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Thanks to Anastacia, Jamelet (15-17), SweetAngelicAngel, frackandbonechick, AjsSweety, Anita and Ayleen for reviewing chapter 17. I can't wait to hear what ya'll think of 18!

Chapter Eighteen

“Oh my god, Nick...” Amber gasped as she opened this small rectangular shaped box wider to get a better look at what was inside, “It...it’s gorgeous.”

It was eight in the morning, Christmas morning. Nick had woken Amber up early to give her something special that he had bought for her before picking up his siblings and A.J. arrived in approximately two hours. Amber had slept the rest of the plane ride home, so Nick had carried her in to the house, placing her in one of the guest beds, careful not to disturb her peaceful slumber...until later that morning, and that time had come.

Amber lifted the heart shaped necklace, sparkling diamonds outlining the shape, out of the box, letting it sway back and forth freely as she stared in awe at its beauty. The light caught the diamonds in just the right light. Nick grinned, proud that he’d done something good as tears glistened in her eyes as she looked at it. Nobody had ever done anything so sweet for her, and for the first time in weeks, she was truly happy. But then she frowned as she placed it delicately back inside the velvet box, snapping it shut slowly and handing it back to Nick.

“I can’t accept this,” she told him as he looked at her in confusion. Amber could tell that there was hurt somewhere deep within his baby blue eyes as well, “It...it’s too much. I know it had to have cost a fortune. I can’t take it.”
“But I bought it for you, to show you what a good friend you are to me,” Nick exclaimed, opening the box back up and taking the necklace out, “Turn around.” he instructed. Amber did so, and felt him wrap his arms around her as the necklace fell against her chest as Nick clasped it in the back, keeping it in place.

Amber turned back around once she felt Nick’s arms freed from around her. She looked down at it, gently picking it up with her fingertips.

“Thank you,” she whispered, then bit her lip nervously, “I...I don’t have anything for you in return though.” she told him regretfully.

“Don’t worry about it,” Nick said, “You already gave me the greatest gift of all.”

Amber looked at Nick in total confusion, wondering what she had given to him that was so special. She tried to think, but nothing came to mind.

“You gave me your trust...or, at least I’m getting closer to winning it,” he grinned his famous Carter smile, causing Amber to giggle.

“I trust ya, Nick,” she told him with a slight hesitation, “It took a few weeks, but I know that you won’t hurt me. You’ve proved that by how sweet you’ve been.”

Nick stared at her for a moment before asking, “Do you really trust me, or are you just saying that for my sake?”

Amber was quiet for a moment, not knowing how to anser his question. It was a tough one to know how to respond to, especially when she didn’t know the honest truth herself. Amber took in a deep breath, deciding to answer to the best of her ability without hurting his feelings.

“I trust you...but I’m still not over what happened. I still have anxiety attacks. I’m terrified beyond words of anything unknown...and what happened yesterday didn’t help much.” she added softly, “I know that you won’t hurt me, but I still need to be cautious...around everyone, including you. Just in case...even though I do trust you, for the most part.” she could see Nick’s face fall, “I hope you understand.”she added quickly.

“Yeah...I do,” he answered, forcing a bright smile, “Well, Merry Christmas, Amber,” Nick said, reaching out and giving her a hug. Amber accepted, wrapping her arms around him as well in a warm embrace.

“Merry Christmas, Nick.”

After a few seconds, Nick gently pulled away from Amber, looking at her, studying her intensely. She had changed a lot since they had first found her. The bruises had healed almost completely, from what he could see.

“Let’s go get dressed and pick up my sibs,” Nick stated, “They’ll be waiting...or would you rather stay here? It’s up to you.”

“I’ll go,” Amber was quick to respond, “Definitely not staying alone.”

Nick laughed, “Go change then. Meet ya down here in five minutes.”

“Okay,” Amber stated, standing up, ready to put on some fresh clothes. She started making her way to the stairs before Nick called her back.

“Hey, Amber...” he started off nervously, deciding now was as good of time as any to tell her about A.J, “Um...we’re going to have an extra guest...I just found out last night. Um...A.J. will be here too...later on this morning.”

Nick cringed at the silence, knowing that at any given second, he would have his reaction from her. He knew it was coming...and he was right. Her reaction wasn’t a very positive one either.

“WHAT?” she almost yelled incredulously before fleeing up the stairs

“Well,” Nick stated, running a hand through his blonde hair, “She took it better than I thought she would.”

He stood still for a moment before dashing up the steps two at a time to catch up with Amber to try and explain things. Running down the wide, open hall way and around a circular corner, he caught her just as she was closing the door. Sticking a hand out, Nick forced it back open. Amber didn’t even try to fight it. Instead, she went over to the queen-sized bed, flopping down on it, crossing her arms over her chest protectively. Nick walked over calmly, sitting down next to her, neither speaking for a long moment.

“How could you invite him here?” Amber asked, knowing that she sounded cold, but she didn’t care, “You know that I’m not comfortable around the others yet.”

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, but she blinked them back, refusing to show that particular emotion. It would do her no good.

“Amber,” Nick said, “Aje had nowhere else to go...” he was about to tell the girl that A.J. had nowhere to go because he’d been defending her on a plane, and got kicked off, but decided that if she was to find that out, then it would have to come from A.J himself, “I made him promise he wouldn’t bother you...or speak to you.”

