Ch. 19 Amy laid back on her pillow and sighed deeply, laughing. "That was so cool. We gotta play that again." Nick laid back on his pillow and nodded. "Definitely. How 'bout now?" Amy looked over at him, a little uncertain but she smiled. "Okay." They both sat up and picked up their GameBoys. They started the game over and started playing again. They were playing the new Mario game. "I'm Mario!" Nick announced. Amy gave him a look of protest. "No, Nick! You were Mario last time! I hate being Luigi. You be Luigi!" They heard Emily scream and looked at each other. They dropped the GameBoys and ran into the den. Amy sat down next to the tiny girl. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Emily looked up at her. "Who are you?" Then she saw Nick. She got up and ran over to him. He picked the girl up and looked at her. "Emily, what's wrong?" She wiped her sniffling nose and put her head on his shoulder. Nick gave Amy a look of confusion which she returned. "Nick, I had a dream that I was playing in my room and I went to go show Mommy something and everybody was gone. Then I-I woke up and no one was herrrreeee.." She started crying again. Nick bounced her up and down a little, rubbing her back. "Shh..sweetie..it's okay. Shh..I'm here, Amy's here. We're not going to leave you here all by yourself. It's okay. Shh.." She looked at him with tears running down her cheeks. It broke his heart to see a girl cry. He wiped her cheeks and kissed her forehead. "Are you sure, Nick? You won't leave me here?" Obviously, this girl had been left before. He smiled sweetly at her. "Of course not, babe. You're Aaron's future wife. I can't let you out of my sight." The tiny girl giggled. Nick sat her down and crouched down to her level. "Tell you what. We'll stay in here with you, play some games, watch a few movies.." "Eat some yummy popcorn," Amy interjected. Nick smiled at her and looked back at Emily. "And have the most fun a kid could have. Does that sound good to you?" She nodded. "Can we watch Barney?" Amy and Nick groaned on the inside but gave the tiny girl a smile. "Sure. We can watch Barney," Amy said, "But you can't watch too much or 'fore long, you'll turn into a purple dinosaur and you'll be singing.." She stood up and gave a Barney impression, putting her hands way out to the side to show how big he was. "...I love you, you love me, we're a happy family, with a great big hug.." She scooped Emily up. Emily giggled. "..and a kiss from me to you.." They blew air kisses to each other. "..won't you say you love me too.." Emily giggled. Amy pushed her above her head and made an airplane noise, flying Emily all around the room. "Calling all airports, we are about to land. Do you copy?" Nick laughed but played along. "Roger that. We are prepared for you to land.." Amy swooped Emily down and landed her on the couch. Amy sat down next to her. The tiny girl sat up and looked at Amy and Nick. "Are ya'll boyfriend and girlfriend?" she asked. Both teens blushed but Amy shook her head. "No, honey. We're just really good friends." Emily nodded and looked at the TV. "Can we watch a movie now?" Amy walked over to the table where the movies were and Nick joined her. Amy's eyes widened when she saw some of the movies sitting there. Nick quickly brushed them aside and laughed when he saw Amy's face. "A.J.'s stash, I swear.." Amy just grinned at him. "Doesn't mean you haven't watched them." He gave her a tiny grin. "Well, I might have..uh..once or uh twice.." Amy had to laughed and raised her eyebrow. "Hmmm..I might have to borrow these sometimes.." They heard someone clear their throat. Emily was standing behind them. Nick and Amy both blushed and they searched through the movies. Amy pulled out a movie. "Here we go! Batman..." Emily shook her head. Then Amy saw a very out-of-place movie. She gave Nick an strange look. "How about 'My Little Pony: The Movie'?" Emily clapped her hands and bounced up and down. Amy looked at Nick who opened his mouth and she stopped him. "I won't even ask.." She took the movie out of the case and popped it in the VCR, pressing play. Emily sat down. Nick sat down on the couch and Amy started to walk off to the kitchen. Emily looked up at her. "Where are you going?" Amy pointed to the kitchen. "I was going to go get some popcorn.." Emily patted the couch. "Sit down with me." She pushed Nick. "You go make the popcorn." Nick gave her a look. "Very demanding little girl, are we?" She pushed him again. He got up. "I'm going, I'm going.." He got up and walked out. Amy sat down next to the little girl. "What's your name?" Emily asked. Amy looked at her. "Amy.." Emily nodded. "Will you be my big sister?" Amy was a little taken aback but nodded. She gave the girl a warm smile. "Sure. I've always wanted a little sister. I have three brothers and that's it." "What are their names?" "Adam, Ben, and Caleb." "How old are they?" "Adam is 15, Ben is 10, and Caleb is 8." "Is Caleb cute?" "Yeah, but I thought you were going to marry Nick's brother, Aaron." "I can look.." Amy laughed. "Very wise words from such a young girl. You