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Chapter 5: Lashing Out

AJ could almost feel Kevin's firey breath pounding down on him as the older man continued to sit on the end of the bed. His muscular arms were crossed menacingly across his chest and he didn't move an inch as AJ continued to stare back at him.

"Have a good time today?" came the raspy question from Kevin's mouth. The voice shocked AJ at first, it didn't sound like Kevin at all and it only made AJ all the more nervous.

But before AJ knew what to say, he found himself replying through complete anger at the fact that Kevin was invading his privacy. He didn't care how angry Kevin was. "Why the Hell do you care?"

"Ah, yes. I see you're feeling much better now," Kevin continued casually this time, but his voice still held that threatening raspiness in it. "Considering how Howie was really 'worried' because you were really sick this morning with the flu, that it was so bad, you couldn't even get out of bad. How quickly that changed, huh?"

AJ felt his blood boil. Now Kevin was just being a smartass.

"What are you doing in my room?" he hissed through clentched teeth.

"What the Hell did you think you were doing posing as being 'deathly' ill so you could skip today's meeting for no apparent reason?" Kevin shot back. He noticed Jameelah standing at AJ's side and he rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry, you went out with a girl...but still, no apparent reason."

"Get out," AJ ordered in a low voice and soon, the raspiness in his own voice matched that in Kevin's.

"Alex, maybe I should go," Jameelah spoke quietly, looking at the floor.

AJ looked at her and could see just how uncomfortable she was being thrown into this unwanted situation. He felt his anger continue to rise, and he too, crossed his arms over his chest. "No, that's not necessary..."

"No, I think I'm going to go," Jameelah answered and began to back up towards the door.

"You don't need to Jaymee," AJ told her, his eyes pleading with her not to leave. Damn Kevin, if he caused her to leave.

"I don't have a right to be here right now, Alex..." Jameelah replied. "You have my number. You can call me if you want to." With that, Jameelah walked out of the open doorway, dissappearing into the hall.

"Jaymee!" AJ called after her as he ignored Kevin and sprinted out the door. "Jaymee, please, you don't need to leave!" he yelled to her as she neared the elevator, but now she was ignoring him. He felt the hurt well inside him as he watched her step into the elevator without looking back, and then she was gone.

He felt himself losing it at that moment as he stormed back into his hotel room and marched directly over to Kevin. "Who the Hell do you think you are?!" he nearly screamed as Kevin looked up at him with vacant eyes. "Answer me damnit! I can't believe you made her do that!"

"I didn't make her do shit, AJ! I want to know who the Hell you think you are pulling what you did today! What makes you think you have the right to up and ditch the whole group and miss an important meeting? Huh? Tell me that one AJ, because I would sure like to know!" Kevin growled, standing up without a second's notice.

"You have no fucking right to be harassing me like this!" AJ growled back, not backing down. He wouldn't give Kevin that satisfaction, not after what Kevin had just pulled.

"Harassing you?" Kevin asked in mock disbelief with a laugh. "I'm not harassing you Alexander, I'm telling you the way it is! I'm getting real sick and tired of you being a real selfish jerk who thinks everything has to revolve around yourself. You're doing a piss poor job of showing how much you care about this group and everyone is tired of it! They're tired of your attitude! Except I'm the only one who has the guts to tell you!"

AJ blinked in shock at the words that spewed from his friend's mouth. "Get the Hell out now," his hissed, his hands clentching into fists. His heart was pounding with his rising level of anger and he had to try with all his might to keep himself from swinging a fist at Kevin's head.

He couldn't believe that Kevin had said all of that to him. He didn't even know Kevin had the nerves to tell him such things, and at one time AJ had actually looked up to Kevin? He was about ready to take all of that back if Kevin didn't leave his sight within seconds.

"No, I'm not leaving until what I have to say is planted deep within that brain of your's!"

That was it. AJ couldn't take it anymore. It was bad enough Kevin had been on his case all week about things, and yes, he'd been able to deal with it partly. It was even worse that Kevin was the reason that Jameelah left so abruptly, but what pissed AJ off the most was that Kevin didn't have the decency to show enough respect to leave when he was told to. That's what pushed AJ over the edge and caused him to do what he did next.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM!!!" AJ screamed, tackling Kevin to the floor. The next few moments whizzed by in what seemed like a matter of milliseconds. If AJ tried to think about it, he didn't even realize what he was doing.

"Get off me AJ!" Kevin yelled, paralized under AJ with shock.

"You stupid bastard!" AJ continued to scream and his fist came flying down into the side of Kevin's head.

"Holy shit!"

AJ didn't look up from using Kevin as a punching bag as the panicked voice sounded from the doorway to his room. The tears were now running down his face as he tried to throw punch after punch, and it wasn't until a strong pair of hands yanked him off of Kevin and tackled him to the floor did he finally cry out.

Despite his vision being blurry now from the salty tears, AJ could make out Howie's form pinning him down. "What the Hell Alex?!" he was screaming down at him, but AJ ignored him for a second, paralized and confused. He looked past Howie and saw the form of Brian kneeling down next to Kevin. Kevin was still laying on the ground, his chest heaving as he pinched his nose with two fingers. Brian quickly reached for a bundle of tissues from the kleenex box on the nightstand and held them tightly to Kevin's nose as he helped him sit up. That's when AJ realized to the full extent about the damage he had just caused.

Besides the 'death stare' Kevin was giving him, there was a small stream of blood running down the side of Kevin's face, from beneath the tissues that Brian was being careful to hold against his cousin's nose. A dark bruise had already begun to form on the side of Kevin's left temple from the punch that AJ had first thrown at Kevin's head.

'Oh God...' AJ's mind reeled as Howie continued to pin him. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He didn't think he would ever be capable of doing something like that to a friend, especially Kevin. But he had, and now the tears fell harder.

"Answer me Alexander!" Howie continued to yell at him, and that's when AJ finally looked up at his best friend. He was shocked to be met with a look of pure terror in his friend's dark eyes.

But AJ couldn't answer him.

Howie's expression flashed from pure terror, to concern, and back to pure terror as he studied AJ's face and the tears running down his cheeks.

"Ouch! Shit Brian!" Kevin cried out in pain, wincing as his cousin accidently bumped his abdominal area. He immediately wanted to lay down again, but with an apologetic look, Brian didn't let him.

"Do you think you can stand up Cuz?" Brian asked instead.

Kevin seemed to think about the question for a second before he nodded and allowed Brian to carefull pull him up from the ground. He stumbled a little bit, wincing some more, and leaned on his little cousin for support.

"I'm taking Kev to the ER to get his nose checked out. Thanks to somebody, it might now be broken!" Brian announced in a tone that niether AJ, Howie, nor Kevin had ever heard before.

AJ opened his mouth to apologize, but nothing but a gasp of air came rushing out. He felt several of his tears drip into mouth and he cringed from the taste. He knew he had really screwed up now. Kevin had to of hated him now after what he had just done, and by the look Brian was giving him, it seemed worse then the one Kevin's face held, and if AJ wasn't mistaken, he knew Brian had lost all respect he'd ever had for him.

But AJ didn't blame any of them for hating him now.

He'd really screwed up big time.

With a sudden burst of energy, he came out of his paralasis and pushed Howie away from him and jumped up from the floor. Before Howie could react, AJ bolted from the room, not looking back at his three bandmates.