Never Make A Promise

Never Make A Promise 25

Gah, it's late I know. Some of you have been very patient and some of you are like me, and you get a little antsy about it. Well, I had to upload on some other story of mine and I swear on my life when I say that I tried to upload yesterday and the day before that, but I just simply could not do it. I didn't really have the stuff typed up, so yeah.......kind of a let down. Anyway, here you go patient and impatient peoples!

<3 Nikky~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just as I thought, the dinner was pretty dang awkward with Seth sitting right across from me. And it was just Seth. Neither his mom or dad were with him. Ella was at the end of the table, next to me and Stuart was sitting opposite Ella at the other end of the table. The seat next to Seth, across from Damon, was the only empty one at the table. Ella and Stuart obviously didn't expect many guests in here. And who could blame them? This town was so freaking tiny, but that's okay. I kind of liked tiny towns. Don't know why, I just do. Seth was grinning at Damon and me while Ella and Stuart talked to each other about their days.

"So," Seth said to me.

"So," I said.

"When did you two get together?" he asked.

"Uh, just a few days ago," Damon lied. Perfect. Seth would think it was weird if Damon and I were already here together after just getting together today. He would suspect something else because after all, Seth wasn't an idiot.

"I see," Seth said. "You didn't tell Jordan and me?"

"I didn't want you to rub anything in my face," I mumbled.

"Oh, come on! You know I wouldn't rub it in your face," he said. I gave him a look. "Okay, I may have rubbed it in your face just a little bit."

"That's what I thought you said," I mumbled.

"Where were you going, Seth?" Damon asked, finally sensing just how uncomfortable I was with everything. Seth stopped eating instantly and paled a little bit. He looked like he was looking for something to say, but couldn't make up his mind on what.

"Seth, you okay?" I asked him. He nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just going to.....to Bowling Green, Florida," he said truthfully. Well what was he going there for?

"Why?" I asked him. He picked up his fork again and started picking up some food.

"To visit a family member," he mumbled, stuffing his mouth with some mashed potatos.

"Someone in your family lives in Bowling Green?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he admitted. I glanced over at Damon and saw that he was giving Seth a curious look.

"Who?" he asked.

"What?"

"When, where, why, how," I said quickly. Both Damon and Seth gave me a 'you're such a dork' look. Hey, at least I could admit I was one. Unlike these two who were in denial half the time when I called them dorks.

"What did you say, Damon?" Seth asked.

"Who lives in Bowling Green?" Damon repeated like he was talking to tiny kid.

"No one special," Seth said.

"You said it was family," I said.

"I did."

"So family isn't special?"

"I don't know," Seth sighed. "I think I'm going to go to bed now, I've had a....long day full of surprises so I'm just beat. I'll see you guys in the morning, or if not then, then later." He excused himself from the table, Ella and Stuart not even paying a speck of attention to him because they were still caught up in their own little conversation. I think there was a word to describe this. To describe how cute they were together, but then again that's just me thinking that. There could be another word for 'cute' and I just can't think of it, or there may not be one at all. But whatever. And now I'm babbling in my thoughts. That's just great.

"I'm going to go talk to him," I whispered to Damon. He looked at me.

"What? Why?"

"Because something is obviously bothering him and I want to know what so I can help fix his problem."

"You aren't a miracle worker," he said as I stood up.

"I try to be as much as I can," I sang. I kissed the top of his head and told him that I would meet him back in the room. He was quick to remind me of his 'dessert'.

"Oh, you want dessert already? My gosh you are a teenage boy, I suppose. You need the food," Ella fussed over Damon, trying to see which of the five desserts she made would be the one she would give him. I smiled at the sight, then turned away to go to Seth's room. I knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" he asked, poking his head out.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Sure." He opened the door more for me to come in and I came in and sat on his bed. He shut the door behind him and leaned against the wall across from me. "So, is this about you and Damon?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want me to keep this on the down-low?" Oh, that! People would see us together the second we got back to school and they would know then.

"No, there's no need to," I said.

"Oh, okay," he said. "Then what's up?"

"Why are you really here Seth?"

"What?" he said taken aback by my sudden asking. God, I've heard that word a lot tonight.

"Why are you really here?" I repeated.

"I told you Hayls. To visit a family member."

"But there's more to it than that," I said.

"How do you know?"

"Because- that's a pretty good movie by the way- I know you. You and I have been friends since....god since elementary school. I think I would know when you're keeping things from me," I said.

