Once Gwen was home, her phone rang non stop. She knew it was AJ and put her phone off the hook. She didn't want to talk to him or see him anytime soon. She walked into her room and felt a new batch of tears flow her eyes as she saw all of their pictures all over her room. One by one, she tore them down and stuffed them in her drawer. If there was one thing about Gwen, she hated being proved wrong. Her father was right and it made Gwen furious. She had countless messages and emails from AJ and deleted them all. One night, she was getting ready to go to the bar when her machine clicked on.
"Gwen...it's me...please don't turn off the machine..." Gwen could hear AJ plead on the answering machine. "I messed up and I am so incredibly sorry. Please pick up...I know you're there..." Gwen reached out and grabbed the receiver.
"What?" she asked in the phone.
"Gwen, please let me talk," AJ asked, relieved she picked up.
"You have 10 seconds," Gwen said harshly.
"I was scared. I was so stressed out about how much I love you and..."
"Love me?! AJ! You don't love me! You cheated on me, lied to me and made me feel worthless," she screamed. Those last three words struck AJ like a knife in his heart.
"I'm sorry," AJ said, as tears filled in his eyes.
"AJ, I'm not even mad about you kissing another girl. Everyone makes mistakes," Gwen went on, "I'll forgive you for that. What pisses me off is that you LIED to me. You told me you respected me and honored me. You told me you stopped drinking and you were flat out DRUNK. AJ...I can't trust you," she said, tears streaming down her cheek but she wiped them away.
"Gwen, I messed up. Please..." AJ begged.
"AJ..I can't forgive you. I...I just can't," she said, softly. And with that, she hung up the phone.
~~~~~~~
AJ stared at his phone. He gently hung up and laid down on his bed. He was still at the hotel in LA. He couldn't sleep, eat or think. All he could think about was Gwen. He loved Gwen with all his heart and he messed up. He hurt so bad when he thought about what he did. He had to get her back.
~~~~~~~~
"Jill...I can't come in tonight. I'm under the weather," Gwen said, on the phone with her boss after she hung up with AJ. Her boss understood and Gwen hung up. She stared at the phone and let out a big sigh. She picked it up and dialed familiar numbers.
"Hello?"
Gwen was glad it was Ashleigh who picked up.
"Hey Ash," Gwen said, weakly.
"Gwen?! Are you okay?!" her sister asked, worried.
"Yeah..." Gwen sniffled, "I'm fine." She took a deep breath. She never thought she would be saying what she was about to say. "Ash, I need some advice...."
~~Christmas eve~~
Gwen stood outside her huge house in Albany. She let out a sigh. She didn't want to be there but where would she go? Only Ashleigh knew what happened and was going to be the only one. Gwen took all her pride she had left and rung the doorbell. The door flew open and Madaline's jaw dropped.
"Gwen?!" she cried, jumping into her sisters arms.
"Gwen?!" she heard her mom cry out from the kitchen. She ran in and saw her daughter.
"Hi honey, is everything alright?" her mother asked.
"Yes...I thought I would surprise you," Gwen lied, faking a smile.
"Where is AJ? Is he getting your stuff out of your car?" Judi asked, looking outside. Gwen felt her heart hurt.
"No, we spent our Christmas together last weekend," Gwen lied again. Everyone was in the hall by now and hugging Gwen. Ashleigh hugged Gwen and whispered, "Are you okay?"
"I don't know," Gwen whispered back. Gwen saw her dad standing in the doorway to the dinning room. There was silence between them.
"Hello Gwendal," her father said sternly.
"Hi dad," she said, brushing past him and going into the family room. Presents piled under the tree and Gwen brought in all her presents for everyone. Gwen ran upstairs to settle into her old room for the night. She heard a knock on the door and Ashleigh let herself in.
"Hey," she said gently. Gwen looked at her sister. "Has he called?" Ashleigh asked.
"Yes. But I haven't answered."
"Why don't you let him apologize? He sounds like he is really sorry," Ashleigh suggested.
