Chapter One-Hundred-Ten
Meanwhile, at the grocery store, everybody had split up with different items that they need to get. Jackie had made everybody a list of things. They all divided up into groups. AJ, Howie, Laila, and Ryan were all in a group, then there was Kori, Wiley, and Spencer. Spencer would have gone with Ryan, but he still has not even made an attempt to apologize to Ellie, so he refuses to have anything to do with him. BJ and Leslie took off together, while Aaron and Angel wandered around the store by themselves, and that left Kevin, Riley, Jackie, Denise, and Harold to all shop together. While AJ, Howie, and their kids were walking around the store, Laila was walking beside AJ who was holding on firmly to her hand. She looked around the store with great wonder for awhile - so many big and interesting things to look at. Howie who was walking next to Ryan with his hand placed on his shoulder, eyed Laila warily as he noticed AJ was having to walk real slow in order for her tiny legs to keep up.
"Aje...I told you to put her in the cart. Wouldn't that be so much easier?"
"But what is the fun in that?" AJ asked, looking at his friend with a pout. "I'm sure she would much rather walk around then sit in a boring cart."
"I would have thought you would find excitement in pushing her around the store in a grocery cart," Howie replied while rolling his eyes.
"Eh..." AJ replied indifferently.
"Come on Alex, it would be so much easier if you would. You would move faster...and what if you have to let go of her hand for a minute to get something? She could wander off alone and then what?"
"I won't let go of my baby. I'll just make you go and get whatever that is when the moment comes." AJ insisted.
"I am not going to do all the work here."
"Well, you have to if you don't want a lost two year old on your conscious."
"My conscious?! I'm not the one refusing to put her in a cart!" Howie snapped, and he suddenly stopped pushing the cart and looked at him.
"Come on just do it."
"No."
"Yes!" Howie demanded exasperatedly, and he went to pick Laila up, but AJ beat him to it and held her close to him.
"MINE."
"You two fight like a married couple with disagreements over their children." Aaron's voice was suddenly heard, as he and Angel came up beside AJ. AJ scowled.
"What is with you Carter people and the gay jokes about me and D?"
"Hey I'm just telling you what you two sound like, that's all." AJ rolled his eyes.
"We do not fight like a married couple!" He insisted, and he placed Laila in the front seat of the cart and pulled it away from Howie. "We get a long just fine, like normal best friends." He added, and with that he walked off with the cart.
"Come on D I can't shop without that list in your hand."
"Offensive much?" Angel laughed.
"He gets the same shit from Nick every single day, so it bugs him." Howie replied, laughing a little himself.
"D! Now!" AJ suddenly called and Howie jumped a little.
"Coming Alex dear!" He teased, and Aaron and Angel both broke down into hysterics, Aaron almost rolling around on the floor and passerby's stared at them funny. Howie grabbed Ryan's hand then and led him off toward AJ who he noticed turned into the candy isle. When he caught up to him he shook his head.
"The list says nothing about getting candy, McLean."
"No, but Laila does." AJ replied, indicating toward the eager little girl sitting in the cart — her eyes big and round as she eyed all of the candy on the shelves.
"Candy! Candy! Candy!" She began to chant when she noticed AJ had stopped, and she began to lean out toward the shelves, as she grabbed onto the handle of the cart and started shaking it in attempt to get closer. AJ laughed.
"Alright kid, keep your diaper on," he told her, and he gently set her back down again. "See? She insists upon it." Howie shook his head smiling.
"Your funeral not mine. She's your kid, you're going to be cleaning her up afterward."
"What do you mean my funeral? It's just candy."
"Yeah — one bite of it and she'll be bouncing off the walls. Even Nick knows better then to give Kota candy when he doesn't want a hyper kid on his hands."
"Yeah well that's different. Kota is naturally hyper — to give her sugar would be suicide."
"If you say so," Howie replied shrugging his shoulders.
"Can I have candy too?" Ryan suddenly asked, looking up at Howie.
"Ask AJ. He is the candy-giving man today," Howie replied, grinning some.
