Chapter 5

On June 29th the busses rolled into Rome, everyone was staying in the Bernini Bristol Hotel in the old section of Rome. Howie was riding with Anne on her bus when they reached the ancient city.

"I still don't understand why you have so much room?" Howie asked as they watched Empire Records, Anne's choice of a movie for the day.

"It's simple, five guys, one Anne, you don't have to be a mathematician to figure out I use less room," Anne said, she noticed the movie was almost over. "What's next?"

Howie was rifling through her three-foot high stack of movies next to the VCR, Anne's mother had boxed them all up and sent them to her. "Um, how about Good Morning Vietnam?"

"Good choice," she replied.

"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt," Hans, German bus driver, said over the
intercom. "We're here."

"Thanks Hans," Anne called. She helped Howie up off the sofa, and they headed with their stuff into the hotel. Everyone got settled into their rooms, while Anne was unpacking she got a call on her cell phone.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Anne, it's Sara."

"Hi, where are you?"

"The airport, that was one long flight."

"Well, get a cab, and get over here, we've got places to go, and Lira to
spend."

"That's why I called, cab to where?" Sara asked. "You never wrote down where we were staying, you didn't know at the time, remember?"

"We're at the Bernini Bristol Hotel. I have to run out and get some food, I'll probably be back before you even get here, but if I'm not just tell them who you're staying with, Daisy Buchanan, and they'll take care of you."

"Going through all the old classics, right?"

"You know it, in Pairs I was Catherine Heathcliff."

"Okay, I'll see you in a little while."

Anne hung up, and went down to the lobby to meet Howie and A.J. They had
all been 'elected' to go get food, on the ride over no one had gotten anything that could be considered lunch. So the rest of the group had decided to send them all to McDonald's for food, and after a little craziness, they all came back in the hotel carrying bags of fast food.

"Who is that?" A.J. asked, pointing to a pretty brunette standing at the desk. She wearing a cropped light green top and an even shorter black skirt.

"Put your tongue back in your mouth, A.J., that's my cousin," Anne said.

"So that's Sara? I guess looks really do run in the family," Howie said
smiling at Anne, she blushed a little. She handed her bag of food to Howie and went to greet Sara.

"Sara!" she called out.

"Anne! Oh wow you look great," they hugged.

"Come over here, there are some people you've got to meet." She walked
with Sara over to where A.J. and Howie were standing. "Sara, this is Howie, and this is A.J. Guys, my cousin, Sara Voight."

"At last we meet," said A.J. trying to be suave and debonaire, he reached for Sara's hand to kiss it.

"Hi," Sara replied, a little taken aback.

"Take it easy there, A.J.," Anne said.

"Hey Anne, remember how we were talked about doing a little clubbing
sometime? What about tonight?" Howie asked. "Come on it'll be fun."

"Please," A.J. implored.

"We'd love to," Anne replied.

"Well, I don't know..." Sara began.

"Just a second guys," Anne said, she grabbed Sara by the arm. "Family
conference."

"What?"

"Why not? You love clubbing, and you're a great dancer."

"I don't think A.J. is really my type."

"Oh please, Sara, since when has that ever stopped you? Besides he has
like twelve tattoos, you know your Mom hates that. Since when has a guy that could even slightly piss off your Mom and Uncle John not been your type?"

"You've got a point."

"A.J.'s a total sweetheart, he's funny and a good dancer, what have you got
to lose? Besides we could use this as like the ultimate revenge for the hell Lauren and Lindsay put us through when we were teenagers at Grandma's? Remember when they would come into our room at 6 A.M. and ring those bells to wake us up?"

"I hated that. Okay, so how is this revenge?"

"You didn't hear them begging to get tickets to see these guys, they are
totally in love. You didn't hear them screaming for an hour and a half when I gave them to them. Lauren is in love with A.J., and Lindsay has the biggest crush on Howie. Aunt Kris said all the way down to the Palace they were arguing who was 'hotter.' Anyway, we could get a picture of us and the guys and send it to them, they would absolutely die."

