Howie closed his mouth, blinking slowly, before he swallowed, trying to soothe his dry throat, and spoke up. “How long?” he asked in a scratchy voice.

AJ sighed, looking away from Howie. Howie watched his friends’ sullen profile as his eyes flicked towards the ground and he mumbled, barely audibly, “Seven years.”

”What?” Howie asked, craning his neck around to try and hear AJ better. With another aggravated sigh AJ turned towards him and replied in a short, loud voice.

“Seven years.”

Howie stared at him, calculating his response silently in his head. “Since you were fourteen, J? Geeze…” he remarked, looking away from his friend as he brought a hand up to his forehead and rubbed gently, feeling the stress rise.

AJ sighed, looking back towards the ground again. “Look, D, the only reason I told you about this was because you are one of my closest friends and I respect you and your advice. And I also trust you. So, please don’t make a big deal out of this.”

Howie looked back over to his friend with incredulous eyes. AJ had just revealed his situation with Corinne to him, and the words he spoke just seemed to pour out of him, as though he needed some sort of emotional release by confiding in his friend. Howie had been silent the entire time AJ rambled about his problem, taking in the information and allowing his bandmate and brother to get the relief he needed. But now he was truly dumbstruck by everything he had heard. “AJ,” he began kindheartedly, “this isn’t something that’s so easily swept under the rug. I mean, you’re in love with Brian’s girlfriend, for pete’s sake.” He finished his sentence quietly, not wanting to provoke any new attention.

AJ snatched his eyes back up and in an accusing tone of voice he asked, “Who said I was in love?” Howie’s only reply was to arch an eyebrow, dipping his head towards AJ as he told him he ‘knew very well what he felt’ with his eyes. AJ sighed, looking to his side once again, as he clenched and unclenched his jaw repeatedly, mumbling with some spite, “I’m in love with Brian’s girlfriend.” An uncomfortable silence sat thick between them for a few moments as Howie tried to figure out the best way to approach the now sensitive subject.

”Alex,” he began—he only used AJ’s name on rare occasion, like when the matter was of dire importance or just because he knew it irked him—and AJ’s head snapped up at the one simple word, spoken with such a solemn voice. “This is a sore area, I know, but you’ve got to tell me what’s going on up there,” Howie motioned towards AJ’s head, and AJ’s eyes fell from him once again as he stared at his hands in shame.

AJ let out a shaky breath and brought a hand up and through his hair, styled in somewhat short disarray at the moment. He let his hand rest at the back of his neck as he answered his friends’ query with some hesitation. “I-I don’t know,” he admitted soberly, his voice quiet and detached.

Howie sighed gently. “Well, first of all, what are your feelings on Corinne?”

AJ let out a sigh of his own, blinking slowly as he thought. “She… she’s…” he tried summoning up the words, pausing briefly as he reflected on what he felt. “She amazes me. I mean, that might sound odd, but she really just blows me away. Even when I first met her seven years ago she had this… I don’t know… fire about her, that totally took me by surprise.” He stopped a moment to gather his thoughts and memories. “Even now when she walks in a room, it’s almost as if everything goes completely silent and all there is is her. And I just sit there in silent awe as I watch her move and talk. Sometimes—sometimes I can’t even breathe when I see her. She’s just so… stunning, you know? And her voice is so gentle and soothing… sometimes I just loose track of what’s going on around me. And when she laughs—“ he sighed, “you just can’t help but smile.” AJ continued on for a moment longer, completely forgetting Howie was in the same room as him. It was when he finished and there was silence among them that he looked back to him, remembering his presence. With a slight blush he said, “I’m sorry,” looking uncharacteristically bashful for a minuet.

Howie had been rubbing his lower lip in concentration as AJ had spoke, taking in everything with keen interest. He paused this action when AJ turned to him and held his gaze for a minuet. He looked down, drawing in a deep breath to soothe his nerves, and contemplated his next action. He cursed just under his breath. “Well, AJ… god, I don’t know what to say.” Howie paused for a minuet, trying to compose himself again. “You’ve picked a horrible time to expand upon your feelings for Corinne,” he finally said with worry evident in his voice.

AJ stared steadily at his friend until his big brown eyes lifted themselves to meet his gaze. AJ sighed, realizing how easy it was to read his friend, picking up on the thoughts that were clearly evident on his face. “Don’t worry, Howie,” AJ said with a sigh. “I know the way things gotta be. I wont do anything stupid.”

Howie leaned back in his chair, unperceptively shaking his head. “I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” he stated thoughtfully, looking his friend in the eyes. “Sometimes you get carried away with your emotions. I think they are much stronger than you think they are,” he said with compassion.

”I’ll handle it,” AJ said reassuringly, gesturing with his hand.

Howie sighed, shaking his head again as he brought his eyes back down towards the ground. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” he mumbled. “I don’t want you striking back up ‘old business’,” he said more clearly, laying emphasis on the last two words.

