CHAPTER THIRTY ~ Crime and Consequences

   Rachel climbed out of her bed at 6:00 and started getting ready for her busy day.  When she still hadn't seen or heard Nicole by 7:00, she went to Nicole's room to see if Nicole had planned on going to Trans-Con.  "Nicole, are you up?" Rach called as she knocked on the bedroom door.  When there wasn't an answer, she opened to door to find that the bed hadn't been slept in that night.  "Maybe it was getting late so she just stayed at the house with her brother and Jacob," Rachel thought to herself before remembering that she had been woken up on the couch by Nicole and Jacob coming in at 2:00.  As she was starting her car in the driveway, her cell phone rang.  "Hello," she answered.
    "Rach, this is Ashley.  Is Jacob over there?"
    "No, he's not, Ash.  I thought he and Nikki were over at your place," Rachel answered.
    "Well, Jacob's bed was used last night, but we can't find him anywhere," Ashley explained.
    "Have you checked with the others to see if they may have an idea where he or Nicole are?"
    "No one has seen him since early this morning...and Trevor can't remember much about the encounter...although he insists that my sister was here," Ashley replied.
    "Well, I'll be over in a few minutes to find them.  You guys finish getting ready, but don't leave until after I get to the house," Rach said.  "I just don't want all of you to be late for another lesson with Mark."
    "Alright," Ashley said before hanging up the phone and telling the others that they needed to get ready to head to the studio.
    No one had been able to find either Nicole or Jacob by the time Rachel got to the house so she again questioned Trevor, this time finding out that he vaguely remembered Nicole and Jacob saying something about going down by the beach to talk.  "Alright, I'll check it out.  You guys get to Trans-Con and I'll get Jacob there as soon as I can," Rachel said before pulling her cell phone out of her pocket and dialing the number for the secretary that worked with her. "Maggie, this is Rachel.  Can you get ahold of my 8:30 appointment and see about rescheduling it for later this afternoon, please.  If that doesn't work try to get it rescheduled for as soon as possible this week."
    "Alright, Rachel.  What happened that you're not here yet.  I expected to see you working away when I got here this morning," Maggie asked.
    "O-Town happened.  Listen, I'll be there by ten, eleven at the latest.  See you then, and I'll explain what happened then," Rachel said before pushing the END button on her cell phone to cancel the call as she made her way to the beach that was located behind the house.  She immediately saw Jacob and Nicole snuggled together on the beach.  "NICOLE ANGEL!!!  JACOB UNDERWOOD!!!  GET YOURSELVES UP HERE AND TOO MY CAR RIGHT NOW!" Rachel yelled, startling the two lovebirds who had been sleeping peacefully.
    "Huh?  What's happening?" Jacob said, as he rubbed his eyes.
    "I SAID GET TO MY CAR NOW!" Rachel yelled again.  "You're gonna be late for your vocal lessons, and I've had to reschedule an appointment so I could find the two of you," Rachel finished the anger becoming apparent in her voice.
    "Uh-oh.  Someone's cranky this morning.  We need to get her and Erik together so she isn't so bad," Nicole whispered, causing Jacob to laugh softly.
    "This is a laughing matter you two.  NOW MOVE IT!" Rachel yelled before stomping off towards the house and her car.
    "We better get going, Nik.  I've never seen Rachel get this upset about anything since we've been here," Jacob said helping Nicole to her feet.
    "Yeah, I know what you mean," Nicole said as she brushed the sand off of her pants.
    The ride to Trans-Con was a quiet one, with Rachel trying to calm down so she wouldn't over-react to the situation that she needed to deal with.  Once at the studios, Rachel said, "Jacob, get to the vocal lessons, and don't forget I need to talk with you during one of your breaks today.  Nicole, you and I need to talk also.  Give me a little more time to cool down first though," Rachel said as she stopped to check with the secretary to find out when the appointment had been rescheduled for.
    About 10:30, Nicole poked her head in the door of Rachel's office, "Rach?  Can we have that little talk now?" she asked.
    "Yeah, come on in, Nikki," Rachel answered.
    "Ummm...what was it you needed to see me about?" Nicole asked, worried that Rachel was going to send her home to California because of what had happened.
    "Well, I don't want this to come out the wrong way, but I don't appreciate what happened with you this morning," Rachel said.
    "You  AREN'T my mother!" Nicole yelled in response.  "You CAN'T tell me what to do."
    "Nicole, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but when you weren't home this morning I was worried.  All I really wanted to do was let you know that I'd appreciate you keeping me informed when you aren't going to be home.  Like I said last night, you're an adult, and I think you need to be treated like one so I'm not setting a curfew, but I need to know when you leave because you want to...otherwise I may go crazy and call the cops to report you missing for no real reason," Rachel explained.
    "Is that what you're telling Jacob too?" Nicole asked, relieved that Rachel hadn't told her she would need to leave Orlando.
    "No, he does have a curfew and he broke it.  He will be learning what the consequences for his rules infractions are," Rachel said.
    "Rachel, it was all my idea.  Please don't kick Jacob out of the group because of this," Nicole begged.
    "I'm not gonna kick him out.  I don't have that authority," Rachel said laughing.  "But he is going to have some form of punishment for violating rules that he knew were established for the well being of this group."
    "What kind of punishment?" Nicole asked.
    "Like, you'll need to find out from him, if he wants to tell you," Rachel said.  "Just remember one thing.  He's here for a reason, don't jeopardize his chance by being a distraction for him, alright."
    "OK," Nicole agreed.  "You aren't gonna make him quit seeing me are you?" Nicole asked thinking about what kind of punishment could be given to him.
    "That wouldn't work, even if I did want to do that to him.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to finish getting ready for my afternoon meeting," Rachel said.
