AJ Styles fastened his seat belt and relaxed into the heated seat that supported his weight. The early morning sun was starting to build in its intensity and heat as it attacked him through the windscreen of the Ford and he lowered his baseball cap to ease his strained eyes. He heard the trunk of the car clunk shut behind him and the slight dip of the car's suspension signalled his travelling companion had taken his position in the driver's seat.

"You know where you're going right?" AJ asked.

"Yes, AJ," Christopher Daniels said, "I know where I'm going."

"'Cause I've done this drive before…"

"I know where I'm going!" Daniels said snappily.

It was far too early to start an argument with Daniels already so AJ merely shrugged and said no more. It was a nice and welcome change for AJ to travel with someone who was actually willing to handle part of the driving himself instead of travelling with Sabin who always feigned a headache whenever the subject of a long drive was discussed. Daniels was a good driver after all, albeit one who was unable to admit that he was ever in the wrong. He never ran red lights after all, oh no, they always changed after he'd passed through them.

AJ looked through the passenger window as the car travelled through Philadelphia. He watched as students walked past business men having breakfasts of croissants and cappuccinos and wondered if any of them had been at the show the night before. He and Daniels had been foes that night wrestling for, yet again, the X Division title in an arena AJ had only ever heard about.

Neither of them had won the title although Daniels had been very quick to point out that he hadn't lost the match, AJ had. Normally AJ would have argued with Daniels and pointed out that he had indeed lost the match as well because Daniels didn't have the title either but it had been after midnight and his body ached. Far too late and banged up for an argument with Daniels.

AJ continued to stare out the passenger window but the sight of mothers with their babies and traffic wardens ticketing cars no longer held his interest. Jerry Lynn had always joked that preparing to travel with AJ was much like preparing to travel with a five year old - make sure there's plenty to keep him occupied. Even AJ was willing to admit that he had the shortest attention span of anyone he knew which is why he'd usually either volunteer to drive or to drive through the night. At least then he could sleep.

But Daniels didn't like night driving. When AJ had suggested it after the House Show the night before Daniels had muttered something about there being "too many big trucks who think they own the damn road" and headed for the hotel instead. Hell, AJ didn't even have his iPod or portable Playstation with him because clean freak Daniels had insisted that all baggage be put in the trunk.

With no chance for sleep, no iPod, PSP or even a magazine to read and cause his occasional motion sickness there were only two options left. Start a conversation with Daniels or switch the radio on.

A loud burst of static filled the car as AJ switched on the radio but Daniels made no comment, he didn't even seem to register the ear piercing white noise. AJ hastily turned the sound down and flicked through the pre-set stations only to hear the same static on every channel. He tried to manually tune the car radio, listening to every frequency for a few seconds in the desperate hope that something would break the silence and his boredom.

"Its broken."

"What?" AJ asked.

"I said its broken."

AJ sat back in his seat and stared at Daniels. "Did ya already know that?"

"Yeah," Daniels said, pausing for a moment as he turned onto the highway, "the assistant told me when I rented it."

"So why'd ya sit there and listen to me tryin' to make it work if ya knew it was broken!?" AJ asked incredulously.

Daniels shrugged but said no more.

AJ looked at the clock on the car's dashboard. Still too early for an argument with Daniels. He closed his eyes for a few moments and tried to recall those anger management techniques that Trinity had been so eager to teach the locker room on one rainy afternoon in Nashville. Breathe, AJ. Ignore the tension, ignore the anger, ignore the desire to smack Daniels in the mouth and concentrate on the blue sky ahead.

"Why didn't ya get a car with a radio that worked?" AJ asked calmly after a few moments.

Daniels smirked slightly. "This was cheaper."

AJ scoffed. Christopher Daniels may be a lot of things but nobody could ever excuse him of being cheap. While AJ and most other TNA wrestlers were content with buying their wardrobe from their local GAP store Daniels was always immaculately dressed. If AJ squinted he could almost see the designer label on the arms of the sunglasses Daniels wore.

"Cheaper or more irritatin' for me?"

