The next morning, Dawn awoke and looked beside her. No AJ. It didn’t look like he had been there all night. She laid her head back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. Ever since the signing the day before, AJ had barely spoke to her. She tried to get him to talk to her, to no avail. Nothing more than one or two words here and there. It was so unlike him, that always talked about everything.

When they came back to D’s house, after picking up Arianna from Denise’s, he had helped give her a bath, then put her to bed. He said he needed to go out for awhile. He didn’t ask Dawn if she minded like he usually did, not that she would have, but his behavior was unusual.

She sat and pondered all night what could have made him so mad. She understood that he wasn’t happy about her having to do the signing or Noah's presence, but she thought everything went pretty well. She had been cordial to Noah because she had to be, he was her manager and they were in public, but she wasn’t overly-friendly towards him.

She got up and put her robe on. She walked slowly to the kitchen as she heard the clinking and clanking of dishes. As she rounded the corner, she saw AJ and Arianna sitting at the table eating breakfast.

"Mommy!" Arianna exclaimed.

"Morning, honey," Dawn said as she kissed her daughter’s head.

AJ got up and walked over to the sink just as Dawn approached him. She looked after him, hurt, but tried to ignore it.

"When did you get home last night? I didn’t hear you come in, " she asked, walking over to the refrigerator and opening it.

"I don’t know," he answered as he washed his dishes off. "Late."

Dawn stood there watching him.

"It didn’t even look like you came to bed last night."

"I didn’t want to wake you, I slept in Arianna’s room."

Dawn looked at him surprised. She didn’t even know what to say. She couldn’t believe he was acting like this.

"Where did you go?"

"Out," he replied shortly.

"Out where?" She asked, getting irritated.

"Just out," he emphasized as he walked over to clean Arianna off.

"Alex, what is wrong with you?" Dawn finally yelled. "You’ve barely said two words to me since yesterday, you’re gone all night and don’t even bother to sleep in the same bed with me when you finally do mosey in, now you’re acting like an asshole. What the hell is going on??"

Arianna looked at Dawn and frowned.

"Mommy, don't yell at Daddy," she scolded.  "And you no say dat word. Dose baaaad words."

Dawn took a deep breath.

"I know, sweetie, Mommy’s sorry."

She turned her attention back to AJ who was just standing there with his arms folded looking at her.

"Are you done with your little outburst now?" He asked rhetorically as he lifted Arianna off her chair.

Dawn just looked at him dumbfounded as he made his way past her and walked out of the room.

D came in through the doorway as AJ was storming out. She moved before he plowed her over.

"Good morning to you too," she called after him.

She walked into the kitchen shaking her head.

"What was that about?" She asked Dawn as she made herself a cup of coffee.

"I have no idea," Dawn told her honestly. "He didn’t talk to me at all last night while we were at Denise’s or when we got home."

She sat down at the table and D sat across from her.

"He went out right after we put Arianna to bed," she continued. "When I woke up this morning he wasn’t in bed. I found him in the kitchen eating breakfast with Arianna. He said he got in pretty late so he slept in her room because he didn’t want to wake me. When I asked him what was wrong mouthed off and stormed out."

"Wow. So he never told you why he was upset?"

D figured it was because of Noah but she didn’t say anything.

Dawn shook her head.

"It’s not like him not to tell me. Something must really be bothering him."

"I’m sure he’ll tell you when he’s ready," D assured her.

"He was such a dick to me, D. I wanted to slap him!"

"Well, you are just the one to do it," D laughed.

"Speaking of slapping, how was your night with Nicky?" She asked slyly.

"How do you know I had a night with Nicky?"

Dawn just smiled at her.

"You knew!!" D gasped "I had been going out of my mind with worry and you knew!!"

"Yeah, so, he told me not to tell you. He wanted it to be a surprise. The only reason he told me was to ask what kind of a gift to get you. Looks like he did good."

She motioned to her necklace. D looked down at it and smiled.

"Isn’t it beautiful?"

"That it is. So are you going to dish or what?"

D began telling her about her night with Nick, not leaving out a single detail. When she told her about the boat Dawn’s eyes grew wide.

"He bought you a boat??"

"No," she laughed. "He bought himself a boat but he named her after me, D’s Dream."

"Damn. That’s love. He liked his present?"

"Oh yeah," she sighed, taking a sip of her coffee.

"I meant the bracelet," Dawn said, rolling her eyes.

"Ohhhhh…that present," she chuckled. "He loved it."

"But of course. I’m glad you guys had a great night and that you’re so happy. You both deserve it."

"Thanks. This is the first real relationship I’ve had. I feel like I’m dreaming. He’s the most amazing person I’ve ever met. I love him so much."

Dawn smiled at her. It was written all of D’s face how happy she was. Dawn knew what it was like to be with someone you loved very much. When she thought about her argument with AJ she frowned.

"What’s wrong?" D asked concerned.

"I’m worried about Alex. He’s acting so strange."