were raised right." She pulled out a picture of Caleb who she always thought was her only little Nick. She showed it to Emily. "He is cute. He looks a lot like Nick." Amy smiled. "I always thought so too." "Amy?" "Yeah?" "Do you like Nick?" "He's my friend so I guess so.." "I mean, do you like like him?" "You mean like a boyfriend?" "Yeah!" Amy looked around and back at the girl. "Can you keep a secret?" Emily nodded. "Yeah.." Amy leaned in and whispered in her ear. Emily's eyes widened. Amy put her fingers to her lips. "Shh..." Emily nodded. The scent of the popcorn filled the room as Nick walked back in. He sat over on the other side of Emily. Amy reached over to get some popcorn but Nick pulled the bowl away. "Nuh-uh..This is mine. Ya'll made me get it, ya'll ain't getting any.." Both girls gave their best puppy dog pleading looks and he melted. He looked away and handed them the bowl. "Here.." They giggled and took the bowl from him. They turned the lights back out and sat back to watch the movie. "Hey! Everybody quiet so we can watch the movie!" Tat yelled. They were watching "Hope Floats". She got up, turned the lights off, and sat down on the floor in front of Brian's chair. When he saw Sandra Bullock, he hollered out: "There's my woman!" A.J. laughed. "Oh, really? And does Leighanne know about this?" Brian looked over at him and nodded. "Yeah and surprisingly, she doesn't mind." "Shh!" Jessie hissed, "I'd like to watch the movie!" "Hey, you guys! Wonder what Nick and Amy are doing right now," Brian laughed. Jessie nodded. "I can see it now. The movie is about halfway through and Emily's asleep. Nick looks over at Amy, Amy looks over at Nick.." Tat squirmed a little. "Shut up, ya'll! I want to watch the movie!" Jessie gave her a look. "Yeah, wouldn't want you to think they were doing anything. It might lower your chances with him.." Tat got up and stalked out. Brian gave her a stern look. "Now, Jess. That was a little too far.." Jessie looked away and then got up to go apologize. She got Tat to come back in. Everybody got quiet. On the sad parts, you could hear the guys sniffling. By the time that the movie was over, Kelly and A.J. were snuggled up on each other, Matt and Jessie were making out, Howie was asleep, Tat was bored, and Brian was singing the "Chances Are" song from the movie. Kelly stopped it before it went off. "Hey!" Brian exclaimed. Kelly gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry but we're ready to watch the other movie now." He sighed and looked off, still humming the song. Kelly put in "Urban Legends" and it came on. Kelly and A.J. were the only ones who hadn't seen it but everyone was grabbing onto someone or something to keep from seeing some of the parts. As the movie creeped closer and closer to the end, Kelly and A.J. kept yelling who they thought the killer was but no one would confirm it for them. In the end, Kelly was right. As soon as the movie went off, everyone started getting up to go. When they left, Tat walked out of the room with them. "Good night, Kelly," she called out. "You're helping me clean up! Get back here!" Tat just waved at her and walked off. The movie was over, the popcorn was gone, and Emily was asleep. Nick and Amy looked over at each other and smiled. "I'd say we did a pretty good job tonight," Amy said. Nick stretched his arms out. "I'd say I think so too. We got Emily to sleep." Amy yawned. "I think I could go to sleep now." He yawned, nodding. "Me too. Let's watch some TV." He picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels. "Hey, Amy.." "Yeah?" she mumbled, half-asleep, eyes closed. "Emily told me what you said.." "Mmmhmm..." "And I, uh, feel the same way.." He looked over to catch her reaction and noticed she was asleep. He leaned over and gently kissed her lips. He leaned back and saw her smile softly, murmuring in her sleep. He looked back at the TV and felt his eyes growing heavy. He closed them and fell asleep. "Well, that was an interesting night, I'd say," Brian said, opening the door and joining the others as they came in. A.J. seemed in a daze but nodded. "Yeah. The movie was pretty good." Howie gave them a wild look. "Let's see what Amy and Nick are up to." Brian smiled. They tiptoed into the den and opened the door softly. They saw the TV on, Nick, Amy, and Emily passed out. He looked back at the rest of them. "Aww..isn't that so adorable?" he joked. "Let's wake them up," Howie said. Brian shook his head. "Nah, let 'em sleep. Go get the camera though." Howie ran off and grabbed the Polaroid. Brian snuck in, stood in front of the sleeping group and snapped a picture. The flash woke Nick up. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at them. "What the hell?" Howie looked over at Brian. "You said we weren't going to wake them up." Brian gave him a look. "Shut up." He looked back at Nick with a grin. "Ya'll just looked so cute laying there I had to take a picture." Nick stood up and looked down at Amy and Emily. "Should I wake them up?" "Nah. Go put Emily in the guest bedroom and let Amy just sleep here. Wouldn't want her passing out in the sand on the way to her house. Unless you wanna take her in your room.." Brian and Howie laughed. Nick rolled his eyes. "You guys are so retarded." He picked Emily up and walked off to the guest bedroom, then walked towards his own room. When he opened the door and turned on the light, he got the shock of the summer. There, sitting on his bed, was Mandy. Amy opened her eyes and looked around. She was still sitting in Nick's den. She looked over to say something to him but saw he was gone. She looked at her watch. It was 11:17. She stood up and stretched. Guess I'll go home now. Seems my welcome has been worn out. She walked out of the room and was blinded by the light of living room. A.J. was sitting there watching TV. When he saw her, he immediately changed the channel. She laughed. "You can't hide anything from me. I saw your little collection." He looked up, giving her an innocent look. "What collection? How do you know it wasn't Nick's?" Amy scoffed. "A.J., Nick can't say the word 'sex' with a straight face. Think about it." A.J. laughed. "So you caught me. So what? Gotta learn somewhere." Amy shook her head. "Whatever. Where is Nick? I need to tell him something." A.J. pointed down the hall. "Second door on the right." Amy waved him off. "Thanks. You can now go back to what you were doing." She walked down the hall. She had to talk to him. She heard what he said, she felt him kiss her, she had to let him know how she felt. She knocked on the door. No answer. She saw the light on and figured he must have fallen asleep with the light on. She opened the door and saw Nick standing there with Mandy and her eyes widened. Nick looked back at her. "Amy, it's not what you think.." Amy stepped back, speechless, holding her hands up. "Sorry to, uh, interrupt. Um..See ya tomorrow, Nick, I uh guess." She closed the door quickly and ran out of the house into the darkness, to her house next door. She noticed the lights were out but by the noises, she knew Jessie and Matt were still awake. She ran in her room and without turning the lights on, she quickly changed into her night gown and crawled into bed.
Ch. 20 Nick started to run after Amy but Mandy stopped him. He whirled around to face her. "What are you doing here?" he snapped, "I thought I told you to leave today. What do you want?" She ran her hand along the sleeve of his shirt and smiled sweetly at him. "Can't your girlfriend come see you anymore?" Nick narrowed his eyes at her. "One problem with that: You're not my girlfriend anymore. You dumped me." "I was joking, sweetie. I never meant it." "It wasn't very funny." "I'm sorry. I love you." Nick felt his heart start aching again, but his anger kept him from showing it. "Don't you dare tell me that. Mandy, it's over. We're done. Don't give me this 'I made a mistake' b.s. again. You'd be wasting your breath." She gave him one of her pitiful looks. "Nick, you don't love me?" He had to look away. Giving in to that look had caused him enough trouble already. He clenched his jaw. "No. I did at one time, but you blew it." "What?!" "You heard me. Why are you here anyways? I guess the setup with that other guy just didn't work out, huh? Thought you'd come back to me. Hey, being with Nick is being better than being alone. Is that what you thought? Well, this time you're going to be alone. Now leave." He pointed out the window. She sighed. "Fine.." She leaned in to kiss him but he backed up, turned her around, and pushed her towards the window. She swung one leg out and looked back at him. "I'll be back." He pushed her out the window, landing her on the porch. He looked down at her. "Don't count on it." He locked the window and snatched the curtains closed. He looked into Amy's window and saw her lights were out and sighed. I gotta talk to someone, he thought, Why can't it be Amy? He decided he would go talk to Brian. He walked into Brian's room and plopped on the bed. Brian was sitting in a chair, guitar in hand, practicing. He saw Nick come in so he sat his guitar against the wall. Noticing the look on Nick's face, he had to ask. "What's wrong?" Nick rolled over and looked up at the ceiling. "Guess who was in my room when I went in there a few minutes ago." By the tone of Nick's voice, Brian could tell. "Mandy." Nick rolled over, propped up on his elbows, and looked at Brian. "Yup. And Amy walked in on us." "Walked in on ya'll? What do you mean? Were ya'll doing something?" Nick shook his head. "No. I was just standing there and Mandy was sitting on my bed. Amy walked in and saw that and just ran off. She probably thought the worst of it too. I think she was going to tell me how she felt." Brian shifted in his chair and gave Nick a look. "How do you know that?" "See, Emily must have asked her if she liked me tonight because she leaned over and told me that Amy said she wanted me to be her boyfriend or something. But you know how little kids are, she could have made it up..." "Well, if she did, she must have known something was up because little kids don't make up stuff like that without a good