Dawn awoke and looked over at the clock next to her on the nightstand. "11:45??" She exclaimed.
She looked around, trying to get a bearing on her surroundings. It all came back to her.
‘I’m at AJ’s,’ she told herself.
She relaxed and lay her head back on the pillow. The sunlight was shining through the windows and she heard the birds chirping. There was something so comforting about his house, she couldn’t explain it. She closed her eyes and smiled, then she remembered what had happened between her and AJ the night before, or what ALMOST happened anyway.
"Oh my God", she said to herself and buried her head under the blanket.
She also thought she remembered hearing AJ say something right as she fell asleep.
‘I could have sworn he said ‘I love you’’, she thought to herself. ‘No, I must be imagining things. Maybe I’m just used to hearing Anthony say it before we go to bed and my mind was playing tricks on me’.
Her mind wandered back to the events the day before between her and Anthony and she started to get depressed. Tears started to well up in her eyes, then AJ walked in the room.
"Well, good morning", he exclaimed as he handed Dawn a cup of coffee.
"Well, you sound awfully peppy this morning," Dawn said to him as she wiped her eyes and took the coffee from him. She took a sip of the coffee.
"I can’t believe you remember how I like my coffee," she said surprised.
"Hey, what can I say," he tried to make a joke out of it. “I guess I’m just that good”. They both laughed then he sat down on the edge of the bed.
"So, what do you want to do today?" he asked.
"I can’t believe you let me sleep this late, half the day is gone".
"When I woke up, I looked over at you and you looked to peaceful, plus, you needed to rest, so I let you sleep", he answered. "Let’s go shopping today", he suggested.
"AJ, remember, I have no clothes here," Dawn responded. "I need to stop at home and get some stuff", she finished.
"Do you think that would be a good idea?" He asked.
"Anthony’s at work all day. I’ll have no problem stopping and getting some stuff,” she answered.
Something about Dawn going back there really worried him. He didn’t want her to go by herself.
"I’ll go with you,” he told her.
"No, because if Anthony happens to come home while we’re there, I don’t want him starting anything or taking anything out on you,” she replied.
"I’d rather he take it out on me than you," he responded.
"You know, why don’t we do all this tomorrow, after rehearsal. We have the whole day off today and I don’t want to spend it being pissed off or worried about this", he suggested.
"I still don’t have anything to wear, I have no toothbrush, no clean underwear, nothing!" she replied.
He laughed. "Okay, then let me run back to your place real quick and get the bag you left there and bring it back. If you need anything else we’ll just buy it".
Dawn thought about it for a minute. She was afraid of AJ going there, she didn’t want him to run into Anthony. She wasn’t sure what either of them would do. He saw the worried look on her face. He sat down next to her on the bed.
"OK, this is what we’ll do", he started. "I’ll go to your place and get your things, you go ahead and take a shower or bath or whatever you want, I’ll even start it for you if you want. If I see his car there when I get there, I won’t go in, I promise".
She sighed. "As long as you promise…".
"Cross my heart," he replied. "Now, let me go start your bath,” he said as he got up and walked to the bathroom.
"I am fully capable of running my own bath,” she said, sarcastically.
"I’m ignoring you…" he sang to her as he poured bubbles into the water.
She laughed. "Than man is unbelievable", she said to herself.
She wrote down the directions to her house and handed them to him as he came out of the bathroom.
"You’ll be okay here by yourself?" He asked her.
"I’ll be fine".
"I have my cell phone. Call me if you need me for anything, here’s the number,” he wrote it down and handed it to her.
"Thanks dad", Dawn said as she pushed him towards the door.
"Oh, just so you know, the guys sometimes stop by sporadically. You can let them in if you want, if not, tell them to go away and come back later,” he joked.
"Yes honey, anything else?" She teased.
"I worry about you, that’s all,” he said as he got his keys and headed to the door.
"Go! Get out!" Dawn joked, kicking him in the pants.
He kissed her on the forehead and opened he door. "And keep the door locked,” he finished.
"Get out!" Dawn yelled again as they both laughed.
Dawn watched AJ drive away and she went into the bathroom and got in the bathtub. She lay there relaxing in the bubbles for awhile. Her mind was so jumbled with everything that had happened lately. She didn’t know what to think anymore. She still loved Anthony, yet she had strong feelings for AJ. He treated her like she wanted to be treated. She knew him and knew he would never hurt her in any way. She didn’t realize she had been in the bathtub so long, when she heard the front door open.
"I’m back!" AJ yelled. "I’ll put your bag in my bedroom!”
She hopped out of the tub, put her hair in a towel and put her robe on. He knocked on the bathroom door.
"Here,” he said sticking his hand in the little bit that was open. "I thought you would need this,” he handed her her toothbrush.
"Thanks,” Dawn said and closed the door.
About 10 minutes later she walked out of the bathroom, still in her robe, into the living room.
"Well, hi,” a voice said as she walked in the room.
"Oh my God,” she said as she looked directly at Brian and Kevin sitting on the couch. They both looked over at AJ, then back at Dawn.
Kevin cleared his throat. "What happened to your face?" He asked.
"Long story,” she responded. "I’ll be right back,” she said as she looked at AJ and gave him a ‘I’m gonna kill you’ look, then went into the bedroom to get dressed. AJ started to follow her but he was stopped by Kevin.
"Hey,” Kevin whispered as he pulled AJ over to the side. "What’s going on here?"
"Nothing, she just needed a place to stay for awhile," he answered. "Don’t worry Pops, I know what I’m doing,” he added.
"I certainly hope so", Kevin replied, "because you’re entering some dangerous territory here, and that girl obviously has some problems that you shouldn’t be getting involved in".
"You have no idea what you’re talking about,” AJ replied. "And I have every right to get involved if I want, thank you,” he said as he pushed his way past Kevin.


Chapter 15
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