"Why of course you can," AJ replied, ruffling the little boy's hair. "Pick something out. Whatever you'd like." He told him, and he lifted Laila out of the cart and brought her over to the candy.
"That means you too, little miss." He told her, and he began to walk her a long the shelves, allowing her to pick as much candy as she wants and Howie just stood at the cart, leaning against it and smirking. He won't argue with AJ. Oh no he will not. He will just have the pleasure of watching him make his own mistake because that is a lot more fun. As Ryan walked a long the isle deciding on what he wants, he eyed AJ with his sister with a somewhat protective look on his face. He is getting way too close to her. He is even going as far as calling her his baby and the more he hears it the more it bugs him. She is not his baby, she is his mom's baby. He just hopes he knows that. When Laila was holding a pack of butterfingers, a bag of mini 3 musketeers, a bag of M&Ms and another bag of Skittles that she had picked all on her own, AJ brought her back to the cart and sat her back in it. He looked at Howie who was just standing there watching him in amusement.
"What now?"
"Nothing, nothing…" Howie replied, shaking his head, and he looked over at Ryan.
"Almost ready buddy?"
"Uh-huh," Ryan answered, coming back with a pack of snicker bars.
"We better get Ashley some butterfingers while we are at it — and Kota and the rest of the kids some lollipops and Kota loves gummy bears. She'll be upset if we forget about her." Howie suddenly announced and AJ raised his eyebrow.
"I thought we established that giving Kota candy was suicide."
"Yeah, well, she's not our kid is she? She's Nick's. And anyhow, I'm her Uncle it's my job to spoil her." Howie informed, as he went over and grabbed a bag of lollipops, a pack of butterfingers, and another bag of gummy bears. AJ shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the bag of M&Ms and he opened them up. He pulled out a small pack that was inside and opened it up and he gave it to Laila who was literally bouncing for joy in her seat and holding her hands outstretched ready to grab them from him. As soon as she took the candy from him, she began to happily shovel the colorful candy into her mouth.
"Well, lets go shall we?" Howie asked, after putting the extra bags of candy in the back of the cart. AJ nodded and began pushing the cart.
"Where to first navigator?" Howie looked at the list in his hands.
"Soda isle."
"Sa-weet! I bet Miss Laila would like some Dr Pepper later," AJ replied, leaning forward and making a silly face at the two-year-old and she giggled.
"Oh yes, it will go great with all the candy," Howie replied rolling his eyes and grinning. He is going to have way too much fun watching him later. AJ smirked, and began to push the cart at top speed toward the direction of the soda isle, making the little girl inside it squeal and giggle loudly as he made sound effects of a racing car.
"Alex! Be careful! you might run into someone!" Howie yelled, but it was no use, the crazy younger man was already around the corner. Howie groaned.
"I could have sworn we left Nick at home…" he muttered, and then hurried after him. When he reached the soda isle, he found AJ already there and grabbing up a bunch of Dr Pepper. AJ looked at him and grinned.
"What? You are the one who wanted me to have fun pushing her in the cart."
"I didn't —" Howie began, and then shook his head. "Nevermind," he said and then began to grab up the other soda that was on the list since AJ had taken care of the Dr Pepper. AJ shook his head and pulled Howie into a hug while placing a wet and slobbery kiss on his cheek.
"Lighten up D! Wouldn't want people to start accusing you of sounding like Kevin would you?" Howie rolled his eyes.
"You mean like how Nick always has his gay jokes?" He asked, while playfully shoving his best friend away and he grinned at him. AJ scowled.
"Dumbass…" he muttered. "I'll get him for it I swear." Howie laughed.
"You know he only does it to get under your skin…and he succeeds every time because you let him."
"Not my fault that he is annoying." AJ shrugged.
"Yes it is," Howie replied, laughing even more. "You bring it all on yourself. If you ignored him he would get bored and find someone else to bug." He explained. "And anyway, why do you get so offensive? That just gives people a reason to really believe the rumors."
