Chapter One-Hundred-Thirty-One
After Nick and Ashley had finished eating their lunch, Nick picked up their empty take out containers and placed them into the bag and he set it to the side. Ashley lay back against the blanket and looked out at the lake that they are sitting near. Nick lay next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. Abbie is lying on the blanket near them half asleep.
"Brian and I used to go swimming in that lake when I was younger," he informed her. "This is a nice spot, I thought it would be good for a picnic."
"It's perfect," Ashley replied, placing her hand to his cheek and pulling his lips down onto hers and he brushed his lips lightly over hers.
"You can't go swimming in it right now because of your bandage, but maybe some other time I will bring you back."
"It's probably too cold anyway," Ashley shrugged. "Seeing as how it's November going on December." Nick pulled her shirt up just far enough that her stomach is revealed and he leaned down and placed soft kisses on it.
"When do I get to take the Band-Aid off?"
"The guy said after at least 4-5 hours. I don't want it to be anymore sooner than that…you need to take good care of your piercing and I'm going to help you." Ashley gave him a playful look of annoyance.
"Yes because I'm not capable of doing it myself," she teased.
"I don't mean it like that. There are just a lot of stuff you have to do to make sure that it doesn't get infected and you're new at it so I want to make sure you do it right." He explained, as he pointed to the bag of things that he bought from the tattoos and piercing shop to help her keep her piercing clean.
"I believe you honey, I was just teasing you," Ashley replied, giggling a little. Nick smirked, as he never gets tired of hearing her giggle and he tightened his arms a little around her waist and rested his head against her chest.
"Can you really blame me for being protective of you? There are all sorts of guys out there that want to take you from me and it's my job to keep them from doing so…I would feel pretty embarrassed if I couldn't keep you from getting an infection too." Ashley laughed a little and leaned down and kissed the top of his head, before raking her fingers through his hair as he kept his head rested against her chest.
"You just stick to protecting me from the monsters out to get me, okay? I think I can handle a piercing Nicky."
"Just humor me and let me help you the first couple of times okay? So that I will feel better?"
"Okay, Okay," she gave in, laughing at him some more and she rested her forehead against his. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" she asked softly, causing him to hug her even closer.
"I wonder that question about myself, every single day…" Nick replied, looking up at her and placing his hand to her cheek and he gently caressed it. "I have never been in love with anyone like I am with you. You could ask any of the guys and they'd be able to back me up on that statement."
"I bet I love you more," Ashley challenged playfully. Nick chuckled a little.
"I don't think so baby girl," he insisted. "But I'll let you think that even though it's not true."
"I think you are suffering a strong case of denial honey…we should probably ask Doctor Johnson if there is a cure for that."
"Oh haha, very funny…"
"I thought so too," Ashley smirked. Nick shook his head, and then suddenly Abbie jerked awake and lifted her head and she looked around the woods in an alert stance. Nick noticed this and looked over at her curiously, causing Ashley to the same thing. She got up on her feet then, and Ashley reached over and grabbed hold of her leash.
"What's up Abbie?" She asked, and with one arm, she reached out and brought her close to her. Abbie licked her cheek affectionately and Ashley smiled a little and rubbed her hands over her. "You are such a good puppy…" she informed her, and Nick lay there petting her also, though he took a mental note of her behavior.
~*~*~*~*~
"Gah! This is disgusting. Do we really have to stand here and listen to them argue over who loves each other more? I swear the moment they start making out I'm going back to the motel," Max grumbled in a low whisper that only Cole could hear.
"You can't. The next time we abandon our job I just know Trevor is going to send someone down here to murder us."
"And if that dog keeps trying to give us away…I know she knows that we are here…" Max continued to vent his anger. "This is suicide Cole…Trevor and Sean are crazy."
"She wouldn't know that you are here if you would shut up." Cole replied turning and giving his partner a dark look.
"At least it's not that stupid little rat that doesn't trust us…" Max muttered to himself after recoiling from Cole's glare.
"And who's fault is it that, that rat figured us out?" Cole whispered irritably.
"I dunno," Max answered while shrugging his shoulders and playing dumb.
