Pairing: AJ and Nick
Words: quake; damsel; bleak; chirp


"AJ," Nick said warningly.

"Yeah?"

"That's 'The Lord of the Rings'.  The DVD.  The movie you said was
terrible and you couldn't understand why even a geek-boy like me
would watch it."

AJ looked at the movie in his hand.  "What do you know?  So it is."

"Uh-huh.  What are you doing with it?  Did you buy that?"

"Um..."

"You bought it," Nick said with a disbelieving tone.  "You really
bought it.  Why?"

"Look, I'm going to watch it.  Is there something wrong with that?"

"When it's you, yes.  Why are you watching it again?"

AJ muttered something.

Nick stared at him.  "No way."

"Yeah, shut up."

"You bought 'The Lord of the Rings' because you think Orlando Bloom
is hot?"

"Shut up already, okay?  He does that cool twirly thing with the
daggers and the way he shoots the arrows."

Nick smirked at him.  "Yeah, I'll bet you like the way he handles
his weapon."

"Nick, I'm warning you--"

"'Cause, you know, if you want to be alone to jerk off, I totally
understand--"

AJ growled at the laughing man.  "Fine.  That's it.  So what?  I
think some guy's hot.  At least I don't fall for the
damsel-in-distress routine and pick up every chick that comes along
with a sob story about her bleak fucking life.  At least I'm not
screwing up my real life."

Nick's eyes had clouded over with something dangerous.  "Yeah,
Adge.  You're the authority on screwing up your life, so you'd
know, wouldn't you?"

He wanted to strike out.  The person he'd been would have.  He was
learning to deal with the anger that quaked so easily within him,
the anger and the equally powerful self-loathing.  "Yeah.  I am. 
Now if you don't mind, I'd like to watch my movie."

Nick looked at him a little uncertainly, as though that hadn't been
the right response.  "You... um... you mind if I watch it with you? 
I've been meaning to get my own copy, but I haven't gotten around
to it yet."

"You gonna make comments through the whole thing?  Because I can do
without you chirping up with smart remarks."

"Well..."

"Nick--"

"You know me."

AJ sighed.  "Just keep it to a minimum, okay?  I want to watch the
fucking movie, not listen to a comedy routine."

"Got it."  Nick practically bounced on his toes.  "I'll get some
popcorn.  This is so cool, y'know.  We can be fanboys together."

He groaned and ran his hand through his thinning hair.  He really
wished he could claim to be too old for this shit.  Thank God it
was only Nick who knew about this, and not anyone really
embarrassing, like Kevin.  Or Brian.  Or Howie.  Or--

AJ heard a voice in the other room, "Hey, Frick, guess what?", and
sent a mental cancel on the previous prayer.  Apparently Orlando
Bloom had the ability to cause temporary amnesia through sheer
hotness because he'd somehow managed to forget that Nick was the
biggest blabbermouth in the group.

He put the DVD in the player and settled down on the couch.  He'd
already let the world know he was a screw-up; he could get used to
the guys knowing he was as big a dork as Nick.  Eventually.