"That's so sneaky, I love it." The cousins walked back to where Howie and A.J. were standing. "So when do we leave?" Sara asked.

"7:00," A.J. said.

"Cool, we'll meet you guys then," Anne said. "I want to get her settled
in, and then we have some shopping to do."

"Okay, we'll see you later," Howie said.

Anne and Sara went up to their room and unpacked. They headed out to do
some shopping at one of the many boutiques that lined the streets of Rome.

"So what do you think you are going to wear?" Sara asked while they were in one of the stores.

"Um, I was thinking my light green top and a skirt or something," Anne replied.

"You mean the lace up one?"

"Yeah."

"Damn, I was hoping I could borrow it."

"Sorry, I made it, so I'm wearing it. I'll tell you what, I'll make you
one when I get home."

"Thanks, hey why don't you wear this skirt instead of one of your black ones?" Sara asked, holding up a short creme skirt with a slit up the side.

"I don't know, it's a little short," Anne said.

"Oh please, you've got nice legs. Hey if you've got it flaunt it, besides
that is the same color in the print in your top."

"Okay, I'll at least try it on," Anne told Sara, as she headed over to the dressing rooms. "Ooh, Sara, come here, you have to see this." Sara walked over to where Anne was standing. "Look," she said, holding up a light blue, knee length halter dress, with the edges trimmed with flowered fabric.

"I like it," Sara commented.

"Try it on," Anne replied. Both girls tried on their items and came out of
the dressing rooms. "Oh you are so getting that, Sara, it's perfect."

"I love it, that skirt looks awesome, make sure you get it," Sara ordered.

They made their purchases and left the store, on the way back to the hotel
they stopped at a little bistro and get some coffee.

"So how long have you and Howie been a thing?"

"Um, about three weeks, it seems like it has been longer than that though."

"Does anybody know about it?"

"No, not anybody outside our circle, and I want to keep it that way, for
now. I haven't even told Mom and Dad, yet. If we're still dating when I get home then I'll tell them."

"Good plan, you know Lindsay is going to kill you, right?" Sara asked.

"Why?"

"Um, let's think about this, first off you're on a tour over here, and
you're with these guys. And you're dating the guy she's totally in love with."

"Oh yeah, oops," said Anne.

"Oops? Oh well, we're over here in Italy, and she's not," Sara added.

"You've got a point," Anne replied.

"So what should I know about A.J.?" Sara asked.

"He's so nice, and really funny, a total smart ass. Like I said he's a
walking canvas, I kind of wonder when he's going to stop, when he runs out of skin I guess. Oh yeah, he and Nick rock the hardest of all the guys, so that's something you have in common. Hey, Sara, are you still dating that Kyle guy?"

"Uh huh, it'll be a year in August."

"That is so cool, Hey I have a personal question, do you think you and Kyle
are in it for the long haul?" Anne asked.

"Oh wow, I don't know. He's amazing, and I love him so much. But, we're so young, he's twenty-one and I'm only twenty, I wouldn't want to get married anytime soon, anyway. Mom and my Dad got married so young, hell, you know that, you were there."

"I was two, I don't think that really counts."

"I just don't want to make the same mistake my Mom did, divorce screwed me
up, and I was only a little kid."

"You're not screwed up, and besides if she hadn't gotten divorced, she never would have met John, and he's a good guy."

"Yeah he is, Mom is really happy. So how are things going between you and Howie?"

"It's only been like a few weeks, but it's going great. He's so nice, and sweet, and charming," Anne replied.

"That explains the nickname 'Sweet D,' huh?"

"It's really true, he's a real prince charming. You know who really has it
bad, Brian. He is so in love with Leighanne, it's almost nauseating. I really hope they stay together, they are so cute. I swear they are soul mates."

"That is cool, I wonder what it is like to know someone is 'the one'?" Sara wondered.

