Soulmate

Chapter 28

Both Lizzie and Catherine were dumbfounded when they found themselves in front of the huge private plane with "Backstreet Boys" written on both sides. Catherine knew they were a well known band, that they sold lots and lots of albums and had thousands of fans around the world, but she was unaware of their real importance.

Catherine was very happy to see the boys again. The last time she had seen Brian was at Leighanne's birthday, but she was still glad to see him. Howie was still the same rather quiet, observant guy she remembered. But the ones who had surprised her the most had been Nick and AJ. When she'd met them they'd been thirteen and fifteen, and now they were grown men. The truth was that they were all super nice to her. What she enjoyed most was watching them interact with Lizzie, as they played the role of uncles with her. Well, Brian and Howie were the uncles; AJ and Nick were more like the crazy older brothers.

And as for Kevin... Well, he was as nice and handsome as always. During that first flight, Catherine had watched Kevin's features from the distance until she fell asleep. And once the plane landed, Kevin noticed that Catherine was still totally asleep, so he knelt down next to her seat and lightly stroked her arm, whispering to her to wake up.

When they got off the plane, they found God knows how many fans waiting for them at the airport, apart from some occasional journalists. Catherine was overwhelmed by the flashing cameras and the shrillness of the screams. For a moment she froze. But all her thoughts vanished when Kevin appeared at her side and whispered, "Stay calm, it's all under control. And I'm with you, okay?" Catherine advanced through the crowd with her head ducked so no one could see her highly flushed cheeks.

The days went by. Life on tour was routine: get up, spend the morning doing whatever while the guys attended to the press, get some sleep in the afternoon and then go to the concert. Often there would be a party after the concerts, but most of the time Catherine would rather stay in the room with Lizzie.

There was a day unlike any other. As fate would have it, it all happened in Catherine's hometown, NYC. She took advantage of that morning to show Lizzie not only the most emblematic places of the city, but also the places where she had grown up. Later, they had lunch together with the boys and the whole team. It got dark, and it was almost time for the concert. Catherine chose for Lizzie a blue shirt, black pants and a black jacket and sneakers, all to reference "Black & Blue". She decided to do the same with her own clothes, putting on a navy blue dress with a V-neckline, black heels and a cardigan, also black, just in case it was cold.

Four hours later, the concert was almost over. Catherine thought it hadn't been bad at all. The guys were extremely talented and performed with a really infectious energy. Besides, all the songs were really great. After so many times, Catherine already knew the words to almost all of them.

Suddenly, the first notes of "Shape of my Heart", one of the singles from the new album, began to play. The crowd went wild. As Brian sang the first verse, Kevin looked around the audience, but his eyes stopped when he spotted Catherine. She was leaning forward, her forearms resting on the metal fence in front of her. As he sang the chorus along with the others, he noticed the dress Catherine was wearing. He couldn't help but think how much it resembled the one she wore at that prom night, but that one was shorter.