Kevin answered the door. He looked tired.
"Hey guys. Come on in." He gestured morosely at his house, which was trashed.
"Whoa. This place was new yesterday," Glyn muttered, then realized that maybe it wasn't the right thing to say right then. Kevin was staring angrily at her.
"You two can start by picking up broken glass," he instructed
"Broken glass? Oh no." Glyn remembered what had happened the last time she was around broken glass, staring at a white mark on her hand regretfully.
"Umm... Okay. We're not staying long!" AJ called as Kevin stormed out of the room. Glyn started collecting glass fragments carefully where something had broken near the table she'd been hiding under. Something was still under that table, in fact.
"Hey, AJ? What's that?" She gestured at a sleeping person with a piece of glass. AJ walked over and looked at it.
"That's Geoffrey. Ha ha Geoffrey, you're ugly and I'm not," he taunted, nudging Geoffrey's head with his foot.
"What's going on in here?!" Kevin demanded, having heard their laughter and run back into the room.
"It's Geoffrey!" Glyn informed him happily. "Did you know that he was under your table?"
"Umm... No. Look, why don't you two just leave? You're not helping very much!" Kevin scowled darkly and started pulling Geoffrey off the floor.
"Okay... Is there anything we can do?" AJ asked. "Besides cleaning your house that is."
"Yeah. If you see a Scottish terrier running around get him and bring him here. Bye." Kevin pointed at the door and AJ and Glyn took the point, leaving quickly.
The Next Day
"Good morning, Sweetie." Nick smiled at the dog sitting on his chest. It looked attentive so he kept talking. "YOU don't care if those bitches cut my hair, do you? It doesn't matter that much." He absentmindedly scratched the pug's ears. "What am I talking about? My hair looks like shit. It matters a lot." The dog panted and drooled. Nick sat it on the table beside his bed. "You can't drool on my bed, Sweetie. Don't worry. We'll have our revenge. They'll be sorry they cut my hair. Now, what can I do to get back at them?" He looked questioningly at Sweetie. "What do I know about them? Glyn takes pictures. Marian writes for whoever pays her. I know, I know. She wouldn't like to hear her 'job' described that way. It's true, though. Ya know that, Sweetie? Audrey didn't like them, either. She's even been to their apartment. She really hated it... Hey! I wonder where they live." He smiled evilly. "Kevin knows. He'll tell me." He picked up a phone and called Kevin.
"Hello?" Kevin sounded as though he were still mourning the carpet in his new living room.
"Kev?"
"Nick. Sup?"
"Not much," Nick lied. "Have you found your dog?"
"Champ? Yeah. He was in a cabinet in the kitchen." Nick laughed. "Nick it's not funny!"
"Sorry. Um. Do you remember that weird girl AJ's been hanging with lately?"
"The photographer. Glyn Kerrington. Yes, how could I forget." Kevin grimaced.
"Where does she live?" Nick asked abruptly.
"Nicky, you-"
"What?!" Nick knew that fatherly tone all too well.
"I know you want revenge for what she and that other chick did to your hair but ... well..."
"What Kevin? It's not your hair, ya know. It's easy for you to tell me not to do anything!"
"Fine. But I didn't tell you this, okay?" Kevin grudgingly gave Nick directions to Glyn and Marian's apartment. Nick hung up the phone proudly.
"Now, Sweetie, we know where they live. What can we do with this information?" Sweetie looked thoughtful. "That's right, Sweetie. I could cut Glyn's hair but AJ loves that hair dearly and I don't want him to kill me. Whaddya say we go look around and see what the apartment building's like? Just to get some ideas." Nick took a shower, got dressed, and put Sweetie in his car and they went out for a drive.
