Chapter Two-Hundred-Ninety-Three
“Nick, we have a bit of a situation,” Marcus whispered into Nick’s ear as he went over and squatted down to talk to him as he still sat amongst the children with Ashley as they watch The Santa Clause. Nick and Ashley looked up at him concerned.
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Angel ran out of here crying just now. She made another failed attempt to get Conner’s attention and he deliberately said mean things to her to make her stay away from him because he doesn’t want to put her in danger. That’s the short version of it.”
“Oh jeez…” Nick muttered softly, and he kissed Ashley’s forehead before getting up.
“Do you know where she went?”
“Not a clue. I thought I would get you though because she’s your sister.” Nick nodded.
“Thanks,” he replied and he headed on out of the cafeteria. Once out there he looked around the lobby in hopes of seeing her somewhere, but when he didn’t he tried to think of where she might run to. After thinking about it for a couple of moments, he headed on up to his and Ashley’s room. Knowing his little sister, the first place she would run to if there was a problem is to him. When he got up there he walked down the hall to the bedroom and went inside and sure enough, he heard sniffles coming from under his bed. Sighing softly, he went over, crouched down and poked his head under there to see Angel lying on her stomach on the floor covering her face. He reached in and gently pulled her out before sitting down on the floor and shifting her so he is cradling her. Angel slid her arms around his neck, buried her face in his chest and started sobbing all over again. Nick hugged her tightly and rocked her in his arms slowly. Just then Aaron appeared in the doorway with Stacy. Nobody told him there was anything wrong with Angel, but he could feel it. Seconds after Nick left he pulled apart from their make out session and immediately knew something wasn’t right. When he took one look at his sister, he knew there is only one person who could make her this way. Shaking his head in anger, he turned and headed downstairs again. When he got down there, he went back into the cafeteria and he walked on over to Conner, grabbed him by the arm, and yanked him up and he pulled him out of the cafeteria letting the door shut behind them before slamming him hard up against the wall.
“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER?!”
“What you DEMANDED me to do! I stayed away from her!”
“Oh YEAH? Then why is she upstairs in my brothers arms crying over YOU?”
“I Have NO idea!” Conner insisted, glaring at Aaron dangerously. Aaron smacked him hard upside the head.
“DON’T lie to me, Conner! Have you not done that enough already? WHY is my sister so upset? You are going to tell me before I beat the crap out of you!”
“You are not going to beat the crap out of anybody AC, have you forgotten you are in an orphanage full of children? Keep your voice down!” Q demanded, suddenly coming out of the cafeteria and closing the door behind him. He grabbed Conner and lightly pushed him behind him so he was standing in between him and a seething Aaron.
“I want to know why the hell my sister is upstairs sobbing in my brothers arms and I want to know, now!” Aaron demanded, lowering his voice only a little but still sounding like a very stubborn child.
“You told me to stay away from her! She had other plans and the last thing I wanted to do was put her in danger by allowing her to get involved with me. So I deliberately said mean things to make her hate me! Okay? I did what I thought was best for her!” Conner explained angrily. “And it wasn’t easy! I didn’t want to do it, but the last thing I wanted was for Sean to find a reason to use her! Because he already knows how much she means to me! And damnit Aaron, she means an awful lot! So why don’t you give me a fucking break okay?”
“NOT until you go up there and FIX my twin sister!”
“YOU fix her! I am not allowed anywhere near her remember?” Conner asked, and he gave Aaron a dark look before opening up the cafeteria door again and going back in there where Aaron wouldn’t be able to fight him anymore without upsetting lots of children. Aaron stood out in the lobby staring at the now closed cafeteria door seething for a few moments, before turning around only to find Nick standing behind him.
“You can go inside the cafeteria Q…I’ll take care of him,” Nick reassured. Q nodded and he turned and disappeared in the cafeteria as well. Aaron started to follow him, far too pissed off to think clearly. All he wants to do is give Conner a black eye but Nick reached out and grabbed a handful of his shirt causing him to stop.
“Stop it Aaron.”
“Let me go.”
