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Chapter 142

Veronica followed Nick up to Brent’s door, standing back a bit as Nick knocked on the door, her anxiety growing. Initially she’d felt good about meeting his friends, but now that they were there, she was wondering if it was too late to bolt.

“Hey…c’mere, why are you down there like that?” Nick questioned, reaching out and wrapping his arm around her waist pulling her against him.

“Oh I…I just…”

“You ok?”

She nodded quickly, “Mmmhmm.”

Nick stared at her, “You don’t have to be nervous Veronica, seriously, it’s cool.”

She started to say something when the door suddenly opened, and she stiffened.

“Nick! Hey man, c’mon in!” Brent called suddenly, pulling Nick into a half hug.

Veronica smiled a bit at the manly display of affection, the one armed hug allowed them to show affection while keeping their manliness intact, men were funny that way. Her eyes widened as Nick reached out, taking her hand and leading her inside.

“Good to see ya man, Brent this is Veronica, Veronica…this is my best friend Brent,” Nick smiled.

“Hey Veronica nice to meet you, Nick’s told me a lot about you,” Brent smirked.

Chuckling, Veronica shook his hand, “They’re all lies.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Mmm hmm, you’ve been friends with Nick for a while, you know how he is.”

Brent nodded, “You’re right; you should be hanging out with me instead.”

She couldn’t believe it, he was flirting with her!

“What can I say; I’m a glutton for punishment.”

Brent laughed, “Yeah well, the offer is there.”

“Ok…c’mon Veronica, there’s a few other people I want you to meet,” Nick announced suddenly, glaring at Brent before pulling her away towards two girls on the couch.

Veronica hadn’t even noticed they were there.

“This is Julie and Laureen,” Nick smiled.

Veronica looked at the girls, smiling. “Hey.”

“Hi, nice to meet you,” Julie grinned.

“Hey,” Laureen gave a small wave.

“You ladies talk and do all that shit girls do when they’re together, I gotta talk with Brent, be right back Veronica.” Nick explained before turning and grabbing Brent, dragging him into the kitchen.

Veronica turned to look at the two girls, smiling nervously.

“Have a seat,” Laureen offered, patting the spot next to her.

Veronica sat carefully, clearing her throat.

“So Veronica, Nick tells us that you met through his fan club,” Laureen grinned.

“Uhh, kinda.”

“Do you work there?” Julie asked.

“No, I live in New York.”

“But…you met through the fan club?” Laureen questioned.

Veronica nodded slowly.

Julie and Laureen stared at her for a moment, smiling a bit.

“Well I have to say, this is a first, Nick never really introduces us to his girlfriends and we’ve known him forever.” Julie smiled.

“It’s true, me and Nick used to date, kinda…and it took forever before he introduced me to his other friends and even his family…he’s weird like that.” Laureen shrugged.

“No no, we’re not dating, just friends is all, and honestly we don’t see each other one month to the next.”

“You’re just friends? For real?” Julie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Veronica nodded, “Oh yeah, just friends. We started talking and that’s about it really.”

Julie and Laureen looked at each other.

“So…uh Laureen, you and Nick used to date?”

“If you wanna call it that. Nick has always been a hard person to be with, I dunno he’s so guarded most of the time and while he can be really affectionate, you always get the impression that he’s holding back. He’s really good at hiding his feelings; it just got too hard for me.” Laureen explained.

“Don’t get us wrong, Nick’s a great guy Veronica, we’re not saying that he’s not. It’s just…I don’t know if it’s his job or what, but he doesn’t trust a lot of people, doesn’t get close to anyone and doesn’t let anyone close to him,” Julie offered.

“Exactly, I mean it was hard to be in a relationship with him cause I’d wanna ya know, talk about things and get to know him but he was just so damn distant most of the time. He could be open when he wanted to, but otherwise…” Laureen shrugged.

It didn’t make sense; he wasn’t like that with her, at least not anymore.

“Is that how it is with you two? I don’t know if it’s any different since you two aren’t dating,” Julie inquired.

“Um kinda, not so much anymore.”

Laureen raised an eyebrow, “Oh yeah?”

“I guess.

Julie and Laureen grinned.

“How bout that,” Laureen chuckled softly.

Just then Nick made his way into the room, Brent in tow, a huge grin on his face, while Nick looked highly annoyed.

