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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Chapter One-Hundred-Forty-Eight




Meanwhile, in Kentucky, after breakfast everybody got ready and then headed for the mall. Everybody except Howie, Aaron, Denise, Jackie, Harold, Harry, and Ryan. They all stayed at the house.



"What time does Alex's plane arrive?" Howie questioned as he sat down next to Denise at the table and he wrapped his arms around Ryan gently pulled him in front of him and he rested his chin on his shoulder.



"Not until way later after dinner," Denise answered as she placed her phone in her pocket. She had just gotten off of the phone with AJ and was smiling to herself. Howie assumes AJ must've told her some really good news. Denise loves her son more then anything else and he always puts a smile on her face but not like this. "He wants to spend the whole day out in New York City with Brooke and Laila and then afterward he will be getting on a plane and coming back. I've promised him I would be there to pick him up."



"Is it alright if Ryan and I come with you?"



"Of course. I know you've missed him more then you will let on," Denise replied, smiling at him teasingly. Howie rolled his eyes.



"Can you blame me? The moment I let it show Id never hear the end of it from Nick."



"Well Nick isn't here now, so you can admit it all you want," Jackie replied as she sat down at the table after she and Harry finished cleaning up the kitchen.



"He's just my best friend, that's all. Things aren't the same without him around," Howie explained. They were all quiet for a few moments, and then suddenly Howie broke it again.



"Why were you smiling so big when you got off the phone? Did he have good news?" Denise smiled again.



"I'm not allowed to tell, I've been sworn to secrecy. He'll tell you when he gets back." Howie nodded and then looked over at Aaron.



"Why are you still here buddy? How come you didn't go to the mall with your siblings?"



"Cause I'm going to see Stacy today. Or at least I'm gonna go out and strongly hope that I run into her. I have no idea where she lives." Howie raised his eyebrow.



"Does your brother know this?" he questioned protectively.



"Yes, he gave me permission."



"I don't know about that Air…maybe you should bring a bodyguard with you. Sean's goons are out there for one and the last time you went wandering off by yourself you caused a huge mob."



"I'll be fine…I know better now. I'll wear my hoodie with the hood pulled down over my head…I won't walk up to a big group of teenage girls that I don't know, and as for Sean's goons…they don't want me. They won't care about me. For all we know they could be out trailing everybody else at the mall." Howie eyed him warily for a few moments and then he looked at Denise, Jackie, and Harold for help.



"You can never be too careful Air…you are related to Nick – the one person standing in Sean's way from getting what he wants. If he finds out you are his little brother – which isn't that hard to figure out considering how much you two look alike…he might decide to use that to his advantage." Harold spoke up.



"I'll be fine…Nick said that I could go," Aaron insisted, not bothering to hide the slight irritation in his voice. If he does happen to find Stacy, the last thing he wants is for a bodyguard to be hovering over him.



"I'm sure he only said you could go because he thought you were going to bring Q with you. He wouldn't let you go wandering around by yourself. He's not that dense." Harry insisted.




"Or maybe he just didn't see anything wrong with it."



"He would be pretty stupid not to…I'm going to call him and double check with him. Even if he did give you permission to go, you are not going without Q." Howie insisted firmly and he pulled out his cell phone, flipped it open, and he dialed Nick's number before placing it to his ear. After a couple of rings the younger man finally picked up.




"Hey D…what's up?"



"Not much really…I'm just sitting here having a conversation with your brother. Did you give him permission to go wandering around town today?"



"Yeah I did. He wants to go find Stacy and settle things between the two of them."



"Alone?"



"No of course not...are you crazy? I would never let my little brother go running around alone…not with Sean's goons out there."



"Well that's what I thought…but he is under the impression that you would."



"No way. When he asked I assumed he was planning on taking Q with him, that is the only reason I gave him permission. Put him on the phone please."




"Alright, hold on a second." Howie replied, and he looked over at a scowling Aaron and held his phone out to him.



"Here, talk to your brother." Aaron reluctantly took the phone and put it to his ear.



"What's up Nick?"



"What is this I hear that you are planning on going out alone?"



