[2nd week of April, 2003]
"How you been doing?" AJ drawled
as he threw an arm around Sarah. Both were sitting on a couch in the family
room.
"Fine..." she sighed. She looked
away for a moment...How long could she keep up this façade? Was it
even working? Brian knew the most, even though that wasn't much, and Nick
was getting suspicious...but what about the others?
"Thanks for picking me up." AJ studied
her face. What was she thinking?
"No problem," Sarah replied. Everyone
else had been busy. She knew AJ would rather have had Chin pick him up...
"So, how long are you here for?"
"About two weeks. Then it's off
to Johnny No-Name again."
"How's your mom?"
"Good...she said something about
wanting to see Chin soon..." AJ shrugged. Sarah raised an eyebrow. "She knows
we're not together...but she also knows that we're on speaking terms, that
we're actually good friends again," AJ said, answering Sarah's implied question.
"She has this crazy idea that Chin and I belong together..." AJ weakly laughed,
as if trying to convince himself that the notion was indeed crazy.
"Oh..." Sarah's voice was small.
By now she knew the truth about the couples...but something told her that
everyone
did belong together, like it used to be. "So...any plans
for your stay? Gonna just lounge around with me?" she weakly smiled. Her feet
were up on the coffee table that was in front of them--at that remark, he
swung a foot up and knocked hers off.
"Very funny. You don't 'lounge around.'"
AJ further emphasized his point by nudging her with his elbow. Brian had
told him that Sarah worried over the fact that she was "wasting" her life
away, not really doing much, and at the same time, was mad at herself for
not having the drive to do anything about it...was there even MORE that was
eating at her? "You're productive," he insisted.
"Yeah, yeah..."
"Anyway--you feel any bit artistic
anymore?"
"Um...Why?"
"Well, I was thinking..." AJ trailed
off. Sarah's memory was getting better by the day, but at any given time
he was never sure how much she could recall. "Remember that ceramics place?"
he asked. Sarah thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up.
"Yes..."
"Wanna go paint something?" He raised
an eyebrow. She grinned.
"Sure."
[same time, on the other side of the country]
"Do it."
"Hannah..."
"If you don't, I won't speak to
you for a month," Hannah threatened, turning her back to him.
"But the tour..." Lance pouted.
"Change it... I don't care. " Hannah
whirled around. "You promised. I don't care that you're in N*SYNC and not
Backstreet. AJ arranged his
entire tour around the reunions... you
have say in your concerts as well. Do something about it, Mr. Lance Bass."
Hannah stormed out of the room.
Shit... Lance thought. Earlier,
JC had called and Hannah had picked up--he had mentioned something about
the concerts in July. Hannah had given Lance funny looks until they could
speak alone. He had said he couldn't return with her, but she didn't believe
him. It was as if she could sense that he possibly didn't want to return
with her. She told him he could change the dates.
Lance sighed and picked up his cell.
"Hey, guys...?"
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[the next day]
"AJ?" Chin yelled. She poked her
head into the game room. She wrinkled her nose when she didn't see AJ in there.
"Does anyone know where AJ is?" Chin shouted as she ran down the stairs.
"NO!" Cathy yelled.
"I think he went out!" Julie added.
"Thanks!" Chin trotted into the
family room and plopped down. Sarah was in the kitchen rummaging around,
and Julie and Cathy were having breakfast in the dining room.
"What's wrong?" Sarah sat down next
to Chin.
"Nothing..." Chin sighed, slumping
down in her seat. Sarah giggled.
"Why were you yelling for AJ?" she
questioned. Chin glanced over to Sarah.
"No specific reason..."
"Bored?"
"Sure."
"What do you want to do?"
"Anything..." Chin thought for a
moment. "Do you know where AJ went?" she asked.
"Uhh..." Sarah looked away. She
did know where he had run off to; he had returned to finish his ceramics
project. "No..."
"Are you sure?" Chin squinted at
Sarah, who nodded solemnly. "Liar! You totally know where he is!" Chin poked
Sarah's side and sent her flying a good few feet in the air.
