The next few days were peaceful for them. Howie and Nick settled in without any intention of leaving in the near future, which meant they’d be there for Thanksgiving. Because of that, AJ and Brian wanted to get the formal dining room together for the holiday. Brian hadn’t wanted to invite his father over for the holiday, but AJ argued with him until he talked to his mother and issued the invitation.
AJ was having a much easier time keeping the peace where Harold was concerned than Brian was. With his usual carefree, fuck-it-all attitude he pushed it all to the back of his mind and just didn’t bother with it. But Brian was having a hard time doing it. It drove him crazy to think that his dad was being this way, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. How was he supposed to just forget that his dad had physically attacked AJ, and after that had tried to bribe him into leaving?
As he tried to sort the thoughts out in his mind he threw himself into the house renovations. That morning the workers had come in and fully set up their music room, recording studio and all, so the four boys had decided to work in the formal dining room. They had pulled up a corner of the carpet and discovered beautiful hardwood underneath it. But before they took the carpet out they were going to use it like a drop cloth and paint the walls.
Brian had chosen the color for the room; a dark red that was going to be beautifully matched with the old style chandelier hanging in the center of the room. So each boy had a wall and were attacking them with their rollers.
“You need to get a radio, guys.” Nick complained as he stretched to reach the top of his wall. “It’s too damn quiet in here!”
“Not everyone lives in noise.” Howie teased him. Discreetly he reached over, touching his painted fingers to Nick’s hair. The younger man never noticed which caused everyone else to giggle and hurry back to their painting.
Nick scoffed at Howie. “Not everyone wants to live in silence, D! I just want some music or something, man.”
Chuckling, Brian threw his friend a grin. “You are in a music group, Nicholas. You could just sing for us.”
“Psh, being the attention hog is AJ’s job, not mine.” Nick was quick to crack back. They all stepped back, looking at the walls in satisfaction. AJ bumped his arm against Nick’s playfully as he bent to rinse his roller off. “I am not an attention hog. It’s not my fault the girls like to watch me more than you.”
“In your dreams, McLean!”
Laughter echoed through the room as they rinsed their rollers before carrying them to the back porch. “You know his ego, Nicky.” Howie said consolingly as he put his roller against the porch railing. “In his world, he is a God.”
AJ laughed and shoved his best friend. “Get the fuck outta here. I’m not that bad!”
Running with it now, the three guys grinned at one another. Nick was the first one to drop down to his knees on the stairs, holding his hands up to grab at AJ’s shirt. “Oh, AJ, sing for me! Oh God! It’s AJ!” he cried out. Howie and Brian joined him, screaming and cat calling just like all the girls did at the shows. Humor lit AJ’s face and he struck a pose, which made them scream louder for him.
“Girl you got it going on, your lips your legs your beautiful eyes.” AJ started to sing, hamming up the dance moves in front of them. He held his hand in front of him as if holding a mike “You’ve got attitude. I’ll tell you straight it’s something I like. I won’t deny that I can’t live without you!”
Howie pretended to swoon into the railing, one hand to his forehead, while Nick and Brian clung to one another and faked crying. AJ threw his all into the song, his eyes sparkling with the laughter he was holding in. “It’s me and you baby.” He sang, pointing at Brian and crooking his finger. “What it do. Know that you’re not alone, don’t do it on your own, it’s so true baby. What it do. It’s time to realize won’t let you fantasize am I getting through? What it do!”
He couldn’t do it anymore. Laughter bubbled out of him and he pushed at his friends to get down the stairs. The backyard echoed with the sounds of their humor. Standing at the base of the stairs, a few feet from them, AJ lit a smoke and shook his head. “You guys are retards.” He told them, still chuckling.
Nick leaned back against the stair behind him, propping himself up on his elbows. “You love it, J.” He winked at him, making AJ snicker. From where he leaned against Nick’s legs, Brian winked at AJ. “Love you, baby.” He said innocently, his grin a mile wide.
But it was Howie who scooted down, resting his elbows on his knees, and asked “What was that song, though? I don’t recognize it.”
To their surprise, color stole into AJ’s cheeks. He brought his cigarette up and took a quick drag. “Just a song I’ve toyed with.” He explained quickly. It amused Brian to see AJ flustered about something. Usually there wasn’t anything to fluster that man. Leaning forward, Brian smacked Howie’s shoulder to get his attention. “He’s got quite a few.” He told Howie. “You should hear the Love Crazy song. Now that one’s a great one.”
“Love crazy?” Howie asked, turning to look at his friend again. AJ shot Brian a glare. Brian smiled at him in return, such a happy smile that AJ had to smile back at him. “I’m not singing it for you, D. Not right now. Not out here while I’m smoking.”
“You’ve been writing again?”
AJ rolled his eyes but nodded as an answer to Howie’s question. “I always write, you know that.”
A half howl half bark caught all their attention. Nina came tearing out of the house, ‘talking’ to them before running toward the side of the house. That was when they all heard the car driving up. Brian rose to his feet, curious. He didn’t know who would be coming over. Something on AJ’s face had him stopping to stare at him. “Alex?”
“Go play host.” AJ suggested. He put his smoke into the jug, making sure it was out before he put the lid back on. Whatever it was on AJ’s face, Brian couldn’t figure it out. He snagged AJ’s arm when he would have walked past him. “What’s going on?” he asked.
A small smile made wrinkles at the corners of AJ’s eyes. Sweetly he leaned in and kissed Brian, just a quick peck. “It’s my present to you, because I love you. Now go play host.” Another soft kiss, then AJ was moving into the house.