Daniels' laughed slightly. "Think what you like AJ but not every decision in this world revolves around you."

"Or 'round you either," AJ muttered childishly.

Daniels merely smirked again.

The radio was switched off and silence replaced the white noise that had been encouraging the tightness in AJ's head to turn into a full blown headache. The stereo had a CD player so he leaned forward slightly, hands groping on the floor for his bag and the CDs he'd stashed inside earlier. It took a few moments of blind searching before AJ finally remembered that his bag, along with his CDs, was tightly packed in the trunk next to his iPod, PSP and magazines.

Damn, he hated travelling with Daniels.

"Remind me why I suggested teamin' with ya? 'Cause right now I can't think of a single good reason," AJ asked rhetorically.

He didn't expect an answer, just a typical smirk and a wall of silence. Ever since he and Daniels had teamed together and set their collective goal on obtaining the NWA Tag Titles they'd travelled and roomed together. And ever since then AJ had tried to have a meaningful and pleasant discussion with Daniels. He didn't want anything too involved, just a conversation that didn't end in him punching the nearest wall and scraping the skin off his knuckles only to be chastised by Daniels for losing his temper.

"Because," Daniels said with a dramatic pause before adopting an Southern accent that sounded more German than Georgian, "'ya respect ma abilities an' think we'd make a good team.' Or words to that effect."

"I don't sound like that."

Chris paused for a moment. "You're right AJ. You don't speak in that manner and for that I apologise. That was far too eloquent for you."

Luckily there were no walls around. AJ clenched his fists, recalled what Trinity had told him and allowed the impending anger to wash over him and dissipate. He refused to let Daniels rile him. It was always the same old dance. They'd bicker and argue, Daniels would smirk and AJ would lose control.

"Who was it that first suggested you call yourself phenomenal?" Daniels asked.

AJ opened his mouth to answer but paused. Nothing good ever came from Chris changing the subject so quickly but still he was stupid enough to answer despite knowing that Daniels, the master chess player that he was, probably had an insult or comeback already prepared. He made it far too easy for Daniels sometimes. "I can't remember."

"You didn't think of it yourself did you?" Daniels asked, eyes quickly leaving the road to see AJ confirm that indeed he had not. "I didn't think so. Too many syllables for you."

AJ sighed in defeat and pinched the bridge of his nose to try and ward off the headache that was starting to build again. Why hadn't he hitched a ride with Jerry Lynn? Sure it would have meant listening to those obscure black metal bands that were far too loud and indecipherable for his country tastes but anything would have been better than Chris and his pompous cockiness.

Even a ride with Abyss and his tendency to cause AJ serious bodily harm whenever they were within fifteen feet of each other was starting to sound appealing.

"Ya don't like to make things easy do ya?"

Chris resisted the urge to smile and instead settled for pushing his sunglasses further up his nose. He knew that he shouldn't tease AJ in this manner. There should have been no reward in teasing one who showed his frustration so easily. Daniels usually reserved his concentrated mental attacks for more worthy foes such as Jeff Jarrett, someone he'd taken great delight in slowly reducing into a paranoid wreck over the duration of TNA's four year existence. That was entertaining. That was rewarding. Confusing AJ Styles to the point of anger was as easy as shooting the proverbial fish in a barrel.

So why was it so much fun?

"Life isn't easy," Daniels said simply, "so why should our time together be so?"

AJ frowned but answered quickly enough. "'Cause if life isn't easy why should we make it any harder by bickerin' all the time?"

Daniels paused again. For all of AJ's simplicities and his rose tinted naivety he would occasionally, and it was only occasionally Daniels was pleased to note, have an answer to his deliberate teasing that would make him think. He had no doubt that AJ had probably picked up these words of wisdom on some place mat in a cheap diner somewhere but they were worthy of consideration nonetheless.

"It all depends on your definition of making things harder. Personally I enjoy our arguments."

AJ flexed his leg a few times to relieve the recurrent cramp that always crept into his right knee after period of sitting still before answering. "That ain't surprisin' seeing as though you're so good at it. I think it's a waste of time."