reason." "Well, anyways.. as we were watching TV and Emily was sleeping, I told her that Emily told me what she said. She was already half-asleep but she mumbled something in agreement. Then...then..I, uh..I kissed her.." Brian's eyes widened. "Like full on the lips? What did she do?" Nick shook his head. "Nothing. She was asleep. She probably doesn't even know that I did it. Maybe it's better that way." "No, dude. You gotta bring it up. Maybe she did feel it or she heard you and she was going to tell you how she felt. You gotta talk to her." Nick sat up. "After seeing me with Mandy, I doubt she'll ever take me seriously. Probably thinks I'm going back to Mandy now which I'm not. She probably won't even talk to me now." "You have to talk to her. Corner her somewhere if you have to. Ya'll need to work this out." Nick looked away. "Is it really worth it though?" "Of course it is! You two definitely have something going on. Ever since ya'll laid eyes on each other on that plane, there was something. Maybe sometimes the person for you just bumps into you. Nick, she could be it. She could be the one that is for you. Mandy obviously wasn't and you can't say you've have too much luck with any other girl. You and Amy have something. It's up to ya'll to figure out what. She understands you and still hangs around you. That's something." Nick laughed a little. "I'll take that as a compliment. Hey! You still hang around me." Brian smiled. "Only because I still don't fully understand you." Nick laughed. He saw a notepad on Brian's desk with a pen on top of it. "So..whatcha writing?" Brian looked from him to his notepad. "I'm trying to write this song but I can't get past the chorus and first verse." Nick picked up the notepad and looked at it. "Let me see your pen." Brian handed it to him and Nick stared at it intently. He started writing. He handed the notepad back to Brian and grinned. Brian looked at it. It said: Good song, keep it up. :) Nick laughed and Brian popped him on the head with the notepad, grinning. "You're just sooo helpful." Nick smiled. "It's what makes me such a good friend." Brian looked deep in thought for a second. "Ooh, I got it!" he exclaimed. He started writing. Nick got up. "I'll just show myself out. G'night." Brian waved, not wanting to interrupt his train of thought. Nick walked out of the room and closed the door softly. He walked back into his room, changed, turned off the light, and climbed into bed. Kelly picked up the last cup and threw it in the trash, exhausted. She looked around and sighed. So much had happened in that one night. Then she smiled as she remembered what happened between her and A.J. earlier. "Amanda Latona can kiss my.." "Mm-hmm!" she heard someone clear their throat. She looked up to see Tat standing there, leaning against the door. Kelly looked curiously up at her. "And what are we still doing up?" Her sister walked in and sat on the couch. "Couldn't sleep. Thought I'd see if you needed any help." Kelly gave her scowl. "Thanks for caring about 25 minutes too late." Tat smiled. "Oh, you know me. So caring and helpful. So what were you saying about Amanda cuz even though you made out with her boyfriend this afternoon, they are still together." Kelly sat down on the couch. "That she could kiss my ass. As of today, that boy is mine." Tat laughed out loud. "Oh, please. Like he's gonna give up a steady girlfriend for a 17 year old summer fling. I don't think so." Kelly looked hurt. "Hey! It could happen!" "Highly unlikely, sis." "Just because you're upset that you lost Nick to Amy doesn't give you the expertise to tell me what will or won't work out. I mean, obviously, you need some kind of lesson in it. Even if I lose out to his girlfriend, at least I made an effort.." "By making him cheat on her? Some effort." "It takes two to kiss and he kissed me first." "Oh so sorry to get that mixed up." "You don't even try to get Nick's attention." Tat gave her an irritated look. "Oh, yeah..throwing myself on him is what I need to do. Kelly, he is in love with Amy. Amy is in love with him. I am not going to make a fool out of myself and bend over backwards for something that I'll never have!" Kelly sat back in the chair. "You're giving up before you even know.." "Know what?! How to act like an idiot? How to be like you?! No thanks. I'd rather not. You know, I think I'm a little tired all of a sudden. I'm going to bed." She glared at Kelly and stalked off. Kelly glared at her disappearing figure and looked at her hands. She saw something on the floor. It was a folded sheet of paper. She picked it open and opened it, staring at it. The handwriting was a little messy but she soon deciphered it. It read: Dearest Amanda, How are you doing, sweetheart? Me? I'm doing okay for someone so hurt because I've lost the love of my life. You don't know how my heart aches for you right now. Baby, I was wrong, so wrong, to ever cheat on you. I am so sorry. I know that doesn't make it all right but I swear it meant nothing. She was just a friend and I let a small moment get so carried away. Believe me, I