Chapter One-Hundred-Fourteen
Meanwhile, in Kentucky, the kids all giggled and pointed things out, as they walked along with the adults, all following Brian as he showed them around his street. He even promised they could go to the park on the way home. Brian was holding Riley's hand and Tyke's leash as they walked.
"Where are we going first Uncle Brian?" Dakota asked eagerly, as she suddenly ran up beside him with Josh's hand in hers, as she had dragged him a long with her. He didn't mind much, seeing as how he is quite used to it with Ellie and all. But then there's also the little detail that Dakota is holding his hand. That's exciting all by itself. He's having an awful hard time avoiding Ellie's teasing eyes though. She can't say anything in front of Dakota otherwise he'll tackle her, but she's making a great effort to let it be known that she finds this all too funny.
"I am going to take you to see where I went to school when I was your age." Dakota smiled some.
"An' then the park?" She double-checked, and she cocked her head to the side as she looked up at him. Brian chuckled.
"No not quite sweetie. Then I'm going to take you to all of the places that I hung out at — and then Kevin is going to give you a tour of his childhood afterward."
"And then we goes to the park?"
"Yes and then the park," He replied, and he reached down and ruffled her hair, making her giggle. She turned and looked at Josh then, who was quietly walking beside her and listening to her talk — which was his favorite thing to do, listen to her.
"Your gonna push me on the swings right Joshy? Riight?" She asked eagerly.
"But of course," Josh answered, and he heard Elenore who came up beside him trying to stifle her giggles. Josh with great effort, managed to ignore her and he squeezed Dakota's hand in order to keep himself from getting annoyed.
"M's, J, More M's!" they suddenly heard a little voice squeal from behind him, and Brian turned his head to look, to see his tattooed friend carrying Laila so she is rested on his left hip, and he is holding a pack of M&M's in his other. AJ chuckled.
"Say please."
"Pease," she told him sweetly, and he grinned ever so proudly, before handing over a couple of green M&M's.
"Don't you think she's had enough of those, Aje?" Kevin asked warily. "I mean she's been eating candy since you picked them off the shelves at the store hasn't she?" he asked, and he looked over at Howie who nodded his head amusedly. AJ shrugged.
"It keeps her happy, doesn't it?"
"Yeah but…" Kevin started, but trailed off when he felt Howie grabbing at his arm. He looked at him and Howie shook his head.
"He'll learn Kev, he'll learn…" Kevin looked back at AJ skeptically, as he watched him hand over M&M's to the eager little girl.
"Can I haves some candy too, AJ?" Elenore suddenly asked, her eyes widening in excitement, as she noticed he has more bags of candy in his backpack. Kevin made a small noise of objection but Howie placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't ruin a fun thing Kev, please."
"Why of course you can!" AJ replied cheerfully, as he is having a lot of fun playing the Candy Man today.
"But that's my kid he is about to make very hyper!" Kevin argued quietly.
"Make him be responsible for her," Howie replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Its all part of the lesson Kev."
"But…"
"They'll run it off at the park, don't worry."
"Yeah, right…." Kevin replied quietly, and he crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the kids all line up in front of AJ.
"What'cha gots in there Uncle AJ?" Dakota asked anxiously, and he chuckled.
"Well for one, I bought you your very own bag of gummy bears, because I know they are your favorite." He explained to her, and he pulled out the bag of gummy bears and handed them over to her. Dakota just stood there gaping at it — her very own bag? Her daddy would never do that!
"Ahem — I believe I was the one who thought of giving her the gummy bears," Howie spoke up, not wanting AJ to get all of the credit of uncle of the day. Nick looked over at Howie with narrowed eyes and Howie stepped back behind AJ.
"Did I say that? I meant it was AJ — all him!" AJ smirked.
"But that's not all he got. Ashley, I believe there are some butterfingers in here, from Howie." He said, pulling out the butterfingers, and handing it over to her.
"Awww...Howie you didn't have to do that." Ashley gushed.
"I didn't. It was all him — honest." Howie replied, pointing to AJ. Ashley smiled at him and went over and kissed his cheek. Howie blushed.
"On second thought, that may have been me…" AJ shook his head and rolled his eyes, than he looked down at the kids who still stood there eagerly — everybody had to stop walking to wait on AJ to hand out all of the candy.
"Oh yeah — anyway, I also have some lollipops in here for the rest of you," He told them.
"Sa-WEET!" Josh cheered, as he watched AJ take out a bag of tootsie roll pops. He opened it up and allowed them to pick out one each.
"An' me too?" Dakota asked hopefully.
"Nooo I think the gummy bears are enough for you young lady," Nick cut in.
"Aww…but daddy…." Dakota whined somewhat.
"Don't whine Kota, your lucky to have that big bag all to yourself." Dakota stuck out her lower lip at him and he turned away as to not turn into a softy. Ashley stifled a giggle and rubbed her hand over his shoulder. She finds it amusing at just how much she looks like him right then. She stood there and watched as AJ handed suckers out to the rest of the kids, and when they had them all, Brian spoke up.