Daniels watched Styles stretch his leg from the corner of his eye. There was a rest stop only a mile away and he supposed that the gentlemanly thing to do would be to offer AJ the chance to stretch his legs but they were making good time and Daniels had no tolerance for the truckers and screaming kids that frequented the stops. Besides, AJ didn't seem to be in any real discomfort he was just suffering from the same aches and pains every wrestler experienced.

The slight smirk that was seemingly etched onto Daniels' lips whenever he argued with AJ slipped slightly. As he stared ahead, eyes fixed onto the unusually empty Philadelphia highway that stretched before him he wondered exactly what it was that caused him to no longer rejoice in AJ's pain but instead show something approaching concern. The easy answer was that it was due to them teaming together and a healthy Styles being an important part of his title aspirations but he knew it had started long before their alliance for reasons much more difficult to explain.

It was much easier to resort to arguing.

"It's a perfectly fine use of time AJ," he said calmly, "it keeps my mind active and makes my time with you far more tolerable."

AJ glared at him, the shadow under the visor of his cap no match for the darkness of his blue eyed stare. "Is that why ya do it? 'Cause ya get some perverted pleasure outta makin' me mad? Puttin' the bags in the trunk, choosin' a car with a busted stereo, drivin' in the day… All that to annoy me and please yaself?"

"Pretty much."

It was later now, mid morning according to the clock on the car's dashboard, and the perfect time for an argument with Daniels. It was far too late for Trinity's anger management techniques to work for him now. AJ had never known anybody who could so effortlessly irritate him and get under his skin in the way Daniels did. Even Kid Kash, the guy for whom AJ had taken great delight in organising a 'good luck and don't come back under penalty of death' leaving party for hadn't affected him this much. At least with Kash everything had been so simple, if there was only one benefit mutual, unwavering hatred had it was its simplicity.

And AJ had always thought that he and Daniels shared that same mutual, unwavering hatred that he'd shared with Kash. None of Daniels' comments about favouritism had affected him any more than Kash's comments had - they were both born from the same emotions of jealously and hated. But then something changed. He didn't know quite when or how but those empty words of hate from Daniels became solid and they started to pierce his skin and hurt as surely as the stiff punches Daniels threw. It made him desperate to prove himself to Daniels beyond winning their matches, to prove that every compliment and word of praise ever uttered about him was justified.

For AJ it had never been about win/loss records or title matches but the respect of someone he hated himself for caring about.

Now it was a year later. They were on the same side and working as well together inside the ring as any team in TNA. Chris respected his abilities in the ring and no longer made suggestions of favouritism or nepotism but still they couldn't hold a conversation without Daniels instigating an argument that AJ would always fall into. But not anymore.

"I ain't gonna argue with ya Chris. I ain't got the energy for it anymore."

"You disappoint me AJ," Daniels said emotionlessly, his eyes never leaving the road ahead, "I never thought you'd submit that easily."

AJ sighed in frustration. "Ya don't understand anythin' at all do ya? Ya claim to be this master manipulator and act as if you're cleverer than me but you know nothin' about people. Ya know nothin' about me! After all this time ya still treat me like a game, like your own personal toy an' think ya can pull my strings. Well ya can't and I refuse to let ya."

So much for not losing his temper.

They were off the highway now. The endless tarmac had been replaced by houses and trees, the speeding cars had made way for walking pedestrians and for the first time since he'd met AJ five years earlier Chris had ran out of things to say.

"Ya know when we first told everyone we were teamin' together I got given a good luck card by Low Ki and Skipper. I thought they were wishin' us luck against AMW but they were wishin' me luck in workin' with you."

Daniels still didn't answer or acknowledge AJ's words but AJ could see their effect. The smirk was gone to be replaced by an emotionless expression and Daniels' hands were gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his fingers were turning white under the pressure.

"I used to think it was me," AJ said softly, "I thought that maybe I bugged ya so much that ya felt ya had to be so cunnin' and nasty to me but it was never about me was it?"