"Step on anymore twigs and I will smack you upside the head," Cole threatened. "And shut up — stop giving that dog hints that we are here. The Backstreet Boy is onto us, I can just tell." Max groaned exasperatedly and he went over and sat down on a rock and he continued to drink his coffee. Cole shook his head irritably and turned his attention back on the two people he is supposed to be watching. He can't believe how trusting Ashley is with this guy. She sure as hell wasn't like this with Sean. The Ashley he knows wouldn't dare let a man near her — not without a fight. The Ashley he knew was crying all the time and mostly kept to her little corner until Sean felt like pulling her out of it — hell he even took part in torturing her at times too — hence the hoodie he was wearing earlier. It would have been bad if he hadn't had his back turned on her. She would have recognized him, freaked out, and ruined the entire thing. He can just feel it getting closer though…the two of them getting caught. Between the doofis behind him on the rock and all of the dogs, he isn't surprised if they get caught within the week. He just wishes Trevor would give him orders to grab Ashley and run — it would be a whole lot better then standing around waiting to get caught. But no-ooo…just follow them around and watch them he says, we have to wait until the right moment and plan it all out properly he says. Easier for them to say since they get to hide out in a house all this time…while other people do the work for them. Everybody who's done Trevor and Sean's dirty work has been caught. Sooner or later people are just going to start refusing and Cole is going to just sit back and laugh at it in his jail cell as it happens.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, Nick and Ashley lay on the blanket and just talked and enjoyed each other's company for a half n hour, and then when they finished they packed everything up. Ashley grabbed Abbie's leash and the two of them headed back to the Littrell House, Nick deciding if he is going to take Dakota to the park, he better head on home and do it now because he doesn't want to have another late night out again. When they arrived back at the Littrell House they walked in to discover Brian still sitting there holding a sleeping Dakota, but now he had Josh in his lap also and Kevin and Jerald had gotten back about a half n hour ago, so Kevin took Elenore instead. He was very happy to see that she hadn't woken up and thrown a tantrum when finding out that he had gone somewhere without her.
"Hey Nick, Hey Ashley, how was your date?" Jackie asked while smiling some at the arrival of the two lovebirds. She is very happy that nothing bad had happened to them while they were out.
"Hey Jackie," Nick smiled, and he went over and embraced the woman who is like a mother to him in a hug. "It was very nice to be able to go out alone and spend sometime with each other — it meant a lot to us that everybody let us go."
"Well you two are an adorable couple, you deserve to be happy." Nick beamed happily, and he pulled away from her and went over and sat next to Brian and he brushed a strand of Dakota's hair out of her face and gazed down at her lovingly.
"How's my little girl been? Was she upset when she noticed we were gone?" He questioned worriedly, assuming that Dakota had found out.
"She never found out actually…" Howie replied smiling a little. "We think she assumed that you two were upstairs all a long…she's been busy with her friends, busy almost getting in trouble, and she had Brian here so she was alright."
"Well, Jeez, I see how much I am loved…" Nick scoffed playfully.
"Wait a minute — she almost got into trouble?" Ashley asked worriedly, as she undid the leash from Abbie's collar and sat on the floor with her. As soon as she did puppies all around came to her and started to greet her and seeking a playmate — Lil' Rok, Chance, Lily, Tyke….the whole gang. Ashley giggled a little and accepted them all.
"Yup…her and Ellie, naturally." Kevin answered, smiling a little as he looked down at the sleeping five-year-old in his lap and he began to explain to them the whole story. When he finished, Nick turned and looked at Brian with a raised eyebrow. Brian understood the look right away as he's been getting it from Howie and Kevin too.
"I promised her I wouldn't tell." Nick scowled a little, as he knows that's the end of it. He knows when Brian makes a promise to Dakota there is no getting him to break it. He is completely loyal to her, and even though it drives him crazy sometimes — when he is trying to figure out her secrets for instance, deep down inside he loves it.
"Well anyway, how long has she been asleep? What'd you do, put sleeping pills in the kid's food so they would take a nap for you?" He asked, as he looked around and noticed Josh's eyes were half open as he shared Brian's lap with Dakota, Sarah was asleep in Riley's lap, Spencer in Kori's, and Ryan wasn't anywhere to be seen, but he can pretty much guess where he is at.
"They pretty much played outside all day, they wore themselves out. She's been sleeping for about an hour now."
"So it's safe to wake her up then? Because I sort of promised her the playground…"
"Yeah I think she'll be fine — she'll probably be in a lot better mood now that she's had a nap too." Nick looked down at Dakota then and he combed his fingers through her blonde hair.
"Kota baby…wake up…" he told her gently, and Dakota opened her eyes slightly.
"Daddy?" She spoke groggily. Nick smiled down at her.
"Hi baby…did you have a nice nap?" Dakota nodded as she smiled up at him in return, though only a little bit as she tried to wake up all the way.
