Remembering my goodbye kiss to Kellan, I sighed. “Yeah, I’m sure.” He laughed a little and I figured he was probably shaking his head at me. Denny was probably thinking, once again, that he was glad his relationship wasn’t so complicated. I sometimes wished mine wasn’t either; the fiery heat in our relationship sometimes burned us both. But I wouldn’t change the love Kellan and I had for each other for anything.
I’d already had the solid, comfortable relationship, and it hadn’t been enough. Complicated or not, Kellan and I needed each other.
As Denny chuckled, I sighed and added, “Kellan and I had a chance to talk about everything last night…it was a good talk. We’re…back together, with no more secrets.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it. And I’m a little surprised. I sort of felt like I was dropping you off in the middle of a war zone.” He chuckled again and I pictured him running his hand over his jaw. “I was pretty worried about you this morning, especially when you didn’t answer my texts.
When I realized you’d probably left your cell at home, I thought I’d try you here.”
“Oh, yeah, I guess I kind of ran out of there last night…” I paused to bite my lip. “Hey, Denny, thank you so much for being there for me. It meant a lot. It means a lot to me that you still…care. After everything, you still care.”
A soft sigh met my ear. “I’ll always care about you, Kiera. We may not be together anymore but I’m still the one you can call when you’re…lost…alright?”
I smiled, wrapping the phone cord around my finger. “Yeah…same here, Denny. You can always talk to me.”
“I know.” His voice, so warm and soothing, sounded completely stress free. He really was okay. We both were. Denny’s voice switched to in-quisitiveness as he asked, “Is Kellan there? Maybe I should talk to him, now that things are calmer.”
447
I shook my head, sighing a little. “No, he left early this morning. He had to catch a flight right back.”
Denny exhaled, sounding a little relieved. Maybe he didn’t really think Kellan had calmed down, at least not when it came to him. He probably figured he would get yelled at again if he spoke to Kellan. Pretty brave of him to even call here. “Quick trip,” he muttered.
I nodded. “Yeah, he’s a busy guy.” I smiled when I said it, thinking of all the upcoming adventures in Kellan’s life. Adventures that maybe we would share together.
Hearing my smile in my voice, Denny’s accent thickened as he asked,
“Are you guys really okay now? After just one talk?” I paused, considering. “It will take more than one talk, but,” I shrugged, “we are talking and we’ll never stop. We both want this, and we’re gonna fight for it.”
Even though Denny couldn’t see it, I set my jaw and lifted my chin at my hopeful declaration. Denny made a noise like he was impressed, and I
imagined
him
smiling
and
shaking
his
head.
“You
have
changed…you’ve grown.” Quietly laughing, I knew he was giving me his trademark, goofy grin. “Maturity sounds good on you.” I pursed my lips, wishing he was here so I could smack him for his comment, then I laughed with him, thinking maybe I wasn’t so mature after all. “Yeah, well, I should get going if I want to make it to class on time.” I sighed dramatically, remembering that I had obligations and couldn’t lounge in Kellan’s bed all day, even if I really wanted to. “Some of us still need to work on graduating.”
I grinned ear-to-ear that I was so close to being done with the pressures and stress of academics. That only left me the pressures of what I was going to do with the rest of my life…but, like every college graduate, I’d deal with that later.
Chuckling at my comment, Denny agreed with me and wished me luck.
448
We said goodbye to each other and I hung up the phone. After taking a long, hot shower, I got dressed with some spare clothes that I kept at Kellan’s place. Sticking my fingers into the pockets of my jeans, I felt something in the bottom of one. Shaking my head, I pulled out a tiny scrap of notebook paper. On it, in Kellan’s surprisingly neat handwriting, was one last note.
‘ Remember today, that I love you.’
Smiling like an idiot, I shoved the memento back in my pocket, and finished getting ready for school.
So much had happened in the past few hours that doing something as mundane as going to a writing class felt sort of odd. My secret about Denny was out. Kellan’s secret about his dad was out. I was going to try trusting him with the assortment of floozies that seemed to hover around him, and he was going to trust me to be just friends with my ex.