"I don't know, it's weird, I was talking to the other 'girls' not to long ago, when we were still in Germany, and they said it was the weirdest thing to have girls screaming for their boyfriends. And it's the coolest thing to know that their guys are singing to them. I mean The One has Leighanne written all over it, and it's so cute," Anne said.

"So do you know what club we're going to tonight?" Sara asked.

"No idea. You're okay with being dragged along tonight, right?"

"Oh yeah, I love dancing."

"It's just this is Howie and my first real chance to go out dancing, and we
didn't want to leave you at the hotel or anything. A.J. volunteered to come with and be an escort when he first saw you in the hotel, Howie didn't really have to twist his arm, if you know what I mean."

Sara laughed, after they finished their food they headed back to the hotel. Both girls took showers and laid out they were going to wear. They got dressed.

"Hey Anne what shoes are you going to wear?" Sara asked.

"Those ones," Anne said picking up the shoes she wore the night she went
out with Howie in London, Kiki had since further reworked her wardrobe.

"Oh no you don't, give me those," Sara said grabbing the shoes. "These are the ones you said you wore when you went to see the play with Howie, God, you must have towered over him in these."

"I did not tower, thank you very much."

"Right," Sara replied sarcastically.

"No, it was close, okay maybe I was a smidgen taller."

"You're not wearing them. I remember something you told me after you went
to the prom the first time. 'Think about how tall your date is before you get shoes, slow dancing is much more fun when you can put your head on the guy's shoulder'."

"I did not say that, that is so shallow."

"You did so, come on you were like seventeen anyway, and it's true if you
think about it. Besides no guy likes to be dwarfed. I'll wear these, I could use all the height I can get," Sara said, taking the strappy platform pumps from Anne and handed her another pair of shoes. "You can wear these." Anne examined the low heeled off-white sandals.

"Fine," Anne said as she put them on. "You know these are really cute."

"I brought them just in case," Sara said. "Okay then, let's do something
with this hair."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Oh nothing, it just needs a little something."

"What are you going to do?" asked Anne a little scared.

"Trust me, have I ever screwed up your hair before?" Anne looked at Sara.
"Okay, have I ever screwed up your hair in the past three years? It'll be cool trust me." Anne reluctantly gave in, and let Sara style her hair. It made Anne a little nervous because Sara did not let her see it until she was done. When Sara handed her the mirror all she could do, was smile.

"I love it." Sara had pulled up the back with hair sticks, and left some of the ends sticking out. She put two faux diamond barrettes in the front and let a few strands of hair frame Anne's face. "Where were you when I needed you for all those dances in high school? You have to teach me how to do this, I have no hair skill."

"So I've noticed."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding." Sara quickly did her own hair and each girl did their make
up, they were almost ready to meet the guys. "Oh before I forget, you have to hear this."

"What is it?"

"You'll see." Sara reached into her bag and pulled out the Backstreet's
Back CD.

"Hey, I have that now," said Anne.

"No, you don't. You have the U.S. version, this is the import. I borrowed
this from Lauren under penalty of death if I let anything happen to it." She put the CD into Anne's Diskman, and turned up the volume. "You're going to absolutely die, All I Have To Give, The Conversation Mix. You'd better sit for this one."

"Okay," Anne said a little confused as she took a seat on the bed. Kevin started out by giving a little speech in his deep bass voice, Anne started to giggle, she couldn't help it.

"Ooh here's my favorite part," said Sara.

"I'm Howie D, and his is how we do it . . . "

Anne was flat out laughing by this point. "That's so corny."

Howie continued, "I like the type of girl that one day she'll become my
wife. We'll get married, and she'll make me breakfast and lunch and my dinner! I want bacon and eggs . . . "

Anne stopped laughing, her jaw dropped. "I can't believe he just said that."