"That's good…do you want to go to the park now?"
"Yeah," Dakota replied, becoming excited and she sat up a little in Brian's lap but immediately regretted it and slumped back down against him as she was still very sleepy and felt a little weak at her sudden movement. Nick chuckled and gently took her into his own lap so he is cradling her and he leaned down and kissed her forehead. He sat there watching her as she lay there in his lap for a few moments, and then he got up with her and carried her upstairs as she slid her arms around him. Kevin decided this would be a good time to wake Elenore too. He did so and took her upstairs too so that he could get her out of her pajamas. When the two of them returned downstairs he and Jerald said their good byes and left the house — the two of them explaining to Elenore that they have a surprise for her, but they refused to tell her what it is. When Nick got upstairs with Dakota he poked his head into the security room and Marcus, Laney, and Q all looked at him curiously.
"Hey Nick, what's up?"
"I'm taking Kota to the park…and I've asked her if it would be okay if one of you came with me and she said it was but only one of you. So…will one of you come?"
"I better stay here, seeing as how I'm the one security guard Ashley trusts the most…so it will have to be Q or Marcus."
"Q can go," Marcus immediately volunteered, while patting the man on the back and grinning at him. "I've been on kid duty all day, I would like to just sit here and relax and watch the cameras." Nick chuckled.
"You deserve that considering the story I heard," he replied, as he looked down at Dakota and placed his nose to hers and she smiled up at him innocently. Nick looked over at Q then.
"Let me just get her out of her pajamas and into some clothes…" he told him, and then walked out of the room. He went across the hall to his own room and he got Dakota dressed into a white shirt and overalls, and she put her red converse shoes on before allowing him to tie them for her. When they were ready he gathered her up into his arms again and brought her out of the room and Q who saw them on the cameras walked out into the hall also. The three of them went downstairs, said bye to everybody, and then left the house for the playground. Jackie who was now sitting next to Brian looked down at Josh who lays there across Brian's lap now wide awake but bored.
"Hey Josh…how about we go find something to do hmm?" Jackie offered, and Josh smiled at her.
"Really?"
"Yeah why not? It beats sitting around in here doing nothing doesn't it?"
"Uh-huh," Josh nodded. Jackie stood up then and Josh crawled out of Brian's lap and stood up as well and he allowed his grandmother to take hold of his hand and take him toward the kitchen.
"I have been meaning to make some brownies…I overheard Ashley tell Nick that she was craving them. Why don't you help me?" Josh smiled some while looking up at his grandmother and he managed to blink back his tears and keep them unnoticed, as he was suddenly strongly reminded of his mother. He used to bake with her all the time before she died.
"I would like that a lot," Josh answered softly, managing also, to keep his voice from faltering and when he and Jackie reached the kitchen door they disappeared inside it. Brian smiled after them proudly. Baking with his mom when he was little was one of his favorite things to do. He is glad to see that it is being passed down to his own son now.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile in New York, AJ and Brooke were upstairs in the guestroom that AJ was supposed to sleep in and he was packing his and Laila's stuff and Brooke was sitting on the bed helping him. The two of them were folding clothes together, though every once in awhile after AJ would set an outfit down, Brooke would pick it up and fix it for him.
"Are you sure that you have to go?" Brooke whined, trying yet again to convince him to stay another day or two even though all the other times she's tried had failed. She can't help it. She used to tell herself all the time that she didn't need a man in her life, because all they did was hurt you in the end. She convinced herself that she could be independent and would be just fine that way, but ever since her 'friends night out' with AJ, she's gotten closer to him and suddenly feels like she can't live without him. It scares her to no end…yet she can't help herself. Though she knows needing AJ like this is a sign of becoming weak. She can't let herself be weak, she has to protect herself.
"Brooke honey…we've been through this. You know I don't want to go, but I have to. The guys and my mom are expecting me — and Kevin says that Ryan is missing Laila too. I'm sorry…" AJ explained, and Brooke can tell that he really truly is sorry.
"You are right, I know," Brooke admitted suddenly, and it took AJ aback a little bit. "I can't keep asking you to stay here, you have a family to get to and I need to stay here with mine. I can take care of myself just fine…I don't know what I was thinking." She told him, and she continued to fold up clothes. Even though she was trying her very hardest to not make eye contact, he can tell that she is being very serious. That she is not just saying this at an attempt of some kind of guilt trip. So if she doesn't mean this as a guilt trip, than why does he all of the sudden feel so guilty?
