Three weeks went by and AJ hadn’t heard a word from Dawn. He knew that she was staying at her mother’s, but he didn’t want to call there if she didn’t want to talk to him. He figured he would just let her do what she needed to do on her own. If she needed him, she knew where to find him.
The problem was, he was afraid that if she did need him, she would be too stubborn to say so. The very things he loved about Dawn were the also the same things that drove him crazy. She was very stubborn and independent, at least she was until she met Anthony.
She would often run away from the people who cared about her and were trying to help her, she tried all too often to deal with things on her own. AJ hoped beyond hope that she wasn’t trying to do that with her pregnancy, this was something she definitely couldn’t deal with on her own.
All the time alone, thinking about Dawn brought out AJ’s creative side. After she left, all he could do was think about her, he was miserable. He had found a way to channel those emotions, he started to write a song about what he was feeling.
He planned on letting the rest of the guys hear it and hopefully they would want to record it on the album they were currently putting together. He desperately wanted Dawn to know how he felt and he wanted to do something other than just say the words. He sat down & read over what he had so far….
"Open up your heart to me, and say what’s on your mind.
I know that we have been through so much pain,
but I still need you in my life, this time…
I need you tonight,
I need you, right now,
I know deep within my heart, it doesn’t matter if it’s wrong or right,
‘Cause I see heaven, in your eyes"….

Dawn sat down on the couch and looked over at the phone. She desperately wanted to call AJ, she missed him.
"I can’t," she told herself. "I need to let him get on with his life. Eventually, he’ll realize that it’s the best thing".
Then, the phone rang and Dawn jumped. "I wonder who this could be?"
"Hello?" she answered.
"Dawn?" The voice on the other end said.
The voice sounded familiar, but she wasn’t sure who it was.
"Hey girl, it’s Kevin".
She was surprised to hear his voice. They talked for a long time about everything that had been going on. Dawn asked how AJ was.
"Why don’t you call him yourself and find out?" He said.
"No, I want him to move on with his life. I want him to forget about me and find someone else". She could barely get the words out of her mouth.
"You know you don’t mean that." Kevin commented. “And you know AJ won’t do it”.
Dawn sighed.
"Yes I mean it, Kevin. I love him, but sometimes you have to love someone enough to let them go".
"And sometimes you have to love someone enough to trust them and turn to them when you need help,” he paused. “You have to stop running away, Dawn. He loves you, and I can tell you, I know AJ all too well , he will not give up on you, it doesn’t matter what you, I, or anyone else says. Like I told you before, you guys are meant to be together, don’t ask me how I know, I just do".
Dawn was silent for a moment.
"Kevin, you’re not making this any easier on me," she fought back tears.
"Nothing that’s worth having is easy".
"My life is so complicated right now. I can’t deal with this."
"So ask for help", Kevin shot back.
Dawn was silent again. Kevin hoped he was getting through to her. AJ had been absolutely miserable the past few weeks since Dawn had left. He hated seeing him like that. He realized he was probably sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, but someone had to do something. If he left it up to AJ and Dawn to work out themselves, the baby would be going to college in no time.
"Kevin, is the only reason you called to give me a hard time?" Dawn asked.
"Well, that, plus I wanted to let you know that we’ve been doing a lot of recording for the album, we’ve pretty much finished what we can by ourselves, but we need you back in the studio".
"Can’t you guys do it without me?" She pleaded.
"Well, we could, but it wouldn’t sound as good. Not to mention, we have you under contract my dear, remember?" Kevin chuckled to himself, he finally had a way to get Dawn and AJ back in the same room. It may have been mean and devious, but it was for a good cause.
"I hate you Kevin,” Dawn said to him.
"Hey, you’re butt is ours for at least 3 more songs," he teased.
"I really hate you,” Dawn reiterated.
"So, you’ll be here tomorrow at 10 AM?" He pushed.
"Do I have a choice?" Dawn asked, unhappy.
"Not really,” he wanted to burst out laughing. He was pretty proud of himself.
After hanging up with Kevin, she paced the room. Dawn couldn’t believe Kevin, of all people, would do this to her. Yes, they did have her under contract, but she figured they could get someone else to sing for them, under the circumstances. Tomorrow was going to be very uncomfortable.
AJ raced to the studio, he had finished the song he was writing and he wanted to have the guys take a look at it as soon as possible because he wanted to try to talk them into recording it on the album they were working on. When he got there, the other guys were already there.
"Good, I’m glad you’re all here, there’s something I wanna run by you,” he passed a copy of the song out to all four guys. "Look over this and tell me what you think".
There was silence while they all read it. AJ was nervous. He wasn't sure why, but it came from his heart, he took it very seriously.
"Wow," Nick said as he finished reading. "I don’t know what else to say".
"Is that good or bad?" AJ inquired.
Brian walked over and patted AJ on the back.
"It’s great man, you wrote this by yourself?"
Kevin looked up from the paper.
"It’s amazing what a little inspiration will do," he shot AJ a knowing look that AJ tried to ignore.
"You wanna record it?" He asked enthusiastically, almost afraid of the answer.
"I do," Nick said, looking around at the rest of the guys. They all nodded their heads in agreement.
"Alright, it’s settled then, we’re gonna do it. We need to sit down and figure out the vocals,” Kevin said.
"No sitting, let’s run through it and just decide who sounds better on lead. Nick, you’re up first,” AJ motioned to the recording room.
They went through the song with Nick on lead vocals. AJ was absolutely floored. He listened to the recorded version and decided he didn’t even want to hear anyone else sing it, he wanted Nick to do it.
"What do you guys think?" He asked.
"It’s your song, do you want to waste time listening to the rest of us,” Brian joked.
"No offense,” AJ began, "but Nick did it perfectly".
"Then Nick it is,” Kevin said.
"Can I keep this tape?" AJ asked, taking the tape of Nick singing the song.
Kevin looked at him with a slight smile on his face.
"Sure". "Let’s run through it again with all of us singing," Howie suggested.
They all piled into the recording room to record the song.
Dawn walked into the building, nervous about what would happen. She hadn’t seen AJ in three weeks and she didn’t know how he was going to react seeing her. Would he be mad at her?
She headed down the hall and heard the sound of the guys singing. She stopped outside the room and listened.
"I wonder what song that is?" She said to herself. "I don’t remember hearing that before".
She stayed there and listened. The song was beautiful. Nick was on lead vocals and was doing a wonderful job, he put so much emotion into it. The song made her think of AJ….
"I figured out, what to say to you,
Sometimes the words, they come out so wrong, oh yes they do.
I know in time that you will understand me,
And what we have, is so right ….."
When the song ended, Dawn walked into where the guys were and clapped.
"Where did that one come from?" She asked enthusiastically.
They all came over and gave her a big hug, everyone except AJ.
"Ask your boy AJ", Nick answered. "It came from him".
They all piled out of the room and left Dawn and AJ in the room by themselves. Kevin closed the door, he didn’t think either of them realized that they were alone yet. AJ turned around and looked at Dawn. She was puzzled by Nick’s comment.
"What did Nick mean, it came from you?" She asked.


Chapter 28
Back