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Thanks to Ayleen, Anita, Anastacia, Stephanie, frackandbonechick and Jamelet for reviewing chapter 14. Enjoy 15 and cant wait to hear what ya'll think!

Chapter Fifteen

“On the road, once again,” Brian sighed as he leaned back in his seat, “I can’t wait until Christmas...we’ll get to all go home for a week...sleep in our own beds, visit our families...” his voice trailed off, thinking of how nice it would be to be back home, doing normal, everyday things that didn’t involve every aspect of his life being set up for him.

“Bri,” A.J. warned, “Shut up. That’s still four days away. It’s torture thinking of that shit when there is still so much to do before we actually get there.”

Brian chuckled at his ability to irritate A.J. He did prove a good point though. There was so much planned out for them to do in the short four day time span, that their small break seemed to be centuries away. They all knew that from here on out, time would go slow, and once their break hit, it would fly by. Brian hoped that the break would calm everyone’s nerves and refresh them so that when they came back, nobody would be grouchy and lashing his anger out on the others with ever sentence that anybody spoke. Yes, Brian hoped that the break would release some of the tension that each of them was holding, and had a feeling that it would.

“I wonder how the show thingy is going to go,” Nick stated aloud, sleepily, it being more of a rhetorical question than anything, yet he still awaited an answer.

“Dunno,” Brian shrugged, “We haven’t done one of these in so long...damn. It should go nicely though. I think it might be kind of fun.”

Nobody said anything. They were all tired, not getting much sleep the night before. Nick had gone to check up on Amber, ready to knock, but stopped short when he heard her heart-breaking sobs. He knew then that she was in there, and wanted to be alone. He’d spent the night, sitting in bed thinking about how he wished he could make things better for her. Now, his lack of sleep was catching up with him, and he could barely keep his eyes open. As much as he tried to stay awake, the heavy feeling kept causing them to droop, and Nick would doze off for a few seconds before jerking back awake after realizing subconsiously that he wasn’t doing a good job of staying awake.
“Is Amber asleep back there?” Kevin asked

Nick nodded, “She was the last time that I checked...about twenty minutes ago.”

A.J. scowled. He still hated the fact that Nick had such a close connection with Amber. He wanted the same bond. He wanted her to be able to talk to him, to trust him. A.J. would be the first to admit that he was jealous of the blonde.

“She sleeps all the time,” A.J. muttered, not seeming to be very understanding about the ordeal. Sure, he had read the pamphlets that he’d found. He knew that this type of behavior was to be expected, and he understood it too. He was just upset that Nick was the one that she was turning to. He was upset that Nick had been right, and the rest of them had been wrong.

Nobody responded to his comment, finding it to be ridiculous and somewhat selfish of him to state. Brian turned his head and looked out the window of the bus. He definitely couldn’t wait to be back home with his wife, Leighanne, and Baylee, fairly new son. He missed them both. Only a few more days and he could see them, and be with them for an entire week. He anticipated that day, wanting to kick himself in the butt for torturing himself like this by thinking of it. He always did this, and every time, it just caused time to go slower and slower.

His thoughts were cut off by a soft moaning coming from the back. Looking around, nobody moved, not even Nick. He wondered why, giving him a quizzical look when the boy looked in his direction. Nick was always wanting to help her out, rushing to her side the second he heard a troubled peep come from her mouth. A.J. just rolled his eyes before closing them, figuring that Nick would be tripping over himself to get to Amber within a matter of seconds. He didn’t want to see it. It sickened him to watch Nick with the girl that he was crushing on. The girl that he could give anything to be able to date and prove to her that she could trust him.

“Remember our deal back in Maine?” Nick asked, watching Brian’s face become confused, scrunching up in concentration as he thought about the deal. Nick finally just told him, “That next time she had a nightmare, I’d let someone else have a chance to try and get her to talk to them. It’s someone else’s turn this time.”

A.J’s eyes flew open at that statement. Nick was actually going to let someone else have the chance to console the girl that they all cared for? Still, nobody moved. A.J. didn’t want to seem overly eager, so he stayed put too, but on the edge of his seat.

