Chapter One-Hundred-Sixty-Six
Once The Carter Clan, the two McLean’s, and Q were all gone Brianne and Jessica who are both very anxious to see what Aaron has up his sleeve both got up and opened up Stacy’s window before crawling back into the bedroom. When they got inside they found that Ally was the only one sitting on Stacy’s bed going through all of Stacy’s Aaron Carter memories – the memories that Stacy had kept well hidden from her friends through out the few years that she had known them. Brianne raised her eyebrow confused, as this is not how she and Jessica had left her. Before they had gone outside Stacy was sitting with her.
“Where is she?”
“I finally convinced her to shower.”
“Ah...well come on we want to show you something,” Brianne replied and she grabbed Ally’s hand, pulled her up from the bed and the two of them followed Jessica out of the bedroom.
“What? What is going on?”
“Aaron Carter has something up his sleeve – and we want to find out what before Stacy does.”
“What are you talking about?” Ally asked clearly confused.
“We just saw the entire Carter Clan, and Ashley and AJ sneak into the yard. They did something on the front porch but since we were on the roof, we couldn’t see what it was. I want to make sure it’s not something that’s going to make her more upset then she already is because I don’t know about the two of you but I am sick of being locked out of the bedroom and having to find a new way in.” Jessica explained. When the three of them got downstairs they found Stacy’s father sitting on the couch drinking hot chocolate and reading a book by the lamp. He looked up from his book however when he heard them coming down and he raised his eyebrow as he saw them headed in the direction of the door.
“Where do you three think you are going? It’s way too late for teenagers to be wandering around outside.”
“We aren’t going anywhere…but we just saw Aaron and his family sneak into the yard…they were doing something on the porch and then left. We want to see what it is.” Stacy’s father looked at the girls as if fearing for their sanity.
“Now what would Aaron and his family be doing on our front porch at twelve in the morning? Hmm?”
“Well, that’s what we want to know.” Ally replied, and she and Brianne went over and opened the door and Stacy’s father got up and went to look too. As soon as the door was opened Brianne gasped in surprise.
“Aww…he is so sweet!” Jessica gushed when she saw the scene in front of them. Ally bent down and looked at the red teddy bear and saw that on the t-shirt that it’s wearing it reads ‘I’m sorry’.
“If Stace doesn’t forgive him when she sees this I am going after him myself. She has to be crazy not to…”
“What are you guys doing?” They suddenly heard a voice from behind them. Stacy’s father turned and looked at her to see her standing there in a tanktop and shorts and she has her arms crossed over her chest. “It’s freezing out there, why are you all standing at the door?”
“Come see for yourself honey” He told her while smiling some. Stacy eyed her father warily for a moment and then walked over and stood next to him at the door. As soon as she did she gasped just as Brianne had done.
“That reaction seems to be contagious,” Jessica laughed, as she, Brianne, and Ally had moved out of the way so Stacy could see. Stacy squatted down in the doorway to better examine the surprise that Aaron had left her and she tried her hardest to hide the tears that rolled down her cheek but it was no use. Her three best friends and her father had seen them. She reached out and grabbed the tiny box that was placed in the bear’s lap and she glanced at the card that was obviously home made. A yellow daisy had been glued onto a green construction paper that had been folded over like a card and next to the daisy Stacy’s name was done in white cursive writing.
“One of his sisters obviously helped him with that,” Brianne told Ally quietly.
“They had to have helped him with all of this, because this is just too romantic for a boy to think up all on his own.” Stacy grabbed up the roses next and the teddy bear that is attached to the balloon and she got up, turned around, walked past her friends and her father and she went upstairs to read over the card and look at her gifts in peace. Ally started to follow but Stacy’s father gently placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Let her be alone for awhile. You girls come in the kitchen and I will make you some hot chocolate and you can have some cookies,” he told them and he shut the door and led the three girls into the kitchen. Meanwhile upstairs, when Stacy got into her room she shut the door but did not bother to lock it this time. She knows her friends will just find a way in anyway. She went over and moved all of her pictures of her and Aaron together to the side and she lay across her bed and set the bear down before gently pulling the card off of the box and she opened it up and began to read it.
Dear Stacy,
There are no words that I could possibly come up with to tell you how truly sorry I am that I hurt you. I was four years old when I moved away from you…I know that’s no excuse seeing as how you were too and remembered me after all these years but like I said I am sorry. If I could turn back time I would in a heartbeat but I can’t. What happened in the past is the past…but I’m hoping that there might be a way that I could make it up to you in the future? And that eventually you will find it in your heart to forgive me? I won’t stop trying Stacy…no matter how many times you push me away because in my heart I believe we’re destined to be together. Why else would I have run into you again after all these years? My sister BJ thinks it’s because I’ve been given a second chance and that I should welcome that second chance. If you are reading this card that means you’ve found my surprise outside your doorstep. The bouquet of roses, the rose petals, the teddy bear, the balloon, and the surprise inside the box. The surprise inside the box is a gift from my four-year-old niece Dakota who so badly wanted to help me out. But everything else is from me…I hope you like it. I know that there is no way I can buy back your friendship but I’m hoping that it will help me out a little a long the way?
