The phone rang, and Isabella got up to answer it.
"Hey, it's me," said Emalia.
"Hey."
"Um, we're all staying over here tonight, so it'll just be you, Cassandra, Nick, A.J., Angel and Howie tonight. Nicole's staying with Jonathan and Andrew tonight, also."
"Um, that's nice. I guess then I'll see ya later!"
"Bye." Isabella hung up the phone.
Cassandra got up.
"I need to be alone for a second. I'm going out back." She walked downstairs and ran into Isabella.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"You know about Mariah?"
Isabella nodded and looked down. "Yeah, our sister left."
"Yeah, well, I just need to be alone for a second. I'm going out back."
"Well, it's getting late. Angel should be over later for the plan. But be careful. There's a thunderstorm coming."
"Yeah, whatever," said Cassandra walking out to the back yard. She walked around the pool, and saw a couple drops of rain fall into the pool. She looked up and saw the dark clouds in the sky and heard a rumble of thunder.
Nick sat upstairs for a second on Cassandra's bed, just thinking. He knew, that in the back of his mind, it was now or never. He got up from her bed and ran downstairs, and he too, ran into Isabella.
"Where's Cass?"
"She's out back but she wants to be alone," said Isabella.
"Yeah, I know," he said not listening.
Nick walked outside and silently in back of Cassandra. He touched her bare shoulders with the tip of his fingers. She gasped and turned around.
"Nick!"
"That's me."
"Nick, please, I want to be alone. I just really need to think."
"No, Cassie. I need to talk to you."
"Okay, then. Talk." He looked into her eyes. He couldn't find any words to say to her so he leaned down and kissed her hard. She pulled away from him when there was a loud crash of thunder. "That's talking?" she asked. Just then, it started to downpour. It started raining so hard, they could barely hear each other, and they could barely see each other.
"It's now or never," Nick thought. Cassandra turned and started to head for the door. "Cassandra!" Nick yelled as loud as he could.
"What? I'm getting soaked! I'm going inside!" Nick only stood there. "Nick! Come on!" she screamed, but he wouldn't move. "Fine! Stay out here but I'm-"
"Marry me!" he screamed.
"What?" she said walking over to him. "I couldn't hear you, what did you say?" The rain poured down harder. Nick dropped to one knee again.
"Marry me!"
"Angel, are you going now?" Isabella asked her as Angel came downstairs.
"No way! It's pouring out! As soon as the storm lets up I'll go. I'm still trying to study this map."
"Well, you wanna watch a movie with A.J. and I?"
"Sure! Which one? Wait, let me get Howie. Howie!" she yelled upstairs. Howie came running down the stairs.
"Yes, darling?" he said pressing his lips to hers and kissing her.
"Guys, if you wanna watch a movie with us, you have to make it into the living room!" said A.J.
"Chill!" said Angel. "Wanna watch a movie with Isabella and A.J.?" she asked Howie.
"Sure," said Howie. "Which one?"
Cassandra just stared at Nick the best she could through the heavy rain. The rain, consuming both of them as Nick clasped her hands tighter each second. He was a nervous wreck, but the rain hid his emotions well. Neither of them could believe what he had just said.
"Are you serious?" she yelled.
"I don't know," he said looking down at the ground.
"What? I can't hear you!"
"Yes! Yes! I'm serious!" He stood up and hovered above her.
He observed her eyes, hoping. Knowing that this is what he wanted, and hoping that on some level, that she loved him enough to agree that it was what she wanted too.
The rain lessened so they didn't have to shout. "I promised you that I would always be there for you, and I broke that promise. I want to assure you that I will never break that promise again. Be mine, with me, for the rest of eternity," Nick pleaded.
"But Nick, we're eighteen!"
"I know, but I'll be nineteen in January, and you'll be nineteen a month after! I don't want to wait another day. I have thought about this so much, and I don't want to go on knowing that something like those three months, could ever come between us again. That nothing will come between us again."
"It won't!"
"I want you to be mine."
"I am yours!"
"I mean really mine. I want the whole world to know that you are Mrs. Nicholas Carter. I want to wake up everyday and know that you'll be there next to me. I want to go to sleep every night with you next to me, in my arms, forever. I love you, more than anything."
