Half an hour later, the guys were finally done with soundcheck. "Rachel, get up here. We're heading back for some lunch," Howie motioned to her. He watched as she tucked her little notebook back into her bag, and rose with a smooth, fluid movement. She pulled herself back up onto the stage and smiled at the guys. "That was great you guys," she beamed.
"You working already?" Howie asked, indicating her bag.
"A good writer works all the time," she smiled, patting her bag. "Besides, I've got to watch you when we aren't writing so I can get the 'real' you, otherwise it will sound like I'm writing the book and not you," she informed him.
"Come on Rachel, I'll show you the bus," AJ said, taking her hand and tugging her along, leaving Howie behind, rolling his eyes.
Rachel had to laugh as AJ pulled her along. All of the guys were so nice and down to earth.
"Your chariot, milady." intoned AJ, indicating a big blue and purple tour bus.
"That's more than twice the size of my house." she breathed.
"It's nice, too. All the amenities! Whirlpool bath, ocean view, fireplace..."
"Fireplace?" drawled Rachel, hands on her hips.
"Waaallll.... OK. No fireplace. But it is nice."
"Permission to come aboard, Cap'n?"
"Permission granted, sailor." AJ handed her up into the bus.
Rachel was dumbstruck when she stepped into the bus. "Holy cow!" she uttered, shaking her head, her auburn curls swishing around her shoulders. "This is incredible!"
"You like?" she heard Howie ask softly behind her.
"Like? That's an understatement. Seriously, this place is almost as big as my apartment!" she said, eyes wide open taking everything in. There was a relaxation compartment with TV/VCR, video games, a table, a couch, and a stereo. Further back the guys showed her the bunk space that was hers, just opposite of theirs and behind that, a decent sized bathroom with shower. She walked around nosily checking everything out, with AJ and Howie watching her, amused looks on their faces as the bus started and headed back out for lunch.
Howie watched as she sat gracefully at the table in the main compartment and pulled out her laptop which she'd grabbed from her bunk. "What are you doing? If you don't mind..." he caught himself.
"Of course not," she assured him as she turned the machine on. "I'm going to add these notes I took earlier to the stuff I already have," she explained, her fingers moving expertly across the small keyboard.
"Already have?"
"Yep. I spent a few days after meeting you doing a lot of research on Lupus," she said, not taking her eyes from her work. "I needed to have a really good grasp of it before we start writing, so I went to the library and medical university and got a whole file of information," she continued, leaning over to her case and pulling out the huge file, setting it down in front of Howie. "I know you guys are super busy today, so I was thinking I could finish up some of these notes and we could maybe start tomorrow or the day after." She looked up to see Howie with a totally stunned look on his face. "What's wrong?" she said, worried.
"Nothing," he quickly assured her, laying his hand over hers. "I just hadn't expected you to get so started so fast," he chuckled. "I think Raleigh must be a charmed city. This was the last show that Caroline saw before she died," he explained. "So it was already special for me. But now....now I've met the lady who's going to help me with such an important project in my life here as well."
Rachel smiled softly. "I didn't know about Caroline...." she whispered.
"Yeah. I've never said much about it. I got the most amazing feeling when we pulled into town today. It's like her energy and spirit were here the minute we arrived. I can almost feel her around me it seems," he said, getting a distant look in his eyes. Rachel committed his words to memory. Already the beginning lines of the book were forming in her mind.
"Food!" shouted AJ, "McDonald's, whacha want?" he said pretending to be a gum cracking order boy.
"Ew, McDonalds? Ummm...." said Rachel.
AJ grabbed his chest and collapsed on the floor of the bus. "Ew, McDonalds? ew, McDonalds! D, take this down, these are my last words... ew, McDonalds? My heart!"
"Get up you kook." laughed Rachel, "OK, I'll have.... a grilled chicken sandwich."
"Ok, that's more like it." AJ said, sliding his glasses down his nose. "First rule of the bus: don't dis the McD."
"Yes, sir." saluted Rachel.
AJ hopped down to get food. "Tonight, after the show," said Howie softly, "I'll take you to get some good food."
Rachel smiled at him. "That would be very nice." she replied softly.
A few moments later AJ came back with a huge bag of fast food and plopped down beside Rachel. "Good lord AJ, did you order the whole store?" she giggled, taking her sandwich.
"Hey, I like McD's, I can't help myself," he explained as he pulled out food and set it on the table, seeing Rachel snitch a fry. "I saw that woman. That's gonna cost you!" he groaned. "When you least expect it...payback..." he smiled wickedly, seeing Rachel laugh despite herself.
"I can tell it's going to be hard to get anything done with you around Mr. McLean," she poked him playfully.
The rest of the afternoon went quickly with the guys doing press conferences, then heading back to the venue. "Are you going to come in and see the show?" Howie asked hopefully as he pulled out his bag and rummaged through it.
"I'll see some of it," she assured him, looking up from the liquid crystal computer screen. "Billy suggested I head back out to the bus before you guys are done though, since they like to whisk you off so quickly. I'll be inside in a few minutes - I just need to finish this thought before I lose it," she explained, going back to her typing.
She made it inside just in time to see the start of the show. The screaming from the fans was deafening, and their energy level contagious. It seemed like no time at all before Billy was tapping her on the shoulder and motioning towards the bus. Managing to give Howie a quick wave, she turned and made her way back out. Pulling out her discman, she settled into her bunk, computer on her lap, and began her first "diary" entry for the guys website. She had just hit the "save" key when she felt footsteps climbing aboard the bus.
"Hey, want to take a break and go get some real food?" Howie asked her as he made his way back.
"Food? I'm starving!" shouted Rachel.
"Great, me too," he laughed. "Let me make sure there's someone from security that can head out with us," he sighed, wishing he were able to go out with her alone, but he knew better. Fans all over town would be out hunting for the boys, so being out without security was not an option.
He returned a few moments later, seeing her still curled up with her headphones covering her ears, typing busily. Carefully he sat down on the edge of the bunk and pointed to her discman and gave her a questioning glance.
"Oh," she laughed, taking the headphones away. "Listening to 98 Degrees, sorry!" she giggled.
"Competition! You're listening to our competition??" he asked, feigning shock and disbelief. "Aboard one day and a traitor already. Can't have that," he said, setting her laptop to the side and proceeding to tickle her mercilessly. He was rewarded with the reaction he'd hoped for - the poor girl was incredibly ticklish.
"Howie! Oh gosh, anything but tickling," she managed between spasms of laughter, trying to squirm from his grasp, feeling him hold on tighter. A moment later he finally stopped tickling her, the two of them a tangle of limbs and body parts inside the bunk.
Howie caught her deep brown eyes with his own and felt sparks, as if the air around them was filled with electricity. He contemplated what it would be like to kiss her and feel those lips against his own. Just as he leaned in towards her, AJ came bounding back. "Aha! Caught in the act!" AJ laughed, seeing Rachel blush.
Rachel felt the warmth of Howie's body near hears and it was doing unsetting things to her insides.
"Thank God you came along," laughed Rachel nervously, "This man is a tickling bandit."
"Remind me to tell you all of his ticklish spots," said AJ wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"OK, lady," said Howie regaining his breath and holding out a hand to her. "Truce?"
"For now..." she said meaningfully.
She looked directly into Howie's eyes as she spoke, feeling her insides melt. The interaction between the two didn't go unnoticed by AJ, who
cocked his eyebrows at Howie.
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