Yours forever,
Aaron
Stacy rubbed at her eyes in attempt to stop the tears from falling but it was no use as they just kept coming. She glanced up at the balloon that reads ‘I love you’ on it. I love you… Stacy thought, the three letter word running through her head suddenly like a broken record. Such a strong word to say to someone. A word that someone should only say to another person if they really mean it. Does he really mean it? Does he really love me Stacy has loved Aaron since she was four years old. Okay. Maybe not loved…yet. She was after all, just four. So maybe it was just a fascination. But it most certainly turned to love over the years she knows that for sure. But what about Aaron? How does he know he loves her when technically he forgot about her shortly after he moved away? Didn’t even so much as think about her after all these years? And suddenly now that he remembers her he loves her? How does that make any sense? Aaron definitely has some explaining to do…that’s for sure. And she is not willing to wait until tomorrow to hear it. She glanced over at her alarm clock to see that it reads twelve thirty. There is no way her father is going to agree to take her down to Aaron’s house at twelve thirty in the morning. She glanced over at her closed door for a few moments contemplatively. After a few moments she decided she would lose her mind completely if she waited until later. She looked back down at the box in her hand then and realized she forgot to open the gift from his niece. She tore open the wrapping paper and opened the box and inside it revealed a silver bracelet with a heart charm on it and it says ‘Stacy’ on it.
“Aww…” Stacy gushed as she took the bracelet out of the box and looked at it closely. It is obviously one of those cheap bracelets that you see on display cases in the jewelry department of Wal-Mart but it is very pretty and it’s very sweet of Aaron’s niece to want to help out her uncle. She slipped the bracelet onto her wrist and then crawled out of bed and she went over and grabbed her hoodie off of the door handle to her closet. She slipped it on over her head and then went over and slipped on some flip-flops. After doing that she went over to her teddy bear and undetached it from the balloon deciding she didn’t want to part from her new furry friend so soon after she got it. She hugged it close to her and quickly went to her window before any of her friends or father decided to come up and check on her. Especially Ally who ever since she was locked out of the bedroom the first time hasn’t let Stacy out of her sight at all. She’s surprised she didn’t follow her up the stairs just a few moments ago. She opened up the window and crawled out before shutting it behind her again and she went over to the branch of the tree, jumped onto it, and she began to climb her way down to the ground.
“My father is going to kill me…” she muttered quietly to herself. “But I must talk to Aaron now I can’t wait…” When she reached the ground she once again hugged her new teddy bear close to her and she made a run for it in the direction of The Littrell House. She’s known since forever that the Littrell’s only lived ten minutes away from her. But she never expected that Aaron would visit them. She ran all the way there in fear that if she walked she might hear scary noises and get freaked out. She is, after all, in the dark woods at night. When she arrived at the house she found herself standing outside the gate.
“Shit…now what?” she muttered to herself. She forgot that the Littrells had put up a gate a long time ago to keep crazy fans out. She looked around her trying to figure out a way in. After deciding that the only way in would be over the gate she sighed.
“Well it’s a good thing I’m a tom boy and know how to climb well…” she spoke out loud and she reached for the fence to get climbing when suddenly a voice on the other side spoke.
“Don’t even bother…I’ll let you in.” Stacy looked through the gate to see Marcus standing there staring back at her, his arms crossed over his chest and watching her in amusement. She watched him as he held a remote out and pushed open and then jumped back a little as the gate began to open.
“When did you come out? I didn’t see you come out...”
“I’ve been standing here the entire time. You are lucky I have guard duty out here tonight. May I ask why you are out so late at night? And alone? Do you know there are all kinds of crazies out that would just love to get their hands on you?”
“I had to see Aaron. And no it couldn’t wait,” she insisted and Marcus could hear a slight firmness in her tone.
“And I suppose your father has no idea you are here does he? Cause if he is any kind of dad he would not let you walk through those woods alone,” Marcus continued his lecture as Stacy walked into the yard and he closed the gate behind her.
“I snuck out…” Marcus nodded.
“Well you can march your behind right into that house and give him a call to let him know you are all right young lady. He is probably losing his mind trying to figure out where you’ve gone to,” he told her and he began to escort her to the house. When they got to the door Marcus opened it up and stepped to the side to allow her in first. She walked into the house and he followed her and Brian, Riley, Jackie, Harold, Nick, and Ashley looked at them as they did. Brian looked incredulous at the sight of Stacy.
