“What are you so afraid of?” Chrissy screamed.  Her jaw was clenched and her palms were beginning to sweat.  She could feel tears welling up in her eyes but she blinked them back quickly before he could see.

         “I'm not afraid of anything,” he said quietly.  AJ sat slumped forward on the couch, his body felt like it had been in a fight, yet the only fight that was going on was internally.   Chrissy stood with her hands on her hips and stared at him.

    “You're afraid of something.”

    “No, I'm not, drop the fucking subject,” he spit out.

    “Well, if you're not afraid of anything, why do you have to hide everything?  Why do you pretend to be someone that you aren't?  Does anyone really know the real you?” Chrissy brushed some stray hairs behind her ears and stood there staring at AJ sitting on the couch.  Her stance still was her hands on her hips.  She waited for him to answer.

    “I'm not afraid to be me.  This is me, and you, of all people, should know that.  It's been this long, and you don't know me?  Have you just been biding your time?” he questioned.

    “Alex.” she said but quickly cut herself off before she became choked up.  Chrissy walked over to the couch and plopped herself down.

    “What?” he muttered.

    “Tell me what you need,” she pleaded.  AJ looked at her.

    “If you don't know by now, I can't help you,” he said as he looked down at his shoes and blinked rapidly to avoid tears from running down his face.
 

        Dani Walker watched Brian through the glass doors of the house, hidden behind the sheer curtain that covered it; peering between the thin space where the curtains joined each other,  parted only slightly by her shaking hands.  Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to push the  memory of everything that had been said and done the night before out of her thoughts.  She held back every urge to cry as she watched him standing  not twenty feet away, but tears escaped her eyes never the less, spreading mascara slowly down her cheeks.

    He stood at the far end of the yard,  wearing a black tuxedo just like the other four guys standing with him, a smile on his face that was reflecting out of his eyes as he laughed and joked with them.  I cannot believe this is happening, She thought to herself with a slight shake of her head, letting the tears slip slowly down her face and neck, staining them with a faded black trail.

    He looked so carefree and content, the exact opposite of everything she felt today.  It didn't seem fair that everyone appeared to be so happy when she was torn between wanting to scream, cry and just run far, far away, until there were no more people, no more confusion and definitely no love to have, or to lose.   Screams built deep within her, but they only sounded in her head, not daring to come out of her mouth.

How could I let this happen? I shouldn't be feeling this way today, it isn't fair to anyone.   Her eyes fell to the ground with the disappointment she felt in herself.

    "Why did I ever come back home?" She asked herself, as she walked away from the window, a lingering touch remaining as the curtains closed.  Wishing she could turn back the clock and start the past few months over again, or even just the past twenty four hours.