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Chapter 28: Affairs of the Heart

A cloud of silence hung over the heads of the two people as they stood patiently within the confines of the tiny see-through elevator. The pair of chocolate eyes focused on the floor counter located near the ceiling in anticipation of the arrival the elevator would make at the correct floor, trying to keep himself occupied while he thought of something to say to break the ice. "So, was breakfast worth it?" Howie questioned lamely, still watching the counter. Yes, lame was a definite understatement for that question.

"Before or after our toast argument?" Jeanie replied with her own question, her voice hinting at the slightest bit of humor as her gaze met with Howie’s, if only for a moment. She could see him visibly sighing silently and she had to keep from laughing out loud. "Who would have thought someone could argue about toast?" Jeanie laughed softly when Howie didn’t speak up. "But in all truth, breakfast was great. I really appreciate you inviting me to have breakfast with you and I promise to pay you back as soon as we get to the next town and I can get to a bank."

Howie couldn’t help but stare at Jeanie with wonder, before he finally replied with a strong, "There’s no need for you to do that. Breakfast was my treat", his eyes once again traveling up to the floor counter which had the elevator positioned somewhere between the first and second floor.

"I still want to pay you back."

"I won’t accept."

Jeanie frowned slightly as Howie spoke. "You sure are stubborn, huh?" She watched as Howie shrugged, but the smile he offered her let her know that he had taken the comment lightly. "Thank-you again, though."

"Anytime," Howie nodded, finally noticing the elevator was catching up to speed and they were now between the second and third floor. "Maybe we...can...do this again sometime? But I highly suggest we don’t have breakfast and we don’t go somewhere that serves toast."

"Agreed," Jeanie laughed as she playfully punched Howie in the arm. "And if it means anything to you, the chef here burnt my toast this morning."

*DING*

The metal doors, which were one of the only things that weren’t see through in the elevator, slid open to allow it’s occupants to step out and land their feet on the tile flooring. Subconsciously, Howie looked both ways down the hall before fully stepping out of the elevator with Jeanie in close toe at his side. No crazy teenyboppers named Becky and Reese were roaming the hallways this time; Howie was thankful for that. "So..." he drawled, looking for a conversation sparker as they made their journey down the hallway towards Jeanie’s hotel room. Stupid toast argument killed the mood, Howie could swear to it. "Uh..."

"Cat got your tongue?" Jeanie teased, stopping to look at him as they reached her door. She hesitated with the keycard as she waited for Howie to answer. He seemed to be stumbling over his words horribly. "Or did you just forget your ability to speak down in the resteraunt?"

"The latter," Howie mumbled in return, his cheeks turning a shade of crimson to evidence his embarrassment. As a nervous habit, he stuck his hands in his pants pockets and looked around for a second. "How are you planning on getting to the next town?" he finally asked with curiosity, diverting his attention back Jeanie.

"The car that was provided to me when I flew in to join you guys," Jeanie answered, not fully understanding the question that had been posed. "Why do you ask?"

"Would you want to take the tour bus with the fellas and I to the next town? I can arrange to have one of the body gaurds drive your car there?" Howie almost blurted the question too quickly and he felt the stupidity course through him. Things really weren't moving smoothly for him that day and it was still early. Not a good sign...

To say Jeanie was surprised by Howie's offer would be an understatement and she had to stop to think about it for a minute. It didn't help that Howie was anxiously awaiting her answer, but she thought the look he held on his face was rather cute. "The offer sounds appealing, as I would like the chance to be able to hang out with you guys some more, to get to know you all better, but..." Jeanie bit down on her bottom lip before quickly adding, "I still need to pack."

'A simple 'no' would have suited me just fine' Howie thought, shrugging as he worked to mask his dissappointment. "No problem. I guess I will see you in the next town then. I mean, the fellas and I will see you."

"Yeah."

"Alright."

"Oh, could you do me a favor and remind AJ as soon as you see him that I need to speak with him and his mother as soon as I get there?"

"Sure thing."

