- Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter
Enjoy =)
Chapter Four-Hundred-Forty-Three


“Are you sure you have to take me back there?” Angel asked for the second time as Brian walked along the sidewalk cradling her while Q walked beside him protectively.


“I am positive sweetheart. For one Nick asked me to because he wants to sit down and have a talk with you and two, I need to be there myself.” Angel slid her arms around Brian’s neck and nestled her head against his shoulder as she quietly allowed him to carry her back to her impending doom. When they arrived there he went inside and went through security and everything and by the time they were on the other side and standing in the lobby Angel noticed Nick standing there waiting for her. She buried her face in Brian’s shoulder and Brian rubbed his hand over her back.


“Please don’t let him have me, he’ll kill me” She pleaded.


“Not as much as Sean is going to kill you if you keep running off like this,” Nick insisted while gently taking her from Brian and holding her close to him.


“If you hadn’t frightened me I wouldn’t have run away,” Angel reminded.


“Yes well I apologize for frightening you as I wasn’t being entirely myself. I shouldn’t have gotten that angry…but that is still no excuse for you to run off. You know better.”


“Like Q was going to let me get very far without him,” Angel rolled her eyes.


“That is not the point Angel. The point is you are not going to leave this orphanage without security by your side for as long as Sean walks free on the streets you hear me? Otherwise I am going to start having them put a leash on you – and no I am not even kidding. So I would save yourself the humiliation and just take a security guard with you kiddo.”


“Next thing you are going to tell me is that I’m moving in here with you right? Where you can hold me prisoner and everything?”


“That is exactly what I am going to tell you,” Nick nodded and Brian arched his eyebrow.


“Don’t you think that is a little extreme Nick?” he asked and Nick looked at his best friend.


“What kind of stupid question is that?” Nick demanded, feeling Lindy’s frustration amplify his own. He is slowly beginning to tell the difference between both of their emotions now. He just needs to learn to separate them if he’s going to be experiencing them both at the same time like this for long. Is it not bad enough that he already has so much emotions of his own to sort through that an angry ghost has to add to them? And why has she decided to follow him around all of the sudden? Isn’t she supposed to be Ellie’s imaginary friend? As soon as he thought about that he suddenly felt the strong desire to protect Angel. Angel’s safety is crucial and he is to not let her out of his sight. Realizing that she is responding to his thoughts, another question came to his mind. Why does she care about Angel’s safety so much?


“It’s not a stupid question, it’s a good question. Look Nick I know Sean was out in the woods ready to grab her the other day but –“


“But nothing Brian, he is targeting her I know it!” How do I know it? “Aaron is coming to stay here too I want them both under my watch. Mom is obviously not going to do it and god forbid we give Sean any reason to target her too.”


“You know perfectly well that you wouldn’t want Sean targeting her too despite what you may feel about her,” Brian informed.


“Fine, yes I would care but the point is all the more reason to have the twins here so that we don’t give Sean any reason to hurt her to get to them.”


“And what about BJ and Leslie? Are you going to make them move in here too?”


“BJ and Leslie are safe,” Nick insisted. “They’ve pretty much been doing their own thing lately and staying away from me therefore Sean doesn’t care about them.”


“And you are certain of this?” Brian challenged.


“Yes I am.” Brian opened his mouth to respond and Nick cut him off before he could. “And your next question is going to be how right? I just am so don’t worry about it.” Brian eyed his best friend in silence for a couple of seconds as if he has three heads and Angel was the one who spoke up.


“I am not living in your apartment so you can hold me prisoner Nick. I come here because I like spending time with you. Please don’t make me a prisoner.”


“You don’t have to stay in my apartment you just have to stay in the building. You can stay with Conner god knows you’ll do it anyway without my permission right?” Angel shrugged and avoided his eyes on the subject. “And you can leave the building any time you want IF you have Q with you. Okay?” When Angel didn’t respond right away Nick walked over to the security booth, reached inside it and pulled out Dakota’s leash backpack and he showed it to her. “Or, we can find you something similar to this. Maybe a nice turtle backpack? What do you think Q?”