was thinking of you the whole time. The girl means nothing to me. Please forgive me, my Manda Bear. I love you and only you. I need you so bad. How I long to hold you in my arms, to kiss your sweet lips, just to hold you so close to me as we lay together all night long. That other girl was just there to fill that empty void of being away from you, just a temporary fix. Only you can provide me with what I need because all I need is you, my sweet lady. Please take me back, say you'll take me back, cuz I just don't know what I'd do without you. Baby, I love you. Forever yours (I hope), A.J. Kelly clenched her jaw to steady herself, but her eyes watered and she began to cry. How could he do this to me? How could I have done this to him? I was so stupid to think he'd ever take me over Amanda. My God, he was practically engaged to her! What have I done? Her eyes stung as she blinked and tears rolled down her cheeks, hitting the paper and blurring the ink. Her sister had been right. She wasn't even a summer fling. "Kelly?" she heard somebody ask. It was Tat. She wiped her face and looked away. "Ready to yell some more? Sorry, I'm not in the mood." "I actually came to apologize. What's wrong?" "Tat, you were right. I don't mean anything to A.J." "Huh?" Kelly handed her the letter. "Here. Read this." Tat took the letter from her and read it. Tat read it and looked back at her sister. "You know what you gotta do, right?" Kelly nodded. "I'm gonna talk to him tomorrow." Tat hugged her. "I am so sorry." Kelly nodded. "Yeah, me too. Me too." A.J. sat down on his bed and reached into his pocket. He panicked. "Where's the letter?" He fumbled around in his other pockets. Not there. He looked around his room. Like he'd find it anyway in that huge pile of clothes strewn all over the floor. "With all this mess in this room, it could be anywhere," he muttered. He sat back down on his bed and began to undress. He smiled as he thought of his night with Kelly even though he missed Amanda. He had a great night with her. He did manage to keep his distance from her though. No more kissing, no more making out. He had paid for that by losing the greatest thing in his life. How he'd explain that to Kelly he didn't know but he hoped that they could stay good friends. He had the letter to explain to Amanda but it was gone. Maybe he could talk to her and straighten things out. He picked up the phone and dialed her number. Her answering machine picked up: "Hi! You have reached Amanda's house. Sorry but I'm unavailable at the moment so just leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Oh, if this is A.J., don't bother cuz I will erase it before I even hear what what you have to say. Just to let you know, your stuff awaits you on the curb and it's raining like hell outside. So adios, you lying, cheating son of a --" He hung up the phone. "Gee, wonder if she hates me," he joked, half-heartedly with a very shaky laugh. He grabbed his towel and went to take a shower. Kevin and Emily walked up the steps, laughing. The house was completely dark now. The only light on them was the full moon peeking out from behind the dark storm clouds every few minutes before plunging them into darkness. Kevin smiled at Beth. "That was the most fun I've had in years," he told her, "It's amazing how great a night with another adult can be without being around the guys who just haven't learned what it is to be grown." She laughed. "That's the most I've laughed in about 8 years too. Whoever told you that you were too serious wasn't around you long enough." "Only you can bring it out of me." She looked down and blushed. "It's getting late. I need to go get Emily and get back to the hotel." "Why don't you stay here tonight?" he asked suggestively. She smiled up into his twinkling green eyes. "Where would we sleep?" "Emily can have our guest bedroom and well..you could stay with me.." She nodded. "Well, you put up a pretty good offer. Sure, I, we'd love to." He smiled. "Great!" He unlocked the door and followed her in. They saw that Emily was already snuggled in the guest bed so they went on into Kevin's room. She stood there admiring his room as he came in, closing and locking the door. "I can see why you picked this instead of those grimy, old, compacted hotel rooms." He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She snuggled her head against his broad chest and smiled. "I used to love it when you did that to me," she whispered, "You'd wrap your arms around me and then you would.." He started kissing her neck and she moaned a little. "No need for a reminder," he whispered, "I still think about it every night. Now I get to do it again." She laughed. "Take me back then." She turned around and kissed him. In one swift motion, he unzipped the back of her dress and she shook a little as it fell to her ankles. She unbuttoned his shirt as he unhooked her bra. He pushed her gently on the bed but it was just enough to make it creak. They laughed. He laid down gently on top of her and she unbuttoned his pants. As they made love, the rain began to pour down outside.