"That was unnecessary!" Sarah whined,
nursing her side.
"Why won't you tell me where he
is?" Chin pouted. Suddenly, her eyes widened, then looked sad. "Is he on
a... umm...date?" Chin swallowed hard.
"No!" Sarah swatted Chin's arm.
"Enough about AJ." Sarah grabbed Chin's wrist and pulled her up. She had
to do something to save the man's surprise. "We're going out!"
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[2 days later]
Cathy popped a piece of her bagel
in her mouth. "Movie?"
"What movie though?" Julie knitted
her eyebrows together.
"There's nothing good out," Chin
sighed.
"Rent videos?" Sarah suggested,
sipping her Ovaltine.
"We own some we can watch again."
Julie sat down at the kitchen table with her cereal.
"Chin, you like Center Stage. We
could watch that?" AJ offered. He was sitting across from Julie and Cathy
with his own bowl of cereal.
"Oh," Chin mumbled, she was sitting
at the end of the table. "I guess so..." Cathy and Julie exchanged looks.
"Be right back," Cathy muttered
as she and Julie grabbed Sarah just as she was going to sit down.
"Whaaat?" Sarah whined, reaching
for her drink, but unable to grab it in time.
"Just come!" Julie whispered and
the three left AJ and Chin alone. AJ smiled lightly at the three girls and
shook his head.
"They're weird. You know that?"
he chuckled.
"Sure..." Chin shrugged. AJ turned
to her and raised an eyebrow.
"Something wrong?" he asked, moving
to a chair closer to her.
"What makes you ask that?" Chin
absently stirred her hot chocolate. AJ reached over and clasped his hand
over hers, stopping her from stirring. Slowly, her eyes met his. "Yes?"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing... Nothing at all..." Chin
pulled away from AJ's grasp and got up.
"Chin, you're never a quiet person...
You're loud and crazy and... I thought we were friends again? Why won't
you tell me what's wrong? You said so yourself that you missed how we could
tell each other everythi--"
"Fine!" Chin interrupted. She whirled
around from placing her cup in the sink. "What do you want to know?"
AJ stared at her blankly. What happened?
Why was she upset...or angry?
"Nothing." He sighed and got up
to leave. Just as he was walking past her, she grabbed his arm and pulled
him back.
"AJ, wait..."
"What?" AJ turned and narrowed his
eyes. Why did she want to talk now? She was obviously against it a minute
ago...
"I'm..." Chin looked down. "I'm
sorry." She looked up at him. "You're right. We are friends again and...I
just...I dunno..." Chin turned and sat down at the kitchen table. "I'm sorry...I
dunno what's wrong with me..." she sighed and placed her head in her hands.
AJ just watched her for a few minutes and then sighed as well, taking a seat
next to her.
"Chin... What's keeping us from
being together?" His eyes were resting on the backyard scenery.
"What?" she gasped and turned to
him. She hadn't expected him to ask about them... or be so blunt about it...
"Tell me..." AJ looked over to her.
"I have a right to know...and not only that... you agreed on our friendship
to be back again, you said you'd tell me everything..."
"AJ..." Chin tried to get up but
he grabbed her hands and pulled her back down.
"No. Don't leave. Please..." AJ
begged. "Just finish this with me first."
Chin sighed and looked away.
"I don't want anyone to get hurt.
That's why. Can I go now?" she muttered.
"What?" AJ exclaimed. "What do you
mean 'get hurt?'"
"Sarah! She got hurt and it's all
my fault... If... If I just..." Chin couldn't find the right words.
"Just what?" AJ asked softly. Chin
turned to him.
"I don't know..." she frowned and
looked away. "I don't know what could have stopped that..." Chin leaned
back in her chair and stared forward, not wanting to be caught staring back
at him. "But I don't want it to happen again..."
"It won't." AJ took Chin's hand.
"How can you promise that?" she
cringed.
Before AJ could reply, Sarah stormed
into the room.