“I think that would be perfect,” Q agreed. “And trust me Angel, I am not a softy like Nick – I will put it on you if necessary.”


“Fine,” Angel replied and she continued to look away from him. Nick softened as he felt Lindy’s control slip away from him now that she was satisfied and he placed his hand to Angel’s cheek and gently made her look up at him.


“You are just too important to me to lose why can’t you see that?”


“You weren’t acting like it earlier Nick…you were almost violent toward me. It was scary…”


“I told you I wasn’t being myself. Forgive me please?” Angel gazed up at him for a long moment and after thinking about it she nodded.


“You are really going to make Aaron move in here too? Do you know how much of a disaster that will be?”


“I will handle it.”


“Yeah well, you better handle it now because he already knows and he’s not happy about it.” Nick rolled his eyes.


“Tough cookies,” he replied and he looked at Q who was standing there quietly listening. “Will you go pick him up please? Since he already knows there is no sense in calling and arguing with him.”


“Sure, but it’s your funeral” Q chuckled and he turned and headed out of the Orphanage after talking to Laney and making sure he will be okay with holding up the fort while he is gone. Nick looked down at Angel then and smiled at her some.


“Well since I finally got you free of Conner…I owe you a movie night don’t I? Ashley is out with Marcus and Ryan…so why not? I bought the junk food for it and stuff.” Angel smiled too upon hearing this idea and rested her head on his shoulder having no intention of letting him put her down.


“I just need to go make sure AJ is okay with Bella first,” he informed and he turned and carried her toward the playroom.


~*~*~*~*~


“So where do you want to eat at Ryan? We will go wherever you want” Ashley questioned as soon as the three of them piled into Marcus’s car. Ashley sat in the passenger’s seat and Ryan was in the back while Marcus of course took the driver’s seat since Ashley can’t and hasn’t shown any interest in knowing how to drive. Ryan thought about that for a moment and then tore his gaze from his window and onto the pretty older girl that he admires.


“Does Applebee’s sound okay?”


“Sounds perfect,” Ashley answered while exchanging smiles with Marcus and he started the car and prepared to make the short trip to the restaurant Ryan chose.


“So, what’s in the bag?” Ryan asked nosily as he had noticed Ashley carrying a tote bag earlier. When he tried to peek inside it she moved it out of his view. Ashley smirked.


“Just a few surprises for my favorite nine year old,” She answered casually and Ryan grinned. He very much likes being told that he is her favorite nine year old.


“Am I just your favorite nine year old by default since you don’t know any other nine year olds? or what?” Ryan wanted to know.


“I know plenty of nine year olds,” Ashley told him amusedly. “The Orphanage is filled with them. But there is only one of them that I’ve ever bothered to go on a special date with and get surprises for."


“Because I’m the cutest, right?” He asked and Ashley laughed.


“And the sweetest when you want to be…but let’s just leave that between us okay?” she told him and winked at him through the rearview mirror and Ryan beamed.


“Kay. Doesn’t leave this car – right Marcus?” Ryan asked, looking up at the security guard to make sure he’d keep the secret too.


“Right,” Marcus agreed while shaking his head in amusement. Satisfied now, Ryan turned his head and gazed out his window again. When they arrived at Applebee’s they discovered that the restaurant is so crowded that there were several big groups of people waiting outside even to be seated.


“Wow, popular place tonight” Ashley commented when they were out of the car and Ashley had taken hold of Ryan’s hand much to his delight. “We may have to wait a bit it looks like.”


“Not necessarily,” Marcus replied while looking over at Ashley with a suggestive look.


“No, we’ll wait” Ashley insisted when she saw what he was suggesting. “I am not using Nick’s career, especially when he isn’t even here.”


“But they’ll let you right in if we just tell them who you are – better yet, we could have Nick call them” Marcus insisted. He is so used to guarding the Backstreet Boys and using their privileges that the thought of waiting is torturing. “And we could be seated and eating sooner.”


“I am no more special than anyone else here who has probably been waiting quite awhile,” Ashley insisted. “I am not going to pretend to be either.”


