“AJ please it’s not what it looks like. Please believe me.” Nick took another step in AJ’s direction.
“Really Nick? Because from where I was standing it looked an awful lot like you were fucking Kevin.” AJ ground the words out between clenched teeth. “I can’t believe the mistake I almost made. You know maybe I should be thanking you.” He laughed, a hollow humorless bark, then turned on his heel and started walking towards the door.
“AJ stop! Where are you going?” Nick wanted to close the distance between them but was afraid by the angry tension rolling off of AJ’s body in waves.
“You stay right there Nick. I don’t want anything more to do with you. From this point on we are band mates and nothing more. Do you hear me?” At Nick’s affirmative shake of the head AJ turned the knob and opened the door. “As of where I’m going it’s not really any of your concern any longer. Let’s just say that epiphanies happen in the strangest of places and I now know where I need to be. Back to the only person I have ever truly loved, and I pray that he still loves me.”
With that AJ walked through the archway and slammed the door behind him, the whimpers and cries of his former lover falling on deaf ears.
“Why didn’t I do that weeks ago? I’m a damn idiot that’s why. Sharing a bus with the two of them has turned me into an honorary dumb blonde. Well no more.” His inner monologue quieted noticeably when he reached his destination. For the first time fear crept through the adrenaline and he was unsure of how to proceed. The choice was taken out of his hands though when the door opened before him. He stared into the soft, gentle eyes of his best friend and called himself a million kinds of fool for not recognizing the love that so plainly shined there. It was all he could do not to wrap him in his arms and kiss him until the next millennium rolled around.
“What are you doing here AJ?”
“I’m an idiot.”
“That’s a good start. Keep going.”
“You’re my best friend. I’ve loved you before I even knew what love was. But I was just so damn scared by what I was feeling that I ran away from it, from you, from the best thing that ever happened to me. I wish I knew why, and I wish I knew what to say to make all the bad stuff disappear and have it be just you and me again. I’ve missed you so much…you have no idea,” AJ took a deep breath, and spurned on by the smile of the man in front of him he continued, “and if it takes me ten, a hundred or a thousand years I swear to god that I will make it up to you. I’ve felt nothing inside since we’ve been apart; you’re my heart, my other half, my soul mate. If it weren’t so damn cheesy I’d say that you complete me, because you do Howie. I love you so much. You have no idea how much.”
“God AJ…what took you so long?” He was about to reply but Howie leapt into his arms and brought his lips down to AJ’s in a searing kiss, sealing the love between them....