Chapter 5

The next two days I stayed on the couch,
watching t.v. and staying off my leg. I thought about
A.J. most of the time, hoping things would change.
I also thought about our scheme, as soon as I got back
to good I knew we had to start it.

"Hey Jessie!" Nick said hugging me as I held
on for dear life.

"Nick watch it my knee is still messed up!"
I said as he put me down.

"Sorry, I'm really sorry about that, I was being
stupid," he said as I smiled.

"It's okay, where's the guys?" I asked as
Nick shrugged.

"They should be here any minute," he said as I sat
down on the hood of my car.

"Was the trip fun?" I asked as he nodded.

"I loved it! They interviewed us and everything
it was SO cool!" He said as I laughed.

"Like what?" I asked as he sat down next to me.

"Real personal stuff, A.J. talked about
you!" He said as my smile turned to a grin.

"What did he say?"

"Well they asked us if we had girlfriends and he said he
had a very serious one and he was like talking about
how smart you were and he showed a picture to
the interviewer I mean it was like you guys were in a
fight or something! He wouldn't stop talking
about you!" He said as I nodded.

"We did have a sorta fight," I said straightening my shirt.
It was new, I thought A.J. would like.
It was a green tanktop with a Chinese dragon on it.

"You did?"

"Uh…yeah," I said as he sighed.

"What about?"

"Well, he never told me about New York."

"Ouch," he said as I nodded.

"I know! So I told him maybe leaving would be good
for us, I needed some time to think ya know? So he
got mad and I haven't talked to him in 3 days," I said as
he shook his head.

"A.J.'s very stubborn," he said as I sighed.

"Oh I know, believe me I know," I said as
I saw cars pull up.

"That's them! They brought
McDonalds!" Nick said as I laughed.

"Why am I not surprised?" I said as I saw
A.J. open the passenger's side of Kevin's car.

"Hey guys! Welcome back!" I said ignoring A.J.
as the guys walked over and sat down next to
me and Nick.

"Hey Jessie, why didn't you
come?" Howie asked as I laughed.

"Howie have you seen my knee lately? It's like a mood
ring it changes colors all day!" I said as he shrugged.

"Should have come, you would have loved it!"
He said as I hugged him.

"I missed you too," I said kissing his cheek.

"How's your knee?" Brian asked as I
looked over at A.J. who was standing next to Nick.

"I can walk without the crutches, but it still
hurts," I said looking at Nick with a fake evil eye.

"Hey! You excepted my apology!" He said
defending himself as I laughed.

"I'm just messing with you Carter! Geesh!" I
said as they got up.

"We're going to eat inside and watch
Letterman, coming?" Brian asked.

"I'll be there in a second," I said as they
walked inside. A.J. sat next to me and sighed.

"Nick told me you couldn't stop talking about me," I said
looking at him. He was messing with his
fingers nervously.

"Yeah, I think by the time we left the
interviewer could write your biography," he said
as I smiled.

"Did you have fun?" I asked crossing my legs.

"No," he said shaking his head.

"Why?"

"I missed you," he said looking at me. "I understand
why you needed time, I'm sorry I acted like that,"
he said as I nodded.

"It's okay," I said scooting closer to him and taking
his hand. "I missed you too," I said kissing it lightly.

"So what have you come up with when you
were thinking?" He asked as I got a sinister
grin on my face.

"Well, when my leg isn't in immense pain, I say we
start off by breaking my dad and Denise up. My other
thought was that…well it still comes up to the
I love you too much to let you go thing," I said
shrugging as he grinned.

"You too? I thought that was just me," he said
as I shrugged.

"Me too, we seem to connect like that," I said as he
nodded, before kissing me.

"I think the idea with my mom and your dad is good,
should we really do it though? I feel kinda
bad," he said as I nodded.

"I definitely do too, but we have to. It's our
only way right?" I asked as he sighed.

"Yeah, you're so smart," he said as I smiled.

"I know, and I have a feeling the whole building you
went to in New York knows too," I said
giggling. He kissed me again cupping my face
with his hands.

"Come on, Jennifer Lopez is on Letterman!" A.J. said
helping her off the car and dragging me inside.

"Have a thing for her?"

"She looks JUST like you! Ever think
about it?" He asked as I laughed.

"You know, I never have," I said thinking. Truthfully I
did, I was Mexican, had brown eyes, the long, brown
hair with blonde highlights, but I couldn't sing…ever.
Or act.

"Hey you guys, do I look like Jennifer Lopez?" I asked
as A.J. shut the front door.

"YES!" They all said staring at the t.v. and back at me.

"Hmm…I think the only difference is I can't speak
any Spanish," I said as A.J. drug me over to the floor
aside the t.v.

"That's to bad," A.J. said brushing his hand up and
down my back. I tuned into the t.v. as Jennifer spoke:

"My boyfriend is so sweet Dave, he is!" She said
laughing. I looked over at them and shook my head.

"I would never say that!" I said as they laughed.

"How many times have I heard you call A.J.
baby, or sweet, or cute?" Kevin asked as
they rolled their eyes.

"Too many!" They yelled as I rolled my eyes.

"And he's the one that gets something
doesn't he? Hmm?" I asked as A.J. laughed.

"Bite me!" Nick and the guys yelled as A.J. and I
laughed.