"I want my Ovaltine, dammit. Why
did you guys pull me out of the room?" she yelled at the two girls who were
trailing behind her. They gave AJ and Chin a sorry-about-that look...Chin
merely shrugged, got up, and left the room. AJ sighed and rested his hands
on the table in front of him, studying his jewelry.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[3 days later]
"So you're really gonna do this?"
Howie asked of the phone. AJ was pacing with the cordless phone upstairs
in the guestroom.
"Yeah, D, I am."
Howie could detect the nervousness
in his voice. "I'm sure it'll be fine. I know it'll be fine...perfect, in
fact," Howie tried to assure his friend. AJ sighed and fiddled with the
drawstring in his pants, still pacing.
"When are you flying into LA?"
"Tomorrow."
"I bet I know of someone who's gonna
make a commute up to see you," AJ laughed. He could practically see Howie
grinning on the other side of the line.
"AJ!" both heard Chin yell. Howie
chuckled.
"You have been summoned," he laughed.
"Yeah, yeah..." AJ placed a hand
over the phone. "What?" he yelled back. Chin appeared in the doorway.
"I'm bored," she whined. AJ laughed
and heard Howie doing the same.
"What, am I your entertainer?"
"As a matter of fact, you are, "
Chin giggled, then grabbed the phone from AJ. "Hello?" she sang into the phone.
"Hey, Howie!"
"Hey! Give me the phone!" AJ pouted.
"Yes... AJ is pouting... No, it
won't work..." Chin laughed and jetted out of the room with the phone.
"Chin!" AJ whined and ran after
her.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[2 days later]
Chin chucked her keys onto the table
and trotted upstairs. She had gone shopping with Cathy and then, because
of her friend's constant whining, had made the hour commute to drop her off
at Howie's. Julie was at work and Sarah was off at the grocery store. "AJ?"
Chin called out as she got to the top of the stairs. "I'm bored. Let's go
do something!" she complained.
"You seem to get bored a lot...Didn't
you just go shopping?" he yelled. Chin popped her head into the game room.
"I'm antsy... You know that...I
also spent over two hours in a car so Cathy could see her Latin Lover...C'mon,
let's go...You drive." She stepped in and plopped down on the couch.
"Play pool with me then." AJ leaned
over the table and shot the eight ball into the socket. Chin raised an eyebrow
at him. It was on...something in the back of her mind reminded her of the
last time the two had played pool alone...but she quickly pushed it aside.
That was in the past. This was just going to be a friendly game...nothing
more. As if to remind her even more, both Coke and Sprite showed up. She
sighed and grabbed a pool stick.
Little did she know, AJ was thinking
the exact same thing.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[the next day]
AJ entered the house from the garage,
a bag under each arm. He headed straight for the family room, knowing Sarah
would most likely be where he had left her, watching a movie. He strolled
in and noticed her sleeping body on the couch. He placed one bag beside
her, and with his now free arm, reached over for the remote and switched
the TV off. He smiled at her; granted, it was 8:30 AM on a Sunday. They
had been the only two awake and had agreed to have a movie fest...he had
remembered the ceramics would be ready to be picked up, and had left to
catch the shop as soon as it opened. Now home, he realized that he was the
only one awake. No bother; it just made it easier for him to set everything
up. He disappeared for awhile into the upstairs guestroom he was using and
emerged ten minutes later to retrieve one more item from the car; it had
remained hidden just in case he had returned to an alert house. He went
back to the room, and a few minutes later, his work was complete. He took
a walk down the silent upstairs hallway, stopping to peek into all of the
rooms just to be sure...sure enough, all of the girls were sound asleep.
[2 hours later]
AJ appeared from his room after
spending the past two hours catching up on much-needed sleep. He yawned
and stretched, and finally noticed that nobody was in the hallway. Funny,
he could have sworn he had heard noises. He popped his head into Chin's room...no
Chin. He didn't see anyone in the balcony. He trotted downstairs and didn't
find a soul in that hallway either. He slid into the kitchen and saw Julie's
back; she was looking for something in the fridge. Undaunted, he scurried
outside, his eyes falling on Cathy and the dogs playing. With a sigh, he
walked back inside, heading towards the living room, having seen the family
room empty. No Chin. He knew she was in the house...he ran into Sarah on
his way to check the garage in vain.
