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Post by James Benson on Mar 13, 2016 2:01:04 GMT
There had been some hope, maybe even a slight note of expectation, when James Benson had thought about what his spring break trip was going to be like. At least when it came to what his relationship with AJ could have become, he knew that he had thought about his options on more than one occasion. He could have been happy to let things lie, to have remained nothing more than friends with her and to go back to their routine of long phone calls and nights spent watching wrestling matches. But the truth was that he wouldn't have been happy. He knew that he had wanted to be more than her friend from the very first moment that he had met her, however, he had known that it was in his best interest not to push it. Despite the fact that he had kissed her on the first night that he met her, he had tried to do his best to remain as platonic as she needed him to be. Last night, he was pleased to note, he had been able to elevate their relationship from the platonic to something much more... intimate.
It was that reason that he had been unable to stop smiling, especially at her. Though it was also now the reason why he wasn't sure how he was supposed to act with her. Part of him wanted to hold her hand and assume that they were able to remain somewhat romantic with each other, though another part of him wondered if he shouldn't have been making assumptions at all. The former part of him had won out as they had showered and gotten dressed for the day, but now that they were getting ready to meet some of his friends for a late breakfast before starting the day, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to act.
He had held AJ's hand as they rode the elevator down, but upon entering the hotel restaurant, he dropped it as subtly and as carefully as possible, realizing that he should probably talk to her about it sooner rather than later. Taking a seat beside her at the table, he smiled at Ellie and Everett. "Feeling better?" he asked his friend's boyfriend, having received a well-timed text message the day before about their inability to go down to the pool. Jamie wasn't willing to admit to them that he and AJ had never actually made it down to the pool either, having spent the majority of their day entangled in the hotel bed. "What's on the agenda for today?"
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Post by Everett Quinn on Mar 13, 2016 2:18:24 GMT
AJ smiled at Jamie in the elevator. She had always thought that losing ones virginity was not as big of a deal as most people thought. She didn't think it was a magic switch that made someone feel different. But she knew that she felt happier. She knew that she'd liked James since meeting him and now that they were getting closer, she felt a lot more comfortable being on vacation with him and the rest of his friends. However, she didn't miss the way that his hand fell from hers as they were approaching those friends and suddenly she felt a bit nervous again. But she greeted them warmly none the same. "Hi Ellie. You look nice," she smiled happily before turning to Everett. "Good morning, Everett."
Everett hadn't taken a vacation in a long time, so he was more than happy to have taken the time to go away with Ellie for a week. Even if this vacation involved spending time with more than just Ellie but also a group of people he wasn't necessarily close with. For one, he knew that her mother was more fond of Toby Seaborn as a match for her daughter. For another, she knew that both Brody and he were under some serious scrutiny from Adam for both of them dating his respective twin daughters. But most grating, possibly, was James - who he frankly took a personal dislike to because of the way Kensi had been treated. While he didn't justify his young friend's treatment of his sister, he also felt like he was betraying her by being away with James and his new friend.
When James sat down with them and asked how he was feeling, he gave a polite smile. "Much better. Ellie's bedside manner is pretty fantastic," he said evenly, taking a sip of his coffee. He glanced at AJ for a moment, cleared his throat and nodded at her before turning his attention back to his breakfast.
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Post by James Benson on Mar 13, 2016 2:39:12 GMT
Ellie smiled brightly as Jamie and AJ joined them at breakfast, though she felt like she would have been much happier still curled up with Everett in their hotel bed. It was still decidedly much too early, and it was still much too difficult for her to justify spending time outside of the room that she didn't have to. Though, one look at the sunny, beautiful weather outside and the reminder that it was still cold and dreary in New York and she was reminded that it might not have been the worst thing in the world to drag Everett out of the room with her. Besides, breakfast in a restaurant was slightly more appealing than ordering room service in the room.
"Thank you," she told AJ before turning to her boyfriend with a smile, nudging him with her shoulder for his comment about her bedside manner. His fictional illness had done them both some good, she thought, and she wasn't entirely convinced that he wasn't going to end up needing to become ill again in the next couple of hours. "Sorry we bailed on you. How was your night? How was the pool?"
Jamie stared at his water glass for a second, trying to avoid Ellie's questioning right off the bat. He wasn't sure that AJ wanted anyone to know what they were up to, and he wasn't entirely sure that he should have gone around telling everyone about what they were doing when they were meant to be at the pool. "It was good. Just starting out our vacation of slowly," he nodded.
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Post by A.J. Dogherty on Mar 13, 2016 3:12:11 GMT
Everett couldn't help but smirk at Ellie before turning his attention back to his breakfast, he didn't really want to be rude but he would have much preferred to have ordered room service with his girlfriend than be sitting there feeling socially uncomfortable.
AJ, however, had come downstairs feeling a bit more confident about dealing with James' friends until they'd actually gotten there. The way he answered Ellie's question wasn't that big of a deal. She felt as though it was normal - it was not that she wanted him to profess what the two of them had been up to the day before. But it was paired with the way he'd let go of her hand before seeing the others that made her feel as though maybe he didn't want his friends knowing. She remembered the night she'd first met James and the fact that the two people she was currently sitting with were friends with his ex-girlfriend as well. She cleared her throat and looked down. "I just realized I left something back in the room. I'm going to go get it," she mumbled.
