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First off, I'd like to mention that I've been nominated for some awards for the Back To Reality Fan Fiction Awards, so that is really exciting! Also, thanks to dancinpacer03, Anastacia, Stephanie, Anita, frackandbonechick and AJsSweety for reviewing 23...here is 24! Enjoy and can't wait to see what you think!!!

Chapter Twenty-Four

Amber laid out on a beach towel on the small sun deck, big enough for two people, possibly three, that was on Nick’s boat. She closed her eyes, soaking in the warm Florida rays of sun. Luckily, Leslie had brought an extra swimsuit. They were about the same size, so she didn’t have a hard time fitting in to it. The only bad thing was that she felt exposed and uncomfortable in the tiny bikini. But beings she wanted to work on a tan since she was so pasty white, Amber knew she would have to suck it up. Besides, she felt okay around Nick, and she knew that Nick wouldn’t let A.J. or Aaron get any ideas. She’d heard him more or less telling them that if they tried to make a pass at her, that he would make them swim back to shore, which was a good ten miles. She had secretly laughed at Nick’s threat, feeling good that he would go through such lengths just to make her feel okay about things.

Suddenly, Leslie was next to Amber. She spread out a beach towel, sitting down. Amber sat up, eager to talk to someone. She liked Nick’s sisters a lot, wishing that they could go with her, Nick and A.J in just three days.

Neither of them said anything for a long moment. They just sat, Leslie looking out at the water longingly. It was obvious that the Carter’s loved the water. After a few moments, Leslie looked to Amber and spoke.

“So, what do you think?” she asked

“Of what?” Amber responded, thinking that the question could go in many different directions.

Leslie laughed at herself, realizing quickly how broad her question had been, “Of Florida, the beach, water...being here.” she spoke, naming off many things.

Amber didn’t answer for a moment. She’d never really taken the time to think of how she liked or didn’t like everything. She’d just accepted it and went with things. She rationed out everything in her mind quickly before answering the question aloud.

“Florida is nice,” she said softly, “Being out here on the water is relaxing. I think it’s what I needed, to get away for a day like this. As for being here, it’s great. You’ve all been so good to me, making me feel like I belong.”

Leslie smiled kindly at Amber, “Yeah, it is relaxing out here, and I know that you’re like family to Nick. He really cares about you,” she looked at her brother, catching him staring in their direction. She waved before turning back to Amber, lowering her voice, “I’ve never really seen Nick act this way over someone, and it’s really made him grow up. He’s normally more immature than Aaron.”

Amber’s mouth dropped, her eyes widening. Leslie laughed at the expression on the girls face. It was priceless.

“I can’t picture him being like that,” she finally said, “He’s done nothing but try to help me from day one, even after I turned him away, he never gave up.”

“Let’s just say that you stepping into his life unexpectently has made him a better person in the long run.”

Amber tried to comprehend what she was being told, not knowing how she could make such an impact on someone’s life. Especially since it was under such horrible circumstances. She shrugged the thought off, knowing that it wouldn’t do her any good to drive herself completely crazy trying to figure it all out.

Leslie looked back over to where Aaron, Nick and A.J. were. B.J. and Angel had stayed back at the house. She caught A.J. in the guilty act of staring over at them. When he noticed Leslie looking at him, he quickly turned his head, blushing slightly as he tried joined into a
conversation with the brothers, playing it off as if he didn’t even know that the girls were there.

“You know,” Leslie stated, looking back to Amber, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that A.J. has a crush on you.”

This made Amber tense up. She’d felt A.J. looking at her before, and caught his gazes, seeing the attraction in his eyes. At the mall, he had been friendly and kind, taking things slow, but the fact that he possibly wanted more than friendship with her terrified her beyond belief. It made her feel like his good intentions were being faked in hopes of getting something from her. Amber sighed, knowing that she wasn’t nearly over what had happened to her, and didn’t know when she would be, if ever. All she knew was that it was taking time...a lot of time.

"Oh?" Amber asked.

'Definitely," Leslie answered.

Amber was silent, not knowing how to take the information. She should have guessed that he did, but was trying to deny it, pushing the reality of it out of her mind

“He seems nice enough,” Amber finally stated, “But seems a little...pushy in a way,” she slowly added, trying to find the right, yet least insulting, words to describe how she perceived the tattooed man who appeared to be a little rough around the edges.

Leslie shrugged, “I guess I can see where you would think that,” she began, “He is known to be the flirt of the group, but believe me, he’s trying to take things slow with you, which is not like him at all. Normally, he doesn’t waste his time on a woman who strays herself away from him.” she paused for a moment, “He’s not so bad though, if you give him a chance. In all actuality, he’s a pretty good guy. Trust me, I’ve known him for ten years.”

Amber didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to say anything bad about the man, for she didn’t know him well enough to do that. Yet she didn’t want to say anything that would maybe get back to him and give him false hope of them maybe forming some kind of relationship. Who knew what the future might bring, but for the moment, it wasn’t the right time for that.

“I’m sorry,” Leslie apologized after three minutes of silence, “I shouldn’t be defending him and making him seem great. I mean, he is, but after what you went through, I’m sure that it is the last thing that you want to hear,” she chuckled, “Hell, it probably sounds like I am trying to fix the two of you up on a date or something.”

