Chapter One-Hundred-Fifty-Two
When Ally had gotten downstairs she wore a look of utmost annoyance on her face. Stacy’s father couldn’t help but look at her in slight amusement despite the situation at hand. Unlike his daughter’s three best friends he has a feeling he knows what this is all about. He unlike them is very much aware of the situation with Stacy and Aaron and he has had to watch his daughter go through all of this heartbreak for the past few years with great difficulty. He will never say anything to her friends though; he will always remain loyal to his little girl. If she wants to share it she will in her own time and way.
“Still having troubles?”
“Oh yes,” Ally replied. “But not for long,” She added, and she went to the front door, pulled it open and she went outside slamming it shut behind her. When she got out there she walked around the house to Stacy’s window and she looked up at it contemplatively. It shouldn’t be too hard to climb. Her, Stacy, and their three friends have always climbed out the window to Stacy’s bedroom and sat on the roof to look up at the stars, but they’ve never actually climbed up to the roof from the ground before. She looked at the tree next to the roof. It is close enough that she could climb up it and jump onto the roof. Deciding this is exactly what she is going to do, she went on over to the tree and got to climbing it. When she got to the branch that was level with the roof, she got up on her feet, grabbed onto the tree to balance her and she leapt onto the slanted roof that was only two inches away from her. When she did she got up on her feet and carefully walked over to Stacy’s window and she peered inside it to see her best friend lying on the bed clutching what looked like a picture frame. Tears are rolling down her cheeks and her eyes are all bloodshot – it is obvious that she’s been crying ever since she locked herself in her room and hasn’t stopped at all. Ally opened the window and she climbed inside causing Stacy to sit up quick in her bed and look at her horrorstruck.
“Allison Elyce Chamberlain! Are you OUT of your mind?” Stacy shrieked. “You could have gotten yourself killed!”
“Yeah, well that was the risk I was willing to take!” Ally snapped somewhat, and she walked over to the bedroom door, unlocked it and opened it to reveal two very shocked girls standing there.
“Oh my god! How’d you do that? Jess she really did apparate into the room!” Jessica, Ally, and even Stacy who still sat on her bed clutching the picture frame face down into her chest so her friends couldn’t see the people in the picture looked at Brianne weirdly, as if worried about her sanity.
“She climbed through the window Bree…” Jessica explained patiently. “And you read too much Harry Potter for your own good – seriously.” Ally shook her head and then looked back at Stacy who in her mind looks completely horrible. All of the anger that she just felt inside of her faded in an instant and she went over and sat next to Stacy and she wrapped her in her arms and hugged her close. Despite how frustrated she is with Ally for climbing through her window and invading her privacy, she slid her arms around her waist and hugged her back before burying her face in her shoulder.
“What is going on with you? I hate being shut out like this Stace…”
“We all do,” Brianne replied, and she went over and sat on the other side of Stacy and wrapped her arms around her also. Jessica however, looked around the room that had grown very messy since she, Brianne, and Ally had been locked out and she suddenly noticed the closet door open. She looked at Stacy with a raised eyebrow.
“Stace…your closet door is open. You must really be off if your closet door is open…you never keep it open.” She started toward the closet then and fear suddenly took over Stacy. Her friends can’t find out about Aaron! They just can’t! They will kill her for keeping it from them.
“Jess, NO!” she shouted and she jumped up from the bed and rushed over to Jessica but she didn’t make it on time. By the time she reached her, she was standing there staring down at exactly what had made her best friend so upset and she stood there shocked and unable to say a word. Stacy stood there rooted to her spot, a horrified look on her face as she waited for Jessica to say something. But the next person who spoke however, was not Jessica. It was Ally.
“Do you want to explain what this is all about Stace?” she asked, and Stacy turned to see Ally and Brianne staring down at the picture frame, each of them wearing identical expressions as Jessica on their faces. During her sudden panic over her secret Aaron Carter treasures in her closet, she had dropped the one that was most special to her and now her friends have it.