"Okay, now that you are done playing candy man, J, can we go?" Brian asked.
"Yup, carry on Rok." Brian continued to lead the way to his old school, and everybody started to follow. Dakota stayed behind staring up at her uncle with that same pout etched on her face. He reached into the bag and pulled out a chocolate tootsie roll pop and he handed it over to her and placed his finger to his lips, motioning her to be quiet. She smiled up at him and he leaned down and kissed her forehead, before the two of them hurried after the group. Dakota placed her secret lollipop into her pocket for later when she can eat it in secret, and then she ran off after Josh who had left her behind. When Brian arrived at the school he went to when he was a little boy — Tates Creek Elementary, he told the kids a big story about it and they all stood there looking around at it interestedly.
"Will I get to go to this school, Brian?" Josh suddenly asked, as he was back to standing next to Dakota and holding her hand.
"Maybe later down the road buddy, but we live in Florida…and I kind of need to be there right now. I'm sure Florida has a great Elementary though." Elenore beamed, as she suddenly caught sight of the playground near by — the playground that Brian got to play on as a little boy.
"Can we go an' play on that playground Brian? Please?" She asked eagerly. Brian looked over at Kevin skeptically.
"Do you think they will mind if we are on the school grounds Kev?"
"Maybe just for a few minutes — it's not a school day or anything, so why not? We'll spend five minutes here, and then be on our way and we'll go to a public playground a little later as promised." Dakota grinned excitedly, and she immediately dragged Josh toward the swings. Elenore raced after them, as she held on tight to Lil Rok under one arm and Chance's leash in the other hand.
"Come on Spencer, let's play!" She called back to Spencer, and he did as told and immediately followed. Nick scooped up Sarah and he carried her over to the swings too so that she can play as well. Dakota eyed her as he set her on one of the swings and began pushing her, and Nick could just see the daggers in his daughter's eyes.
"Daddy loves you Kota," he reminded her, and she looked up at him just on time to see him give her one of his heart warming smiles, and she smiled back a little. "How about I take you into Hot Topic while we are on our special date later and buy you some new clothes too?" Dakota beamed.
"Really daddy?"
"Uh-huh."
"Didn't you just buy her new clothes like a month ago, Nick?" Brian asked, smiling slightly.
"Well yeah, but you know me. I have to buy her something new every trip we take to the mall." Nick answered, though he didn't make eye contact with Brian, as he is still in a stubborn mood though Brian could feel the tension easing.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, in New York, when Brooke and Peyton finished trying on clothes and getting each other's opinions on them and buying the one's that they like they walked out of the store and went through other ones. Peyton let the question about what is up with her sister go, but she definitely didn't stop thinking about it. Everybody knows Brooke is a terrible liar, especially when it comes to lying about herself. Something is definitely up and Jaime obviously sensed it too because he wouldn't have agreed to tag a long if he wasn't worried about her. The two girls shopped for a couple of hours, and then they decided that they would go to the food court for some lunch and an Orange Julius. When they got there, they spotted Jaime sitting at a table already drinking an orange julius. Peyton grabbed Brooke's hand and gently steered her toward their brother. When they got there, she pulled up a chair and sat down. Jaime raised his eyebrow.
"I thought you didn't want me near you during your sister bonding time?"
"Yeah well…you can't eat lunch alone can you? I'm not that harsh." Peyton laughed. "And anyway, I got the time alone I wanted with her…it's safe for you to join us now."
"Oh well gee, thanks Pey." Jaime replied, rolling his eyes playfully.
"So what should we get for lunch?" Brooke asked, looking around the food court at all of the choices.
"I don't know about the two of you, but I've had my eyes on the Panda Express over there," Jaime answered.
"How come you didn't go and get some?"
"Some how I knew you two would come, so I waited."
"Well I'm having Chick-Fil-A," Brooke announced.
"Hmm…Panda Express sounds good. I'm gonna go with Jai."
"Okay, sweet." Jaime replied, and he got up and headed in that direction and Peyton followed. Brooke got up and went in the direction of the Chick-Fil-A, feeling slightly grateful to have a few moments alone. She knows they are onto her, and she's not doing a good job at hiding it. She can't hide it forever she knows this. She has to tell them…she knows its not going to go away until she does. But she doesn't want to. Tears spilled down her cheeks, as the battle in her head was becoming too loud for her to handle. Why can't she tell them? Why does this have to be so hard? They are her family; of course they'll be on her side…won't they? Suddenly she heard the ring tone to All I have to give. Knowing that it's AJ she heaved a big sigh of relief, before reaching into her pocket and pulling her phone out. She flipped it open and put it to her ear.
"Boy am I glad that you called…" she spoke into the phone, as she stepped out of the Chick-Fil-A line, and went toward the bathrooms instead.