"Brooke, I…"
"No AJ really. Go back to Kentucky…I never should have let myself become so weak…"
"What? Brooke, you are not weak…"
"Yes I am — or I was, but the sooner you go back to Kentucky the faster I will be able to become independent again."
"You mean the sooner you will be able to push me away again?" AJ interrogated, trying to keep his voice even as to not frighten her, but he can't help but feel a pang of frustration inside him.
"It is for the best," Brooke insisted, and she got up and went over and stood by the window, her back turned on him as she looked outside it and she crossed her arms over her chest as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"I know you don't mean that."
"Yes I do."
"No you don't!" AJ snapped somewhat. "This is fear that is talking Brooke, Not you!" He added, and he went up to her and went to place his hand to her shoulder, but she swatted it away.
"Don't!"
"You can't go through with this alone Brookie." AJ spoke softly.
"I sure as hell can. I have been doing it for five years!"
"Yeah and look what it's done to you." Brooke became angry at his words. She whirled around and smacked him hard across the face.
"OW!" AJ cried out as his head whipped sideways at the blow. "What the hell Brooke!"
"Look what it's done to me? Look what it's done to me? It has only made me stronger AJ that is what it's done! It's made me realize that I don't need love, I don't need to rely on other men, and I am JUST fine on my own with my orphanage! I was doing JUST fine before you came a long!"
"No Brooke, all it's done is make you scared. You push everybody who tries to help you away and it's NOT right! You shouldn't have to go through with this alone!"
"Well I am and I don't want you to help me! I want you to get the fuck out of my house as soon as possible!"
"Brooke…"
"NOW! Don't make me call for Jaime." AJ stared at her in tears for a couple of moments and then he spoke softly.
"Fine…but just know that when you change your mind I am right here with open arms." And with that, he went back over to the bed and continued to pack. Brooke again turned toward the window and it took everything in her not to cry. Everything in her to keep pretending that she doesn't love him. She has too. One thing she learned from Thadius is that she can't be weak. She can't let anyone in. All it does is hurt her in the end. When AJ finished packing all of his and Laila's stuff he put his backpack on and picked up Laila's folded up stroller and he went downstairs. Brooke went over and stood at the top of the stairs as she watched him enter the living room where Peyton was playing with Laila and Jaime was sitting on the couch.
"You are leaving already? But I thought you were staying for dinner…" Jaime questioned, and he noticed the tears in AJ's eyes, and Brooke standing up at the top of the stairs, her eyes just as equally wet.
"Yeah well, things have changed." AJ replied softly. He went over to Peyton and held his arms out to Laila and Peyton handed her over. He went over to the door and opened it up, but before he did, he looked at Brooke and made sure to make eye contact with her.
"I love you Brooke…remember what I told you," he told her sincerely, and he walked out the door, shutting it behind him. Peyton and Jaime exchanged concerned looks, and it was Jaime who was the first to get up and go to his sister. He hurried up the stairs and wrapped his arms around her.
"What is going on? Brooke…why did you send him away?" Brooke didn't answer. She only continued to stare at the door, as part of her hoped that AJ would come back inside and fight for her. If he really loves her like he says he does, if he was able to understand her over the phone over a hundred miles away that she really did want him to come, than he will know that she didn't mean it now that she wanted him to go either.
"Brooke?" Jaime asked, and suddenly Peyton was at her side too, wrapping her in her arms. Brooke waited five minutes and when AJ didn't come in, she pushed her siblings away and rushed down the stairs and she ran over to the door. She opened it up and to her surprise, she found AJ standing there facing the door as if he were waiting for her. Tears fell down his face as he stood there looking at her, waiting for her to tell him what she wants. After a few moments of standing there she broke down into sobs not caring how weak it will make her.
"Don't leave me…I don't want you to leave," she admitted, and AJ moved forward set Laila down inside the house and he gave Peyton a look she understood. Peyton immediately went and got her and AJ shut the door so he was outside alone with Brooke. He turned to her and he stepped forward so he was standing in front of her. He slid his arms around her waist and enveloped her in a hug and she slid her arms around his neck, buried his face in his chest where she continued to cry. AJ rubbed his hand over her back and kissed the top of her head.
"I didn't mean it…I don't really want you to go…don't…"
"I know, I know, shhh…I'm not going anywhere." He reassured, whispering softly in her ear and he hugged her close to him while silently thanking god that she had come after him. Thanking god that he really does know her well enough to know that she really didn't want him to go.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
