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Chapter 38
Kris let out a sigh of relief as she slammed her car trunk closed and leaned against it, wiping the sweat off her forehead. There was a deep, empty ache in her chest that she just couldn't seem to shake. Kris knew getting her stuff had been more painful than she'd anticipated. It seemed to add a note of finality to what had all seemed like a really bad dream that she would wake up from sooner or later. The past week had just been h*ll, and she didn't know how much more she could take.
"Hey, Krissy, you all right?" AJ appeared at her side, wrapping a comforting arm around her waist, concern for her showing deep in his amber eyes.
"I know that hurt more than you're letting on, I can feel it." Kris smiled weakly at him, resting her head on his strong shoulder.
"There are benefits to having a best friend that truly can read your mind and feel what you feel. This is really hard, harder than I imagined, though." Kris sighed, looking up into AJ's tan, angular face. "But what about you and B-Rok? This won't affect the group-?" AJ placed a finger lightly over her lips, silencing Kris' concerns.
"I'll worry about that. The fact that you're staying with me has nothing to do with the BsB."
"If
you say so," Kris said doubtfully, picking up the remaining box of her
stuff and walking in the house. *
Watching the waves quietly crash onto the beach at high tide, Kris tried to
sort her way through her emotions and the complicated knot that was her life.
A sudden jingle broke through her thoughts and Kris fumbled through her bag,
finally unearthing her cell phone.
"Hello?"
she asked, faking her cheerfulness. "Nick, wait, slow down. What about
Na?" Her face paled considerably and she said quickly, "Okay, we'll
be at your house in ten. Bye." Grabbing her bag, Kris ran down the beach
as fast as she could, not feeling the burning hot sand under her bare feet.
Up the steep cliff she went, swearing under her breath and felt a knot of anxiety
twist in her stomach. *
Howie glanced out the window of Nick's house as AJ's silver Expedition pulled
in, closely followed by Brian's BMW. Walking into the downstairs guest room,
he said quietly, "They're here, Nick." Nick nodded, his long hair
falling into his eyes as he gazed down at Na. Her bruises stood out against
her pale skin and the black stitches crisscrossed everywhere.
Nick ran a gentle hand over Na's cheek as the door slammed, followed by quick
footsteps as Kris and AJ ran in, their hands gripped together tightly. Kris
let out a gasp when she glimpsed Nina's pale face and, letting go of AJ's hand,
ran over to kneel by the bed.
"Nick, what happened?" Taking a deep breath, Kris calmed herself and placed her trembling hand on Nina's small forehead. She winced as the coolness of her palm touched her burning hot skin. Turning to the door, Kris started, "AJ, go get-" Her words faltered as AJ glanced at her strangely, then saw Brian, gaunt and tired looking appeared behind AJ. Recovering quickly, she finished, "Go get me a cloth and a bowl of cool water, she's burning up." As he left to do so, Kris turned back to Nick, ignoring Brian as he approached his best friend, worry etched on his face.
"What happened, Frack? Where were you?" Nina looked at Kris, a mix of pain, anger and fear in his deep blue eyes.
"The apartment. Nina insisted on finding out what those letters said. . . if you had really known before."
"Oh God, Nina. I could've shown them to you," Kris murmured to her friend's pale face. Her eye caught Brian's for a moment, and his face held a look of guilt and pain.
"So, she just passed out?" Brian asked quietly, breaking his gaze away from Kris' first. AJ walked back in, handing Kris the bowl and towel.
"No, I made her sit at the table and.. and she found this." Nick pulled out the crumpled envelope from his pocket and handed it to Kris, avoiding her gaze. Kris' eyes flew open as she started to read the letter, then threw it to the floor.
"I never read this! I've never seen it before!" Kris finally cried, disgusted. Nick eyed Kris warily as she placed the cool cloth on Nina's forehead.
"Then who?"
"I..I found it, when I read the other letters. I opened it." Kris, Nick and AJ turned to stare at Brian, who turned a bright shade of red and suddenly found the floor very interesting. Kris felt anger boil up inside her and almost lost control, but for a strong, calming hand on her shoulder and the soft whisper in her ear.
"Krissy, don't. It's the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong man. It'll only worsen the situation. Kris glanced at AJ, holding his troubled gaze. It amazed her how he could read her mind like that. Kris nodded, then jumped, startled by a weak squeeze on her hand.
