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Thanks to AjsSweety, frackandbonechick, Anastacia, dancinpacer03, Tori D, Sassy, Louise, Jamelet (19-21) and Stephanie for reviewing chapter 21. Can't wait to hear what ya'll think of 22!!! Enjoy! (P.S. Your reviews mean so much to me! Thanks for all of your support!)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Amber just stared at Nick blankly for a moment, her body recoiling slightly away from him, more and more with every second that passed. Nick stared at her, trying to read through her, to get a reaction. The more delayed her reaction was though, the longer he waited and the more fearful she looked, Nick slowly began to realize that he had not gone about telling her the news in the right way. He should have been more gentle. He should have slowly broke the news to her. Instead, he blurted it out without feeling. Without considering Amber’s feelings. He cringed, knowing he had screwed up. He hoped that the traumatized girl didn’t hold this against him as he tried to think of a different, more delicate approach.

Nick bit his lip, trying his hardest to figure out another way to tell Amber, while A.J. stood behind him in slight shock. The way Nick had said it threw him off guard. The blonde hadn’t even said anything to work up to the big news. He tried to think of the right thing to say, the right way to say it, anything. Nothing came to his mind though. Nothing that would come out into spoken words, at least.

Closing his eyes, taking in a few deep breaths, Nick opened them again, finally thinking that he had figured out the right thing to say this time. Amber still stared at him, her form shaking slightly at the reminder of something she was trying so hard to forget about, but not succeeding with that wish and attempt.

“Amber,” Nick tried again, going back and trying to fix his mistake as best he could, “Let’s go sit down for a minute. There’s something that I need to tell you.”

The three ventured over to the couches no more than two feet behind them. They all sat, Nick in the middle. He shifted his body slightly towards Amber, since the topic of conversation mainly contained to her, but not so much that A.J. was left out completely. It was something that would affect everybody, as far as Nick was concerned.
Nick took a deep breath, willing himself to go on, finishing what he’d started as best he could. Amber was staring at him, not speaking, breathing slowly. He couldn’t tell if she was confused or afraid.

“I just got off of the phone with Kevin,” he explained gently, “Something came up, which is why he called me.”

Amber continued to just stare, and he could hear A.J. suck in his breath beside him. Nick knew that neither of them had fully gotten what he’d said before. He realized how abrupt he’d come out and say it. Nick scornfully scolded himself.

Nick, the fuck up, strikes again. He thought to himself, wondering why he couldn’t go without doing something stupid.

“The police station called him with some information containing to what happened to you,” he continued on, waiting a moment for Amber to comprehend that much. When he as sure that she had, he spoke again, “The man who did it was found. He’s in prison right now, and will be for a very long time.” he finished, knowing he’d done much better that time. He waited for a reaction, but disappointment fled over him when he didn’t receive one at all, “That’s great news, don’t you think?” he then asked.

Amber did nothing for a few moments, but then slowly shook her head, “He’ll come after me,” she whispered, “He’ll...he’ll try to find me.”

“No he won’t sweetie,” Nick said, “He’ll be in prison for many years. He can’t hurt you ever again.”

Amber didn’t seem to buy in to that, tears spilling from her already bloodshot eyes. She didn’t know what to think of what she had been told. It had all come about so fast.

“We’re here for you,” A.J. added softly, “All five of us.”

Amber forced a tight smile of thanks in his direction, only she looked past him rather than directly at him. His comment brought up another idea for Nick.

“You won’t have to be afraid of Kevin anymore,” he commented, “Now that they caught the real guy, you can feel safe around him now.”

“No, I can’t,” Amber whispered, “I still can’t. They could have made a mistake.”

Nick was about to protest, but decided against it. With time, he knew, she would see the good in Kevin. Nick looked at her again, seeing how visibly upset she was. He wondered if he should have waited until they were back at his home before telling her.

“Do you want to leave?” he offered, “If you’re to upset to stay here, it’s not a problem with us. We can go back home.”

Amber shook her head, standing up quickly. Nick and A.J. got to their feet seconds later to stand at a more eye-to-eye level with the petite young woman.

“No, I’m fine,” she tried to convince them, wiping the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt, “Let’s shop.” she said, facing Nick.

Nick looked at A.J. and shrugged as the three of them walked off to find other places to blow money in. Nick sighed, knowing that Amber truly wasn’t fine, but until she was ready to admit it, he couldn’t force her to. He needed to give her the space and time she needed to think about what he had told her minutes before. Nick wondered how long it would take.

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Nick slowly opened the door that had been left open crack and crept in to the room that Amber was staying in. A small lamp that was placed on the night stand by the bed glowed dimly, making Nick believe that the young girl was still awake, reading, or just lying there, merely thinking. It was nearing ten o clock, just two short hours since they’d left the mall; still early in to the night for anybody of their age.

“Hey, Amber,” he called out softly.