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Post by James Benson on Mar 13, 2016 16:02:54 GMT
Jamie turned to AJ, wondering if he might have said something that upset her, or if it was just the reality of the situation of that they were still sitting there with people that she didn't know and wasn't obligated to even like. He had never given much thought about what the dynamic was going to be like when all eight of their group was together, and considering the fact that Brody and Morgan had been spending all of their time with their friends from school, it seemed to have put them in a position to spend their time with the two people across from them. It wouldn't have been a problem, he knew, if it wasn't for the fact that he knew exactly how close Ellie and Everett were to Kensi, or at least how close they had once been. It didn't seem fair that a former relationship would have made a new one that much more complicated, however, and so he quickly made the decision that he was going to be sure that it didn't any longer.
Taking AJ's hand in his, he squeezed it reassuringly, wanting to convey to her that if things had changed now that they were positive changes, changes that he was looking forward to continuing to embrace. "Do you want me to go get it?" he offered, "Or we can go back to the room after breakfast."
At Jamie's obvious display of some sort of affection for the new girl, Ellie was torn between amusement, interest, and feeling a sense of uncertainty about how she was meant to feel about her friend's new relationship. Instead of saying anything outright, she busied herself for a second in suddenly finding her teacup immensely fascinating, trying to buy herself some time to figure out exactly how she felt. She figured that there was no reason for her to disapprove of any sort of relationship Jamie decided to have, so she decided that the best way for her to continue to act would be to continue to make Jamie's friend feel comfortable. "AJ, I was thinking of seeing if Morgan and Alex wanted to go sight-seeing today. Kind of a girl's day outing," she grinned. "Would you be interesting in coming with us? I think it'll be a lot of fun, we could even go shopping."
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Post by Everett Quinn on Mar 13, 2016 17:55:20 GMT
AJ couldn't help but smile softly when he took her hand again. She glanced at him and squeezed his hand back, she shook her head at him. "We can wait and go get it after we eat," she told him. "I want pancakes," she told him with a small grin. When Ellie spoke to her, she chewed on her lip. She was not sure how she felt about going out with a group of people that she barely knew, especially when part of her wanted to do nothing more than go back to the hotel room with James. But she didn't want to pass up the opportunity to get to know his friends or insult them by turning them down. "I like sightseeing, I'm not much of a shopper, but it sounds like tagging along would be fun."
Everett stared for a moment when James Benson took AJ's hand and cleared his throat. "Is this..." he placed his coffee cup down. "So this is a thing now?" he questioned. Turning to Ellie for a moment flabbergasted. He turned back to James and AJ for a moment. "I appreciate the fact that you invited me along, Benson, and AJ - you seem...just great. But am I honestly being ambushed into essentially what looks like a double date with my best friend's ex-boyfriend behind her back?" he questioned. "Does anyone realize what sort of a situation that puts me in?"
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Post by James Benson on Mar 13, 2016 18:38:09 GMT
Ellie had thought that despite any of the tension or the issues that they all might have had with this particular grouping, that they could have at least been adult about it and just accepted it and moved on. It wasn't maybe the most comfortable situation, but she didn't think that it was anyone's business whether or not Jamie and AJ wanted to see each other, it certainly wasn't her business and it certainly wasn't Everett's, no matter how much her boyfriend seemed to have a problem with it. After their initial fight, and after he had happened upon her fighting with Kensi in the park, she had purposefully tried to avoid speaking to him about the problems with Kensi. She hadn't realized when they had decided to go on this trip that something like this would have happened, but she wasn't sure that it would have changed anything for her.
"I don't think anyone meant to ambush anything," she argued, not wanting to be put into a position to have to take sides. "I think that we should just enjoy the rest of our vacation."
Jamie narrowed his gaze at Everett, becoming quickly annoyed at the ridiculous line of questioning and the accusations that seemed to be made. He had known that it was never going to be easy to get on the other man's good side, but he also knew that it truly wasn't anyone's concern what happened between himself and AJ, particularly not where Kensi was concerned. "It doesn't put you in any kind of situation," Jamie stated plainly. "It shouldn't matter to you whether or not this is a thing between AJ and myself. You should really mind your own business."
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Post by Everett Quinn on Mar 13, 2016 19:38:38 GMT
AJ bit her lip unsure of how she was supposed to proceed. She cleared her throat and took a sip of water. "We're not trying to make anyone feel uncomfortable," she attempted. She could tell that James was getting annoyed beside her, so she squeezed his hand and shook her head at him gently. "It's fine," she attempted. "I get it."