"Yo yo yo. Howie, Howie, chill Howie, Howie! Yo my name is A.J. And I like the type of girl that'll let me do everything for HER. Let me make you breakfast, let me make you lunch . . . "

"Nice save A.J.," Anne said under her breath. After the song was over Anne just looked at Sara. "I think that was one of the most frightening things I've ever heard. Of course it was also damn funny. I still can't believe he said that. If Howie or any other guy for that matter said that to me, I would have killed him."

"Not if your cooking killed him first," Sara added.

"Hey!"

"Kidding, it was just a joke."

"Like you're one to talk, this coming from the girl who can burn water."

"Okay, okay. It's like 8:00 we'd better get going," said Sara.

The two girls grabbed their purses and headed for the door. When they got
to the elevator, they heard a whistle behind them. They turned around and saw Howie and A.J. standing behind them.

"Ladies may I say you look fabulous," A.J. said.

Howie held out his hand and Anne took it, he wrapped his arms around her
and gave her a tight hug. He whispered "You look beautiful," into her ear and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The four went down through the lobby and got into a cab.

"So where are we going?" Sara asked A.J.

"Well first to dinner and then to a club called Goa. It's one of the
coolest in the city," he replied.

After dinner they went to the club and walked right in, security did not stop them. In the club was the first time Anne really studied what everyone was wearing. A.J. had on some baggy black pants, a black 'wife beater' tank top, over that was a red button down dress shirt, completely unbuttoned, and of course a pair of his trademark glasses. He looked very 'comfortable.' Howie looked classy, he was wearing a tan suit, black dress shirt, unbuttoned a few, over a 'wife beater' as well. A.J. and Sara headed straight for the dance floor, while Anne and Howie chose to take a seat at a table and talk for a while. Anne was a little distracted by watching A.J. and Sara dance, she grabbed her little Elph camera and snapped a picture.

"You really love her don't you?" Howie asked.

"She is the closest thing to a sister I've ever known. I am fiercely
protective of her and the munchkins. God, I need to stop calling them that, they're both teenagers now, well Lauren is, Lindsay is almost, hell they're almost taller than I am." Howie smiled and squeezed her hand. "I just don't want their lives to be disrupted by me. When Jake first saw Sara and found out she was my cousin the first thing he asked was 'Do you sing too?' I almost killed him then and there. And he just flipped when he met Lauren and Lindsay, they're cute, and can sing, when he saw them his little eyes almost popped right out of his head. I basically said to him that if he gets within five feet of any of my cousins I'd take his heart out of his chest, pound it with a meet tenderizer, and then, maybe give it back to him, he backed off, thank God. That was one of the few times I really stood up to him. This business is so fickle, as the oldest I want to protect them from being dragged into it, just because they're related to me."

"You're doing what you feel is right, their lives will sort themselves out," Howie replied.

"Hey, we'd better get out there," Anne said motioning to the growing crowd around Sara and A.J. "We can't let them have all the fun."

Howie left his jacket and the table and took Anne by the hand and they strutted out onto the dance floor, they danced right alongside A.J. and Sara. A.J. was a little peeved that he was not the complete center of attention anymore, but did not mind so much since it was Howie and Anne who had stolen a bit of his limelight. The two couples had fun, they wandered back into the hotel at about 1:00, drunk on adrenalin. The guys walked the girls back to their room, A.J. gave Sara a bear hug and wished her sweet dreams. She went inside and he slowly walked back to his room, the adrenalin was wearing off and he was visibly tired. Howie and Anne stayed outside her room for a few more minutes.

"I had a lot of fun tonight," Anne said.

"I did too, until tomorrow my sweet," Howie replied. He softly kissed her
on the lips, and left to go back to his room, there was a dance like quality in his step. Anne went into the room and collapsed up against the door, she began fanning herself with her hand.

"Is it hot in here?" she asked.

"Um no," Sara replied. "What happened?"

"He kissed me."

"That's it?"

"What do you mean 'that's it?' It was one of the most romantic kisses, I
thought I was going to melt."

