Chapter Four-Hundred-Twenty-Two
When AJ finally made it back to the diner, he reached out and grabbed the door handle, only to find that he was locked out. Sighing heavily, he inwardly cursed himself for thinking anything less. Of course he is locked out – she wouldn’t leave the door open for asshole ex’s and boyfriends to get in and do anything else incredibly stupid in her honor. He peered through the window of the diner and saw her sitting in a booth with her legs drawn close to her chest. She has a freshly made cup of coffee sitting in front of her and she is staring at it tearfully in a brooding silence. He knocked on the door in attempt to get her attention but she didn’t even look up from her mug as he heard her shout.
“GO AWAY, WILEY!” Rolling his eyes, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, turned it on, and dialed Kori’s number and listened as it rang. He watched her pull her phone from her pocket and look at the caller ID and a second later she answered.
“What?”
“Will you let me in…please?” She looked up from her cup finally and toward the door and he watched as relief consumed her as soon as she realized who it is at the door.
“Go away.”
“Kori I don’t want you in there alone.”
“I can take care of myself, Aje. It’s not like I’m suicidal or anything crazy like that. You can leave me by myself."
“You are right, I can. I know you are very capable of taking care of yourself. But that doesn’t mean you have to – or that you should.” Kori looked away from him stubbornly and sat in silence on the other end of the phone.
“Kori please. For the first time since you ran away from home…please stop trying to handle everything on your own. Let me in,” he pleaded and Kori didn’t miss the double meaning behind his words let me in.
“Call my sister and tell her to come down here. I need her,” was all Kori said and then she hung up on him. He watched as she got up and crossed the room to the stairs, walked up the stairs, and disappeared in her bedroom and he rolled his eyes. He opened up his inbox to his text messages, went to the recent one that Ashley had sent him on Nick’s phone and he punched in a message to Nick. Bring Ashley down here. Wiley the stupid ass decided to propose to her…I’m afraid she’ll drown in her emotions if Ashley doesn’t get down here. He pressed send, and then thought of something and opened up another blank text message and he added Make sure Scott doesn’t come. He needs to keep his distance for awhile. He sent that, and then set off for the back of the diner hoping that she forgot to lock the back door. When he approached the door, he reached out and grabbed the handle, pulled on it, and much to his surprise it came open. Shaking his head, he went inside and closed the door behind him – locked it, and made his way through the kitchen. As soon as he was out of the kitchen, he sat himself in a booth and watched for everybody else to come so he could let them in. When they arrived, everybody except for one person stood outside the door and waited to be let in - AJ watched a livid Isabel go across the street to the ice cream shop where he’d seen Wiley sit down at a table five minutes before. He can see that she is prepared to give him a piece of her mind. Good, AJ thought. The more people telling him how stupid he was the better. Shaking his head, he got up and went to the door and he unlocked it and stepped to the side.
“How did you manage to get Scott to not come running down here?” he questioned.
“Easy,” Nick shrugged. “We made Ashley do it – he won’t do anything to piss her off after getting himself nearly killed in Florida and terrifying her.”
“And I simply just told him it would mean a lot to me if he gave Kori some space and didn’t make things worse for her then they already are – especially since Wi has already done a good job at that. And we left all of the kids with him including the baby and Marcus so he is stuck there,” Ashley added.
“Oh, well good job” AJ replied before looking across the street at Isabel to see her and Wiley going at it and he shut the door behind everybody before Ashley could catch wind of the conversation and he watched as his baby sister went upstairs and disappeared in Kori’s bedroom. When she got in there, she spotted her sister lying in bed hugging her pillow and facing the wall. Ashley crossed the room to the bed, crawled on top of it and moved so she was behind Kori before wrapping her in her arms, lying down, and resting her cheek against hers.
“I’m going to kick that brother of yours’ ass for being so stubborn…how did he get in here? I locked him out,” Kori complained tearfully.
“As stubborn as he is, he reminds me of someone else I know” Ashley insisted. “And honestly, he is just a downright great brother – he obviously thought it unhealthy for you to go through this alone.”
“I’m fine.”
“Come on Kori get real,” Ashley insisted while rolling her eyes. “Everybody knows that when you are crying, you sure as hell are not fine. So why don’t you step back and let someone take care of you for once?”
“Maybe because I don’t like being taken care of.”
“As independent and strong willed as you try to be, sometimes its just necessary to lean on other people.” When Kori didn’t respond, Ashley went on. “Please Kori? You are falling apart here…at least let me in. If you aren’t going to do that then why did you ask AJ to get me over here?”
