Chapter Two: Holding.Me.Near

     It was midnight when he heard the front door open. He was sitting, cloaked in darkness, on a couch in the family room. To his knowledge, everyone else was asleep.
    We had spent the day talking and watching TV, with the exceptions of a walk around the neighborhood, fooz-ball and pool challenges in the gameroom, and meal arguments with food flying in the kitchen.
    She had left at about 5 PM...to meet up with Jack.
    Why did it bother him so much? The two were just seeing a movie and having some sort of dinner. Brian's opinion couldn't be right, could it?
    No.
    No, no, no, no...NO.
    It would ruin things. He had to ignore it.
    But why had he stayed up? He wasn't tired - that's it - he just wasn't sleepy...
     "Mmm...mmmm...mm...mmm..." he heard her humming a tune in the kitchen.
    "Probably getting something to drink," he mumbled to himself.
    He got up and followed her voice. Only a single light was on, but he could see her rummaging in the fridge for some juice. He walked up to the counter. She turned around, juice carton in hand.
    "Oh! Hi, Alex, you scared me," she smiled, startled at first by his presence. "What are you doing up?" she asked. "You better not have been waiting for me," she waved an accusing finger at him, grinning.
     "Couldn't sleep," he shrugged. She poured herself a glass of juice and returned the carton to the fridge. She put her hand out.
     "C'mon, let's go sit on a couch or something. We might as well be awake together," she smiled.
    He took her hand as she led him to the couch he had been sitting on for the past few hours. He turned off the light in the kitchen on their way out, but she didn't bother to turn any on in the family room. She sat down, pulled him to sit beside her, and took a sip from her glass before putting it on the table. "So, what did you guys do this evening?"
    "Nothing much..." he mumbled.
    He didn't want to care, or even want to ask her how her evening had been.
     "Alex, what's wrong? Are you sure you're not sleepy?" she asked, yawning herself. He shook his head and then smiled a bit.
     "I think you are," he commented, softly.
     "Maybe, maybe not..." She stretched and snuggled up against him. He held his breath for a second, then relaxed. He should have been used to this; there was no need to tense up. They sat in silence for awhile with the exception of the ticking clock on the wall...
 

    "I never knew how nice this really was."
    "I told you, you should try new things."
    "But lying down in the middle of a cul-de-sac?" Julie laughed.
    "It's peaceful, is it not?" Nick replied.
    "The stars do help...But stop with that 'told you so' attitude, Carter. I'll have you know, the ground IS cold, and prickly."
    "Asphalt tends to do that."
    "That's why I didn't want to be here in the first place!" Julie whined.
    "You yourself said you liked it, Jules," Nick laughed. Julie reached out and took hold of his shirt collar and pulled him from his position of lying down on his back beside her. She dragged his face above hers. "Ow!" he exclaimed, scraping across the road.
    "Remember what I told you about calling me that," she warned jokingly, still holding him by the collar. She used her other hand to point a finger on his nose.
    "I know, I know. I feel special," he smiled, wrapping his arms around her. "...Jules." He bent down and kissed her nose. She crinkled it in response.
    "Don't go using that name so liberally."
    "I won't," he kissed her nose again. "Promise."
    She crinkled her nose the third time he leaned down.
    "What's with your sudden fetish for noses?"
    "Not all noses...just yours," he grinned.
    "Is it my turn to feel special?"
    "Of course," whispered and he leaned in again. She moved her face so he missed, and got her cheek.
    "What if some old couple comes careening around the block in an old car? They'll have a heart attack!"
    "Why?"
    "Look at us, Nick."
    "I'm looking."
    "Watch those eyes of yours," Julie grabbed his chin so he'd look at her face. He smiled
    "Aw, I liked looking at you."
    "We must be breaking some sort of law."
    "What? Making out in the middle of dead-end street?"
    "Yes..." Julie blushed.
    "Do I care?" Nick raised an eyebrow.
    "No..." Julie smiled, as Nick kissed her nose again.
 