"Ever try the game room?" she grinned
after he apologized.
"Right." He headed up the stairs.
He opened the door to the game room...sure enough, there stood Chin, singing
along to some music, playing pool.
"I knew you were asleep, don't look
at me like that," she laughed. "I didn't forget about you, I just didn't
want to wake you...maybe I just wanted to play alone, you know, work on my
skills?" she grinned. He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm supposed to be on
assignment at a local fashion show at the mall today...you can finish this
game for me," she stated, pausing to look at her watch. "Knock yourself out.
I'm in a bit of a rut. Lemme know how it goes. I'll see you in the evening."
She handed him the stick, gave him a peck on the cheek and was gone. He stood
there alone, silently looking at the stick in his hands...and cursed himself.
He should have stayed awake. Damn.
He heard the garage door open and
close. He tried to decide what to do now. He had to re-work his plans...
[that evening]
AJ had talked to Sarah and Julie;
Cathy had been out of the house, but now he was out of time. As soon as
Chin returned, she entered the family room to find the four lounging around,
channel surfing. Julie's and Sarah's eyes widened when she appeared. They
looked at each other, then at Cathy, who was absorbed in controlling the
remote, and then back at each other, trying to think of what to do. AJ was
almost asleep, but snapped awake when he saw Chin.
"How are my Couch Potatoes?" she
grinned. Julie and Sarah shot up.
"Too potatoey," Sarah blurted out.
Her eyes darted at Julie for help.
"Yeah...we need to...take a walk,"
she rambled. Chin frowned.
"You guys, I'm tired, I'm sorry--"
"Don't worry. You don't have to
go...Julie, Kat, and I will," Sarah assured her, reaching down to grab Cathy's
hand. She was met with retaliation.
"Speak for yourself," Cathy muttered,
yanking her arm away. Julie quickly grabbed the other arm.
"C'mon, Cathy...let's go for a walk."
"I don't want to."
"Let's go for a walk," Sarah insisted,
reclaiming Cathy's other hand. The victim helplessly looked at AJ. "Why
doesn't he have to go?"
"He took the dogs for their walk,
remember? C'mon, fresh air will do us some good," Julie said, as she started
to pull. She and Sarah, much to AJ's amusement and Chin's confusion, practically
dragged a whining Cathy out of the house.
"What you said about those three
a few days ago...it's true," Chin laughed. "They ARE weird." She shook her
head and turned to go upstairs to her room. AJ silently thanked Julie and
Sarah for leaving so promptly, even taking Cathy, who hadn't been told anything
yet. He followed Chin's path.
Minutes later, he was upstairs,
just stepping into the hallway in time to see Chin's door close. He popped
his head into the game room to do a quick check and then headed over to
her room.
"Chin?" He stuck his head in the
partially open door. She emerged from the bathroom, drying her face with a
towel.
"Yes?"
"You busy?"
"Not really. I was gonna come downstairs
and grab something to eat."
He reached out for her hand. "C'mon,
before you eat, I gotta show you something," he almost whispered. Chin raised
an eyebrow and shrugged.
"Okay, but you'd better hurry; my
stomach is empty and not happy!" she laughed. AJ nodded and led her out
of her room to the game room. When they reached the door, he stopped walking
and turned to her.
"Close your eyes," he smiled. Again,
Chin's eyebrow raised, but her grumbling stomach told her to just go along
with it. She shrugged and closed her eyes. "No peeking!" AJ insisted. Her
eyes shut, she smiled and nodded. Keeping a grasp on one of her hands, he
slowly opened the door and led her inside, quietly closing it after they
had entered the room.
He took a deep breath...he could
do this.
"AJ--"
AJ led her to sit on a beanbag.
"Shh...just open your eyes."
"I'm going back..." Cathy pulled
away from both girls and started running. They had only reached the end of
the block and she was fed up with the other two's silence; it had only been
a few minutes since they had left the house.
"Crap," Julie muttered.