With that being said, Jeanie smiled and shut the door, dissappearing from Howie's sight. Bringing a hand up to his face, he shielded his eyes and shook his head defeatedly. That certainly had not gone the way he had planned it to. Then again, how exactly had he planned on it going? "Dangit," he grumbled and turned away from the door. Time had flown by, Howie could tell by glancing at his watch, and he knew they were due to leave very soon, but he was suddenly turned against the idea of heading back to his room to retrieve his luggage. If anything, he could just pull the "Dorough Lazy Act" and have his bodyguard get it before they left. Afterall, in his mind, he was allowed to have lazy moments every once in a while. Everyone else did. So for now, Howie decided on changing his direction so he were en-route to AJ's room again. Might as well make sure his friend was awake and getting ready. What are best friends for? Ok, and so...maybe he wanted to rave about what just happened.

Turning away from Jeanie's door, Howie willed his feet to move in the direction of the nearest elevator. To reach AJ he needed to travel two floors up to the fifth. 'And why for once can't we have rooms all on the same floor?' his mind grumbled. 'That would be called wishful thinking, D' he mentally answered himself. Whistling as he continued along his way, Howie attempted to force his mind to focus on other thoughts besides that morning's breakfast 'catastrophy', only failing in the end. Letting his mind wander caused him to nearly miss the elevator as it began to close after the boarding of a plump elderly woman who sported the whitest hair Howie had ever seen. "Ma'am! Hold the elevator!" he yelled as he sprinted down the hall, nearly losing his balance several times.

The elderly woman shot him an uneasy expression, clearly taken aback by his lack of manners as he ran like a mad man in order to catch the elevator. However, in order to be polite, she obliged to his request and used a plump finger to depress the correct button that would keep the elevator doors from shutting. "A man who is in a hurry is a man who does not know how to manage his time," was her less the friendly greeting as Howie slid to a stop inside.

Howie glanced sideways at the woman but had enough respect to not say anything in return. Instead he reached for the fifth floor button, then rested his back against the wall to catch his breath. The ride was spent in silence and when the woman got off on the fourth floor, Howie sighed in relief. Only moments later did the doors slide open again and Howie stepped out onto indentical flooring as the ones below. "Morning," he greeted with a smile to a fairly young maid he passed, who in return smiled shyly, recognition crossing her eyes.

'Now, would it be wishful thinking to wonder if Aje is actually up and getting ready to leave right now?' Howie smirked to himself about the thought as he neared AJ's door. Surely AJ had learned his lesson by now about giving himself enough time to get ready before their departures...then again... Howie knocked and waited in the silence of the deserted hall. But like always, seconds went by and of course he recieved no answer. 'Yes, I do believe it would be wishful thinking' he thought as he proceeded to knock again. And a third time. And a forth time. And a-

"Hold on, already!" the gruff voice that belonged to his best friend called out from inside, clearly annoyed from Howie's persistant knocking. The lock on the door clicked and the handle visibly moved. Then, "Give me a break. I'm not prefectly mobile at the- oh, it's only you, D."

"Who'd you think it was?" Howie laughed, unable to hide his amusement caused by AJ's current state of appearance.

"Who else knocks like a fool until the door is answered?"

"Um, Nick- Wait a minute! You calling me a fool, amigo?"

AJ could only grin.

"Not funny."

"Ah, c'mon! Have a sense of humor, D." AJ limped aside and allowed the shorter latino to enter the room. He grimaced, though, as he unconsciously applied an unwated amount of pressure on his right knee. Nearly stumbling from the brief stabbing pain, AJ hoped he'd hidden his actions, but immediately knew Howie had noticed his discomfort because the latino was already moving to retrieve the set of crutches that were propped against the wall. AJ sighed. Here it came...

"The doc told you to use these for a reason," Howie reprimanded lightly as he pushed the crutches into AJ's hands. He stood there defiantly until the rebel gave in and placed each one under both arms and fixed to balance his weight on them. "And the brace, also."

"Yeah, yeah, mother Dorough. What's your point?" AJ trailed, trying to make light of his discomfort.

