"Umm..Karen? Are you okay?" Brian asked.
"Oh..hey..yeah I am. Took you long enough?" she smiled weakly.
"Sorry Nick needed some help. Umm..he wants to talk to you." Brian said.
"Me?" she asked. "Why?"
"I don't know. Do you want me to come with you?" Brian offered.
"Yeah, would you please?" Karen asked.
"You know what? I think he wants to talk to you alone." Brian said, "But if anything goes wrong I'm out here and you can come get me alright?"
"Oh..okay!" Karen said weakly. "Where is he?"
"Inside. In the living room."
"Okay..."
"I'll see you in a bit."
Karen slowly walked into the house. She headed towards the living room, there was no one in there. She sat down on the couch and looked around. 'Pictures of him and his family. How sweet, they look like a close family...something my family wasn't.' she thought to herself. She thought of her mother and then her father. Just as tears were about to roll down her face...
"Hey, Karen. How are you?" a voice interrupted her thoughts.
She looked up wiping away any visible tears. It was Nick. "I'm fine! And yourself?" she said trying to sound happy.
"I'm good! So how is Brian, Kevin and Howie treating you at their home?" Nick asked.
"Good."
"So Karen, we never got to finish our conversation the other day, but I'm not going to bother you because I don't want to cause you any pain." Nick explained. He was fidgeting with his fingers.
'He looks uncomfortable.' Karen observed. 'I wonder what's going on? He wasn't like this the last time I talked to him. He was so confident and...'
"Look, Karen, I'm not a straight out type of person, but every time you pop back into our lives, all I can think about is you. When you didn't phone I was wondering if you were okay. I was hoping that you weren't on the roadside dead or something. I was really worried." Nick confessed. "When Brian brought you to us at the beach today, I was relieved and happy to see that you were okay....."
"Nick..."
He continued on, "...I just want you to know that I'm here for you 100%. And I want you to know that I really care about you."
"I know you do, but..."
He interrupted again, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I know that we hardly know each other and you probably don't trust me as much as you trust Brian, but..I'd really like to get to know you better. I'd like for us to be more than friends."
"More than friends? What do you mean?" she asked curiously.
"I mean..I mean...I'm sorry.." Nick apologized.
"For what?" Karen asked.
"For this." Nick leaned over and gave her a kiss. Karen immediately pushed him away as thoughts of her stepfather flashed in her mind. "I'm sorry, it's just that..."
"What the hell was that for?" Karen quickly said angrily. 'What's going on? Why did he kiss me? I...I can't do this.' she asked herself.
"I'm sorry I couldn't help myself. I'm..I'm such a fool..." Nick said to himself hitting himself over the head with a pillow.
"I think I should go." Karen got up to leave.
Nick grabbed her arm. "No, please don't go. Karen, you're gorgeous and your eyes..your eyes are beautiful. I'm a fool for kissing you. You deserve way better than me." Nick said remorsefully. "I'm a fool, I was stupid for making a move."
She looked down at the strong hand on her arm. 'He means business, I can't defy him...' she thought back to her stepfather. "Nick, I honestly don't know why you asked me to come in here....but I really think we should go back outside." Karen said uncomfortably. 'What made him do that?' She kept asking herself.
"Karen.."
"Yeah," she said just standing there.
Nick got up. "Please don't tell anyone what I did. I don't want.."
Karen just looked at him blankly, the words sounded familiar to her, 'What else am I suppose to do? If I say something you'll..you'll kill me.' Karen's mind was now playing games with her, the image of her stepfather appeared in her mind. 'You'll kill me if I tell anyone. I won't tell..just..just..go away, stop! He can't...if I resist him he'll hurt me...'
Nick gave her a peck on her cheek, when Theresa walked in. "Oh..I'm..um..I'm..sorry..I was looking for the bathroom." and she quickly ran out of the house.
"What?" Nick said worried, "I'm..no..I was just...oh no!" Nick fell down on the couch with his head in his hands.
Karen looked at Theresa as she ran out of the room, not knowing what to do or say. 'Oh no, she found out, I'm going to die!' she looked distraught. She tried to calm down and clear her mind and rethink things through. Finally, she realized that it wasn't her stepfather, it was Nick. 'I shouldn't have come here tonight.' She looked down at Nick, 'Why did he kiss me..what just happened here....all he did was kiss me right? He doesn't mean any harm, right? I thought he was a nice guy, oh no, what....' She kept asking herself. She continued looking at Nick and the image of her stepfather raping her was very strong in her mind.
Brian looked up, looking at a distraught Theresa, she was crying for some reason. Theresa ran straight to the dock and collapsed to the ground crying her eyes out. 'What happened? Oh no, Nick? Karen?' Brian quickly ran inside the house. "Nick! Karen! Are you guys okay?" He walked into the living room and there was Nick sitting down with his head in his hands and Karen standing there as if she just saw a ghost. "What happened in here? Why did Theresa run out like that?" He was standing there looking for answers but for some reason it was all quiet.
Meanwhile, outside, Dawn ran after Theresa. "Theresa, what's wrong? What happened? I thought you were going to the bathroom."
Theresa didn't answer. She just kept crying. 'Why? I knew Nick liked her, but why didn't he tell me? Why did he lead me on earlier? Damn her. Damn Karen.'