“What more is there to say? I was so sure that I was going to pick Scott and then Wi proposed and blindsided me and made me confused all over again. The end. End of story…”
“If you were so sure before, then what is there to be confused about?” Kori shrugged, and continued to stare at the wall. “Why were you going to leave Wi for Scott?”
“Because I’m in love with Scott,” Kori admitted softly. “Completely Crazy, set my heart on fire…in love with Scott.” Ashley was silent for a long moment at this confession, taking it in and soaking it up for all its worth, and she tried so hard to grasp the problem. When she couldn’t, she spoke up.
“So…then…what’s the problem?”
“I love Wiley too…”
“Completely crazy, set my heart on fire in love with him?” Kori thought about that for a long moment.
“Well…no…”
“Well then—“
“—But that doesn’t mean I can’t learn to be in love with him,” Kori insisted, feeling the need to defend Wiley against her biased sister.
“Why should you have to? You can’t change the way you feel honey.”
“Because he’s in love with me and he doesn’t deserve to be hurt. He’s been nothing but amazing to me…and if I could just get Scott out of my life then maybe…I could love Wi the way he deserves to be loved.”
“At what expense to Spencer?” Ashley demanded. “My nephew loves his father very much and if you think I’m going to stand by and let you take him awa—“
“—We’ll stick to our regular plan. I’ll fly him out to stay with you and Scott and I will share him. I don’t really have to communicate with Scott…I’ll just do so through you.”
“That plan could’ve worked…but you had sex with Scott and kissed him in the park and made him see that you love him. That’s not fair Kori. And it’s not fair to Spencer either – was Spencer at the park with you today?”
“He loves Wi Ash…very much. He’ll get used to the idea of me and him.”
“I know he loves Wi, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out but his love for his father is so much more and if you haven’t noticed all that kid has ever wanted is for his mother and father to get back together. Can you not see that? And he saw you two at the park today and now he thinks its happening.” When Kori didn’t reply, Ashley continued.
“I know it’s easier for you to want to pick Wi because he never broke your heart the way Scott has and he’s safe. But Scott really has changed and he loves you and he would do anything to prove that to you. His whole world revolves around you and Spencer.”
“You’re being biased, and I really wish you’d stop.”
“I am not being biased, I am telling you what’s true Kori!”
“You’ve loved Scott and been on his side from the very beginning. You’ve never once given Wi a chance.”
“As much as I love Scott, you and I both know that it’s not fair for you to give him false hopes like this! You know what you want but you are just too afraid to accept it.”
“I want Wi.”
“Is that right? Then why didn’t you say yes? Why did you run away from?” Ashley demanded. “And another thing…if you really want Wi then why is it that you still have Scott’s old high school sweatshirt after all of these years and you’re still wearing it?”
“Oh I suppose AJ told you all about that too, huh?” Kori asked, rolling her eyes.
“No, he didn’t tell me anything. I just recognize the sweatshirt and know it’s his.”
“Oh you do huh? And how would you know that? How do you know it’s not mine and I just didn’t prefer a bigger size?”
“Because you left yours behind right along with me, mom, and dad years ago and I used to wear it every single day up until mom and dad died” Ashley snapped. “Especially on days when I felt scared. It made me feel safe,” She added, her tone a little softer.
“Oh…” Kori trailed off and she grew quiet. Ashley was quiet too for a few moments, allowing her to recover from her explanation, and then she spoke up again. “So? Answer my question Kori. If you are over him, why are you wearing his hoodie after all of these years? And why didn’t you say yes to Wiley?” She waited five minutes for a reply and when she didn’t get one, she leaned over and looked her sister in the eyes.
“Because you are crazy set my heart on fire in love with Scott but you are scared and you are still running and hiding. One of these days you are going to have to come home Kori and when you do Scott is going to be there waiting for you,” she informed. “Because incase you didn’t understand it when he tried to tell you, he is crazy, set my heart on fire in love with you. And just because he didn’t come after you the way Prince Charming would in the fairytales like you wanted him to, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t deserve a second chance.” She added and then she rolled out of the bed, got up, and walked out of the room leaving Kori gaping after her. She never shared the fact that she was upset with Scott for not coming after her like in the fairytales with anybody. That had been her little secret childhood fantasy locked away in her heart. So how did her sister know? Just then, Ashley poked her head back in the room and Kori arched her eyebrow at her curiously. “And why does Prince Charming always have to be the one to do the chasing? Nowadays, if the Princess wants something, sometimes she has to get up off her butt and get it herself. Quit being so old fashioned sis,” she added and then once again walked out of the room. When she got downstairs, she went straight to Nick who instantly slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close and he kissed her forehead softly before looking into her eyes amused. He along with everybody else had heard the last bit of her advice.