"I feel bad that I can't say the same about you," he muttered. I rolled my eyes and ignored that. He could so tell, he just never said as much as Jordan did.

"Are you going to tell me?" I asked. He sighed.

"Fine. You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you right now, though. That includes Jordan, Damon, and Joyce, okay?" I nodded. "I'm just not ready for people to know about all of this."

"Know about what?" I asked. He sat on the floor against the wall and sighed again.

"My dad isn't really my dad," he said. My eyes popped open. What was he serious? His dad wasn't really his dad? How did he know this? When did he find out? How did he find out? That's weird!

"How....how do you know that?"

"Mom told me. She decided it was finally time for me to know the truth about it. Apparently dad didn't know either. Neither of my dads did."

"So you're real father doesn't know and neither does your other dad?"

"Nope. Well, the one who has raised me since birth knows now. He left the same day I did. Said he couldn't stand to see my mom after she lied to him about me being his and everything."

"That's horrible. I'm sorry," I said, sinking down to the ground across from him.

"I'm going to Bowling Green to meet him."

"Your dad? Like your real dad?"

"Yeah. Mom said he's in prison."

"He is?" I asked. That was weird. His dad and my uncle were both in the institution in Bowling Green, Florida. Creeps.

"Yeah, Mom doesn't remember why though. Maybe it was murder," he said like it was nothing.

"What?! He could smash through the window thingy and kill you or something!" I said. Okay that was a total stereotype, but I said it. I didn't say it was going to happen, I said that it COULD happen.

"Relax, Hayley. I don't think he would do that and take the risk of getting a longer sentence."

"I.....I GUESS you're right," I admitted. "But he's already IN prison, so would he care?"

"Hayley!"

"I'm just asking!" I defended. He rolled his eyes, but cracked a smile.

"His name is Ed Wilders," he informed me. Ed Wilders. I shot up on my feet.

"His name is Ed Wilders? Really Ed Wilders?"

"Yeah...." Seth said, dragging the word out. Should I tell him? Should I tell him that that's my uncle and that we're.......cousins? Should I tell him where I really went with Damon? Should I tell him anything that's happened lately? He and Jordan have been kept out in the dark with everything and I just feel so bad about it, but then again most of it is Damon's secret to tell. The rest of it was my secret that I didn't really want to tell them about, but for some reason opened up to Damon not too long after finding out his secret. Well, I guess if I told Seth just some of what I was keeping from him, it wouldn't hurt anything.

"That's my uncle," I said. He looked surprised, as I expected him to be.

"What?" I want a dollar for that now.

"Ed Wilders is my uncle," I sighed.

"Are you kidding me right now?"

"No, Seth, I'm not. Ed Wilders is my uncle and Damon and I were just on our way back to Aspen from seeing him."

"How is he your uncle?"

"He's my mom's brother and my dad's best friend. He killed my mom and that's why he's in the slammer," I said. There. It was off my chest now, but there was still the weight of the other secret I was keeping from him.

"He killed your mom?! Now I'm not really sure that I want to see him anymore."

"No Seth. Go see him. Even he deserves to know when he has a son."

"What am I going to say anyway? 'Hey, daddio, I'm your seventeen- almost eighteen- year old son and I just found out about you recently and I thought that I would come visit you?' That would be a little bit of an awkward conversation, don't you think?"

"Just introduce yourself and then gradually work your way up to introducing yourself as his son, but don't take too long with that whole thing."

"And I'm supposed to pretend like I don't know why he's in there?"

"You don't have to if you don't want to, just don't snap on him about it."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't want my 'effed up relationship with him to screw up your relationship with him."

"Can I at least ask him why he's in there and then introduce myself as his son and one of your best friends?"

"I don't care, I'm not going to be there to watch you, so just lead that conversation wherever you want."

"Okay," he sighed. There was a light tapping on the door. "Who is it?"

"It's me," I hear Damon say.

"Oh, come in!" Seth said. Damon came in and looked at Seth sitting on the floor and me standing in front of him.

"What's up?" he asked us. I shook my head.

"Nothing. Just another fight with his mom on the phone," I lied. Damon looked at Seth who only shrugged. Well, weren't YOU tons of help, I thought toward Seth.

"Oh, I see," Damon said.

"Well I'm suddenly feeling really tired right now," I said. "So Seth I'll see you later, come on Damon." I led Damon and myself out of Seth's room after saying good night to him. Damon and I got in our own room and I locked the door behind me.

