Kyndall took a bite of her chicken sandwich, trying not to laugh as ketchup squirted from Nick's hamburger all over his chin. "Here," she said handing him a napkin. "Are you always this messy?"
He blushed, shaking his head and wiping his chin off. "No. Just when the overload the thing with that crap," he grumbled.
"It's okay. Catlyn does that all the time with her mustard," she grinned. Picking up a fry, she took a bite off the tip of it. "Ya know," she said waving it at him. "McDonald's has the absolute best fries in the world."
Nick laughed. "Yeah, and they taste the same no matter what McD's you go too," he commented. "What's up with that?"
Kyndall smiled. "And I'm sure that ya'll have sampled plenty from your many times around the world. Especially with AJ's addiction."
At the mention of AJ, Nick's eyes lost their sparkle, and his lips turned down, frowning. It was as if a dark cloud had settled over their table. "Yeah. I suppose," he mumbled looking down at his burger.
Kyndall looked at him, concerned by the sudden change in his mood. "What's the matter?"
Looking up at her, he tried to smile, but failed. Shaking his head, he sighed. "Nothing. I just…don't know what you ever seen in him. Personally, I think you'd be much better off with D."
"Howie?" she said with a surprised laugh. "But I'm not interested in Howie," she shook her head slowly. "And as far as AJ…" she looked out the window. "I obviously don't have what it takes to keep him interested," her voice trailed off.
"So you know about Miranda?" Nick asked taking a long drink of his Coke.
"Miranda? What about her?" Kyndall asked, turning back to look at him.
"She…came…to visit him when we," he watched as Kyndall's eyes filled with tears, and he could almost hear her heart breaking. "You didn't know?" he shook his head.
"No. I didn't know. He told me they weren't…that they were…he said that he only wanted me," she said softly, closing her eyes and bowing her head. "I should have know better," she whispered.
"Awww man," Nick sighed, running his hand through his hair and leaning back in his seat. "Look Kyn, I don't think they did anything. Howie talked to him, and he says that nothing happened. AJ brought her back to the room, and then pissed her off by saying your name," he tried to console her.
"HE brought her back to his room? How did he know she was there? And why was she there anyway?" Kyndall asked looking at him. Looking into Nick's eyes, hers narrowed slowly. "You don't believe either of them, do you?"
"Wh-what do you mean?" he asked nervously.
"You think something happened don't you? You don't believe them that he didn't do anything," she inquired, staring intently at him.
Looking away, Nick sighed. "No, no I don't. But my opinion doesn't mean anything," he smirked. "No one listens to me anyway."
"Hmmm," Kyndall said thoughtfully.
"Ya want to know what happened?" AJ asked Catlyn, his eyes dark and serious. Howie had talked her into coming to AJ's to talk to him, and to try to help him win back Kyndall.
"Well, yeah. It would be kind of nice to know. I can't believe I'm agreeing to help your sorry ass anyway. I'd rather be chopping you up into itsy bitsy bits, slowly and painfully," she murmured, her eyes just as intense as his.
"All right Cat," Howie said, placing his hand on her arm. "It's okay."
"No it's not, really," she glanced at Howie. "This sorry excuse for a male is the reason that I don't date. It's guys like him that should be shipped off to some remote island far away from civilization and be completely forgotten about."
"Ohch," AJ whistled softly. Looking at Howie for help, he sighed. "Here's what went on. After the little incident with Kyndall at my house -"
"LITTLE!!" Catlyn exclaimed. "Excuse me, but I believe that was a bit more than just a little incident."
"Do you want to hear this or not?" AJ growled, getting seriously annoyed with Catlyn.
"Yes, she does," Howie answered for her, looking over at her.
"Then tell her to shut up so I can finish," AJ mumbled. "Anyway," he continued. "After that night, I overheard Howie talking to you about taking Kyn to that comedy club. So I followed. I talked to her there and told her that she was all I wanted. And she basically told me that she needed time to get over everything, and that I needed time to decide if that was what I really wanted."
"Good for her," Catlyn murmured, pressing her lips together as Howie shot her a look.
Rolling his eyes, AJ kept talking. "And Howie and I," he motioned towards Howie, "we uh…we weren't the best of friends, barely saying two civil words to each other. Which made for an interesting trip, let me tell ya. Trying to stay out of his way, I pretty much holed myself up in my room, barely coming out except for shows and the stuff I was required to do." AJ took a drink of his beer that he had almost forgotten was sitting there. "Anyway, I walked into Brian's room one night, the guys were all in there talking, and that was really the first time I'd had to see Howie except for work purposes. I walked out of the room, and a few minutes later he and I were going at it in the hallway. Brian and Kevin ran out and stopped us from killing each other."
Catlyn looked over at Howie. "Wow. D, I didn't realize you were a brawler," she teased.
"Shut up," he blushed.
AJ laughed. "I think he bruised his hand worse than he did my jaw," AJ said rubbing his barely noticeable bruise. "Anyway, I went back to my room, and was laying there listening to the TV, staring at the ceiling, miserable and lonely. My phone rang, and it was Ray," he sighed and looked down at the beer bottle he was holding in his hands. Picking at the label, he continued, quietly. "There really isn't any reason that I went to pick her up other than I was lonely and confused. But as soon as I seen her, I knew it was wrong. That I didn't want her with me. That I didn't want anything to do with her -"
"But you didn't listen to yourself?" Catlyn asked, trying to comprehend how someone could have that little self-control.
AJ nodded. "I was miserable. I needed to know that someone wanted me. The only person in the world that I wanted didn't want me, and I was feeling rather shitty," he tried to explain. "Anyway, I brought her back to my room, and things started to get pretty heavy." Noticing the look on Catlyn's face, he shook his head. "But before anything happened, she stopped and started going off about me calling her Kyndall. The only thing that I could think of the whole time I was with Miranda was Kyndall. Her smile, her voice, her smell, her taste…I'm sure you wanted to know that," he smirked. "It wasn't Miranda I was with, it was Kyndall. But it wasn't Kyndall. It was Miranda. And I couldn't do anything. So Miranda left. And apparently ran into Nick." AJ set his beer bottle down on the table, leaning his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands in front of him. He proceeded to tell Catlyn about Nick's confrontation with him about Miranda.
Howie then told her about what he and Nick had discussed. And then he talked about going to see AJ and how he believed him completely, despite what Nick had said. He was ready to try again to get things with Kyndall and AJ the way they should be.
Catlyn shook her head. "But…aren't you in love with her?" she asked looking at Howie.
Howie nodded slowly, glancing over at AJ. "Yeah. But…she doesn't want me. She wants him," he said softly.
"But with a little more time, she could grow to love you," Catlyn commented.
Howie shook his head. "You know better than that, Cat. She loves AJ."
Catlyn sighed. "I just…I just don't know that I can trust you," she whispered, her eyes locked with AJ's. "How do I know you won't pull this again?"
AJ sighed. "I know it's going to take a lot to gain the trust of you. And that makes me respect you all the more. But you have to give me a chance darlin. I need Kyndall. I can't live without her."
Catlyn's eyes searched AJ's. She was silent in her observing of him. A million thoughts and objections were running through her mind. But they were countered by the million reasons as to why she should help him. Standing up and walking to the door, she stopped before opening it. Without turning around she said softly, "I will help. I can't promise you anything other than that. And I'm not going to push her. But I will help." Walking out the door, she climbed in her car and drove back to Daytona.
