Chapter Four-Hundred-Seventeen
When Scott reached the motel, he went down the hall to AJ’s room where he has a feeling Marcus will be and he found the door wide open. He peered inside and not only did he see Marcus in there, but Nick, Ashley, and the girls were still there hanging out as well.
“Spencer hi!!!” Dakota exclaimed happily upon seeing him and Scott at the door, causing everybody else to turn their heads to look. Spencer smiled some at the sight of his friends despite how worried he is. He’s missed the girls very much.
“Scott? What are you doing here?” Ashley asked curiously when she noticed the worried look in his eyes. He walked all the way into the room, set Spencer down, and then shut the door behind him locking both locks on the door.
“Oh no reason…I just thought Id come visit my good friend Marcus for awhile…you know how it is.” Marcus arched his eyebrow.
“Why have you come to visit your good friend Marcus? Who did you piss off?”
“Oh…you know…just a Brit or two…” Scott answered casually as he went over and sat beside him. “So what is everybody up to here in AJ’s room?” He questioned while Spencer went over and joined his friends.
“Nevermind that,” AJ demanded, suddenly becoming serious at his words. “What is going on with Kori?”
“Chris sort of saw Kori and I kissing at the park and he’s threatened to tell Wiley…”
“And you let her go back to that Diner to deal with that all by herself?” AJ asked incredulously.
“I didn’t have much of a choice. She threw Spencer at me and demanded I take him here and get Marcus or Detective Stabler to hang with us – he was scared, I had to.” AJ shook his head.
“Well if she thinks I’m going to let Wiley yell at her she has another thing coming,” he insisted and then he got up.
“Nick watch Laila.”
“I’m coming with you,” Ashley insisted while starting to get up too but Nick pulled her back down as AJ answered.
“No you aren’t, you are staying here. You are already wary enough of Wiley as it is you aren’t going to be around him when he’s lost his temper.”
“But Kori is my sister! I need to be there for her!”
“You can be there for her afterward, I’ll have Nick bring you to her as soon as it’s all over” AJ reassured and before she could argue any further, he was already out the door. Ashley shook her head slightly amused.
“Not that I’m not happy that he is…but it’s very weird to see him unleash his protective brother side for Kori…” Nick smiled some and reached over and gently rubbed her back.
“Well…he and Kori are doing pretty good these days. They are really coming together as brother and sister. Before we know it, she’ll be calling him her brother too…and start feeling like part of the McLean family…and feel the need to fly out to Florida on Holidays and birthdays to visit. Just like a real family. Wouldn’t that be great?” Ashley nodded her answer, though she’s not entirely giving up on her staying in Florida – not when she was just caught kissing Scott in the park. If she and Scott end up together, she will have to move to Florida. Because that’s where Scott lives, and Scott loves her almost as much as he loves Kori and will insist upon staying in Florida. Holding onto this thought with all her might she scooted over to Scott and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, causing him to slide his arms around her and hug her in return. Nick reached out and gently caressed her cheek and she looked at him still remaining in Scott’s arms.
“I’m going to go check on my brother and sister honey okay? Marcus told me he left them in their room an hour ago – and they are being awfully quiet.”
“Kay,” Ashley replied. “I’ll be here with Scott and Super Marcus.”
“Okay,” Nick chuckled and he got up and went over to Laila. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her out of the room with him. He walked down the hall to the room that he knows his brother and sister are sharing, and he walked right in, seeing as how the door was slightly cracked. When he got in there, he discovered Aaron sitting in a chair in the corner behind the table talking on the phone quietly – from the look on his face he can tell that it’s Stacy. Angel is lying in bed idly doodling in a notebook. From the look on her face he can see that she is depressed. Sighing softly, he shut the door behind him all the way before setting the two-year-old down and while she went over to give Aaron some loving, he went over and lay next to his sister. She shut her notebook quick but not fast enough for him to see that she’d been writing Angel and Conner all over it, and drawing little hearts and such.
“I think it’s about time we talk about this kiddo.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Ange I’ve been giving you space about this ever since you and Conner first broke up during Ashley’s kidnapping hoping either you’d come talk to me about it and let me help, or you two would work it out on your own. And since neither of that happened, I’m afraid I have to intervene. Because I don’t like seeing you miserable and I don’t like snapping at Aaron everytime he says insensitive things.”
