Chapter 19 - Party Time 2: Fight Night
A few weeks later, things had settled back into their normal pace. When she wasn't with Dean and their friends, AJ trained with Punk and Emma every other morning, and continued with serving and private dances at night. Aside from the gym and her clothing budget, she gave the rest of her increased earnings to her parents to help pay for her mother's new medical treatment. Cody hadn't shown up at the club since that one night. The memories would be slow to fade, but as the days and nights passed it became easier to set the experience aside and concentrate on the future.
The boys went back to smaller jobs for Santino, and kept up with their training too - Seth and Roman at Shawn's gym, and Dean still on his own. Dean hadn't accepted another fight from Regal yet; he was looking forward to it, but he wanted Roddy and AJ to forget about that last fight first. It was going to be his personal mission to escape the cage unscathed from now on. The only evidence would be two sets of bloody knuckles, and those were easy to hide.
Dean and AJ were closer than ever. They had loose plans for Dean to have dinner at AJ's parents' house, as long as her mother was feeling up to it. AJ had already spent more than a few evenings and nights at Dean and Roddy's house. She was still uneasy about how her own father would react to Dean, especially if Dean was his usual rebellious self when they finally met face to face. But Dean promised up and down he'd be on his best behavior. When he gave her that look - that attempt at innocence that revealed more mischief than anything, but also that he was really, really trying - she couldn't refuse him.
Even Roman and Kaitlyn decided to declare themselves a couple.
"Aside from the awesome sex, all we do is hang out with you guys," Kaitlyn explained to AJ one afternoon as they were getting ready for another exciting night at the Kitten Club. "We might as well make it official."
AJ chuckled, working on a darker shade of eyeliner than usual. "You're so romantic." she said sarcastically.
"I like him!" Kaitlyn insisted. "He's laid back. And he's strong, but sweet. Like he'd take care of me if I needed it, which I don't, and he respects that. And," she went on excitedly, as AJ giggled. "Even before we confirmed it was exclusive, he told me he only likes to be with one girl. That he 'falls easily' and doesn't want to be with other people."
"Those guys are loyal." AJ said. She smiled to herself, happy for both herself and her best friend.
Kaitlyn snuck over to take a peek in the mirror that AJ was using. "Aww..." Kaitlyn started quietly, slowly crescendoing until AJ was rolling her eyes and shaking her head. But she was still smiling.
"Have you said it yet?" asked Kaitlyn.
AJ was silent for a moment, deciding her next words carefully. "What do you mean?"
Kaitlyn cocked her head to the side, giving AJ a curious look. Usually Kaitlyn would have been exasperated at such a typically coy response, but she'd noticed the change in AJ over the past few weeks. Even with her mom still sick, AJ seemed happy.
"Have you told each other you love each other?"
"No..." said AJ, glancing at Kaitlyn in the mirror and then going back to her eyeliner.
Kaitlyn smirked, recognizing AJ's cautious reserve. "No as in 'never' or just...'not yet'?"
AJ smiled. "Not yet."
Kaitlyn made an excited sound, and rushed over to hug AJ's waist from behind. She lifted AJ from the tile floor of her bathroom, babbling about how cute they were together. AJ laughed and shouted at Kaitlyn to let her down.
"I ship it so hard." Kaitlyn said as she placed her pint-sized friend back on the floor.
As if AJ didn't already know.
Roman asked a similar question of Dean, though there was less squealing involved. Seth was driving a shiny, black Lexus back to Santino's garage, with Roman in the passenger seat and Dean stretched out in the back like so many times before.
"You meet AJ's parents yet?" Roman asked.
Dean chuckled to himself. "When I picked her up for that first date, she didn't let me get to the front door. She came running out to meet me."
"You did show up in Hot Rod's hot rod." Seth pointed out.
"Gunned the engine, too. She invited me over for dinner next week though. We're almost there."
"AJ's dad does security on the side, right?" asked Roman.
"Yup. She said she wasn't protecting him from me, she was protecting me from him."
Seth laughed. "With your track record, that sounds about right."
"Hey," Dean went on in his dead pan. "She's his only daughter. I'm lucky he doesn't have her in an iron, padlocked chastity belt."
"It's getting serious now, though, isn't it?" Roman pressed him.
