We've Met Before

13 - Fight Night At The Turners

CADE

    I thought everything had already unraveled.
    I thought that things were being, and had now been.
    "Wait what?" I respond. I stop digging in my gym bag.
Does she know? How did she find out? Did Gabby tell her?
If I stayed away from Kaia, she wouldn't tell her. I know that I went back on my word, but she doesn't know this.
There's no way she could know.
I make memory to every time I've been with Kaia, and then it all regurgitates back. Gabby caught Kaia and I studying earlier this month.
This doesn't explain why Dahlia would know though. Dahlia doesn't know Gabby.
"You know what... forget I called."
    "No—"
    She hangs up, and I immediately call Kaia.
    "Are you doing anything right now?" I ask, resting my elbow on my knees. I look around the gym, suddenly paranoid. My legs bop up and down, and my teeth bite down on my nails.
    "Yes, I'm with friends." She responds with an awkward laugh.
    "Oh okay, cool." I say, trying to match her laugh. "I'll be there in fifteen."
    Before she can utter a response, I hang up and pick up my gym bag, along with my keys.
——
    I'm banging on the front door of Kaia's house.
    "Kaia!"
    I hear footsteps from the other side of the door and a laughing Dahlia appears on the other side of the door. She freezes as she sees me and Kaia appears beside her. She gives me a shy smile before Gabby, and a pair of twins appear next to her as well.
    Gabby's face pales and she takes ahold of Kaia's forearm.
    I stare at the interaction and my jaw tenses.
    She isn't allowed to touch her.
    "What are you doing here?" Kaia asks, taking a quick glance at Gabby's hold and trying to shove her off. Gabby doesn't budge. Her eyes hold into mine and I raise an eyebrow at her.
    An eyebrow that says 'let her fucking go or I'll rip your hand off.'
    Any, and all fear that she'll tell Kaia what happened disappears. All I can focus on is on the fact her nails are digging into Kaia's flesh.
    I don't bother responding to Kaia's question.
    I step towards Gabby and she visibly cowers back, she stumbles into the hall and I grab her wrist. I grip my fingers into her skin and shove her filthy hands off Kaia. She falls back and her eyes widen at me.
    "Don't you dare fucking touch her," I spit, towering over her deceivably fragile figure.
    Nothing about her is fragile, nothing about her is scared. This is what she does.
    She plays dumb, knowing she's playing a game of two. She'll challenge you to staring contests from across the room, and shine her teeth into your face.
    Kaia shoves me shoulder back, turning me towards her. "What the fuck?!"
    She extends a hand towards Gabby and helps haul her up.
    I turn to Dahlia and she has a small grin on her face. Kaitlyn stands on the other side of the room, looking at Dahlia as she looks back. I wonder sometimes if they communicate telepathically.
    I stutter to say something, nothing but short spasms of words leaving my mouth.
    I can't explain myself.
    I have no excuse.
    "You can't show up to my house and assault my friends, Cade." Kaia's eyebrows are furrowed, and she looks at Gabby in a reassuring way.
    Gabby's eyes are beginning to water and I scoff.
    "Did you not see the way she was holding you? You tried pushing her off yourself and she didn't move." I shout, pointing my hand towards her red wrist.
How hard was she holding?
    Kaia says nothing. She pushes her hand behind her back and my lips part.
Don't hide from me.
    "Why are you here?" She mumbles.
    I turn to Dahlia, and she shakes her head slowly.
    "I forgot something at your house." I lie, hoping that Dahlia repays my silence with an answer as to why she asked about Gabby.
    Kaia sighs. "You could've just told me that."
    The twins turn back towards the hall and begin walking away, leaving just Dahlia, Kaia, Gabby, Kaitlyn, and I.
    Gabby shifts uncomfortably.
    She's outnumbered, and outplayed at the moment. I don't know what she said to Dahlia, but considering the sly smile on Dahlia's face —she's not on her good side.
    I look towards Gabby and her damp face transforms into a small smile.
"Kaia, it's okay. I'm okay. I think it's best I go anyways, my mom wanted me home by eight." Gabby's voice is soft, almost in a whisper.
I feel myself start to panic. I feel my breathing become uneven, but all I can do right now is mask it with a frown. My eye sockets burn, and my nostrils begin to flare.
Nobody seems to notice except Kaia, who suddenly brings a hand to my shoulder. She looks to Gabby, Dahlia, and Kaitlyn —mumbling something to them before they turn to leave. Gabby saunters down the hall, taking one last look at me before grinning.
Kaia brings a hand to my cheek and she starts saying something, but I can't hear her. Everything is deafening, everything is still and quiet. All I can manage to do is listen to her whispers.
    "Stay quiet for me okay?" Circles my head over, me over, and over again. I feel like I'm persecuted by that night even months after it happened.
I walk towards Kaia's empty bathroom and she follows.
    "What's wrong? Cade, breathe with me okay?"
    She counts down.
    "1..." She holds onto both sides of my face.
    "2..." I watch as she inhales, her chest rising slowly as her mouth forms an 'o.'