Daniels calmly pulled up alongside the kerb and put the car in neutral, the only noise audible coming from the metal jangle of car keys as Daniels removed them from the ignition. He had parked in a quiet residential road even though it had meant deviating from his set course and arriving at the arena a little later. Maybe a little rest stop wouldn't cause his world to end.

Or maybe it would.

"What do you want from me AJ?" he asked, voice devoid of it's usual confidence and volume.

AJ picked at the holes in his jeans as he contemplated the question. He could feel Daniels' eyes boring into him but he wasn't willing to rush his answer just to placate Chris' uncharacteristic quietness and nerves. If anything it made him want to take his time even more. Let Daniels get irritated and angry for once.

The need to break the uncomfortable silence soon overrode Chris' need to hear AJ's response. "I'm your tag partner, your travelling buddy and your room mate but I've never been your friend. Don't expect me to bow to you outside of the ring just because I do inside of it."

"I don't expect that Chris! I jus'…"

"You don't even know what you want from me do you? You finally find someone who doesn't treat you like you're the second coming and you can't cope with that. The world is a scary place when you're knocked off that pedestal isn't it?"

"And you're still tryin' to make this about me," AJ said exasperated. "This isn't just me Chris, you bicker with everyone and play ya mind games on anyone stupid enough to say hello."

"If I'm like this with everyone why should I make allowances for you? The question still remains - what do you want from me AJ?"

AJ lifted his head and locked eyes with Daniels before he spoke. "I want ya to say last night meant somethin' instead of actin' like it never happened!"

Last night. The subject Daniels had tried to ignore ever since he'd woken to an arm around his bare waist and AJ's hot breath against the back of his neck. He could remember hardly anything from the three way match with Joe or the journey back to the hotel but from the moment that hotel door clicked shut and the overwhelming need to taste AJ's lips had taken over every sense he had he could remember everything. Every touch, every kiss, every half panted word that passed between them was as easy to recall as his own name.

He didn't make a habit of screwing the locker room, Daniels considered himself far too old and jaded for that, but he'd been in the wrestling business long enough to know that after a tiring few days anything could happen with anyone. He wasn't the first to wake up next to a colleague and he sure as hell wouldn't be the last. A meaningless, one off fling was nothing to regret or be ashamed of. He knew that.

"Last night didn't mean anything AJ," he said casually, "it was enjoyable, fun even, but distinctly meaningless."

However, the thoughts that had ran through Daniels' mind as he'd touched every inch of AJ's skin and felt AJ's warmth embrace him had not been meaningless. Much like his earlier concern for AJ's health those thoughts had silently stalked him, hidden deep within his mind until they found the perfect time to infiltrate his consciousness and cause maximum confusion. Not even the cold light of day and the onset of the morning after the night before could make those thoughts disappear and they drove Chris insane.

In his world of manipulation and control there was no room for feelings towards one he had conditioned himself to hate for so long. AJ Styles was his tag team partner, his travelling buddy and his room mate. He most definitely was not his friend or lover and Chris had no desire to see him become either.

Or at least that's what he told himself.

"I don't believe ya," AJ said firmly, "if ya thought that you'd have said it this mornin' instead of waitin' for me to ask."

"Its the truth AJ, I'm sorry if you expected more…"

"Yeah I'm sorry too," AJ interrupted, "sorry that I thought for a second that you were a human bein' and not just this cold, selfish jerk who cares about nothin' but himself and what he can get outta other people!"

Chris stared at AJ open mouthed. From anyone else a verbal attack that weak would have reduced him to mocking laughter followed by a witty response but from AJ Styles it was as painful as a sharpened knife carving his skin. For the second time that morning he'd ran out of things to say.

And AJ knew that. "Ya keep everyone at arms length 'cause it's easier to control people from a distance isn't it? Everythin' you've done to irritate me this mornin' isn't 'cause you find a sick pleasure in it, it's to keep me away 'cause last night I got too close to ya. Last night I broke through your control and your mind games so this mornin' you had to push me away again and ya thought I'd be too stupid to notice.

"Well, I ain't stupid Chris. Ya can keep your book smarts and how ya'd rather watch CNN than the big game. I understand ya more than you'll ever understand me an' I refuse to play any of your games ever again."