Dean watched the street lights go by in a blur, his eyes unfocused. "Normally I'd try to act all hard and say we're just hanging out, but...yeah. I told her everything, and she's sticking around. That's gotta mean something, right?"
"Means something to me." said Roman, smiling in Dean's general direction.
Roman was happy for his friend. Not only had Dean survived the fight with Luke, but his girl was staying by his side. It felt the same with Roman and Kaitlyn; they just clicked, as good at being friends as they were in bed together.
Seth, on the other hand, didn't have the same stories to share. He was beginning to realize that his fling with Kelly had just about run its course. He wanted what his friends were talking about. A different kind of friend. Not just a fuck buddy; a girlfriend.
Roman noticed that Seth had kept relatively quiet on the current topic. With AJ and Kaitlyn coming into their lives at the same time, he didn't want Seth to feel left out, but it was tough to ask his next question seriously when it was so obvious; what Seth and Kelly had was different.
"How's Kelly?" Roman asked him.
"Yeah, you met her parents yet?" Dean added, his sarcasm less subtle.
Seth chuckled and shook his head. "We don't really have much in common." he admitted. He turned left at the last light on their route. "I mean, aside from a love of fucking. That part is perfect."
Dean smiled and chuckled knowingly.
"Is she gonna be at the party tomorrow?" Roman asked his brother.
"I don't know." Seth sighed dismissively. "It's not like we really talk about plans or anything..."
The next night, they returned to the house where they'd first partied together. Most of the girls from the Kitten Club that had attended the first party would be there again, all except for Brie. Nikki was the lone twin in the back seat of the car, but her sister was all she could talk about.
"She's still so depressed," Nikki lamented on their way to the party. "I tried so hard to convince her to come out tonight, but, oh well. I needed a night out for myself, you know? I need to be away from her negativity."
"Some girls take long time with broken heart." Aksana told her with a wise shrug. "Me, I have sex right away, I just want to get over it."
"But if you think about it, he was never really with her to begin with."
"It was real to her!" Aksana insisted.
"I guess..."
AJ and Kaitlyn shared a subtle look and smile. At the moment neither of them had to worry about drama like that.
"Alicia just texted," Nikki reported. "She'll be there later with Kelly and Summer".
"Party tiiime." Aksana sang, doing a little dance in the backseat.
"Sounds like another dance-off is going to happen." Nikki leaned over so she could see AJ in the rearview mirror. "Are you going to show off your new skills, AJ?"
AJ looked at her in the mirror, and gave her teasing coworker a friendly look of death. "They're called 'private' dances for a reason, Nikki." she joked.
"Has Dean gotten one?" Nikki asked, mischief plain in her tone.
"He gets way more than that." AJ assured her.
"Well I would hope so, after this long." Nikki joked back. "Does he know about your job? Like, is he cool with it?"
"He doesn't mind it...too much."
"He strikes me as the type of guy that would be cool with it, as long as he doesn't actually see it."
AJ took a deep breath. "I'd say that's pretty accurate."
"Boys." Nikki sighed. "They want it so bad, but no one else is allowed."
"I like my men a little jealous." said Kaitlyn.
"I like my man a lot jealous." Aksana chimed in. "I like when they get angry."
Nikki nodded emphatically. "It's so hot. But it gets old quick. It's usually a sign of insecurity."
"I make them jealous on purpose." Aksana confessed with a grin.
"Emma's address is coming up." AJ warned Kaitlyn.
"Dayummm..." Kaitlyn murmured, looking around at the mansions going by. "I didn't know it was like that, Emma..."
"Who is this chick?" Nikki asked, curiosity piqued.
"My sparring partner." AJ replied distractedly. For a moment she flashed back to high school and when her parents would drive her in their clunker to Dolph's big house in the suburbs. Emma was staying with some American relatives until her family found a permanent home for themselves.
"Maybe we should just party at her house." Kaitlyn joked.
AJ texted as they pulled up, and Emma came jogging out, almost tripping on her way down the long walkway. She was so dangerous on the mat, but so awkward everywhere else. Good thing she's not wearing heels. AJ thought to herself, imagining a newborn foal trying to find its legs.
"Thank you so much for picking me up." she gushed as soon as she opened the back door.
"Aw, your accent is so cute!" Nikki gave her a friendly smile as she moved to the middle seat to make room for Emma.
"Now she make me jealous." Aksana joked. "She used to say that to me."