"Unless you want to be a gimp in pain for the rest of your life, I suggest you start wearing that brace and use the crutches like you were ordered to."

"But that would totally go against my image. Ya know, AJ McLean never follows the rules or listens to what he is told." AJ grinned, satisfied with his answer that seemed to silence his shorter friend. Either that, or Howie just wasn't in the mood to argue that morning. Oh well, AJ could deal with that for the most part. He'd just have to create a pointless argument with Nick later that day. Carefree entertainment on Nick's behalf... Who wouldn't go for that? "So what are you doing here anyway? I thought you were...uh, having "breakfast" with my therapist?"

Howie's eyes narrowed while watching AJ using emphasis around the word 'breakfast'. He shouldn't have been so surprised that AJ's sick sense of humor would surface at that moment, as the rebel never failed to let his humor turn up at the worst of times. "I did have breakfast with her. Nothing more and nothing less, moron."

"Hey! No need to be dishin' the attitude, yo!" Clearly AJ was getting a kick out of this just by looking at the expression residing on his face. And he continued, "C'mon, D. Who you tryin' to fool? Admit it! You got some quick nookie and you're here to brag about it!"

Howie had to laugh outloud. "Right, J."

AJ's eyes lit up like christmas lights on a tree. "I'm right! Aren't I!"

Howie shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"You, my friend, are really deprived."

"AJ, shut up for once."

"Ok, ok. Fine. Just tell me what went on. Or...I'm just going to have to bring it up in my next session-"

"I wouldn't be surprised if she brings it up..." Howie proceeded to mumble under his breath.

"Oh really?" AJ's eyebrows were raised with interest and he hobbled over to the bed to make himself a bit more comfortable. "Do tell. Did the almighty Latin Lover make a complete and utter fool out of himself?"

"I'd say that's an understatement," Howie answered.

"Now I have got to hear this."

"Why is my undeniable bad luck so interesting to you?"

"Entertainment, D. Pure, free entertainment. That, and you're also my bro, which entitles me the right to make fun of you whenever I please."

"You'd make fun of me even if I wasn't your 'bro'."

AJ seemed to be contemplating Howie's statement thoughtfully and he finally answered, "very true," with a continuous nod of his head. Carelessly tossing a pillow to the end of the bed and propping his leg up, he egged the shorter latino on with the story. "So, spill it before I lose my patience. I mean, how difficult can having breakfast with a lady be?"

"Add me, Jeanie, and toast together in an equation and you have problems."

"Toast, D? If you ask me, it's you who has problems."

"I'm not the one who started an argument over toast."

"But, seriously...toast!"

Howie groaned. "Yeah, man, tell me about," he sighed, collapsing into the chair nearest to him. "I swear I offended her by asking her to have breakfast with me. You'd think it'd be no big deal, right? Well, obviously I was wrong and made a mistake. We get down to the restaraunt right? And Jeanie suddenly gets up saying she has to run back up to her room and grab some cash real quick. I say no, that breakfast is on me and to order whatever she wants. So what does she want to order?"

"I'ma take a stab at it...um...toast?"

Howie rolled his eyes. "Smartass."

"Guilty."

"And that's where the whole argument started."

"Over the fact that she wanted to order toast? What's so wrong with that?"

"Give me a break, Aje. She felt like she was putting me out by having me pay for her. In her words she felt like she was "an inconvenience" to me. And she still claims she's going to pay me back! ...What's so funny?"

Indeed, AJ was left in a fit of laughter from where he sat, shaking his head in humor at his clearly troubled friend. "You, my friend, are...oh man, D, I don't even know what to tell you. How you managed to screw up...heh, whoo, really-"

"I don't find this to be particularly funny."

"Dude, I do."

Howie narrowed his eyes. "Some friend you are, ya know?"

"Well, I try," AJ grinned. "I still can't see how you managed to screw up a perfect chance."

