"It was great!" Theresa said happily.
"That's good."
"Well, Kevin called awhile ago and he was wondering if you wanted to go over there for some barbeque. He said you could bring whoever you wanted." Aaron jumped in.
"Who's all going?" Theresa asked fidgeting.
"Everyone," Dawn replied.
"Everyone?" Theresa said.
"Come on, you can bring Travis along. It'll be fun. We haven't seen them in awhile and it would be rude to turn down the invitation don't you think?" Dawn begged.
"Oh alright." Theresa gave in. "Only if Travis will come." she said. 'He'll keep me busy.' she thought to herself. 'And I won't have to face Nick or that bitch.' She looked at Travis, "Will you come?"
"I don't know these people, I'll feel left out." Travis said.
"Please?" Theresa begged. 'I kind of want to see what they've been up to.' she thought to herself. 'I don't need Nick, I have Travis.'
"Oh, alright? As long as you promise you won't leave my side."
"I promise." she smiled.
Dawn and Aaron looked at the happy couple. 'I'm glad Theresa has finally let go of Nick,' Dawn thought.
"We'll meet in the lobby at 7:30 then." Travis said.
"Yeah, see ya then." Theresa said. "I'll walk you out."
Dawn turned to Aaron. "I'm so happy for her, she deserves a guy like Travis, but he does remind me a lot like Nick." she said. "Do you think she's going out with him because of that?"
"No Dawn, don't misjudge the guy like that, maybe she really does like him for who he is." Aaron said.
"Yeah, I shouldn't be paranoid."
"Well, I'm gonna go home and change," Aaron said. "I'll see you there."
"Yeah I'm going to go with Theresa, I'll see you there." Dawn leaned over and kissed Aaron good-bye.
Meanwhile, Brian was heading back to his place when he saw a familiar car in his driveway. 'Leigh Anne? What is she doing here?' He walked in and saw her sitting on the couch talking to Howie. 'She's alone, where's Jordan?' he thought, 'What's going on?' He walked straight up the stairs and into his room. 'What? Why is she here? She better not be here to try and talk to me because it's not going to happen.'
Knock! Knock!
"Who is it?" Brian asked hoping it wasn't Leigh Anne.
"Kevin."
"Come in."
"I was just getting out of the shower and I saw your door close. Did you just get home?" Kevin asked.
"Yeah," Brian said.
"Well, we're having a barbeque, I invited, Leigh Anne, Theresa, Dawn and the rest of the guys. I hope that's okay with you." Kevin explained.
"Sure, no problem." Brian said, 'After all, Kevin doesn't know about my break up with Leigh Anne, so I can't get mad at him.'
"Leigh Anne's downstairs, did you see her?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, just letting you know. It's so great to see her, I haven't seen her since we got back. She's looking better than ever."
"Yeah....people change I guess." Brian said a little down.
"Is there something your not telling me, Brian?" Kevin asked noticing Brian's uneasiness.
"No, I'm fine." Brian quickly siad. "I'm going to take a shower and change. I'll be down in a bit."
"Alright." Kevin left.
'God, how am I going to face her? I guess I'm going to have to make the best of this. Everyone loves Leigh Anne, how am I going to break it to them that we aren't an item anymore?' he thought sadly. He got up and went into the bathroom to take a shower.
At Nick's place, "Hey, you want to go back and get a drink or something?" Nick asked.
"Sure, I should get going soon, after all we have to get ready for the BBQ Kevin is having."
"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that." Nick said.
"Yeah, time flies when you have fun, doesn't it?" Karen said.
"It sure does." Nick said, "Especially with you."
"I had fun with you too." Karen said. She didn't know what was happening but she was getting a really strong feeling from Nick. 'Am I beginning to fall for him? No, I can't, I can't trust any GUY.' she thought to herself. Karen got up to go sit down beside Nick, but she tripped on a piece of rope and fell right into his lap.
"Wow, what did I do to deserve a lovely gift like this?" he teased. 'How good it feels to have you in my arms.' his mind told him.
Karen quickly got up, "Oh I'm sorry I'm so clumsy, I tripped on that rope...." she quickly said. She was so embarassed, she walked away and sat as far away from him as possible.
Nick got up and followed her and saw that she was feeling cold (after all it's getting dark and she's wearing a bikini.) so he placed a towel around her. Karen quickly turned around when she felt the towel being placed on her back and to see Nick right behind her startled her and she almost fell into the water. But Nick grabbed her. "Thanks....." she said looking into his eyes.
"It's not a...." and with that they both kissed. This time Karen returned the kiss. As they backed away from each other, no one said a word. Nick was scared, he was afraid he had done it again, he had gone and upset her. 'Oh no, I've crossed the line...' Nick said worried. He quickly apologized, "I'm sorry..I didn't.."