Emma simply blushed, tongue-tied while meeting new people. AJ and Kaitlyn introduced her to Nikki and Aksana, explaining where they all worked together.
"You don't have to be shy around these ladies." AJ tried to encourage her as the car pulled away. "I'm sure Nikki will have your entire life story by the time we get to the party."
Emma chuckled nervously as Nikki leaned closer.
"So," said Nikki, getting right down to business. "Do you want to find a hot guy or girl to hook up with tonight, or did you just want to chill? Because I am an expert wing-woman, but I am also an expert cock-blocker, if that's what you need."
"Nikki!" Kaitlyn exclaimed with a laugh. "Don't frighten the girl."
"Emma can defend herself very well." AJ reminded her. Peeking around the head rest, she caught Emma's eye and smiled slyly. Turning back around, she remembered the look on her last customer's face when she pulled down her skirt. The green and purple bruise on her thigh didn't exactly make for a sexy look, and she'd forgotten to cover it up that night. "Ugh," she sighed, throwing her head back. "Lap dances and martial arts, what a combination. At least they keep the lights dim in those private rooms."
At the house party, the boys met up with their brawling buddies, Darren and Zack.
"Good to see you." Seth said to Darren, careful not to bump the red plastic cup in his friend's hand as they hugged. They hadn't all hung out since the first party, and even then it had been a brief connection.
"Where's Justin?" Dean asked casually, thinking he'd get a simple answer like 'he's on his way' or 'in the other room.'
Darren looked into his cup and hesitated. "I'm not sure if you'll be seeing him again any time soon."
Dean's eyes bugged out, and Roman made a sound of disbelief. Darren and Justin had been together as long as they'd known them.
"What?" Dean asked after he gulped down his first big sip of beer.
Darren shrugged. "His family wanted him to go back to South Africa. At first it seemed like it was just going to be an extended visit, but he started acting weird right before he left. He...kind of dumped me, I think. I don't know. It was so out of left field. Not sure how to feel yet."
"That blows." Seth said, and his brothers agreed. "Sorry, man."
Zack gave Darren's shoulder a sympathetic pat. "Let's refill that cup, buddy."
"You trying to get me drunk, Ryder?" Darren joked as he followed Zack to the keg in the kitchen.
"Hey, it couldn't be any worse than what Aksana tried to do to me a few weeks ago."
Roman cleared his throat. "Speaking of..."
The girls were walking in at that moment. Zack pulled on Darren's arm, urging him to go faster.
"Uh, yeah, let's get you a refill now."
"I'm going, I'm going..."
Dean was vaguely aware of the goofy smile that spread across his face when he saw AJ walk into the room. He couldn't help it. She smiled at him, and something weird happened in his heart. It thudded a few times in his chest, and then got all squishy. When she reached up to hug him, he lifted her off her feet and squeezed her waist with one arm, still holding his beer in his other hand. He planted a big kiss on her lips, then pulled his head back and looked into her eyes.
"Hi." he said. He smiled impishly, and it put dimples in his cheeks.
"Hi." she replied, giggling softly.
"Aw," Nikki smiled in their direction. She then glanced over at Kaitlyn and Roman as they exchanged a more-than-friendly hello hug. Roman whispered something in her ear that made them both smile.
"Um, where are the single people allowed to hang out?" Nikki joked.
Dean put AJ down and placed his free arm around her shoulders. "There's a pen in the basement." he said between swigs of beer.
"Oh, ha ha." Nikki said sarcastically. "I'm trying to find a special friend for Emma here."
"Let's get drinks and mingle!" Aksana said, pulling on Nikki's hand. Nikki grabbed Emma's hand and dragged her along too.
"That...was Emma." AJ explained to the boys, watching with concern as Emma was pulled into a crowd of strangers in the living room.
"She'll be okay," said Kaitlyn. "I mean, she always has that deer-in-headlights look, right?" Squeezing Roman's waist with both arms, Kaitlyn hummed with a pleased sound. "Did you get more muscle-y since the last time we saw each other?" she asked jokingly.
"You did give me quite a work out..."
Dean, AJ and Seth all began shouting at them to stop immediately.
"Ew, whatever!" Kaitlyn protested.
"Wow, look at you two." Darren commented as he and Zack returned to the room with fresh drinks. "I knew about these guys," he gestured toward AJ and Dean. "Didn't realize the last party was such a success."
