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Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
Chapter One-Hundred-Thirty




Meanwhile, in a small café in the town of Kentucky, Cole and Max were sitting at a booth drinking coffee and discussing things when suddenly Cole's cell phone rang. Cole groaned, as he knows it can only be one person and he is really not in the mood for Sean to be pissed off at him. Cole got up from the booth then and looked at his partner Max.



"I will be right back," He told him, and then walked out of the café after pulling the hood to his hoodie down over his head. When he got outside, he pulled the phone from his pocket, opened it up and placed it to his ear.



"What now, Sean?"



"First of all, this isn't Sean." Trevor's voice came out of the phone and Cole flinched a little. Trevor is definitely not who he expected. He relaxed a little. "Second of all, I may be a whole lot easier to talk to then him right now, but keep being disrespectful like that toward my best friend and that might just change." Cole gulped at his words.



"I'm sorry…"



"Well you should be. He is your boss you will not talk to him like that. Keep it up and I will release him on you. And believe me, he is one pissed off person without his drug stash so I wouldn't take that chance if I were you."



"I'm sorry Trevor…it won't happen again."



"Good…anyway…the point of this phone call, what's going on up there? Why haven't you reported back to us?"



"Because we haven't been able to hide outside their gate."



"Why…may I ask?" Trevor asked irritably, and he rolled his eyes.



"It's not safe, that's why."



"You aren't still scared of that stupid dog, are you?"



"That dog isn't stupid Trev, he knows we are there!"



"We've talked about this Cole…didn't we? What was our plan?"



"The plan isn't working! It was for awhile, the westie loved our treats and so did the pug…but then the smart one figured us out and everytime the two other puppies try to come near the gate, he tells them off." Trevor sighed heavily and Cole can hear Sean in the background asking 'what? Tell me what they did wrong now please Trev? I wanna know…' Cole has never heard Sean beg like that in the entire seven years that he's known him. He must really be going nuts without his drugs. Trevor suddenly spoke into the phone again, completely ignoring Sean's pathetic pleads.



"Then you will just have to find another way…"



"There isn't any other way to get that dog to lay off."



"I'm not talking about the dog…I am talking about another way to watch them."



"How are we supposed to do that?"



"I don't know, you are supposed to be the experts here. If you don't start giving us good information soon you are done for Cole. Because you are really starting to irritate me."



"Okay…we will figure something out I guess," Cole replied, and he glanced over at the tattoo shop that he just happened to be across from just on time to see Nick and Ashley come walking out of it. It turns out that they have been somewhat useful after all. They have been tailing Nick and Ashley since they left the Littrell House.



"Please tell me you have some good news for me. If I get off this phone and have nothing but bad news for Sean I won't hear the end of it."



"Well…we saw Nick and Ashley leave the house earlier and have been following them around town all morning…"



"Why didn't you tell me this before?!" Trevor exclaimed exasperatedly. "What are they doing?"



"They are on some kind of date, or whatever…they just came out of the tattoos and piercings shop across the street from the café that Max and I have been sitting in." Cole explained, as he turned his back on Nick and Ashley slightly, as he noticed the two of them looking toward the café. He looked toward the glass to the phone booth in front of him where he could still see their reflection. Meanwhile across the street outside of the tattoos and piercings shop Nick wrapped his arms around Ashley's waist and he looked into her eyes concerned. He knows getting the piercing hurt her just by the pained look in her eyes as he watched the guy do it, but she didn't act like it — she acted very brave as if she were trying to prove a point.



"Are you okay?"



"Mhm, fine," Ashley answered, smiling up at him. "Thanks for letting me do that Nicky, it meant a lot to me."



"I'll do anything to make you happy," he replied, and he lifted her Sex Pistols t-shirt up just far enough so he could see her belly button and he rubbed his hand lightly over it being careful not to hurt her. "It's a good thing that the shirts you wear aren't ever short enough for anyone to see your belly button…Brooke is going to kill me if she sees this."



"She won't I promise." Nick nodded nervously, and he put her shirt back down and took her hand into his and gently squeezed it.



"Where to now?" He asked curiously, as he looked around.



"I don't know," Ashley answered, shrugging her shoulders. "Anywhere you want to go." Nick thought for a few moments.



"Why don't we go get some lunch and take it to the woods near Brian's parent's house and we'll have a picnic? I have a blanket in my backpack that I packed just for the occasion."



"Kay."



"Where do you want to get lunch at?"



"Panda Express," Ashley answered, noticing her favorite Chinese place just right down the street.



"Chinese it is," Nick replied, and he began to lead Ashley in that direction. They only got as far as a couple of inches, before they had to stop and come back as they realized Abbie wasn't coming.



"Abbie, come on baby lets go," Ashley told her, and she gave the leash a gentle tug. Abbie stayed put though, and looked from them toward the café across the street like she wants to go over there.



"Come on Abbie…" Nick spoke up, but Abbie let out a soft little whine, as she attempted to pull herself toward the café. Ashley went over and picked her up and she looked at Nick curiously.



"Is it just me or does it seem like she wants to go over to that café so badly?"



"No, I'm getting that vibe too. God knows why…there isn't anything over there that she would like…" Ashley stared over at the café for a couple of seconds, and then looked back at Nick.


"No, but Ashley could really go for some coffee right now."




"Well then I guess we should probably go over and get us some, shouldn't we?" Nick replied, smiling at her some. Ashley smiled back and set Abbie down and she grabbed hold of her leash just as she was about to take off running over there without them.




