Beezus blinked her eyes open and observed her surroundings. She was curled up against a wall in the practice studio, her head resting on one hand. She sat up, stretching her arms over her head. Every muscle in her body ached. Her left foot tingled, and she muttered a curse under her breath as she rubbed the circulation back into the affected extremity. With a wide yawn, she snuggled back down into the sweatshirt she was wearing. With a jump, she pulled the shirt away from her body to study it. In blue lettering, the grey fabric held the Kentucky Wildcat's mascot.
"Fuck, why am I wearing this?" Memories from the previous night flooded her brain. She had been complaining of the cold air conditioning before she fell asleep, and Brian had told her to stop complaining. She glanced into the narrow hallway to see him propped up against the wall, wearing a plain white t-shirt and khaki shorts. He had been wearing the sweatshirt. He must have helped her into the shirt once she had fallen asleep.
She sighed in disgust, dropping the shirt onto his sleeping form, and crept out to the heavy soundproof door. Clenching her teeth, she pressed against it, using her full bodyweight. The port didn't budge, and she backed away. Taking a deep breath, she jogged forward, pushing against the door again. It swung open, and she fell out into a pair of strong arms.
"Good morning, Beez. Nice to see you, too." She looked up into the warm brown eyes of AJ. He was laughing at her, and she huffed out her breath and stood up straight.
"My hero," she muttered sarcastically. Rushing out of Max's office and into the hall, she tried to think out the situation carefully. As she reached the vending machines at the end of the long hallway, she glanced back to see the five Backstreet Boys filing out of the office, laughing and joking with each other.
A disturbing thought hit her suddenly. Justin had treated her like shit--she had only returned to favor--but deep down had secretly been pining for her. Brian acted the same way that Justin had since the day they had met, which was a problem that vexed her greatly.
"You guys do all know that the Grammys are in two weeks, right?" she heard Max asking the Boys. They grunted their answers, and Beezus turned back to the vending machines. Her stomach was twisting into knots from hunger, and she needed any kind of nurishment possible. A duo of arms wrapped around her waist, and she pulled away quickly, spinning around to see the worried face of AJ.
"Are you okay?" She nodded, pasting a flase smile onto her face.
"Yep. Fine. Couldn't be better," she answered, focusing her attention on the food inside of the machine. "Why do you ask?" He flashed a sincere smile, and handed her a dollar bill.
"Here, get something to eat," he instructed. "I hear Nutrageous bars are outstanding at eight in the morning." She collected the Nutrageous and a bag of Reeses Pieces from the machine, unwrapping the candy bar first.
"Thanks." She took a bit, and chewed gratefully as she turned back to her companion. Her mouth was full as she spoke, but didn't seem to care. "Want a bite?" She held out the candy as an offering, and he waved his hand, shaking his head. "So, do you have a date for the Grammys yet?" He shook his head again, and lead her back into the office, where Brian was already gobbling down a plate of scrambled eggs from the basement cafeteria eagerly.
"Not me, not yet," he answered. Beezus nodded, glancing at Brian, and then returning her gaze to AJ.
"All right. Well, I'm going to go home and take a nice, hot shower, and get some real food," she sighed. "I'll see you later, Age." She kissed him on the cheek, and smiled as she left the room.
"So, are you going to ask her to be your date?" Brian questioned, swallowing a mouthful of eggs. AJ shrugged, dropping into the seat next to him on the couch.
"If that's okay with you, B," he replied. Brian looked at him in surprise as he set the empty plate aside.
"Why would I care?" he asked. AJ laughed, turning his attention to the television. "Well, why would I?"
"Don't play dumb, Brian, I've seen the way you look at her."
"What's that supposed to mean? I don't look at her any differently than I look at anybody," he defended himself. "There's nothing going on between us, other than the fact that we can't stand each other. She was begging to get out of the practice hallway when she locked us in there last night." AJ shot him a skeptical look as he smirked to himself. "Besides, I have a girlfriend, and we love each other very much."
"Danielle doesn't love you half as much as she loves your Mastercard," he muttered. Brian glared at him.
"What are you saying?" He understood perfectly what AJ was getting at, but he needed some time to think about Beezus before he thought about his girlfriend.
"Never mind, B," AJ sighed. "Never mind." He stood up and walked to the door. "I'm going to go. I'll see you around." Brian waved him away as he thought about his friend's words. He had almost forgotten about Danni, as she had been in the Bahamas on what she had called a business trip, and hadn't been planning on inviting her to the Grammys. At least not this year. He sighed and turned off the tv, grabbing his plate to take back down to the cafeteria.