”Don’t, D,” AJ warned. “I’m not gonna let it come to that. I swear to you, that will not happen.” AJ stared unfalteringly at his friends’ still downcast eyes, unconvinced of his bold statement. “D, look at me,” AJ demanded, staring at him. Howie lifted his deep brown eyes to meet AJ’s, but didn’t move the rest of him from his sunken position. AJ clenched his teeth together briefly before he spoke. “I’m stronger than that now, you know I am. I wont let this get to me like that. Believe me, Howie. I don’t want it to come to that either.” His closing words were soft and fragile, but still firm, with conviction. Howie gazed at his friend, finally nodding his head in response.

”I sure hope so,” he said.

Brian and Nick continued in their positions in front of the TV, it’s volume considerably low. It had been that way for about fifteen minuets, and the both of them had their ears perked up to the slightest sounds.

”What do you think they’re arguing about?” Nick asked somewhat distractedly, as he kept his attention on the game he was playing. He moved his player towards an attack on Brian’s man as he awaited a response.

”I dunno,” Brian answered, narrowly avoiding Nick’s onslaught. He quipped back with a few moves of his own before adding to his previous statement. They were listening in on AJ and Howie after they had heard some raised voices coming from that area of the bus. “Whatever it is, though, it doesn’t sound good,” he said.

Nick pursed his lips together out of instinct, as if the thoughts in his head were going to fly out into the open at any given moment. He decided against mentioning to Brian that he heard Corinne’s name mentioned within their conversation, as well as the fact that he knew AJ had had a crush on her when they were younger. And, with the way he had been acting lately, probably still did. He bit his lip as these thoughts swarmed in his mind. He retaliated against Brian’s previous attack and ended up beating him and winning the game. He straightened himself, stretching his neck, as he heard Brian sigh in agitation and throw down his controller. Nick stared at him with a raised eyebrow—that was usually his reaction when Brian beat him, not the other way around.

Brian noticed his gaze and let out another sigh as he ran his hand rigidly through his hair. “Sorry… I’m just a little… preoccupied with some things right now,” he explained, gesturing towards Nick with a worn expression. Nick cocked his head to the side, furrowing his brow in confusion. Brian sighed, “More specifically, things with Corinne,” he clarified.

Nick felt his heart jump into his throat. “Like what?” he asked, trying to sound unaffected by this statement. He wondered if Brian had heard AJ talking about Corinne too, or even if Brian could read his mind. That last thought scared Nick even more than the previous one did.

Brian sighed. “I don’t know, Nick. I’m just really confused right now. I’ve been thinking about the past few days, first with that incident in Germany, then with the tabloid, and I don’t know… I’ve just been lost lately.”

”How so?” Nick asked.

Brian looked back up at him, arching an eyebrow. “I don’t know,” he reiterated. Nick smiled at him sheepishly.

”Well, is it something serious, you think?” Nick asked. Brian shook his head from side to side, once more indicating that he wasn’t sure. Nick sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and giving Brian a critical look. They held gazes for a while before a thought came to Nick’s mind and his whole body seemed to go limp. His arms slid lifelessly away from his chest and his face grew flaccid as the thought raced through his mind. For a moment he was even afraid to voice it. He swallowed roughly and asked, his face curved into deep concern, “Does this have something to do with Alexandra?”

Brian held the same detached look with Nick, trying to figure out a way to answer. He couldn’t talk about Alex with Nick—he had seen too much of their relationship. “I—I um, I uh…” Lying never was his strong point. He quickly bowed his head, hiding the deep flush that ran across his face, and began playing with the rings on his fingers. “Yes,” he mumbled uncomfortably, after only a short pause.

Nick sighed at his softly spoken confirmation, sighing in concern with the same worried expression at his face. “Brian,” he began in a soft comforting voice, “Corinne’s not like that, you know. She would never hurt you the way Alex did.” He reached out a hand to his friend, watching him flinch with the simple action.

Brian nodded his head tightly. “I, I know, Nick. It’s just that… I don’t… I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” he sighed, rubbing his neck rigidly.

Nick kept his hand on Brian’s shoulder with comfort. “You’re not supposed to do anything, Bri,” he said softly. “Just love her.”

”Yeah, ‘cause we all know how well that worked the last time,” Brian muttered. He lifted his eyes to see the hurt and worried blue of Nick’s, and took in a steadying breath. “I’m sorry,” he said regretfully.

”You don’t have to apologize to me, Rok,” Nick answered consolingly, giving a steady squeeze to Brian’s shoulder. His head hung low in hurt, and Nick dipped his head forwards, trying to gain eye contact again. Once he had it, he looked into Brian’s sad, haunted eyes, and remembered with remorse the last great love of his best friends’ life. It broke him when she left him. Nick honestly didn’t think Brian would give anyone else the chance to love him ever again. But he now was opening himself up to Corinne, and that was a big step for him to take. “It’s gonna be okay, man. Don’t worry about a thing,” he reassured gently. Brian attempted a smile, nodding his head in short jerky movements.

”Thanks, man,” he said, barely above a whisper. “But I’ve just got some demons I need to work out right now. You understand that, right?”

Nick nodded his head with a smile. “Yeah, of course, B. I totally understand,” he said. “And I know Corinne will too,” he added after a time. Brian’s lip curled into what was supposed to be a smile, and he nodded again.

”I sure hope so, Nick. I sure hope so…”