Karen looked at the flustered Nick Carter. 'Wow, that was weird, it felt different.' she then flashed to her stepfather, but she didn't break down. 'It felt comfortable, nothing forced. It felt as if there was that sense of security was there. But I like Brian.'she kept telling herself but she was confused, for she never felt like this before.
'I wonder what she's thinking..but this time she didn't push me away.....??' Nick pondered worriedly.
'Why didn't I breakdown, why didn't it feel wrong?' she wondered.
"Umm.. Karen??" he asked as he broke the silence. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she said.
"I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay." she continued to look at him.
"I'm sorry if I made you..." Nick said.
"Nick, just shut up!" Karen interrupted. Nick was startled by this and backed off. "No I didn't mean it like that..." Karen surprised by her own lips. 'What am I doing?' she thought. She looked up at Nick and just starred into his gorgeous blue eyes. She walked up to him and tiptoed to reach his lips and kissed him again.
Nick was startled at this motion that Karen made. But he didn't stop her. He embraced her and returned the kiss with confusion in his mind. 'What? I... she... she just kissed me... I didn't do anything.. she came up to me and kissed me.' his mind was playing games. 'Maybe I'm dreaming, someone pinch me please? I have to stop before I do anything wrong.' But his body's actions were stronger than his mind, he couldn't pull himself to stop kissing her. 'I've wanted her so bad, and now... now.. we're kissing... what made her change her mind about me?'
When the two finally backed away from each other, a rather confused Karen sat down. "Nick, I'm sorry I don't know what got into me." she apologized. 'For some reason, that kiss felt right, I just had to make sure...but then there's Brian..' her mind drifted at the thought of Brian and her eyes landed on a starring Nick Carter. She quickly turned away. "I'm sorry." Tears began to roll down her cheeks.
Nick sat down beside her, "It's okay," he saw the tears in her eyes. "I've been wanting to kiss you for a long time, but I never wanted to act on it because of what happened last time...." he said trying to make her feel better.
"What?" Karen looked at him.
"You heard me.." he said not wanting to repeat himself.
"I thought.. I thought, you didn't like me in that way anymore." Karen said. She was flattered that he was still interested, but she had feelings for Brian, but she knew Brian wouldn't go for her like that. He was too good for that.
"Well, surprise," he joked. Karen cracked a small smile. "I saw that." Nick smiled.
"Nick, I have to tell you something."
"Yeah," he replied.
"Remember the last time I broke down, it wasn't because of you..."
"It wasn't." he said surprosed.
"No, it's just that, my...my.." she broke down to tears. Every time she tried to explain the topic, she couldn't help but to cry. "My stepfather raped me. And when you kissed me, the picture of him raping me and forcing himself into me scared me. When my mother died, he tried to comfort me but he started to do it again....."
"What?" Nick said startled. "I'm sorry for taking advantage of you like that," Nick said now ashamed as he turned his head away.
"No, you didn't know, I told Brian but I made him swear to me not to tell anyone." she said as she reached out to look him in the eyes.
"You should have told me, I would have understood and I would have protected you from... from that BEAST!!" he yelled.
"No, Nick, I'm away from him now and I have the best friends in the world to make me happy again. I just want to forget the past and think about my future of happiness with the people who actually care about me." she smiled weakly. "My future with you, Brian, Kevin, Howie and A.J." She calmed down a bit.
Nick reached over and gave her a hug to comfort her. "Karen?" he asked. She looked at him, "I want you to know that I'm here for you whenever you need me." This time they just looked into each other's eyes and they slowly moved in closer and closer. The next thing you knew it they started to kiss each other passionately. It was such a heated up moment that they continued to kiss and kiss as if they were in a world of their own. Nick slowly slipped his tongue into her mouth as he was getting into the heat of the moment. Karen was surprised at first but allowed Nick's tongue to enter her mouth and she massaged her tongue with his as she began to feel more comfortable with him. Karen was definitely cured from her worries, well at least most of them. They ended up on the floor of the boat laying side by side still kissing.
All of a sudden, Karen's lips stopped, 'What am I doing? I like Brian, but... Nick is a great guy, too! Brian won't go for me, but Nick will. He likes me... I should give him a chance, I guess.' she said unsure about herself.
Nick got up. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just that we got to get back to Kevin's. Barbeque, remember?" Karen spoke some truth.
"Oh yeah," Nick grinned. "But I don't want to go now, I'd rather be here with you. Alone." he said.
"Nick, we should go, Kevin is counting on us to be there." she said. 'I also don't want to do things that I might regret later.' she thought to herself. She got up and straightened herself out.
"Yeah, your right." Nick went to the front of the boat and started the engine. As they were about to speed off, he turned around, "Sit tight." as he grinned slyly. The boat took off and they were back at his house in no time.
Karen was about to get out of the boat when Nick grabbed her arm, "Karen?"
"Yeah," she said surprised.
"I had a great time today."
"So did I." she smiled.
"And for the past hour and a half, I loved that the best."