"I love you, too, more than anything." The rain began to pour down harder again. Cassandra bit her lip and thought hard. She knew that she couldn't keep him waiting, and she needed to make a decision now.
She thought to herself. "What should I do? I love him so much, yet I've hurt him so bad and I don't think that I could face him everyday knowing that he could doubt me if we ever got that committed to each other."
Cassandra had her decision. She looked Nick straight in the eyes, and took a deep breath.
Howie and Angel joined A.J. and Isabella on the couch.
"So did we decide on a movie?" Howie asked.
"How about Titanic?" A.J. suggested.
"Oh yeah! I love that movie!" said Angel.
"Me too!" said Isabella.
"I guess Titanic it is!" Howie said as A.J. turned the television and VCR on, and put Titanic in. He fast forwarded the previews. When they got to the movie, he pressed play, and pulled Isabella as close as she would let him. She smiled up at him and yet was still a little timid. He could notice this and didn't dare pull her any closer. Angel and Howie on the other hand, couldn't get any closer then they already were.
"This is only the first minute of the movie! What are you guys gonna do when we get to some of the good scenes?" Isabella asked Angel and Howie. They only smiled.
"I guess we'll find something to do," said Angel smiling. "We always do!"
Cassandra looked him deep into the eyes and opened her mouth to give him her answer, but no words came out. No words could describe how she felt. The rain started to pick up again, and she could barely hear or see him again. So Cassandra nodded her head and smiled.
"Yes? You will?"
"Yes!" It was raining so much, Nick couldn't tell that she had begun to cry. "Yes I will marry you!" Nick grabbed her and held her tight.
"I love you!" he shouted.
"I love you too!" she shouted back.
They were so happy, and couldn't believe that they were going to do this. "Nick, are we making the right decision?"
"I think so!"
"Then I do too!" He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her. In him, this felt like a different kiss. Like a new passion had penetrated his soul she could feel it, and knew then that they were making the right decision.
"Let's get out of the rain and go see what they're doing inside. Shouldn't Angel be about ready to go to Richard's?"
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot!" Cassandra said taking Nick by the hand. He stopped and kissed her once more before letting her take him back inside.
"I see you two got caught in the storm!" said Isabella as Nick and Cassandra walked in.
"Huh?" they said at the same time, still in a daze.
"That's what I thought," said Isabella. "Go change, you're dripping on the floor."
"Yes mother!" said Cassandra.
"Hey Cassie, how about you and I go back to my house and get out of these wet clothes?" Nick said grinning at her.
"Oh Nick!" she said lightly hitting him. There was a long silence.
"Oh look, the rain's stopping! When do you want to go?" Angel asked breaking the silence.
"Well, let me get changed first and then we'll go, okay?" said Cassandra.
"Okay! This is gonna be great!"
"I'm gonna go change too," said Nick. "I'll be right back. I guess you're not coming with me," he said giving her the puppy look.
"I'll take a rain check."
"Okay," he said giving her a kiss before running out the door.
"Angel, you should probably wear all black," said Cassandra.
"Yeah, you're right. We don't want that acidic porcupine catching me!" They all laughed, and Angel and Cassandra ran upstairs.
"I have some clothes that you can borrow," said Cassandra.
Nick ran through the door of his house.
"Hey guys-whoa! Um, sorry if I interrupted." Nick bit his lip to keep from laughing. He couldn't help it. He laughed softly at how fast Emalia and Kevin pulled apart when he ran through the door. "Wow guys. Can anyone say, major make out?"
"Oh, shut up Nick!" said Emalia.
"I guess you two have a lot of lost time to make up."
"Yes we do, now do you mind?" said Kevin.
"No, I just came to get changed."
"Yes I could tell that you are soaking wet, and I'm not even going to ask because I've learned not to."
"Well good. I'll leave you two. Oh one more thing, are Mercedes and Brian back yet?"
"To tell you the truth, I have no idea. Maybe they snuck in, unlike you!" said Kevin. "You could check their room. When they took Mariah, they took most of their stuff over to Andrew's already, so they probably won't be back until late."
"Oh, okay. I'll try to be quiet when I come back down."
"Gee thanks," said Emalia as Nick ran upstairs. She turned her attention back to Kevin.
Just as Nick was running through the door of the girls' house, Angel and Cassandra came down the stairs.
