A couple hours later, Cait and Howie were sitting back watching the masses of people, young and old, line up to get autographs from Streetnix. Cait bought their newest CD, Real, and waited with Howie for the crowd to thin out. After an hour or so, the majority of the crowd had dispersed. Cait slowly made her way over to the table where the guys sat, walking first to Thom, who was staring into space.
"Earth to Thomas!" Cait waved her hand in front of Thom's eyes until he snapped out of his trance.
"Cait?! What the...?!" Thom's shock was apparent.
"Who else calls you Thomas, besides your mother?" Cait grinned as Thom jumped up, knocking over his chair in his haste. A split second later all the air was crushed from Cait's lungs as he hugged her.
"What are you doing here?!" Thom exclaimed.
"Well..." She said slowly. "Um, Thom there's someone I want you to meet." She grabbed his arm and led him over to where Howie was sitting. "Thom Speck, meet my boyfriend...Howie Dorough. Howie, this is Thom."
Thom's eyes opened wide as the realization of who he was meeting dawned on him. Quickly recovering, he held out his hand, which Howie took.
"Hi. Like Cait said, I'm Thom." His eyes bugging out. "Nice to meet you." He choked out.
"Nice to meet you, too. I have to say that you guys really impressed me tonight. You guys really have something good here." Howie complimented.
"Coming from you, that's... awesome. Thanks a lot, man." Thom looked pleased as punch.
Cait grinned seeing the look on Thom's face. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind and whirled around in mid-air. When she was finally set on her feet she swayed slightly, dizzy from her "flight". She turned to look at her tormentor... she looked up and up...
"Beej!" She gasped with laughter, looking up at a guy who looked like he ought to be playing football for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, rather than singing a capella.
"Cait, what the heck are you doing here?!" Beej asked, grinning insanely.
"Well I would have thought that much was obvious, Billy! I'm here to see you guys. Plus I wanted you guys to meet someone." Cait giggled at his reaction to being called 'Billy'.
"Oh, really? Lead me to it." He grinned again.
"Do me a favour and go get Tony and Aaron, first?" Cait asked. "That way I can introduce you all at the same time."
"Sure." BJ answered. "Be right back." He walked back to the table where Tony and Aaron were still sitting. He talked to them for a minute before they both got to their feet and made their way over to where Cait was waiting.
"Cait, what that heck are you doing here?" Tony asked incredulously.
"Duh, Hughes!" She rolled her eyes. "I'm here to see you guys. I haven't seen you guys for months, plus there's someone I want you guys to meet." She pointed over to where Howie and Thom were immersed in conversation. All three guys' eyes widened in surprise as they realized who they were looking at.
"Since when do you know the Backstreet Boys?" BJ asked, overcoming his shock.
"Well, uh...since I became one of their backup singers?" Cait looked sheepish.
"What?!" Tony looked like he could have been knocked over with a feather. "You never told me you could sing!" He accused.
"Well, Tony, you never asked." She gave him a pointed look. He shut up. "So, come over and I'll introduce you." Cait said, taking hold of Tony's arm. "C'mon Beej, Aaron."
Weaving through the people remaining in the lobby of the theatre, they made their way over to where Howie and Thom were standing.
"Hey, sweetie." Cait smiled up at Howie, then kissed his cheek, slipping an arm around his waist. "Tony, Beej, Aaron, this is my boy friend, Howie Dorough. Howie this is Tony Hughes, BJ Harris and Aaron Genest."
All the Streetnix, save Thom, were once again struck dumb. Cait couldn't contain her laughter at the looks on their faces.
"Surprised much, guys?" She asked, with an amused smirk on her face.
Aaron opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. He repeated this process a couple of time before Cait couldn't keep her mouth shut anymore.
"Uh, Aaron? Since when are you a codfish?" She teased. BJ was the first to recover.
"Whoa! This is cool!" His eyes were wide. "It's really cool to meet you, man." He held out his hand. Howie grinned and took it.
"Nice to meet you, too. I gotta say I really enjoyed your show. You guys have a really great thing going here." Howie complimented. Tony finally snapped out of his daze and held out his hand, which Howie took.
"We appreciate the compliment." Tony smiled. "I'm glad you liked the show."
In the meantime Aaron had regained his senses and Cuyler had joined them.
"Hey Howie. Good to see ya again." Cuyler grinned.
"You, too." Howie smiled back. "Hey, Aaron, right? It's nice to meet you." He turned to Aaron, holding out his hand, which Aaron shook.
"Yeah, same here. I'm glad you had a good time."
"Well, you guys, I really hate to break this up, but we're leaving pretty early tomorrow morning." Cait said, her disappointment evident.
"Aw, shoot!" Thom exclaimed. "When are you going to be back?"
"I honestly don't know. I guess I need to check your site and see when we'll cross paths again." Cait sighed.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Cait's right, we really do need to get going." Howie admitted.
"Well, it was really cool to meet you, man. Hope you come back and see the show again." BJ shook Howie's hand again. Cait smiled and looked up at Tony.
"Well, T, do I get my hug?" He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "I missed ya, Tony, don't forget how to e-mail, 'kay?"
"I won't."
"You, too, Beej!" Cait said pointedly.
"I won't either." He grinned.
"Hey, don't I get a hug too?" Thom pouted.
"Of course you do, Thomas! Come here!" Once again, all the air was squeezed from Cait's lungs. "Jeez, Thomas, do you always have to crush me?" Cait mock-glared at him.
"Sorry!"
"S'okay, Thom. Try to check your mail, huh?" She looked at him pleadingly.
Cait hugged Aaron and Cuyler and she and Howie slowly made their way out of the theatre.
"Well, what did you think, sweetie?" Cait asked when the were back in the car, heading to the hotel.
"They're really talented. They could go really far." He looked toughtful. "They're an independent band?"
"Yeah, they like it better that way. They have more say in things."
"I can understand wanting to do that." Howie smiled. "I had a lot of fun tonight, Cait."
"So did I. It was good to see them again." She sighed, and leaned her head on Howie's shoulder as he drove. He smiled down at her as her eyes drifted shut.