Howie began to seriously wonder if AJ knew the meaning, the true meaning, of being serious. Propose the question in reference to Nick, and without hesitation Howie would answer "no". Propose it in reference to Brian, the answer would have to be sometimes, but more often then not Brian would vote for the less serious approach. With Kevin, well there wasn't even a need to think about it. Kevin's specialty in life was the aspect of seriousness. Howie couldn't even count the number of times Kevin had lectured AJ, Brian, and Nick in their earlier days about the importance of acting serious in the strict and tough business they were in. Howie usually found a way to keep himself out of such lectures. "A perfect chance?" Howie finally coughed out, "Chance for what? I only wanted to have breakfast with-"

Howie was interrupted and AJ never had the chance to reply as they both heard a series of short, sharp knocks coming from across the room. Neither made a move to get up and answer whoever was on the other side of the door. As the knocking persisted, AJ shot a sickeningly sweet smile towards Howie. "Mind answering the door, D? The doc told me not to put too much unwanted stress on my knee and I'd hate to go against his wishes and all."

"Since when do you ever listen?" Howie mumbled under his breath, ignoring the grin that had appeared on AJ's face as Howie stood up and ventured over to the door. Squinting into the tiny peep hole and seeing the impatient expression on his bodyguard's face as the large man stood in the hall, Howie paused. Time to go? He contemplated whether or not he wanted to open the door. But seeing as he didn't feel like being dished a lecture so early in the morning, Howie grasped the handle and slowly, to draw effect to the moment, pulled it open.

"Been looking all over for you, Dorough. Where ya been?" Scott demanded an answer immediately, arms crossed over his chest with a dark demeanor to match his rough voice. There was no chance for mistakening him as not being bodyguard. Quite stereotypical if you thought about it.

Howie opened his mouth to answer, but AJ had already beaten him to it. "'Ey, Scotty!" AJ called out. "Dorough boy here was having breakfast with a lady friend."

"Got a new love interest, huh?" Scott smirked towards the shorter man.

Howie sighed. "No, just a friend who I invited to have breakfast with me. Since when is that such a big deal?"

"And this friend of his just happens to be Jeanie."

"That english woman?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, my therapist. Nice, huh?"

"Dawg," Scott chuckled with humor.

"Not a love interest," Howie growled under his breath.

"C'mon dawg, you want her to be more then a friend. Admit it!"

"I think not," Howie answered after a few seconds of not saying a word. He could just see how much humor they were finding in this. Howie came to the conclusion that he obviously just needed to keep his mouth shut about such things as he knew the others were always up to giving him a hard time about it. "Time to head out?" was the lame attempt he used at changing the subject away from him. Scott's demeanor immediately changed to the same look of impatience that Howie had seen when he peered through the peep hole only short moments before.

Scott nodded. "Yeah and we're running a bit behind schedule, too," he answered in careful explanation. AJ, of course, sniggered to himself, making absolutely no movement to get up and gather his things. Maybe being injured like he was did have it's positive sides. He'd definitely take that one into consideration. "Just taking a long shot in thinking that y'all actually care for once, you were scheduled to leave going on twenty minutes ago. Everyone else is already packed up and on the bus, waiting."

"As if that's ever a first," AJ mumbled, sitting up and throwing his legs over the side of the bed. He grimaced in pain as he stood up; knee injuries were absolutely the shits. "Hey, Howie...mind helping me with my bags?"

"Yeah, I mind," Howie answered in his utmost serious tone.

"Dude, that was harsh."

"Payback's a bitch, Aje."

AJ fell silent after that comment and in his head began to plan a way on getting Howie back for that one. Ten minutes later and after bribing Howie's bodyguard with a piece of crisp green and white paper to carry his luggage, AJ was hobbling beside the other two as they made their way down to the lobby to join the others on the bus and kick it out of town and onto the next stop. It didn't take much for the occupants in the elevator to notice the lobby was completely filled to compacity and beyond; all they had to do was look out and down through the see-through glass walls. "Forget to tell us something, Scotty?"

"Unfortunately for you, the crowd has seemed to of doubled in size since the others passed  through," Scott smirked in reply.