"What's the matter honey?" AJ questioned worriedly, as he could hear how broken up she sounds. "I could sense something was wrong from all the way here in Kentucky."
"I can't tell them AJ…I can't tell them about Thadius," Brooke vented, as tears spilled down her cheeks, as she leaned against the wall in the hall leading to the restrooms, and she slid down onto the floor, tilting her head back a bit. AJ sighed heavily.
"Honey you have to tell them…I know it's hard, but you have to."
"Why though? It was years ago, I'm fine, they're fine, why can't we just leave well enough alone?"
"You are not fine Brooke…" AJ replied gently. "If you were fine we wouldn't be having this conversation. They are your family, you can't leave them in the dark like this and you need their love and support."
"But what if I don't get it Aje? I would be pissed off at me if I were them…for not telling them after all these years."
"They might be a little upset at first…it's understandable, but once they let it sink in I'm sure they will be right there supporting you. Ri told me all about them Brookie….they are a good family. I really don't think they would turn their backs on you…ever."
"I'm really scared though…" Brooke sobbed, and she rubbed at her eyes in attempt to make her tears go away, but it didn't work. "Thad threatened to kill me if I ever told anyone…"
"I'm not going to let anything happen to you Brookie," AJ reassured, making sure she can hear the sincerity in his voice.
"You can't protect me…you are in Kentucky and I'm here — with Thadius out there…god knows where he could be. He still hangs out with my Brother AJ…if I tell them, my brother will throw a fit because he is very protective of me and that means Thadius will find out."
"Riley has told me all about your brother. She says he would kill for you. Don't you think that if you told them what's going on the first thing a protective brother would do is run off and beat the crud out of the jerk who hurt his little sister?"
"Another good reason why I shouldn't say anything." AJ sighed.
"Honey if you don't this is going to be on your conscious forever…if you want to deal with the situation, you need to tell them." Brooke remained silent. What if she doesn't want to deal with the situation? What if she just wants to hide under a rock forever? It was as if AJ read her mind exactly.
"You have to deal with it. You can't hide from it forever…think about Ashley Brooke, she's been through so much horror in her life…do you see her hiding? No she's toughing it out and getting through it — slowly, but she is and look how much better she's gotten since then?"
"I don't think I can do it alone…" Brooke finally spoke up, as she sat there sniffling and she again wiped at her eyes. AJ was silent for a minute or two, as he thought things over.
"Do you want me to fly out there to be with you while you do it? I'll come if you don't mind me bringing Laila a long…"
"I couldn't ask you to do that AJ…"
"You aren't asking, I'm offering."
"I don't want you to leave your vacation just to come all the way down here for me…"
"I will do anything to get you to deal with your demons…and I'll only stay over night to help you cope and when your okay again, I'll hop back on the plane and come back."
"No…don't…I'll-I'll just tough it out on my own…."
"That's the thing though Brooke…you won't."
"Yes I will…I will do it." AJ sighed heavily.
"You promise?"
"Yes, I promise. Don't come out here AJ…stay there." Brooke insisted. "I have to go…I'm sure Jaime and Peyton are wondering where I'm at. I'm supposed to be getting my lunch from Chick-Fil-A…"
"Alright…I guess I will let you go then…" AJ replied uneasily.
"Bye Aje…thanks for listening to me vent…"
"Anytime honey…I love you…" he told her, not expecting an 'I love you' back.
"Love you too…" She told him, completely taking him by surprise, and she hung up. She put her phone in her pocket and she sat there taking a few moments to calm down and make herself look presentable. When she finally was, she stood up and walked out of the hallway, and she went back to wait in the chick-fil-a line. As soon as she got to the front of it, she ordered a chicken sandwich with lettuce and Mayo, and she got some fries on the side. She also got a medium Dr Pepper for a drink. As soon as she had her tray of food, she grabbed napkins and turned to head back to the table. When she got there she saw her siblings sitting at it with their food, and a familiar face with them — a familiar face that she was hoping to avoid at all cost during her stay in New York. Brooke's entire body stiffened with fear, though she tried her very hardest to keep her cool as she made her way back to the table.
~*~*~*~*~
"What's going on AJ?" Riley asked worried, when AJ had hung up the phone with Brooke.
"Brookie is having a melt down…and I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach."
"Why what's wrong?" Howie questioned worriedly.
"She's having a hard time telling her parents her secret…"
"Oh…" AJ was silent for a few moments, as he walked a long side his friends holding Laila (who is becoming quite squirmy now). After a few moments of silence he looked at all of them.
"I'm going to go be with her…I'll be back when things are okay again, I promise." He told them, and he turned and headed back to the Littrell house with Laila in his arms.
"AJ wait! Let's talk about this first!" Kevin called after him, but it was no use, he ignored him, the only thing on his mind right now is that he has to get to Brooke. He doesn't care about anything else.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Enjoy =)