“Well you are pretty special in my book,” Marcus told her sincerely.


“Not special enough to cut in front of all these hungry people.” Marcus heaved a sigh of defeat and nodded.


“All right, all right you win. But if we end up waiting thirty minutes I’m doing something about it.” Ashley shook her head amusedly and wrapped her arm around Marcus though she kept hold of Ryan’s hand as they started toward the restaurant.


“Marcus love, I think it would do you some good to hang out with people who aren’t celebrities every once in awhile.”


“I guess so,” Marcus chuckled and Ashley leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek affectionately before pulling away from him and turning her utmost attention on Ryan. When they got in the restaurant Marcus looked at Ashley.


“Stay close, I don’t want to lose you in this crowded place okay?” Ashley nodded and while he stepped forward to talk to the hostess who was taking names Ashley reached out and linked her finger with his needing that reassurance that he is just right there. She listened to him making sure he didn’t go behind her back and try to pass her off as Mrs. Carter or anything crazy like that and when he finished he ushered her and Ryan outside.


“How long do we have to wait?” Ryan wanted to know.


“Ten minutes,” Ashley answered while ruffling Ryan’s hair and she looked up at Marcus. “Can you wait that long Super Marcus?” She teased.


“Yeah, I suppose” Marcus told her while chuckling and she smiled at him sweetly before taking Ryan and going over and sitting on the curb with him and she made sure to keep the tote bag that she was carrying on the opposite side that he was sitting on so he wouldn’t see. Ryan noticed this and eyed it curiously.


“When do I get to know what’s in there?”


“Sometime during dinner,” Ashley promised, and she smiled briefly at a couple of teenage girls who were gawking at them but keeping their distance seeing as Marcus was standing guard. They’ve caught wind of how strict Marcus is when it comes to Ashley.


“So what’s this I hear about you and Ellie being friendly around each other these days huh?” Ashley asked teasing him light heartedly.


“It’s not my fault she’s suddenly decided to attach herself to me. I have to be nice otherwise Howie and Kevin will get mad” Ryan insisted defensively though Ashley noticed he doesn’t have nearly as much of an attitude when talking about Ellie as he used to. He sounds like an older brother complaining about a little sister who is bugging him but deep down inside he really loves her a lot.


“I don’t know about that,” Ashley smiled. “Kev says you put on a pretty good act when you spent the night at his house awhile back ago.” Ryan shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “I think it’s really sweet of you,” She added and Ryan looked up at her upon hearing this not being able to hide that it makes him happy when she compliments him. “It makes me happy when you are nice to the other kids – especially to Ellie. I wouldn’t mind hearing more good things about you, you deserve it too cause I know you’re a good kid.”


“I’ve been teaching her to read lately,” Ryan admitted wanting to receive more praise from her.


“Yeah? That’s really great – I know learning how to read is important to her. How is that going?”


“She read an entire paragraph by herself today.”


“You must be a really good teacher then. I bet you’ll have her reading a whole page before you know it.”


“She’s a fast learner – faster than I ever gave her credit for.” Ashley smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder gently.


“There is more to Ellie then what meets the eye buddy, just remember that.” Just then a woman’s voice over an intercom spoke up interrupting Ashley and Ryan’s conversation.


“Ryan Sawyer party of three your table is ready – Ryan Sawyer party of three.” Ashley looked up at Marcus curiously and Marcus grinned.


“I figured his name wouldn’t draw so much attention to the fans,” He explained, and he reached out a hand to her to help her up. Ashley took it and allowed him to do just that and Ryan stood up too. Ashley took his hand again and she began to follow Marcus inside.


~*~*~*~*~*~


Meanwhile at the Orphanage, Kori walked into Wiley’s room to see him and Chris in there and Wiley is packing up his bags. They looked at her as she walked in though, and Kori arched her eyebrow.


“What’s going on?” She asked indicating toward the bags and without a single word Chris walked past her and out the door to give the two some privacy. Kori stared at Wiley waiting on an answer but all he did was look at her briefly with so much hurt in his eyes and then continue packing.


