Claire missed her boyfriend, which was a bit weird because they were still spending plenty of time together.

At least they were spending plenty of time together in company of others. Brian had mad e it difficult for them to have any alone time. But when he got to be too much Claire would appeal to Kevin, who would tell Brain to cool it and let them go off on their own for a bit.

However, Brian would soon get his wish for them to be separated. The Boys would be heading to Europe soon to continue their tour and would be gone until Christmas and Claire was going back home to Kentucky.

Claire wanted to go to Europe with them but everyone was against it, even Aj. One of the main reasons they didn’t want her to go was school.

They had all told her, “You have to go to school Claire,” except Nick. He wasn’t going to school himself so her skipping didn’t bother him.

Another strike against her was her parents. They were really the main force behind her not going. And the last thing against her was that she didn’t have the time to procure a passport. So Claire was going home and back to a “normal” life. Or a life as normal as she could manage being the sister of a Backstreet Boy and the girlfriend of another.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I’ll hide in your suitcase,” Claire declared. “I think I’ll fit.”

Aj laughed. He was packing, they would be setting off for California and the last three shows of the tour in a half hour.

Claire silently piled the folded clothing on the bed and sat cross legged in the suitcase.

Aj came out of the bathroom, took one look at her and laughed.

“I told you I’d fit,” she said, spreading her arms out.

He walked over to her and put his hands on her cheeks and said, “Sweetheart, you know I’d love for you to come along to Europe. But you also know you can’t. You have to go home because you have to finish school. Your parents need you at home. We’ve e gone over this before. And besides, if you don’t go I’ll just have to get you awesome presents wherever we go.”

Claire was about to reply when there was a knock at the door. Aj went to answer it and Claire stayed where she was, moving only to cross her arms.

When he returned, Aj was followed by Brian’s girlfriend Samantha, who giggled when she saw Claire.

“Come on dear, Brian wants to go down to the bus already.”

“Ugh,” Claire said, finally removing herself from Ad’s suitcase. “I guess I have to go.”

She put the clothes back, hugged Aj and set off with Samantha.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The buses had stopped to refuel and so everyone could grab food and stretch their legs.

They still had a lot of ground to cover, most of which would be gone over night.

The bus Claire was on had become really crowded. Not only were Brian and Samantha on it, but Kevin and his girlfriend Kristin had joined them. Claire had a plan to escape the monkey cage though.

“Oh Brian, my dear brother,” she called from the door of the bus.

“Yes Claire?” he asked.

“I have a question for you.”

“Yes?” he repeated.

“Is it ok if I ride the rest of the way to California with Howie and Aj?”

“No.”

“Brian, come on! Do you really think Howie will let Aj and I do anything? Besides Kev, he’s the most responsible person on this tour!” Claire whined. Brian knew she was right and she wasn’t going to shut up until she got her way.

“No Claire.”

“But Brian!”

“Claire, I said no!” Brian said rather sharply.

Claire huffed. Kevin would be on her side. She only had to wait for him to come out of Taco Bell.

When Kevin returned to the bus, he found Claire and Brian giving one another death glares while Samantha and Kristin watched from a window and giggled.

“Alright,” he said, slipping to “dad” mode. “What’s going on?”

Claire turned, “I asked Brian if I could ride the rest of the way to California with Howie and Aj. He’s being a giant weenie and said no.”

Kris and Leigh laughed the hardest yet at Brian being called a weenie.

“Well he does have a point. You’d be on the bus overnight.”

“I know that. Like I told my brother, do you really think Howie, who’s just as responsible as you, would let us get away with anything?”

Kevin turned to Brian and said, “She does have a point. Howie is responsible enough to watch h them.”

“Kevin, Aj is her boyfriend,” Brian shuddered when he said ‘boyfriend’, “Do you really think it’s a good idea for them to be alone? Overnight. On a bus?”

“Brian, we’ve been alone together at night plenty of times the entire tour. If we haven’t done anything by no, which we haven’t, I highly doubt we’d manage to with Howie watching us like a hawk,” Claire told him.