Meanwhile, Zack seemed to be on the lookout.
"Relax," Kaitlyn told him. "I think Aksana is looking for fresh meat."
"Don't get me wrong, she's a great girl." said Zack. "She just-"
"We've heard the stories!" AJ stopped him before he could go into it.
"You are just not in the mood for stories tonight, are you?" Kaitlyn teased.
"Hey," Darren said privately to Seth while the rest of them carried on their conversation. "What about you and that blonde? I feel like the last time I saw you, you were getting some good attention from her. That was Kelly, right?"
"Kelly, yeah." Seth said. "We've hooked up a lot."
"Not feeling it?"
"I don't know. I don't know what either of us really want right now."
"Right there with you, man."
Alicia and Summer Rae showed up a few hours later, already drunk and ready to dance. Seth overheard Nikki ask them where Kelly was, and their answer that she had decided to stay home. He felt a mix of relief and disappointment, and thought maybe he should just let it go.
The guys flocked to Nikki, Aksana and Emma all night. Aksana always said yes to the first guy that asked her to dance. Nikki was more discerning on Emma's behalf, feeling protective of her baby bird. But Emma was distracted the entire time, her eyes drawn toward one guy in particular - a friendly, cute guy that was sitting with AJ and her friends.
"Who is that?" Emma finally asked Nikki, pointing in his direction.
Nikki scrunched up her nose. "Zack?" she said, contemplating the possibilities. She pouted and shrugged. The more she thought of the match, the more sense it made. "Let's go talk to them."
Emma turned suddenly just as Nikki's latest prospect was returning with two cups full of vodka and orange juice. He had to lift his arms and spin out of the way to avoid colliding with Emma, who barely noticed as she jogged back to the other room.
"Whoa." he said, turning with a confused smile toward Nikki. "Everything okay?"
"Everything's perfect." Nikki smiled, reaching for one of the cups. "It's Cedric, right?"
Cedric smiled. "Yeah." His smile faltered as he realized Emma had bolted and wasn't coming back. "Did you...want to go with your friend?"
Nikki sighed and watched Emma weave through the crowd by herself, oblivious to the people dancing around her. As the wing woman, Nikki had experienced a total shut out, on account of Emma's inability to pick up where Nikki was leaving off with each guy they approached. Now she seemed to be focused on Zack with laser precision. Some girls just had to help themselves.
"I think she'll be fine." said Nikki, flashing a smile to help Cedric forget all about Emma. Now she could concentrate on helping herself too.
Emma slowed as she approached the couches. AJ was cuddled up to Dean's side, laughing at Kaitlyn's impersonation of Vicki's latest tirade. Roman was chilling on the next chair over, with Kaitlyn perched on its arm.
"Emma!" Kaitlyn greeted her. "You survived!"
Emma smiled shyly, tucking her long blonde hair behind her ears. She glanced quickly at Zack, but he and Darren were laughing over a shared story and hadn't seen her yet.
"Guys, this is my sparring partner Emma." AJ introduced her to the rest of the group. "She just moved here from Australia."
Emma nodded politely and tried to remember everyone's names, but she seemed distracted the entire time.
Kaitlyn cleared her throat and caught Darren's eye. Darren followed the direction of her head nod, and saw the cute blonde standing behind Zack. With an instant understanding of the situation, Darren stopped his own story and reached around Zack, sticking out his hand for Emma to shake.
"Darren." he introduced himself. "Nice to meet you."
Zack turned to see who it was, and his brain seemed to freeze up when he saw her for the first time. The rest of the group watched in awe a scene that was both heartwarming and horrifying. Zack and Emma smiled and stared at each other, both frozen in awkwardness as the seconds ticked by. It was odd, since Zack was usually quick and plentiful with words.
Darren, sensing his friend's rare trouble, gave Zack's shoulder a pat. "This is Zack."
"And this is Emma!" Kaitlyn chimed in for her benefit.
Zack chuckled at himself, trying to think of something funny to say to break the ice. His mouth opened at the same time as Emma's, and then - just when their minds were about to process the words - a fight broke out in the living room.
The music stopped suddenly, as if someone had unplugged the entire sound system. A chorus of complaints rose up in the surrounding rooms. AJ, Dean and everyone with them turned to look.
