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[indent]Slyly returning the smile, AJ took a sip of his latte, as Aleks ruffled his hair. One of the few people he was okay with touching his hair. He watched his friend's face carefully, all the while keeping silent, letting his voice be the only one resounding in the nearly empty lot. They were inches apart, and just when AJ opened his mouth ready to respond, Aleks looked away, back at the RV, and asked him a question. 

[i]Tsk[/i]. 

After taking another sip, he shrugged, [color=ff4500]"Do I ever?"[/color] Masking his annoyance, AJ followed Aleks' gaze to look at his father's RV. To others, this might be excessive, but to him, it was his normal. And there was nothing interesting about his normal. Quite frankly, it was boring to him. Feeling inclined to yawn, AJ covered his mouth with his arm. This coffee would be his saving grace, at some point. When it hits him.

[color=5F722C]"Can you two fuck on this trip and get it over with? Or at least announce your soul mate status on FB or something, dios mio.”[/color] 

Rolling his eyes, AJ shot back, [color=ff4500]"Fuck you, Sami-boy."[/color] Their relationship, meaning Aleks' and AJ's, was hardly affectionate. What he had with Valentine and Tink was affectionate, what he had with Aleks was more like a babysitter who had no choice but to watch a kid bounce off the walls. Beyond that? There really wasn't much. [color=ff4500][i]Shut up, AJ. Drink your coffee.[/i][/color] When Sami gave the RV compliments, and made a playful jab at the host of the road trip, AJ muttered, [color=ff4500]"Uh-huh,"[/color] and then took a bigger gulp.

Of course rather than make matters better, the next person entering the scene caused AJ's heart to drop. His mood was already turning sour, and then... he saw his ex's car. While his mouth went agape, he watched the car approach, as if it was going in slow motion. When it finally went into park, AJ held his breath. 

When Katie exited, he was relieved and speechless. More importantly though, he was pissed. Did Jamie set this up? Why was SHE here? His grip tightened around the cup, but not tight enough to cause it to explode. He hadn't seen Katie in a minute, and yeah, she was still hot as fuck, but the fact that she came in with Jamie's car set the mood. It was like putting salt on an already butthurt wound. 

[color=980404][b]“Good morning, my favorite Gearheads. Morning AJ,”[/b][/color] 

[color=ff4500]"Wow, well fuck you too, Katie. It is a good morning, I'd say so myself. Absolutely lovely. Fan-fucking-tastic."[/color] His first response was meant to be sarcastic, playful, but the displeasure and scorn he felt, emanated from him and into the general proximity. He wasn't necessarily trying to hide the fact that he felt some type of way seeing his ex's sister again. He thought he could leave all that behind. Regardless of what he felt, AJ kept his ground, his dark gaze never looking away from her. [color=ff4500]"Look at [i]you[/i], all packed and ready to go."[/color] 

At that point, everyone else started piling in. First came, Ava and Trash. While his Fruit Loop was making her way, with a big ass grin plastered on her face, Reyna offered pancakes. Usually, he would be stubborn and not get pancakes, but this was an opportunity for him to walk away from the current situation that made him uncomfortable, even if it meant he had to look Reyna in the face and accept her damn food. So, he decided, sure, why not. [color=ff4500]"No shit, yeah. Pancakes sounds great!"[/color] While his words came out in good humored, it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that AJ was only doing this to prevent himself from doing something stupid. 

However, as he started striding to the pancakes, still latte in hand, to offer his assistance or grab food first, his Remedy shouted, [color=5C6F8E][b]“Don’t fret, Bumble, I’m here now!”[/b][/color] 

[color=ff4500]"Oh thank god,"[/color] He whispered to himself, feeling like his Valentine was a better escape than the garbage disposal. Throwing a smile back on his cute, babyface, he called out to Chris, Ivy, and Chloé, [color=ff4500]"Hell yeah! Now [b]this[/b] is a party!"[/color] It seemed the group was balancing in his favor. Katie started to become smaller and smaller to him, in this moment, and less of a concern. 

This was fantastic! 

[color=AD5050]“Leave it up to you to go over the top, Shortstop!”[/color] A genuine smile was back on AJ's face. Nate and Val were here! Almost everyone! A nice calm washed over AJ after Nate slapped his back and left his arm around his shoulder. Okay, he was over Katie. Sure, she can come along. Why not? Should be one helluva ride. A road trip to remember.

[b]Not.[/b]

Of course, as always, good things never last. 

Things were supposed to get better, with all the cool people here. 

They usually do! 

And yet... [color=D52759]“I need to talk to you alone [i][b]NOW[/b][/i].”[/color] He was roughly ripped from staring at his other friends, right from Nate's arm, when he turned to see a tiny anklebiter pulling on him and taking him away, giving him really no room to say no. 

He should've seen this coming. Part of him wanted to believe this wouldn't happen, and she would let shit pass, like he was doing with Katie. That was him thinking on the bright side. This was Val, for crying out loud. She was a hard woman to please. Something he knew would make her mad, but chose to not think it would make her mad, hoping it wouldn't make her mad, forgetting it was a high possibility that she'd get mad, has gotten her past that point of madness. She was[i] raging[/i] mad. And he knew it. 

But that's the thing. 

This road trip wasn't about her, and he would make sure she'd understand exactly that. 

This was fine. 

Everything was going to be fine.  

The RV door closed behind them...

...and that's when Leon came jogging in.[/indent]