“Wiley?” she asked again after a couple of moments. She walked over to him and grabbed his hands from doing anymore packing. “Talk to me.”


“I’m going home Kori.”


“Why?” Kori asked, and she was surprised at how much those words sting.


“Why do you think?” he asked while running a hand through his hair in frustration. “You spent the night with Scott at your house. I think that pretty much says who you’ve chosen.”


“We fell asleep on the couch while watching a movie – we were just two friends watching a movie. Nothing happened. I could even give you the video of it if you want me to because Q and Laney were watching us.”


“I’ve seen it,” Wiley snapped. “Chris went and got it so that I could really open my eyes and see what’s going on.”


“BUT NOTHING HAPPENED! We were just sitting there watching a movie!”


“It doesn’t matter if nothing happened Kori! You still looked pretty cozy on that couch and the fact that you were there with him instead of here with me where you should be says that you’ve chosen who you want!”


“Wiley I—“


“—No Kori…no. I’m done with this and I’m going home.”


“But…” Wiley gently grabbed her face in his hands and looked her in the eyes. “It doesn’t mean I don’t love you anymore. I’m going home but if you should have a change of heart you know where you can find me.” He gently wiped away her tears. “But right now I am just in your way. You need to figure things out and I’m not willing to sit here in this orphanage alone until you do. It was a mistake for me to even insist on coming back with you.”


“Shouldn’t you at least wait until morning?” Kori asked softly. “It’s getting late. Do you really want to do an overnight road trip?”


“We’ll be fine,” Wiley insisted while pulling away from her and finishing up on his packing. “Chris and I will take turns driving.”


“You’re really that desperate to get out of here huh?”


“I’m doing this for you Kori. You refuse to make a decision on your own so I’m just giving you a push.” She sat and watched him in silence as he finished up his packing and when he did he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. “Like I said, you know where to find me if you need me” he told her gently and he cupped her face in his hand before leaning forward and lightly brushing his lips over hers. “And I’m only a phone call away too” he added when he pulled away and he grabbed up his bags and walked out of the room. Kori crossed her arms over herself and followed him.


“So were you planning on saying goodbye to me or were you just going to leave without telling me?” She asked and she didn’t bother to hide the hurt in her voice.


“Come on Kori, you know me better than that,” was all Wiley said as they happened to walk past Scott’s room and he overheard the last couple of things that were said. He got up from his bed and went to the door to investigate and when he saw Wiley with a couple of bags in his hand he followed them at a distance. When they made it downstairs into the lobby they found Chris standing with security and they are watching one of the TV’s. But not one of the security cameras that they have set up, they are watching the news.


“What’s going on?” Wiley asked curiously when he noticed an exasperated look on his best friend’s face.


“Laney and Q are trying to tell us that we aren’t leaving town tonight.”


“Trying? No, we are telling you buddy” Q informed seriously.


“Why not?” Wiley wanted to know and he and Kori moved closer so that they could see the television too.


“Because from the looks of it, we might be getting that storm tonight or tomorrow and there is no way we’re letting you drive if that’s the case.”


“We could beat it if we hurry,” Wiley insisted. “Chris is a speed demon.”


“Yeah well we aren’t going to take any chances,” Laney insisted.


“I can’t stay here,” Wiley insisted. “I won’t.”


“Come on Wi don’t be stupid,” Kori pleaded. Wiley averted his eyes away from her and started to walk toward the door when Laney stepped directly in his path and Q gently grabbed his arm and pulled him back.


“We realize your situation here and believe me we sympathize but it’s not worth gambling your life over,” Q reasoned gently.


“It’s just a thunderstorm right? What’s the big deal?” Wiley wanted to know.


“It might be more than that – this storm has been building up for a month Wi,” Q reminded.


“The news reporters are saying it’s going to be a hurricane,” Chris added softly. Wiley was quiet for a long moment before responding.


“You want to get away from me that badly that you are willing to risk your life in a hurricane?” Kori spoke up.


“It’s not you that I want to get away from Kori,” Wiley reminded, and he glanced back toward Scott who was sitting on the bottom step of the stairs. “If I have to stay here another minute I might kill someone.” He heard Scott snort in amusement behind him.


