Readers:Thank you to those who are reading and reviewing this story! Its very much appreciated! Anyways here's another chapter for you!

CHAPTER NINE

A slight sense of confusion took over when AJ woke up that next morning. He could see that the sun was up but it wasn't hitting him in the face like normal. He rolled over onto his back and saw an unfamiliar ceiling in an unfamiliar room.

"What the hell," he said as he sat up and instantly remembered where he was… Gabby's apartment… he looked to his left and saw the young woman sleeping quietly next to him. He cursed under his breath wondering why she hadn't woken him up the night before. Oh no… did she think this was a date of some sort? He hopped out of bed carefully not wanting to wake her. Quietly he put on his shoes and crept to the door.

"Meow… "

He froze at the sight of Simon who was sitting in front of the door. The fat cat looked up at him refusing to move out of the way.

"Come on kitty give me a break," Aj whispered. "You hungry or something?"

When Simon meowed again, he sighed and headed for the kitchen. Slowly he opened the cupboard where he found the cat food before and took out a can for Simon. He spotting pancake mix as he did this and remembered that he barely had food in his apartment at that moment.

"He glanced over his shoulder at Gabby knowing she wouls be hungry when she woke up. "Ah what the hell…I guess I can make her something too… what doyou think Simon?"

The cat glanced up at him for a moment and then meowed.

AJ shook his head, "Great…. I'm taking orders from a cat… "

30 minutes later…

"I know that I can make it… .I know that I can stand… no matter what, may come my way… .my life is in your hands,"

Gabrielle expected to wake up to the sound of her alarm, but instead she was shocked to hear her neighbor singing a very familiar gospel song In her kitchen. She slowly sat up and stared at him as he made eggs, bacon, and waffles over her stove. Was this a dream? She continued to watch and listen as AJ revealed another side of himself she wasn't prepared to see. His voice was adorable… and just what she needed to wake up to.

He hadn't noticed she was awake until she joined in with him on the song. He stopped singing abruptly and looked over his shoulder at her.

"Damn… " he whispered, "Good morning Gabby,"

"Good morning… where did you learn to sing like that?" she asked.

He moved some eggs from the skillet to a plate on the counter, "I… I use to be in my church's youth choir…it was a long time ago."

She nodded and got out of the bed. "If you don't mind me asking… do you still believe? "

Her question made him freeze for a moment. No one had ever asked him such a thing even after he was locked away for so long. He wondered how anyone could believe after something like that…then again Gabby didn't know his past and as far as he was concerned it would remain that way.

"To some degree…" he said. "There's a lot that's happened to me that makes me feel otherwise but I don't want to talk about it."

"That's alright," she said. "Thanks for making breakfast, you didn't have to do that. "

"it's no problem, besides you're going to need your strength to sing at church right?"

She nodded, "Yea that's right,"

He cracked a smile and handed her a plate of food. "Listen…I wanted to apologize for being a jerk to you before…you're a great girl and as much as I hate to admit it… you're slowly growing on me."

Gabby smiled, "Yeah I can say the same thing about you…"

They shared a laugh before AJ took off to his apartment. Gabby finished eating and happily got herself ready for church. She chose to wear a blue dress this time that had shorter sleeves and a U-shaped neckline. It stopped about two inches above her knees so she wore sheer stockings underneath. She slipped into her black high heels and curled her hair before putting on her coat and heading off to church.

When she was about halfway there humming a song to herself when she was stopped by an unfamiliar face. The man was tall with a bald head and a bulky body. He wore a tan coat with blue jeans and black boots. He was sort of intimidating to look at but Gabby didn't show her fear.

"Excuse me miss, I'm sorry to bother you but I was wondering if you've seen this man,"

Gabby glanced at the picture and was shocked to see a younger AJ in the picture. She didn't know this man enough to just tell him what she knew but she wondered if this man was family.

"Um he looks familiar but I'm not too sure if I've seen him here for sure…is he a friend of yours?"

"Yes he is… listen if you see or hear from him could you possibly tell him that Luke is in town looking for him?"

Gabby nodded, "Sure thing,"

Luke watched as the small woman walked away before taking out his cell and calling someone.

"Did you find him?" said the man on the other end.

"No… but I think I found someone who might know more than what she lets on."

"Leo tried to rape you! Oh my goodness Gabby!" Patty shouted. She was downstairs working when Gabby returned home from church. She hadn't heard from her since they last went out together so Gabby stopped to fill her in on what happened the night AJ saved her.

"Yeah but AJ stepped in to help me out. If I wouldn't have screamed-"

"-Wait a second," Patty interrupted, "Did you just say AJ stepped in?"

"Mm-hm, " she responded. "I wasn't aware of it until I woke up the next day."

Patty was beyond shocked. Never in one million years did she believe AJ had a soft side, his rude manner made her think he was incapable of thinking about anyone besides himself.

"Well I'm impressed… so what do you think of him now?"

"We spent a little time together last night," Gabby said with a soft grin while Patty's eyes widened in shock. "No no it's not what you think, he just came to check on me and we talked for a little while."

"Mmmmhmmm…you know I don't believe that at all…"

"I'm being honest," Gabby said. "Besides you and I both know I'm not his type."

Patty chuckled, "Oh honey…you've got to know someone to know what their type is. You're still new to this life so, first we've got to figure out what your type is."

Gabrielle shook her head and headed for the elevator, "I can't focus on men right now especially when I'm taking over Chico's."

"Congrats on that!" Patty said as Gabby hit the "up" button. "Let me know if you need any help with it!"

"Oh I'm sure I will… "

When the elevator doors opened Gabby found herself nearly running into AJ. He reached out and grabbed her shoulders just in time smirking at her before slowly moving out of her way. She couldn't fight her smile as she stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for her floor. On her way up she thought about the man she ran into that morning.

"Should I tell him about Luke?" she asked herself. "maybe I'll wait until he comes home."