"Cathy, wait! It's AJ and Chin!"
Sarah caught up to Cathy and grabbed her hand. Julie soon popped up panting.
"Don't...ever...do that...again."
She coughed, a hand over her chest, trying to catch her breath. Sarah chuckled.
"What about AJ and Chin?" Cathy's
eyebrows knitted together.
"Come on. We'll tell you, just don't
run off again." Sarah pulled Cathy away from the house.
"Fine..." Cathy mumbled and followed
the two girls in front of her.
"Oh..." Chin's eyes were wide and
darting around the room. AJ lightly smiled. "AJ... it's...wow." Chin got
up and ran a hand through her hair. It was beautiful. But...But nothing.
Chin scolded herself.
Enjoy it.
The room was dark but there were
candles everywhere. She heard AJ chuckle and turned around, having forgotten
about him. "AJ... umm...what is this for?" she spoke quietly, still looking
around the room in awe. Then her eyes settled on a vase that sat quietly in
the middle of the pool table...a vase that resembled one that had been shattered
so long ago. Chin blinked. The vase held 24 red roses. "Alex..." she whispered.
AJ took in a sharp breath. Had she
just called him Alex?
"This is for..." AJ began, unsure
if he could find the words. He had rehearsed what he was going to say over
and over...and now all that he had practiced seemed to fail him. What could
he say? "This is for...a mistake I made a long time ago."
"Alex..." Chin slowly turned to
him. "We already talked about thi--"
"No, " AJ said, taking her hands,
"we didn't... So why don't we do that now? Okay?" he asked softly. Chin
nodded and he led her to the couch. Both settled down on opposite ends of
the couch, but Chin pulled her feet up and turned to face him. The candlelight
played off the features of their faces.
"Alex...how are we..." Chin looked
up at the ceiling. "I don't want what happened...to happen again."
"It won't." AJ said quietly, his
gaze on his lap where his fingers were nervously playing around with a ring.
"Hon... you and I both know you
can't promise that." Chin said softly, watching AJ closely. She missed him...
a lot. She missed what they had had. She missed how he would try everything
to make her smile, when she was upset. How he could just walk into a room
and look at her and it'd make her day. She missed being able to call him
hers. Missed his eyes...his smile...his voice...his kisses...everything...even
his tattoos......just...him.
"Chin, I'll do whatever you want
to prevent anything bad from happening again, okay? Anything. If you want
to keep this quiet...I will. If you want me to say I don't have a girlfriend
at interviews...I will. If you want to wear masks when we go out alone..."
AJ glanced over and saw Chin smile. "I will."
"I don't think the last one will
be necessary," Chin said lightly.
"You never know." AJ cracked a smile,
getting Chin to laugh. "Chin... please. Let's give 'us' a try again..."
AJ scooted closer.
Chin took a deep breath. Damn him
and his ability to make sense of things... "Why do you have to do that?"
she whined.
"Do what?" AJ stopped moving and
looked at her curiously. Chin stopped pouting and scooted closer to AJ.
"Why do you have to be so damn sexy...?"
Chin grinned cheekily. AJ laughed.
"I try," he said, pulling her into
his lap. "So you're okay with this? You're not going to put up a massive
fight and then give into my sexy-ness?" AJ chuckled.
"Oh, did you want me to?" she pretended
to be deep-in-thought and got up.
"No!" AJ pulled her back down. Chin
smiled.
"I don't know... I mean... It's
been a year..." Chin looked up into AJ's eyes. "...and you still managed
to keep me just as crazy about you as I ever was." Chin looked down and
shrugged. AJ grinned and pulled her closer.
"I love you," he whispered. She
looked up, eyes wide. She hadn't heard that in so long... "What? Was it
something I said?" AJ laughed. Chin swatted him before pulling him closer
to her by his shirt. "Yes...?" he purred.
"And I love you..." she smiled and leaned in, their noses touching. "Not
to mention if somebody was going to get threatened now...it'd be Julie because
Nicky is the true 'heartthrob'..." Chin laughed. Before AJ could whine, she
kissed him.