She looked at all of them, Kristin and Samantha included. “All I want to do is spend a little time with him. You guys are leaving for Europe soon and I won’t see ANY of you for MONTHS. Please?” She was pleading now.

Brian and Kevin looked at one another, having a silent, private conversation. They looked at Claire, who was now close to crying, and then at their girlfriends. “Ok, you can go with them.”

“Thank you. Thank you.  THANK YOU!” she squealed.

Claire ran onto the bus and grabbed her backpack, as it held things she would need, hugged Brian and Kevin and bounded down the bus stairs and ran over to Aj and Howie’s bus and climbed aboard.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They were getting ready for their flights the next day. Everyone was doing laundry and running around for last minute items, Claire, on the other hand, was crying again.

Brian, Kevin, Kristin and Samantha had all tried calming her down but nothing they did worked. Aj was taking his turn now.

Aj and Claire were in his and Nick’s hotel room and he had his arms wrapped around her.  “It’ll be alright Claire, I promise.”

Claire shook her head. “You’ll be in Europe. Everyone there is going to be so much more beautiful than I am. Someone else will turn your head.”

“How can you say that honey? Especially after a few nights ago?” he was referring to, of course, the night that he and Claire had spent alone on his and Howie’s bus. Nick had, at last minute, asked Howie to come play video games on his bus and Howie agreed, leaving Claire and Aj alone. “Do you really think I’d even want to look at another girl? And do you honestly think your brother and cousin would let me get away with it if I did? They’d pound me into the ground and you know it.”

Claire giggled feebly. It was true. Brian and Kevin WOULD go after him if he so much as THOUGHT about cheating on her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, sitting on the bed. “I just don’t want to go home. Aside from the fact that I’d get to be with you longer, I’ve never been to Europe and I really wanna go!” Claire was whining (which made her sound childish) but she didn’t care.

“Well then,” Aj said. “I’ll just have to take you another time because you have to go home.”

Claire pouted. “I know I do. But I don’t have to like it.”

“I know you don’t,” he said, kissing her forehead. “But you’ll be glad you do.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Everyone had agreed to go out for dinner that night. Three people had voted for a fancy restaurant, but everyone else had been against it; they’d wanted something “fun”. They ended up at a place called In-N-Out.

Claire watched as Nick silently loaded a fry with the sauce from his cheeseburger and launched it a table away from him.

It landed right smack between Brian’s eyes. Michelle and Nick cracked up. It took everyone else a few seconds to realize what had transpired, but then they too joined in on the laughing. 

Even Brian laughed.

“You have got to torture Brian for me when you guys are in Europe,” Claire told Nick.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he told her. “I will.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Claire’s flight left an hour and a half before everyone else’s. She wasn’t looking forward to it.

They had been at the airport for an hour now. Claire’s bags had been checked, as had everyone else’s, and they wren waiting together for their flight’s boarding calls to be issued.

Claire and Aj were huddled together, as far away from the others as they could manage.

“I really don’t want to go,” Claire said for what seemed like the millionth time that morning.

“I know sweetheart. I don’t want you to either. But we don’t have a choice in the matter. We both have things we’re off to do. But Christmas and New Years will be here before we know it and we’ll be together again.”

“I guess,” Claire said. “Your mom know’s my parents agreed to let me come visit for New Years doesn’t she?”

“She does. And she can’t wait to whip out all the embarrassing baby and beyond photos,” he laughed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Claire,” Brian said. “They’re calling your flight.”

She sniffled, she’d been crying again.  “I’m coming,” she told him.

She and Aj had listened when Kevin had told them not to rub their relationship in Brian’s face and hadn’t so much as kissed in front of him (well, not THAT much anyway).

Claire was now fighting the urge to grab hold of her boyfriend and not let go. He was her first serious boyfriend and she’d gotten attached to him rather quickly.

She started to walk to her gate but stopped and looked back at Aj. He looked sad.

“What they hell,” she thought. Claire turned and ran back to him and kissed him in front of everyone. He squeezed her tight and kissed back.

After a moment, Claire let go. She said goodbye to everyone once more and boarded her plane home.