Until The End Of Time - Chapter 5
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© Jessica v.N.
published by us
rated : R
General warnings apply ! No stealing, copying or changing and then publishing it as yours ! It´s ours and only ours !
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It was now January. Jessica hadn't seen any of the guys since Kevin's birthday; they had been touring, but were now taking a break for AJ's birthday. There had been a Christmas Party, but Jessica had decided against going -- she was really busy, and besides, she hadn't felt like seeing Brian anyway.
She knew now that she couldn't avoid Brian any longer -- not on AJ's birthday. It just wouldn't be right to not show up. Besides, just because she and Brian weren't friends anymore, didn't mean she couldn't be friends with the other guys -- right?
"So are you coming?"
Jessica was pulled back out of her thoughts, remembering that she was still on the phone with AJ, "Yes. Of course I'm coming... is it alright if I bring someone with me?"
"Sure, who?"
"His name is Eric," she explained.
"Oo, a guy."
Jessica laughed, "He's really sweet... you'd like him a lot."
"Sure," AJ said, "Whatever."
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"She's got a date," AJ said, hanging up the phone.
Kevin raised an eyebrow, "Really?"
"'His name is Eric'," he mocked Jessica, "'And he's SO sweet.'"
The guys laughed.
"Can't wait to meet him," Nick said, "I bet he's 'SO fine' too."
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"Eric, you ready to go?" Jessica asked.
"Yeah, hang on Jessi," he said, running down the stairs and giving her a hug.
"Alright, come on, we don't want to be late for the party."
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AJ answered the door, "Hey, Jess. This must be Eric?"
Nick stuck his head out, "Isn't he a little young for you?"
Jessica laughed, "He's my nephew... he's visiting from Colorado."
"Oh," Nick said, "I never knew you had a nephew."
Jessica smiled, "We've known each other for almost seven years now and you didn't know I had a nephew? You don't remember meeting him last Christmas?"
"That was him?" Nick asked, "God, he grew fast."
Brian sat in the living, watching all the comotion at the door. He saw the sparkle in Jessica's eyes, and began to remember why he had fallen in love with her so long ago... she was so full of life, and love.
"Hey Brian," she said, finally walking inside.
"Hey," he said, smiling, "How've you been."
"Pretty good," she said, "You?"
"Pretty good myself."
"How about Tricia?" she asked.
"Oh, we broke up a while ago."
Jessica gave him a sympathetic look, "I'm sorry," then, as soon as the sorrow had entered her face, it disappeared as Panda and Bear rand up barking to greet her.
"So, we've got a lot of catching up to do," AJ said.
"Yeah," Nick agreed, "It's been ages since we've last seen you!"
"It hasn't been that long, has it?" she asked.
"Almost three months," Kevin said.
"My, time does fly fast," Jessica said, "Whether you're having fun or not."
"What, you haven't been having fun?"
"Well," Jessica said, "It's been... interesting. I've gotten a new job, and well, my professional life has been sky rocketing but my personal life, well, it's been kind of a drag, to put it nicely."
"A new job?" Brian asked.
"Yeah," Jessica said, "I work for a talent search agency. It's a lot of fun. I get to interview and evaluate people. My evaluations get sent to both my boss and the person I'm evaluating so they know what to work on. Then, if my boss likes them, they getter recalled."
"Sounds like fun," Howie said.
"Yeah, it is... unless you get stuck with the people who *really* can't sing," she cringed at the thought of it, "But all in all, yeah, it's pretty fun."
The doorbell rang again and AJ, Nick, Howie, and Kevin went to greet the newcomer.
"So how've you been?" Jessica asked.
"Pretty good," Brian said, "You look good."
She grinned, then laughed, "Don't I always?"
"I've missed having you around," he said, seriously.
"Well I've missed being around," she said softly.
"Everyone thought that Eric was your boyfriend," he said, "God you have no idea how it made me -"
"Hi, Brian."
Brian stopped, "Hi Denise, how're you?"
"Fine, thank you," she looked at Jessica, "It's nice to see you again."
Jessica smiled, "Nice to see you too, Denise." She turned her attention back to Brian, "So what were you saying?"
"Nothing," he said standing up, "Nothing. Just that it's nice to see you again." Then he turned around and walked away.
Jessica sat on the couch by herself now, wondering what it was that Brian was going to say to her. Maybe it was nothing more than just that -- "nice to see you again" -- but it had seemed, for one split second, that maybe he would say something else. Something more meaningful...
Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. Maybe she just wanted it so badly that for one moment in time she had imagined it. Just like she had imagined that warm fuzzy feeling she got when she first saw him today -- the same warm fuzzy feeling she had gotten when they had been dating almost four months prior.
"Jessi."
Jessica looked up, "Yes Eric?"
"They're cutting the cake now and they said you have to sing happy birthday with them."
Jessica smiled, "Alright, I'll be along in a moment."
She looked at the pictures on the mantle. Pictures of the guys, AJ's family, his dogs... and of her. Standing up, she looked closer. There were a lot of pictures of her -- some from times she didn't even remember. One from the first time she had met the guys -- at a McDonalds in Orlando, one from the first time she rode a rollercoaster and vomitted all over AJ... even one of her and Brian from when they had been dating. So many memories...
"You coming?"
Jessica turned around, "AJ. What...?" she didn't know how to finish or question, or even what her question was.
AJ just looked at her as if he knew something she didn't. Like he knew what she was going to ask, "We'll talk about it later."
Nothing else needed to be said. He ushered her into the kitchen, where they proceeded to sing happy birthday.
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AJ was happy. Of course, why shouldn't he be? It was his birthday, he was surrounded by friends and family, and he was about to profess his profound love to the girl of his dreams. That was, until, Brian stopped him in the hallway.
"AJ, you got a minute?" Brian asked.
"Sure," AJ said cheerily, "What's up, 'Rok?"
"Well," Brian said slowly, "It's about Jessica. I think I'm... I don't know how to say this."
"Go on," AJ said.
"Well, it's like, you know. I always had feelings for Jess before we started dating... then after we dated for a while, they kinda went away. But now... well, they're back, and I'm not sure what to do."
All the life and happiness drained from AJ's face. For a brief moment in time he thought about telling Brian not to tell her, that it could ruin the friendship they were trying to rebuild. He knew that was selfish though, so he said what he knew would be best for both Brian and Jessica, "You have to tell her."
"Hey, what's up?" Jessica interrupted their conversation, "AJ, you said you wanted to talk about something?"
"Um, actually, that would be Brian," he said, then rushed away.
Jessica raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong with him?"
Brian shrugged, "I dunno, remind me to talk to him later." Inhaling deeply, Brian thought of how he was going to say this, then just blurted out, "I think I'm in love with you."
Jessica stood, gaping at him. "No," she shook her head, "You can't -- you, you just can't Brian."
"I know," he said, "But I do, and I don't know what to do about it."
"We can't do this Brian, I can't do this. I just got over you... I'm trying to move on, and you're not helping."
"Remember when I said forever?"
"No Brian, don't start this. I remember when you said forever, and that's why we can't do this again. Last time forever got cut way too short last, and I'm not letting that happen again."
"But I --"
"Hey Brian, can you -- I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"
"No," Jessica said, throwing a look at Brian, "We're finished. I was just leaving."
Jessica's head was pounding. She didn't understand why this was happening to her, why now. Unable to sort through her own problems, she turned her thoughts to those of someone else...
Jessica found AJ sitting in the living room, staring at the mantle. He was motionless, and almost looked like he wasn't even alive. AJ heard her come in but made no move to greet her or even acknowledge her presence, sure that she had come to announce some great news about her and Brian.
After a few moments of silence, Jessica sat down, sensing that he was ignoring her, "Alex?"
AJ felt a tingle go down his spine. Rarely did she call him that -- she had always thought it was too personal. He averted his eyes to her for a moment, then returned to his study of the pictures on the mantle.
"AJ, what's wrong?" she asked, putting her hand on his arm, "What was it you wanted to tell me?"
He smiled, but it looked far from happy, "So what did Brian say to you?"
"He -- wait, don't change the topic. This isn't about Brian."
"But it is," the words came pouring out of his mouth, and AJ was unable to stop them, "Don't you see it's always been about Brian? About you? From the very start, that's all it ever was."
"What are you talking about?" she could feel her face getting hotter and she was on the verge of tears. She did not like the tone of voice he was using. It was filled with bitterness, and made her wonder if she had done something wrong. "What did we do, AJ?"
"You fell in love." What was he saying? What would it do to them? AJ realized that it didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that she knew. She finally knew.
"Alex, I don't understand, what --"
"Don't call me that. Don't call me that anymore, Jess. It's too personal, remember? And you don't want to get personal with anyone but Brian." AJ stood up and walked out of the room.
"What's wrong?" Brian asked, walking in from the hall.
"I think we just ruined his birthday party."