Pairing: Justin and AJ
Words: bloom; pop music; cerulean; mundane


Everyone agreed that it had been necessary for AJ to go through
rehab.  He'd hit rock bottom, there was no place to go but up --
all the usual cliches and then some.  It was something that had
needed to happen for a while, and while no one really expected
miracles, they all hoped that it would help him.

Except AJ came back wrong.

"Sarah who?  You mean, I'm dating a girl?"

"Um, yes, AJ.  For quite a while now."

"Is something wrong with your memory?  Oh, my God--"

"Hey."

"Sorry, Bri.  Was it the alcohol?  Do you have a lot of blank
spots?  Black-outs?"

"Time loss?" Nick contributed.  "Unexplained events?  Flying saucer
visits?"

"Shut up, Nick.  This isn't the X-Files," Kevin said.

AJ shrugged.  "I think I remember everything.  But how would I know
I forgot something?"

Howie got up and came back with a stack of magazines.  He shuffled
through them, "No, not that one.  I know I saw a picture of her in
here.  Here!"  He thrust an open magazine at AJ.  "That's Sarah. 
Don't you remember her at all?"

AJ shook his head.  "No.  But come on?  Me with a girl?  That's
just..."  He shook his head again.  "No."  He flipped the
magazine's pages, and landed on a different picture.  "Hello, good
looking."

"Oh, dear God."

"Kevin."

"Brian.  It's Britney Spears."

"Oh, dear Lord."

"Exactly."

"No!" AJ said impatiently.  "Him!  Justin!"  He sighed.  "With
those perfect cerulean blue eyes..."

"'Cerulean'.  Okay," Nick said, "I'm going with my earlier theory. 
Aliens zapped AJ's brain while he was in Arizona.  Roswell's there,
right?"

"New Mexico."

"Close enough.  Aliens zapped AJ and turned him gay."

"There are no such things as aliens, Nick.  There's a perfectly
normal, rational, mundane explanation for this."

"Like?"

"I haven't thought of it yet.  But I'm sure there is."

"Right."  Nick looked at Brian, Howie and Kevin, all who seemed to
be in various stages of freaking out.  "As the longtime gay member
of this group, I'd like to say that this is in no way a normal
thing.  No straight person would ever use the word 'cerulean' in a
sentence.  I mean, it might seem that way to you heterosexual
people, but--"

"You're gay?"

Nick rolled his eyes.  "As they say, duh, Kevin."  He rooted
through the magazine pile.  "J-14, Howie?  Don't you have anything
that isn't about pop music?  Ah, Entertainment Weekly."

"Um, what do you want that for?"

"You wouldn't understand, Howie."  Nick flipped through it, found
what he wanted and held it in front of AJ.  "Look, AJ, Orlando
Bloom."

"Cool."

Nick grinned triumphantly.  "Just as cute as Justin, *and*
he's not dating Lance."

AJ's eyebrows arched.  "Lance?"

"Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?"

"I think so, Brain, but where are we going to get that much rope?"