“Look who I found trying to climb the gate.”
“Stacy! Are you of your mind?” Nick exclaimed.
“I’ve come to see Aaron,” Stacy insisted.
“Well that is obvious, I’m sure you wouldn’t come all this way to see any of us. But do you have any idea how stupid it is to come all this way alone?”
“Oh I’ve already lectured her plenty and made it clear that she is to call her father right away and let him know she is okay.”
“Can I just talk to Aaron first? Please?” Stacy begged.
“No ma’am. You can go right on over there and use the phone to call your father. While you do that I will go get Aaron.” Nick insisted. Stacy scowled at him and then went in the direction he had pointed in to the phone. Nick shook his head and looked at everybody else.
“Well…look on the bright side…at least we know she likes him enough to risk her life like this,” Brian pointed out.
“And I see she likes the bear I helped pick out too,” Ashley added. Nick chuckled and kissed Ashley’s cheek.
“Yes, you did good baby. But I’m pretty sure her father isn’t going to see the bright side like you and Brian do.” Nick looked over at Stacy just as he heard her speak.
“Hi daddy…”
*Stacy’s phone conversation*
“WHERE ARE YOU, YOUNG LADY?” Stacy cringed at the tone of her father’s voice and Nick shook his head and turned and headed upstairs to fetch his brother, whom he knows is going to be very shocked.
“I went to see Aaron?”
“You WENT TO SEE AARON?!”
“Well, yeah…I just had to see him. It couldn’t wait.”
“Do you have ANY idea how worried about you we all are? I almost called the police Stacy Marie Carmichael!”
“I’m sorry…”
“I want you home RIGHT now!”
“I can’t daddy. Not until I talk to Aaron.”
“RIGHT now young lady, do you understand me?”
“Do you really want me to walk back through those woods by myself?”
“I’m sure someone will walk you home.”
“Not until after I’ve talked with Aaron.”
“STACY! IF YOU DON’T—“
“—Here sweetie let me talk to him,” Jackie suddenly said as she came up beside Stacy. Stacy gladly handed the phone over to Mrs. Littrell and she put the phone to her ear and began talking to him. Stacy looked toward the stairs where she saw Nick disappear at earlier and she suddenly saw him come back with Aaron right behind him. When Aaron saw Stacy standing in the middle of the Littrells living room he froze and suddenly a shocked expression formed on his face. BJ, Leslie, and Angel came down behind him and Angel’s eyes widened in shock. She fully expected Stacy to act like a bitch and not forgive her brother. She thought she would seriously have to go down to her house and beat the crap out of her.
“No way…” Stacy heard her mutter.
“Stacy…” Aaron spoke softly.
“Hi Aaron…”
“What are you doing here? Are you out of your mind?”
“I wanted to talk to you…”
“Okay…”
“Do you think we could go somewhere to be alone?” she asked, while looking around and realizing that the room is suddenly filled with people. Aaron nodded.
“I could take you out into the backyard…”
“Okay,” Stacy replied readily and Aaron walked down the rest of the stairs and went over to her. He offered her his hand, though very cautiously as if fearing that she’s going to smack him or something. Stacy however did no such thing but instead accepted his hand and she allowed him to lead her through the kitchen and out the back door.
“Awww…” BJ gushed, as she looked over at Nick smiling. “See I knew they were meant to be together.” Nick chuckled a little and then looked over at Jackie who had just hung up the phone.
“Well, that is one angry father I can tell you that,” She announced.
“Is he coming to get her or do we have to walk her home?” Marcus questioned.
“I managed to talk him into letting her stay here for the night. It’s really late I don’t think even you should be in those woods Marcus.”
“So where is she going to sleep?” Leslie asked curiously.
“We have some sleeping bags in the closet – and plenty of blankets and pillows. Either she can sleep on the couch or upstairs in Aaron and Angel’s room on the floor.”
“Are you sure about that? What if Angel smothers her with a pillow?” BJ asked, looking over at her sister who has her arms crossed over her chest and is not afraid to show how much she dislikes this idea.
“I think a night in the same room will be just what Angel and Stacy need to work out their issues,” Nick insisted looking over at his sister who was suddenly glaring at him.
“She is important to Aaron…and you two were best friends once upon a time, it won’t kill you to try and patch things up between the two of you.”
“Id rather smother her with the pillow. Thanks for the idea Beej.”
“You will do no such thing because Aaron will be there to see that you don’t.”
“This is not fair.”
“Well that’s life for you little sis, you might as well get used to it” Leslie replied while patting her youngest sister on the back. Angel glared at her and raised her fist to punch Leslie in the arm but Leslie quickly stepped away before she could.
