Nick couldn't believe his eyes. He closed them and hoped that when he opened them, what he just saw would disappear like it never happened. But it didn't disappear. This was too much shock for Nick to handle. He felt the world around him totally falling apart. AJ quickly pushed Misty away from himself and he went up to Nick and said, "Nick… I… I…" But before he could finish his sentence, Nick punched him in the face and just ran into his room. "Nick! Wait!"
"Get the hell away from me! Just stay the hell away from me!" shouted Nick. Nick swung the door open and ran up to his room.
"Damn it!" said AJ, punching the wall. He turned around to say something to Misty but she disappeared. AJ never felt like this in his life. It was the most horrible feeling he had ever encountered. The feeling of losing a close friend. The others came out to see what all the yelling was about.
"What happened?!" asked Howie.
"I just lost a best friend," said AJ, walking off.
"AJ, wait!" said Tomi, as she and Howie ran after him while Brian and Kevin went up to talk to Nick. Tomi and Howie caught up with AJ finally and Tomi said, "AJ, please. What happened?"
AJ stopped. "Nick saw me and Misty kissing," he replied.
Howie and Tomi's eyes widened. "What?!" asked Howie.
"What the hell were you thinking?" asked Tomi.
"So you think I made the first move too? It's so nice that all of my friend have so much faith in me." said AJ, starting to walk off again.
Tomi and Howie thought about this for a second. He had a point. If they had anyone to suspect it'd be Misty. "AJ, did she kiss you?" asked Howie.
"I would say yes but I doubt anyone would believe me," said AJ.
"AJ, answer me truthfully," said Howie.
AJ, frustrated, said, "Yes, she kissed me! Why the hell would I kiss her? She's my best friend's girlfriend. I have been avoiding her for the past week! Tomi, you even know that."
"Then we have to tell Nick that it's all a big mistake," said Tomi.
"Do you honestly think he'll believe me, especially right now? You guys even had to question me," said AJ.
They saw his point. "We still have to try," said Howie.
"D, I'm probably the last person he wants to see right now. It didn't look too good from his angle. I wouldn't blame him," said AJ.
"So what are you going to do?" asked Tomi.
"What can I do?" asked AJ, getting into his car and driving off.
Tomi and Howie had no clue what to do. They wanted to believe their friend 100% but there was that 1% of doubt and the possibility that he did indeed kiss her. "Howie, what are we going to do?" asked Tomi.
"Is it true that he's been avoiding Misty?" asked Howie.
"Yeah. Last week, I went into McDonalds and Misty was leaving and AJ looked like he saw a ghost. He said she was flirting with him. If I had to believe one person, I'd put all my money on AJ in a heartbeat." said Tomi
"But there's still that feeling of doubt," said Howie.
"Yeah, there is. But you know what? I don't give a crap. He's my friend and I trust him. I'm not going to let that tiny sense of doubt overrule the fact that he's been my friend for over ten years. He's always been there for me, and I'm going to stick by him through this," said Tomi.
"You're right, but," said Howie.
"No buts, Howie. He's our friend! Are you doubting him because he said that she's pretty? Are you honestly going to tell me you never found Misty attractive? Come on, Howie!"
Howie was a bit surprised. It was the first time that Tomi talked to him like that. "I guess you're right. Come on, we need to go talk to Nick and the other guys," said Howie.
They headed back into the house and found Brian and Kevin in the living room. "Please tell me I'm going to hear a totally different story," said Brian.
"Nick saw Misty and AJ kissing," said Howie.
"That was not the story I was looking for," said Brian with a sigh, sitting down on the couch.
"Are you saying that they did actually kiss?" asked Kevin.
"It's more like Misty kissed AJ," said Tomi.
"How's Nick doing?" asked Howie.
"Not too good," said Kevin.
"What are we going to do?" asked Tomi.
"To tell you the truth, I have no clue," said Kevin, "I guess the best thing to do is to talk to Nick tomorrow. Talking to him right now won't help a bit. Everything we try to say will go into one ear and right out the other. All we can do tonight is just get a good night's sleep. Nick doesn't want to see or talk to anyone right now so it's best to leave him alone."
Aaron walked into the living room and asked, "Why is everyone yelling?"
"Aaron sweetie, it's alright. Everything's okay now, go to bed, okay?" said Tomi.