“And what is the meaning of all of this? I thought you burnt it all,” Jessica finally found her voice to speak, and she picked up the box of Aaron treasures and brought it over to the bed so the rest of them could see. Stacy sighed heavily as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
“It’s a long story…”
“Well we’ve got time,” Ally insisted. Stacy rubbed at her eyes miserably and then went over and joined her friends. The damage has already been done, there’s no way out. She has to tell them.
"Aaron was my best friend when we were small. But, then he moved away and we kept in contact up until he got famous. Then he forgot all about me. It hurt then and it still hurts now."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, when Trevor hung up his phone he looked across the house at Sean with a raised eyebrow. Sean glanced over at him for a moment and then looked away as he set his cell phone down. He knows an interrogation is coming – Trevor wouldn’t be Trevor if he didn’t insist on knowing what’s going on, and he’s been on his case non stop lately in fear that he will screw everything up – but he just knows this Aaron kid could be important. Why? And how…he’s not quite sure yet. But he can feel it.
“Are you planning on clueing your best friend in on your plans anytime soon?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Sean insisted, playing dumb in order to buy time so he can think of a good explanation. He knows Trevor will be skeptic. He’s careful, and that’s why he likes him.
“Bullshit Sean,” Trevor replied while rolling his eyes some and he went over and sat on the couch and he stared at the back of Sean’s head as he stood there with his back to him. Trevor guesses he is probably pretending to be interested in that paper lying on the counter just so he doesn’t have to meet his eyes. “Why are you so interested in Aaron all of the sudden? And don’t lie to me, I know you.”
“He is important to Nick,” Sean confessed, and he went over and sat on the couch across from his partner in crime.
“So?”
“So our plan is bring down Nick by all means so that we can get through him and take Ashley – I really think Aaron may be the key.”
“Aaron loves Nick very much, Sean. I’ve never met the kid but I’ve listened to Nick’s end of the conversation many times when they were on the phone. There are pictures of them together in magazines, and all over the Internet. They may have huge family problems but there is no doubt that the kid idolizes his brother. There is no way we’re going to get him to do any harm to him.”
“He would never purposely harm him,” Sean replied, making sure to emphasize the word ‘purposely’. “Kids can be persuasive…especially teenagers. Kori is living proof, isn’t she? Hell even Ashley. If they’re vulnerable enough you can get them to do whatever you want.”
“What are you saying, Sean? You want to try and coax Aaron into joining us?” Trevor questioned incredulously.
“Not really join us…I just think he could be of some assistance without knowing it…”
“How?”
“I’m not sure yet…I want to find out more about him before I make any further plans. I want to know his weaknesses, I want to know about his relationship with his brother…what makes it so strong…maybe even what could possibly mess it up…how weak would Nick become if he and his little brother were in the middle of a huge fight? How much would it distract him from Ashley?”
“I don’t know…his love for Ashley is very strong and vise versa. I had a hard time finding a way past him when I was ‘Doctor Adams’. He would have to be VERY distracted to forget about her.”
“But you were able to successfully hurt her while you were there.”
“Yeah because I was smart enough to do it RIGHT when he was about to lose Dakota forever.”
“So that means it is possible that family can distract him then. We just have to find the perfect moment.”
“Yeah, but Sean, things are different since my attack in the orphanage. They know better now…Ashley is NEVER alone and there are now security guards helping them. Plus, don’t forget I was arrested after that attack.”
“So we will just have to plan it more carefully this time and attack at the RIGHT time. I really think the kid could help us there...if we caused such a huge catastrophe where EVERYBODY had to tend to Aaron..."
“There would still be somebody sticking to Ashley.”
“I know…but if we could get it so that it took all of the security guards to rescue Aaron…and it was just another Backstreet Boy or Caregiver left to protect Ashley, it wouldn’t be such a big deal.”
“It would have to be pretty big…”
“Hmm…” Sean replied contemplatively, and he rested his elbows on his knees, and placed his chin in the palm of his hands as he thought things over.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Kevin, Elenore, and Tim had spent the entire morning outdoors. Tim ended up taking Elenore to ride go-karts, horseback riding, and they went into town and did some shopping too. By the time they got back to their mother’s house, Ann insisted that she and Ellie make cookies and they spent hours doing that. By the time they were finished it was just a couple of hours before lunch time and Elenore had fallen asleep on the kitchen floor covered in flour. Kevin who had walked into the kitchen after playing basketball with Tim couldn’t help but laugh a little bit.