He walked further in to the room quietly, walking around the bed to face Amber. Once there, he saw that her eyes were closed, a soft snore coming from her. Once so light that I was hardly audible. There was one good thing about her staying with him. She hadn’t had another nightmare. If she had, Nick knew he would have heard her cries of despair. He smiled at her sleeping form, thinking of how she looked like a perfect angel. He didn’t blame A.J for having a crush on her. With that thought in mind, he recalled his talk that he’d had with his friend minutes prior. He had to commend his friend for treating Amber so generously. He knew A.J. had been truthful when he’d told Nick that he hadn’t been pushy or overbearing. That he had treated her gently and respectfully. How had he known that his friend was being honest? For starters, whenever the man had something to hide, he always went to many measures to avoid conversing about the topic. With this, he’d been more than willing to share his small progress. To A.J, it was the best day ever.

For Amber, however, it was a different story. Nick had thought that she would have been elated to hear that her perpetrator had been caught and was off of the road. Instead though, it had caused her to become more withdrawn. Not as much as when she’d first realized the bitter circumstances, but she had sunk back in to her shell a little bit. Nick wondered when she would start to come out again and make progress like she had been doing so well with. Another thing that had surprised him was that the news hadn’t made her any less afraid of Kevin. If anything, she was more petrified than before of his poor older friend and ‘brother’. He didn’t know why. Nick sighed, wondering what he should tell Kevin, if anything, as he continued to watch Amber sleep peacefully, shifting slightly. He knew that he had to tell the man something. It wasn’t right to keep from him what was causing Amber to stray away from him, more so than the others. Nick honestly didn’t have a clue as to what to tell him though. After all, it wasn’t easy telling one of the people you cared about most that a girl you were taking care of was terrified beyond belief of you because she’d been told that you’d temporarily been suspect for her attack, and she still believed that you had part to do with it. No, that definitely wouldn’t go over well, for a list of reasons.

Nick sighed. The girl had gone through a trying day, that was the only thing he really did know for sure at this moment. First, his younger, raging sack of hormonal brother had hit on her. She’d been tricked in to talking to A.J. and last of all, she’d had something thrust in her face that she obviously hadn’t been ready to hear.

Nick reached over and brushed a strand of her honey colored hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. He stood up straight, ready to leave when something caught his eye, stuffed under the bed most of the way. A portion of it was peeking out from under though. Curiosity got the best of Nick as he bent over, sliding it out from under the bed, picking it up. He recognized it as one of the shopping bag from earlier, the one that Amber had not wanted him nor A.J. to see, or know what she was buying. All she had done was meekly asked for Nick’s credit card, then slowly, self consciously ducked in to a store when the men hadn’t been watching. The two had stayed put, waiting for her return. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, she had come out, the bag rolled under so that the logo of what store she’d been in was not showing. He grinned evilly to himself, knowing that this was that purchase. At first, he thought that it was a gift for the, beginning to shove the bag back under the bed, the way he remembered he’d found it. Then he thought that Amber wouldn’t buy him something with his own money. Not even removing his hand from the bag, he took it back out, knowing that he was invading her privacy. He knew that he was snooping, but his curiosity was getting the better of him as he unrolled the bag. Reaching his hand inside, he pulled out what was obviously a stack of eight CD’s. He went through them quickly, recognizing them all too well. Four were the Boys three US albums plus the greatest hits. The other four were import albums from Holland, two from Germany and one from Australia. Nick shook his head, a slow smile spreading on his lips. He chuckled softly as he placed the albums back in the bag, tucking them under the bed again.

“Not a fan, huh?” he whispered, staring at her innocent face, still laughing a bit, “So much for that one.” he wondered why she had been so secretive and embarrassed to let them kno

Nick stood up, looking at Amber one last time before walking back around the bed and turning the light off. The room slowly grew black, making it so her sleep would be all the more relaxing and peaceful. A soft moan escaped her lips, but it wasn’t one that would start a nightmare. This time, it was one of comfort and of being content for the time being. He didn’t blame her for falling asleep so early. Once again, her day had been exhausting and he would even go as far as to call it stressful. She deserved a long nights rest, with hopes that the next day would be more positive for her.

Before leaving, Nick did a quick, silent thank you for Amber not catching on to the ploy to get her to be with A.J., and for her not turning against him for it. Nick turned around, walking slowly out of the room. The closed the door back to the way it had been when he’d first come by. He had a feeling that if he closed it all the way, if she awoke and saw, the poor young, troubled girl would feel trapped and scared. Claustrophobic.

Nick walked to the staircase, taking the winding steps down to the second floor of the three-story mansion, where his den and game room were. A.J. and Aaron were waiting for him there, probably messing around. They only had four days left of their break. Then he would have to say goodbye to his siblings again for another four or five months, at least. Nick couldn’t help but wonder what the next months would bring. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that things would definitely be interesting, to say the least.