"That's what I thought," I said kissing A.J. lightly
as the guys groaned.

"I can't wait till Europe, no more of that
nasty crap!" Nick said as I shrugged.

"How do you know any of the other guys won't be
swapping spit with someone? Europe is pretty
damn big Carter," I said taking a sip of A.J.'s tea.

"I bet I'd get some before any of them
would!" He said as everyone laughed.

"Nick! As your best friend, protecting you, I have to say
that it would never happen!" Brian said as everyone
laughed. "I mean you're so picky the girl would have
to have the brains of a rocket scientist and the
looks of Anna Nicole Smith!"

"No way! I have standards, but not that
high!" He said as I rolled my eyes.

"What do you think of me?" I asked as the guys
gave me a 'what-are-you-thinking' look.

"What? I just want to see if his standards are
high or low," I said shrugging.

"You're A.J.'s! I can't say anything I don't
want to die!" Nick said as A.J. nodded.

"I taught him right," A.J. said as I pushed him playfully.

"FIGHT!" They yelled as A.J. and I tackled each
other. As he tickled me I pinched him and
smacked his arms.

"Go Jessie!" Nick yelled.

"Go Bone!" Brian yelled.

"AHH!" I yelled as he tugged my hair
lightly. I laughed as we wrestled.

"Give it up Alex! I'll beat your butt!" I said
squirming. He found my ticklish spot, my
biggest…my stomach.

"I got you!" He said tickling my stomach, as I
laughed hard, trying to get up for my life.

"I…give…up!" I said in between laughs
as the guys cheered in glory for A.J.

"Thank you thank you," he said helping me up as I caught
my breath. "I found her weakness," he said as
I covered my stomach.

"No you didn't," I said trying to lie.

"Oh okay, you just gave up on free will
huh?" He asked as I nodded.

"I was bored, plus your bigger than me and
probably break my bones in two," I said as Nick
nodded.

"I almost had that experience," Nick said as I
looked puzzled.

"How?" I asked as the guys cleared their throats.

"What?" Nick asked shrugging. "A.J.'s girlfriend
cheated with yours truly," Nick said pointing
to himself with pride as A.J. rolled his eyes.

"And you would be dead now if it wasn't for the 3 guys
around you too right Nicky boy?" He asked still
defensive about it.

"Well you beat me up pretty good, but he
didn't break anything," Nick said as I looked at A.J.

"You beat on Nick?" I asked laughing.

"Yep! And it was so cool! Should have been
there, though it was two years ago," he said
as I looked at Nick.

"You were 17? How old was she?" I asked.

"Um…I think 19 right Bone?" Nick asked as
A.J. nodded.

"She was kind of…messed up," A.J. said as
the guys laughed.

"That's an understatement! She was
psycho!" Brian said as I shrugged.

"Whatever," I said as I grabbed my knee. A.J. had
hit it accidentally when we were wrestling.

"What's up?" Kevin asked as I took my bandage
off as the shrieked.

"EW!" They said as A.J. crawled up next to me.

"Does it hurt?" He asked in his soothing voice again.

"It got bumped when we were wrestling," I
said as he frowned.

"I'm sorry," he said as I shrugged.

"It looks worse than it feels," I said looking at it. It was
scarred with a huge black, blue, and purple
swelled bruise.

"It looks like shit!" Nick said sighing. "I'm so sorry!"

"Nick chill out, I forgave you a long time ago," I said as
I picked up my bandage. I re-bandaged
it, as the guys felt more comfortable.

"You weren't kidding about the different
colors," Brian said as I nodded.

"Mood ring, I told you," I said as Nick laughed.

"If it was green I'd start to worry," he said as
the guys groaned at his stupid joke.

"Hey um, I gotta go, I was only supposed to be here for a
few minutes, I have to go home," I said as A.J.
helped me up so I wouldn't hurt my knee again.

"BYE JESSIE!" The guys said as A.J.
opened the door for me.

"Bye guys, welcome back!" I said as they waved.
A.J. shut the door behind us as I limped down the stairs.

"I like your shirt," he said following behind me.

"Thanks, I know you have one like mine," I said as his
scent engulfed me, causing me to stop in the middle
of the driveway.

"I do, that's why I like it, it looks like mine," he said
as I smacked him playfully. "OW! Watch it I have
bruises from you pinching and smacking me
so hard," he said rubbing his arm.

"I'm sorry," I said kissing him lightly as he smiled.

"I feel better," he said as I giggled.

"I gotta go, know where I'm going tomorrow?"
I asked as A.J. shook his head. "Travel agent with
my dad to plan their honeymoon, are
you coming with Denise?" I asked hoping he would.

"I'll try, I have some other things I have
to do but I'll try," he said as I grinned.

"Thanks, call me," I said kissing him.

"As soon as I get home," he said kissing me again.

"I missed you," I said as he nodded.

"Me too, love you."

"Me too, I'm going to go limp over
to my car," I said limping as fast as I could.

"Bye baby," he said opening Nick's door and going inside.

As I drove home, I thought about this scheme A.J.
had come up with…it was good but I didn't know if
I could do it. My dad would be so sad, and I
couldn't handle that, not even for A.J. I loved A.J.,
but my dad I've loved forever. I decided
to do it, not knowing what would eventually
happen when we did it.

Index

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