“What for? So you can go in there and scare a bunch of children? What the hell is the matter with you?” Aaron crossed his arms and looked away from his brother, suddenly pissed off at him as well.
“Where is Angel?”
“Upstairs with Stacy. I thought I better come down here to make sure my little brother wasn’t doing anything stupid. But I guess I was too late for that huh?”
“He deserves to get the crap beat out of him, Nick!” Aaron demanded, pointing toward the door Conner disappeared behind.
“What for? Because he hurt your feelings?” Nick asked, sarcasm dripping on every word. “I’m sorry that he used you Aaron. It pissed me off too, but that is hardly a reason to go beat him up for it. You are just as bad as Sean if you do that.”
“I don’t want to beat him up for that! I want to beat him up for making Angel cry! No one makes my twin cry!”
“He only did what you asked him to. Stayed away from her. It’s not his fault Angel is so far gone in this crush of hers to see reason.” Aaron glowered.
“I told her to stay away from him.”
“And she told you to stay away from Stacy, but could you listen to her?”
“That’s not the point.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No, it’s not. Stacy wasn’t secretly working for Sean.”
“The point is,” Nick replied after rolling his eyes. “She can’t stay away from Conner just as much as you can’t stay away from Stacy. So why don’t you two just take a step back and stop trying to control each other’s relationships?”
“The difference is, I’M trying to protect her! I am not just telling her to stay away from him because he was my friend! I was perfectly okay with it before I found out that he works for Sean and was using me! How could you let him anywhere near her Nick? What kind of older brother are you?”
“He’s not a bad kid Air…he is just someone who got stuck in a very bad situation. He was born into it. As much as he hurt you, you need to understand that. He is trying to be better. He was even willing to hurt Angel’s feelings in order to protect her. If that’s not a big step toward turning your life around, then what is?” Aaron crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from his brother stubbornly. “I’m not saying that I’m glad he hurt her feelings, but he had good intentions. He cares about her and I can see it in his eyes when he talks about her. So try to understand, will you?” Aaron shook his head.
“I just can’t right now,” he replied before walking past Nick and heading for the door to leave the Orphanage.
“Tell Stacy I’m sorry but I just can’t stay here anymore. If she needs me she’ll know where to find me.”
“Aaron you are not seriously going to make your girlfriend walk home alone are you? Come on buddy, think clearly here.”
“Have Q walk her home.”
“Aaron Charles Carter, I’m not sure I like it very much if you leave here alone at night.”
“Nick I really want to go! Can you not see that?”
“No. You are staying. If you want to be alone, fine. Go find one of the many empty rooms here. But you are not leaving until morning Aaron, I mean it.”
“Watch me,” Aaron replied, before turning around again and walking to the door.
“AARON CHARLES CARTER, DON’T YOU DARE!” Nick shouted, but it was no use. Aaron was gone with the door shutting behind him. Nick growled.
“If Sean gets his hands on you Air, I swear to god…” Just then, the door opened again and he turned and looked at it to see Howie walk in with an angry Aaron over his shoulder.
“Did you lose a brother Nick?”
“Yes, thank you” Nick replied, crossing his arms over his chest feeling satisfied. “What were you doing out there?” he added, raising his eyebrow.
“Talking on the phone,” was all Howie said before handing the thirteen-year-old over to Nick. “I heard you shout and he ran right into me. Literally. I knew it is too dark for him to be wandering around on his own, so I grabbed him.”
“This is NOT fair! I am thirteen years old! I will not be held hostage by my own brother!”
“Its better being held hostage by me then some psycho.”
“Who says aren’t psycho?” Nick rolled his eyes and Howie snickered.
“Nice Air, real nice” he told him while setting him so his feet were on the ground and Howie blocked his path before he could run. “Come on, lets go get you a baby-sitter since you choose to not act your age,” Nick added while wrapping his arms around his shoulders and steering him toward the cafeteria.
“I am so acting my age. You are the one treating me like a baby.”
“My four year old is more mature then you are Aaron,” was all Nick said before the three of them entered the cafeteria. When they got in there he brought Aaron over to Q knowing he will be the hardest on him if he needs to be. He pulled a chair up next to Q and lightly pushed his brother into it before looking at the bodyguard.