    "What you doing up so late, lil' missy?" Brian popped his head out onto the balcony, seeing Jenny's silhouette against the moonlight.
    "I dunno...Sarah's snoring?"
    "Very funny," he sat down beside her. "What's the real reason?"
    "Couldn't sleep. Just thinking..."
    "About?"
    "Um..."
    "You can't tell me?...Oh, now I'm hurt!"
    "Sorry..." she quietly apologized.
    "S'okay...you don't have to tell me everything...though it'd be nice..." Brian hugged her. Jenny closed her eyes to relish the moment. Why had she not cared about such a simple act so many months ago? And where did her feelings come from? Was she just mixing up the fact that she had missed him because he was on tour with the possible affection called love that didn't belong between them? - "It's cold out here..." Brian's teeth chattered. "Can we go inside?"
    "You may..."
    "And you?"
    "I'm not cold."
    "Superwoman or something?"
    "Huh?"
    "Miss 'I'm not cold'..."
    "Oh."
    "Be right back..."Brian got up and went inside. He returned with the blanket from Jenny's bed.
    "Hey, that's mine!" she whined.
    "Well, if you're not going inside, then I'm not either...and I'm cold, so I get to use your blanket cuz it's your fault I'm freezing out here in the first place!" he grinned. "Oh, by the way, Sarah does not snore."
    "Yeah, yeah..." Jenny smiled. She grabbed for her blanket. "Lemme have some, stop hogging all the covers!"
    "Heh, we prolly sound like newlyweds..." Brian laughed as Jenny made a face and lunged for the blanket. She tried not to think about what he had just said. "Hey, I thought you weren't cold!"
    "Well, it's my blanket!"
    "Fine, fine...I'll be a gentleman and share," he grinned, wrapping the two of them up snugly.
    "How considerate of you...but I'm squashed," Jenny complained.
    "Body heat is the best way to get warm," Brian laughed.
    "Well I'd rather have my blanket than be squished against you," Jenny snorted, squirming.
    "Then go back inside and go to bed..."
    "You are so difficult, mister."
    "No - you are, missy."
 

    "Chin, do you have any fears?" AJ asked...out of the blue, he realized.
     "Why do you ask...?" she murmured.
     "I don't know, actually. It just popped out..."
     "That's okay, Alex..." she sighed. "But do you really want to know?"
     "Yeah...unless you don't want to tell me..."
     "No, it's okay, I can tell you. But it's not a fear like of the dark or of spiders or something..."
    "Mm-hmm..." he listened.
    "Only 5 other people know, and it's the 5 other girls in this house..." she was whispering now.
    "I feel so left out," AJ pretended to pout.
    "You won't be if you listen," Chin smiled.
    "Gotcha." AJ covered his mouth with one of his hands, signaling that he would be quiet. Chin faintly smiled, took a deep breath, and continued.
    "One of my fears is to fall SO in love with someone and have them break my heart...Well, I mean everyone hates that...but it's an actual fear of mine. You know; afraid of getting hurt...so I don't let any guys get too close...I mean, even with friendships, I don't let guys get that close..." she trailed off. AJ fidgeted. "You're different, Alex," Chin continued. "...But I mean...even with Jack - he couldn't stand the fact that I didn't let him get too close; I wouldn't let him in, I wouldn't open up to him enough...so he broke up with me...Well, I mean, he cheated too, but that's a different story. It was partly because I wasn't what he wanted. We're still friends because I can't hold it against him, and he's a nice guy..." she sighed, and snuggled against AJ some more. "But every time someone asks me out, I automatically think it's a joke, no matter who the person is. Even if it's a good friend of mine..." she went on. AJ sighed and wrapped his arms around her. "And you know what? No one has told me they've loved me, not even Jack...I wouldn't let them," she sighed. "I dunno...this is all prolly really stupid..."
    "No it's not, hon," AJ hugged her. "Why didn't you tell me this before? I always thought it was odd how you weren't mad at Jack..."
    "I dunno, Alex. I'm sorry for not telling you before. Maybe I didn't feel like saying it over the phone, or something. You guys were away...But now, you're right here with me, and I can just talk easily to you..." she trailed off.
    "Shhh, don't worry about it," he held her tightly. "Just go to sleep, k?"
    "K..." she muttered sleepily. AJ rested his chin on the top of her head and listened to her breathing become steadier as she fell asleep. He closed his eyes and thought.
    "What do I do now, Chin?" he asked softly. "I don't want to hurt you. And even if I did follow whatever this feeling is, you wouldn't believe me. You just said so yourself. Should I just leave it be?" he whispered. "I don't even know if you would fall in love with me, Chin...But if you did, if you somehow did...who says I won't break your heart, by mistake?" She stirred a bit, and nuzzled into his neck, still asleep. "Can I forget about it?...Can I leave my feelings alone and ignore them, for you?...I don't want to scare you..."

Chapter Three: A.Day.With.No.Night
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