“I don’t want to talk about it, and I most certainly don’t want you to fix anything either. So just let me be.”
“So you would rather lie around and be miserable forever then?”
“Ashley got kidnapped, Nick!” Angel insisted, tears suddenly springing to her eyes. “And he knew where Sean was hiding and didn’t say anything about it to Detective Stabler! I don’t want anything to do with him!”
“It wasn’t his fault she got kidnapped honey.”
“Maybe not, but if he’d told us where he was hiding a long time ago it might have been prevented. We would’ve had Sean a long time ago!” Angel insisted angrily. “He was keeping that secret from us all along, he was protecting Sean after swearing he didn’t know anything! How am I supposed to trust him when he keeps secrets like that?”
“I don’t know…how did you find it in your heart to trust him after he tried to use your brother and failed miserably huh?” Angel shrugged her shoulders and looked away.
“You were so quick to love him and forgive him that time…why is it so difficult to forgive him for being a protective big brother?” When Angel didn’t reply, Nick continued. “He wasn’t protecting Sean honey…I mean, yeah, he was…but he wasn’t doing it for Sean. He was doing it for Rosalie.”
“In the wrong way,” Angel insisted softly. “Detective Stabler promised him that he’d protect Rosie…and he chose to ignore that.”
“He was a scared teenage boy who didn’t know Detective Stabler as well as we do. He made a mistake…one that I know he’s sorry for.”
“Well he should be.” Nick gently cupped Angel’s cheek in his hand and leaned forward so their foreheads were touching and he looked into her eyes sincerely.
“People make mistakes Ange…yeah he screwed up – big time. None of us were happy with him for keeping that secret. But he’s just a kid…and he’s spent a really long time having to protect himself and Rosalie – it just took him awhile to trust us enough to hand the job over, that’s all. He loves you…and I know you love him too. You are miserable without him and its breaking my heart having to watch it.”
“I’m not miserable,” Angel insisted stubbornly. “I’m fine.”
“Oh yeah?” Nick asked, arching his eyebrow.
“Yes.”
“I see,” he replied softly and he reached over and grabbed her notebook from her and opened it up to the page she’d been doodling on and showed it to her pointedly. “Yeah, you really don’t miss him all right. Silly me for thinking such a thing.” Angel rolled her eyes and he continued. “Forgive him sis…you know you want to.”
“I don’t understand how you can forgive him…its your girlfriend that’s in danger after all.”
“I had my moment and then I forgave him and forgot because I know life is too short to hold grudges. Plus, I had to look at it this way…if it were me in his shoes…I definitely would’ve done the same thing for you in a heart beat. I’m a big brother myself…I understand why he did what he did.” Angel lay there looking at him in silence just taking in his words and he smiled at her warmly and gently rubbed his hand over her arm. “You, Aaron, BJ, and Leslie mean the world to me…I would go through great lengths to protect all of you.” Angel slid her arms around him and rested her head against his shoulder.
“I just don’t like it when Ashley is put in danger…she is so important to you and it really set me off…it was a really bad time to find out he’d been lying to us…”
“Ashley is fine now. She is right down the hall with Marcus being well protected and AJ and I are doing our best to make sure Sean doesn’t take her from us again. It’s quite okay for you to make amends with Conner…and I think the sooner you do the better.”
“Why?” Angel asked, not missing how serious he sounds.
“It’s just…not a good idea to leave things unsaid, that’s all…”
“Kay…”
“Call him. Do it right now.”
“No…I’ll wait till we go home tomorrow.”
“And you’ll make amends with him right when we get there? It will be the very first thing you do?”
“…Yeah…” Angel answered while eyeing her brother warily, but otherwise not questioning him.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile at the Diner, AJ walked in to find it empty of customers and all staff members except Isabel. She and Kori are sitting in a booth and AJ looked at her curiously as she gave him a curious look right back.
“What are you doing here?”
“Scott told me what happened. I came here expecting an angry Wiley to be here and having to play referee…”
“He’s not here yet…” Kori replied while looking at AJ and feeling slightly good inside that he’d come to her rescue.