“What, she couldn’t make it to the couch in the living room?”
“Nope she couldn’t,” Ann answered while smiling some. “I was just thinking about carrying her in there when you walked in.”
“I’ll do it Momma, don’t worry about it.” Kevin reassured gently and he went over and gathered the sleeping five-year-old into his arms being very careful not to wake her.
“She is just covered in flour – what did you two do, have a flour war?”
“Maybe,” Ann replied innocently, and Kevin shook his head grinning before carrying her into the living room with him. When he got in there he went over and carefully lay sideways on the couch with Elenore lying comfortably on his chest, her head rested against his shoulder. He rested his forehead against hers and rubbed his hand over her back just as Tim walked in. He grinned at the scene before him and went over and grabbed a blanket and he covered the two of them up with it as Kevin’s eyes were already half closed. Tim isn’t the least bit surprised. They started at six thirty in the morning and have been out and about since then. He expected even Kevin to get worn out. He always does after horseback riding and basketball. He walked back into the kitchen then and he found his mother cleaning up the kitchen and getting ready to make lunch.
“Well, the kids are asleep,” Tim announced as he went over and grabbed the rag from her hand and began to clean up the flour mess instead giving her a chance to concentrate on lunch. Ann laughed.
“I expected as much. The moment I looked into Kevin’s eyes I knew he wasn’t coming back in here. They have a couple of hours before lunch they’re fine. Why don’t you call Jerry and tell him not to be loud when he walks in the house?”
“Okay,” Tim agreed, and when he finished cleaning up the flour mess he pulled his phone from his pocket and went over and sat at the table as he called up his brother.
~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile, back at Stacy’s house, she had just finished explaining her story to Jessica, Brianne, and Ally, and much to her relief neither of them were mad at her. Slightly hurt that she didn’t trust them enough to tell her, but they support her and love her nonetheless. Knowing that they’re with her no matter what took a huge weight off of her shoulders.
“You’ve been cooped up in this house for days Stace…why don’t we go for a walk?” Ally suggested. “You could use some sunshine…and you need to get your mind off of things.”
“Yeah, lets go to the park.” Brianne suggested.
“I don’t want to,” Stacy pouted. “I want to stay here.”
“No way. That is not an option. You’re going to the park with us and that is an order,” Jessica replied and she and Ally both took her hands and pulled her up from the bed.
“Now go take a shower and get into some clean clothes. You smell bad and look like shit.”
“Gee thanks a lot Al,” Stacy rolled her eyes.
“But I lo-oove you,” Ally quickly added.
“Yeah, Yeah…” Stacy replied, and she went and gathered up some clothes before going into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her. She only took ten minutes to shower and get dressed into her clothes – a pink tanktop and some blue denim shorts. She pulled on her flip flops and lazily pulled her hair back into a scrunchie deciding that she doesn’t need to impress anyone. She walked out of the bathroom then and allowed her friends to drag her downstairs and outside. Meanwhile, at the park, Aaron and Q ended up waiting there for a couple of hours, Q sitting there talking to Aaron and keeping him from getting impatient. After an hour though, Aaron decided the park is a lost cause and he was beginning to get thirsty – and hungry.
“I don’t think she’s showing up here Q…and I’m hungry. Can we go and get some pizza please?”
“Of course buddy. It is after all, almost lunchtime. We’ll go to Pizza Hut…I’ve noticed it’s a popular hangout place for kids here…who knows, maybe she will show up there while we’re eating,” Q encouraged.
“Yeah…maybe…” Aaron replied, starting to get depressed.
“Don’t give up Air…we’ll find her I promise. This isn’t a very big town.”
“If we don’t find her around town today…would it be considered as stalking if I looked her up in the phone book?” Q laughed.
“Well your intentions are good…so I guess not…but do you really think she’d answer the phone for you if you called? She’s kind of pissed off at you.”
“She would if she didn’t know it was me.”
“True…” Q replied as the two of them left the park and headed for pizza hut.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
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