“He’s yours now. Make sure he doesn’t go anywhere without you okay? He’s not allowed to leave the orphanage until tomorrow morning. Go to the bathroom with him if you have to.”
“That’s just creepy,” Aaron informed.
“Well, if you behaved we wouldn’t have to go to such extreme measures now would we?” Aaron glowered at him.
“You can leave me now. I don’t like you at the moment at all.”
“That’ll change the next time you want something,” Nick replied, before ruffling the teenager’s hair and walking away. Aaron let out a low growl.
“I swear if he ruffles his hand through my hair like that one more time like I am his pet or something, I’ll bite him.”
“Shush and watch the movie Aaron. Quit your whining.” Aaron brought his feet up into the chair before crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the lines in the floor. Meanwhile Nick looked over at Ashley and his kids to see all four of them completely transfixed in the movie. Deciding that they’re okay, he went over and sat next to Conner who looked at him a little nervously. He is a lot bigger and stronger then Aaron is. Aaron he can take…but Nick? No.
“You aren’t here to drag me out of the room and scream at me too…are you?”
“At the moment? No,” Nick promised and he noticed Conner relax a little.
“Okay…well then what do you want?”
“I want you to go fix my baby sister.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”
“Sure you can.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Conner you don’t have to worry about Aaron. I know he demanded you stay away from her, but I’m asking you not to. And if you haven’t noticed I overpower him completely.”
“It has nothing to do with Aaron and you know it. Believe me, if I could I would be going against Aaron’s orders in a heartbeat. But I can’t.”
“I get what you are saying, and believe me I am very grateful that you want to protect her from getting hurt. But I’ve never seen Angel so upset over a boy before Conner.”
“She’ll get over it, I promise” Conner insisted. “Broken hearts can be mended…but she can’t if she should ever get broken.”
“Can you at least go up there and make it so she isn’t so devastated? Please?” Conner stared at the television that was still playing The Santa Clause for a few moments, and then he nodded quietly.
“Where is she?”
“Upstairs in my room with Stacy.” Conner stood up then and so did Nick.
“Do you know where that is?” Nick questioned, almost afraid to get an answer.
“I’m assuming across from Kori’s. Just because she would want to be close to her sister.” Nick nodded, still eyeing Conner suspiciously and Conner turned around and walked out of the cafeteria with Nick following. When they got upstairs to the right floor they headed down to his and Ashley’s room and when they appeared in the doorway they found Stacy sitting on the bed with Angel with her head in her lap with red watery eyes but no longer crying. Stacy is sitting there quietly playing with her hair.
“What is he doing up here?” Stacy asked while narrowing her eyes.
“Doing what I asked him to do. Now come on Stace, out.” Stacy scowled.
“I am not leaving him alone with her.”
“You are too. Now come on before I carry you out of the room,” Nick ordered gently. Stacy rolled her eyes before crawling out of the bed and walking over to Nick who wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her out. He started to take her downstairs when suddenly she pulled away from him and leaned her back up against the wall outside the door where she wouldn’t be seen, but could still hear. Nick rolled his eyes, before doing the same thing. Meanwhile in the bedroom, Conner sat down on the edge of the bed as Angel curled herself up into a ball in the middle of it and hid her face.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you Ange, but you really gave me no choice.”
“You did so have a choice.”
“No I didn’t. You kept being persistent…I had to do something.” He reached over and rubbed his hand over her back. “You are a great girl Angel…really you are, and I care very deeply for you but you and I can never be together as long as Sean is in my life. Don’t you understand? I don’t want you to get hurt.” Angel sat up suddenly and she turned so her back was to him before hugging her legs to her chest and resting her head against her knees.
“Go away. Please.” She whispered as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
“Angel come on don’t be like this. Can’t we be friends? I would really like to be your friend.”
“I don’t want to be your friend. It’s too dangerous.”
“You aren’t being very fair. I am just trying to protect you from getting hurt. Why wont anybody give me a goddamn break?”
