Cali

9

L I Z

I got in the bathroom and when I looked in the mirror I saw my puffy eyes, red and still pouring tears. My messy hair, tangled and oily. I turned away from the mirror and started running water for a bath. I sat on the edge of the tub and tried not to think about much of anything. I need something to keep me preoccupied. I pushed myself off the edge of the tub and walked into my room to get my phone and speaker. I walked back into the bathroom but didn't worry about closing the door all the way since the door to my room was shut all the way. I stopped the water once the tub was full and got undressed and got in, playing music from my speaker. I just let random songs playing, it went from Jimmy Eat World, to Disney, to Panic! at the Disco, and kept switching like that. I sat in the tub for a long time. About an hour and a half, maybe two. When I finally got out I wrapped a towel around myself and moved my speaker to my dresser. I got dressed in sweatpants and a long sleeve t-shirt and turned off my music before walking out of my room and seeing Kian on my couch. I plopped down next to him and put my head on his shoulder. "I take it that today is a chill out and relax type of day?" "You're correct." I said and he leaned his head over on mine. "Anything specific you want to do?" "Swimming if Jc won't be there. Something will go wrong if he is." "I'll see if he's there." he said and got up, kissing the top of my head and walking down the hall. I blushed at the small gesture and smiled to myself. I could half way hear him talking but not enough to hear what he was saying. He walked back in the living room and held a hand out to me. I let him pull me up off the couch and he smiled. "Go get a bathing suit." he said and I nodded before walking into my room. I grabbed a black, strapless top and plain black bottoms before throwing them and a few other things I might need in a bag. I walked out and we decided to bring Moscow with us. I put her on a leash and we headed to Kian's house. Once we got there I let Moscow in the back yard and went into a bathroom to change. I walked out of the bathroom and almost into Kian. He had two towels in his hands and we walked out to see Moscow laying in the grass, asleep. We put the towels down and we got in the pool. We swam around and goofed off for a little bit before I sat on the edge of the pool, trying to get a slight tan. Kian came over next to me and lifted himself on the edge of the pool to sit by me and I was staring a little bit. Kian's cute.  Moscow ran over, sniffing us both, and laid down behind us. We sat and talked for a little while longer before we heard the sliding door open. My back was to the door so I had to turn around to look at it and I saw Jc looking at us and I didn't really know how to react other than to act like he wasn't there or that it just wasn't a big deal. Moscow picked her head up but I reached over and started petting her so she gave up and put her head back down. "Hey, Kian. I didn't know you had company." "Yeah. We're spending the day together." he said and I just decided to not say anything. "Just like you spent last night together?" Jc snapped and he was being rude. "Because that's your business." I snapped and Kian put his hand over mine. "Liz, we're trying to have a good, relaxing day." he said and I looked at him. "I know, but if he's going to be rude to you for being my friend when he's made it clear he wants nothing to do with me I'm not just going to sit here and let it happen." I said and stood up, wrapping a towel around myself. "I'm going to go change." I said and Moscow followed me inside. I went into Kian's room and she jumped up on the bed while I changed. There was a knock on the door as I finished getting dressed and I opened the door. "I'm done. You're good to go." I said to Kian and he nodded, slipping into the room past me. he seemed like something was wrong or like he was upset. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, it's just something Jc said after you left. It just didn't sit well with me." "What did he say?" I asked, wondering what could've bothered him so much. "Don't worry about it." he said and I nodded. "I'll let you get dressed then." I said and closed the door before making my way to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. "So, why are you here?" I heard Jc ask me. "Because Kian and I are friends and we're spending time together." I said while turning around. "Just friends?" "Not your business." I said and he rolled his eyes. "If you're fucking my best friend I should know." "We aren't fucking." I said and tried to walk past him. "Really? There's nothing going on?" He asked, blocking me from leaving the kitchen. "No. Nothing has happened." I said and tried to get past him. "Absolutely nothing?" he said and had me kind of cornered. "Nothing. Now if you'd move out of the way, I'd appreciate it." I said and he moved closer and had me kind of against the counter. "Jc, what are you doing?" I asked and he leaned towards me like he was about to try to kiss me. "Jc, move." I said and pushed my hands against his shoulders. He was caught off guard and stumbled back enough for me to get around him. I quickly moved past him and he caught my wrist, pulling me to him. "Don't say a word about this to anyone." he said and forced me against the counter, moving when we heard footsteps. I immediately pulled away and turned to walk away from him, going straight past Kian and into his room. "Liz? Are you okay?" He asked, right on my heels. Once we got in his room and the door as shut I felt like I could breathe again. I sat down and Moscow shoved her nose in my face. "Are you okay?" Kian repeated, kneeling down in front of me. He put himself in my line of sight and my eyes snapped to his. He put his hand on mine and I nodded. "I'm okay. Just a bit