"This has been a great day," Marian muttered, walking down the sidewalk to the apartment building. She was talking to herself. "After the episode with the shorts yesterday I thought Mr. Harris would never let me back inside. But I guess he wanted to lecture me some more. At least I got about fifteen minutes for that damn interview. If he's going to fire me why doesn't he just get it over with? Hmm?!? Answer me that!" she demanded of a crack in the sidewalk. She heard a weird, high-pitched sound that might have been a really screwed-up dog barking and looked up. There was an expensive green car driving by. A familiar tall blonde was driving and there was a really ugly little dog on the dashboard. He smirked at her and kept driving. 'Oh no,' Marian thought. 'He's up to no good.' "STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU BASTARD!! By the way, NICE HAIR!" She shook her fist and spun around, marching inside angrily and smacked into someone.
"Miss Arden," the owner of the apartment building said crisply.
"M... Mr. S-Smith..."
"I see you're harassing passers-by again." He frowned.
"Sorry!" Marian quavered and started walking away fast. She ran into someone else and didn't bother to see who it was.
"Mari! Stop. What's up?" It was Glyn.
"Glynnie!!!" Marian whined, giving Glyn a hug. "I feel hated. I was supposed to get off work at six. And Genius just drove by. Something bad's going to happen."
"Don't worry Mari. I was just out for a walk. Everything's peachy today. I took lots of nice pictures and when I get my check from AJ's manager we can get them developed!" Glyn patted her shoulder and they walked inside. Glyn hadn't been home to see that "Genius" had driven past their building five times that day. "Let's make German chocolate cake and pig out then go to bed early, 'kay?"
"That sounds good," Marian agreed wholeheartedly, running up the stairs.
Later That night
Barnaby crept down the hallway. It sure was a change, after spending most of his time in AJ's hallways watching for maniacal fans. Barnaby wasn't very happy at the moment. There was lint all over his black clothes. He was hungry. Sitting in a hallway that smelled of old cigarette smoke when he was hungry was nauseating but it was worse when he could smell German chocolate cake from the room he was supposed to be watching. He listened at the doorway.
"God, I'm stuffed. Mari, I'm going to be sick."
"It's okay. I'm going to bed."
"Me too."
Barnaby smiled to himself. He waited for another hour until all noise had ceased and he was sure the two culprits were asleep then walked into the parking lot and tapped on the car window. Nick woke up quickly and opened the door, grinning eagerly.
"Are they asleep?"
"I'm damn hungry, Nick. Damn hungry." Nick frowned and grabbed Barnaby's shirt, pulling the 6'8 tall man down to eye level with him.
"Barnaby, answer me! Are they awake?! I don't care if you're hungry!"
"They've been cooking chocolate cake." Barnaby wasn't bothered by Nick's attempts at making himself powerful.
"Damnit, Barnaby! TELL ME!" Nick was growing very impatient. He'd been waiting here for three hours.
"They've both been asleep for a bit now. I'm sure they're sleeping deeply." Nick smiled.
"Maybe you can get some of that cake while we're there." He made sure the scissors were in his pocket. He'd decided it would, in fact, be very amusing to cut Glyn's hair. That would teach them to mess with him. He walked inside, close behind Barnaby.
"Is this their room?" He thought Kevin had said it was the one on the left at the top of the staircase on the first floor. But it might have been the right.... It smelled as if someone had been baking. Barnaby nodded and pulled a skeleton key out of his pocket. "Wait!! I wanna open the door." Barnaby handed Nick the key and he turned it in the lock, thankful that the door didn't squeak when it opened. He froze. The lights were still on in the kitchen and he could see into the living room, where a certain Glyndalyn Kerrington was asleep on the floor, leaning against the wall directly under a nice art print that looked out of place against the walls that, like the carpet, might once have been white. He smirked and consulted his watch. It was four minutes past three.
"Barnaby, stay there and make sure no one walks down the hallway or anything," he instructed, but he didn't need to. Barnaby had spotted a half-empty cake pan and was quickly stuffing the contents of it into his face. He wasn't going anywhere. Nick gingerly approached Glyn. This couldn't be any better! Her long, long, long hair was in a braid that must have taken at least an hour to do. That made his work easy. He picked up the braid, making sure to hold it so that none of its weight pulled on Glyn's head, and hacked it somewhat neatly so that it was only about three inches long from where the braid started at the nape of her neck. Nick stifled an evil laugh and coiled the braid around his arm. He stared down at Glyn triumphantly for a few minutes. He could hear Barnaby stuffing himself in the kitchen. Someone in a bedroom stirred. Nick merrily traipsed back toward the door.