It was sort of…epic…for us, and a huge step in the right direction.
Maybe it was too soon, but I felt good about our future. No, I felt great about it.
Skipping a little as I made my way to the door, I stopped and grabbed the Chevelle keys. Kellan had tossed them on the half-moon table that we’d often used as a dumping area for our various car keys when we’d all lived here together, ages ago.
Not having brought my schoolwork to Kellan’s last night, I locked up Kellan’s home, started Kellan’s car, and made my way back to my place.
Well, my place for now. I’d have to tell my sister that she’d have a room free for the baby. I wasn’t sure if that would make her decision on keeping the baby easier or not. She’d have more space, but she’d be on her own. Sort of. I’d never let her be truly alone.
She was in the kitchen when I opened our door. Having gathered her bravery, she was again reading through the book about pregnancy. The part she was reading must not have been too scary, she had a small smile on her face and a hand on her belly.
449
Used to seeing her up at an earlier hour, since she’d started going to bed at a more respectable time, I smiled at her. “Hey, sis.” She glanced up from her book, small tears in her eyes. “Hey, Kiera.
Did you know that the baby is about the size of a grape, and she’s already forming fingers and toes?”
Walking up to glance at the book she was reading, I contained a smile.
“She?” I asked casually, catching the feminine pronoun.
Swishing her hand in the air, she raised an eyebrow at me. “Yeah, I’m having a girl.” She shook her head. “There’s just no way I’d put another Griffin on this earth.”
I let my smile show through, amused that she thought she had any say on the matter. I did hope she was right though. The firmness of her statement also made me happy. She’d said I’m having a girl. She’d personal-ized the pregnancy in a way that she hadn’t before. She was bonding with the baby growing in her belly. That was definitely a good thing.
Not saying anything that might sway her one way or the other, I grabbed my bag off of the dining room table. I felt my sister’s eyes watching me and I knew I had a sappy smile on my face. I just felt better about Kellan and me than I had in a long time.
Setting her book down, Anna crossed her arms over her chest…her getting larger chest. “Are you just now getting home? Where were you last night?” She narrowed her eyes when she said it, like she was sure I’d been with Denny.
Smiling at whose arms I’d been wrapped in, I shrugged. “I stayed at Kellan’s.”
She blinked. “Oh…alone?”
Smiling wider, I shook my head. “No…”
I trailed off, remembering Kellan’s fingers on my body, his lips on my neck. Anna took my satisfied expression to mean one thing—she 450
smacked me upside the head. “Damn it, Kiera. You hooked up with Denny, didn’t you?”
Rubbing my skull, I frowned and considered smacking her back. The baby in her belly was the only thing that stayed my hand. “No, I did not, thank you very much.” As she frowned at me, her full lips forming a perfect pout, I rolled my eyes and clarified. “Kellan flew in last night to surprise me. I spent the night with him.”
I flushed after saying it, our heated night fresh in my brain. Anna blinked again. “Oh…oh!” She gave me a hug. “Oh, I’m so relieved. I was going to kill you if you’d gotten yourself stuck in another love triangle.” Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “Especially if it was the same love triangle.” Smirking, she added, “If you’re gonna be an idiot…at least branch out.”
That time I did smack her, just on the arm, though.
Thinking of Kellan, and everything that had been discussed between us, I felt heat entering my cheeks. There was one part of last night that Anna wasn’t going to like, one part that I sort of hadn’t meant to tell Kellan, but I’d had to, to defend myself.
As I bit my lip, Anna scrunched her brow. “What?” she asked cautiously.
“Don’t be mad…”
She instantly got mad. Tossing her hands in the air, she screeched,
“You told him! Kellan is Griffin’s best friend, and you told him? Kiera!” I stepped back from her harsh tone, then scrunched my own brows.
“Kellan
is
Griffin’s
best
friend?
Really?”
Kellan
had
always
seemed…tolerant of his bassist, at best.
Anna dropped her head into her hands. “Goddamn it, Kiera, you promised.”
Feeling bad, I put my hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I had to.” 451