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, in the section of Wal-Mart where you buy paper plates and such, while Angel was pushing the cart a long with the list in her hand and looking at stuff, Aaron had wandered off to the Girls clothes section that was nearby. Angel looked back at him and rolled her eyes. Whatever…it's not like he was helping me anyway she muttered to herself and she continued to concentrate on the list. When he got over to the girls clothes section, he smirked as he noticed a bunch of teenage girls headed that way to shop. He surveyed them for a moment, and decided the young blonde was someone he just has to talk to. She is wearing a pink and white striped polo shirt, a blue denim skirt, and some flip-flops. She has blonde hair with a strip of pink in it. He waited until the girls started looking at clothes, and than he walked on over to them
"Hello ladies," he greeted them flirtatiously, while putting on his Carter Charm that he learned very young in his life from none other than his big brother himself. The girls turned to look at him, and as soon as they did, each and everyone of them — minus the blonde, whom he was most interested in, froze and stared at him in shock. The other one looked at her friends with wary looks — as if she knows exactly what is about to happen. Before Aaron even had the time to think, the shrieks and squeals began.
"OH MY GOD!!!! OH MY GOD!!! IT'S AARON!!!!!!! IT'S AARON CARTER!!!!" The four star-struck girls exclaimed, and everybody in the store nearby stopped to look. Aaron looked around at them all cautiously and suddenly saw more teenage girls — where in the world did they all come from? They weren't there before. But it doesn't matter because he doesn't have the time to stand there and contemplate on the question. Young girls nearby began to shriek and squeal too, and they started running toward them. The girls Aaron had approached were grabbing at him and asking for an autograph.
"Oh shit…" he muttered, and the young blonde rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand.
"Come on RUN!" she told him, and she took off running pulling him a long. Angel who remained where she's at watching from a distance rolled her eyes.
"Very typical of him…"
"STACY WAIT!! WE WANT HIS AUTOGRAPH TOO!!" Her three friends called after her, as they began to run. Stacy ignored the three and continued to drag the young pop star through the store. They soon ran past the isle where Denise, Harold, Kevin, Riley, and Marcus were at and they all shook their head as they watched him run by in amusement. They could hear the shrieks and screams all the way from where they were.
"Should I go rescue him?" Marcus questioned.
"Nah, he got himself in the mess, he can get himself out." Riley replied grinning.
"How much do you want to bet he walked right up to a bunch of teenage girls in attempt to flirt and instead got a mob?" Kevin replied.
"Oh, no need to bet because I agree with you. That is so like Aaron." Riley laughed. By the time Stacy got all the way onto the other side of the store she had taken off her flip-flops and was carrying them, because they are way too hard to run in and were slipping off her feet and slowing her down. When she found the emergency exit door she threw it open, pulled Aaron out and dragged him around the corner just five seconds, before the mob followed them out. They looked around frantically, and when they didn't find Aaron standing there, they ran around the corner — opposite of the one that he and Stacy are hiding behind, in hopes of finding him. Stacy turned and looked at Aaron then with an annoyed expression on her face.
"You must really have a death wish or something, don't you?" She commented, as she watched him catch his breath. "Why would you walk right up to a bunch of girls like that? Are you CRAZY?!"
"I didn't know that, that would happen. I didn't know they would recognize me like that." Stacy rolled her eyes.
"Oh please…you are a pop star and you didn't think you would be noticed? Well that was pretty stupid of you." Aaron raised his eyebrow.
"What is your problem?"
"Nothing, I just don't see what all of the fuss is about, that's all. Bree, Alana, and Hill are obsessed with you and I don't see why." Aaron shrugged.
"What's wrong with them being a fan?"
"Pop music just isn't my thing, that's all. Now I have to go. Can I trust you won't get into anymore trouble or do you need me to stay here and baby-sit you some more?" Aaron became irritated then.
"I never asked you to help me, you just did!"
"Yeah and you should be thankful too. If it weren't for me you would be back there surrounded by fans. What are you doing walking around without security anyway?" She asked, before shaking her head and walking off, leaving Aaron to stand there in shock — how could she be so rude? He didn't do anything to her. It's not like he asked her to help him, she just did. He could have made it just fine on his own. "Girls…" he muttered, and he shook his head and took off for the entrance of the store, hoping to be able to get back in there without anyone noticing him
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