"Well sit down then, before you fall down," Sara ordered Anne. The two girls washed their faces and put on their pajamas. "You've completely flipped over him, haven't you?"

"No," Anne replied. Sara glared back at Anne. "Okay yes, he's the biggest Prince Charming I've ever met. I've never met someone who was that sweet before. The thing I think is so cool is we've been dating for almost the whole time I've been here, and he hasn't tried anything."

"Is he human? I don't know any guys like that."

"Good night, Sara," Anne said, changing the subject.

"Night, see you in the morning."

The girls climbed into their beds, Sara turned out the light and they went
to sleep. That night all Anne dreamed about was Howie. After the show in Rome, they went to Milan. Sara, Anne, Howie and Kevin all went shopping one day, Kevin by far bought the most clothing. Anne and Sara also got a lot of stuff. During her brief time with the tour Sara and Nick were getting closer, but nothing ever came of it, because of other commitments they just stayed friends.

The night of the show in Milan, Anne was wandering around backstage with her camera. She got photos of random stuff, boxes, the line of old fashioned microphones, Nicole and her clipboard. She also took some photos of the various guys, various tattoos. A.J. was the most helpful in this respect, while she was taking a picture of the red dragon on his back, she planned to use some special paints to color the black and white photo later, the question came up about her own 'body art.'

"A tattoo? Yes I have one."

"Where is it?" A.J. asked. "I've never seen it."

Anne moved the waistband over her right hip down one inch and showed A.J.
the tiny tattoo. It was a cross, with three roses intertwined on it, one white, one yellow, and one red.

"That's right on the bone, it must have hurt like hell." A.J. observed.

"It did. I got it right there so it'd be easy to cover up."

"It's nice. When did you do that?" Howie asked, he had never seen the
tattoo before.

"Spring break my junior year of college. My roommates and I went to Cancun, that was a mistake, that was the first, last and only time I will ever go to Mexico, I don't enjoy being around drunk guys. Oh well, one night we had one to many Coronas, and we had been talking about getting tattoos for a while, so we just did it."

"At least it would have hurt less," A.J. said.

"I would hope so, it still hurt a ton though," Anne said and continued
taking pictures.

One of the last shots on her roll was Nick hunched over a piece of paper drawing. When he heard the shutter click he looked at Anne.

"Did you just take my picture?" he asked?

"Yes, it looked like it would be a cool shot. I'm basically done with my
roll of black and white."

"That's one serious camera," Nick said pointing to the manual Pentax camera hanging from Anne's neck.

"I got it in college, remember I said I lived in Paris? Well that was one of the things I studied that summer, french, photography and opera."

"Opera?" Nick asked. He watched her reload the manual camera.

"Yes, you guys thought I was kidding when I said that thing about Carmen, I
wasn't. My professor even arranged it so we could give a special concert in the old Opera House. It's a pretty interesting place, there are only like eight-hundred seats in there though. I sort of buy into that whole Phantom thing, after going there." Anne wound her film and put in a new roll, color film this time. Tommy wandered in looking for Nicole. "Hey guys could I get a picture of all of us?" Anne asked. "Tommy could you take the picture?"

"Sure," Tommy replied.

"I just set it on auto, so you just have to push the shutter," she handed
Tommy her camera.

"Okay everyone smile," Tommy called.

Everyone got together in a line, and put their arms around each others
shoulders. Brian, A.J., Sara, Nick, Anne, Howie, and Kevin, all smiled. Tommy took two photos, because in one Nick was sure he blinked. Anne and Sara used up the rest of the film the next day, they ran around Milan taking silly pictures by landmarks. After Anne got the pictures back, she had the one of her, Sara, and all the guys blown up. She wrapped up this photo and two other photos and FedEXed them to her aunt for her cousins. She had included a note telling her aunt not to give the girls the package to the girls until she called. Three days after she mailed the package she and Sara called their aunt from Rieden, Germany. The phone rang.

"Hello?" answered a little boy.

"Hey Eric," Anne said. "It's your cousin, Anne, is your mom there?"