"No, not unfortunate for us. We love our fans," AJ answered absentmindedly, wondering just how hard it would be to pass through this. Then again, maybe it would do himself some good to stop and chat for a minute or two. He owed the fans that much at least and hey, anything to delay their departure would bring him humor, strangely enough.

"Finally found the missing stooges?" Jeff, AJ's bodyguard, spoke in an odd loud tone of voice as the elevator doors slid open upon arrival at the lobby floor. The air was filled with a raised level of noise as a group of fans pressed forward towards the last two Backstreet Boys making an appearance in the lobby before the group's departure, which in turn set everyones' attention in their direction.

Not preparing himself for once, AJ was taken offguard as flashes of lights went off in his face, cries of, "Omg, AJ!", "AJ,. over here!", "AJ!!!", and items such as cd jackets, notepads, and posters were thrust at him from all angles. He grinned. Shooting a look to his left where Howie was already becoming overwhelmed and surrounded by the fans, AJ grasped the first thing he could, a minature group poster from a tiny
dark-haired boy, after balancing his crutches rather uncomfortably under his armpits. And so he set to signing picture, after poster, after cd jacket, taking picture, after picture, after picture for almost fifteen minutes time. Actually, that was a short period of time relevant to what they usually spent interacting with the fans. But the two bodyguards were now pressing them forward towards the lobby doors. AJ quickly threw off seven other sloppy autographs and five pictures as Jeff directed him through the crowd; Howie was already being pushed out the door by Scott. He found himself wishing he could stay behind in the lobby even longer, despite the fatigue he was feeling, but there was no chance of that happening that day.

"I'm taking a wild stab at this, but uh...I'd say we're in a hurry?" AJ said as he hobbled quickly towards the tour bus with the aid of Jeff.

"You're a smartass, AJ. A real smartass," Jeff chuckled and with that, he pushed AJ on board.

*****

AJ found it amazing that silence could seem so overpoweringly loud when you were alone and left with nothing but a head full of thoughts. Too much time on your hands could really get you to think about stuff that you normally wouldn't think of. Exhaustion had also crept into every crevess of AJ's body, which led to where he was now, lying atop the comforter in his bunk feeling tired beyond belief but not having the energy to close his eyes and sleep. However strange that sounded. Of course he'd attempted to catch a few hours of slumber, but ended up sprawled on his back staring at the bunk ceiling through the darkness after tossing and turning. It didn't help much that his knee was flaring with a dull throbbing pain. So AJ finally opted to just lay there and think.

He was still feeling plagued with the guilt of having hurt Kevin's feelings with all that he had said the day before. Releasing all of those thoughts from his mind was supposed to lift a heavy weight from his chest, but it seemed to only press an even heavier weight down instead. So much for the first group therapy session being helpful. No, it wasn't helpful at all, AJ thought. It only succeeding in rounding up more stress for him to feel and worry about.

AJ hadn't honestly meant to say as much as he did at that one time. Especially toward Kevin. It was just that he had been presented with the first real opportunity to open up to the fellas and every thought and feeling that had been welling up came rushing out and he didn't know how and when to stop. He didn't take the time to think that maybe he was doing more damage then good by cornering Kevin during the session. Now feelings had been hurt and AJ was left feeling crappy rather then relieved.

Kevin seemed to have become pretty withdrawn, not just from AJ, but the group in general. His facial expressions were downcasted, his eyes void of much life and spark. His demeanor had become quiet and he seemed to be in a state of melancholy. Kevin had spoken little to anyone in the past twenty four hours and had retired to the seclusion of his bunk since they had left for the next stop. Actually, AJ hadn't seen the older Kentuckian when he'd hopped on the bus. Given the chance, AJ was ready to take Kevin aside and apologize. But how he was going to be able to do that when Kevin was avoiding him, AJ was left with no clue.

AJ was also left wondering how much of an effect his words had left on the others. Although they tried not to be so obvious, they had become the slightest bit careful when talking to him. Nick was blunt about it more so then Brian and Howie, but AJ had to give the blonde credit. Nick hated getting on anyone's bad side and he was more then willing to go out of his way to keep from being the reason of someone's anger. Which explained why Nick had been acting oddly nice towards AJ since the therapy session had ended. But that didn't bother AJ so much as did Kevin avoiding him. Now he really needed to think of a way of mending that problem.