“How can you two sit there and play monopoly so casually like that when you know an angry Brit could very well come through that door?” AJ wanted to know, as he set himself right next to Kori so that she was sitting between him and the wall.
“Well…we were kind of hoping to make Chris seem like he’s been seeing things…but we don’t know how well that will work out.”
“And when that plan doesn’t work out, what will be plan B?” AJ asked in amusement.
“We really have no idea,” Kori admitted. “We will just have to go with it.” AJ slid his arm around her shoulders then before squeezing the one further away from him gently. “Well, I’m here for you. I won’t let him upset you too much I promise.”
“Thanks Aje…that means a lot coming from you,” Kori told him softly.
“But I’m not going to continue to act like a shield like this if you go and make kissing your ex-boyfriend in small town parks while technically you are a girlfriend to another man a habit Kori Mortenson. What were you thinking?” he asked light heartedly and he smiled down at her some to let her know he is only playing with her.
“I wasn’t…that’s the thing. It’s…really hard to think when Scott is around.”
“If my opinion matters at all…” AJ began gently. “I think with that being said…its safe to say that you are in love with him and its time you come to terms with that. This isn’t fair to Wiley at all.”
“I know…believe me, I have.”
“So you’ve come to your decision then?” Before Kori could reply, they suddenly heard the door open and turned their heads around cautiously. As they looked, they noticed Wiley walk in and Kori stiffened. She studied his face in hopes of getting a good sense of what he is feeling only to find that he is surprisingly very calm. Kori quietly decided to herself that a calm Wiley is a lot scarier then a raging one. She knows Chris told him. She can see the anger in his eyes.
“Wiley…hi” she greeted him and she crawled across AJ’s lap and out of the booth so she was standing at a distance in front of Wiley. AJ got up as well and placed himself directly behind her, managing to look casual about it.
“Hi love,” Wiley greeted casually. “Why is the Diner closed? Its rather early for it to be closing time isn’t it?”
“I wasn’t feeling well…so Isabel insisted on closing it early,” Kori lied easily. “Isn’t that right Isabel?”
“Yeah it was awful Wi. Ash told me she was up all night crying…and puking…she’s just been miserable all day. I couldn’t stand it anymore.”
“Is that why you are here Aje?” Wiley asked, acknowledging his girlfriend’s bodyguard for the first time and looking at him with knowing looks. He knows AJ can’t lie to save his life.
“Yup, that’s right.” AJ answered nodding his head and looking Wiley directly in the eyes. He knows what he is trying to do. He may be a bad liar, but he’s learned how to get around that by twisting the truth quite easily over the years. “I am always around when my sisters need me to take care of them.”
“I see,” Wiley replied casually. “Well, I’m happy to see that you and Kori are having such a nice turn around here.”
“Well…you know…we have one very important thing in common – Ashley is our sister. We had to learn to work together somehow,” AJ insisted. Wiley nodded in understanding, and then he stepped closer to Kori, gently enveloped her in his arms and pulled her near and to her surprise, he placed a light kiss on her nose.
“Why were you up crying all night sweetheart? And puking? What was the matter?” he asked sincerely, though she can tell he is trying to pull the truth from her.
“I was upset from our fight,” Kori answered truthfully.
“I see…” Wiley replied softly. And when saw that he was clearly not going to trick the truth out of any of them, he remained silent. He refuses to yell at her – he refuses to lose his temper. He knows that is what they’re expecting and he’s not going to do it. But if Scott thinks he’s given up, he has another thing coming. Kori is his, he’s not letting her go. He lightly caressed her cheek with his finger and leaned forward and kissed her forehead softly.
“I’m sorry I walked out of here so angry last night…I didn’t sleep much either. You could even ask Chris – I kept him up half the night.” Kori winced at the mention of Chris. She is not happy with him in the least bit right now and it wouldn’t be healthy for him to come around. Wiley didn’t miss a thing, but he pretended to have not noticed. He leaned down and brushed his lips lightly over hers, needing to reclaim what was taken from him earlier and Kori kissed him back but with not as much enthusiasm as she normally would. She’s confused. He knows that.