"Wow, Cass, you look great for, um, stealing someone's hair gel!" said Nick. Cassandra was wearing a short, tight black dress, and Angel was wearing a black tank top and tight, black jeans.
"I must agree about Angel!" said Howie.
"Well I thought that I had more black clothes, but when I gave those to Angel, this was all I had left!" said Cassandra.
"Oh no, don't get me wrong! It looks great on you. You should wear it more often, but are you going to be able to go to Richard's like that?" said Nick.
"Haven't you ever watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer? She can do anything in those little skirts, and I take after her a lot!"
"I take it that's a good thing?" asked Howie.
"It's a very good thing!" said Cassandra.
"Well, we should go!" said Angel. "This is gonna be great!"
"Yeah we should. You got the map?" asked Cassandra.
"Right here." Angel and Cassandra headed for the door. Nick and Howie exchanged glances and then followed them.
"Where do you guys think you're going?" Cassandra asked.
"With you two of course!" said Howie.
"Oh no," said Angel. "Only we can go."
"But why?" asked Nick.
"I know I'll hurry, I want to get back to you," said Angel giving Howie a kiss.
"Yo Angel! Come up for air sometime soon, and let's go!" said Cassandra.
"Sorry! Okay!" Cassandra gave Nick a quick kiss and her and Angel were out the door.
"Okay, follow me. Bobby's house is about five minutes from here," said Cassandra. Angel couldn't help from giggling.
"So now what do we do?" Nick said to Howie. Howie only shrugged.
"I guess we wait until they get back."
"We haven't started watching our movie yet, you guys wanna join us?" Isabella asked. A.J. looked a little down at this invitation, and Nick and Howie noticed it.
"What are you guys gonna watch?" Howie asked.
"Ghost. It's my favorite movie!" said Isabella. Nick leaned over and whispered to Howie.
"You can tell by the look on A.J.'s face that he wants to be alone with her so we can't stay here. If we go home, we'll interrupt Kevin and Emalia!"
"Well, we could always go bug Andrew and Jonathan?" suggested Howie.
"Yeah, right now that sounds like the best plan."
"Well are you guys gonna join us or not?" Isabella asked.
"No," started Nick, "I think we're gonna go bug Andrew and Jonathan." He could see A.J.'s face brighten as he said this.
"Well, take your time!" said A.J. as Nick and Howie left.
"I told ya he wanted to get rid of us." Howie only nodded in agreement. Nick and Howie walked across the street and knocked on the door. Jonathan opened it
"Hey, you guys know where Andrew is?" Nick interjected, trying to stop a fight.
"Um, I think he's in his room," said Jonathan. "Why?"
"Cause I kinda wanted to talk to him."
"Yeah, it's the last door on the left." Nick headed down the hallway and to Andrew's door. He was just about to knock when he heard Andrew talking. He didn't want to eavesdrop, but his conversation intrigued Nick.
When Nick heard Andrew hang up, he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"Was Cassie right?" he thought to himself. Andrew walked out of the door, breaking Nick's thoughts.
"Oh, hey buddy. How are ya?" Andrew said a little shaky.
"Who are you?" Nick asked giving him a disgusted look.
Cassandra unlocked the door.
"You just go down this hallway, and it's the last door on the right. I'll wait outside, just in case, God forbid, any of them show up." Angel nodded and proceeded inside.
She walked down the dark hallway and went into Richard's room.
"Ah, what a friggen mess!" Angel exclaimed. "There are clothes thrown all over the place, not one spot where you can see the rug, and what the hell is that smell?" Angel covered her nose with her hand and went over to the back dresser. "Okay, Cassandra said it should be on the left side, in a blue container-" Angel searched all over the left side of the dresser. "Ah! Here it is!"
Cassandra was sitting outside out of view from the road, when she saw a car coming up the driveway.
"Oh God," she whispered. "That's Bobby's car, and Richard's with him!"
"What do you mean, who am I?" Andrew asked Nick.
"I didn't mean to, but I heard your conversation. The whole thing." Andrew looked down at the ground frantically trying to find words to weasel his way out of this one.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. You've known me ever since you moved here. I told you every one of my secrets!"
"I'm not so sure. Why were you talking to Bobby?"