And still there was Jameelah that consumed every other thought AJ had. Going on two days and still AJ hadn't worked up enough courage to ignore her request and give her a call. Maybe it was the simple fact that she sounded so angry when she'd told him not to contact her again that was keeping him from calling her. He felt she deserved that much respect. But on the other side, AJ felt he deserved the same respect to know what he'd done wrong. The fact that his conscience was tearing his judgement in two directions didn't make things any easier. His mind kept reminding him that he barely knew this girl, yet his heart argued relentlessly that it didn't matter how long he'd known her. He'd felt a connection spark instantly the moment he'd met her and to him, that would be something he would be stupid to ignore.

And AJ couldn't ignore it, even if he wanted to.

He could only begin to wonder when his life would stop being so complicated and begin to get easier to live. Maybe that would never happen. Only time would tell and AJ was beginning to think he was becoming tired of waiting. Feeling so exhausted and not being able to sleep wasn't helping his mood at all, either. Rather it drug him into deeper, darker thoughts and an unhappy state of being. Silence wasn't being much of a friend at the moment also.

Finally AJ sat up, grunting in the process and throwing his hand above him before he succeeded in knocking his head a good one against the ceiling. He was accomplishing nothing other then wasting his time by just laying there. It was obvious he would be getting no sleep. So AJ decided, after thinking of nothing better to do, to make his way towards the entertainment room in the back of the bus and check if anyone was in there. Maybe watch an hour of tv, or sit in silence...again. Anything besides being in the confines of the dark bunk.

AJ pulled the drapes open and without giving it any thought, tossed his set of crutches out, only to cringe as they made a rather loud racket upon hitting the floor. 'Whoops' he immediately thought, biting down on his bottom lip as he paused for a moment to see if he had disturbed anyone. His biggest fear being Kevin. Not hearing any other sound though, he carefully tossed his legs over the side and prepared to jump down to some extent. But AJ didn't get very far before he felt himself collide with something and he had to quickly reach out and grab the edge of his bunk to keep from falling to the floor, and found himself inches away from slamming his bad knee into the wall. A string of obscenities escaped beneath his breath as he looked up.

AJ froze.

Kevin stood before him, looking no more then barely affected from AJ colliding with him. His emerald eyes were dull in color and looked glazed over, holding dark bags beneath them. It looked as if Kevin hadn't gotten any sleep lately and AJ seriously began to wonder about it. But before AJ couldn't open his mouth to say a single word, Kevin shot him a "glare" of some sorts that he couldn't decipher between being a look of anger or sadness. Then Kevin walked past AJ, disappearing as quickly as he had appeared and not giving AJ the chance to call after him.

AJ was left in a silent stupor as he stared in the direction that Kevin had just retreated. If looks could kill... AJ shook his head with a small sigh and gathered his crutches before making his way towards the back. He stopped only shortly in the kitchen area, thanking God that it was deserted, and retrieved an icepack from the freezer, then continued forward into the back.

Unfortunately for AJ, he found the entertainment room not to be empty, but occupied by a sleeping Brian who was sprawled out on the single couch in quite a funny looking position; he was laying with his upper body hanging over the edge, an arm draped across his chest and the other resting against the floor, mouth wide open and snoring lightly. AJ couldn't keep a chuckle from escaping his lips and he suddenly wished he had a camera handy as this could definitely be classified as a picture perfect Kodac moment. Making up for the absence of a camera, AJ reached for one of the couch pillows and tossed it at Brian's head, hoping to at least get some sort of reaction out of his friend. But all he got was an incoherent mumble from Brian that he couldn't even begin to imagine what was actually said. AJ hobbled over to the opposite end of the couch and collapsed onto it. "Wake up, 'Rok," he said, kicking lightly at Brian's limp arm.