“Um, okay...great,” Brian stated, then looked around, “Anybody want to go, or should I this time?” he offered.

Still, nobody moved. By this time, A.J. was bouncing on the edge of his seat. Time was slipping by them, and Amber’s moans were turning into soft screams and mumbled words of fright. A.J. couldn’t take it any longer.

“I’ll go,” he said, hopping up and making his way towards where Amber lay sleeping. The others watched him go, amused smiles on their faces. It had only been a matter of time before he tried to talk to the young girl.

“That was a generous thing for you to do,” Kevin said to Nick with a smile.

Nick shrugged, “Yeah, well...if she’s going to be touring around with us, then she needs to be able to talk to all of us. I figured now is better than later on.”

Kevin smiled, giving Nick a pat on the back. He found it commendable that Nick was giving other the chance to try and win Amber’s trust. Nick had a special gift of getting Amber to open up. That much was for sure. Kevin hoped that eventually, the others would have the same chance of trying to help the girl. He could tell that she needed as many people to care for her as she could get during these next few months. A.J. starting to try and talk to her was a start in widening her options of people she could count on.

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A.J. crept quietly up to Amber, careful not to startle her in case she woke up as he advanced towards her. She continued to call out in her sleep, her cries and pleas breaking A.J’s heart. She kept chanting the same things as every other time, begging to be left alone, for whoever to not hurt her. A.J. hoped that she would let him reach out to help. Sitting down softly on the edge of her bed, A.J. gently nudged the girl, hoping to wake her from her nightmare.

“Amber,” he whispered softly, “Wake up, sweetie.”

“Mmmm,” she groaned, “No, go...please...please don’t.” she cried out, getting louder with each word. She thrashed violently, wacking A.J. in the head with her fingertips. He did not care though.

“It’s ok,” A.J. soothed, hoping that she would awaken, “Wake up...”

He took her shoulder gently in his hand, shaking her lightly. She fell still for a moment, becoming quiet. A.J. breathed a sigh of relief, guessing that the nightmares had stopped. Suddenly though, she sat up, her eyes wide open with fright. She started to go towards A.J, and he opened his arms to embrace her, comfort her. But Amber stopped short. She stared at him for a long moment before coiling backwards. He wasn’t who she thought that he was. A hurt expression by her rejection came over A.J’s handsome features, but then remembered she’d reacted to Nick in the same way the first few times, deciding not to take offense to her actions quite yet.

“It’s A.J,” he said quietly, “I...I wanted to see how you were doing.”

He reached out to her, but she pulled back further, out of his reach. He heard her whimpering quietly. He hated that.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” A.J. told her, “I promise. I’m harmless.”

Amber just looked at him cautiously. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t see how a man who was always lashing out and biting the heads off of his so called ‘friends’ could be harmless. She wanted to laugh bitterly at the thought, but couldn’t. She was frozen in fear, waiting for him to lose his temper with her too for not cooperating with him and talking. Amber bit her lip, her heart pounding in her chest so hard that she could hear it...so hard that she felt at any given moment, it would pound its way out of her chest. Her chest throbbed in pain as she felt as if it were closing in on her. She was afraid...afraid of a man who was offering her nothing but friendship.

“Can I do anything for you?” A.J. finally asked after getting no other response from her for a long while, “Do anything for you? Just ask...” his voice trailed off. He tried to reach out again, and she shifted her body away from him, covering her body with the blanket, “If you want anything, let me know.” he said again.

Amber didn’t reply for a moment. She knew what she wanted, but didn’t want to anger the man that sat before her. She didn’t want to say anything that would make him hurt her. She closed her eyes, and a vision of him slapping her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her violently like a rag doll over her request came to her head. She quickly opened her eyes again, ridding of the images. Taking in a shaky breath, she knew she had to ask. It would make her feel better. The first time she said it was so quietly, that A.J. had to ask her to say it again. She hesitated, but when she finally did reply, it wasn’t at all what he had expected her to say.

