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AJ collapsed exhausted in one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room. He sighed heavily and ran his hands over his haggard face. This had been an a rough couple of hours and his emotions were all over the place. There was a certain emotion he felt knowing he had been the first to see and hold Brian’s son, even before Leighanne, and it made him feel more special then he could ever remember feeling. He has never imagined the evening would turn out like this when he had settled into the couch. He kept thanking God that he had been the one with Brian when he got the call to come. He liked feeling important, needed. This was one of the first times Brian had reached out to him in such a needy way and it almost took his breath away.

He heard a noise and looked up to see the rest of the guys barreling down the hallway. He groaned softly and rolled his eyes before getting up to meet them at the waiting room door. “What are you guys doing here?” he asked, not yet ready to let them in on his precious time with Brian yet. He could not deny how good it felt to be the only one at the hospital with Brian. He just wanted to hold on to this feeling for a little longer.

“I’ve left you like twenty messages J. You should have called and stopped all the buses and not just run off where no one knows what’s going on or how to get a hold of you. I can’t believe you didn’t even wake Nick up. You just threw a note on the table and bailed. It would have been nice to know if my cousin was alright.” Kevin said glaring at him.

AJ narrowed his eyes and had to fight himself not to lose his cool. “I’m sorry Kevin that I didn’t come running to you the moment something happened. My main concern was Brian and making sure he got here safe and as quickly as possible. So fuck off and shut your damn mouth, you don’t always have to be the one in control. Everything is fine.” AJ said crossing his arms over his chest.

He wasn’t afraid of Kevin like he used to be. There was no reason for Kevin to treat him like shit just because he didn’t do things the way that Kevin wanted them done. He needed to pull the anal retentive stick out of his ass and realize that they didn’t always need him to take care of their problems; sometimes they could handle them perfectly well on their own.

Kevin kept his mouth shut and pushed passed AJ to get to the nurses desk. Howie followed wide eyed behind him. AJ knew he had shocked them all by standing up to Kevin, but he was tired and emotionally drained and didn’t want to deal with the other man’s shit right now. AJ faced Nick unsure of what to say to the younger man.

“You alright J?” Nick asked cocking his head to one side. AJ nodded and moved out of the doorway so Nick could actually enter the room. Nick gave him a weak smile and then followed the path the others had went to find Brian and Leighanne.

AJ sank down into a chair again. He felt like he had just run a marathon. He couldn’t seem to make his heart quit beating so fast and he tried a couple deep breaths to calm down. Seeing Brian with Leighanne, and them holding their son had damn near broken his heart. Somehow in his mind he had never actually envisioned this day coming to pass. He had never prepared himself to see Brian with a son, a son with Leighanne. He had to force the tears away and he tried his hardest to keep from getting upset. This was supposed to be a happy day, Brian’s happy day. Even if his heart was broken, he could never ruin this day for him.

He glanced up as he saw Nick reenter the waiting room. He threw himself down on the chair beside AJ’s even thought the chair was too small for his tall frame. “Babies aren’t very cute or fun when they are first born are they?” Nick asked scrunching up his face.

AJ managed a small laugh and looked away from where Nick sat. He just wanted to be left alone to wallow in peace, was that too much to ask? Apparently it was. Nick watched AJ carefully. He could see the range of emotions playing over the older man’s face and had to control the small gasp from slipping out as he watched the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

AJ rolled his eyes. Apparently Nick wasn’t going to be leaving anytime soon. “Baylee’s a pretty lucky kid. He’s going to have amazing parents.” AJ offered up softly. He wasn’t sure what Nick wanted him to say.

Nick nodded and looked towards the hallway. “Do you want to go back in there?” He offered gently. AJ shook his head, rather violently. “I’ll just wait out here. It’s their time together. I don’t want to intrude in any of that.”

Nick nodded and it grew silent again. The silence was beginning to drive Nick insane. “You’re in love with him aren’t you?” Nick asked after what seemed like hours.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” AJ asked turning to face him.

Nick pushed himself up off the chair and crossed the room. He nodded and looked straight into AJ’s eyes. “It all makes sense. The way you get all quiet and sullen when Brian’s with us or when someone mentions him. The way you look like your dying every time Leighanne’s around. I can’t believe I never realized this before.”

AJ looked away from Nick’s gaze, finding it very difficult to look at the other man. He wasn’t sure how to respond to Nick’s accusations. He figured honesty was his best option but wasn’t sure he could handle it if Nick went running his mouth. He shook his head. “Yes,” He managed softly.

Nick laughed harshly from across the room. “All this time I’ve spent trying to help you feel better so you wouldn’t be so sad and down on yourself and all this time you’ve been pinning over Brian. That’s fucking rich J. You can’t have Frick so you’ll settle for Frack. Did you ever even plan on fucking telling me or where you going to continue to allow me to get involved with you while all you wanted was my best friend.” Nick sneered at him.

AJ jumped up as well. Nick knew all the buttons to push to piss him off beyond belief. “What the fuck Nick. It was none of your fucking business so I never fucking felt the need to tell you. And don’t start that self righteous shit on me. You were the god damn one pinning over Kevin and crying because he was gone. The moment he fucking showed back up here it threw you through such a fucking loop that you got drunk and tried to take me on so don’t act like you were mister innocent in all of this either. Maybe I should have told you, oh fucking well, but you were doing the same shit to me so shut you fucking mouth. You know as well as I do that the moment he asked you to jump you would be begging him to tell you how high so you have no right to say anything to me.”

Nick turned and looked at him stunned. He couldn’t believe he had brought Kevin into this. Kevin had nothing to do with this.

“It never fucking mattered Nick.” AJ said beginning to lose the fight he was having, not only with Nick but with himself. “He didn’t want me. He has a wife and a fucking child. He has everything he needs to be happy. So I have to learn to deal with it and get over it. So I’m sorry if I wasn’t sunshine and fucking roses all the time and you were the one stuck having to deal with me.” AJ dropped back into the chair more exhausted then he ever could remember being.

Nick glared at the other man, but could feel his heart soften. They were just two men desperately in love with two cousins who had used each other as a way to get over their own loneliness. He felt his eyes tear up looking at the broken man before him. He could tell how much this entire thing was hurting AJ, and even though he was still pissed at the other man, he wanted nothing more than to take all of his pain away. “You’re wrong you know.” Nick said softly catching AJ’s attention. “They’re not the perfect little family.”

AJ wiped the unshed tears from his tired eyes.”What?” He asked confused.

“They are getting divorced.” Nick said coming closer and sitting in a chair across from AJ.

AJ laughed bitterly. “Yeah right. Brian would never dream of leaving her now that they have a child together.” AJ said turning in his chair and facing the window. He needed to get the hell out of this hospital. Nick could really fuck with a person’s mind sometimes.

“They already signed the papers. They are just waiting on the finalization. Leighanne is signing over her custody rights to Brian. She doesn’t want a baby. Brian is going to raise Baylee himself. Why do you think he’s been doing so much and freaking out and trying to make sure he has everything right?” Nick said trying to make AJ understand.

“Whatever man. I’m not going to sit around here and hash this out with you all day. I’m exhausted and on edge and I really want a fucking drink so please just give me some space. “ AJ said walking away from him.

Nick nodded and pushed himself out of the chair. He turned and watched AJ pacing quietly in the corner before shaking his head. He wasn’t sure if he did the right thing or not by telling him. It wasn’t like AJ actually believed him anyway. At least he had tried to make it better. What AJ did with the information was up to him.