"What was that about?" Damon asked me.

"Something that I can't explain to you about. He asked me not to, he wants it to stay a secret for now."

"I know something about telling you secrets and then asking you not to tell them," he said, looking out of the window.

"What now, then?"

"What now, what?"

"Are we leaving still?"

"Hell yeah, we're still leaving!" he turned. I laughed and started packing the little things we had out. A couple seconds later I felt his hot breath on my neck and his arms around my waist. "I meant when I said I would like a little dessert," he whispered in my ear. I smiled and turned around to face him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Well, maybe a little," I said softly. He kissed me right away, hard, after that. Like he had been holding back for too long or like it was the first time he's ever kissed me. I was starting to feel like that's what every kiss from him was like. Like it was the first time or something and I really liked it. After we were both out of breath, yes our clothes were still on and I still had my card, we reluctantly got off the bed and finished putting things in our bags.

"Let's go now," Damon suggested. I nodded and grabbed a couple bags, Damon did the same. He led me out of the room, quietly down the stairs and past Seth's room, all the way to the front door. He quietly opened it for me, stepped to the side and let me out first, then he followed me. We went down the drive way to the car and threw the bags in the back and got in the front. I felt bad for sneaking out on Ella and Stuart, but we had to do it. We just had to. I think Damon left a twenty for them in the room we were supposed to spend the night in. That should be enough, right? We never slept in the bed and we only had dinner. Yeah, that should be more than enough.

"Are we going to keep going back to Aspen?" I asked Damon. He didn't look at me, just stared at the road. He did that a lot, I notice.

"Yeah, we're going back," he said with that tone of voice he used when he was plotting something. Right now, I was too tired to get it out of him, so I shrugged it off for now. I'm going to attack him with questions tomorrow, though. Damon had just started the car when he looked in the rear view mirror and swore.

"What?" I asked, looking behind us at the headlights that were pulling up behind us. I really didn't like how familiar that car looked. "Is that them?" I asked, afraid of the answer I already knew.

"That's them," Damon confirmed, revving up the engine and punching the gas pedal with his foot.

"What are you going to do, race him?" I asked, pulling my eyebrows together in confusion.

"No, I'm going to do this," he said. He took the car off of parking mode and I flew back in my seat thanks to the unexpected speed of the car.

"A warning would be nice next time," I said. He smirked, of course.

"Sorry, babe. I'll keep that in mind for next time."

"I was kidding. I don't want there to be a next time."

"Unfortunately for you, with me, there just may be a next time."

"Ugh, crazy, speed racer boyfriend," I mumbled under my breath.

"Hey! I had every reason to speed away from them," he said. I checked past my seat and saw that the headlights weren't that far behind us.

"Uh, Damon?"

"Hmm?"

"I think they're getting closer."

"What?" he asked, whipping his head back to check. "Crap." He practically stomped on the gas after he saw how close they were to us. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. Yeah, I wasn't having fun going this fast. Damon stomped on the brakes and two things happened at once. One, I slammed against my seat belt again. How it's still not broken, I don't know. And two, Damon swore at the top of his lungs and I looked up and saw that a second car had blocked our way up front. We were stuck here again. Where we started when I first officially met that creeper, Jake.

"Hayley," Damon said gently.

"Yeah?"

"Take my hand and do not let go, okay?" he said.

"I won't let go," I said.

"Do you know what you just did?"

"What did I just do?"

"You just made a promise to me," he said. Okay, he needed to stop. "And I'm going to promise you that I will not let go of your hand either. I promise that I won't let them do anything to you." I wanted to cover my ears with my hands so badly right now! He was making me these promises and he didn't even know if he was going to be able to keep them or if I'm going to be able to keep mine! I've never made a promise. Not since that whole thing with Ed and Mom. I just haven't. Why was I making one now?! Could I really trust Damon to keep his promise? Better yet, could he really trust me to keep mine?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Now it wouldn't be a true twin-nikki story if there wasn't a little cliff hanger there! Lol, I love making cliff hangers, but I hate reading them. Especially with an unfinished story and their latest chapter ends in a cliff hanger and they take like three years to upload again and relieve you of your suspense. Eh, who am I to judge? I do the same thing all the time, but yeah. Hmm. I'll be on time next time, I swear on mah life. I love you all!

Oh and guess what! I actually proof read this! Haha! I'm so proud of myself! Lol.