AJ was staring at him, waiting for a response to his verbal attack but still Daniels was speechless. As he sat in that Ford in that quiet residential street he felt lost. AJ was right. Every single harsh word AJ had just half shouted at him had been frighteningly correct and more painful than any knock in a wrestling ring. He was a manipulator, a cold, cunning asshole who refused to make friends with anyone because it would mean relinquishing his control over them and of all the people to figure that out it had to be simple and easy AJ Styles. With his words AJ had held up a mirror and forced Chris to look at himself and what he was and Daniels hated the reflection that he saw.

But still he couldn't let that reflection go.

"Ah," Daniels said before forcing that smirk that AJ hated so much back onto his lips, "is that how you handle rejection? No-one could ever possibly turn down the Phenomenal AJ Styles and if they do they must have some deep rooted psychiatric problems? There was no deep romance, no falling into each other's arms and there never will be. We fucked AJ. Fucked. That's it."

It was a harsh choice of phrase and much more coarse and inelegant than Daniels would normally use but the curse had done his job. Ever since he'd first heard AJ tell Raven that his most hated part of wrestling was the bad language in the locker room Daniels had tried to avoid cursing around him. Not because of AJ's feelings of course, he felt it was inarticulate anyway, but there was no such consideration this morning. It was such a perfect word to use and the way AJ had rolled his eyes and looked away from him had showed that it had the desired affect.

"Are ya even listenin' to me?" AJ asked as he returned his stare back to Daniels, "I said I wasn't gonna play your games so ya can say what ya like. It ain't gonna work anymore. If ya wanna be lonely and spend your next birthday on your own like ya did your last you're welcome to."

"Why do you even care if I'm lonely? I've certainly never asked you to care or even given you a reason to."

AJ paused. "I dunno why I care and I hate myself because I do. I dunno why I'm still havin' this conversation with ya when I'm gettin' nowhere or why I'm refusin' to give up on ya. All I can think is that last night I thought I saw somethin' in those eyes you've got hidden that gave me a reason to care."

If AJ could have seen Daniels' eyes behind the black lenses that not only kept the strong sun away but also AJ's equally strong gaze he'd have seen that Daniels was having trouble meeting that gaze. Daniels had never believed that old adage that the eyes were the window to the soul, he thought the soul was far too complicated to be seen that easily, but AJ had already astounded him with his perception once and he refused to underestimate him again.

"Don't confuse lust with something more significant."

"Just lust," AJ repeated to himself. "No, I saw somethin' more than that and you feel somethin' more than that. You're just too scared to admit it 'cause you can't control it."

Daniels laughed. It was the exact reaction AJ had expected, that mocking half laughter followed by a confident remark to refute whatever had been said was so typically Daniels that he could have been reading from a script. What he hadn't expected though was for the laughter to be quieter than normal, for it to sound almost forced. He was right. Daniels was scared and he was pretty sure that Daniels knew he was scared also but Chris was never one to admit to any weakness.

"Scared? You're clutching at straws AJ. Last night meant nothing. You mean nothing. Do you want me to repeat that?" Daniels said before moving closer to AJ and deliberately over pronouncing every syllable that followed. "You mean nothing."

AJ flinched at the severity and force behind those words, his eyes slipping shut for the briefest of moments before he steeled himself enough to open them again. Throughout the conversation he'd been so convinced that Daniels was lying to him and to himself about the importance of last night but those words and the sheer contempt Daniels had poured into them had rocked his conviction. Could he be wrong? Had he seen something that wasn't there in Chris?

He copied Daniels' body language and moved in closer, their faces merely inches away. Daniels still wore that smirk and he'd never been as eager to smack that expression from his face as he felt at that moment.

Instead AJ threw his baseball cap onto the backseat before nervously reaching out and removing Chris' sunglasses.

"Tell me again Daniels," he said, "tell me I mean nothin'."

