CARNIES! Chapter 7

I wiped my tears away with my sleeve and Nick pulled me into a tight hug.

"What’s wrong?" he asked, and I shook my head. Again. I hated keeping this from him, but I didn’t want him to have to remember that. It had to be horrible. And to make him remember that would be the worst thing I could do to him.

"Nothing," I lied, smiling a little. I sat on the couch in the corner. "Just a bit nervous is all."

"You did fantastic." He said, but I could tell that he could tell I was still upset. We knew each other too freaking well. He sat down behind me, facing my back.

I grinned, and leaned against his chest, his arms creeping around me and holding me close.

I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I felt him kiss my forehead and sighed. Darkness closed around me as I fell asleep.

--Nick’s POV--

I heard Kenna’s breathing slow, and knew she’d fallen asleep. I picked her up, carrying her to our tent. The sun was high in the sky, and I tried to keep the light from waking her.

I laid her on the bed, and watched her sleeping. She struggled about, looking for me.

I got in the bed beside her and pulled the covers over us.

Darkness closed over me.

--Kenna’s POV--

I woke up in Nick’s arms, like any other day. But, I didn’t remember coming here one, and two, he was holding tighter onto my waist than he had before.

I struggled to turn around while not disturbing him or his grip on me, but after five minutes or so, I accomplished that feat.

I looked at him, his eyes closed. He looked younger in his sleep, like most people, but he also looked weak. Fragile. Like anything could hurt him.

Tears pricked my eyes again.

I kissed his forehead, like he’d done to me earlier today, and hugged him close to me.
He woke up then, looking into my eyes sleepily, a small smile on his face.

"Good…afternoon." He said, looking at the clock. "Whoa. We only slept for an hour and a half. If we’re lucky, dad hasn’t missed us and the show’s still going."

All of the sudden, the quiet that had existed outside turned into a loud bustling, and I heard Rosa yell to us, "Hey, ya’ll! Can I come in?"

"Yeah!" I yelled back. She came into the tent, eyes widening slightly when she saw us in the bed. She must think we’re doing way more than what we do do because of how long we spend in the bed. I grinned at that.

Behind her trailed the one person I’d expected least. Tony came in, bending over almost as much as Nick had to, and looked at us.

"I watched the show." He said, grin on his face. I was glad that he was unfazed by me being in bed with another guy. I guess that meant we were both over, without any of that emotional baggage. We might actually be able to stay friends.

He sat on the bed beside my legs and patted my knee. Rosa piled in, too, making the bed almost too full.

"I’m glad we’re both happy." He said, sighing. "I mean, I think I’m about to be kicked out of my girlfriend’s house because they don’t really like me anymore, but it’s all good." He said, grin widening.

Yeah, I was sure it was all good. He always took everything in stride. I mean, he didn’t like that dad beat me, but since I wouldn’t let him do anything, he moved away from it, avoiding the negative energy and putting himself in a better situation. Same old Tony.

Rosa looked like she was about to burst with excitement.

"Since Tony’s girlfriend isn’t letting him stay there, guess where he’s staying now!"

Uh-oh. "Where?"

"Malachi’s. He said it was fine for me to help him set up for shows. He said he was busy all the time, and he needed help."

I sat there, eyes wide, and Malachi came in, a bag of popcorn in hand, probably left over, and he leapt onto the bed. "Hiya, guys. Watchya talking about?" he said through a mouthful of popcorn.

"Nothing. Just you letting my ex boyfriend move in." I said, not really mad at anything. This was just the best time in the world for them to choose to do this.

"Well, it isn’t just him." Malachi said, turning to me.

"Who else?" I asked.

"Sara." He said, and my mind was engulfed with another flashback.

---FLASHBACK---

**Not long after Tony first let her go to the warehouse**
"Why are you taking me here? Now?" I asked, wondering why he was bringing me to the warehouse in the middle of the night.

"I wanted to take you to meet my sister, Sara."

"This is when she comes to pick up your deliveries?"

"Yeah. She can’t get away from work till now."

"Oh." I said, and we crept silently into the darkness.

"Sara?" Tony whispered.

"Tony?" a girl’s voice, Sara, answered, hope tinting her voice.

"Yeah. It’s me." He walked into a ray of the moonlight, and you could see his face.

A girl exploded from the darkness and shelter of the crates to hug her brother. "Omigosh. I can’t believe you came here to see me! I haven’t seen you in so long! Things have been getting worse." She said, saying the last part quietly and looking in his eyes.

"I’m sorry." He said ruefully. His eyes brightened. "This is my girlfriend, Kenna,"he said, presenting me.

"I’m glad you’ve finally found someone." Sara came towards me and I finally got a good look at her.

She had blond hair, and blue eyes. Her complexion was fair, I could see that beneath the dirt that coated her skin. She had a few tangles in her hair, but nothing too bad. It could use improvement. She looked frail, like she couldn’t get enough food. She had bags underneath her eyes, and her stature screamed tired and weary.

"It’s nice to meet you." She said, smile reaching her eyes.

"Me, too." I said, outstretching my hand so she could shake it.

She looked at it, shook her head a little, and hugged me. She had more strength than I realized. "I’m really, really glad to meet you. You don’t know what this means." She said, holding on to my shoulders and looking me over. "You’re really pretty." She said, eyes crinkled from her smile. "I’m so proud of you, Nick. You have the time to make money to give to me, and have time for a personal life. I don’t know how you do it."

He shrugged, smile on his face from her approval.

"I have to go now." She said to us both, and then turned to me. "I hope I’ll get to see you again, Kenna." She said, and turned, leaving.

---Back to reality---

I snapped out of it, and watched, eyes wide, as Sara walked into the tent, small smile on her face.

***
Sara looked good. "I had her bunking with us, but since they want nothing to do with me anymore, she had to come, too." Tony was saying. Malachi couldn’t keep his eyes off of her.
"Malachi took to it right away. It actually confused me, actually." Tony said, looking at Malachi. "You always seemed a bit more up tight." He said.

"Well, I guess something made me want to let you come." He said weakly.

"Yeah, something." Nick snickered.

"Shhh." Rosa said, slapping Nick on the shoulder. She really was your regular-day matchmaker.

Looking from her to Tony, I realized that I had a bit of matchmaking of my own.
***
OK, so this is it. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it longer, but I had a HUGE project today and have tons of chores left to do. =( Anyways, I have some ideas for you to ponder over…
Should I make Sara and Malachi a couple (remember Malachi likes her, but she doesn’t necessarily have to like him back) and if so should I write from their POV’s?
Should I make the whole Tony and Rosa thing work out?
Who should Marla be with to make Joseph jealous and add a spark of drama?
What should happen about Nick’s past, and the fact that he can’t remember it? Should he discover the tapes?
If there are any other twists you can think of, please write them in a comment! Remember, I’ll be gone, so you’ll have TONS of time to write one!! =)