"You said that I could Nick…"



"No I did not. I said you could go out and look for Stacy but I did not say you could do it alone. I assumed you meant that you were taking Q with you."



"But I don't want to take Q with me, Nick! Do you know how embarrassing it would be to try and talk to Stacy while having an adult hovering over me the whole time?"



"I don't care! Do you know how dangerous it is running around without security right now? Especially when it comes to people who are related to me?"




"You and Ashley went running around town without security recently and they want her more then they want me."



"That's different."



"How is that different?"



"I'm an adult and I was deemed her protector. I can handle them – you on the other hand…"



"I am not a baby Nick!"



"I am not saying that you are. But you are obviously not old enough to walk around town alone if you don't even realize the danger of it Air. You don't know Sean; you don't know how dangerous he can be. Either you take Q with you or you don't go at all. Take your pick."



"You are not my father!" Aaron insisted.



"No but I am your brother and I am incharge of you right now so you will do as I say. If I have to I will make Howie put you on house arrest until I get back – and I won't be back until right before dinner so I suggest you do as your told kid – and when I get back, instead of Q…I will take you. What is worse, security hovering, or your older brother?"



"That is not fair!"




"Yeah well life isn't always fair little bro, it's about time you learn to deal with it. Put Howie on the phone please." Aaron rolled his eyes and moodily thrust the phone at Howie before getting up and storming out of the kitchen. A few moments later they heard a bedroom door upstairs slam shut. Howie shook his head and placed the phone to his ear.




"Hey Nick…what's up?"




"Make sure he doesn't leave the house without Q, alright? If he does he'll have me to deal with if Sean's spies don't get to him first."




"Okay, I'm on it."



"Thanks," Nick replied, and Howie heard him start to say something else when the familiar voice of his niece interrupted him.



"Daddy I need help please…"



"Okay baby I will be right there," he heard Nick reassure her and then come back onto the phone again and he spoke to Howie.



"Listen D…I have to go. Call me and let me know if Air causes anymore problems for you okay?"




"Alright I will. But I assure you that we will be fine."



"Okay, thanks, bye." Nick replied and he hung up the phone. Howie set his phone down on the table and looked around at everybody else.



"I will be right back – I have a thirteen year old to deal with."



"Alright," Denise replied.



"Hey Ryan, do you want some cookies and milk?" Jackie offered, and Howie got up and walked out of the kitchen as he heard Ryan answer "Yes please." When Howie made it upstairs instead of going to Aaron's room he went into the security room where he found only Q sitting and watching the cameras.



"Hey D, what's up?" Q asked curiously.



"Aaron wants to go wandering around town to look for Stacy and patch things up with her…but Nick doesn't want him to go alone. Could you maybe go with him?"




"Yeah of course. Is he ready?"



"Well…not quite. He is in his room pouting. He doesn't like the fact that we are making him take a security guard with him…he was kind of hoping he would get sometime alone with Stacy, so he's a little angry right now. So as soon as I convince him to let you go with him, he will be."



"I'll do it," Q answered and he got up and grabbed his leather jacket. "Trust me, he's not much different then Nick, I know how to handle this."



"That would be great…Thanks Q."



"No problem," Q smiled, and he and Howie walked out of the security room and headed for Aaron's closed door.




~*~*~*~*~



Meanwhile, at the mall, when Nick closed his cell phone and stuffed it back into his pocket he turned and looked at his daughter who stood at the jewelry rack waiting patiently for him.



"Okay baby I'm sorry…what is it you need help with?"




"I can'ts reach those bracelets up there," She pouted somewhat and Nick went over and got them down for her before turning his head in the direction he knows Ashley is in. She, Kori, and Wiley are all on the other side of the store. Kori and Wiley are looking at hair dye and Ashley has Sarah rested on one hip, Spencer on the other and she is looking at posters with them. He couldn't help but smile a little bit at how happy she seems to be. He hasn't seen her stop smiling at all since the moment her and Kori had their talk. He knows she still doesn't want her to go back to Jersey but she is happy that they at least came up with a compromise that she was willing to accept. He just hopes that they can keep getting a long because it breaks his heart every time she hurts over her family – especially how badly she was hurt last night and earlier that morning. He really doesn't want to have to deal with that again. Ashley noticed Nick watching her in the corner of her eye and turned and looked at him with a small smile on her face. Nick smiled back before turning his attention back on Dakota. He knelt down and began helping her pick out jewelry and Ashley turned her attention back on the posters as she began turning through them.