"Yes, hold on," he put the phone down. His mother walked into the room.

"Who is it, sweetie?" she asked him.

"Anne," replied the eight-year-old, handing his mother the phone.

"Hello, Anne?"

"Hi aunt Kris, are the girls around?"

"Yes, hold on a second." She covered up the phone with her hand. "Lauren!
Lindsay! Pick up the phone." She uncovered the phone. "So where are you?
The package said Milan."

"I'm in Germany again, Sara is here too."

Sara took the phone, "Hi aunt Kris."

Two girls picked up the phone, "Hello?" they both asked.

"Hi you guys, it's Anne and Sara." Anne quickly put the phone on speaker
phone. "We sent you a little something."

"I'll get it," Kris said, and hung up the phone.

"So girls, have you heard what I've been up to this summer?" asked Anne.

"Not really, I heard you were in Europe doing something," Lauren said.

"Right, we're in Germany right now. Okay to get your present you two need
to be together, so why don't you both get on the phone in one of your rooms."

"Okay," Lindsay said and took her cordless phone into Lauren's room. Kris came in the room and set the box down and left the room.

"All right, open the box," Anne said. The girls saw three manilla envelopes, one said 'open first,' another said 'Lauren,' the other 'Lindsay.' "So you guys didn't hear what I'm doing in Europe at all?"

"No," Lindsay replied.

"Uh oh, it looks like uncle Paul and aunt Nancy haven't been doing their
jobs." Anne looked at Sara, they were both trying not to laugh. "I've been on a tour, I think you might know who these guys are. Okay open the first envelope, but put the phones down first."

The two younger girls put down the phones and opened the first envelope.
Instantly, sounds of screaming echoed over the line.

"Girls! Girls! Girls! Settle," Sara ordered over the phone.

"You know," Anne began. "I knew you were going to flip out, maybe I
shouldn't have given you the other two envelopes."

"We're okay, really," said Lindsay.

"Are you sure?" Sara asked.

"Yes," Lauren replied.

"Okay, you can open the other two," said Anne. "We might want to cover our
ears," she said to Sara.

"Oh my God!" Lauren and Lindsay exclaimed as they were jumping up and down.

"What is it?" Sara asked.

"Autographed head shots," Anne replied. "Hey girls, why don't you tell Sara
what they say, she doesn't know."

"To Lauren," she began. "A fly fan, and an awesome girl and I hope I get to meet you someday. Love, A.J. McLean." There was a definite quiver in her voice.

Lindsay took over. "To Lindsay, hugs and kisses, you're an angel. Love, Howie D." She started to hyperventilate.

"Breathe, Lindsay, breathe," Anne instructed. "If you pass out, you can't keep the photos." She started laughing. "Okay, we have to go now, I'll see you sometime."

"Thanks for the pictures," said Lauren.

"Bye," Sara and Anne both said. They hung up.

"Okay I don't get it, weren't you trying to make them jealous?" Sara asked.

"We did, give them a little time, let it sink in. Plus, I have a picture
you don't know about."

"What is it?"

"You and A.J. in the club."

"What are we doing?"

"Just dancing, but you can really see the faces clearly, that's definitely
you and that's definitely A.J. When you get back and show them all of your pictures, slip this one in there. I can guarantee you, Lauren will turn lime green." Anne gave Sara the picture.

"That is devious, what about you?"

"People will find out about us eventually, and that will hit Lins pretty
hard. Until then everyone is on a need to know basis, and anyone who doesn't know already, doesn't need to know."

"I see your point," Sara said. "I hear Amanda and Leighanne get a lot of crap from fans."

"Yes, they do, it's sad. I mean I get where the fans are coming from, but still, the guys have just as much a right to have a life as anyone else."

"No kidding, this was a really fun two weeks, it sucks I have to go home."

"Yeah it does, but I'll call, when I get home we can hang out."

"Cool."

Sara flew home the next day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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