"Maxine, stop-" Johnny Curtis' exasperated voice cut through the groans of the annoyed party guests.
"Shut! Up!" the brunette by his side shouted angrily. She was glaring at Summer Rae as she spoke, but the blonde stood tall and defiant despite everyone within shouting distance now watching the confrontation.
"Can I help you?" Summer asked in her most annoyingly feigned sweet tone. Maxine however was not in the mood for small talk. Her gold jewelry clinked against the zippers on her leather jacket as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Don't talk to me like I'm stupid, you ugly slut."
Summer laughed incredulously, leaning back as if Maxine were spitting actual fire. "Uhm, sweetie I don't even know who you are."
"Believe me, sweetie," Maxine replied, mocking Summer's condescending nickname. "You are going to learn, and you will never forget..."
"Maxi, baby, we were on a break, remember?" Johnny stepped in front of her, trying to interrupt her death stare and get her to look into his eyes instead. "We were gonna test the waters, see other people for a while...?"
His sweet talk only enraged her more. "Move!" she insisted, refusing to touch him and waiting for him to follow her command.
"Come on, let's talk in the other room-" Johnny said, placing his hands on her upper arms to guide her gently elsewhere. By that time Summer's friends had begun to converge on the dance floor. Alicia and Nikki stood on either side, eyeing Maxine warily and wondering who would even be upset to lose Johnny in the first place.
Maxine wrenched her arms out of Johnny's grip. "Wait for me outside!" she ordered, taking a few steps toward Summer.
"Hey hey hey," Cedric said gently as he approached the group, trying to get in between the ladies before they lost control.
Summer was busy taking off her bracelets and necklace. She was drunk enough to fight, and her friends were just loyal and crazy enough to join in.
"You better back off right now." Alicia warned Maxine. Once she got going, it was difficult to stop Alicia. Nikki said nothing, but her raised eyebrows and outstretched arms were an invitation for Maxine to try something.
"I will carve my name into your face." Maxine threatened all three of them.
Johnny was suddenly nowhere to be seen. The DJ was just coming back from the bathroom, wiping his freshly washed hands on his No Way José t-shirt. "What..." he muttered, looking around in confusion at the otherwise quiet party. "What the hell happened to my sound system?"
"Fight!" someone in another room shouted. A few people laughed, but most were still confused as to why the music had been shut off.
"Oh dear." AJ said, sitting up straight as the situation in the other room became clearer.
"Should we...?" Kaitlyn trailed off, starting to stand up and then stopping.
"Now, normally I wouldn't waste my time on someone so low class," Summer lectured Maxine as she removed her earrings. "But you called me ugly and I simply will not stand for that."
"You are ugly." Maxine insisted. "Rearranging your face might actually make you look better."
"Oh, hell no!" Alicia exclaimed, as the rest of the crowd within earshot ooh'd or laughed at the insult.
"Come on, now." Cedric pleaded, stepping in front of Alicia to prevent her from reaching Maxine.
"For the record, Johnny came on to me." Summer let her know. "And he did not mention you once."
Maxine lunged, caught up in Cedric's arms against her will.
"Okay, we should definitely go help." AJ decided. She and Kaitlyn stood up, in spite of Dean's insistence that everything was fine.
"Come on, it's healthy for them to work it out!" he joked.
"Let them fight! Let them fight!" the crowd was beginning to chant.
Roman went after the girls, and Dean begrudgingly followed. They left Seth behind, who was more than happy to sit back and watch the show. Roman and Dean stepped in to help Cedric prevent all out war, while AJ and Kaitlyn told their coworkers and friends to calm down.
"Wow." said a girl's voice behind Seth. "Someone told me these parties could get wild. Didn't think they meant it like this."
Seth glanced behind the couch he was on, to see if the girl was talking to him. The young woman he saw behind the couch put a smile on his face so big, he forgot there was even a fight in the next room. She was short like AJ, with creamy mocha skin wrapped in tight black pants and a matching jacket.
"Are you kidding me?" Seth asked, climbing over the back of the couch so he could hug his childhood friend. Sasha laughed at his reaction and hugged back, grinning as he pulled away and looked at her in awe, scanning her from head to toe. She was all grown up - her hair was wild fuchsia now, curls cascading everywhere, much different from the unkempt natural ponytail she used to have when they were kids.