"Whoa…chill out you crazy dog, we're going…" Ashley told her, giggling a little and Nick reached for her hand before the two of them made their way across the street. When they made it across Abbie ran straight for the strange hooded man on the cell phone. She got just as far as the man's foot before Ashley lightly tugged on the leash, making her stop.



"Abbie, no! Leave the nice man alone." She told her. Abbie whimpered some, as she attempted to pull herself back toward the man and Ashley sighed and went over and scooped her up into her arms. Nick remained right at her side protectively, as he watched the strange man move away from Abbie and turn his back on them and he noticed him pull his hood down even further and continue talking quietly.



"What is wrong with you huh?" Ashley asked, talking to Abbie in that voice people get when talking to a baby and Abbie licked her cheek and whined some. Nick gently squeezed her hand.



"Ashley…come on…lets go get that coffee," he told her and she allowed him to pull her into the café, though he looked back at the strange man worriedly, as there was something very foreboding about him. When they got in the café Ashley started to go sit down at a booth but Nick tightened his grip on her hand, before she could let go. She turned and looked at him curiously.



"Stay close," he ordered gently and he brought her over to the line that people were waiting in to order coffee. Ashley looked at him a little confused, but she brushed it off and rested her head against his shoulder as she looked around the café still smiling to herself. She is in a great mood and she doesn't think there is anything that can ruin it. She loves being out with Nick alone. As soon as Nick got their coffee he turned around to take Ashley out of the cafe when he noticed that the man on the cell phone was now inside. He is sitting at a table with another man who he notices has a hood on now too — he didn't when he and Ashley had walked in. Nick knows because he looked around at everybody in the café as they walked in. He continued to take Ashley outside not making a big deal of it, as he doesn't want to scare her. But he definitely will be discussing it with everybody else later. He took her down to the Panda Express next where they ordered their lunch, and then they went to the woods by Brian's parent's house where they will be setting up their picnic.



~*~*~*~*~



Meanwhile at the Littrell House, When Kevin had finally managed to get Ellie to fall asleep in his lap he took the ice pack off of her sore hand for the first time since he put it on (she wouldn't let him take it off). When he did he noticed for the first time the bruise on it. He rubbed his hand lightly over it sympathetically. He can't believe Ryan did this. He is just glad that justice was served and Ryan is now up in his room and got a nice long talk with Howie. When Howie came back downstairs without him, he informed everybody that he discussed with him the seriousness of what he's done, about how he could have seriously hurt Elenore, and he also discussed how his addiction to video games was starting to get out of hand. He took his playstation away from him and he's informed everybody that he is not allowed to have it back for two weeks. He watched her sleep in silence for a long while, as he tucked a strand of her hair back behind her ear. After a long while he looked over at Brian.



"Bri, will you watch Ellie for me for while? I'm going to go pick up Jerald from work. His car is at the dealership being fixed so he got a ride there from a friend, but that friend can't take him home. He wants to come here."



"Yeah, sure, hand her over…" Kevin got up from sitting on the couch while cradling Elenore in his arms and being extra careful not to wake her up and he brought her over to Brian. Brian gently took her into his arms as he held Dakota who is also sleeping.



"I won't be gone long, I promise. You know Jerald doesn't work too far from here."



"I know, take your time. I'll take really good care of her."



"Thanks cuz," Kevin replied, and he grabbed his keys from the coffee table, before leaving the house to go and get his brother. He knows he can't stay long. He has never left Elenore alone like this before and he is afraid she might wake up and freak out when she finds him gone. He wants her to be in a good mood when he gets back, because he and Jerald are going to take her some place special, just the three of them.



"So Bri…what were Kota and Ellie really talking about earlier about Ryan?" Howie interrogated since both girls are asleep, and Josh and Spencer had coaxed Sarah out onto the playground to play and Marcus had gone back out there with them.



"I swore to Kota that I wouldn't tell…and I don't break my promises to her — ever." Howie sighed.



"I was afraid you were going to say that…"



"I'm sorry D, but I value my niece's trust."




"But you swear it isn't bad?"




"I swear to god that it wasn't bad."



"Wow…you know it's serious D when Brian starts swearing to god," Riley joked and Howie chuckled.



"Yes, that's true…"



"Mhm," Brian agreed.



"I'm just making sure, because I don't like punishing Ryan and I would feel bad if I found out it was for nothing."



"No D, you did the right thing. He deserved it. He was completely out of line for stepping on Ellie's fingers, and even if they were talking bad about him — which they weren't, she still didn't deserve that."




"Kay," Howie replied.



~*~*~*~*~*~



Meanwhile, Kevin pulled up in front of the building that his brother works at as an interior designer and Jerald was standing outside waiting for him. He went and opened up the door and he climbed into the passenger's seat.



"Hey bro…how was work?"



"Meh…" Jerald answered, and Kevin laughed.



"That good eh?"



"It was pretty exhausting…but anyway, what about you? How was your day?"



"Oh not too much exciting things happened…we sat around and talked mostly, and Ryan stepped on Ellie's fingers and bruised them pretty bad…so she cried in my arms for a couple of hours…and is now out." Jerald frowned.



"But she can't be out, we're supposed to be taking her to the carnival today I thought."



"We still will…I just want her to have a little nap before we go so she won't be grumpy."



"Ah…good thinking. She needs to be happy so that I can spoil her rotten." Jerald grinned. Kevin rolled his eyes.



"Not if I can help it."



"Hey…she's practically my future niece…it's my job little bro, deal with it." Jerald replied, grinning excitedly. Kevin chuckled and continued to drive, as he thought quietly to himself: You have no idea Jerald…no idea.