“I want Nick,” she spoke up, still soft, but audible this time at least.

A.J. drew back in shock. A wave of emotion swarmed over him. Jealousy, anger, sadness. It all struck, but he knew that he couldn’t hold Amber at fault for that. He tried to tell her that he was there for her too, but she insisted to have Nick there. So with one quick nod, A.J. got up and left, walking out, his head held low. The others looked at him, wondering why he looked so glum, for when he had left, he was bouncing in excitement. A.J. didn’t say anything for awhile. He had to swallow his pride to speak up and admit that he had not been wanted.

“She’s asking for you, Nick,” he finally said, sitting down, slouching and crossing his arms. His tone wasn’t harsh, but hurt rather.

“Oh?” Nick asked, surprised, then seeing the unwanted, defeated expression on his friends face made him feel bad, “I’m sorry, J.”

A.J looked up and saw that he actually meant it. He shrugged, “Oh well...maybe another time, right?”

“Sure thing,” Nick said with confidence before getting up and moving towards where Amber slept. He saw her sitting against the wall, looking like a frightened child, which wasn’t too far from the truth. He sat down, and she willingly accepted the hug he was offering her, “You okay?” he asked her after they parted. A look of concern filled his eyes.

Amber shook her head, “I had another nightmare,” she stated, making her seem like a ten year old rather than a nineteen year old woman.

“What was this one about?” Nick asked.

Amber usually told him that she didn’t want to talk about it, for it would make it all the more real. Nick always offered her the option to tell him though. He was sure that this time would be no different than the others. He was wrong.

“I was in the hospital,” she whispered, her eyes wide as she recalled what had happened in her night vision, “I was alone...when a man walked in...wearing a mask. He...he was wearing a doctors lab coat, so I thought that he was only there...to help. But then....he....he....oh god, Nick.” she choked out, not able to finish, but he knew what she was going to say. Amber grabbed hold of the fabric of Nick’s shirt, bunching it up in her fists, clinging to it, sobbing in to his shoulder. Nick put an arm around her, trying to calm her down to the best of his ability.

“It’s okay,” he whispered, “It isn’t real...nobody will ever hurt you again. I swear upon my life that nobody will ever hurt you in that way again.”

Amber let go of Nick, pulling away from him. She looked in to his eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks, “You don’t know that.” she quietly said, “You don’t know that...and you have no control over it.”

“It won’t happen if I have anything to do with it. I won’t let you get hurt.”

Amber sighed dramatically. Her shoulders slumped. She looked down, her gaze adverted towards the mattress.

“I miss my family,” Amber stated sadly, “I miss my family so much.”

Nick didn’t know how to respond. The had given the doctors their cell numbers in case her parents changed their minds and wanted to have their daughter back after all. No call had ever came in though. It being just short of three weeks later though, and they figured it probably would not happen. Nick wanted to tell her that it would be okay, and that they would come for her. But he knew that it would most likely be a lie. So instead of giving her false assurance, Nick said the only other thing that came to his mind.
“I’m sorry,”

Amber looked up and forced a small smile, shrugging, “It’s life, I guess. I mean, my mother sent me out late. I was sexually abused on the way home. They disown me. I made a great friend in the process though I hope that they catch the sick fuck who did this though.”

“They will,” Nick assured her without hesitation, knowing that one day, the man would be caught, “Believe me, he will be caught one of these days.”

“I hope so,” she sighed, sinking into another depressed state. Amber would give anything to be happy again and smile, for real. Not forced, but actually smile freely, naturally. She wondered if it would ever happen.

“Nick,” she asked after a small few minute pause, “Can I ask you something? Something that has been on my mind for awhile now?”

“Of course,” Nick stated, “Anything you want to know.”

Amber took in a deep breath, knowing that it really wasn’t any of her business, but needing to know the answer to her question, for some reason yearning to know.

“Why did Kevin disappear for a few days?” she finally asked, causing Nick to go speechless.