Sarah didn’t sleep peacefully that night. She kept dreaming about Howie and hearing him call out to her in desperation.

Kevin didn’t sleep at all feeling her toss and turn and hearing her crying in her sleep. He couldn’t help feeling sad for her. The whole scene at ‘Tabu’ had been horrible, not one that he ever imagined having to go through.

As he held her, Kevin heard Sarah. "Howie....please...I love you....don’t do this to me."

It wasn’t the first time that he had heard her call out for Howie in her sleep. There was no doubt in his mind that Sarah loved Howie and that she would eventually go back to him. He had to make Howie realize that and help him straighten out. Kevin knew that Sarah would never go back to him drinking like he was but he also knew that Howie was drinking so much because of the situation with Sarah. ‘Man, what a mess!’ he thought.

************************

As they came into view of the house, Sarah spotted Howie’s car and she said, "Kevin, I can’t do this!"

"I’ll be with you. If things get ugly, I’ll get Howie out."

"Thanks."

Kevin parked behind Howie’s vette and they went in together. Much to Sarah’s relief, Howie wasn’t around but Nick and Becca were there. Sarah went up to her room after saying good-bye to Kevin.

When Sarah was gone, Nick asked, "Is she okay?"

Kevin shook his head, "No. She isn’t and it’s going to be a long time before she is okay. What’s Howie’s car doing here?"

"AJ took him home and YOU left us without a car," said Nick.

"I’m REALLY sorry about that, guys," said Kevin.

Becca spoke up, "It’s okay."

"I need to get it back to Howie," said Nick. "Wanna follow me out there, Kev?"

"Yeah, I need to talk to him anyway."

Nick looked at Becca, "Wanna come along?"

Knowing that Sarah would need someone, she said, "I’m going to hang around here."

Nick gave her a tender kiss. "I’ll call?" It was more of a question than a statement.

Becca smiled, "I’d like that."

*************************

On the drive out to Howie’s, all Kevin could do was think about what he was going to say to him. He knew that Sarah was still in love with him but he had to convince Howie of that. How in the hell was he going to do that and why was he going to do that? He had wanted Sarah in his life from the minute he’d met her and now was his opportunity to have her.

When he walked in, AJ was shooting pool and Howie was nowhere to be found. Kevin asked, "Where’s ‘D’?"

"Down on the beach. He’s been there for about an hour."

"How is he?"

"Torn up and hung over."

"Nick will be here soon. He’s bringing the vette back."

"Okay."

"Don’t tell him what’s going on."

"Not unless Sarah wants him to know. What are you going to do?"

"Go talk to him. I’ve got to convince him that Sarah still loves him but he needs to straighten himself out. She’s not going to come back as long as he’s like this."

"You know, the last time we were together, Sarah called out for him in her sleep."

Kevin chuckled, "Yeah, she does it with me too. Kinda ironic. She’s with him and calls out our names and she’s with us, she calls for him."

"I guess that’s why she feels like she needs some space."

"What are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to keep seeing her?"

"Until she says otherwise, yeah."

"Can I make a suggestion?"

"Sure."

"If you’re going to keep seeing her, don’t go where the two of them are going to see each other. Neither one can take it."

"No problem. I’m not up for any more rounds like last night."

Kevin laughed. "Yeah, that bruise on your jaw is right rough looking this morning. Man, I never thought ‘D’ had it in him."

AJ snorted, "You don’t know what a man is capable of with enough alcohol in him and losing the woman he loves."

**************************

Kevin found Howie sitting on the beach staring at the waves breaking. He sat down with his friend and said, "Seen any mermaids?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing. How are you doing?"

"How do you think? I really screwed up last night."

"You think?"

Howie looked at Kevin. "I’m sorry about screwing up your birthday."

"Don’t worry about it. I’ve got more to come," said Kevin and then he grew silent. He waited a little while before saying, "’D’, AJ and I are worried about you as are the others."

Howie shook his head. "Don’t be."

"Howie, you never were much for getting seriously involved in a relationship because of the group but you met Sarah and you fell hard."

"And now I’ve lost her."

"You haven’t lost her forever, ‘D’. Sarah is still VERY much in love with you."

"That’s why she won’t come back to me. That makes sense!"

"Sarah’s confused, bro. She’s what, 25?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Think about her life. She started dating Russell when she was 15, married him when she was 20 and divorced him at 23. Before the divorce was final, she was involved with you. She’s ONLY been with two men in her life and she’s never experienced life. As worldly and experienced as she may come across, she didn’t know how to deal with having dreams or feelings for us and being with you. She didn’t realize that it CAN be good for a relationship to fantasize about someone else and that it’s healthy!! You’re drinking, going ballistic on AJ or me, and the scene you made last night are just pushing her away. It’s a reminder of what she had when she was married to Russell and she doesn’t want that again."

"I know your right but it doesn’t make it any easier."

"Look, back off, give her the space she needs, and let her figure this out."

"What if she doesn’t come back to me?"

Kevin shook his head, "Who else is she going to go to? Howie, Sarah is IN LOVE with you!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because she calls for you in her sleep. I’ve heard it, AJ has heard her, and I’d be willing to bet, Becca’s heard it too."

Howie laughed, "She calls for me when she’s with you two? That’s sweet!"

Kevin smiled more because it was a relief to see Howie smiling for a change and he said, "Yeah. AJ and I thought so too."

"She’s in love with you too, you know?"

"No, she’s not. I’ve seen the way she looks at you and the way she looks at me. It’s DEFINITELY not the same. It’s pure love in her eyes when she looks at you. You know, she wanted to follow AJ out here last night. Her instinct is to make you happy and to take care of you when your like this despite how confused it makes her."

"If she wanted to come out here, why did you stop her?"

"Because it wasn’t going to get you two back together. Sarah has got to get herself straight and you have to get yourself straight before either of you can be any good together. Now, AJ and I have agreed that if Sarah says she doesn’t want to see us anymore, we’ll back off, no questions asked. We also agreed that we won’t come around you with her until things get better for you two."

"Thanks. You know, I’m not mad at her or you two. I’m mad at myself for letting her down. I promised to always be there for her."

"You haven’t let her down, Howie. Look, she knows that you set it all up out of love. She told us that that night. This WHOLE mess is because she’s confused about her feelings for US and her understanding of what being faithful is. You supposedly being okay with what happened and then going off the deep end after we are together is confusing the hell out of her. I think in the long run, you probably helped her and when you do work things out, it will be for life. I know you had wanted to propose but maybe it’s a good thing that this happened BEFORE you did."

Howie shook his head. "Man, this tour is going to suck! I had every intention of taking her with me and us getting married in Italy while we were doing that hundred hour thing."

"At least we took that stop out. You won’t be reminded of what MIGHT have been. Come on, Nick and AJ are up at the house."

"Shit! What’s Nick doing here?"
"He brought the vette back to you. AJ brought you home and I left with Sarah, leaving Nick and Becca stranded at the club."

"I bet Becca wished she’d never met ANY of us after last night."

"I haven’t had a chance to talk to her. I’m sure Nick made up for what we screwed up and I know Sarah will smooth things over too. The question is, what are you going to tell Nick and Brian? You know they’re going to ask about this whole thing."

"The same thing we’ve been telling them; NOTHING! I don’t need to embarrass Sarah any more than she already was last night and I’m not sure Brian would exactly approve of what we’ve been doing. Plus, I don’t want what’s going on with Sarah and me to affect her friendships with the rest of you. I want her to come to the shows and have fun with you guys."