Amber couldn’t help but smile at that. She and Leslie related a lot to one another in their interests. They were roughly the same age. Although she’d only known the girl for a few days, she felt like she was the sister that she never had. Being an only child had robbed her of a lot of things, including a sibling that could also be her best friend.

“It’s okay,” she replied with a reassuring smile, “I just hope that one of these days, I can talk to all of the guys.” Amber bit her lip, wanting to ask Leslie about something. It had been on her mind a lot, and she couldn’t bring herself to ask Nick. She was sure that he would sugar coat anything bad in his answer, if there was anything. Leslie, she figures, was her best bet at getting an honest response, “What is Kevin like...I mean, he wouldn’t try to hurt anyone, would he?” she asked finally, worry in her blue eyes was evident.

Leslie’s eyes widened in surprise, “Oh no,” she replied, shaking her head, “He is the sweetest man you would ever meet. He may come off all strict and serious, but he would never hurt anyone,” Leslie stopped, tilting her head to one side, looking at Amber in question, “Why do you ask?”

“Um...he disappeared for awhile, so I asked Nick why. He told me that Kevin was in prison, accused of what happened. He was let out, but I still wasn’t too sure,” she blushed slightly, “I told Nick to try to keep him away from me, so he couldn’t hurt me.”

“You should consider giving him a chance,” Leslie stated, “Knowing him, he’s really hurt by your keeping him away, though he would never admit it.” Leslie laughed, “Male pride thing. Anyways, I can guarantee that he would never hurt you. If anything, you’d probably become closer to him than old blonde boy over there,” she nodded her head towards Nick, “Then we’d have issues with his bruised ego.”

Amber giggled, “Nobody could ever replace Nick’s friendship in my heart,” then her smile faded, “Maybe I shouldn’t have been so cruel towards Kevin before getting to know him.” she bit her lip, “I feel so guilty, and even though I probably wouldn’t be talking to him still, at least I wouldn’t be shunning him and making sure he is kept away.”

Leslie shrugged, “It’s not too late to change your attitude towards him,” she stated, then was quick to defend Amber’s side as well, “I mean, I have no idea how hard what you went through must have been. You can slowly warm up to Kev though.”

Amber was silent, looking to the ground, taking what she said in to deep consideration. If she did slowly warm up to the man, it didn’t mean that she had to speak to him. It just meant that she would quit acting like the ice queen around him.

Amber looked up, seeing A.J. coming towards them. She tensed a little, wondering what he wanted, hoping that he was coming for Leslie. As he approached, Amber felt more and more insecure as she slowly wrapped the beach towel around her body to cover herself.

“May I please speak to Amber,” he asked Leslie.

She looked to Amber nervously, knowing that the poor girl would not like the idea, but also knew that she, along with Nick, were also on board. A.J. would behave, but she was still hesitant with her response to the man.

“Sure,” she slowly replied, standing up. She turned to Amber, looking down, “I’ll talk to you later,” she stated, then turned to A.J, pulling him down and whispering in his ear, “You better behave yourself, Bone.” she finished off, using his nickname.

“I will,” A.J. defended himself, putting his hands up in front of him and taking a small step backwards, “Jeez.”

Leslie gave him one last warning look before walking past him towards her brothers. A.J. slowly sat down next to Amber. She adverted her gaze away from him, neither of them speaking for a moment. A.J. sensed her fear. She didn’t try to hide it.

“So, um, how are you doing?” A.J. finally asked after not being able to take the uncomfortable silence between them.

“Okay, I guess,” Amber said, turning hr head away, using as little words as she possibly could in her response, yet one that was still satisfying.

There was another silence. Amber took in to mind what Leslie had told her about A.J. being a pretty good guy. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, taking in his perfectly sculpted abs, and lean body. She couldn’t help but think of how good he looked, but quickly scolded herself. She was still slightly afraid of him.

“Did you have fun yesterday?” A.J. asked.

Amber just nodded, keeping her gaze in front of her, away from A.J. She couldn’t believe that after their talk, Leslie would leave her alone with him.

A.J. was about to say something else, but out of nowhere, a few raindrops fell upon Ambers head. She looked up, seeing that the few clouds that had been in the sky had darkened a bit as the drops became more frequent. Soon after, a soft clap of thunder came from somewhere in the distance. Amber sighed, not knowing how a perfectly beautiful day could become spoiled so quickly.

“Everyone under the roof,” Nick called, “It’s gonna storm, so we gotta head back.”

A.J. stood up, holding his hand out for Amber to grab on to. She reculantly took hold of it as he helped her up, quickly pulling back and scurrying to safe cover.

“Surprise you’re bright enough to know to go back before the storm hits,” A.J. joked as he joined everyone else.

“Fuck you, J,” Nick laughed as he started the boat up and turned it around speeding towards the shore. He hoped that they made it back before the weather got worse.

Amber looked behind them as the water rippled from the motor, waves trailing behind the speed of the water craft. She’d had a good day, she had to admit. It felt good to be able to relax. The thing was, she wondered if this would help her long term, or if it would be a one day thing, and her life would go back to how it had been after they arrived back at Nick’s.