Dawn stayed in the bathroom for a while. She still didn’t feel well and she wanted to make sure she was done getting sick. There was a light knock at the door.
"Are you okay in there?" AJ asked.
"Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute," she answered.
She splashed some water on her face and opened the door. AJ was standing there with a worried look on his face.
"I’m sorry,” she said to him. "I just don’t feel too well today, I think I’m gonna lay down for awhile".
She walked to the bedroom with AJ following close behind.
"Do you want anything? Crackers? Ginger Ale, anything?" He asked.
"Oh no, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep anything down, just let me lay down for an hour or two, okay?"
She lay down on the bed and AJ placed the blanket over her. He felt her forehead to see if she had a fever.
"You don’t feel warm,” he said.
"No, it’s just my stomach,” she responded. "And my head, I’ve been feeling light-headed on and off today".
"Maybe you should go see the doctor,” he suggested.
"I will, if I still feel like this tomorrow,” she replied.
"Well, I’ll let you get some rest,” he said as he got up and started to walk out the door. "Alex?" Dawn called after him.
"Yeah?"
"I haven’t really thanked you for everything you’ve done for me. Letting me stay here and all".
"No need to, that’s what friends are for,” he replied.
"I’m so lucky to have you as a friend,” she said as she closed her eyes, she was getting tired.
AJ stood in the doorway and just watched her.
‘I wish I could tell you how I feel about you,’ he thought to himself. Then he shut the door, turned and walked away.
A couple hours later Dawn woke up. She felt better, at least her stomach wasn’t feeling queasy anymore. She got up and walked into the living room where she found Kevin and AJ sitting there talking. They both looked up at her when she entered the room like a couple of kids that were caught with their hands in the cookie jar. She looked at them suspiciously.
"I know you’re talking about me,” she teased as she went to the refrigerator to get something to drink.
"Are you feeling better?" AJ asked, trying to change the subject. He walked into the kitchen and handed her a glass.
"Yeah, my stomach is feeling better anyway,” she answered.
"Still feeling light-headed?"
"Not at the moment, Dad", she joked.
She playfully pushed him out of the way as she tried to walk past him.
"Hey, watch it, shorty,” he teased.
"I’m not short! I’m only a few inches shorter than you!" She yelled after him as he disappeared down the hall.
Dawn walked into the living room and sat next to Kevin.
"How are you holding up?” He asked.
"Alright,” she replied. "I wanted to thank you for coming to check on me the other day in the restaurant when I ran into Anthony".
"Oh, it was no problem. One thing I can’t stand are men who mistreat women. He needs someone to give him a good pounding, so he knows how it feels".
"Well, everything is going pretty well between us, I may be moving back home soon,” she stated.
Kevin looked at her, shocked. "Does AJ know about this??"
"No, I just ran into Anthony today and we talked about it a little, I haven’t really had a chance to talk to AJ yet. I know he’s not going to be happy, he hates Anthony with a passion”.
"Not gonna be happy is an understatement,” he commented. "Why would you go back to him?" He asked coldly.
"I love him Kevin, I really do, and he’s in AA and anger management classes, He’s really trying to change,” she replied.
"He doesn’t deserve you,” he began. “You could do so much better".
Dawn sighed and turned away from him.
"I haven’t made any definite decisions yet".
"Well, I guess all I can say is please, please think about this very carefully before you go back to him. I don’t want to see anything happen to you, worse than what already has. We’ve kind of gotten pretty attached to you,” he smiled.
Dawn looked at him, surprised. "And here I was thinking that you didn’t like me".
"Why would you think that?" He asked.
"I don’t know, you just didn’t make any attempt to really talk to me like the other guys did,” she replied. “And it always seemed like you would look at me like I had some sort of hidden agenda”.
"That’s just me,” he said. "It takes me awhile to warm up to people sometimes. Especially where women are concerned because we never know what they’re after, but I trust AJ’s judgement”.
"I’m not after AJ...or his money. We’re friends, that’s it,” she said.
"Are you sure that’s it?" He asked with a smirk on his face.
Dawn looked at him with a puzzled expression. She was about to ask what he meant by that when AJ walked into the room.
"What are you guys talking about?" He asked.
"Oh, nothing,” Kevin replied as he looked over at Dawn and gave her a look like he knew a secret. "Did AJ tell you the good news?" He asked Dawn.
"What news?" She replied.
"I didn’t have a chance to Kev, go ahead, tell her,” AJ said.
"Jessica and I got engaged last night,” he beamed.
"Congratulations!" Dawn exclaimed, giving him a hug. Kevin glanced quickly over at AJ and cleared his throat.
"Um, AJ, is there something you’re not telling me?" She asked him jokingly when she saw Kevin look over at him. He didn’t answer
"I don’t think I’ve ever seen AJ blush!" Kevin teased.
"Okay, that’s enough", he replied and looked down at the ground.
"Hey, I wanted to know if you guys wanted to come over our place tonight for drinks to celebrate,” Kevin asked.
"How are ya feeling?" AJ asked Dawn.
"I’m feeling better. Do you wanna go?" She asked him.
"If you want to".
"Damn, you guys are like a married couple already", Kevin joked.
"We’ll be there,” Dawn responded after she punched Kevin in the arm.

Chapter 19
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