Amber rolled her eyes, “And you believe him?”

Nick shrugged, “I want to believe him,” Nick stated, then stuck out his lip in a pout, “Please don’t be mad at me. I’m tryin to help everyone. Aje has been a friend of mine for going on eleven years now. He needed me too.”

Amber said nothing for a moment. She didn’t know how things would turn out, but she knew that she didn’t have a choice in the matter anymore. Her one week of what was supposed to be freedom to calm her nerves a little just became a little more complicated.

“Okay...but please don’t let him near me...not yet.” Amber pleaded, giving him a small smile to let him know that she wasn’t upset with him.

Nick grinned, nodding his head. He wanted all six of them to get along, and here he was promising Amber that he would keep both Kevin and A.J away from her. Somehow, by being a friend to Amber, he was turning on his other friends at the same time. Nick wondered when it would all backfire in his face.

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“Hey, Nicky,” A.J. asked as he and Nick played a Playstation 2 game, “Could you do me a favor? A really huge one?”

It was nearing three in the afternoon. After Nick had picked up his siblings, they’d all rushed back to Nick’s house to wait for A.J to arrive while exchanging gifts from one another. As soon as the doorbell had rung though, Amber had fled up the stairs to hide in the safety of her room until she knew that he was gone. Nick had sent his sisters up to keep her company, and all three had willingly gone, leaving Aaron to take turns competing in games between his older brother and A.J. Amber and his sisters had seemed to get along well before A.J’s arrival. He suspected that she was in safe hands at the moment up in her room. He loved his sisters and had, strangely enough, taught them a lot on how to treat people with respect.
“Depends on what that is, dawg,” Nick grinned wickedly as he finished off A.J’s character in the game, “And don’t call me Nicky.”

A.j. snickered, “Okay...okay...well, I know that I promised that I wouldn’t bother Amber..”

“Oh no,” Nick interrupted before A.J. had the chance to continue. He knew exactly where this conversation was going, “Don’t even say it.”

“Hear me out,” A.J. stated, “Could you maybe, like, set up an accidental run-in with her...so I can at least try to get her to talk to me?”

Nick groaned, suddenly regretting having A.J. come for the holidays. He wished he’d left him stranded in Chicago. It wasn’t even a day in to his arrival...hell, not even five hours, and he was already bugging him to set him up with Amber, who was hiding from him at that exact moment.

“Aje,” Nick warned, “You swore to me that you wouldn’t cause any problems while you were here.”

“God, you’re so damned protective of her,” A.J. swore, “How the fuck is she ever going to learn to trust people if you won’t give her the chance to?”

Nick sighed, knowing that A.J proved a really good point. If she refused to speak to anybody else, how would she learn to cope in the real world? The answer was never. Nick didn’t feel like thrusting her into awkward situations was the answer either though, but he decided to listen to A.J’s plan anyways, just to hear what he had to say.

“What do you have in mind?” he asked impatiently.

A.J. smiled triumphantly that he’d won the argument. Now came the hard part of getting Nick to agree to what he thought could definitely work.

“See, we all go to the mall,” A.J. said, “I mean, chicks love to shop..and I love to shop...you don’t so much. So, the three of us go, and you get a phone call, and you have to leave, and we’re alone...she’ll have to talk to me.”

A.J. grinned, obviously thinking that his plan was genius. Nick, on the other hand, was less than thrilled.

“I can’t do that to her,” Nick refused, shaking his head roughly, “She’ll hate me for life for leaving her alone with someone she barely knows. All the trust I gained from her will vanish. I love her like another sister...a best friend. I don't want to hurt her by going against her wishes.”

‘But how will she ever get to know anyone else if you’re always around?” A.J. asked

Nick sighed. Once again, A.J. proved a really good point. Nick hated it when he did that, and now he was stuck in the middle. Nick didn’t want to betray his new friend’s trust, but then again, he would be helping her in the long run by going along with A.J’s plan. Nick shook his head, not knowing what to do.

“We gonna play or what?” Aaron asked, picking up A.J’s controller and looking at Nick.

“Not now, bro,” Nick stated, waving his brother off, keeping his thoughts on what he should do and how he should take care of the situation. Aaron’s shoulders slumped as he sulked, starting up a new game for single players.

“You know deep down that it will be good for her,” A.J. stated.

“You just want to date her,” Nick muttered under his breath, not knowing if that was completely true or not, then said out loud, “Fine, we can do it...but she never knows that it was set up to happen, got it?”

A.J. nodded, “Thanks, Frack...so, when we gonna do this?”

Nick thought for a moment, “Um, how about the day after tomorrow?”

A.J. nodded, looking forward to the day. Nick was hoping that he could get Amber to want to go out with so many people around. The mall was such a public place that she might not be ready for it. Her agreeing may be a challenge. Nick secretly hoped that she would decline, so he wouldn’t have to carry through with the plan. He hoped that after all of this was over, that Amber wouldn’t hate him. That was his number one fear. Nick closed his eyes and shook his head, already regretting to agree with AJ’s little scheme. He couldn’t turn back now though. All he could do was hope for the best to come of it.