“Fine then Conner. Protect me…go away. The more you spend time with me the more danger I am in.”
“I’m not going anywhere while you are like this.”
“Why do you care? You hate me and can’t stand me and want nothing to do with me remember?” Conner sighed and crawled over so that he is sitting in front of her and he rested his forehead against hers and gazed into her eyes.
“I didn’t mean a word I said...it killed me to have to say it but I did what I thought was best for you. Will you please believe me?” Angel shrugged and he wiped away her tears with his finger.
“I really want to be your friend.”
“We can’t be friends,” Angel whispered. “Ever.”
“Yes we can, we could be really great friends.” Angel shook her head.
“I can’t do that Conner…”
“Why not?” Conner wanted to know.
“Because my feelings are way deeper then that and have been since the day I met you. When I look at you all I think about is how much I want to be with you. I will never be able to be around you and not feel that.”
“And I feel the same…you know that. You only remind me all the time,” Conner replied, trying to lighten the situation and he could’ve sworn he saw the tiniest smile break out on the corner of her mouth. “But as long as I am involved with Sean, you are in grave danger. Please try to understand that…please. It would kill me if anything happened to you.”
“I don’t care about Sean…” Angel insisted firmly. “You could be involved with fucking Hitler for all I care and I would still want to be with you.”
“But I care. He’s really dangerous Angel…and he already knows I’m crushing on you.”
“He’s after Ashley too and that doesn’t stop my brother from wanting to marry her does it?”
“That’s different.”
“How? How is it different Con?” When Conner couldn’t find an answer to back him up, she gently cupped his cheeks in her hands as their foreheads were still touching. “Can’t find an answer can you? Because there’s no difference…my brother knows each moment he keeps standing in Sean’s way he is in even more danger. He knows Sean could get him when he least expects it and he doesn’t care. He is willing to die for the woman he loves.”
“Well that’s Nick, Angel…I am not about to let you stand in Sean’s way for me. Do you hear me? I won’t do it.”
“It’s too late, I am already in the way” Angel insisted.
“Can’t you just wait until I finish helping Detective Stabler catch him?”
“What if you never do?” Angel wanted to know. “What if something bad happens to you and you and we never get the chance to be together?”
“Nothing bad is going to happen to me…”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“Angel…”
“I’m serious Conner,” Angel interrupted. “You don’t know what could happen the next day, or the next day after that so you can’t make such promises.” Conner gently brushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear and he gazed into her brown eyes. Every fiber of his being wants to give into her, but a small part of him still screams NO YOU DAMN FOOL, PROTECT HER. But then she has a very good point. What if he does die tomorrow? Detective Stabler promised him protection and he’s beginning to learn to trust him. But what if something goes wrong? What if something completely unexpected happens and he never gets the chance to kiss this beautiful girl in front of him? Or hold her in his arms ever again? Or officially call her his girlfriend? Conner slid his arms around Angel’s waist at the thought and brought her closer and she wrapped her arms around his neck as their foreheads still touched. He should be living life like he was dying. He shouldn’t hold things off until later, because what if later never comes? You can never be so sure with Sean in your life. But then he has to protect Angel, he just has too. The asshole already took the two most important people from him out of his life, he is not letting him take Rosalie and Angel too. He’ll kill him first. After staring into her eyes for a few moments, he leaned down and brushed his lips lightly over hers as she cradled his cheeks in her hands, closed her eyes, and let him, the feel of his lips on hers feeling just as wonderful as she knew they would. Better, actually. After a few moments when he pulled away he wrapped her tightly in his arms protectively.
“Sean must never find out,” he whispered. “Our relationship doesn’t leave this orphanage. Got it?” He questioned, looking into her eyes seriously. “At least not until it’s safe.”
“I can keep a secret if you can. But…I must warn you, another couple in this orphanage tried that once…and it got out.”
“That’s because he is a Backstreet Boy…you may be his sister, but I’m pretty sure you and I could find a way to stay out of the public’s eye…right?”
“Well I’m willing to try if you are.”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice,” he teased, pulling her closer and Angel giggled.
“Nope, you are mine.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy =)
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