"I told you that things will work themselves out. He’ll talk to you when he’s ready."

"I hope you’re right, D. I’m gonna go get dressed."

Dawn put her cup in the sink and went upstairs.

As Dawn walked down the hall to her room, she heard voices coming from one of the bedrooms. It was AJ and Arianna. She stopped outside the door that was half open and listened.

"Daddy, when we go home?"

"We’re going back home this weekend, Jellybean."

"Mommy come, too?"

"Of course Mommy’s coming. It’s gonna be Mommy, Daddy, and Ari."

The little girl giggled. "Daddy?"

"What Sweetie?"

"Um, you buy me puppy?"

AJ laughed, "I don’t know, we’ll have to talk to Mommy about that one."

"Why?"

"Because, we’re a family. We all have to talk about things."

"Why?"

Dawn chuckled at Arianna’s never ending supply of questions.

"Because that’s what families do. They love each other, and they talk to each other…" His voice trailed off.

Dawn listened intently, wondering what was going through his mind at that moment. Probably the same thing that was going through hers.

"Come on, baby. Talk to me," she pleaded under her breath.

"Come on, Sweetie. Let’s go see Auntie D."

"Okay!" The little girl replied excitedly.

Dawn heard their footsteps get closer and she hurriedly moved away from the door. She started to
make her way down the hall when the door opened and AJ and Arianna appeared. She turned to look at them.

"Hi Mommy!"

"Hi, honey! You all dressed?"

"Yep! Daddy dress me, and do my hair…"

Dawn laughed, "I see, and what a good job he did!"

"Yeah, Daddy do good job! I go see Auntie D." She started to run down the hallway.

"Arianna, don’t run in the house, please," AJ scolded.

She slowed down and walked as slow as she could down the hallway, taking long steps. Dawn and AJ watched her, trying not to laugh. When she got to the end of the hall she turned around, put her hands on her hips and looked at them.

"See, I walk weeeely slow!" Then she disappeared around the corner.

Dawn and AJ couldn’t help but laugh at her.

"Smartass," AJ chuckled under his breath.

He turned to Dawn and they just looked at each other.

Dawn wanted to say something, but she was afraid to, she was afraid he would bite her head off again.

"Well, I’m gonna go get dressed," she said as she turned to walk away from him.

"Angel, wait," he said as soon as she turned around.

Dawn breathed a sigh of relief as she stopped and turned to face him. She looked at him, waiting for him to speak.

"I…." His voice trailed off as he took a deep breath and looked at the ground.

Dawn stepped closer to him and gently touched his arm.

"Baby, what’s wrong? Talk to me, please."

He looked up at her, their eyes locked for a minute.  The single minute felt like a week. She could see it in his eyes, something was bothering him, something big. She didn’t know what it was, but she could see the pain.

She leaned closer to him and tenderly placed her lips on his. For the brief minute that their lips were locked, she felt him give in to her.  She thought everything would be okay, but suddenly, he tensed up and pulled away from her. She just stared at him, shocked and hurt.

"I, um, I’m gonna go take a shower." He turned and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Dawn leaned up against the wall as tears started to spill down her cheeks.

"What is wrong with him?" She cried softly.

She slowly walked into her bedroom and shut the door. She sat down on the bed and started to sob.

"Why won’t he talk to me? What did I do?" Then, suddenly, a terrible thought hit her.

‘Last night….he went out. He didn’t come home until who-knows-when, wouldn’t even get into bed with me.  Now, he can barely look at me…'

She tried to stop herself from thinking the worst.

"Did something happen last night when he went out? Did he cheat on me again?"

She buried her face in her hands and continued to sob. She didn’t realize how long she had been sitting there crying when the bedroom door opened and AJ appeared, wearing only a towel. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her crying.

She looked up at him and wiped her falling tears from her face. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, running his hands over his face. He hated when she cried. What he hated more was that he was the one who made her cry. He slowly walked over to her and sat down on the bed.
She turned away from him, not wanting to get rejected again.

"Angel, I’m sorry," he began.

"Alex, I don’t want you to apologize, I want you to tell me what’s wrong," she turned to face him.

He sighed and rested his elbows on his knees, running his hands over his face.

"I just…..don’t want to talk about it right now."

"Why? When do you want to talk about it, then??"

"I want to get things straight in my head first."

"What things?" Dawn started to raise her voice. "Alex, we’ve ALWAYS been able to talk to each other.  For the past, what, almost ten years, you and I have told each other everything. What’s happening to us??"

AJ looked up at her, he could see how much she was hurting, but he was hurting, too. She wasn’t the same person he’d always known. She wasn’t the same person he fell in love with. She seemed so uncaring of his feelings ever since she went on tour. He didn’t know what happened. He loved her with all his heart and soul, but he wasn’t sure he could give her what she wanted or needed anymore. Maybe she didn’t want him anymore, maybe she just didn’t realize it.

Dawn gently placed her hand over his.

"Alex, please. Don’t shut me out now. Tell me what’s wrong, you’re not being fair."