"Bobby? Oh, well, um, you know there are other Bobby's in this world other than Cassie's ex. I have a brother named Bobby."
"What about all that stuff about you being hired to break up Cass and me and how it worked?"
"You know when Cass went away and you guys drifted apart? I told my brother about that whole terrible incident. He's writing a book, and he wanted to use something like that incident and put me in there. So I told him that he could use me as the bad guy and say that I was hired to break the two main characters up, for instance, you and Cassandra."
"Hey, I'm sorry man."
"No it's okay." Andrew laughed a little. "I guess from where you were it could have sounded bad!"
"Well let's go see what everyone else is doing. Shall we?" Nick asked and walked down the hallway. Andrew let out a huge sigh of relief.
"It's getting harder and harder to cover these things up!"
"Angel! Angel! Oh come on, get out of there!"
Angel grabbed the gel, and just as she was heading for the door, she saw the door open and knew that it wasn't Cassandra. She quickly consulted her map for the nearest escape door, and she found the back door. She quickly unlocked it, but stood there with it half ajar to hear what might happen. She saw Richard disappear down the hallway.
"Ah! Hey Bobby, where's my hair gel?" he screamed. Hearing enough, Angel closed the door, and ran to meet Cassandra.
"I got it! Let's go!" Cassandra and Angel ran for a minute, but stopped when Angel couldn't help but burst out laughing. "You should have heard Richard when he went into his room and found his hair gel gone!" Cassandra squealed and burst out laughing with her.
"Let's go! We gotta show everyone! Actually, let's show them tomorrow. They're all probably making out right now except for our two."
"Well then, we had best be going! We're missing something!"
Cassandra and Angel ran to the guys house and stopped in the living room.
"Hey are the guys back yet-are you two still making out?" Emalia and Kevin sighed.
"Yes we are, and no they aren't, now good bye!" said Emalia going back to Kevin.
"Wow, you guys are good," said Cassandra.
"Yeah, mind if we sit and take notes?" said Angel. Emalia glared at the both of them.
"Sorry! Just kidding!" said Cassandra, and her and Angel ran upstairs. "I'm gonna wait in Nick's room."
"Yeah, I'm gonna wait in Howie's room."
"Well, don't lose that hair gel!"
"Don't worry!" Angel and Cassandra went their separate ways into their guys' rooms.
"Hey guys, we're gonna take off," said Howie.
"Yeah. Hey Nicole, you and Jonathan have fun, and don't work him too hard!" Nick joked.
"Oh he doesn't mind working long hours," said Nicole with a devilish grin on her face.
"Whoa, this is where I leave!" said Nick dragging Howie out of the door. They walked across the street and into the house, silently this time, so not to disturb Emalia and Kevin.
"I'm beat I'm going to bed," said Howie.
"Yeah I'll be up in a sec, I'm gonna find something to eat first." Howie ran upstairs and went into his room.
Angel sat up in his bed as he entered the room. They didn't say anything to each other. He just walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed next to her. She slowly drew her arms up around his neck, and looked deep into his eyes. He leaned towards her and gently touched her lips with his. He pulled away and leaned in closer to her. She let her arms drop to the bed as he leaned her back on to the pillow. He leaned over her and kissed her. She deepened the kiss. When they pulled apart, she moved over, almost inviting him in to the bed with her. He silently moved over her and studied what was before him. As he gently tugged on her tank top strap, she started to kiss his neck. He pulled her shirt up over her head and dropped it on the floor. She started to undo his shirt while reaching up and kissing him.
When Nick ran up into his room and saw Cassandra looking out his window, he quietly shut the door. He went up behind her and smelled her hair. She was startled and jumped a little bit. He slowly moved his arms around her stomach, using a slightly tight grip. No one else could do that quite like Nick, so she calmed down and continued to look out over the yard. He rocked her gently back and forth. She threw her head back and rested on his shoulder. He tilted his head against her and they continued to rock back and forth.
"Whatcha thinking about?" he asked her after a while. She turned to face him.
"You," she simply said.
"Oh really?" She laughed softly.
"I love the way that you say that." He took her left hand and took the opal ring off and placed it on her right hand. She looked at him and gave him a confused look. She opened her mouth to say something, but he put one finger on her lips.