"Barny! Time to go!!" Barnaby looked guiltily at his hands, covered in cake and icing, and nodded, following Nick.
"Glyn? Are you awake out there?" a groggy voice called.
"Oh shit!" Nick hissed, almost almost silently, and tripped on the carpet in the hallway, pulling the door behind him shut with a loud bang. He and Barnaby ran wordlessly down the stairs and to his car.
Glyn could tell as soon as she opened her eyes that something was wrong. The noise from the door slamming had awakened her but she remembered hearing Marian's voice while she slept a few seconds ago. Yes, something was very, very, very wrong. She didn't even want to open her eyes. Marian staggered out of her bedroom and stiffened when she saw Glyn. She ran to the window. An expensive green car was driving down the street.
"You bloody BASTARD!" she hissed, hands pressed against the window. Glyn decided that if it was this bad, she'd better get it over with and open her eyes. Suddenly, she realized what was amiss. She tilted her head slowly to one side, then the other. This had to be a nightmare. She put her hands on her hair and quickly pulled loose what was left of the braid, then saw her reflection in a mirror through her open bedroom door and shrieked.
"Damnit! DAMNIT!" She clenched her fists on her short, uneven hair and sat on her knees. She hadn't gotten a haircut since she was four years old. She ran to the window beside Marian just in time to see the car before it turned a corner. "I HATE YOU, NICK CARTER!!!! I fucking HATE you!!! I could KILL you for this!!" She continued yelling for a few minutes. Someone knocked on the door. Glyn and Marian were shocked into utter silence and slowly walked to the door. Glyn opened it.
"It's a little early," she said before realizing they were being called on by the owner of the building. He was red in the face with wrath. "Mr. Smith! Umm... Sorry about the noise."
"Out!!" he stuttered, unable to talk. "You- her- OUT!"
"Oh no," Glyn whispered.
"Yes! Noon! BY NOON!" He stomped out and slammed the door loudly. Marian thought she heard it crack.
"Okay... umm... It's okay. We don't have much to pack. We'll get all our stuff together and find another place and ... It's okay. We have nine hours. That's plenty of time." Marian shut up, realizing that she was talking to herself. " Glyn, are you okay?" Glyn nodded mutely and went to her room to start packing. She touched the ends of her hair self-consciously, thinking she should get it evened out at least a little.. Maybe Marian would do it. She was good at that kind of thing when she wanted to be. Glyn sighed and decided she was not going to cry, shoving some books into a box.
Hmm.. A little later
AJ sat up in his bed, wondering what had woken him up. He frowned and turned on a light, getting up and wandering around his apartment. Was that the sound of the elevator doors closing? Hmm.. He opened the door to the hallway.
"OhmyGOD!" He stared at the braid which was obviously Glyn's lying coiled on the floor. "NICK! SHIT!" He picked it up and got dressed, then drove over to Marian and Glyn's apartment. He forgot to knock on the door, but it was unlocked.
Glyn didn't have much to pack. Her camera, her pictures, her clothes, hair brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, various other small things, and her purse were the only things she could take care of at the moment. All of these were unceremoniously being crammed into a suitcase. There was various furniture she wasn't sure she would be able to bring with her. She was having problems getting a few tops and a pair of jeans into the suitcase. A little of her wrath for Nick surfaced, unbidden, and she started pounding the clothing with her fists until it fit into the suitcase. Feeling unable to stop at beating her clothing, Glyn started punching the floor. 'What the shit does it matter if I wake up the people in the room under this one? We're getting kicked out anyway!'