Everett looked at James, fixing him with a withering stare. "Well it is my business because of the way you treated my friend, who hardly wants to speak to either of us because she feels like we took your side, which - by the way I've done absolutely no such thing. I don't advocate what she said about or to your sister, but I get why she's upset. And all she needs to overhear is that we went on this vacation with you and your new girlfriend and I'm going to lose the best friend I've ever had." He sighed and took his napkin off of his lap and dropped it onto the table. "It's just uncomfortable. But you should know by now that anything that goes on with one of us inevitably ends up involving all of us - it's the curse of the social circle we were born into," he then turned towards AJ. "It's something you might have to get used to, actually."
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Post by Ellie Tyler on Mar 14, 2016 1:45:52 GMT
Ellie waited for Everett to finish his little rant about everything that they had been barely handling on a personal level, though she had wondered if she should have intervened to keep him from going off on her friend in the manner that he had. It wasn't fair for him to go off on Jamie about things that weren't necessarily any of their business. As long as Jamie was happy, that was the important part, she thought. She knew that it was uncomfortable, hell, it was uncomfortable for her too, but she didn't think that now was the time or place to make a big deal out of it.
"Everett," she started to protest, reaching for his hand to pull him back down into his seat. "It's fine - really. I don't think that it's going to matter to Kensi what happened on this trip or what it might have looked like. Besides, it's not like we're rubbing anything in her face, especially since she and Jamie have been broken up for a bit now."
Jamie shook his head, "It's none of her business anyway. I'm sorry that you feel uncomfortable but Kensi and I haven't been together for a long time now and I think that it's uncalled for you to bring her up now."
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Post by Everett Quinn on Mar 16, 2016 22:19:26 GMT
Everett stared at them both for a moment, "It's only been months, do you guys think that that's a long period of time? What is the appropriate amount of time for someone to get over being dumped and having their friends abandon them?" he asked. "I feel like I'm the only one here that cares about whether or not she's doing okay - which, surprise, knowing her she's probably not. That's why this is such a shit situation."
He sighed, turning to James. "Listen, I'm not saying anything she said about your sister is right. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't both move on with your lives, but you dumped her because of all of the shit with your sister, right? Well for as long as I've known her - she's been like my sister. Imagine if Melanie's boyfriend dumped her and you somehow ended up on a trip with him and the new girl he was seeing," he tried before turning to AJ. "I mean it when I say that you seem great but this is just..."
"She's your best friend," AJ cut in. "So you feel like you're betraying her. I get it." she nodded, reaching for James' hand and squeezing it before pulling her hand away. "Maybe we all just need to take a breath and calm down."
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Post by Ellie Tyler on Mar 17, 2016 2:48:11 GMT
Ellie felt guilty as Everett pointed out the fact that his friend, her former best friend, probably wasn't doing very well post-breakup. She knew that she hadn't been making it easy on her, especially considering the way that she had fought with Kensi, but she had thought that she was doing the right thing. She still thought that she was doing the right thing by supporting and standing up for Jamie. She just could also see Everett's point, and that made her feel much guiltier than she would have liked to. But it didn't change the fact that she didn't think that it was the time or place to get into this with anyone.
"Everett, please," she pleaded, trying to get him to stop going on a tirade about all of this. "Let's just go. Maybe you and I should just let Jamie and AJ spend some time together and you and I can just... go."
Jamie ignored Ellie, shaking his head in disbelief that this was all happening now. And they hadn't even made it past breakfast. "If it was Melanie, if roles had reversed on this entire situation, I wouldn't have chosen that trip to make an issue out of it. I would have waited for a much more appropriate and private time to talk about it. And I sure as hell wouldn't have said anything in front of the new girl." Sighing, he realized how much he wished he and AJ had never left their hotel room. "You shouldn't have come if you have such a problem with it."
"Jamie!" Ellie protested.
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Post by Everett Quinn on Mar 18, 2016 1:57:43 GMT
AJ frowned, reaching for James' hand again. "I think maybe everyone just needs to take a minute," she interjected. She turned to James and shook her head at him. "I think that maybe everyone is just a little tense. And if we all take a bit, we can go back to enjoying our vacation. I'm fine," she told him. She turned to Everett and nodded, "You're a very good friend. But I think James is right and this isn't the right time for this conversation."
Everett took a breath and ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah," he muttered. "Yeah, you're right. It's not the right time, and I probably shouldn't have come." he admitted before turning to Ellie. "I'm sorry for spoiling it. I need some air." He took one last long sip from his coffee cup, standing up and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm sorry to all three of you," he said before walking away from the table.
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Post by Ellie Tyler on Mar 18, 2016 2:40:51 GMT
Ellie sighed heavily, turning to Jamie and AJ in the moment after Everett excused himself. She hated that this was happening, she hated that they couldn't get through one week without some sort of drama erupting, and she really hated that she didn't seem to escape the idea that she had been picking sides. If she was forced to pick between her friend and her boyfriend, she didn't know what to do. No, she realized that was a lie, she did know what she would do, she just didn't think that it was fair to Jamie.
"I'm really sorry," she apologized sincerely, frowning at the younger couple. Standing up from the table, she tried to give them a small smile before turning and quickly rushing out of the dining room to try and catch up with Everett.
After Ellie and Everett left, Jamie realized that he let out a breath that he had been holding. Squeezing AJ's hand, he frowned. "I'm really sorry."
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