Her words struck a nerve in him. He wasn’t being fair?? How could she say that?? After everything he had done for her, after everything she had put him through during her tour. After he put up with Noah as much as he had over the last few months, he did it for her. He wasn’t being fair??

His anger got the best of him as he stood up and looked at her.

"I didn’t want to do this, but I don’t have a choice. For the sake of us, for the sake of our family….if
you care anything about me, I want you to make a decision…..this mess of a career with Noah…or me."

Dawn looked at him shocked. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing come out of his mouth.

"You’re asking me to choose between my career and you??"

"That’s exactly what I’m asking."

Just then, the door flew open and Arianna came running into the room. "Mommy, phone!"

Dawn and AJ just stared at each other. Neither of them could say anything. AJ was just as shocked as Dawn that he could give her such an ultimatum.

"Mommy!" Arianna said impatiently.

"I’m coming, Sweetheart," Dawn said rising to her feet, her eyes once again locked with AJ’s.

"I’m going to get the phone, we’ll talk about this later."

She made her way past him and walked out the door.

She could barely feel her legs as she walked down the hall. She reached the kitchen and picked up the phone resting on the counter. D walked into the kitchen with her keys.

"I’m gonna run to Nick’s, I can take Ari with me".

"Okay, thanks," Dawn smiled as she kissed her daughter. She put the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi Princess."

Dawn sighed. Noah. He was one person she did notneed to talk to right now.

"Hi Noah."

"Boy, don’t sound too happy to hear my voice," he said, hurt.

"Now is just not a good time."

"I just wanted to see how you were, and I had something I wanted to say, real quick."

Dawn sighed.  "Alright."

AJ turned the corner into the kitchen. He heard Dawn talking, but he didn’t know who she was talking to. She didn’t see him walk into the room, he stood opposite her, just out of her line of vision.

"Noah," Dawn said exasperated.

Every muscle in AJ’s body tensed up. What the hell was Noah doing calling Dawn?? He had had just about enough of that man, he was about to explode. He stood there with his arms folded, fuming, listening to the conversation between Dawn and Noah, what he could hear, at least.

"I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for everything that’s happened in the last few months."

"Noah…"

"No, I want you to forgive me. I want things to be between us like they were way at the beginning."

"So much has happened between us, I don’t know.."

AJ felt his fists clench. What did she mean by that?  What had happened between them??

"You don’t have to answer now, just think about it, please."

"What about Alex?" Dawn said softly.

AJ’s ears perked up. What were they saying? Why was his name brought up? It took all the strength he had to keep himself planted in one place.

"Make your own decisions, Dawn," Noah replied.

Dawn was silent for a minute.

"I gotta go, Noah. I’ll call you."

"Okay, please don’t take long. You know how much I care about you."

"Yeah, I know…Bye".

She hung up the phone and sighed.

"You’ll call him??!" AJ’s voice came out of nowhere.

She spun around in surprise.

"Didn’t know I was here, did you?!" He walked towards her with his arms folded.

"No, I didn’t know you were there, you surprised me…"

"Yeah, I’m sure I did. What was that little conversation about?!"

She could see the anger on his face.

"He just wanted to see how I was. I don’t want to talk about this with you right now," she turned to
walk away when he continued.

"He knows how you are, doesn’t he??"

Dawn turned quickly around to face him. "Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"You fucked him, didn’t you?? Tell me the truth!  None if this, ‘I don’t remember’ bullshit!"

"Alex, you’re crazy, do you know that?? I don’t know what’s come over you, but you’ve lost your fucking mind. "

"That baby is his, isn’t it??" He yelled at her.

Dawn just stared at him in shock, she couldn’t make any words come out of her mouth.

"Alex, this is our baby," she began to cry. "How can you even think this baby isn’t yours? Don’t you
remember the night on the beach?"

"FUCK the night on the beach! That was one fucking night! You were with him every day for how many months!! I heard your tone with him! I see how you are together!!"

All Dawn could do was shake her head ‘no’, as tears streamed down her face. She couldn’t believe this was happening.

"How could you say that?" Dawn choked out.

AJ tried to calm down, but he knew it was too late.  Here it was. Months and months of hostility and frustration pouring out of him, right onto the woman he loved. The woman he thought loved him.

"Get out," Dawn said in a low voice, looking him in the eye. Her eyes burned a hole right through him.

He just stared at her, as if he didn’t hear her.

"I said get the hell out!!" She yelled.

He stood there in just as much shock as she was. He didn’t know what was happening. He didn’t know where he had kept all this hostility. He didn’t even realize that he had felt like this.

‘Do I really feel this way?’ He asked himself in shock.

The truth was, he did. He had seen Dawn and Noah together far too many times, and every time, he detected something wasn’t right. He couldn’t think of anything more to say. He slowly picked up his car keys from the counter and walked out the door.

Dawn slid down the wall onto the floor, curled up in a ball, and sobbed.

Chapter 51
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