“So…um…” she began hesitantly when they pulled away, fighting desperately to sound normal. “What…brings you here Wi? You were so angry with me last night I was sure you’d avoid me much longer then this…”
“I can’t stay mad at you for long,” Wiley insisted, flashing her the smile he knows she can’t resist and despite everything, she melted at the sight of it. “I’ve missed you…I had to see you. And…I was kind of hoping you’d let me take you out to dinner a little later.” Dinner…dinner is good, She thought inwardly to herself. It takes place in a crowded restaurant with witnesses. And maybe if she lets him take her to dinner, she might still get a chance to tell him what’s going on, on her own without Chris’s help – like she had originally planned. She had planned on telling him tonight before anybody else what her decision is – because tomorrow they are leaving, and she knows he deserves to hear it first before everybody else.
“Okay…” She replied softly. “How later?”
“Well…it looks like you took Spencer to the park…you have sand in your hair” Wiley pointed out casually. “So I figured Id give you the chance to shower and get cleaned up and Id be back here in a couple of hours. Is that okay with you?”
“Yeah…sure…that’s perfect” she replied, not missing the not so very subtle observation. Wiley smiled at her some, tilted her chin up and he leaned forward and grazed his lips lightly over hers briefly before pulling away and walking out of the diner with not so much as a goodbye to anybody else.
“…Do you think Chris really told him?” Isabel asked, feeling just as confused by how calm he is being as the rest of them.
“Of course he told him,” Kori answered darkly at the mention of the person she wanted to beat senseless at the moment. “He knows everything. I can see it in his eyes. I just don’t understand why he is being so calm.”
“Because that’s what we all expected him to do,” AJ spoke up. “We expected him to throw a fit…so he is doing the exact opposite. I think he really plans to ignore the whole thing – I think this whole situation has just pushed him into fighting harder.”
“Well it’s a bit too late for that,” Kori insisted bitterly – not toward Wiley. She’s not angry at Wiley, she is only angry with Chris. “I’m done fighting. That is why I agreed to let him take me to dinner – however,” she added and then looked to AJ. “I don’t trust this…calm attitude of his. I am used to him getting angry when he is angry and not being afraid to show it. Dinner takes place in a restaurant with crowded people – lots of witnesses. So he won’t be able to murder me there without being seen. But on the way to the restaurant…is a different story. Do you think maybe you or Marcus could trail us?” AJ chuckled.
“You are being ridiculous. Wi loves you he’s not going to murder you.”
“You didn’t see the furious looks he was giving me. I’ve known him long enough to recognize it – he looks like he could seriously strangle someone right now…”
“I’m sure that by the time he picks you up he will have calmed down and regained his composer. But if it will make you feel any better, I will trail you to and from the restaurant. I don’t want to take Marcus away from Scott – I’m just a little more concerned about his safety right now.”
“Thanks Alex,” Kori replied, completely unaware that she had just called him by his name rather then his nickname for the first time ever and she pulled him into a brief hug. AJ, despite how surprised he is, hugged her back and when she pulled away she went upstairs to take a quick shower and get dressed.
“Call Scott and tell him I said he’s keeping Spencer for tonight. Isabel can take his clothes and such to him later,” she insisted before disappearing in her room and shutting the door.
Meanwhile, when Wiley had gone outside and found Chris standing there waiting for him, he headed toward him and Chris arched his eyebrow.
“It was awfully quiet in there…”
“I didn’t see the need to yell.”
“So…what’s going on then? Where do you and Kori stand?”
“Everything is the exact same as it was before – I’m taking her to dinner tonight and everything,” Wiley insisted with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Dude…she was kissing Scott at the park today. Do you really need me to remind you that?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened.”
“And…shouldn’t that maybe tell you something?”
“That Scott is something to be dealt with – and I am going to do just that.” Chris arched his eyebrow.
“Just answer me one thing Wi. Will I be sitting along side you in a jail cell tonight?”
“Nah,” Wiley insisted while swinging his arm around Chris’s shoulder and steering him toward the mini mall. “There will be no need for violence. I have other ways of putting that jerk in his place that doesn’t involve hurting Spencer’s father,” was all he said and Chris allowed himself to be led to the mall feeling uneasy and utterly scared for his best friend right now.
Author's Chapter Notes:
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