"Hold that thought," he said. He walked over to his dresser and pulled something out. He hid whatever it was, behind his back. She smiled, but was still confused. "I wanted to do this the right way." He pulled his hands around to the front and showed that he was holding a box. He opened the box and took out a beautiful ring. Cassandra gasped and clasped her hands to her mouth. He threw the box on his bed and got down on his knee, again. "Will you marry me?"
"Yes," she said smiling. A tear ran down her face as he put the ring on her left ring finger. He stood up and she kissed him passionately.
"Just hold me," she said. "I never want you to let me go."
"I never will."
Skillfully, Angel had gotten Howie's shirt, as well as his pants, off and on the floor.
"Are you sure you want to go this far?" Howie asked her. Howie was sure that this is what every guy dreamed about, even himself, but he wasn't sure that together, they were both ready to make this step.
"You bet. Howie, I'm falling in love with you." She blushed.
"I'm falling in love with you, too. In fact, I love you. I love everything about you."
"You do?"
"Yes, I do."
"Howie?"
"Yeah?"
"I think that I do love you, too," she admitted.
"Really?"
"Yeah," were Angel's last words before pulling his head down and kissing him hard.
The next morning when Mercedes awoke, she looked at her clock, and shot up.
"Oh my God! Brian! Brian! Wake up! It's noon! Bethany, Linden and Anthony will be here any second!"
"Huh? What?" said Brian groggily.
"Come on! Get up!" Mercedes yelled throwing clothes at Brian. Just then she heard the door bell ring. "Oh gosh, they're here! All of them! You get dressed and be down stairs in no more than a minute!"
"Yeah, sure, okay," said Brian rolling over and closing his eyes.
"Brian! I mean it!"
Mercedes went downstairs, and Brian actually followed close behind her. Mercedes opened the door.
"Bethany! Hey! And who's this?"
"Hey Mercedes! How are ya and your husband? He's such a cutie you know!" Brian blushed.
"Oh we're just great."
"Oh I'm sorry, this is my boyfriend, James."
"Oh it's nice to meet you. I didn't know that you were coming."
"I hope that you don't mind. I just couldn't leave him behind!" said Bethany.
"Oh no! We have plenty of room. The more the merrier!" said Mercedes. "I've heard so much about you James, come on in!"
"Same here, I've heard a lot about you two."
"All good I hope!" said Brian shaking hands with James.
"The best," he said. Bethany and James walked in and sat in the living room. They were just sitting down, when the doorbell rang again.
"That must be Linden. I'm so dying to meet this new boyfriend of hers!" said Mercedes getting up to answer the door. "Linden!" she screeched and hugged her.
"Whoa, nice to see you too!" exclaimed Linden, a little caught off guard.
"Wow, is this Anthony? He is all that you made him out to be!" Linden and Anthony blushed.
"Mercedes, please!"
"Well, Anthony, it's nice to meet you," said Mercedes shaking his hand.
"Same here." They walked in and joined everyone in the living room.
"Bethany and James, this is my friend Linden and her boyfriend, Anthony." They all said their hellos, and sat down to talk.
Cassandra and Nick had gone out to look at dresses and suits for their wedding.
"You like?" Cassandra asked stepping out of the dressing room.
"Wow. All those curves and me with no brakes!" he said.
"Nick! Seriously, it needs to be perfect. If I don't look good in the dress, then my brides maids won't look good in them either! It's a big deal! If you were a girl getting married then you would understand."
"You look great in anything that you wear and, um, if you forgot, unless you're getting married to yourself, I kinda fit into this somehow."
"Yes, but you're not a girl."
"Oh, I get it now," said Nick rolling his eyes.
"Hey!"
"Okay, okay, it looks good, but I still like the strapless one," he said smiling devilishly.
"Okay then, I think I'll get this long sleeved, purple velvet dress just because," she smiled back.
"It's not a New Year's party!" Nick laughed.
"I know, but it's so nice," she smiled.
"You know, now that I think about it, it may be easier to slip you out of," Nick said and wrapped his arms around her.
"Here?" she teased him.
"Why not?"
"Because we're in a dressing room!"
"So? We've made-out in stranger places!"
"Yes but they were all semi-private."
"So? We can make it private," he said slyly. He pushed her backwards and locked the dressing room door.
"Nick, you are nuts!"
