Invisible String (Home Improvement/Randy Taylor Love Story)

Chapter 7

"You have to talk to Randy sometime. You can't just keep avoiding him every time something awkward happens," Nicole reasoned, but I wasn't hearing it.

"I can never face him again. We kissed, Nicole," I mumbled, the sound coming out muffled, since my pillow was over my head as I lied onto my bed on my stomach.

"It's not that big of a deal. It was just a Spin the Bottle game."

I raised my head as I gave her a less than amused expression. "Says the person who kept getting excited when she thought Randy and I liked each other."

"Okay, I'm sorry I was so annoying about that, but Randy's your friend. Do you really not want to talk to him for the rest of your life because you kissed at a 13th birthday party?"

"No," I sighed, sitting up.

"Then go talk to him. He's right next door," she teased, nudging me with her shoulder.

"Okay," I reluctantly agreed, stepping past the fence after saying goodbye to Nicole. It was getting late anyway, and her parents were due to pick her up any minute.

I pulled on a creme cardigan with a red line on each of the sleeves, heading over to the Taylor's yard. I lightly knocked on one of their window doors, Brad answering.

"We were wondering if you were ever going to come back here," he emphasized.

"I know. I'm just embarrassed about what happened at the party," I confessed.

"If it makes you feel any better, Randy's pretty upset about it too."

"Oh." Just then Randy had opened the door to their basement, pausing the moment his eyes landed on me.

"Katie," he stated. "Hi." He walked up to me as Brad discreetly left after giving us a knowing smile. "So... what are you doing here?" Randy looked around the room a little as he talked to me again.

"I'm sorry about what happened at your party."

"No, I should be the one who's sorry. I never should have let Kimmy play that stupid game." He scrunched his face up as he put emphasis on the game being dumb.

"I don't want things to be award between us now."

"Me either." Ironically awkward silence followed his words. "So... I have my own room in the basement now. Dad built it for me."

"How did I miss that," I wondered as we gravitated to the basement's door.

"We haven't talked in a week," he reminded me.

"Oh yeah." I followed him down the dark steps before reaching a newly enclosed space, taking in the area for his desk and computer, and his bed against the opposite wall. "It's nice." I hugged myself as I realized how it was chillier down there than on their main floor.

"Thanks. It beats sharing a room with Mark." He plopped back onto his bed as I stood there, a creepy rattling noise sounding up ahead.

"What was that," I chattered, partly from fear and the cold.

"I don't know... I'm sure it's nothing," Randy waved off, but he jerked when another peculiar noise went off.

"Are you okay?" I sat on the edge of his mattress.

"Pfft, yeah. It's not like I'm scared or anything."

"Okay, if you say so. I'm a little scared," I confided.

"Well, you can come here and sit closer to me if you want," he quickly offered, me just doing that, since I could sense he was the one who needed the comforting.

Even with the clanging up ahead, Randy didn't seem to be affected by it with my presence. He kept nodding off as his shoulder fell near my shoulder.

I went ahead and lied beside him, which he fell asleep shortly after I did that. "Goodnight, Randy," I whispered, smiling faintly before I stared up at the ceiling. When Randy cuddled me some, I blushed but kept my cool, grateful we had gotten things patched up. Whether I had a real crush on him or not, I would ignore it if it meant we could stay friends.

The next morning I woke up surprised that I was still beside Randy. I gently pried him off me before going up the steps, attempting to sneak through the kitchen, but his mom was already there.

"Good morning, Katie. Sleep well," Jill questioned, working on fixing eggs.

I froze as I slowly turned around, faking a smile. "Y-yeah. I'm sorry that I stayed overnight like that. Randy just fell asleep and I hated to move him."

"It's alright," Jill replied as she wiped her hands on a white dish towel with thin, blue square frames on it. "Randy hasn't been able to sleep in his new room for awhile now. I think he doesn't want to admit he's scared. The basement does make an awful lot of loud noises."

"Yeah, I think that's it too. Hey, Jill, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure," she reacted, giving me her full attention after scraping the eggs out of the pan.

"I did kiss someone at Randy's party last week. It was Randy."

"No," Jill spoke in fake shock, clearly already knowing that fact.

"Did Randy tell you about it?"

"Nah, I figured it out on my own. So, are you saying you have feelings for him?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't want to. We're not that old, and we're friends. I feel like that keeps almost getting messed up, because awkward stuff like this happens."

"Well, I think you should listen to what your heart is telling you, but just because you have a crush on Randy doesn't mean you have to stop being friends."

"It doesn't?"

"No, at your age it may seem that way, but when you get older, you'll find that dating your best friend can be one of the best decisions."

"Was Tim your best friend," I wondered.

She made a non-serious face as she answered, "I don't know. Well, not at first. At first I thought he was just some weird guy, who was always hurting himself."

I laughed a tiny bit before she continued, "But yeah, now he's one of my very best friends."

"Thanks for talking with me, Jill, especially since it's about your son."

"No problem, but maybe you two should wait for awhile to figure out your feelings. I wasn't comfortable with Brad dating at your guys's age. I think it's better to wait till your older."

"Thanks," I said once again, Randy eventually coming into the room after yawning.

"What's for breakfast, mom," he tiredly asked. "Oh hey, Katie, when did you get here?"

I stifled a laugh at how he didn't even realize I had stayed the night. "Oh, I've been here for awhile now. I was just talking to your mom."

"Oh," he reacted, still half asleep as he trudged to the small dining table. He was adorable first thing in the morning, but I was taking Jill's advice to heart. I would wait to act on any feelings we might have between each other. Even though it was a good plan, who knew so much could happen between now and then?

A/N: Hey guys, sorry if the updates have become slower for this story. I didn't realize writing three stories at once would be so hard. (X I'm working on this along with my Alex P. Keaton and also Mike Seaver fanfic. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please remember to comment, vote, and follow if you did. Thank you so much! <3