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Ch 42: Rooftops

        Kelly just nodded.

        Peter paused, "Do you want to talk about it?"

        Kelly nodded again, "Trace wouldn't come back with me. He said he needed time to get over his anger towards mom and Fred kicking him out like that. I had no idea they did that, and I'm sorry for him, but I'm more sorry he didn't come back with me."

        "Is he doing okay? Is he healthy? Does he have shelter?"

        "Huh," kelly remarked, "He's doing excellently. He's got a house, a car, a job, and a wife and kid."

        "What?!" Peter asked in surprise, "Really?"

        Kelly nodded, "He met his wife at a college class and they really hit it off. They got married six months later and had their baby: Kelly Junior, about a year later."

        "Wow," Peter remarked, "And no one knows but you and me?"

        Kelly nodded, "I didn't want to make Francine sadder--or jealous. She hasn't had a single person in her life, man or woman, friend of boyfriend, since it happened."

        "I'm sorry," Peter said, "Would she really get jealous?"

        "Probably..." Kelly said, "But I'm not sure. I mean, she was raped almost twenty years ago, and now--she's just getting older and I think she's lost hope."

        "How old is she?"

        "She's near to thirty."

        "She looks nineteen," Peter remarked.

        "I know. She's gifted."

        "I think she likes Wes."

        "What makes you say that?" Kelly questioned, taking another bite of the ice cream and slowly eating it.

        "She looks at him with a soft look in her eyes. Kindof like the look you get when you look at your family--everyone here, pretty much."

        "Huh," Kelly said, "He's what? Twenty Three?"

        "Yeah, and he's never had a girlfriend, either. He's strange sometimes. Like, why doesn't he hug or even touch you at all?"

        Kelly looked down at the ice cream, "Long story?" she tried. Peter looked at her with disbelief. She sighed, "He's concerned for me. He doesn't like to touch or even stand close to girls because of what I went through--it's sweet, but, if Francine really likes him, she'll knock him out of that quick."

        "I had no idea..." Peter said, "Do you--"

        "Do I care if you hug and touch me? No. I don't mind it, Peter, and I don't mind being around men--now that I can handle myself. Before, I was nervous and scared, but now--"

        Peter interrupted her by resting his hand on hers. She stopped and stared at him for a second, then said, "Peter, I may be okay with it, but I'm not ready for a relationship yet. I still have--"

        "Nightmares? I know. I can hear you crying in your sleep sometimes, Kelly. It makes me want to go to you and hold you, but I know that would be wrong to do. Especially after what you went through."

        Kelly sighed, moving her hand and resting it atop his, "Maybe someday, Peter, but not now."

        "Why not? Do you really think you'll be any more ready a month from now? Or a year? What about ten years from now? You'll always have that fear, Kelly. It won't ever go away. Unless you let me help you. I can show you real love. The slow kind: like holding hands during a walk, sitting in my lap during a movie, or stealing soft kisses in the dark hallway before bed...That's the kind of love I want to show you, Kelly, not anything like what those men did to you. We don't even need to have our own kids. I can imagine us, twenty years from now, still doing what we are now, still running this Home, and each of the kids who go through this home will be like our own, Kelly. THAT is what I want. Nothing more."

        Kelly listened intently to his speech, and when he was finished, she just stared at him.

        "What?" he asked, almost to quickly.

        "Peter...I--" Kelly stopped. A tear slid down her cheek.

        Peter reached over and wiped it away, "I want to be there to wipe away every tear that falls from your beautiful eyes, Kelly, and to stop more from falling."

        Kelly's eyes welled up even more and she leaned forward slowly, looking from Peter's eyes to his lips. Peter leaned slowly too, moving a little faster than Kelly because he wasn't afraid. He knew he wanted this, he wanted to love Kelly for the rest of his life.

        Slowly, their lips met and Kelly's eyes sqeezed shut, tears still dripping from them. Peter held the kiss for as long as Kelly wanted, unmoving, unwavering, and uninterrupted. When she pulled away, a small sound could be heard as their lips disconnected. Peter moved closer to Kelly and, using his sleeve, wiped the tears gently from her eyes.

        "I promise you, Kelly. I'll never let anyone hurt you ever again."

        "I believe you, Peter. I really do."

        "I love you, Kelly."

        Kelly paused, closing her eyes. She felt another tear, then Peter's sleeve on her cheek, "Please stop crying, Kelly..." he said in a whisper. Then he placed his lip on her forehead and held them there.

        "Peter?" Kelly whispered, "I think I love you too."