"Don't you two ever stop? I mean sheesh, even when you two are on two different sides of a store you are inseparable," Kori teased as she came up beside her sister and gently took Spencer from her.



"He started it," Ashley insisted and Kori noticed the smile on her face – the one that a girl would only get if she is madly in love.



"And you finished it," Kori replied in amusement.



"Can you really blame me? I mean look at him, you're crazy not to. I think I am really in love with him Kor," Ashley confessed even though it's not much of a confession. Everybody knows that. But Kori couldn't help but feel really good inside at this confession, because she is confessing it to her. They haven't had a conversation like this since they were twelve and thirteen years old.


"I know," Kori smiled. "I remember feeling the exact same way about my first love…Spencer's father," Kori replied, not saying his name because Spencer is right there with her.



"He is more then just a first love Kor…he is my first and my only love."




"How can you be so sure of that? I mean I know you love him, I can see it in you every single day. But you are only seventeen years old and he is your first ever boyfriend. I'm not trying to scare you but first boyfriends don't always last…"



"No…but Nick will."



"How can you be so sure though?"



"Because I can't imagine myself being with anybody else…ever."



"But feelings change, Ashley…and so do people."



"Yeah but my love for Nick will never change. He is not just my boyfriend; he is my best friend…he taught me how to love again. I can't imagine my life without him." Kori smiled a little bit and gently rubbed her hand over Ashley's arm as she looked over at Nick who is now so caught up in Dakota you would think he forgot there are other people around him. She hopes he feels as strongly for Ashley as she does of him because she knows if she loses him she will not be able to go on. She knows this because she felt the same way for Scott and if it weren't for Wiley she would not have been able to move on. She was willing to spend the rest of her life with him if he had let her. Still do this day even with Wiley she still sometimes finds it hard to get over Scott. That is why it is so hard for her to even be in the same room as he is. She doesn't want her sister to have to go through that pain too – especially since she's already suffered enough. She turned her attention on the posters then and she too began to look at them.



"That sex pistols poster is pretty sweet," Kori commented.



"Yeah I'm thinking of sweet talking Nick into buying it for me and hanging it up in our room back at the Orphanage."



"I'll buy it for you," Kori suddenly insisted and she looked at the number before pulling the poster out. Ashley looked taken aback.



"You don't have to do that…"



"No, but I want to. Come here," she told her and she took hold of her hand and pulled her over to the jewelry where Nick is still at with Dakota. Nick looked at them curiously.



"I want to buy this poster for Ashley and then take her to Claire's. Is that okay?"



"Yeah of course," Nick smiled.



"Sweet! Lets go," Kori replied and she linked her arm with Nick and pulled him over to the check out counter assuming that he and Dakota were finished picking out jewelry. She didn't protest though because she knows that Claire's has even more jewelry. Wiley had followed them over there and as they stood and waited for Kori to pay for the poster Nick walked up behind Ashley, slid his arms around her waist and he kissed the back of her neck softly. Ashley leaned back against him and she rested the back of her head against his shoulder comfortably.



"Who were you talking to on the phone earlier?" She asked curiously as she looked up at him.



"Howie," Nick answered as he brushed her hair out of her eyes and gently caressed her cheek with his finger.




"What did he want?"




"Aaron was giving him a hard time. He was under the impression that I gave him permission to wander around town without security…Howie called me to set him straight. He was being a whiney little teenager." Ashley couldn't help but giggle a little.



"Don't let him get to you honey, that's what he wants. Trust me I'm a little sister myself."



"And she spent a lot of time being a whiney little brat too," Kori added with a smirk as they all walked out of Hot Topic. Nick looked over at Marcus and was relieved to see that he has Dakota up on his shoulder.