Realizing what Nick was talking about, she decided to joke abut it. "Well, treasure it because that's all your getting."
"Are you sure about that?" Nick said noticing her comical side. He went and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You don't want anymore of what I have got to offer."
"Nah, I've got what I want." she laughed.
"Are you sure about that?" he reassured.
"I'm positive," she teased. "Plus you were just a toy.."
"Oh, really! A toy am I? Well, then say good bye to this," he said as he leaned in and gave her a knock out kiss.
"Nah, I won't miss it." she said standing on her feet weakly.
"Okay, what about this." he leaned in and gave her the same kiss as before but with tongue.
"Nah," Karen said weakly. Nick noticed that she wasn't standing up on her two feet strongly so he grabbed her and put her on his lap.
"Are you sure?" he teased.
"I'm...I'm sure.." she stuttered.
"Okay, if you say so," as he leaned and gave her another kiss that totally blew her mind away.
"Now I'd like some more of that." she joked.
"Oh, would you?? I thought I have nothing else for you." Nick got up and pretended to leave.
"Wait!?!" Karen yelled going after him. 'What am I doing?' she was not able to stop her lips or actions. Something was pushing her for more.
"Yes, my dear." he called out teasingly.
Karen wrapped her arms around his neck. "Kiss me, Carter."
"Nah," he teased.
"Fine, I'm leaving then." she turned around. She felt Nick's arms around her waist. His warm breathe on her neck. She looked up. "Well, I see you've changed your mind."
"Anything for you." he said sweetly.
She turned around to face him and he leaned in and they stood there kissing under the sunset. She dropped her towel as she was getting into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Just then, Aaron walked out. "Hey, Nick..." he was startled at what he saw and just stopped in his footsteps.
Nick and Karen backed away from each other, they were embarassed and both turning a dark shade of red.
Being a little brother Aaron started to bug Nick, "Well, well, what do we have here?"
"Shut up Aaron. You better not say anything to anyone."
"Ha, and you expect me to keep my lips sealed." he laughed.
"Aaron... if you say anything, I'm going to kill you."
Aaron just stood there and laughed. Which made Nick madder.
'He's cute, when he's angry,' Karen thought. "Well, we should get going," Karen interrupted the feud.
"Yeah, let me go in to change first," Nick said. "Aaron, you go wait in the car."
Aaron walked to the car obediently. 'Wait till I tell Dawn!' he thought happily. Then his face fell, 'No I can't, then she'll tell Theresa and... everything is going to go haywire.' Inside, "Karen you can change in my room." Nick offered. "I'm going to take a quick shower."
"Alright." she went into his room and she wondered around a bit. She looked at his pictures, and she noticed some framed CDs. 'Hmm... what's this?' She put her towel and bag down and went to take a closer look. 'Looks like... Backstreet Boys? Who are they?' She picked up the frame and looked at the picture, 'Hey this is Nick.. and there's Brian.. and Kevin, and Howie.. and A.J.' She was more confused than ever now. She made a mental note to ask Nick later. She saw a drawing pad on the floor, she sat down and opened it up. There were beautiful pictures in there, of cartoons, flowers and of his family. She sat there admiring them. Then she came across a picture of a girl, who looked familiar. 'Hey, that looks a lot like me!' she wondered.
"Hey, what are you doing over there?" Nick interrupted her thoughts.
Karen dropped the drawing pad and turned around. "Oh..umm."
He walked over to her, he was done his shower and he was dressed and all ready to go. "Like my drawings?"
"You.. you saw.. me looking at them.."
"Yeah, and your not changed yet. Did you need help or something?" he joked.
"Nick, why is there a drawing of me in there?" she asked.
Nick went and grabbed her waist. "I couldn't get you out of my head when I saw you that night at my house with that dress on. I had to draw it. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen..." he said sweetly.
Karen was moved by his words and she gave him a hug.
'I love having her in my arms.' Nick smiled. "Well are you going to get dressed or what?" he asked her.
"Yeah, I'll be right out," she said.
"Do you need help?" he grinned.
"No I'm fine." she laughed. She pushed him out the door and changed out of her bikini. She changed into a tube top with capri pants. "Okay, I'm done." as she opened the door. "Let's go!"
"Not before I do this." Nick said. He kissed her on the lips with a soft kiss. "Now I'm ready to go." he grinned.
They climbed into his car and rode in silence. Karen had thoughts running through her mind constantly.
'I don't know what is wrong with me. He... I... we...kissed..' she was unsure of herself. 'I should be careful. But no guy's ever kissed me like that before. I just feel different, but then again I've never been in love or had a steady boyfriend before. He really likes me doesn't he?' she looked at Nick. 'I can see it in his eyes.' she thought. But then Brian popped up into her mind.'Why do I keep thinking about Brian? Maybe it's because he's been there for since the beginning, he's the only person I could trust with all my heart...' she thought annoyed with herself. 'I have Nick, but..'
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