"Okay…good night guys," said Aaron with a confused look on his face, going up to his room. The four of them left Nick's house and went home for the night. Each of them was trying to think of a solution. AJ stared up at his ceiling blankly. He reached into his pocket for a cigarette and lit it in his mouth. He took one puff and closed his eyes. Right when he closed his eyes, the first thing he saw was Misty kissing him. He quickly got up and put the cigarette out. He looked down, clinching his fist. He punched the wall to let some of his aggravation out but it didn't help much. He just sighed and laid back down onto the bed. He never felt so helpless in his life. He then heard a ringing from his pocket and sat back up. He took out his pager and looked at the number. It was Tomi.
Back at Nick's house, Nick was doing the exact same thing that AJ was doing, besides the smoking. He was looking up at the ceiling blankly trying to forget that tonight ever happened. He didn't know what to think. He did indeed see the two kissing. He noticed the obvious panic in AJ's face but he didn't know if that was because he knew he got caught, or because it was just a total surprise. He had no way to know for sure nor did he have the energy to think about it. He never felt so betrayed and confused in his life. It was too much for him to handle. Aaron should have just followed Tomi's advice and went to bed, but being a kid, he wanted to know what was going on. He knocked on Nick's door but didn't get any response. He started to pound harder and finally Nick shouted, "Go away!"
Aaron replied, "No!"
"Aaron, I just want to be alone. Go to bed!" said Nick, from inside his room.
"Let me in," said Aaron.
"Aaron, GO AWAY!" said Nick.
"No. I want to know why you were yelling," said Aaron.
"It's not any of your damn business," said Nick, soon covering his mouth realizing he needed to watch his mouth. "I swear Aaron, you can be so annoying sometimes."
"I learn it from you," said Aaron.
Nick got pissed off at that comment but at the same time, couldn't help but laugh at it. Finally, Nick got up and opened the door and with a sigh, he said, "Aaron, just go to bed tonight. I'll talk to you later about this alright? I just can't right now. But I promise I'll tell you later, when I figure it out myself."
Aaron looked up at his big brother and simply said, "Okay."
Nick was a bit surprised. ""Okay"? All that fuss and it's done with an "Okay"?" asked Nick.
"Well, I could sit here and argue with you all night, but I'm tired. Good night," said Aaron, walking off to his room.
Nick went back into his room and continued to stare at his ceiling. He wondered if he should try to talk to AJ or Misty. But just thinking about them brought back that horrible scene of them kissing. He tried to shake the thought out of his head and tried to go to sleep.
"Hello?" answered Tomi on the phone.
"Hey," said AJ, almost in a whisper.
"Hey. Are you alright?" asked Tomi.
"Well my best friend isn't talking to me, I have a big headache, and there's a big hole in my wall but other than that I'm great," said AJ, trying to make himself laugh.
"AJ…" said Tomi, trying to figure out exactly what to say to him. "We'll talk to him tomorrow. I'm sure he'll listen."
"I somehow highly doubt that but hey, that's just the pessimistic me talking. Maybe the optimistic me will be talking tomorrow," said AJ.
"AJ, I'm sure everything will be alright. Nick trusts you," said Tomi.
"Yeah, and him seeing me and his girlfriend kissing just made that trust a lot stronger huh?" said AJ.
"AJ, it was a misunderstanding! You should know that more than any of us. You have to talk to Nick tomorrow!" said Tomi.
"I will… if he'll talk to me. Anyways, I'm going to let you go. I just got about four beeps in the past five minutes, all coming from you, Brian, Kevin and Howie. Peace out, nite nite," said AJ.
"Good night, AJ." said Tomi, hanging up the phone. Tomi tried to imagine exactly what AJ was feeling right now. She wondered if it was that same horrible feeling she got everytime she saw Nick and Misty kissing. She guessed it was something similar to that but even worse, after all, if Nick quit talking to her, she would be devastated. Although they were all close, they each shared an individual bond with each single individual. Although AJ and Brian's bond seemed to be really small and Brian and Nick's was one of the biggest bonds of the whole group, they each had a bond. AJ's closest and biggest bonds happened to be with Nick, Tomi, and Howie. Tomi's was with Nick and AJ. She tried to imagine what it would be like if her bond with Nick all of the sudden disappeared. A cold chill ran down her spine and she quickly shook the thought out of her head. She never wanted something like that to happen. She wanted to do everything she could to get Nick and AJ back as friends again. So they could all be happy again.