We were boarding the buses to head towards the venue and I caught a glimpse of a gorgeous, leggy blonde hanging onto Kevin’s arm as he climbed the steps and ducked inside the bus. I immediately turned on my heel and jogged to Howie, who was bending over to tie his shoe on the sidewalk. I stooped down to him and whispered with wide eyes.

“Who’s that?” He finished tying his shoes and pulled me up to stand with him.

“That’s Kristin.”

“Who’s Kristin?”

“She and Kevin have been on again off again, for oh, five years now.” I could see the apology in his eyes.

I gulped in an attempt to swallow the lump rising in my throat. It felt like I was swallowing a ball of sandpaper. “I guess this makes them on again,” I said hoarsely.

Howie shrugged. “First I’ve heard about it.” Needless to say, Kevin and I avoided each other for the next several days.

We were at a train station in Berlin when I thought I’d seen a ghost. He has taller and more broad-shouldered than when I’d last seen him, but the back of his head was unmistakable. It was Danny. My Danny. Without even thinking or waiting for him to turn around to confirm his identity, I was yelling out his name. Really, it was ludicrous, seeing as how we were in Germany, and all reasoning would tell me he was somewhere in Kentucky, or at least the southern United States. “Danny!” I was jogging towards him and only a few yards away when he turned to face me. After an initial expression of shock, his mouth widened into an excited smile and he loosened his grip on the military-issued duffel bag that was slung across his shoulder. Three wide strides towards me and he dropped his bag at our feet, his arms were around my waist, my feet were off the ground, my arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, and he was twirling me around, both of us laughing gleefully.

He sat me down and placed his hands on my cheeks. “Emmy! What are you doing here?”

“Long story. I should be asking you the same thing!” I placed my right hand over his left, which still rested on my face, and savored in the feeling of having him with me again.

“I heard you were touring with a singing group. My mom says you ladies are the talk of the town. That’s so awesome. Too bad you don’t have my guitar backing you.” Danny used to play his guitar over the telephone while I sang into his ear. He always told me I’d make it big, and I always told him he was nuts. < />

“You’re in the army.” I declared, smoothing a wrinkle out of his camouflaged shoulder.

“Yeah.”

“It suits you.” Silence fell over us, as we both knew that there really wasn’t time to say everything we needed to say. “So....where are you headed? Or can you tell me that?”

He swallowed hard and looked down at his shoes, then took a deep breath and leaned down so that his mouth was against my ear. “Kosovo,” he whispered.

My breath hitched in my throat. I had a feeling he definitely wasn’t supposed to tell me that. I searched his dark brown eyes and saw the tears beginning to gather on his long lashes. “How long?”

“Indefinitely as far as they’re concerned.” He faked a smile. “But hey, they like me enough to promote me and send me on this big super secret mission. You should be proud of me.”

“I’m super proud of you, Danny.” I eyed the embroidered insignia on his upper arm representing his rank and grazed my fingers over it lightly.

“Staff sergeant,” he said, puffing up like a peacock and grinning proudly.

“That’s amazing,” I said, assuming correctly that was a really high rank for a 19-year old. I cleared my throat and pursed my lips together, then stared down at the ground before looking back up into his eyes again. “I’ve missed you.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” He paused and sighed. “Is there any way I can get in touch with you? I mean, it wouldn’t happen much, but...”

“Well, the label bought us cell phones. They don’t work everywhere over here, but we’ll be back in the states in a month or so.” I rummaged through my purse to find a pen and paper.

Several yards away, Chrissy looked over at the other three girls and asked, “How much time to we give them before we go over and say hello?”

Cassie bit her bottom lip. “Give them another minute.”

“So, uh...who’s that?” Kevin bent over and whispered into Amelia’s ear. Subconsciously, he loosened his grip on Kristin’s hand.

“That’s Danny Rankin,” Amelia replied, her eyes still transfixed on the “couple” in front of her.

Brian raised an eyebrow in Melissa’s direction. “No relation. Well, maybe distantly,” she said quickly.

“Who’s Danny?”

“He’s her.....um.....” Cassie trailed off and Mel finished for her.

“Romeo.” She smirked.

“Her what?!” Howie interjected, whipping his head towards her.

Mel shrugged. “It was a hell of balcony scene they did together their freshman year.”

“He’s not her ‘Romeo’,” Amelia insisted, making air quotes as she said “Romeo.” “He’s her friend.”

“With benefits?” Brian laughed and was quickly quieted when Kevin’s foot landed hard on the top of his tennis shoe.

“Not exactly.” Cassie turned to Kevin and started to explain. “We all grew up together, but the two of them were especially close. Yes, they dated, but in the end decided they were better off as friends. He got into some trouble junior year and got sent away...I guess maybe to military school? She was heartbroken because he never said good bye. They had that whole ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ thing going on before the movie even came out. They agreed to get married if neither is married by the time they’re thirty. I’m not surprised she’s so excited to see him....”

“Cassandra!” Amelia hissed. “I think that’s enough information.” She cast her eyes pointedly in Kevin’s direction.

“Sorry....” Cassie replied sheepishly.

“Huh. By the time they’re thirty? Thirty’s pretty young,” Kevin said.

“Says the guy who’s just four years away,” AJ joked.

“Well, they were 13 when they made that decision,” Chrissy explained.

“But up until he left a couple years ago, they never swayed from it,” Amelia finished for her.