frazzled, I guess." I said, which isn't a lie. I am frazzled, I just left out the why. "What happened?" "Nothing. It's not important." I said and he sat on the bed next to me. "Are you sure?" He said and I looked over at him. He looks so concerned, but I don't know what Jc would do if I said something. "What did Jc say to you earlier?" "Something about you two from when he was in Texas." "What was it?" I asked and was really confused. There isn't anything that should've effected Kian like that. "He said that you guys had sex before he left. It was a long time ago, so I shouldn't be so bothered by it but the thought of that just doesn't sit right with me." "It doesn't sit right with me since it never happened." I said and Kian looked really confused. I got up and threw his door open before stomping through the house. "Jc, what the fuck is wrong with you? You try to intimidate me into not saying anything just now because you cornered me and tried to kiss me and you tell Kian that we fucked when you still lived in Texas? What the actual fuck?" I yelled and heard Kian behind me. "He did what?" Kian said, going past me and towards Jc. "Keep your fucking hands off of her." He said, toe-to-toe with Jc. I went over and grabbed Kian's hand and pulled on him. He stepped back when I pulled him and let me pull him to his room. "Why didn't you say something?" he asked me and I shrugged. "He scared me." I said and Kian hugged me to him. "Can we go?" I asked and he nodded. "Yeah. Let me get some stuff together. I don't need to be back here tonight." he said and grabbed a book bag before putting clothes in it. We walked out with Moscow as the rest of the guys were walking in. "Hey, where are you guys rushing off to?" Romeo asked and I just kind of gave him a "It's a long story" look and we went out the door. We walked to my house and as we got inside it started to rain. I pulled Kian's book bag off his shoulder, dropped both of our phones and pulled him back out the door. "Liz, it's raining." He said, slightly resisting. "I know, just come on." I said and pulled him out the door. I went and sat in the grass and he sat next to me. Why are we out here in the rain?" he asked and I shrugged. "Why not?" I asked and he smiled. "Fair enough." he said and I saw a puddle starting to form. I got up and went to splash in it, because I might as well be a child. He was laughing at me and still sitting in the grass in the rain. I went back to sit by him and slipped on some mud, landing me flat on my butt. I started laughing and fell over.  I was laying on my back with my eyes closed and just enjoying the rain. My clothes were soaked and sticking to me but this is the most relaxed I've been in a few days. "Liz, you're getting covered in mud." Kian said and I sat up, opening my eyes to see him smiling at me. "Help me up."  I said and held my hand out. Kian grabbed my hand and pulled me off the ground so I was standing right in front of him. I didn't think twice before going up on my toes to kiss him and I could tell it caught him off guard, but he kissed me back. We pulled away and I smiled, unsure of what was going to happen now. "Let's go inside and get you dried off." he said and I nodded. We got through the door and I have never been more thankful for hardwood floors. I went through to the bathroom, with Kian following me and grabbed towels from the first bathroom instead of tracking water through my bedroom. I handed him a towel and we both dried off as much as possible with soaking wet clothes on. He peeled off his shirt and I looked down at my feet. "I'm gonna go shower." I said and slipped past him into my room. I shut the door to the bathroom and took a shower, not realizing how cold I was until I was under the hot water. I went through the motions and thought about the fact that I kissed him. Oh god. We have to talk about that, don't we? You know, it'll be fine. I heard my hone ringing and rushed to get out of the shower and answer. I saw my managers name and quickly answered. "Hey, Jim. What's up?" "Nothing. I'm just calling to see if you're available Friday night. There's a higher class party going on and they need someone to sing with piano. I told them you'd be perfect for it." he said and I sighed, "Always getting peoples hopes up for me. But, yeah. It's an exclusive guest list, right?" I asked and he chuckled. "Always with the jokes. Yes, it is and you can bring one person, but they have to dress nice. They want you in something floor length so have fun. They also want more calm pieces so get a song list together." He said and i glanced at my closet. "Alright. Thanks, Jim." I said and he ended the call. I went to my drawers and pulled out comfy, gray shorts and a big t-shirt before getting dressed and wrapping my hair in the towel. I walked out and saw Kian laying on the couch with Moscow. I walked over and tapped on his legs so he moved them long enough to let me sit down. "So, do you have anything formal?" "Yeah. Why?" he asked me and looked really confused. "I'm forcing you to accompany me to a probably boring gig and it's super formal, has to be slow songs, played on piano." "You play piano too?" "Yes, yes I do. I'm well versed in music." I said and he nodded. "Okay. I'll go." he said and I nodded. "You didn't really have a choice soooo." I said and dragged out the "so." "SO, while we were outside. You kissed me." He brought up after a few minutes and I nodded. "Yes. I did." "Why?" "It just felt like the right time." "What do you mean?" "Well, I like you. A lot. and you were there and it just made sense to me." I said and he smiled. "You like me, huh?" "Yeah." I said and felt my face heat up. He changed how he was sitting and ended up facing me. "Liiiiizzzz." He cooed, dragging out my name. "Yes, dear?" "You're blushing." He said and I pushed him. "Jerk. Making fun of me and stuff."