“Hey Veronica, ready to go?”

She looked up at him, “Yeah ok.”

“Aww so soon? C’mon Nick, we barely got to know Veronica,” Julie frowned.

“Sorry girls, I’ll be by to see you all later.”

“Yeah but Veronica won’t be with you,” Laureen said.

Nick looked over at Veronica, “Damn Veronica what’d you do?”

“Nothing, we’re just talking.”

Nick shook his head, “We’ll try to come by later in the week if we have time.”

“I hope so,” Brent smiled, winking at Veronica.

“Knock it off man!” Nick muttered, shoving Brent lightly.

Julie and Laureen giggled, and Veronica stood, looking between Nick and Brent for a moment before looking back over at Laureen and Julie.

“It was nice meeting you both.”

“Same here, get our numbers from Nick, we’ll keep in touch through email or something,” Laureen smiled.

“Sure. See ya later, nice to meet you too Brent,” she announced, making her way towards the door.

“The pleasure was all mine, believe me.”

Nick shot Brent a look before opening the door and all but pushing Veronica out.

~~~~~~~~~~

After a quick lunch at McDonalds, they were back on the road.

“Ok, here’s the thing I wanted to know if you wanted to meet my Brother and Sisters,” Nick announced, looking over at her.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, I mean you’re here, you’re my friend and I want you to meet them.”

“Alright sure.”

“Great, Aaron is having a cookout and everyone is there at my Dad’s.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“You’re sure you wanna do this? If you’re not comfortable please say so, I wanna do stuff that you wanna do.”

“Honestly Nick I don’t mind, really.”

“Ok, if you’re sure,” Nick nodded, as he pulled into the driveway.

They made they’re way up the driveway and then inside, Nick introduced her to a few people along the way.

“Now, the hard part is finding Aaron,” Nick frowned as he led her through the crowds of people, a tight grip on her hand.

Veronica looked around at the various people, growing more and more nervous. What if his family didn’t like her? Would his father be there? What would he think?

“Aaron!! Ya little shit, c’mere, and bring Angel!” Nick shouted from the balcony over looking the pool.

Veronica tried not to laugh; it was interesting to see the way he acted with his Brother.

“Damn man you don’t have to yell, I hear ya!” Aaron yelled back as he made his way up the stairs, Angel behind him.

Nick turned, giving Aaron and then Angel a brief hug.

“Glad you could make it man, got steaks cooking on the grill and later we’re gonna get together and play some cards.”

“Cool cool, look Aaron, Angel I brought someone with me. I want you to meet Veronica,” Nick turned to look at her, taking her hand and gently tugging her forward.

Veronica gave a small wave.

“Hey, nice to meet ya, make yourself at home, there’s food everywhere so make sure ya eat something,” Aaron smiled.

“Damn is that all you think about?” Nick frowned.

“That and sex,” Aaron smirked.

Angel shoved him, “You’re so nasty Aaron, god. I’m Angel, nice to meet you. Don’t mind Aaron, he was raised by wolves.”

Veronica giggled, “No problem.”

“Aaron! Your damn dog just shit on the kitchen floor, come and clean it up!” BJ yelled.

“BJ, c’mere, I want you to meet someone,” Nick demanded.

BJ made her way out, a dog in her arms.

“This is Veronica, BJ…Veronica.”

“Hey nice to meet you,” BJ smiled, looking over at Nick questionably. “She your girlfriend?”

Nick chuckled, “Nah, we’re just friends.”

“Who’s just friends?” Leslie asked as she made her way out. “Nick!”

“Hey you,” Nick smiled, reaching out and giving her a quick hug.

“Nick says he’s just friends with Veronica,” BJ grinned.

“We are!”

Everyone turned to look at Veronica.

“Uhh he’s right, just friends I promise.”

“Losin’ your touch huh man?” Aaron laughed, whacking Nick on the back.

Nick rolled his eyes, “C’mon Veronica, I can’t believe I’ve subjected you to this.”

Veronica smiled, “It was nice meeting you all.”

Nick lead her out and over to the kitchen, grabbing a can of pop for himself and one for Veronica. He opened his and was about to take a drink when he saw him. His Dad was talking with some of Aarons friends. He didn’t know what to do, could he take the chance and introduce him to Veronica?

Veronica noticed Nick had stopped mid drink and was staring hard at something, or someone. Following his gaze, she saw his Dad.

