Oh, shut up

Busy at work amongst the teasing, chatter and clanging of tools in car engines, Axel barely hears his cell phone ringing on the work bench. Recognizing Jess' ringtone, he goes to answer it. They were supposed to do supper tonight, but if she was calling him during the day, it might mean a change of plans.

Putting one hand over his other ear to muffle the garage sounds, he answers. "Hey, Jess, what's up?"

As Jess speaks, Axel becomes on edge. Her tone wasn't right. Something was wrong. Still trying to hear her clearly, her words of what had happened hit him like a cannon shot to the gut. Leaning back against the wall, his face pales as his heart skips a beat. Quinn? Quinn was in town? Looking for him? That couldn't be good.

Axel's mind reels and he feels dizzy and sick to his stomach at the same time. He'd figured he would never see his brother again. It hadn't been meant to be. They'd parted ways. Quinn had abandoned him, not even believing he was innocent.

The fear, anger and hurt come rushing back like a wave.

Axel suddenly realizes Jess had paused, and he'd been holding his breath. Sucking in air, everything seems to spin and he tries to focus for Jess' sake. It probably hadn't been easy for her to call and he had to make sure that she didn't think she'd done anything wrong.

"Thank you, Jess. I..." He what? What now? She had a number?

"I don't have a pen... um... a pen handy so... um tonight..." Were they still going out? "Call me... after work, okay? I'll... talk to you more then. Thanks for letting me know."

Ending the call, he doesn't leave room for any more conversation about it. He didn't know what to say, and even if he did, now was not the time or place. Setting his phone aside again, he stares at the car he'd been working on. All of a sudden, he had no idea what he'd been doing or what he needed to do next.


Fooling around with the others and almost done with his car, Leo catches sight of Axel nearby, and he stops, concerned. It looked like Axel had seen a ghost. Leo turns and catches Ryan's eye, then nods to Axel, wondering if he was the only one who thought something strange was up.


Quinn drives to the end of the street, coming to a halt at a stop sign. Without any other cars behind him, he just sits for a moment, his hands flexing on the steering wheel. His heart was still beating fast, and a bit of sweat runs down the back of his neck. His stomach did an odd flipflop and for a moment, he thought he might be sick.

Axel... after all these years... stumbling across him completely by accident. What was he thinking, trying to even contact him? Quinn felt as if he'd panicked. He should have just walked away. Why had he given the girl his phone number? For those few minutes he'd just felt... shocked. Pure and simple. All the anger he'd felt those years before was now surfacing, but moments ago, all he'd felt was shock. Axel probably wouldn't want to contact him any more than he'd wanted to contact Axel these past years. So he should just move on and forget about it... right? Axel wouldn't call him and... he shouldn't go looking for him either. It was a crazy idea that would only end in more heartache anyway.

Getting a grip on himself, Quinn starts out across the intersection, trying to just calm his nerves. He'd seen signs for a hotel somewhere around here, but after stopping for something to drink at the little pizza place, he'd now forgotten which way he needed to go.

Heading down one street then another, he finds himself in a district of shops that looked a bit intriguing. His emotions had been jarred and his mood was not the best... he needed something to unwind... he needed a distraction before the barrage of memories took over. He was just passing through... just passing through.

Seeing a sign that read Disc O Round, Quinn's interest was piqued. Records, instruments and CDs adorned the window display. A music shop. Vintage? That was the kind of distraction he could handle.

Pulling to the curb, he kills the engine and plays with the keys for a moment.
Keep going, Quinn... keep on going. You thought about Axel just the other day - this is no different. You could have been in the same town with him a bazillion times and just never realized it.

Yeah, but I didn't even know he was out of prison.

So? Everybody gets out eventually, even the guilty ones.

Right... so this is no different than any other day... I just gotta ignore the fact that I'm within miles of a brother I haven't seen in years.

But you're angry with him, remember? He betrayed your trust. Look at what he did.

He said he was innocent.

With what proof? You warned him about hanging out with the wrong crowd. You knew he would be influenced and he finally took things too far. It's obvious.

So now what? He's going to have my number.

And? If he's the kind of man you remember, he won't call. He's a criminal and besides, you turned your back on him.

I abandoned him... when he needed me the most, or so Jess says.

One side of the story, Quinn... just one side of the story. Don't forget yours. You got pain too.

Why didn't I just walk away? Why did I tell them that I wanted to see Axel?

Maybe deep down, you do.

You just reminded me of his betrayal and my pain! Why would I want to see him?

You're the one messed up, not me.

"Oh, shut up." Quinn grumbles and gets out of the car, tired of the inner discussion with his conscience. Locking the doors, he heads to the entrance of the store, pausing to look in the window for a moment.

Getting into the shop, the little bell dings and he takes a cursory glance around, seeing new music along one wall, while the older things seemed a little farther towards the back. That's where he heads, clipping his keys to his beltloop and running his fingers along a shelf of classic rock CDs.

Making it nearer the back, Quinn spies the racks of old record albums. The quite rock n' roll music playing in the store seemed soothing today. It had just enough edge to match his mood, but it was quiet enough to not rile him.

Sifting through the record albums, some were new, some were used and most had at least a thin layer of dust. "Mmmm." His finger touches on one in particular. "Hello, Ricky Nelson... you would do quite nicely in my collection, wouldn't you?"


"Hey, that sounds good too." Justin nods as he continues to eat his pie. "They say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach... I'm no exception." He chuckles, his eyes twinkling a little in the living room light. In reality, he usually ate very little, but did frequently enjoy a good meal at his mother's or at friends.

Falling quiet again, Justin lets Beth take her own pace. When his pie was done and nothing else was to be conversed, he would make his leave. But if she continued to talk, he would stay.