    "3..." I breathe in with her and exhale. I take ahold of her hand and place it over my chest. I breathe in and out two more times before feeling my heart calm down. I feel my head level out. Everything coming clearly into focus, and sounds appearing around me again.
    We both suddenly hear shouting, and a thump on the other side of the house.
    Kaia opens the door and jogs towards the study —where the sound is coming from. We watch as Kaitlyn straddles Gabby to the ground. Gabby's face is shoved into the floor as Kaitlyn is practically sitting on her back holding her down. Dahlia holds Gabby's head up from the ground by her hair, and she's screaming at her.
    "Stay the fuck away from Kaia, or I'll make sure that next time you place a single fucking finger on her... it'll be cut off in the next 48 hours."
    Kaia stands in shock, along with the two blonde twins. I can do nothing but smile.
    Dahlia turns around and sees Kaia stand behind her. She flushes and let's go, signaling Kaitlyn to get up as well. Dahlia rubs her hands on the fabric of her jeans and digs her hands into her pockets.
    Kaitlyn and Dahlia begin walking across the hall, towards the door.
    She stops when she reaches Kaia, giving her a short side hug. "This is my cue to go," She turns around, giving a sobbing Gabby a final look. "Tell her to never show her face to me again."
    Kaia surprisingly returns her hug. Although short and curt, I can tell she's not mad. The shocked expression on her face never disappears, although now she seems enlightened with something new.
An emotion I can't quite put my finger on yet.
    The twins shuffle towards the door as well, twin number 1 taking her car keys, saying goodbye, and leaving through the front door. Gabby finally musters the energy to stand up. Her arms shake as she pushes herself off the ground. Her hair is matted at the roots —obviously from Dahlia's handling, and her shirt as risen up slightly from Kaitlyn's hassling.
She stares expectantly at Kaia. She silently pleads her to say something, to defend her, but it never comes.
Gabby's eyes shift between Kaia and I. Her body mending itself in a desperation I had never seen come from Gabby before. Sly, evil, menacing Gabby disintegrates into what she is,
Scared.
She opens her lips for a couple of seconds before tightly shutting them. Her body heaves with every breath, and her face turns a violent red, her fists shake as she clenches them tightly against her palm.
She looks explosive.
    Gabby's silence isn't a sign of defeat, her silence is a threat. It's an ultimatum for me, a warning for Kaia.
——
The house is empty, except for Kaia and I.
It's 7:56 pm and I decided to stay. Kaia didn't offer, but I've spent so many nights inside her house before that I'm sure she won't mind.
The first time I spent the night at Kaia's house was whenever my father was first admitted to the hospital in second grade. I remember him collapsing on the ground and my mom trying to calm both herself, and me down. She held my shoulder as she collapsed beneath me. She held me even when she couldn't hold herself up.
She drove me to, at the time, Mrs.Turner's house, and I spent the night. Kaia's dad made us s'mores and let us camp in the backyard for the night.
I realized then that I wasn't a fan of bugs.
Kaia sits on the other side of the couch as she scrolls through the tv channels.
I can tell she's deep in thought. When isn't she?
She turns around to face me as I stand in the kitchen, hunting down her pantry.
"Can you reach me a yogurt, not the yoplait ones, the short ones that say danoninos."
I nod and open her fridge, staring at the short dairy cabinet. I pick up three different yogurts and lay them on the counter, examining each closely.
I can read the yoplait label, so I place that one back inside the fridge. Except the problem now is... I can't read the other two yogurts.
"Sunshine, why the fuck do you buy three different yogurt brands?" I shout from the kitchen.
I hear Kaia's snort from the living room, and her body hauling towards me. "It's my dad. You know how he is." She picks up the two remaining yogurts and places one in front of me. "Try reading that for me," she states.
What the fuck does that even say? I see the letters all jumble together, shifting as my focus moves around the yogurt cup.
"This is fucking stupid. You can pick your yogurt now that you're here anyways." I scoff, crossing my arms across my chest and heading back to the couch.
Kaia's melodic laugh rings through the room and it's almost lovely enough to make me quit my tantrum.
I immediately turn around to watch her.
Her soft blonde hair layers her face as her eyes close shut, squinting from her giggling. Her lips separate as she laughs and time seems to go still.
Definitely taking a mental snapshot.
She tiptoes back over, yogurt in hand. She sits beside me and looks at me.
"Have you ever gotten your eyes tested?"
"No, never had a reason to," I respond honestly.
She sighs and leans back against the couch. "You might have dyslexia bud."
"Bud?"
She rolls her eyes, her face turning red. A soft cherry red. The sort of red that makes my stomach flutter. That makes me feel weightless against all.
"Shut up," she responds, opening the small cup. "I'm being serious. You probably have dyslexia. Remember how you said the book in English didn't make sense because it was difficult to read?"
I hear her, and I understand everything she's saying —but I can't focus. Everything about her pulls me in like a magnet. My own personal, beautiful, gorgeous, intelligent magnet.
"Hm we should give tutoring a try again," I say, leaning towards her.
