| Chapter Twenty-Six After seeing Kat and Marcus off to the airport AJ went in search of Kevin, Brian and Nick. He had wanted to go with Kat, but he knew that wasn’t the smartest thing he could do and when Marcus had volunteered AJ had quickly jumped on the idea, despite Kat’s protests. “AJ, I don’t need Marcus to escort me to the airport. I’m a big girl, a full-grown woman as a matter of fact. I think I’m quite capable of finding my gate all by myself,” Kat protested. “Oh come on and humor a guy will ya? I want to go with you, but I can’t. Marcus has volunteered to go instead, so for my peace of mind just say yes,” AJ countered. “Fine, fine. If it’ll make you feel better,” she replied with a wry smile. “It will and it does,” he answered and then watched as she and Marcus left. He stopped in front of Nick’s door and knocked quietly. Patiently he waited for the door to open and when it did, Nick greeted him with a smile. “Hey AJ, come on in.” AJ stepped inside and sighed thankfully when he saw Brian and Kevin sitting in front of the television. “Hey! What is this? A party and the Bone isn’t invited? I’m hurt,” he joked as he slapped a hand over his heart. “Come sit down. We just got here anyways,” Brian said as he scooted over to make room. “Actually, I’m glad you’re all here. I need to talk to you,” he said, sobering up immediately. Three heads turned away from the television and focused on AJ. “What’s up?” Kevin asked. “Kat left,” AJ blurted out, feeling nervous about going behind Howie’s back, but not knowing what else to do. “She left? Why?” Nick asked as he flipped the television off. AJ quickly explained and then watched, as one by one, their mouths dropped open in shock. “He actually said that?” Kevin asked. “According to Kat he did,” AJ answered. “I can’t believe he told her to get out of his life. I mean, he was always talking about her and he was so excited the other night before she got here. They were so happy together,” Nick stated. “Yeah, they were. But he is refusing to deal with everything and anytime someone brings it up he flies off the handle. Heck, we saw what he said to Kat after the meeting this morning. He snapped when she asked that question,” AJ said. “So what are we going to do?” Brian asked AJ. “There’s nothing we can do. He has to want to get help for himself. The only thing I know we can do is just be there for him,” Kevin cut in. The guys sadly nodded their heads, knowing what Kevin had said was the truth. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ “Good morning guys,” Howie said cheerfully, the next morning at breakfast. AJ raised an eyebrow and exchanged looks with the guys, but refrained from saying anything. He was confused and torn and had no idea what to do. A part of him wanted to ask Howie just what he thought he was doing, but the other part felt like he would be betraying his friend if he pried. Howie glanced from man to man, the silence becoming heavy and uncomfortable. They must know that Kat left, he thought as he reached for his water and took a sip. So what, a little voice sneered. Who cares if they know? She’s out of your life, and it’s for the best, the voice continued. His resolve strengthened, Howie ignored their curious stares and ordered his food. Brian watched Howie closely and found that the more he thought about the whole situation, the angrier he became. He couldn’t believe that Howie would push a woman like Kat out of his life. Especially when all Howie had ever talked about was finding a woman who would support him and stand by him no matter what happened in his life. Howie had found that woman in Kat, and he had said so more than once. Then at the first sign of trouble, when that same woman wanted to and tried to stand by him, support him and be there for him, Howie had thrown her out of his life. Brian knew he was more upset about the events leading up to this, than he was with Howie, but at the same time, he knew Howie needed a serious wake up call. Not thinking about the consequences, Brian spoke his mind. “How could you? How could you push her out of your life, when she’s the very person you need most right now?” The stunned silence was complete, as the other guys watched Howie and Brian warily. “I don’t need anyone right now. All I really need is to forget it all ever happened and to get on with my life,” Howie responded quietly, but harshly. “NO!” Brian exclaimed through clenched teeth as he slammed his fist down on the table. “What you need is your friends, family and loved ones around to support you and see you through this. You need to accept our help and you need to stop blaming yourself. What happened wasn’t your fault, it was hers.” “I don’t need to accept anything Brian,” Howie stated, his eyes narrow slits and his jaw tense. “Well, let me tell you a little something here Sweet D, you may have succeeded in pushing Kat away, but you won’t succeed with pushing us away. We’re not going anywhere and you might as well accept that as a fact. You’re stuck with us!” “That’s where you’re wrong,” Howie spoke quietly, drawing into himself. “I’m not stuck with anything. I don’t want to talk about this, not with you, not with the guys,” he said as he spared a pointed look toward the others. “And I didn’t want to talk about this with her either. I may have to work with the three of you, but I don’t have to like it and I don’t have to have anything to do with you guys outside of work. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve suddenly lost my appetite,” he bit out, as he stood. “You can’t even say her name,” Nick whispered, stopping Howie in his tracks. Howie swung his gaze to Nick and he felt tears prick the back of his eyes. Why couldn’t they understand that he hadn’t wanted Kat to go? Why couldn’t they understand that he just needed to forget it and move on? He forced the tears back and swallowed hard. “She’s gone, and it’s for the best,” he whispered before turning on his heel and leaving the guys sitting there wondering where the real Howie had went. A long silence filled the air around their table, as each man tried to understand where Howie was coming from. Try as they might, they couldn’t wrap their minds around his way of thinking. Brian spoke startling them all. “I’m sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s just that I want to understand how he could throw all that love away.” “It needed to be said,” AJ stated as he crushed his napkin in his fist in frustration. “I wanted to say something myself, but I’m so torn. I don’t want to alienate him or make him think I’m choosing sides, but at the same time, I’m worried about him. If something like that happened to me, I don’t know that I’d react any differently than he is. I just don’t know what to do.” “We just need to be there for him. We can’t put pressure on him to talk and we can’t walk away; no matter how much he tries to push us away,” Kevin advised. “I just wonder how long it’s going to take for him to realize he’s made a mistake,” Nick asked. Reunion Index Next Chapter Main Page |