"Glyn? Is it okay if I'm here?" Suddenly AJ was walking across the room to her. She stopped abusing the floor and looked ashamed. "Glyn, you look beautiful." It was true. Her new haircut might not have been professional or welcome but the new length framed her face and she always looked beautiful besides.
"Shut the fuck up!" Lacking something to beat, Glyn's hands started trembling. She let AJ hold them and stared blankly at her suitcase.
"Sorry. This is a bad time to say that. Um... " He decided not to bring up the fact that her braid was at his house. "Are you packing?"
"Yeah. Me and Mari are getting kicked out because I screamed at Nick for about ten minutes after his car was gone." She didn't notice any shock in his expression and pulled her hands away from him. "Did you know he was going to do this?"
"No!! I wouldn't have let anyone do that to you." Maybe it couldn't be avoided, then. "He left your braid at my house."
"The arrogant bastard." Glyn sighed and shook her hair out of her face. "Can I have it back?"
"What?" AJ was still half-asleep.
"Can I have my hair back?" Glyn asked slowly.
"Umm.. why?" AJ didn't know if he wanted to part with it.
"What, did you already throw it away or something?" Glyn smiled tiredly. "I want to donate it. It was damn long enough."
"No, I didn't throw it away! Donate it to what?" AJ was confused.
"To a cancer patient, stupid. I always said I'd do that if I ever cut my hair." Glyn looked at the floor.
"Oh, sure."
"Hi, AJ." Marian walked into Glyn's bedroom. "Glynnie, we still haven't solved the problem of where we're going to stay." she looked somewhat pointedly at AJ.
"Um. I could call Owen and see if he'd put us up for a bit. Or Thom, or Ash or Robin or Sara or Zach or Nathan or Tristan or Amy or Daniel…" Glyn listed their friends. AJ was staring at her.
"Or you could just stay at my place." he suggested.
"We couldn't do that! It would be highly-" Glyn was interrupted.
"We'd love to! Thanks so much AJ." Marian smiled sweetly and Glyn glared at her.
"Are you sure?" Glyn asked uncertainly.
"Definitely. You get the guest room. Or under the table. Whichever you please." AJ tried to be comforting to her and picked up her limp hands again. She was obviously exhausted, stressed out, and generally sad at the loss of her hair, and furious with Nick, as were AJ and Marian as well.
"It won't be for long. If I can't find a place in a day or so I'll call my parents..." Those words were really, really hard to say, but Glyn had no intention of making herself a pain in the ass.
"I can see from your face you don't want to do that. I'd love it if you'd stay as long as you want to." Glyn surveyed his expression. He seemed sincere.
"AJ-"
"Don't say anything, hun. I'll help you pack." He squeezed her hand and started gently taking art prints off the wall and leaning them against each other. Marian walked in from her bedroom, dragging a pillowcase containing some of her composition books. She saw AJ being helpful and Glyn looking still far from happy but considerably soothed.
"AJ, you're amazing," Marian declared and continued pulling the pillowcase to the growing pile of stuff near the door.
"I know. I'm God."
By eight, everything Glyn and Marian had that could be packed up was in AJ's car.
"We can get a truck for the furniture. Or a moving van or something. I'll find one." AJ stated when they got to his apartment.
"You don't have to-" Glyn started.
"I want to. And no, you can't pay for it." AJ grinned. "You look tired."
"Mmm..." Glyn shrugged.
"Do you mind if I sleep?" Marian asked.
"Not at all! Make yourself at home." AJ replied.
"I don't think you really want me to do that." Marian smiled and headed for one of the guestrooms.
"Glyn, go to bed." AJ said gently.
"Bed? Sleep? Why would I do that? I'm awake," Glyn pointed out, wide-eyed. "This shouldn't matter! It's just my hair. And I don't care about getting evicted from that little hellhole," she lied blatantly. I will NOT let that little shit Nick upset me. I won't give him that honor! I cut his hair first, anyway. At the last thought her composure evaporated. She staggered tiredly to a couch and let AJ put an arm over her shoulder. Glyn fell asleep in minutes.
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