She makes no move to back away, staying in place and bringing the spoon of yogurt to her lips.
I watch like a dog as her tongue leaves her lips, wrapping itself along the spoon. Weirdly erotic for whatever reason, or maybe it's just because that's Kaia.
"I think, you should tell me the real reason for today." She slips out from under me and heads towards the opposite side of the couch.
Goddamnit.
I shift uncomfortably as my pants suddenly feel very tight. I take a pillow and place it over my lap, glaring at the woman who just gave me blue balls.
"There's nothing to be said. I told you, she was holding onto you." I'm not lying, technically. Omitting part of the truth perhaps.
"We both agreed we'd be more upfront with eachother. This all goes both ways, Cade." Her voice has risen an octave and I can now tell she's upset. Her voice is smothered in frustration, and I understand.
I'm frustrated too.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you stay away from Gabby. She's no fucking good, Kaia. She doesn't have your best interests in fucking mind," I've stood up now, hoping to get through to her somehow —even when I'm not all that convincing, and have given her no reason to believe me.
She stands up as well, getting dangerously close to me. "And you do? I would like to remind you of what happened the summer. The way you spoke to me like I was worth absolutely nothing," she takes a deep breath, "Ironic that you're telling me what's good for me, and what isn't. I hate you."
I chuckle. "You hate me? What was the closet? Did you hate when I had my hands under your shirt?"
Oh so nice memories.
"Don't use my moments of sexual weakness against me Cade William Steele." She's screaming, pouting a finger at my chest.
"Fuck!" I pinch my nose bridge. "I'm trying to be better for you! I'm trying to be everything you need, and want. I want to be the man you dream of at night, the man you tell your secrets to! I want to be the one getting under your skin, the only man who will ever affect you enough to scream. I want you to be angry with me right now, because I deserve it." I pause, grabbing her hands and placing her palm flat against my chest. "I especially want you to be angry because do you feel this? I want to know you're feeling this too, that you still feel something for me, even after I fucked up, even after all of it. Because lord knows I fucking do."
I'm out of breathe by the time I finish.
Her eyes soften. Her eyebrows, and shoulders relax. "You do?" Her voice is nothing but a susurration.
I smile, nodding my head. "I do. I do. I do."
She smiles back, her hand still above my chest. She moves our hands to her chest, laying her hand above her heart. I can feel the rhythmic beating underneath her skin, the way it beats against her body.
It's the same pace as mine.
"You were right," she mumbles.
"About what?"
"I can't forgive you right now. I'd be forgiving you because of my need to be with you, instead of forgiving you because I've truly come to terms with all of it."
"Yes, and that's fine. Be selfish."
She nods, grinning. "Yes, selfish." Her stare gets lost in my eyes. Her big beautiful hazel eyes.
They stare back at me like orbs. They're the forest floor and the gentle flowers, somewhere to rest and breathe.
She sits down on the couch, letting go of my hands. For the slightest of seconds I begin to panic. Did she change her mind?
I kneel in front of her, my knees on the floor, my body between her legs. I clasp the sides of her thighs, looking up at her.
"Give me the opportunity to make things right. You need more than me, but I want nothing but you." I'm pleading, begging, on my knees for her.
I need to hear her say it. I need her to tell me she'll allow me to mend my wrongs. I've made too many of them, and even then, haven't been completely honest about all of them.
"Yes, I'll give you a last time," she breathes. "I need honesty from you, and understanding. I'm not perfect, and I'm troubled, and I'm hazy half the time but we're both going to try right?"
"I can do understanding," I grin.
I can't say anything about honesty, because honesty would have me tell her what happened with Gabby. She'd never forgive me.
Gabby shouldn't be a problem anymore. Not after her WWE fight with Dahlia and Kaitlyn. Dahlia's words should be more than enough to keep her away.
——
Kaia's head rests on my chest, a gentle whistling escaping between her teeth with every breath. I look down at her and see nothing but blonde, and more blonde.
I smile.
Smile because I'm happy, smile because she's here, smile because she's mine.
Not technically, but I'd kill anybody who touched her, or looked at her. She's mine in every sense of the word. She's mine when she's laughing. She's mine when she's crying. She's mine when she's screaming at me. She's mine when she's shocked. She's mine when she's reading. She's mine when she's panting.
She's mine.
My phone dings and I check the text message, it's from Dean.
Coach said practice at 9:30 for you since you leapt off yesterday
I roll my eyes and text back.
Go dick ride coaches dick dickface
Real mature
I laugh at his response, and tuck my phone back into the pocket of my sweater. I lightly place Kaia's head onto the couch and roll over.
I'd love to stay a bit longer, but I did leave early on Friday. I need to keep up with football if I plan on receiving another offer from a Texas school. I've accumulated offers from every major university in Texas except ones in Houston. I want to stay near my family, and stay near my dad.
I don't know how long I have left with him.
I've become somewhat of a support system by now, and I have priorities that transcend just football now.
I stare at the girl laid asleep in front of me.
Priorities I can't let go of anymore.