"Kris? Is that you?"
"I'm here, Na. How ya feeling?" Kris asked quietly, helping her friend sit up, a grimace of pain on her face. Nina slowly focused on Kris, AJ still behind her, Nick next to her, then Brian in the background.
"Like
I've been hit with a truck, but I'll live," Nina smiled reassuringly at
Nick, who was watching her with a desperate fear in his eyes, then glanced back
at Kris. "Kris, we need to talk." Kris knew there was no denying Nina's
command and the look on her face only quickened the three guys' leaving. Before
he left, AJ leaned down next to Kris' ear, whispering, "It'll be okay,
Krissy. I've got some stuff to do, but I'll be back in an hour or so."
Kris nodded, accepting his warm kiss on her cheek, and watched him leave the
room, closing the door behind him.
"Kris, what's going on?" Na watched as she jumped and looked back at her friend, guilt written on her face. Nina had seen the look on Brian's face as AJ softly kissed her cheek, and she knew that Brian wished it had been himself instead.
"What do you-"
"You know exactly what I mean! AJ, Kris. Why him, of all people, to run to? After everything Brian accused you of last night?" Kris looked her friend straight in the eye.
"Because Alex is my best friend, something like a soul mate to me, Nina. He understands me, knows my emotions better than I do! He knows how I feel without even saying a word." Kris paused, staring off into space for a moment, a small frown on her face. "It's kind of amazing." Na saw no lies in her friend's eyes. In fact, now that she thought about it, she had seen it for herself the night before, after Kris had spoken to Jason. They had been slumped at their tables in the exact same position, and she'd seen the worry on his face right before Kris had broken up with Brian. Nina flashed Kris a sad smile.
"Just don't do anything I wouldn't do, okay?" Kris laughed softly.
"Maybe you shouldn't have said that!"
"Kris,
I'll get straight to the point. What did Jason tell you last night?" Panic
flashed through Kris as she realized how naive she'd been. Of course Na would
have recognized Jay, she was the only one of their group who even could have
recognized the guy she'd been with. Kris quickly searched her mind for some
possible way out of the situation without lying to her, but not telling Nina
the truth. *
AJ had called his mom Denise, who knew a fair amount about doctoring, as soon
as he left Nina's room. Not much later, the cheerful, bustling woman arrived
and took over, ushering the boys out of Nina's room. Nick and the others opted
to lounge in the family room, watching a basketball game and wait for the word
on Nina. *
Kris walked into the big kitchen in a daze, exhausted from all the emotions
she had experienced that day. She dug through Nick's cabinets until, amazingly,
she found a box of chamomile tea. Half paying attention, Kris put some water
on the burner to boil, then looked out at the magnificent view of the ocean
and setting sun. Kris sighed quietly, holding her head in her hands and wondered
when it was all going to end. She felt like just breaking down and crying, letting
him win so the others could get on with their lives. Kris felt she had moved
no further than where she'd been two and a half years ago. An acrid, smoky smell
drifted to Kris' nose, breaking through her speeding thoughts, and for a moment
she couldn't place it. Luckily for her, Howie did (from his many cooking experiences
with Kevin).
"Holy sh*t!" Howie yelled, seeing puffs of smoke rising from the stove. Kris turned and whispered, "Oh my Lord," and watched numbly as the short man ran in and grabbed the smoking object. Howie tossed it in the sink and Kris sighed with relief as the object went out with a loud hiss.
"Kris? Kris, are you okay?" Howie shook her gently, concern in his chocolate eyes. As though coming out of a trance, Kris slowly focused on Howie as what just happened caught up with her.
"Oh, gosh, D! I'm so sorry! I didn't even-" Howie shushed her, holding Kris as she sobbed, the near tragedy taking her past her limit for the day.
"Hey, it's all right, no harm done. Looks like someone left a cloth too close to the burner, it's okay, Kris," Howie comforted, rubbing her back like he might a child's.
"Krissy?" AJ stood in the doorway, frowning at the cloud of smoke hanging over the kitchen and the two figures by the window.
"I'm okay, Alex." Kris tried to smile, but it didn't work.