"I guess you can say that, but you're my fianceé now. I can't even believe that you're my fianceé, it's so amazing," he smiled then kissed her. She deepened the kiss, but then pulled away.
"One last question. Which do you like better for the brides maids?"
"Truthfully?"
"Yes!"
"If you're talking about clothes, then I'd go with the green one that you first tried on. But truthfully, what looks best on you, is me."
She smiled shaking her head. "Can you believe that we'll have forever together?" He shook his head smiling, pulling her closer. "Let's go home," she whispered.
"This is a nice house you have here," Bethany said to Mercedes.
"Actually, this is my best friend's beach house and he said that we could live in it since he never uses it."
"That's pretty awesome!"
"Yes it is!" said Brian.
"So, how is everyone? I haven't seen everyone since the wedding which seemed like was just yesterday!" said Bethany.
"Oh I know! Everyone is doing pretty well," said Mercedes.
"What about Nick? How's he holding up? I know when I heard the story about him and your cousin Cassandra, he was pretty shaken up. What actually happened between them?"
"Actually, he started seeing Julie for a while, but that really didn't last. They broke up when Cassandra came back. She left because she got this call that, I guess, her long lost sister had been found in L.A., and if she didn't leave right away she would have missed her chance. So out there, she started a relationship with a guy, who she didn't know was actually her dead friend, but he's not really dead. It's such a long story, but now, Nick and Cass are pretty much back to normal. In fact, I think that they're getting closer!"
"That is very confusing but that's great!" said Bethany smiling. "So Brian, how is it, being married to Mercedes? Truthfully, don't let her intimidate you!"
"Actually, it's pretty cool. We get along great, and she doesn't snore at night!" Everyone laughed and then turned their attention to Linden and Anthony.
"So how's my sister doing?" Linden asked.
"You mean she hasn't come back yet?" asked Mercedes.
"Nope."
"Well she's fine. She's with Howie. Go figure."
"Oh then she'll be okay. I trust Howie."
Angel awoke in Howie's arms and looked over at the clock.
"Damn, one o'clock," she said to herself. She looked at Howie. He was still asleep and she just looked at him. He looked so cute when he was asleep. She moved out of his grip and started to run her fingers through his hair. He stirred in his sleep, but didn't wake. When he opened his eyes, he saw her looking at him.
"Hey, good morning," he said smiling.
"Well it's about time you woke up!" she said laughing.
"I actually was awake, I just like it when people play with my hair. Especially you," he said and kissed her. She deepened the kiss and moved back into his arms again. "I hope that you know CPR," he said.
"Why?"
"Because you take my breath away."
"Actually, I don't know CPR, but you could teach it to me."
"It takes a lot of practice, though!"
"I've got time," she said leaning closer to him, and kissing him hard.
When Cassandra and Nick reached her house, A.J. and Isabella were asleep on the couch.
"I guess everyone slept in today!" Nick said. "Hey A.J.! Wake up!" A.J. and Isabella woke up with a start.
"Huh? Wha?" A.J. said.
"Hey Isabella, how bout we go hiking?" Cassandra asked her sister.
"Hey, cool, that sounds like an idea! I'll go change. How bout you A.J., you up to a little hiking today?"
"Um, yeah, I guess so. You coming Nick?"
"I wouldn't miss it."
Isabella and Cassandra went and changed. When they came downstairs they all got into A.J.'s car.
"Okay, I'm totally lost, can you give me directions?" A.J. asked Isabella.
"Yeah, you just drive straight and take a left down there," she replied.
"Not directions there."
"Then where?" she asked confused.
"To your heart," he replied. Isabella smiled, but also felt pain behind her smile.
"Aw, how cute!" Cassandra said from the backseat.
"Hey Cass, are you sure that you're up to hiking today?" Nick asked her.
"Yeah! Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because I thought that you'd be really tired today."
"No, why?"
"Because you were running through my dreams all night." Cassandra could feel her heart melt. She smiled and kissed him.
"Come on you guys!" Isabella yelled as she and Cassandra dashed off into the woods.
"Hey wait up!" yelled A.J. as him and Nick started sprinting. They followed the same path as the girls did, but after a minute of running, they didn't see them.
"Cassandra? Isabella?" Nick called. No response. Just then, A.J. and Nick felt something jump on their backs.