Brian gave up trying to ask him, instead going around the side of the house, Nick on his heels. “What the hell is he talking about, my surprise?” Brian mumbled, more to himself than to Nick. One step from the side to the front of the house showed Brian that answer. His parents were climbing from their car, Nina joyfully running around their legs, making Jackie laugh.
Automatically Brian moved forward, embracing his mother. “Mom, Dad. I didn’t know you guys were coming.”
“Well AJ called me and said you guys were working on the house today, and said if we wanted that we could come and help. He said you were going to be fixing up hardwood, and your dad here can help you with that if you have the tools. Me, I think I’ll help with the furniture I assume is in that truck that’s right behind us.” Jackie said, gesturing to the driveway. Sure enough a moving truck was slowly making its way up there.
Already Jackie was moving to Nick, hugging him and saying her hellos. “It’s so good to see you here!” She exclaimed when she finally let go. “We’ll put your muscles to work. You can help out here. Brian, go show your dad where you’ll be working. Send AJ out, would you, so he can help tell me which things go in which rooms.”
In short order Brian found himself in the dining room with his dad. Howie and AJ had just finished pulling the last of the carpet up and taking it out to the back porch. From there they’d put it in the dumpster they’d rented for the renovations. Brian stepped up to AJ, stopping him as he was heading out the door. Deliberately he ignored his dad. “Mom says to head out front and help her figure out where stuff goes. There’s a delivery here. And, Alex?” Brian brought his hand up, taking hold of AJ’s chin before kissing him. “Thanks for trying to help.”
The smile AJ gave him was his most devastating, the one that had girls everywhere in the world swooning. “Anytime, lover.” He answered cockily before leaving.
Brian turned back to his Dad, who was already sorting through the tools that were waiting in there. He took a deep breath before he stepped over.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was more fun than AJ had thought it would be to put together the living room with Jackie by his side. She had fantastic taste. With the movers, Howie, and Nick all bringing stuff in, AJ and Jackie were arranging and rearranging things over and over, debating between them how things would look best.
They got things quickly organized in there and moved to wait on the back porch for the patio furniture to be brought to them. As they stood there, Jackie took hold of AJ’s hand, bringing his attention to her. Curiously he looked down at the sweet woman, thinking to himself that she really was a good and kind person.
“I just wanted to thank you.” Jackie said softly. Her eyes were bright with emotion, reminding AJ of Brian. “You didn’t have to call us out here, not after the way Harold’s been about all this. With what he did to you, well, I would have understood if you refused to let us back in the door.”
“You’re his parents.” It wasn’t much of a response, but it was the easiest way for AJ to explain it. To him, that said it all. He was rewarded with that Littrell smile.
“You have a good heart, Alex. I just wanted you to know that I’m behind the two of you. I can already see how good you are for my son. Any fool can see you love him and he loves you. Right now my husband is being a fool. But given time, I think he’ll come around. Brian matters to him, a lot. He won’t do something to lose his son.”
It took everything AJ had not to scoff at that. Suddenly Jackie was hugging him, and he found himself sighing as he returned her hug. He was doing the right thing here, all emotion aside. For the sake of Brian’s happiness he would hold his tongue. It was for Brian. It was worth it. He hoped that if he said that often enough it might take the edge off the anger he still felt for Harold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brian was having a time of keeping his own temper under control. While they worked they discussed only what they were doing. It was like an unspoken agreement between them at the moment to not talk about other things. Problems could wait. For this moment they were father and son working on a project together. That was it.
It was when they were done that Brian got his second surprise for the day. In the kitchen, almost where this whole issue had started, Harold took hold of Brian’s arm, keeping him there.
“Before we get back out there, well, I wanted to talk to you, son.” Harold said hesitantly.
Cautious, Brian raised an eyebrow. “What, Dad?” He knew his tone was slightly belligerent but he couldn’t stop it. After hearing what Harold had told AJ, well, needless to say Brian’s temper was a little thinner than normal where his dad was concerned. That’s what made the next words such a shock.
“I’ve been thinking. I, well, I don’t want to lose you, son. Not over something like this. You’re my son, and no matter what, I’m always going to love you. I’ll always be here for you. If that means being nice to, him, well I guess I can give it my best shot. I can’t promise to suddenly be comfortable with all of it, but I’m willing to at least try for a peace right now.”
Surprise and delight warred in Brian’s eyes. This was exactly what he’d hoped for from the start. This was what AJ had been trying to bring about. Though the anger was still there, Brian knew that he had to give his dad a chance. By inviting them here AJ had shown what his vote was.
Impulsively Brian threw his arms around his Dad’s neck. After a second the hug was returned, just as tight. “I love you, Brian.”
“I love you too, Dad. This means so much to me.”
Toward the front of the house someone called out Brian’s name. Embarrassed, Brian pulled back and wiped at his eyes, trying to hide the tears that had built there. He opened his mouth to say something, but Jackie called his name this time. Harold offered his son a smile. “Go on. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Still smiling, Brian gave him one last hug before hurrying to see what his mom wanted. It was shaping up to be a fantastic day!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Staring after his sons retreating figure, Harold let his smile drop away. He had been thinking, that wasn’t a lie. But what he’d finally figured out wasn’t what he’d told Brian.
No, what he’d figured out was that AJ was going to be a stubborn one. Harold was convinced that AJ was going to run away eventually. The longer he stayed around, playing house like this, the more it was going to hurt Brian when he left. To help his son, Harold needed to be around when it finally happened. And if he could speed the process along, well, all the better.
AJ thought he could call them out here and just make everything better? He had another thing coming. There was no way he was done yet. This wasn’t over. Determination washed through Harold. He was not going to give up on this. Eventually he would figure out a way to break the two up. When he did, he was going to enjoy watching AJ run away.