This time Brian grumbled and moved in a way that looked as if he were trying to lay on his side, which resulted in him falling all of the way off of the couch. AJ waited silently, expecting Brian to wake up and wonder what the heck he was doing on the floor, but instead Brian reached for the pillow that had been tossed at him seconds before and continued to sleep. AJ looked on in disbelief and kicked at his friend again. "Wake up," he repeated, kicking Brian once more. It was no use as the only response he got was incoherent mumbles and a snore to match. Now this was something different. Brian the unwakable?

"Dude, Leighanne's on the phone for you." AJ grinned, figuring that ought to wake Brian up in an instance.

Bingo.

"No she's not," Brian grumbled, holding the pillow tighter beneath his head and refusing to open his eyes.

"Fine, the bus broke down."

"No it didn't."

"Nick needs your help?" AJ tried with raised eyebrows.

"No he doesn't," was Brian's short reply.

"Kevin needs your help?"

"He's sleeping."

AJ was about to tell Brian otherwise when he noticed the remote for the tv clutched in the hand that had been draped over Brian's chest. He quickly grasped it and began to channel surf away from whatever the heck it was that Brian had been watching before he fell asleep.

"Hey! I was watchin' that!" Brian was quick to protest as he peeked an eye open.

"Tell ya what, when you can give me proof that having both eyes closed and snoring is a way of watching tv, then I'll give it back," AJ smirked, knowing damn well that Brian wouldn't be able to make a good come back to that one. And he found himself to be right about that as Brian sloppily threw the pillow at him, which he was easily able to duck out of the way. His smile broadened.

"Was your only purpose coming in here to bother me?"

"No, but I woke you up didn't I?"

"I wasn't sleeping," Brian immediately tried to protest with a strangled yawn as he struggled to get up from the floor. He fell back on the couch.

"Sure you weren't, 'Rok..." AJ tried.

"Thought you yourself were sleeping," Brian replied.

"No luck," AJ shrugged. "Too much on my mind."

"I see."

AJ shrugged a second time as he continued to click through different channels, praying beyond hope that he would find something remotely interesting on. But knowing his luck... "Your cousin hates me," he suddenly blurted without giving any thought.

"Say what?" Brian choked out through a cough, turning to look at AJ. He was met with a look of complete confusion but utter seriousness, which caused Brian's eyebrows to furl in his own confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Kevin hates me."

"What do you mean he hates you? Why?"

"Yesterday...during the session," AJ stated quietly. "Everything I said. I think he hates me now."

"I highly doubt that, J," Brian replied while searching for any trace in AJ's facial expressions that he were only joking, but AJ remained completely serious. Brian continued carefully, "If anything...he...probably thinks you hate him."

AJ nearly scuffed, slapping the icepack against his knee. "I don't hate him."

"Yeah, we know that, but he probably doesn't."

"I was a real asshole towards him."

"In all honesty J, you bruised his ego and his pride by telling him a truth of a matter that he didn't want to face," Brian tried to reason. "I mean, heh, you know how Kev can be sometimes."

"I really think I hurt his feelings though," AJ said.

"So he got his feelings hurt. But in the end, J, he respects you more because you made him see how he was acting," Brian answered, "And he'd rather know that then not know it."

AJ could begin to see where Brian was going with that, but he couldn't completely rid the guilt he was feeling. "Well, he sure has a funny way of showing that gratitude."

"Like I said, Kev got his feelings hurt and he's dealing with it in his own way."

"Yeah, I guess," AJ shrugged, tossing the remote to the space between him and Brian on the couch. He'd lost all intrest in finding anything to watch.

"Don't let it eat away 'atcha. Kev will come back around once he realizes that you don't hate him. Trust me, I know my cousin."

AJ nodded. "Thanks."

"Anytime. But uh, I'ma head to my bunk for more sleep."

"Knock yourself out."

"You should get some sleep too, J. You look like shit." Brian couldn't have looked anymore serious as he said this.

And AJ chuckled in return. "Yeah, yeah, you Kentucky Fried Chicken. I wouldn't be talking if I were you."