Daniels couldn't. He couldn't find the right words, couldn't find his voice and couldn't find the desire to repeat himself amongst the deafening roar of the feelings that had surfaced the night before. Not in that car, in that sunny residential street and with those blue eyes finally fixed onto his. If the eyes truly were the window to the soul he no doubt that AJ could now see every part of him. Just like he could see every part of AJ.

"I can't."

It was a victory of sorts but AJ didn't feel like celebrating. Not yet. "Now was that really so hard to admit? Look outside the window Chris - the sky ain't fallin' just 'cause you admitted to havin' some feelings."

And indeed it wasn't. Outside the windows of the Ford was the same beautiful early Summers morning that it had been before. The sun was still strong and Daniels' world hadn't ended despite his fears.

"And don't get all defensive now just 'cause you've had to say I was right. I don't care about scorin' points off ya Chris or controllin' ya. I just wanted ya to admit how ya feel."

AJ was simply watching him, there was no longer any intensity in his stare just a half smile and silent encouragement. It would have been so easy for AJ to gloat, hell Daniels knew he probably would have done, but he was silent now, willing to give Chris as much time as he needed to say whatever he felt. He knew that he had no control over AJ now. He wouldn't be able to lead him into arguments or play mind games with him anymore and for some reason that wasn't as frightening as Daniels had first thought.

"Is that what you wanted? For me to admit to having feelings in general or just feelings for you?"

"Both," AJ answered, "or neither. Whatever is true. I don't want ya to say anythin' ya don't truly mean."

"What if I say that I don't know what last night meant and that I don't know what my feelings are?" Daniels said before pausing and quickly adding, "hypothetically speaking."

AJ frowned. Daniels still wasn't willing to be open and honest with him but at that moment he'd take any semblance of honesty he could find. "Well, hypothetically speaking, I'd say take ya time. Say as much as ya feel comfortable with and work from there."

Daniels flinched slightly when he felt AJ's hands close around his own. It had been too long since he'd felt such an innocent and gentle touch but it calmed his nerves. Maybe relinquishing control wasn't as terrible as he'd convinced himself it would be.

"Last night did mean something to me and I apologise for being so crude earlier," Chris swallowed deeply before he continued. "You mean something to me AJ. That's why I always tried to control you more than anyone else and make you hate me. That was far safer and easier than any alternative."

"It never worked though did it?"

"No," Daniels chuckled slightly, "I should have tried harder. I guess it takes more than broken radios, cleaniness, daytime drives and a few years of arguments and fights to dissuade you. Anyone else would have hated me after far less, even Ki and Skipper couldn't handle travelling with me."

"Quitters," AJ said with a smile.

"Yeah well, not everyone is as stubborn as you AJ."

AJ glanced down to where his and Daniels hands were still joined. "I'm not stubborn, just willin' to fight for a worthy cause."

"We should really start moving," Chris said softly, "otherwise we're going to be late."

The clock on the car's dashboard showed that Chris was right. It was far later than AJ had thought possible but he didn't want to move, not now he'd finally managed his goal of getting a conversation out of Daniels that didn't make him punch a wall.

"You're right," AJ conceded, "just answer me one more thing."

"Sure."

"What next? Do we leave this street, go to the arena and start hatin' each other again? Do we forget last night ever happened and see it as an enjoyable experience or is it leadin' somewhere? What do you want from me Chris?"

Exactly how had AJ managed to turn everything around? He was supposed to be the one asking the probing questions that AJ had no hope to answer but their situations had reversed. AJ had given him the option of deciding their future but Daniels felt anything but in control.

He pulled his left hand away from AJ's and placed it onto the hot steering wheel, his fingers nervously tapping the rhythm of whatever was the last song he'd heard yesterday. Yesterday everything had been so simple. The future was mapped out and as manipulative as the past and that familiarity and simplicity was so comfortable. For all of his mind games, eloquence and elegant tastes Chris was a simple man at heart who took solace in a simple, uncomplicated life. AJ, however, was a walking complication.

AJ held back the disappointment he felt at Daniels pulling his hand away and unconsciously tightened his grip on Chris' right hand which he still clasped tightly between his own. Daniels made no comment or sign that he'd noticed AJ's action but he looked so lost in thought that AJ doubted anything, even one of Jeff Hardy's infamous police rousing loud parties would have broken through. He'd have given all that he had for just a glimpse into whatever Daniels was thinking but part of him was too scared to contemplate what Daniels' answer may be.

