A New Day
Chapter 25
AJ drove slowly back to his house, remembering all the things that had happened between he and Howie the night before. He had a permanent smile on his face as he remembered how amazing the night had been, and it reminded him of all the reasons he loved Howie in the first place.
When he finally reached his own house, he was surprised to see Brian's car parked outside. There was nobody in it, not that he had expected there to be; Brian had a key to his house, as did all the other guys. He let himself into the front door, and called out Brian's name.
"In here." He heard the quiet reply from the kitchen. AJ ambled into the kitchen, smiling at Brian as he walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.
"Hey B, what's up?" He asked, still smiling, he didn't notice the stiffness of Brian's posture, or his cool look.
"Where've you been? We've been trying to get a hold of you all night." He asked, sounding annoyed.
"Why? What's wrong?" AJ asked, slightly concerned.
"Uh, well... Nothing, it's just I couldn't get a hold of you and..." Brian began.
"You were checking up on me?" AJ asked, annoyed.
"No. I wasn't, well. Not really." Brian stuttered, not wanting AJ to think he didn't trust him.
"Then why are you acting like this?"
"Why won't you answer MY question?" Brian asked, not willing to back down.
"I was out."
"All night?"
"Obviously." AJ replied, getting really annoyed at Brian.
"Out where?"
"Just out."
"Jesus AJ, I thought you had stopped this."
"Stopped what?"
"Going out and fucking around. Were you drinking?"
AJ saw red at this, angry and disappointed that Brian could even suggest such a thing.
"How dare you. You are not my Mother and you are not my keeper. I don't have to answer to you. But for your information no I wasn't drinking. And I can't believe you have so little faith in me. I thought you knew me better than that."
Brian softened a little as he saw that AJ was telling the truth about his sobriety, but he was still concerned and determined to find out what was going on. After all, one look at AJ told him that he definitely hadn't been sleeping last night; that was for sure.
His clothes were rumpled, and his face betrayed his tiredness and lack of sleep. But despite all this, his eyes were clear, shining with the hurt that Brian had inflicted on him, but otherwise showing no hint of the dull, lifelessness that had been there in the dark days before rehab.
"Look AJ, I'm sorry I accused you of drinking, but I got worried about you. I phoned you three or four times and got no answer. Then this morning I came over and found that you still weren't home, your bed hadn't been slept in, the T.V was on and you still haven't finished packing.
"I left the T.V on?" AJ asked, surprised. He had been so caught up in thinking about Howie that he had obviously forgotten to turn it off.
"Yeah. You did. I was worried. Nick's usually the scatterbrain of the group, not you."
Brian had hoped that AJ would laugh at that. Or at the very least crack a grin, but he got neither.
"Look Brian. I'm sorry I worried you okay, but I'm fine, and I don't need babysitting. For all you know I was at my Mom's last night and just stayed over."
"No you didn't, she called this morning looking for you." Brian told him.
This made AJ even more agitated. "And what did you tell her?"
"That I didn't know where you were."
"Wonderful. Now I bet she's worried as well. Just great. Thanks a bunch Rok."
"I'm sorry AJ, I was just�"
"Worried, I know. Well I neither want nor do I need you to worry about me. Now you know I'm fine, I suggest you go home and finish getting ready. We're leaving tomorrow, and I need to finish packing."
With that AJ left the kitchen, stomping up the stairs and leaving a dumbfounded Brian alone in the kitchen.