"No, it's cool," A.J. said, frowning a little bit in thought. He hadn't thought of what to get Annette that she'd know she'd get. He might have been planning an anonymous gift, but now... "Christmas and all, y'know?"

Man, she certainly wasn't making this whole distance between them, angry at her thing easy, was she? A.J. bit his lip again, toed at the floor. "I dunno, Annette; we'll see, yeah?"

A.J. blinked a little. "Leaving?" he asked, turning his frown toward her. "You mean, like, for the holiday?"

"...Oh." A.J. blinked, not really knowing what to say to that. So he just ducked his head again. "I...I see."

...What did she mean by that, 'how he felt about her'? A.J.'s frown at the floor deepened a little more, as he tried to decide whether he should say something. It would probably lead straight into an argument, another blowout, another shouting match to make them both feel miserable...

But, at the same time, what could you say to something like that? So he just thought maybe it would be best if he didn't say anything at all, because saying things was what usually got him into all these messes.

God dammit.

"Annette," A.J. sighed, softly, looking over at her with his head still lowered, "I really don't think this is the time or place..."

A.J. was trying really, really hard to just hold back; really, he was. But it came out of him before he could stop it, and he was done here, anyway. He didn't need to stick around so he could say his piece and then leave.

"I like how I do everything I can possibly think of to show you that I care," he muttered, shaking his head, "and you think it's all bullshit, and then you just show up, say it, and expect me to just believe it like that. It's astonishing, Annette, really fucking astonishing."

That said, he grabbed the towels and moved to leave.

A.J. paused, sucking in a deep breath. "No," he said. "That isn't what I'm saying. What I'm saying is a lot more complicated than that."

A.J.'s sigh was a short, frustrated one. "Annette," he said, dismally, with an air of how futile this all felt, "if I need to explain it to you by this point, you never will understand."

A.J. sucked in another breath. "I'd like to fix it," he assured her, "but, at this point, there's only so much someone can give. I'd like to know why it would be worth my time, the emotions, my feelings to fix it."

Fuck. "And I'm apparently not worth yours, either, if you'd rather just roll over and accept that than go do something about it..."

"Yeah, great. You said some things. Words are going to do me a lot of good. Jesus, Annette, do you have any idea what kind of shit you've put me through that I just took because I just wanted you to be happy? And I don't see it ever coming to an end, so I'm done. I don't need this anymore, not when I know I have people who won't put me through this. I should be spending that energy I used to spend on you on them now, because they'll actually appreciate it."

"Didn't I say that from the very beginning, that we shouldn't be talking about this here?" A.J. felt a surge for frustration, but quickly wrestled it down. "Ugh. I just...I'm tired of the drama, Annette. It follows you around like a bad smell, or something, and I'm just sick of it. I feel like the only reason you even bother with me is because it'll cause drama, which you, for some reason, seem to need to feel important or whatever. I don't know. I just don't get it."