"Nah, I'm going to my room for awhile, I feel kind of tired." Nick lied. He had Karen on his mind. With that, he left the three alone in the den.
"That's weird, Nick never turns down a game of Mario Kart." Aaron said confused.
"He doesn't?" asked Dawn.
"Never, even when he's tired he'll squeeze in a game of Mario Kart." Aaron explained.
Dawn looked at Theresa. "Maybe that girl really is getting to him."
"What girl?" Aaron asked. "That girl Brian ran into at the beach?"
"Yeah." Theresa said sadly. "That dirty, ugly bitch!!!"
"Why do I sense that you like my brother?" Aaron said curiously.
"What? What are you talking about?" she immediately said.
"See, I was right....I'm right aren't I?"
"No, you don't know what your talking about." Theresa said. "Sure, I like him..AS A FRIEND!!"
"Okay, whatever you say. I don't believe you when you say you don't like him more than a friend. Don't worry I won't say anything...whether it's true or not." Aaron said. "Unless..."
"Don't you dare, Aaron!" Dawn jumped in trying to protect her friend.
"So it is true!" Aaron laughed.
"Please...please don't say anything." Theresa begged.
"Don't worry I won't!" he said slyly.
"Promise me?" Theresa said weakly.
"It'll be hard to do because he IS my brother, but...." Aaron said. He looked at Theresa's sad eyes. "For now, your secret is safe with me...he will find out eventually you know."
"No he won't, his mind is too busy thinking about Karen, that poor innocent girl." she said sarcastically. "He's too busy thinking about her to even notice me."
"Hey I have an idea," Dawn chimed in. "Why don't you take this opportunity to go talk to him right now? See what's bothering him?" 'And give me the chance to be alone with Aaron.' she thought to herself.
"Yeah, maybe I should." She knew Dawn wanted to be alone with Aaron. "Do you think he'll mind Aaron, if I go up there and talk to him?"
"Nah, he wouldn't mind. Just knock first, if he's really tired like he says he is, he'll be cranky." Aaron warned.
"Thanks, I'll be back!" Theresa got up and headed for Nick's room.
Meanwhile, Brian led Karen into his home where Howie and Kevin were waiting for them. They had rushed home to clean up and get a room ready for their guest. Since it took awhile for Karen and Brian to get home they had went to the mall to pick up a present for Karen. "Hey, would you like to see your room?" Howie asked. "We got it ready for you."
"Sure," Karen said. Howie led her to the room with Brian and Kevin following right behind them.
"Thanks cuz for letting her stay." Brian said.
"No problem, we got her a gift on our way home. I hope she likes it." Kevin replied. "But I would like to know why you asked her to stay here."
"Right now is not the time," Brian said nervously. "I just don't think she's ready to tell anyone yet."
"She told you didn't she?" Kevin asked.
"Yeah..." Brian faded.
"Well, here's your room..." Howie spoke up. "I hope you like it."
As he opened the door, Karen slowly looked inside. As she stepped into the room, she saw that it had baby blue walls with white furniture all around. The carpet was a beige color. She walked around and opened the closet. She looked inside, it was a walk-in closet with lots of shelves. "I don't need a closet this big," Karen said to the boys. "I have nothing to put in here. I have no money to buy any clothes." She looked sad.
The boys stood there not knowing what to say.
Karen continued to look around the room. She looked out the window and opened the patio door. She walked out taking a breathe of fresh air and looked out at the scenery ahead of her. She could see the beach and the raging waves hitting the rocks nearby. 'Wow, what a beautiful sight.' She walked back inside and looked on the bed. There was a box wrapped in a big red bow. "What's this?" she asked.
"Oh, it's something we picked up on the way home to welcome you into our house." Kevin replied. The boys had been standing there watching her become familiar with her new place, watching the sparkle in her eyes as she looked around. 'She looks really happy.' Brian thought to himself. 'I hope she likes it here.'
"Oh, you didn't have to." Karen said. 'I've never received a gift a long time. These guys are so nice.' she thought. "I can't accept this, you've already welcomed me into your home, that's enough."
"No, don't worry, it was our pleasure." Howie said. "It's not a problem."
"Well, are you going to open it or what?" Brian asked.
Karen looked at Brian and smiled. She looked down at the box and slowly opened it up. 'What could it be?' As she opened up the box, she saw a beautiful red sun-dress with beautiful red shoes to match it.
"I hope it fits you." Kevin said unsure.
"Thank you so much. It's beautiful, but.." Karen said.
"Wait, there's more.." Howie said.
She looked into the box again, under all the tissue paper was a pair of diamond earrings that matched the dress. Brian looked at her face. She was in awe.
"I can't....I can't accept this!" her voice trembling. "This must have been so expensive."
"Don't worry about it," Howie said. "A gift is a gift, plus it matches your dress.....I guess what I'm trying to say is that your going to stay with us for awhile, and this is a start of friendships all around. And hopefully it will apologize for all the future disagreements we have, since now your living with us, you'll learn that we aren't totally perfect people."
"But, this is too much.." she said looking at the earrings.
"Don't worry," Brian said. "Now that your living with us you have to learn to accept the gifts and the favors. That's how we are, we're people who care about others around us and willing to help out any friend in need and gifts will always be there even for no reason."
'Man, they are so nice, I can't believe they'd do this for me. Me? A dirty kid with no money.' Karen thought. "How can I ever repay you guys?"
"No need. Just being our friend and being able to trust us is all you can do." Brian said.
She looked at Kevin and Howie. "Brian's right!" they said.
"Thank you so much." Karen said. "Umm..do you think I can take a shower? I really need one."
"Sure, the bathroom is over there. If you need anything just ask. Clean towels are in the cupboard next to the sink." Brian said. "That reminds me we got to freshen up to get to Nick's, he asked us to go over for dinner, BBQ, can't miss it. Do you guys want to come?" he asked Kevin and Howie.
"Yeah sure, we wouldn't miss a barebecue, but first we have to meet up with A.J.'s mom to talk over our schedule." Kevin said.
"See ya later then." Brian said.
"Yeah!"
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