"Theresa, please? You're scaring me. What happened?"
"Dawn, can we go back to our hotel now? I can't stay here any longer."
"Not until you tell me what happened?"
"I saw them...I saw them kissing."
"What? Nick and Karen? What are you talking about? Are you sure?"
"I went inside to use the bathroom and I heard some voices and I went to see who it was and just as I walked into the living room, Nick kissed her."
"On the lips?"
"I don't know..all I saw was their face close together and he kissed her..." Theresa said. "How could I be so stupid?"
"Did she return the kiss?" Dawn asked.
"I don't know..." Theresa cried harder. "Please can we just go?"
"Yeah...I guess so, let's go say bye!"
"I'll wait for you in the jeep, they can't see me like this..."
"Okay..I'll be there in a few minutes." Dawn said.
Theresa hurried out to the jeep as Dawn walked back to the others.
"Is she okay?" A.J. asked.
"Yeah," Dawn lied. "Umm..guys I think we're going to go now..It's getting late."
"Are you sure?" Kevin asked.
"Yeah, it's been a long day for all of us, I think Theresa's just tired." Dawn explained.
"I'll walk you out." Aaron offered.
"Okay..bye guys." They headed towards the gate. Dawn was really quiet when all of a sudden Aaron grabbed her hand when no one was in sight.
"It was about Nick, wasn't it?" he asked.
"Yeah..It's a long story."
"Don't worry, I won't ask!"
"Thanks."
They continued to walk on hand in hand when Aaron stopped again. "What? What's wrong?" Dawn questioned.
"Dawn, I had a really great time today. I hope I'll see you again soon."
"Yeah of course you'll see me again soon."
"No, Dawn I mean I hope I'll see you more often." he said.
"What? What do you mean?" Dawn asked confused.
"I want us to be more than friends." Aaron said, "I want you to be my girlfriend."
"What?" Dawn asked surprisingly. 'Oh my gosh, am I dreaming? Please pinch me? This can't be happening.' she thought. "Are you sure?"
"I'm positive." Aaron reached out and caressed her face. "And I'll prove it." He leaned forward and kissed her passionately.
Dawn stood there speechless and motionless. She was in shock. 'Am I dreaming? Did Aaron Carter just ask me out? Come on Dawn, say something. Say yes.'
Aaron looked at her in amazement. "Dawn?"
"Yeah."
He held her hands and asked, "Will you go out with me?"
"Yes, yes I will," she said excitedly. She gave him a hug. They looked at each other and kissed passionately with Dawn returning the kiss more willingly.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Aaron asked.
"Yeah, you will."
"Later!"
"Bye!"
'Oh my God, I'm Aaron Carter's girlfriend. I cna't believe it, I can't wait to tell There-- Oh no, Theresa, she'll be devastated if I tell her I'm seeing Aaron Carter, I can't tell her yet. She needs me to be with her right now.' She headed towards the jeep with mixed feelings. Happiness because of Aaron and sadness because Theresa was sad and she can't stand the thought of her best friend being sad.
Meanwhile, in the house, Brian stood there worried.
"What just happened here? Does someone care to explain?" he asked with a worried yet angry voice. He couldn't stand there looking at his friends being hurt like this. "Please, Karen?" No answer. "Nick?" Still no answer. Next thing you know it, Karen collapsed on the floor crying hard. Brian ran towards her and sat down beside her. He was holding her trying to make her stop crying.
Nick sat there helpless. 'What did I do? Why did Theresa run out like that? I'm so stupid for making a move on Karen, she hardly even knows me and I don't even know her,' he looked at the crying girl, 'She was the innocent one in all this. I didn't mean to cause her any pain. I didn't...'
Kevin, Howie and A.J. walked in. "Man, what's going on in here?" A.J. asked. "Did someone die or something?" Noticing that no one was paying any attention, he sat down beside Nick. "What's wrong bro?" he asked. "Want to talk about it?"
Nick didn't answer him.
"Nick, are you okay?" asked Kevin.
Howie went over to Brian, "Is she alright? Do you know what happened in here?"
"I honestly don't know, D. I came in and Nick had his head between his hands and Karen was standing here looking like she saw someone get killed or something. I've asked and asked and I haven't gotten an answer." Brian said looking at Karen, trying to comfort her.
"Nick, what's going on here?" A.J. asked. "Come one man, what the hell happened?" A.J. said impatiently.
"A.J.!" Kevin warned. "Nick, are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm...I'm...I'm..." his voice trembled. He looked over at the wreckless girl on the floor and said, "I'm an fucking idiot!" He ran upstairs into his room and all everyone could hear was SLAM!!
"Holy..." A.J. mumbled. "You know what, Kevin? I'm honestly confused."
"Aren't we all," he said.
Brian looked at Karen, then he looked at the rest of the guys. "I'm going to go upstairs and try to talk with Nick, do you mind watching Karen for a couple of minutes? I'm going to take her home right after."
"Sure, Bri!" Kevin said. "Hey! Do you want me to take her home now? She looks like she could use the rest."
Brian looked at Karen, "No, I'll drive her home, just watch out for her right now alright?" he said, 'Besides I have to talk to her.' his mind said.
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