"Krissy, care to tell me how you got the nickname Pyro now?" AJ asked, a light smile on his face. Kris looked him in the eyes for a moment, then started laughing loudly at some private joke, startling the boys.
"Maybe I should save that for another time, Alex. Like after I move out of your house. It might scare you too much!"
"Hmm..," AJ murmured, glancing at her over the tops of his sunglasses. "Maybe I should reconsider my offer." Kris flashed him a perfect smile and wrapped her arms around AJ's waist.
"Oh no, Bone, you're stuck with me now!"
"Oh,
boy. What have I agreed to?" AJ moaned, not liking Kris' devilish smile
one little bit. *
"I think I'm gonna go, Na," Kris said, smiling at her friend. "It's
been a long day, and if I plan on spending the day with mom and dad, and not
going insane, I have to sleep!" Kris felt a big pang of guilt at the thought
of her parents. They had come all that way to see her, and now they had barely
had a chance to talk to her and they were going home soon.
"What did Denise say?" Nina saw the strain on her friend's face and smiled back reassuringly.
"I'm stressed out! Tylenol, lots of bed rest." Nina grimaced, a vindictive smile on her face. "She thinks I got out of the hospital too early, but there's no way I'm going back there!" Kris nodded, understanding her friend's dislike of hospitals.
"Krissy, you ready to go?" AJ popped his head in the door, eager to leave and get home now that the immediate danger had passed.
"Yeah,
give us one more minute." He nodded and gave Nina a kiss on the cheek.
"You get better, okay? No funny stuff with Nick until you're okay!"
Nina turned bright red, and AJ barely missed the punch sent his way. He exited,
chuckling quietly to himself as he heard Nina say to Kris, "I'm sorry,
Kris. I don't blame you for any of this..." *
AJ slowly walked down the hallway, wondering what was going to happen, with
everyone. He'd never considered Kris as more than his best friend, though they
flirted. But he flirted with everyone! Brian had not talked to him at all, but
AJ did not get any impression of jealousy over Kris living with him. Quite the
opposite, Brian seemed incredibly sad.
Shaking his head, AJ ran a hand through his blue hair. He needed to talk to
Brian, before he did anything else. They didn't need anymore confusion right
now, and this would certainly not help the group at all.
"AJ, can I talk to you for a sec?" Startled out of his thoughts, AJ glanced up at the tall, serious man who had appeared from nowhere.
"Sure, Kevin. What's up?" Kevin looked at the younger man he knew so well and felt a flush of guilt for what he was about to say.
"AJ, I don't want you to get the wrong idea here, but Kris staying at your house, after last night.. It doesn't look that great."
"Kevin, man, you know me better than that! Kris and I are nothing more than best friends, and its never been anything more than that!"
"I know, I know, AJ. Brian felt bad, though I don't think he remembers too much. I just wanted to warn you. Don't do anything stupid, okay?" AJ shook his head, incredulous.
"All
right, all right! Nothing was going to happen, but I promise!"" AJ
stalked down the stairs as Kevin murmured sadly, "I'm sorry AJ, but it's
for your own good." *
Na listened from her room upstairs to the faint goodbye of Kris and AJ, then
the sound of his car as they drove away.
"Na, what's wrong? You look.. disturbed." Nick was in the doorway, studying Na quietly as she thought.
"Nick, she lied to me," Nina murmured in an astonished tone.
"About what, baby?" Nick questioned, gingerly taking hold of her good hand.
"About Jason."
"Who's that?" Nina gave a quiet sigh of impatience, then looked into his blue eyes.
"The guy she talked to last night, not the bodyguard. The one you pointed out to me." He nodded, a frown on his childish face.
"So, what does he have to do with anything?"
"Nick, sweetie. Jay was Josh's best friend when Kris broke up with him."
"Uh oh."
"Exactly. She said he just happened to run into her. Kris was lying, I could tell! He said something important to her, but I can't tell if it was good or bad."
"Should we tell the others? Is she in danger?" Na shook her head, wincing a little.
"Say nothing, Nicky. I don't know what's going on, I only have a suspicion." Nick sighed, too exhausted to argue about it.
"All right, Na. Get some sleep, okay? I'll be next door if you need anything."
"G'night, Nicky." Nick kissed her full lips, letting it linger for a few moments, then slipped out of the room, Na already half asleep. *
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