Psychosis

Chapter 27- Turkey Day

Once they both decided that they were ready, they carefully placed the food in the back of Akilah's car, making sure that they wouldn't move and spill everywhere. While the chili smelled really good, Ciara doubted that Akilah wanted it all over the backseat. As they traveled towards their destination, Ciara remembered some of the things that had gone down in the past few months, and one memory of Akilah pushed forward without Ciara wanting it to. Not everything had been sunshine and rainbows. Even Akilah and Ciara had their bad moments, and a few weeks ago had been one of those moments.

"Ye know, that's really bad for yer health, and if anyone was to find out..." Ciara tried to warn Akilah when she saw the multiple bottles on the table. She didn't have to look at the label to know what used to be in them. Akilah opened another, and Ciara sighed. She wasn't going to listen, was she?

"My health is really none of your concern, is it? If I want to throw it away, then that is none of your business," Akilah remarked, and Ciara shook her head.

"Yer my partner. I have to make sure yer okay. That's my job. Akilah, just listen to me, please," Ciara pleaded, but then everything went wrong. Ciara had stepped close to Akilah, hoping to take the bottle out of her hand, but that wasn't going to happen. Akilah, despite knowing how much Ciara hated touch, put her bottle down and pushed Ciara to the ground. She grabbed one of the empty bottles and held it above her head as if she was going to hit Ciara with it. Ciara threw her hands in front of her to try and protect herself, and she couldn't stop the tears from coming down her face.

"I-I'm sorry, p-please don't hurt me..." she cried, and Ciara heard the bottle break. She looked up and saw that Akilah had dropped the bottle and was looking at Ciara with a terrified look on her face. She knew what she had done.

"Oh my, Ciara, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I just... oh..." Ciara didn't have the chance to say anything to her, because Akilah ran out of the kitchen then, and Ciara heard her bedroom door close. After a while, Ciara stood up, dumped the full bottle's contents down the sink, and threw away the empty bottles. Yet, even as she passed by Akilah's room and heard the crying inside, she had a feeling that this wasn't the end of it.

Ciara came out of her memory just in time to see Rossi's house come into view and to see Akilah get a little jittery with nerves, although only Ciara would have been able to see it. They pulled in just in time to see JJ with Will and a little boy Ciara assumed was Henry. Reid was outside, and Henry lit up upon seeing him. Aw, that's cute. Ciara knew that Reid was Henry's godfather, and Ciara could see that Henry just adored him. Akilah and Ciara got out at the same time, and both took their dishes out of the back seat, even though Ciara knew that she would have to make two trips. One for the chili, and another for the cinnamon rolls. Reid waved at her as they came up, and she looked down, trying not to get too sucked into memories.

Ever since they had gone to get ice cream in Towanda, Reid had taken her out, just as friends, every Saturday. Once she had asked why he was doing it, and he had told her that he was helping her with her social skills. Of course, that could have just been what he wanted to say since she admitted to him that she had never thought about dating because she didn't have the social skills for it. She actually thought it was rather sweet that he was taking the time to help her like that. That, and she enjoyed the time they spent together. Her favorite memory had only occurred the week before.

"Have you ever been here?" Reid asked her. She looked up at the sign and found that it was a music store. She shook her head, and he headed for it. "Let's go. I'd like to hear you play."