Summer Solstice

Falling In Love

He watched me for a moment, and I was sure he was going to call my bluff, but he just leaned down and kissed the tip of my nose, shocking me. "Don't worry about things that are better left to be worried about by me." He smiled crookedly and pulled me towards him. "You know, I am her friend, maybe I want to protect her too." I put my hand on his lips before he could kiss me.

I knew if he kissed me I would lose my train of thought. And control over my heart, not to mention the rest of my body, which was trying desperately to lean closer to him. He frowned beneath my fingertips and looked past me, then tugged my hand down and smiled. "If WE'RE so worried, how about we check up on them?" He smiled and pulled me quickly forward. We'd walked all the way to his house, and I'd been too preoccupied with my own thoughts to notice.

The walk back had taken only a few minutes, but that still didn't seem fast enough for Konai. He ran up the steps and swung open the door.

I entered right behind him and noticed Kaida was sitting on the couch, alone. There were movie trailers playing on the television. She looked up and smiled sweetly, and I saw Konai frown.

"Hey Kai, where are the bowls?" I heard little Joe rummaging around in the kitchen. "Top Shelf." She looked at me and smiled hugely. Was she smiling because she was happy that little Joe was there, or because I was there with Konai?

"How long does it take to make popcorn?" Little Joe shouted from somewhere behind the wall. Kaida giggled, "about two minutes." I heard a few beeps as Joe undoubtedly pushed the buttons on their microwave.

Konai wasn't looking at either one of us, he was too busy glaring at the hard wood floor. His right arm suddenly swung out and he slammed through the kitchen door and Kaida and I both jumped. I looked back at the door, still swinging wildly from the force of Konai's hand. She stared at me with wide panicked eyes. I put up both hands in a calming gesture, "Don't worry, I'll make sure he behaves."

I pushed on the door lightly and stepped into the small kitchen. There was enough static in the room to charge a small town. I stepped back and bumped into the wall. Konai and Little Joe were standing less than a foot apart, the tension crackling through the air and bouncing back and forth between them.

"Be. Careful." Konai's voice was like a growl. I'd heard nothing else spoken between them before entering the kitchen, but it was painfully obvious that Konai and Little Joe were having it out. I needed to distract him from his target.

I stood net to him and wrapped my arm around his, "Can I have a soda?" He jumped at the sound of my voice. He looked down slowly, and I saw his face morph from what was nothing less that absolute anger, into a soft sweet smile as his eyes caught mine. "Of course." Turning, he opened the fridge and grabbed two cans of soda. Another static charge swept past me and towards Konai. He flinched and slammed the door closed.

"Oh!" I gasped.

He grabbed my hand and yanked me out the side door and into the hallway. "What are you doing?" He dragged me up the stairs to the second story. "Aren't we going to watch the movie?" He didn't answer any of my questions. He turned towards the first door on the left and swung it open.

The room was a lovely hunter green, with two small windows framed with honey colored drapes. In the center of the room was a large four poster bed made out of roughed logs, a fluffy dark chocolate colored blanket thrown off to one side. There was an antique armoire and a little wooden dresser against one wall, and an oval shaped mirror on another.

I was in his room. Konai's bedroom. My earlier words as we'd walked here suddenly played through my head again, and I almost laughed. Almost.

"Sorry, Joe was giving me a better alternative." His voice was still on the edge of being angry. Alternative? I eyed the large wooden bed and felt my cheeks grow hot. He sat on the end of the bed and patted the spot next to him. Holding out one hand, he stated softly, "I don't bite." I laughed at that, a short nervous laugh.