“Nick? You ok?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine.”

He seemed to have made his mind up about something because suddenly he looked over at her.

“I want you to meet my Dad.”

She nodded, “Ok.”

He stared at her a moment before taking her hand and leading her over.

Bob turned and looked over at Nick.

“Nick! I’m glad you could come.”

“Yeah. Dad this is Veronica, she’s a friend visiting from New York.”

Bob looked over at Veronica and smiled, offering his hand, “It’s nice to meet you Veronica.”

“It’s nice to meet you too Mr. Carter.”

Bob waved the formality off, “Please, call me Bob, any friend of Nick’s is a friend of mine.”

Nick cleared his throat, tugging on Veronica’s hand a bit. “Look Dad we’re gonna go and chat with some people.”

“What’s the rush? Don’t you wanna talk with your Father? You haven’t been home in months, let’s catch up.”

Veronica could feel Nick stiffen and she squeezed his hand gently.

“We can do that later Dad.”

Bob sighed, “I guess, you’re always so busy son.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe Veronica can convince you to hang out with me more, Ginger has been asking about you.” Bob continued.

Nick felt his anger start to rise.

“I could try I guess, but it’s not really my place to get involved in family matters. I’m sure Nick will do whatever he’s comfortable with,” Veronica smiled, looking up at him.

Nick looked down at her, smiling suddenly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

Bob frowned, “Yeah well, I guess I should be going. I promised Aaron I wouldn’t stick around for too long. It was nice meeting you Veronica.”

“Likewise.”

Veronica watched as Bob turned and made his way out the house and felt Nick relax beside her.

“Hey, you ok Nick?”

“Yeah just…glad he’s gone.”

Veronica frowned, “Try to relax and enjoy yourself ok?”

He nodded, “Do you mind if we stay for a bit? I’ve been…well I’ve been trying to spend more time with my Brother and Sisters, ya know…kinda like you suggested.”

“Really? That’s great Nick, I’m glad to hear it.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah, I’m proud of you. You’ve come such a long way over the last year or so, it’s really great. And of course I don‘t mind.” Veronica smiled.

Nick could feel his face burning and the swell of warmth rushing over him, she was proud of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



A Few Hours Later…

Veronica watched as Nick lost another hand of poker to his Brother and chuckled. They’d been playing for hours and it’d been nice to see everyone getting along. She’d had the chance to speak with all of his Sisters and they’d all been really nice and welcoming. Everyone else had gone, so now it was just her and Nick left. Veronica could tell that they were secretly glad to have the alone time with just Nick, and Veronica had tried to stay out of the way as much as possible so as not to interfere.

Nick looked happy, really happy. He was different with his family; the change into big Brother mode was surprising and also kind of comforting. Nick stretched and then looked over at Veronica, giving her a private wink before standing.

“Well kids, it’s time for us to leave.”

“C’mon, one more hand,” Aaron pressed.

“Sorry squirt, time to go. Veronica’s probably bored as hell.”

Everyone again looked over at her.

“Not at all, I’ve been enjoying this. It seems that Nick loses a lot.”

Aaron raised an eyebrow, “Is that so?”

“Mmmhmm, I’ve beaten him at Playstation a few times.”

Aaron grinned, “Oh yeah? He’s easy I know.”

“C’mon Veronica, how ya gonna turn on me like that?” Nick frowned.

“I’m just stating facts. By all means, play another hand,” she grinned.

Soon Angel, Leslie and BJ were all teasing him and challenging him to play another hand.

“Nah, I’m stopping. I’m done. We’ll rematch later.”

“Wimp,” Veronica grinned.

“Veronica!” Nick blinked.

Everyone started laughing.

“You’re gonna pay for that woman,” Nick smirked.

“Uh huh, I’ll bet.”

“Ok everyone, we’re out,” Nick announced, making his way over to Veronica, wrapping his arm around her waist as she stood.

“Well it was nice meeting you all,” Veronica smiled.

Nick hugged them all and they waved bye as they made their way out of the house and over to his truck.

“Your Brother and Sisters are really nice Nick, I had fun today,” she smiled as she slid into the truck.

Nick smiled, sliding into the seat as well.

So had he.