    "Alright.  See you at lunch?" Nicole asked as she left the office.
    "Nope, I'm gonna be tied up with this stuff all afternoon," Rachel answered, not looking up from the papers she was working on.
    "Ok, I'll see you tonight then," Nicole said as she shut the door behind her.  As she walked down the hall, she ran into Carrah.
    "Hey, Nik, how was your meeting with the tyrant?" Carrah asked, referring to the description she had gotten from Nicole and Jacob both about the way Rachel had acted after she found them, not even giving them time to change from the clothes they had worn the previous evening.
    "Well, she didn't really say much to me, other than that she had worried about what happened when I wasn't home this morning and she didn't know where I was.  Jacob is in deep trouble with her though," Nicole said.
    "Well, considering what was happening in his bed last night, I'm surprised your brother hasn't killed him yet," Carrah said laughing.
    "Huh?  What is that supposed to mean?" Nicole asked.
    "Nicole, I am staying in the room with Paul, Jacob, and Ashley.  Paul and I both heard you and Jacob making out in his bed, even though you were both trying to be quiet.  If Ashley didn't wake up, I'd be surprised," Carrah answered.
    "Thanks for telling me this, Carrah.  Now I can't face Paul or my brother," Nicole said blushing.
    "Yeah, well, you gotta talk to me, sis.  I need to know why you are wearing my pants," Ashley said as Carrah excused herself to spend time with Paul.
    "Your pants?" Nicole asked before looking down and noticing that she was indeed wearing a pair of her brother's pants.  "Ummm....I guess.....I don't know how I got your pants, Ash," Nicole said.
    "And what was it Rachel said to me about your not being there this morning when I called looking for Jacob?"
    "I kinda left her house, and came back to your place with Jake after our date last night," Nicole admitted shyly.
    "So that explains why you've got Jake's jersey and my pants on, I guess," Ashley said laughing.  "Nicole, if I didn't know any better, I'd say I heard you and Jake in his bed last night.  I know that that couldn't be though, right?" Ashley asked, hoping that his sister wouldn't sleep with a guy who was fast becoming his best friend after only one date.
    "Ash, I really don't want to talk about it," Nicole said, noticing Jacob leaving the room used for vocal lessons.  "I gotta go talk to Jacob.  I'll talk to you at lunch, alright?"
    "Fine, Nicole," Ashley said walking down the hall finding Paul, Carrah, Trevor, and Erik talking.  "Whassup?" he asked.
    "Not much," they all replied very quickly.
    "Jacob!" Nicole called as he walked towards Rachel's office.
    "What's up, honey?" Jacob asked kissing her sweetly.
    "Ummm...I think you're in big trouble because of last night," Nicole admitted.
    "I kinda realized that, pumpkin," Jacob replied as he started nibbling on her ear.
    "Yeah, well...I think it's worse than what we originally thought," Nicole admitted after pulling away from Jacob.
    "Well, I think that we'll have to get Erik over to your place, to help ease some of the tension she is feeling.  I think that will help alot...if they can spend some time alone together," Jacob said, thinking about what he and Nicole had almost done the previous night.
    "It might, but I don't think Rach would appreciate hearing that right now," Nicole said as they reached Rachel's office so Jacob could have his little talk with her.
    "Rach, it's Jacob, can we talk now or would it be better later?" he asked as he poked his head in her door.
    "Now is fine, Jacob," Rachel answered looking up from the paperwork piled on her desk.  "Nicole, this is a private meeting," she added when she saw Nicole coming into the office with Jacob.
    "But it involves me too," Nicole protested.
    "Nicole, it doesn't involve you other than because you are the one Jacob was with.  I need to go over the rules that were established when we started this project again," Rachel said as she stood up and physically prodded Nicole to leave the room.  Once Nicole was gone, Rachel turned to Jacob and said, "Do you have anything to say about what happened?"
    "What do you want me to say?" Jacob asked.  "I enjoyed myself with Nicole so much that I lost track of time," he said, trying to explain.
    "I'm glad you two enjoyed yourselves, but is that really an acceptable excuse?" Rachel asked.
    "No, it's not," Jacob admitted.
    "And that doesn't explain why, after you were at my place to drop her off, she ended up at the beach with you," Rachel added.
    "She wanted to spend more time with me...and since we knew I couldn't stay at your place, she asked to come back with me.  We kinda had a little fight...and went to the beach to talk things through," Jacob continued to explain.
    "Well, what kind of punishment do you think is necessary for breaking curfew by basically staying out all last night?" Rachel asked.
    "Well, I don't want you to tell me I can't see Nicole," he hurriedly said.  "Ummm...maybe an earlier curfew?" he suggested.
    "Well, that might be good, but you've already shown that curfew doesn't mean anything to you...sooooooo....you are basically gonna be under house arrest.  You will only leave the house for the next week to go to official O-town engagements.  I won't say Nicole can't come and spend time with you...but unless it is something that Lou, Mark, or I are taking you too or rehearsal, you aren't allowed outta your house.  Is that clear?" Rachel asked.
    "Yes," Jacob said hanging his head.  "I understand...and that doesn't seem all that unreasonable considering what I did last night."
    "I'm glad you agreed, I really didn't want to get Lou or Mark involved in this," Rachel said.  "This is effective tonight, Jacob.  If it happens again, I won't have any other choice though; I just want you to know that.  Now, can you excuse me, so I can get this work done?" she asked as she pulled more papers out of a file on her desk and started concentrating on them.
    Ashley was somewhat disappointed that his friends didn't want to continue their discussion with him there, but he dropped it, realizing they wouldn't talk if they didn't want to.  "Well, looks like its time for us to head back to rehearsal," he said, wishing that someone would talk to him.

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