Mr. and Mrs. Carter: The One

Chapter 17

December 18, 1995 Tampa Florida.
UNKNOWN POV
God I'm hungry as fuck.

I pull into the McDonalds drive through and park my car. I head inside and order a quarter pounder with Sprite and large fries.

I'm about to order it as a takeout when the door opens and five guys come in whooping loudly.

I roll my eyes and turn away, then turn back.

What the fuck?

There is a blond boy with them. He looks younger than the others but I recognize him.

He's the one we beat up and left to die in the lake. I clench my fists.

How is he still alive?

"Sir?" The cashier's voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

"Yes?" I reply.

"Would you like this to take or would you like to eat here?"

I look at the boys, then answer "Right here."

The cashier nods and tells me the total. I pay and scoot over to the side while the boys order. Then they choose a table and I sit two tables away.

KEVIN'S POV
Once we order our food and sit down, we all look at Nick.

He's busy picking away imaginary lint from his coat. We're all silent for a moment. I glance around at the rest of the guys, but they're either looking somewhere else or at the table.

"Nick, what happened to you?" I ask, breaking the silence.

"I got attacked." Nick says, not looking up.

"No shit." AJ scoffs. I give him a stern look.

"Sorry." he mumbles.

"But why were you attacked?" I ask.

Nick looked around then lowered his voice. "I saw two men throw a body bag into the dumpster. I was going to leave, but I stepped on a dead leaf and they heard me."

Fuck. Poor Nick.

"But you don't have a mark or bruise on you." Brian observes.

I look at Nick and yeah, he doesn't have any injuries.

"After they attacked me, I passed out and according to Lili, they dumped me in a lake." Nick says.

"Lili?" I furrow my brows. Everyone else looks up.

Nick blushes and looks relieved as our food is brought. Nick grabs his burger and takes a big bite.

I look at the guys. AJ is attacking his fries, and Howie is dipping a chicken nugget into ketchup.

Brian looks at Nick suspiciously.

"Who's Lili?" he asks, as he shoves two fries in his mouth.

"A girl." Nick replies, with his mouth full. I roll my eyes. Of course we know it's a girl.

Nick sees my eye roll and swallows his food.

"She found me passed out on the edge of the lake." He takes a sip of his coke before continuing. "She took me in and literally saved my life. If it wasn't for her, I would be dead by now."

We stare at him, shocked.

"What did her parents say?" Howie asks, stuffing a nugget in his mouth.

"Uhhh."

Nick's expression is rather awkward.

"Oh no were they pissed?" I ask.

"Or did you bang her and they walked in?" AJ asks at the same time.

"AJ!" Howie hisses. "Lower your voice. And don't say stuff like that. We're eating dude."

Nick looks exasperated and shakes his head.

"No! I didn't do any of that!" He says defensively. "Her parents are...well-"

"Nick just say it!" I say annoyed.

"She's a Viotto." Nick blurts out. Brian drops his burger.

"What the hell were you doing with a Viotto?" Brian whispers, angrily. "They're dangerous!"

"But Lili's different! She's not like her parents. Lili's been through a lot okay?" Nick protests. "Please, I promised I wouldn't tell anyone."

I raise my eyebrows.

"Nick, do you have feelings for this 'Lili Viotto'?" I ask, hesitantly. Nick doesn't answer and just stares at his half eaten burger.

"Knew it. You do like her!" I say, triumphantly.

"What does she look like?" AJ asks, curiously.

"She's beautiful." Nick mumbles. I grin at AJ.

"Oooooh Nicky's in looove." I tease, while sipping my Pepsi. Again, Nick doesn't deny it. I widen my eyes. "You can't possibly be in love." I say. Nick looks up.

"I think I am. We talked one time for nearly the whole day, I just felt like I've known her forever." he says softly. Woah. I don't know what to say. Last time Nick said he was in love, he ended up losing his virginity and regrets it to this day.

Howie nearly spits out his food. "Dude it's only been a few days, how are you in love already?" Nick smiles sheepishly. I can tell he doesn't know how to answer that. I decide to be the nice one.

"So when do we get to meet her?" I ask Nick.

He shrugs. "I dunno."

"Can we go right now?" AJ asks, hopefully. Nick shakes his head.

"You've kinda already met her."

Huh? When?

"I don't remember meeting a Lili." Brian muses. Nick squirms in his seat.

"Well not met, but you've seen her before. We all have."

"Nick stop being so vague." I roll my eyes.

"She's in those movies, the Catherine Chronicles and the Samantha series." Nick says. What? I remember when they came out three years ago. I gotta admit, I liked those movies.

"Wait so she's an actress?"

Nick nods. "After she graduates University, she's going to pursue in acting." Then he looks down at his shoes. "She's also that girl AJ dared me to kiss in June."

AJ looks up. "No way." he says.

"Wait was she pissed off about it?" Brian asks, trying not to laugh.

"Well she didn't mention it, but I apologized. She accepted my apology." Nick eats his last two fries. "Guys I'm done, let's go. I'll tell you everything on the way home.

Howie nods as he eats his last nugget and we throw our trash away and head back to Nick's house.