are dating a Backstreet Boy. I think it's about time I see my daughter...."
~~~~~~~~~~
Gwen left to LA on a note of confidence she received from AJ. She looked out the window of the plane as she thought about him. She had complete confidence in him and knew he'd be okay without her there for a day or two. "He'll be fine," she said, to herself. "Right? Right."
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Where are we?" AJ asked his bus driver.
"North Carolina, sir," the driver answered. Since Gwen and AJ had their own private bus for the JNN tour, it was empty without her there. AJ grumbled as he walked back to their extra large bed. He threw himself on it and tried to sleep away his loneliness.
~~~~~~~~~
Regan rang the doorbell and waited impatiently, looking around her to make sure no one was following her. Kristin opened the door.
"Hey!" she greeted, as she let Regan and Savannah in. Kevin joined them in the foyer.
"Uncle Kevy!" Savannah screamed, jumping into his arms.
"Is everything okay?" Kevin asked, reading the worried look on Regan's face.
"Yeah, it's fine. I'm sorry I came over without calling," Regan said.
"You don't need to call us, Ray," Kristin said.
"Can you guys do me a favor? Can you watch Savannah for a couple hours? Something came up and I need to get some things done," Regan said.
"Are you sure everything is okay?" Kevin asked. Regan forced a smile.
"Yes, everything is okay. I just can get a lot done faster with someone watching her," she said.
"Sure, no problem. Take your time," Kristin said. Regan thanked them and kissed Savannah goodbye as she left.
"Wanna go play beauty parlor? I'll paint your nails," Kristin asked Savannah. She giggled and nodded as the two girls went upstairs. Kevin walked into his recording studio and played back some unreleased Backstreet tracks. About 45 minutes later, her heard Howie walk into their house.
"Hey Kev, I came over to get those files you wanted me to look over for the label," Howie said.
"Oh sure D, let me get them," Kevin said, getting up and going into his office. Howie heard laughter coming from upstairs and it was soon followed by little footsteps pounding down the stairs. He turned around and saw Savannah fly around the corner with Kristin on her tale. Howie's heart raced at the thought of seeing Regan too. Savannah stopped and turned around as her jaw dropped to the floor.
"HOWIE!" she screamed, running to him. He opened his arms as she jumped into them. He lifted the little girl up and kissed her cheek.
"Hey Sweetheart, what are you doing here?" he asked, happy to see Savannah with hope he'd see Regan.
"Mommy had to go somewhere," she told him. Howie looked over at Kristin.
"She came here in a hurry and said she couldn't call us and asked if we could watch her for a couple hours," Kristin told him. Howie's heart dropped. This didn't sound good. Kevin came in the room with a manila folder in his hand.
"Is Ray okay?" Howie asked, worried.
"I dunno D," Kevin said, taking a deep breath. "She looked terrified of something." Howie gently put Savannah down.
"I gotta go find her," Howie said, rushing to the door.
"She wouldn't tell us where she was going," Kristin told him.
"I know, but I have a pretty good idea where she is," Howie said, kissing Savannah's cheek before leaving their house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
