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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you to Sapphire, addictedtobsb, Inconsolable and everyone else who has been reading. I know that I've been going awhile without updating but I hope you can all stay with me. Please let me know what you're thinking, reviews always help!
AJ could barely contain himself as they made the drive back to his house. Lauren and Nick were snuggling in the backseat while he and Drew took the front seats. He was surprised at how quiet Drew was; usually, his friend would have been talking his ear off about something that happened while they were gone or the outcome of the latest sports game. It was a little concerning but AJ put it out of his mind as they turned into his driveway; throwing open the passenger side door, he bolted for the house as soon as the vehicle stopped.

“Sam! Where are you?” he yelled as he ran into the house looking for his girlfriend. “Baby, I’m home!”

Sam jumped off the couch and came flying into the hallway nearly colliding with her overly excited boyfriend. AJ picked her up and spun her around as he wrapped his arms around her.

“I cannot tell you how much I missed you!”

“I missed you too.” Sam said with a laugh as he buried his head into her neck. “I’m glad that you didn’t have to do another extension.”

“There is no way in hell I was going to pass on the opportunity to come home!” AJ replied as he set her down. “We made it clear that we weren’t going to keep making this tour longer and longer.”

AJ kissed Sam and pulled her closer. She couldn’t imagine a better feeling than being wrapped in his arms and she wanted it to last forever. Unfortunately, she saw Drew out of the corner of her eye as he approached them.

“Hey J?”

“What’s up?” he asked without breaking eye contact with Sam.

“I need to talk to you.”

AJ let go of his girlfriend and turned around; he very rarely heard this serious tone from Drew and he was concerned about what needed to be said.

“What’s the matter?”

“I need to apologize to you and Sam.”

AJ caught the sight of his girlfriend violently shaking her head at Drew and making a motion with her hand for him to stop. He turned to face her and she turned red as her head stopped shaking. His gaze whipped backed around to Drew who looked like this was the last place he wanted to be.

“Apologize for what?” he asked as his eyes narrowed. “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing.” Sam said, tugging on his arm to turn around. “There’s absolutely nothing that Drew needs to apologize for.”

Drew was grateful that Sam hadn’t mentioned anything to J about his comment to her earlier but he felt like he needed to get it off his chest.

“I kind of snapped at her earlier when she asked me if she could come to the airport.”

Drew went on to tell him exactly what he said and AJ’s eyes got wide, his cheeks getting redder and redder by the minute.

“YOU SAID WHAT?!?” AJ yelled as Drew finished telling him what happened. “Why the fuck would you say something like that?”

Lauren and Nick came racing into the room after hearing AJ yell and could tell from his face something was going on. AJ stalked over to Lauren and glared at her.

“You let him talk to her like that?”

Sam ran over to AJ and stepped between him and Lauren, shoving him gently in the chest.

“It’s not a big deal AJ, it was just a misunderstanding.”

“It is not a misunderstanding!” he shouted. “It was completely rude and …”

He looked down as he yelled and saw that Sam’s eyes were starting to water. He took a step back and turned around, focusing his view back on Drew. Sam saw where he was heading and jumped in between the two friends.

“Please don’t do this AJ,” she pleaded, “it was just the heat of the moment.”

Nick saw the distraction and told Lauren to leave as he grabbed Drew by the arm. He could see how angry his brother was and, although he didn’t know what it was about, he knew that AJ was capable of lashing out at his bodyguard.

Sam thanked Nick with her eyes and took hold of both of AJ’s arms to keep him focused on her.

“It was a mistake AJ, he didn’t mean it to come out like that; he was frustrated with me.”

“I don’t care how frustrated he is! He had no business saying that to you…”

“It was my fault AJ, I deserved it.”

“Don’t ever say that Sam! You don’t deserve to be treated that way.”

Sam ignored what he was saying and dragged him over to the couch. She took a seat and pulled him down next to her; she wanted to talk to him but she needed him to take a deep breath and calm down.

“I want to be quiet for a minute and listen to me.”

“I can’t be…”

Sam placed one of her fingers on AJ’s lips and gave him a serious look. He started to say something again but realized he wasn’t helping the situation any; he decided to sit back and let her explain.

“What Drew said wasn’t great but I was completely wrong in what I did. I was so desperate to see you that I didn’t think of the bigger picture…”

“But…”

“Be quiet McLean.” Sam said as she cocked her eye at him. “You need to hear this.”

Her boyfriend sat back, surprised by her forceful attitude and, if he wasn’t so mad, he probably would have laughed seeing her this way.

“I was so absorbed in getting you back that I didn’t think about everyone else. I was being selfish and I didn’t realize it until I thought about it for a while. Drew was right in the fact that there was no way he could watch Lauren and help protect all of you if I was there. Even if I dressed up, there was still a chance Ryan could have followed us or something could have happened to reveal my identity. That would have been disastrous and it would have put all of you into danger. I’m glad he told me to stay and, although I know you’re mad, you need to let it go.”

AJ was surprised by her admission and he had to admit that, if he was in Drew’s shoes, he probably would have reacted the same way. He probably wouldn’t have made that comment but what Drew was trying to do was the right thing.

“I think you need to apologize to Drew.” Sam added. “And Lauren too.”

He started to protest but he saw the look in Sam’s eyes and decided to follow her lead.