“Ladies…cool it.” Brian spoke firmly.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile out in the backyard, when Aaron and Stacy got out there he led her over to the bench in the garden and she sat down on it before hugging her legs to her chest. Aaron sat next to her and grabbed up the blanket before covering her legs up with it.
“Not only did you come here alone, but you came here wearing shorts? It’s freezing out here.”
“I didn’t want to waste any time…they were bound to catch me if I didn’t hurry.” Aaron shook his head amusedly and he reached out and took hold of her hand and was a little surprised when she didn’t stop him. He gently squeezed it as he sat there watching her. Stacy however, stared up at the sky quietly as she hugged her bear close to her.
“So I’m glad to see you liked your gifts…” he told her, trying his hardest to come up with a good conversation.
“It was very sweet of you,” Stacy admitted softly.
“Well I had to do something to make up for the jerk I’ve been all these years for forgetting about you…”
“I know…you were right…it’s the past, there’s nothing we can do to change it,” Stacy replied and she finally looked at him and he noticed for the first time a tear streak rolling down her cheek. He reached out and wiped it away with a finger. “I do need to know some things though…I came here for answers Aaron…”
“Well I will give them to you honestly I promise.”
“Did it hurt you to have to move away from me?”
“I thought that was obvious Stacy…Nick had to carry me to the car because I was crying so bad and putting up a fight about it. You were my best friend and I didn’t want to leave you.”
“Then why did you forget about me?” Stacy asked and Aaron can tell she is trying her very hardest not to cry again.
“I was four…”
“That’s no excuse! I was four too. But I thought about you every single day for nine years.”
“I don’t know Stace…” Aaron answered honestly as tears fell from his own eyes. “But I hate myself for doing so…I really do. I guess I just got caught up in life…especially with my Aaron Carter career that I started when I was so young. I was always on the road, I was always performing, girls were throwing themselves at me from left and right, my parents are going through a rough divorce and me and my siblings are being affected by it…I didn’t have much time to think about anything else.”
“I was caught up in life too Aaron,” Stacy replied softly. “But my life was all about you. There is not a day that went by where I wasn’t thinking about you…and it killed me that I was so invisible to the one person who was supposed to be my best friend.”
“You aren’t invisible to me now…” Aaron insisted as he turned to face her and he placed his finger to her chin and gently titled her head back so she is looking up at him. “And I want to make it up to you. I want to get our friendship back to the way it was…I don’t want to forget about you ever again. I want to spend the rest of our life trying to figure out how to put a smile on your face…because you are so beautiful when you smile.”
“I have one more question…and it’s the most important one…” Stacy replied softly as she scooted closer to him.
“What is it?”
“The balloon you gave me…it said ‘I love you’ on it. You wouldn’t have given me that balloon if there wasn’t any truth to that saying…”
“You are right,” Aaron agreed as he gently caressed her cheek with his finger. “I wouldn’t have given you a balloon that says ‘I love you’ if I didn’t love you.”
“But…Aaron…those three words are very strong words and shouldn’t be said to another person unless you truly mean it. How can you love me when you haven’t even thought about me for nine years?”
“I’ve loved you since I was four years old Stace…”
“And I’ve loved you since then too Aaron…but the difference is I’ve never stopped thinking about you.”
“I’ve always loved you Stace…always. There is no doubt in my mind that I did. It just got put on hold for awhile…I know I screwed up…I know I screwed up big time but can’t you let me make it up to you? Can’t you let me prove to you that I do love you?”
“I don’t want to get hurt again Aaron…”
“I won’t hurt you this time…I promise.”
“What about your career? What happens when you leave Kentucky and go back to your Aaron Carter life? Will it get so busy that you will forget all about me again?”
“There is no way I could forget this beautiful face,” Aaron insisted.
“You did before…how do I know you won’t forget me again and I’m forced to go back to being another face in the crowd?”
“Because instead of being another face in the crowd you will be right next to me every step of the way…where you belong.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I want you by my side this time. I want you right here supporting me like a best friend would do. I want to take you out onstage with me and announce to the whole world that you are mine and I want every song that I sing from now on to be about you. I don’t want you to have to leave another Aaron Carter concert with tears in your eyes unless they’re tears of happiness.” He explained as he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her near as she stared at him with watery eyes. He rested his forehead against hers. Stacy closed her eyes as tears spilled out over her cheeks and he wiped them away with his finger before placing light kisses on her closed eyelids.
“I love you Stacy Carmichael.”
“I love you too…” Stacy whispered and she slid her arms around his waist in return before resting her head against his shoulder and she prayed to god that nothing in this world will take him away from her ever again.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
