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



When Kori got back to her bedroom she walked in to find that Wiley is out of the shower and he is lying on the bed beside Spencer reading a book. He looked up when she walked in though and she shut the door behind her and went over and sat on the edge of the bed just thinking about things.



"Hey Kor, what's the matter?" He asked concerned. "Where'd you go?"



"To throw a surprise visit on Ashley to show her exactly how it feels," Kori answered softly. "But for some reason she was pissed off at me and this time I don't even know what I did wrong."



"Oh no…" Wiley replied softly. "I was going to tell you earlier but then I forgot…I was planning on telling you when I got out of the shower."



"Tell me what?" Kori asked and she turned and looked at her boyfriend confused. "Wi what's going on?"



"Well…earlier at the park, you know how you got that phone call from Isabelle?"



"Yeah, how can I forget? The diner is doing so badly without me and I am so stressed out."



"Well the phone call kind of upset her…" Wiley replied and he moved behind her and began massaging her tense shoulders.




"Why? I don't understand…" Kori asked, too lost in her thoughts about the Diner to even give it much thought.



"She's jealous of the new world you've created without her. She's pissed off that you can't wait to go back."



"Well she is just going to have to deal with it. That Diner means a lot to me. It saved my life, I met my best friends in it, it helped me become a better person…it's my life now."



"And your sister knows all of this Kor…but she feels hurt that she doesn't fit into your new world."



"I offered for her to move back with me."



"And she doesn't want to. Her heart belongs in Florida honey…"



"And mine is in Jersey – so she should understand completely.



"Is it really honey? Is your heart really in Jersey? Are you sure you aren't still running?"



"Of course it really is…"



"I don't believe you. I think you only have your heart set on going back because you can't face what happened in Florida."



"I already told you…that Diner means a lot to me. I can't let it go."



"It may mean a lot to you but deep down inside your sister means more – there's no denying it because I can see it in your eyes everytime you look at her. You can't keep running forever, that is not going to change what happened. Pretending it never happened is not going to make it true. You need to face it or you are never going to get past it and you are always going to hurt inside."



"I can't face what happened Wiley, don't you get it? I killed my parents! It's all my fault they're dead and every time I am in Florida I feel like it is haunting me! I can barely breathe in that state! I can't stay and face it and I won't!" Kori insisted and she turned away in a sad attempt to hide her tears.



"Kori…" Wiley began, but Kori got up and she stormed out of the room. When Kori got out into the hall, Marcus saw her on the camera and came out too.



"Kori, what's up? Where are you going?"



"Out." Kori answered moodily.



"I really don't think that's a good idea honey…"



"I don't care. I need to go out and clear my head."



"Then I'm going with you."



"No. I want to be alone."



"Kori…" Kori turned around then and gave the concerned security guard a dark look and he recoiled at her stare. Wiley came out then.



"Kori come on…come back into the room," he insisted, and he grabbed hold of her arm gently, but she yanked it back.



"Let me be!"



"Kori please, it would be suicide to go wandering around by yourself."



"Unlike my sister I can take care of myself! You do not want to mess with me right now."



"That is not fair for you to say, she lost her parents at twelve years old! She isn't as strong as you, she couldn't just take care of herself!"



"Yeah and guess who's fault that is?" Kori snapped as tears rolled down her watery eyes. She glared at Wiley for a few moments and then turned and headed for the stairs. When she got downstairs she went straight for the front door, opened it up and went outside. She went over to the gate and used her remote that Brian gave her and she pushed the button to open the gate before walking out of it, closing it again, and storming off toward nowhere in particular. In nothing but her tanktop and pajama pants…and barefoot too.



"Well this is just lovely! My girlfriend's run off to get herself bloody killed!" Wiley exclaimed exasperatedly, as he paced the halls not knowing what he should do.



"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have let her go like that but –" Marcus began, feeling completely horrible and like a bad security guard.



"Oh trust me, it's fine…it's not your fault. You do not cross Kori Mortenson when she is pissed off…" Marcus was about to reply when suddenly Nick and Ashley's bedroom door opened and the two of them stepped out hand in hand.