"Because I can't explain to you how much he hurt me," Gwen said, near to tears. Ashleigh hugged her sister. They were starting to become friends again.
"Cheer up. It's Christmas," Ashleigh said. Gwen wiped away her tears.
"Please don't say anything," Gwen said. Ash nodded and they went back down stairs. Once they were with everyone, Judi asked- "What's AJ up to tomorrow? Is he going to call you?"
"I don't know mom. He's spending time with his mom, aunt and uncles and all his cousins. He never gets to see them," Gwen said, trying to avoid the subject.
"Lets open our one Christmas Eve gift!" Ashleigh said, changing the subject for her sister.
~~~~~
Gwen tried to stay focused and get in the holiday spirit, but she couldn't. Her mom noticed Gwen's depression and pulled her daughter aside while Maddy was taking her turn opening her one Christmas Eve gift.
"Honey, what's wrong? Did you an AJ have a fight?" Judi asked her daughter.
"No mom, why would you think that?" Gwen covered up.
"Because you are usually so bubbly and excited on Christmas and you've been acting so sad tonight. You can tell me. Did something happen?" she asked.
"Mom, you see right through me," Gwen said, feeling tears swell up in her eyes.
"Want to talk about it?" her mom asked gently.
"No," Gwen said, sniffling. "I don't want us to be in a sad mood over Christmas," she said.
"Okay honey, I understand," her mom said, hugging her. They went back to the group and Gwen sat on the couch next to Whittney.
"My turn!" Olivia said. She walked over to the tree and found a beautifully wrapped box.
"Oh! I want to open this one," she said.
"Who is that from?" Ashleigh asked, not remembering the box.
"Oh, uh...that's from...AJ. He mailed a big box of Christmas gifts that got here today for all of us," Judi said. Gwen's heart sank. She remembered him mentioning he got her sisters and parents presents before the fight. Gwen tried to put on a smile while her sister squealed with excitement.
"It's from AJ?! Oh my gosh!!" her sister said, tearing the paper off of it. AJ loved to shop and he loved to shop for girls. AJ got Olivia a beautiful sweater from Gap kids and a matching hat. She screamed and held it up.
"I love it!!" she said. There was one more wrapped thing in the box. She tore through the paper and it was a framed picture of the BSB's. AJ had them autograph it for her. She screamed.
"AHHH!!! An autographed picture!!" she cried.
"NO FAIR!" Maddy screamed.
"Maddy, there is a box down there for you too. I'm sure AJ got you one too," Whittney said. Gwen's heart melted. She missed him so much it hurt. She excused herself out of the room and went to the kitchen to get some water. She poured a glass and went back into the living room.
"Gwennie, it's your turn," Olivia said. Gwen looked under the tree. She spotted a medium sized package that had her name on it. It was from Whittney. She opened it and it was a black leather jacket from Express.
"Whitt! I love it! I've been asking for a leather jacket forever," Gwen said, putting it on.
"No problem. I got a 40% discount on it," Whittney said, since she works at Express. Gwen hugged her sister and everyone was done with their one present. Judi sent Maddy and Olivia upstairs to get ready for bed.
~~later that night~~
Judi and Dave were setting up Maddy and Olivia's "Santa Presents" under the tree while Gwen, Ashleigh and Whittney ate Christmas cookies in the kitchen.
"What did you get AJ for Christmas?" Whittney asked Gwen. Gwen didn't say anything and Whittney looked at Ashleigh. She was very confused.
"What?" Whittney asked, now knowing she was missing something.
"AJ and I got in a fight two weeks ago and that is why I'm not in Florida," Gwen said, leaving out details. Whittney gasped.
"Oh my God, what happened?" she asked.
"Nothing...it's not a big deal," Gwen said. Whittney noticed her sister was hurting and went to say something but Ashleigh quickly changed the subject.
"Let's go to bed. She needs to be alone," Ashleigh said, shooing her sister upstairs. They both hugged Gwen goodnight. Gwen stood alone in the kitchen and finished her Christmas cookie. She sighed and went upstairs to bed.
