They went to rehearsal and saw the guys talking amongst themselves. AJ pulled them aside.
�Hey guys, something�s wrong. Laura�s boyfriend gave her a bruise last night,� AJ said.
�How?� Kevin asked.
�He threw her into a wall.�
The guys looked like they�d seen a ghost.
�How do you know?� Brian asked.
�I picked her up this morning and she told me. She�s got this really nasty bruise on her shoulder. It�s almost bigger than my fist.� AJ said. He kept his voice down because he didn�t want anyone else to hear. �Guys, I have to do something.�
�What are you gonna do?� Nick asked.
�What can I do? I mean, if he gave Laura a bruise, who knows what he�ll do to me.� AJ said.
Fatima called the rehearsal to start and the boys got in their places. AJ looked at Laura and smiled reassuringly. She smiled back.
They ran through the concert order. Laura had to keep pulling at her shirtsleeve to keep from exposing the bruise. Paula noticed and pulled Laura aside before rehearsal.
�What�s up with your shirt?� she asked.
Laura got nervous and said �What do you mean?�
�You�ve been pulling at your sleeve the whole time you�ve been here. What�s going on?� Paula asked. She was getting a little worried.
�Okay, but you can�t tell anyone. I got in a fight with my boyfriend last night and he threw me against the wall and gave me this - � Laura said and pulled up her sleeve.
�Pinky swear,� Paula said and stuck her pinky finger out towards Laura.
Laura hooked her pinky through Paula�s and smiled. Sure, it was childish, but it made her feel better knowing she could trust Paula. �Thanks,� she said.
�No prob, Bob,� Paula said and smiled.
When the first half of rehearsal was over, Laura and the rest of the guys went to McDonalds, again. On the ride there, they were making meaningless small talk, but nothing really important. The Boys didn�t know what to say about anything, they felt really awkward. They weren�t supposed to know about Laura�s boyfriend, and they didn�t wanna give it away that they knew. Laura noticed something was up, but she didn�t know what.
After they got to McDonalds and got their food, Laura pulled AJ aside.
�What�s going on?� she asked.
�What do you mean?� AJ asked nervously.
�You know what I mean! What�s up with everybody?! Y�all were practically silent the whole way here! What�s up?�
�Well, I kinda�� AJ started to say.
�Kinda what?� Laura said.
�I kinda told them about�� AJ said, covering his face with his hands to avoid the beating he was sure he was going to get.
�YOU DID WHAT?!� Laura yelled. �You TOLD them?!�
�Well, yeah�.I mean, I was confused about what to do, and I told them thinking, I dunno, maybe they could help. I�m not lying, I swear.�
�How can I trust you? You said you wouldn�t tell anyone! How do I know you�re not lying?� Laura asked. At this point, she was so embarrassed that the guys knew what John did, that she was close to tears.
�Please, you just have to believe that I thought I was doing the right thing! No one should go through what you went through. Please, forgive me.� AJ said, pleading with her.
Laura thought about how AJ had handled himself when she told him what happened. She thought about how she felt when he touched her. She felt safe, and she felt like she could trust him, no matter what. She was confused about some other feelings she felt, but she could deal with those later. She knew she could trust AJ, but she was just overreacting to this whole thing. �Ok, fine,� she said.
Relief came over AJ�s face and he smiled.
�But it�s gonna be weird, isn�t it? I mean, with the guys and all�� Laura said, worried.
AJ pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head, �It�s not gonna be weird, believe me. They were as worried about you as I was.�
�Really? You were worried?� Laura asked.
�Of course I was! This guy obviously doesn�t know what a great girl you are. If he knew, you bet he�d never do anything like this at all.� AJ said. He thought about what he�d just said. Was he giving away too much? Did she know how he felt about her? He guessed she didn�t, because he wasn�t even sure how he felt about her. She did have a boyfriend, after all, even if he was a bastard.
�Thanks.� Laura said. She too thought about what AJ just said. She decided to store it in the back of her mind and think about it later when she knew for sure what her feelings were.
�Can we pleeeeeease go eat now? I�m starving!!� AJ said, with big, puppy dog eyes.
�Yeah, let�s go.� Laura said.
They went back to the rest of the guys and started eating their lunch.
�So�� Brian said.
�It�s ok. Really. AJ told me that he told y�all,� Laura said.
�Really? It�s ok that he told us?� Nick asked.
�Yeah, he said y�all were all worried about me.� Laura looked around the table at the guys� speechless faces. �I just wanted to thank you for your concern, it�s sweet, but you don�t need to worry. Really.�
�Are you sure?� Kevin asked.
�Yeah, John promised me he�d stop drinking. That�s what made him do it.� Laura assured the guys.
The guys all reluctantly agreed not to worry, but Laura could tell that they wouldn�t stop worrying. That didn�t matter to her, though. She�d never had someone worry about her too much, and now that she did, she kinda liked it. She liked the feeling that people were watching out for her.
They finished their lunch and went back to the venue. The tour was scheduled to start in about a week, and they had to get in as much practice as they could.
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