Here we go again!! I do not own the rights to Summerland or any of it's characters. I DO own the rights to Teresa Coleman, her family, friends and her story.

Thanks to: KandyKane33, Shelby and Sweet Romantic for reviewing. Y'all are awesome!!

Reading time!!!

Chapter X

Just Know That I Love You

Bradin jerked awake, jumping into a sitting position he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his aunt standing next to his bed, her hand resting on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Bradin, I didn't mean to wake you," Ava said, "did I scare you?" Though it was dark in his room, Ava could tell he'd been crying, and not too long ago.

Bradin took a deep breath, "It's okay," he said, "what were you doing?"

Ava chuckled slightly, "Well, I couldn't sleep so I decided to catch up on the laundry, and I knew you and Derrick had some clothes up here..." her voice trailed off.

"Oh," Bradin fell back and stared at the ceiling while his aunt gathered clothes. "Aunt Ava," he said suddenly.

"Hmm?" she asked and stopped gathering clothes to look at him, she stifled a gasp seeing tears running down the sides of his face. She could see them clearly as the moonlight came in through his window and played out across the floor and Bradin's bed on which he was laying. She just looked at him waiting for him to say whatever it was he was going to say. After several minutes of silence she said, very softly, "What is it, Bradin?"

Bradin couldn't believe he'd just made his aunt the he wanted to talk. True, he did, but he couldn't talk to her, he couldn't! Just hours before he had found out that Nikki had read his note he wrote to God. And after she left he'd woken up from another nightmare about his parents, then he went back to sleep but woke up from another nightmare, this one about the other thing that was bothering him. Now he had made his aunt think he wanted to talk to her, but that was not the case. Idiot! And now she's looking at you! You stupid idiot! Stupid, stup- His aunt's voice broke into his thoughts, "What is it, Bradin?" she asked. Bradin looked at her without turning his head. She was staring at him and he saw the deep concern in her eyes, he had to turn away.

Bradin shifted his eyes to look at her. Ava nearly hit the floor as she felt her knees give out from beneath her when she saw the, all too visible, hurt and pain in her nephew's eyes. Tears rolled down his face and Ava's eyes stung with threatening tears of her own. She held them back still waiting for Bradin to say something. He turned his head away from her.

"Aunt Ava, I- I need to talk to Nikki, could you go get her?" Bradin bit his lip to keep from crying.

"Of course, Bradin, but," Ava said walking to his bed, she put her hand on his arm, "are you okay? Do you wanna talk to me?"

"Please Aunt Ava, please!" Ava was sure he was about to cry, " Please don't touch me!" Bradin turned to his side as tears streamed from his eyes, "Please go get Nikki."

"Okay, hang on I'll get her," Ava hurried from his room and into Nikki's. "Nikki," Ava shook her slightly. Nikki opened her eyes, "Huh? Aunt Ava? Aunt Ava, what is it, what's wrong?" Nikki, now fully awake, and sitting up, asked her aunt.

"Well, I don't know... Bradin wants you..." tears filled Ava's eyes and she struggled to keep her voice steady, "He's in his room."

As soon as Nikki heard her aunt say, "Bradin wants you..." she jumped up and together they left Nikki's room. "Aunt Ava," Nikki said just as they got to Bradin's closed door, "um... you should probably-"

"I'll go down to the kitchen," Ava interrupted. She went down the stairs hoping she was doing the right thing by letting him talk to Nikki alone. She heard Bradin's door close and crossed her fingers hoping he would finally open up to someone.

"I don't know... but what bothers me the most is the fact that he keeps saying "don't touch me" when I put my hand on his shoulder or something..." Ava stared intently over the rim of her coffee cup, though she was looking at nothing.

"Well, Nikki's been up there a while, maybe he's finally talking to somebody... though that note you found still bothers me," Susanna also stared at nothing.

"I still think there's just something we're all missing, something he's hiding or..." Johnny's voice trailed off and Jay's picked up on his sentence, "something that happened to him when he got here, or maybe something that happened to him back home in Kansas that he never told anyone about and now it's haunting him?"

"Exactly," Johnny stood looking out the window, "Do you guys think he was ever abused in some way?"

"I think Karen and Bob would have known about it... but I could be wrong and even if they did they didn't tell me!" Ava still stared at nothing.

All four adults stood or sat around the kitchen. It was 5 in the morning, 2 hours since Bradin asked to talk to Nikki. Suddenly they heard Nikki's voice coming down the stairs, "Well, are you?" Then Bradin's, "No, don't be ridiculous! Nikki, I can't!" Bradin sounded desperate, "What do want me to do? Tell the world? Why don't you get my story put on TV?" Bradin was now yelling.

"That has nothing to do with telling Aunt Ava!" Nikki yelled back.

The two were standing at the foot of the stairs now and the adults got up and came into the living room, they watched as Nikki and Bradin yelled at each other.

"Shit, Nikki! The last person on earth I would want to tell would be Aunt Ava!" Bradin's back was to the adults, "And then who would she tell! She's not my mother-" Bradin stopped suddenly and his arms went limp at his sides, "She just wouldn't understand, okay..." Bradin said quietly.

"Brae, she would, she will." Nikki's voice lowered to a normal volume, "Bradin come on, tell her, I'll go with you."

"That doesn't help me Nikki. I told you what you're wanting me to tell her, but I didn't tell you everything, you really don't know what's going on," Bradin's head dropped and he put his hands in his pockets, "so don't tell me to tell somebody cause you just don't know!"

Nikki looked upset, "Brae, I'm trying to help you! Please, Bradin, you're my brother and I don't wanna see you get hurt."

"Get hurt? What do you mean?"

"I mean, I- I mean you are going to throw away your life if you keep letting this stuff bother you! You're really gonna hurt yourself by not telling anyone!" Nikki's eyes filled with tears, "Please Bradin, I love you too much to see you get hurt."

"Nik," Bradin put his arms around her, "I've already gotten hurt, there's not much you can do about that one!"

"Bradin, don't act like this is no big deal."

"It isn't."

"Yes it is!" Nikki screamed, "You just don't see it!"

Bradin took a step back, "Whoa! Hold up, what do you mean? Do you think for one minute that I don't know there's something wrong with me? Do you?" Bradin's voice matched the volume of Nikki's. "Nikki, I know far better than you that there's something wrong and I know what it is, and I know that you cannot do anything about it! Dang it!" Bradin looked away and in doing so he finally saw the adults, his whole body stiffened and his eyes fixed on Ava's.

Bradin's eyes locked on Ava's and she felt tears rushing to her eyes, she held them back and continued to stare at Bradin as Nikki said, "Then tell me! God, Bradin, you're killing yourself!" Nikki screamed at him as if it would make him understand what she was trying to get across to him.

Bradin saw the look of concern, confusion, care, hurt and, could he really be seeing... love? He looked back at Nikki just as she'd finished screaming at him and said, his voice barely above a whisper, "I love you, Nik, you and Derrick both, and I want you to know that and to never forget it. So, just... I- I love you so much, you mean so much to me, and after what I told you, I'm sure you know why I'm telling you this..." Bradin turned around, and without another word walked out the front door.

Now that you have read it... you MUST review it!!!! (Zaps you with a "reviewing" gun) ;-)

Anna Christie AKA SecondStarToTheRight15