“How is your sister? Hmm?”
“Stubborn as usual,” Ashley sighed. “There is nothing more anyone can do to sway her in the right direction. Its her turn to decide what’s right and she knows what that is too. We just have to sit back and let her figure things out for herself. I am done arguing with her and I don’t think anybody else should bother doing so either. It’s all up to her.”
“And what if she decides to choose Wi and move here for good? You aren’t going to intervene with her decision?” Nick tested.
“It wont be anything I’m not already used to. I’m used to her running,” Ashley shrugged. “No use getting upset over it anymore.”
“And what about you?”
“I’ll be where I’ve always been,” Ashley answered simply. “At home with my family, and if she should ever decide she needs me all she has to do is come home.” Nick hugged Ashley close to him then, not liking this in the least bit. He can see that she’s completely resigned from this fight but he could also see the pain in her eyes as she had. She will never be okay with the fact that her sister is so far away from her, but he can see she has decided to be indifferent. It makes him fear what she is going to be like the day Kori moves back to Jersey for good. He can just imagine her putting on a brave face, suppressing her feelings for days…and then exploding before his very eyes. It’s not going to be pretty. Ashley slid her arms around Nick and hugged him back for awhile, and then she pulled away from him and went toward AJ who held his arms open for her when he saw her coming. She walked into them, allowing him to envelop her protectively and he kissed her forehead softly as she snuggled into him. “Can I spend the night with you tonight?” she spoke into his chest after a couple of moments.
“Sweetheart I don’t think Kori should be left alone.”
“So we’ll leave Isabel with her.”
“The whole point of us being in New Jersey is for you to be with your sister honey.”
“I don’t want you to leave me,” Ashley insisted, and AJ can tell that no matter what he says or does to try and comfort her she is going to cling to him.
“I’m not going anywhere,” AJ promised while rubbing his hand over her back in a slow circular motion. “I’m going to stay right here with you and Kori the whole night. Me and Nick both.”
“The kids will never let us leave them at the motel for the night,” Ashley pointed out. “Kota has night terrors and will want me near and Bella won’t sleep without me either.”
“And Laila will have her share of fits too,” AJ mused while looking over at Nick.
“I will call Marcus and tell him I am on my way to get the kids,” Nick replied after a moment of thinking about it. “We can’t take him away from Scott, I fear that Wiley or Chris will decide to go over there and give him a piece of their mind. So I will go get them, and I might also be able to put Bella’s tantrums off for a bit too…we will put them upstairs in bed with a movie on for the night and all will be good.”
“Okay,” AJ replied, and he hugged Ashley closer to him and lightly rested his chin on top of her head. “I will stay here with Ashley and Kori. Before you go to the motel though will you please go out there and intervene in Isabel and Wiley’s fight? It’s gone on long enough. Tell her that we will stay with Kori for the night so if she wants she can just go home and get some rest before she has to come back and open the diner at the crack of dawn.”
“Will do,” Nick promised and he went over and cupped Ashley’s cheek in his hand before leaning down and brushing his lips lightly over hers. When he pulled back he turned and walked out of the diner and AJ looked down at Ashley and gave her a comforting grin. He brought her over to a booth and sat her in it.
“You and the kids haven’t eaten dinner have you?” he asked thoughtfully and his eyes gazed toward the kitchen. “Sit tight sweetheart and Chef Alex will cook you something – what are you hungry for?” He asked, deciding he would make something special for Kori too. She’s already eaten dinner, but maybe some brownies or a cake will cheer her up. Ashley couldn’t help but smile some despite the circumstances.
“Chef Alex? Do you even know how to cook?”
“Momma has taught me everything I know. I am a great cook.”
“In a kitchen like that though?”
“Have a little faith sis. What will it be? I am really good at pasta…”
“Surprise us,” Ashley answered after a moment, deciding she wants to see what AJ can do. He has never cooked for her before – she didn’t even know he knew how. AJ read the doubt on her face and rolled his eyes playfully before turning around and heading into the kitchen where he turned the lights on.
“Living with D kind of makes it hard not to pick up on cooking too. His family has some very delicious traditions and he really loves to keep them going,” he informed. “Sometimes he even makes me help – so be prepared to be amazed, m’dear.”
“Okay Alex,” Ashley replied while laughing a little. “Amaze me.” AJ grinned and looked over at her as he got things out that he will need – remembering that he needs to keep things somewhat simple so that kids will eat it.
“What’s your sister’s favorite dessert?”
“Basically anything chocolate if I remember correctly. She really loves Brownies.” AJ nodded and then got right to work, hoping that the aroma will coax Kori down.
Author's Chapter Notes:
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