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By: Calliope
It’d been twenty-four hours since Brent’s peace offering, and I was still confused by my brother’s cryptic words. I was, however, trying to ignore the fact that my conversation with Brent had started the wheels turning again. I was also trying to ignore the fact that I was a little bit less angry after finding out that everyone was worried about me. So what if Nick didn’t NOT care. So what if AJ was still driving by my house every few hours, trying to visit so he could see what was wrong. So what if I was the reason that two of the Backstreet Boys weren’t talking to each other. So what if the phone had been ringing off the hook for the past two hours… Okay, so I could ignore everything else. The phone thing, though…that was getting really annoying. REALLY annoying. I heaved a sigh and mentally cursed Brent for refusing to field my phone calls today. “Hello?” “Hi. Nice of you to pick up your phone. Want to tell me why I’ve got two Backstreet Boys calling me every hour on the hour?” I flinched at the no-nonsense tone in Hannah’s voice. That girl could be deathly serious when she wanted to be. “Are you sure they’re calling on the hour? Knowing them like I do, I doubt they’re actually on time…even with something as simple as a phone call.” On the other end, I could hear Hannah suck in a measured breath. “Not funny.” Shit. “Sorry.” “Don’t be. Just give me a reason to hang up on them.” My eyebrows rose in surprise. “You’ve been hanging up on them?” “Well, I was, but then AJ started singing this song about how he missed you, and I didn’t have the heart to cut him off.” I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the fact that AJ had potentially written me a stupid song. It wasn’t working. “Hannah!” “What? It was sweet! I’m a girl! So sue me!” I paused for a moment, letting curiosity get the better of me. “It was sweet?” I swore I could hear her smile on the other end. “SO sweet. God, Lana, you’re so lucky you’re strong. I swear, if you heard this man sing, you’d just be GONE.” I rolled my eyes. I didn’t want to think about AJ’s voice. “But you eventually hung up on him, right?” “Well…not really.” I narrowed my eyes at the phone. “Hannah…what does ‘not really’ mean, exactly?” “Well, he’s kinda sitting in my living room right now.” My eyes widened to twice their size. I probably looked like a cartoon character, but I didn’t care. “He’s WHAT?!” “He’s in my living room.” “I understood you, Hannah. I’m just having trouble believing that you’d actually DO that to me.” She sighed. “Oh, come on, Lana. Did you really want me to turn him away? Besides, it’s not like I had a reason to. I don’t even know what happened because someone hasn’t been answering her phone.” I groaned. “Shouldn’t you just take that as a sign that I’m upset and leave it be?” “As your best friend? Hell no. It’s in the job description, babe. When you’re upset, I get to be the one who drags it out of you. And then, of course, I get to be the one who arrives at your house with a half-gallon of ice cream, two spoons, and a couple of chick flicks.” As if on cue, the doorbell rang. “Well, aren’t you going to get that?” I rolled my eyes. “In a word? No. Let Brent get it.” “Brent’s not there. He’s over at Nick’s doing damage control. Neanderthal or not, he really does care about you.” I didn’t hear the last sentence. I was too busy focusing on the one before it. “Brent went to Nick’s house? That traitor!” “He’s not a traitor, Lana. Answer the door, and you MIGHT figure out why.” I rolled my eyes again for good measure, but when the doorbell started ringing repeatedly, I trudged downstairs and threw open the door. Hannah stood on the porch, armed with a half-gallon of ice cream, two spoons, and a few DVDs. She grinned at me and flipped her phone shut. “Oh, good. I was worried that I was actually going to have to find that key you gave me.” “God forbid,” I muttered. “What are you doing here? I thought you said AJ was sitting in your living room?” Hannah waved the hand full of DVDs nonchalantly. “Oh, he is. I left him with my little sisters. I don’t know what he did, but if you refuse to answer even MY calls, I figure it’s bad enough to warrant teenybopper punishment. When I left, they were trying to get him to do the ‘Everybody’ dance.” I tried to fight it, but a smile creeped across my face anyway. I love my friends. “Now, do you want to tell me why I’m punishing him?” I ushered her into the house and closed the door. “Not really, but I guess I should.” “Hell yes, you should! I brought ice cream!” I narrowed my eyes at her curiously. “What flavor?” “One Sweet World.” “Low fat?” She snorted. “Yeah, right. This is serious. You look like you need all the sugar you can get. Hell, you’ve been here alone with BRENT for three days.” We settled in on the couch, and I shot her a smile as she tugged the top off the ice cream. “Thanks.” She winked at me. “Anytime, girl. What are friends for?” I groaned. “Maybe you should ask AJ that. According to Nick, AJ thinks friends—especially lady friends—are for sex.” Hannah swallowed a spoonful of ice cream and nodded thoughtfully. “So Nick’s an asshole. Nothing we didn’t already know.” I grabbed my spoon and reached for the carton. “Yeah, but…he knew, Lana. This whole time, he knew that I liked him. And, now that I might have something going with AJ, he goes and tells me that AJ’s too much of a ladies’ man to even contemplate having a serious relationship.” Hannah frowned delicately. “Can I ask you a question, hon?” “Fire away.” “Would the man bother to get my number, call me repeatedly, and then show up at my house IN ADDITION to stalking you if he wasn’t man enough to contemplate a serious relationship?” “Would my brother’s best friend go low enough to set me up with a jerk just to get me off his hands?” I retorted. “Surprisingly, yes. And if that’s not below Nick, who’s to say that meaningless seduction is below AJ?” Hannah laughed quietly. “Someone who didn’t see the look on his face when I opened the door and he was standing on the stoop.” She paused to swallow another spoonful. “Like it or not, Lana, he really cares about you. I’m not sure in what WAY he cares for you, but he cared enough to find me. He has NO idea why you’re mad at him, but he’s still trying to get you to forgive him. Now, I’m no expert, but I’d say that’s pretty balls-y.” She turned her gaze on me and arched an expectant eyebrow. “How about you?” I flinched. “I’d say that…” Oh, come on, Lana. Suck it up. It’s not like the whole avoidance thing was working for you anyway. “I’d say that maybe I should give AJ a call.” Hannah nodded. “I’d say that’s a wise decision. Now, do you want to save him from my sisters before or after we watch Pretty Woman?” I sighed heavily. To torture AJ or not to torture AJ? It was a good question, really. Nick’s words had been torturing me for three days. But they were Nick’s words. Not AJ’s. And, suddenly, I had made my decision. “Before.” Hannah frowned at me. “You sure?” “Yeah, I’m sure. But, on the way back, maybe we can drop your sisters by Nick’s house.” Hannah smiled knowingly at me. “That’s a deal.” 23.
Never Make Assumptions
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