"What is going on out here? We heard raised voices…" Nick asked worriedly, and he kept Ashley close to him protectively.



"Kori ran off…" Wiley answered, and then resumed pacing.



"WHAT?!" Ashley nearly shouted, as her worst fear after Sean is coming to life. Wiley could see the tears forming in her eyes and immediately felt bad.



"No, No, No…love, I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that," He immediately insisted. "She didn't run away, she's just…not here at the moment" Ashley narrowed her eyes at him.



"Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense!"



"We were talking…she got pissed off at me and decided she was going to go out even though Marcus and I strongly advised that she didn't. She left her son here, she wouldn't leave without him…"



"You can never be too sure about that," Ashley replied bitterly, as she crossed her arms over her chest after rubbing at her watery eyes – no matter how many times she did though, the tears just kept falling and Nick wrapped his arms around her.



"I know she wouldn't, she loves him."



"Yeah well, she used to love me too once upon a time, but that didn't stop her did it?"



"Baby…you need to relax," Nick spoke up gently in her ear.



"How do you expect me to relax? My sister is out there, god knows where…she knows it's not safe and yet she does it anyway! She thinks she's invincible but she's NOT! How does she think she ended up in the hospital the first time?!" Hearing everybody's voices, Brian, Riley, Kevin, and Howie were soon joining them out in the hallway. Wiley and Marcus explained everything that's going on. Kevin looked over at Ashley the moment he heard it all and when he saw how stressed she is he spoke up.



"Why don't we go downstairs and get some hot chocolate? I'm sure Kori is fine…she's strong, she knows how to take care of herself. We'll wait up for her…" He suggested, and together everybody ushered a worried Ashley down the stairs.



~*~*~*~*~



Meanwhile, as Kori walked through Brian's neighborhood she crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at the road moodily. She rubbed at her eyes in attempt to make the unwanted tears go away, but no matter how hard she tried she can't. Why is she always crying? why is it that ever since she came back to Florida all she can do is cry? She's never cried once since she left and it was great. But now she feels incredibly weak and it is an awful feeling to her. She loves her sister more then anything in the world, but why can't she understand? Why can't she see how hard it is for her being in Florida and living with the regret of killing her parents every single day? All Ashley ever wants is to remember her parents…and never let go of those memories, but all Kori wants to do is flee to New Jersey where she feels the safest and forget about it. She loved her parents, she did. But she just knows that they don't love her – not after how badly she betrayed them…and she doesn't blame them in the least bit. More tears fell from Kori's eyes as she turned into the woods and kept walking. As she walked through the dark woods alone lost in deep thoughts, she was completely unaware that she was being watched. Cole and Max, who had been hiding in the bushes out in front of the Littrell House saw her leave and naturally, they followed. Cole pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and he dialed Trevor's cell phone number. After a couple of rings, he picked up.



"You better have good news to report to me," was the first thing he said when he picked up.



"Kori is out walking around by herself," Cole reported with a grin on his face.



"Perfect…follow her."



"We are, but I was just wondering if you wanted us to do anything?"



"Just follow her and report back to me what she's doing."



"But Trevor…she is who you want, and now is the perfect chance!"



"Sean and I don't want you doing anything unless it is trailing them! You are supposed to be lying low right now, we don't want you getting caught."



"But…"



"That is the orders, Cole. Disobey them and you will be sorry." Trevor demanded firmly, and then he hung up. Cole groaned exasperatedly and then he looked over at Max who had just disappeared into the woods. He had been trailing Kori the whole time while Cole talked on the phone. Cole hurried up and caught up with him and when he did, Max looked at him curiously.


"We're supposed to just trail her," he told him, and he looked up at Max to see that he is clearly not amused in the least bit at these orders. He opened his mouth to protest but Cole placed his hand over it.


