The next week, Nick left with the group to start their US/Canadian tour. I didn't think I'd miss him as much as I did. I guess it was because we had become much closer than than the last time he left. The last time, I wasn't his girlfriend. That was something that took me a while to get used to, thinking of myself as his girlfriend. I'd never gone out with a white guy before. In Texas, there were plenty of Mexican guys. The same with Mexico. I mean, duh, it's Mexico. I was kind of hesitant about going out in public after the whole airport thing. Nick told me how much the fans disliked Samantha and they would probably do the same thing to me, too, if I didn't play my cards right.

After about a month of being by myself, Delia said it would probably be a good idea to go visit Nick on the road. I didn't think I should since I was living at his house to watch it while he was on tour. Delia said she doubted Nick would mind if I left the house for a couple weeks to go see him. I decided to go. We thought it would be nice if all of us went, me, Delia, Mary, and Tara. Tara said Leighanne was already on tour with the Boys and probably wasn't going to go home any time soon. Seeing her wasn't something I was looking forward to, but if it meant seeing Nick, fine with me.

I called Nick and told him the plan. He said he and the others would be at the airport to meet us, as unwise as it was because there would be a big chance that they could get mobbed. But Nick figured with extra security, we should all be fine. He told me he missed me like crazy and he couldn't wait to see me again. I told him I missed him, too, and I would see him in couple days.

Well, as soon as me, Delia, Mary, and Tara landed at the airport, we knew it had gotten out the Backstreet Boys were going to be there. I looked out the window nervously. There were so many people there with signs, flowers, teddy bears, and other stuff, waiting for the Backstreet Boys to get off the plane. Of course they were at a different terminal then me and the girls were since they were arriving from a different city. The five bodyguards the Boys assigned to us told us to wait until they were in the private conference room they had to go to for safety reasons. So, we all just sat there patiently waiting.

"I hope you're ready to deal with all the fans," Delia said. "They know what me, Mary, and Tara look like, but they're gonna automatically link you up to Nick as his girlfriend."

"Sometimes they can be a little cruel when you come face-to-face with them," said Tara. "You know, that whole jealousy thing."

"Um, you might, um, want to be, um, extra careful," Mary said. "Samantha took the most girlfriend-bashing because Nick is the most popular Backstreet Boy. Just thought I'd warn you."

I felt all the color drain out of my face. "Oh my god. I think I'm going be sick."

"Just breathe," Delia said. "If anyone yells some obnoxious thing at you, just ignore it. I admit some of the fans can be mean, but the majority of them are nice, if you're nice to them. That was something Samantha never learned. She acted like Nick was a trophy and that's why she wasn't popular with the fans. She liked to rub it in their faces that she was going out with Nick. As long as you don't do that, they'll learn to accept you."

"Girls," one of the guards said. "It's time to move out. We're gonna have to walk past the crowd of fans to get to the conference room where the Boys are. Just stay calm and walk as fast as you can."

We all nodded and got out of our seats, grabbed our purses and headed to the front of the plane to unload. Delia, Mary, and Tara all gave me reassuring smiles. I was third to go out.

"Just relax and smile," said Tara.

I put on a happy face and smiled until I thought my face would crack. The security guards placed themselves behind us and in front of us. Delia started making polite conversation, like everything was normal. Mary and Tara joined in, but all I could do was nodded and smiled. Every once in a while I'd say something.

We were halfway past the crowd when some girl yelled, "THERE'S AJ'S GIRLFRIEND!!!"

We all looked over and saw the crowd moving toward us. The guards made a circle around us and kept the fans at a distance. One of the guards kept us going in the right direction. I saw Mary and Tara waving, while Delia reached out and touched a couple hands as we passed. I continued to smile, but it was more of a shy smile than a nervous one. They all noticed the "new" girl and yelled out questions and statements: "Are you going out with a Backstreet Boy?", "Who are you?", "Are you Nick's new girlfriend?", or "Hey, that's Nick's new girlfriend", "She's Nick's cousin", "That's the girl I saw on the internet", "She was standing outside with Nick at his house". The whole time I kept on that smile.

We finally got to the stairs that led to the conference room on the second floor. The bottom of it was guarded by airport security. When they saw us, they stepped aside to let us through. Me, Delia, Mary, and Tara ran up the stairs and through the open door to the conference room. Nick walked over to me, wrapped his arms around me, and gave me a long kiss.

"I'm so glad you're here, Rosary," he said, softly. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too," I told him. "Well, Nick, they discovered your new girlfriend."

Nick smiled. "'My girlfriend'. I like hearing those words come out of that pretty mouth."

I laughed. "It's complete chaos down there."

"You guys should've seen her," Delia said She was standing. with AJ, who had his arms around her. "She wasn't fazed at all. She kept her smile."

"Yeah," Tara said from Kevin's lap. "All the fans were throwing questions her way, but she kept her cool."

Nick smiled at me nervously. "Did you say anything to them?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I figured you'd say something when the time is right."

"At the limo?" AJ looked around for agreement.

Kevin, Howie, and Nick looked at each other and nodded. "At the limo."

"What at the limo?" I asked, looking at them.

"We're gonna introduce you to the fans from the limo," Nick explained. "We open the sunroof, stand up, and tell the fans who you are. That's how Delia, Tara, and Mary got introduced."

"It's actually the best way to get introduced to the fans, Rosary," Mary said. "The least amount of danger. You're already in the car, so you can just take off when you're done."

"Okay. If it's the safest." Then I noticed Brian and Leighanne weren't in the room. "Where's Brian and Leighanne?"

"Unfortunate accident," Howie said. "When we were going through the crowd, Leighanne got elbowed in the eye. Her and Brian went to the medical room down the way."

"We told her to walked behind us, but no," AJ said. "She had to be right next to Brian."

Just then the door opened and the couple walked in. Leighanne's eye was a little swollen and red, but you'd couldn't really tell unless you looked closely, which everyone was doing.

"How ya doin', Leighanne?" I asked. "Howie told us about your eye. Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm peachy," she said, sarcastically. "I only got elbowed in the eye."

"Damn, I was just asking," I said. "Excuse me for being concerned. It'll never happen again."

Brian whispered something in Leighanne's ear. She rolled her eyes, then looked at me. "Thank you for your concern. I'm just a little angry, that's all."

"That's okay. If someone hit me in the eye, I'd be pissed, too."

The Boys bodyguards announced it was time to head to the limo. Nick held me around the waist. I could see the other guys doing the same. We stepped outside the conference room, and walked down the stairs, heading toward the exit, where the limo was waiting. We all got in as the airport security kept the fans at a distance. Nick and I stood through the sunroof and he introduced me to the crowd. I smiled and looked around. Some of the fans waved, some took pictures, but a lot gave me the evil eye. After a few minutes, we sat back down and the limo drove us to the hotel.