“You can certainly try.”


“No one will be killing anybody tonight,” Laney informed while flashing Scott a you’re not helping look.


“What he said,” Q agreed. “There will be no violence in my Orphanage.”


“I want to go stay in a hotel then,” Wiley insisted after a moment. “You can’t deny me that.” Laney looked at Q then questioningly.


“I could go sit with them Q…make sure they don’t do anything stupid.”


“And weaken Ashley’s protection? No way,” Wiley insisted.


“It would be a lot safer if they stayed here,” Q spoke up again. “Brooke has this place beyond prepared when it comes to hurricane procedures and there is a hospital right here in case it’s needed.”


“And Kori wouldn’t have to be sick with worry about you the whole time either. You wouldn’t want to put her through that Wiley, now would you?” Scott spoke up again from behind them.


“At least she would have me on her mind instead of you for once…”


“I see. So for your selfish reasons you would allow her to sit here and worry about you the whole time and be upset is that what you’re saying?” Wiley continued to look away from him in fear that if he looks at him he might be pushed to jump him and beat him to a bloody pulp.


“I’m sure you wouldn’t waste any time rushing to her side and comforting her though, would you?” Chris was the one to reply.


“She’s my best friend,” Scott answered simply. “She always has been since we were kids. Of course I wouldn’t hesitate to make her feel better when some jackass is making her stressed and upset.”


“Let’s not forget here that there was a time when you yourself had made her stressed and upset,” Chris reminded. “Where were you then?”


“I was here, being a jackass. That is in the past and I can’t change it but I can certainly make it better by doing the best that I can now. The point is, be certain Kori that I would never deliberately make you worried and upset for selfish reasons such as getting even with the threat.”


“Fine, it’s known. But can you please not push Wiley to the brink of breaking point tonight please Scott?”


“I just simply told him that if he left he would be causing unnecessary stress for you it’s not my fault if he took offence in that. I was just being honest.” Wiley closed his eyes, clinched his fists tightly, and reminded himself over and over again that the man behind him is Spencer’s father. Noticing this going on and realizing Wiley is slowly losing control Q linked his arm with his.


“Come on Wi, let’s take a walk.” The image of Kori sitting on the couch in the home that she is uncomfortable going in unless absolutely necessary all cozied up with Scott flashed through Wiley’s mind and the next thing he knew it, something inside him just snapped. Spencer’s father or not he’s been dying to get his hands on him.


No,” He said and then knocked Q’s arm away from him. “No, I don’t think so” he added and he whirled around and lunged for Scott (who had gotten up somehow without him noticing and went up behind Kori and slid his arms around her.) When he reached him, he yanked him away from her and the next thing Scott knew it he was flying backward onto the floor and Wiley was punching him in the face and kicking him. Scott no longer hesitating and only thinking of the need to defend himself threw punches back the two of them barely aware of Kori screaming for them to stop and sobbing. Wiley’s fist connected with his jaw and Scott furiously turned them over so he had the upper hand and slammed Wiley against the ground before punching him in the eye and the nose, and he was just about to hit him in the jaw when two pairs of hands yanked him back and he instantly realized that they were Q’s. Laney had gotten Wiley and Scott was now aware that Brooke and Doctor Johnson were both restraining Kori from getting in the middle of it and hurting herself – which he knows full well, the strong person that she is she certainly would have. Wiley struggled with Laney to break free to continue his fight with Scott and Scott struggled too only to have Q yank him further away and turn him around and he lightly pushed him face first into the wall and held him there. Scott turned his head so his cheek was rested against the wall instead.


“I told you there would be no violence in my Orphanage did I not?”


“Is this what you wanted Kori huh?” Wiley wanted to know as Laney dragged him off the other way. He has blood dripping down his nose, a black eye, and he is stumbling slightly. “I fought for you does that make you happy?” he added. Doctor Johnson rubbed his hand over Kori’s arm in attempt to comfort her and Kori yanked herself free of him and Brooke at last before running up the stairs sobbing.