"Shut up – if Kori spots us we're in trouble," he whispered firmly and when he pulled his hand away Max moodily followed Cole deeper into the woods as Kori unknowingly led the way. By the time Kori stopped they found themselves at the lake where Nick and Ashley had their picnic. Kori went over and sat down at the lake and she hugged her legs to her chest as she stared out at it and suddenly a memory of her father taking her and Ashley fishing flashed through her mind. They were on their father's boat and out in the lake near their house and Ashley was Dakota's age. She couldn't swim but thought it would just be the coolest thing in the world to balance a long the edge of their father's boat. Kori and their father had their backs turned on her at the time because he was in the middle of showing her how to fish – it was their first trip ever. Ashley climbed up onto the railing and called out to them to look – they did, and their father of course immediately demanded her to get down. Ashley of course didn't like that order and frowned, and Kori remembers her exact words were


"No daddy, this is fun!"


"It is also dangerous! Get down before you fall in!"


"NO!"


"Ashley Elaine, if I have to come and get you I will take you back to shore and Kori and I will fish without you"



"NO!"



"Then get down!"



"NO!" So of course, true to his word, their father went on over to grab her. Ashley saw this and started to get down like she was told because she did not want him to take her back to shore. As she was doing that, she slipped and fell right into the lake. Kori remembers the terror on their father's face as his youngest child fell into the lake almost as if it happened just yesterday. His baby was flapping her arms around and screaming for help and could barely keep her head out from under the water. He immediately dove over board and rescued her. When he brought her back onto the boat, the both of them soaking wet all she could do was cling tightly to him and cry. She was so scared! Kori remembers that out of fear the only thing he did was yell at her and give her a long speech on how bad that was but he let her stay and fish with them nonetheless. He was just thankful she hadn't drowned and he knew that was punishment enough. Whenever they went fishing again Ashley never went near the railing without their father again. Even more tears rolled down Kori's cheeks at the memory. He loved Ashley very much…she was always a daddy's girl…and because of her, she can't spend time with him anymore…because she killed him. Kori hugged her legs to her chest as she felt a cold breeze rush by her. She looked around her to see that the trees are blowing and she can smell rain too. She knows she should probably head back but she really doesn't want to just yet. As she stared out into the water she noticed rain drops hitting it and rested her chin on her knee as she watched it without a care in the world. Meanwhile, back at the Littrell House, everybody was sitting in the kitchen drinking hot chocolate – Nick sitting in a chair with Ashley cradled in his lap. He has his arms wrapped protectively around her waist and he is kissing her neck and shoulders softly as the two of them sat there listening to everybody talk. After a few moments the crack of thunder interrupted them. Ashley flinched and screamed and she clung tightly to Nick.



"Shhh…honey, it's just thunder it won't hurt you," Brian reassured.



"I know…I'm sorry…I just didn't expect it." Ashley lied, hiding the fact that she's had a small fear of thunder and lightning ever since she was a little girl. Only Kori knows that she used to crawl into bed with their father every time there was a thunderstorm going on. Nick saw right through her lie though with just one look into her eyes. He kissed her forehead softly and tightened his arms around her waist a little as he pulled her closer to him.



"I don't think we can say the same for Kori though…" Wiley spoke up suddenly. "What if it gets bad enough that a tree falls on her? Or what if she gets struck by lightning?" he asked worriedly.



"She'll be fine," Nick answered firmly as he felt Ashley tighten her arms around him again.



"Sorry…" Wiley apologized softly, as he realized what he had done. Just as he said that though they suddenly heard the loud clatter of rain pouring down hard on the roof. Wiley got up and went over and grabbed his hoodie and he put it on before slipping on his near by vans.



"I'm going out to look for her," he insisted.



"I'll go with you," Kevin replied and he got up and followed Wiley out of the kitchen and out of the house. Just as soon as they heard the door shut behind them, another crack of lightning was heard. Ashley didn't scream that time but they heard a shrill scream from upstairs and Nick recognizes it as Dakota.


"DADDY! DADDYYYYYYY!!!!" she screamed a few seconds later, confirming that it is indeed his daughter.



"I need to go and get her baby…you're going to have to let me up," Nick told Ashley gently. Ashley got up and he ran out of the room to hurry and get to his daughter who he knows has a big fear of storms and has had them since she was just an infant. Ashley went over and crawled into Brian's lap and she clung tightly to him instead, as he is the next safest place to hide when Nick isn't available.