"I'm back." she said with a shrug, a subtle gesture to her expensive looking clothes and thigh-high stiletto boots.
There was screaming in the other room; it interrupted their reunion. The verbal assault had escalated, though Cedric, Roman and Dean were doing an effective job of keeping the girls apart physically.
"Let me go!" Maxine struggled, almost catching the end of Summer's blonde locks before Cedric pushed her back. Nikki and Summer weren't trying that hard to get to her but they were ready to go if Maxine got free. Roman stood in front of them, his back to Cedric's, quietly asking for them to at least go to another room and cool down. Dean on the other hand had a rabid Alicia in his arms. Her feet barely touched the floor; she may have been skinny but her limbs were long and she was a hell of a lot stronger than she looked when drunk.
"Jesus!" Dean shouted, keeping his head low. He'd thought it was going to be easier when he first grabbed her waist. AJ grabbed at Alicia's wrists, not only to stop her clawing hands from reaching Maxine, but to keep her boyfriend from getting injured at the same time.
Outside, Kelly was walking up to the porch as Johnny emerged from the house.
"Woo!" he said, chuckling and smiling flirtatiously at Kelly as she approached. "It's getting pretty heated in there. Wanna grab something to eat?"
Confused, Kelly stared at Johnny for a few seconds before reacting. "Do we...know each other?" she asked.
Johnny smirked and got a little too close. "Not yet. But we could get to know each other, right?"
"I'm meeting some friends." Kelly said, smiling and moving on.
Johnny stepped aside and took one last nervous look at the house. "Careful!" he shouted at Kelly belatedly. "There are some crazy girls in there spouting all sorts of nonsense!"
Once Cedric got Maxine outside, AJ and Kaitlyn managed to convince Summer and Nikki to forget about it. All of the girls took Alicia to the kitchen to get some water, with Roman and Dean following close behind in case she tried to make a run for the door.
The tension dissipated, the onlookers went back to their previous conversations and José got the music going again. Seth surmised that his brothers had a handle on the situation. He turned back to Sasha and looked her over again.
"This is crazy." he said, that silly grin still plastered on his face. "You're all grown up."
"So are you." Sasha replied, giving him the same once over. "God damn..."
Seth laughed, surprised at her suggestive tone.
"Do you work out for a living or something?" she asked, half-joking, reaching for his bicep at the same time.
Kelly entered the house and looked around for her friends. She caught sight of Seth talking to a pretty girl, looking happier and more animated than she'd ever seen him. After watching them for a few moments, she turned away and went looking for her girls instead.
Drunk warrior Alicia quickly became drunk and crying Alicia. Once the tears began to fall, AJ and Kaitlyn made a hasty exit, taking their boys with them and leaving Summer and Nikki to deal with the fall out.
"And that is why Vicki doesn't allow us to drink on the job." AJ joked.
Roman was leading the way back to where they'd left Seth. He froze in his tracks when he saw who Seth was with. It took a moment to process, because she looked so different now...
"...Sasha?" Roman said, in disbelief.
AJ watched as the girl who had been talking to Seth took a running start and jumped into Roman's arms. They hugged each other tightly, as if they were close friends who hadn't seen each other in a very long time.
"Okay, now I know how Maxine feels." Kaitlyn said under her breath, for AJ's ears only.
"What are you doing here?" Roman asked, marveling at the little lady in his arms. "I thought you were in Boston?" He put her back on the floor, and she beamed up at him.
"I'm staying with my cousin. I heard there was a party here tonight, and I had a feeling you'd be here."
AJ glanced up at Dean and gave him a quizzical look. He was smiling like his brothers at the sight of this girl, but when he saw the confusion in AJ's expression he realized they had no idea who she was.
"What is all this?" Roman teased lovingly, touching a piece of her magenta hair, and gesturing at her mature outfit. "Are you even eighteen yet?"
"Yes! You know my birthday, stupid."
"Oh, it's like that again already?"
"I'm not a little girl anymore, you don't tell me what's what." Sasha replied with attitude. Her haughty expression melted back into a smile soon after.
Roman laughed, and then suddenly remembered his new friends. He looked back toward Kaitlyn, and the smile he had for her was reassuringly different. He motioned for her to join him, so he could introduce her as his girlfriend.
"You know how I consider them my brothers?" Dean asked. AJ nodded, and he gestured with his chin toward Sasha. "That's our sister."