Q: So, tell me about your first album.

A: (pause) Do you want the stock answer, or the real answer?

Q: Whatever you feel like telling us.

McLean pauses for a long time, taking long drags off his cigarette as his other hand picks at the hem of his shirt. He seems nervous, almost like a child about to own up to a misdeed.A: I don't think I've told ( Read more... )

"I don't deserve you," AJ said one night, when they were in the middle of a movie. The lights were turned down and they were snuggled together on the couch, the only one Justin found at Goodwill that could fit into the tiny living room when they first moved in. AJ had long gotten bored of the action on the screen, and his mind had drifted off to ( Read more... )

( Friends and Exes )

Some days AJ still feels raw, raw, raw, and whenever he's out walking from class to class it feels like he's got this big gaping wound that everyone is staring at. He's pretty sure Justin hadn't told anyone other than Nick, and to every one of their friends it just looks like they'd had a fairly normal break up, just like everyone else ( Read more... )

AJ didn't know what possessed him to say yes.

It'll be fun, Justin had said. We just need to make up the numbers, he said. Hey, you're on my team, we'll win, and I'll tell the guys to go easy on your non-sporty ass, he said ( Read more... )

"No," Justin snapped into his cell phone, as he shoved the door to his room open with his shoulder. "We've already gone over this, and I'm not going to - no. No, I haven't changed my mind. No, it's not open to discussion. Why do you - yes, yes, I'm sure ( Read more... )

On hindsight, they couldn't have kept it up forever. Somehow both moms found out that Justin had moved into AJ's room, and all hell broke loose. Justin's mom even threatened to drive up to the dorm to find out what the hell was happening, but after much teeth gnashing and yelling over the phone, Justin managed to talk her down. AJ opted for the ( Read more... )

It'd been a couple of days since they'd moved in together. The first thing they'd done, after getting everything that needed to be in the room past the front door, was lock it. Then they surveyed the room, looked at the boxes of things that needed to be sorted and put away, and decided to push both the single beds together and climb in and christen ( Read more... )

AJ paced the room restlessly, with Justin watching him from the bed. JC and Nick were due to arrive any minute, and even after one week of being okay with the decision, the plan still hinged on JC being willing to move and Nick agreeing to room with JC.

"How can you just sit there?" AJ asked, snapping at Justin.

When Justin woke up at three twenty-six in the morning, it took him a while to realize that it wasn't entirely his idea. Then AJ leaned over him and switched on the lamp on his bedside table, and Justin winced, lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the light. AJ muttered something he couldn't quite catch, and then Justin felt the bed dip, and a ( Read more... )