What had yesterday been respect, admiration and, if he was honest, a little crush had suddenly turned into something so much deeper. He'd always been careful to keep his distance from Daniels because he was too fearful of what could happen to him if he got too close and he'd always assumed that was due to Daniels' tendency to powerslam anyone who stepped into his personal space. But it wasn't. He'd kept his distance through fear of becoming too involved. AJ supposed that it was strange how a little bit of hope and possibility could undo every safeguard and barrier and let his feelings run rampant and become involved.

And last night had contained more hope and possibility than AJ thought he'd ever see.

'We ain't got all day Chris," AJ said softly, "we've got a couple of tag title wearin' cowboys to beat tonight."

Chris nodded. Time was getting short and he and AJ still had to check into their hotel and grab some food before they could even think of going to the arena. Tonight's match with America's Most Wanted had been forgotten from the second he'd removed the keys from the ignition in that quiet street and it surprised him that anything could distract him from championship gold. Daniels had always been the perfect prize fighter, his life dictated to by whatever championship opportunity was forthcoming. He studied his opponents and spent his waking hours considering their weaknesses and how to defeat them but AJ Styles had managed to make him forget.

Nothing had ever made him forget before.

"I enjoyed last night AJ, and not just for the obvious reasons," Daniels said, a sly but easy grin easing onto his lips as he glanced over AJ's body appreciatively. "I certainly have no desire to forget what happened or to just chalk it up to experience."

So far so good AJ thought.

"What I want for the future however isn't as clear to me," Daniels paused, his voice lowering as he continued. "You're a surprisingly perceptive person AJ and you're right, you do know me far better than I could have ever hoped to know you so I won't mislead you. You'd only see through my attempts to deceive just as you always have.

"The truth is that I don't know what I want from you anymore than I know what I want from myself. I've pushed people away for so long that I don't know if I can bring them closer. Or indeed even if I want to. I'll never be the kind for locker room anecdotes about ring rats, children or the big game AJ. I don't avoid those conversations and friendships through a desire to be lonely or fear of closeness but because they bore me.

"You, however, don't bore me and never have. I have distanced myself from you and considering what happened last night I think that was for a good reason," he laughed softly but it was less confident than his usual laughter. "However, I don't want to distance myself from you anymore."

AJ was silent for a moment, his mind churning Daniels' words. "Can ya break that down into smaller words? I have trouble when there's too many syllables."

Daniels laughed again but this time the laugh was light and genuine, something AJ had never heard from him before but he knew he wanted to hear it again. He reluctantly released Chris' right hand and handed him back his sunglasses as Daniels started the engine.

"I'm not promising a big romance AJ, I'm not promising to like your friends, or even to still like you in two months time but I guess the world won't end if we became a little closer."

AJ smiled broadly. He fished around on the back seat for his baseball cap and covered his eyes from the blistering sun. "That's all I'm askin' for Chris. A chance. Nothin' more. And I won't hate ya for not likin' my friends, sometimes even I struggle to care 'bout some of 'em."

They were back onto Daniels' planned route now. It was a little later than he had accommodated for but he found it hard to care. "Oh? Who should I look out for then? If we're going to be spending more time together I want to know which of your friends to avoid."

"Never travel with Jerry, his music makes ya ears bleed. Sabin never drives unless ya promise to buy him dinner and he's a very messy eater. He's usually showerin' the table with soup and stuff."

"I'll remember that."

It wasn't a deep theological discussion or even an engaging conversation but Christopher Daniels taking an interest in people other than himself was something AJ never thought he'd hear and as sweet as anything he'd never known. As they pulled onto the hotel car park and entered the building together AJ knew that the future wouldn't be easy. There was every chance that they would shortly hate each other again and that Daniels would lapse into his old infuriating ways but he was no quitter.

Hope and possibility were all that he needed to fight for what mattered the most.

THE END