Ghosts ✔

100 • Dana

Chapter 100! To celebrate it, I wrote this book's longest chapter. (:

. . .

Even though there was nothing she wanted more than being held by him, Dana knew she couldn't ring the bell. Not only because she had stepped back from him since'd learned about the baby he was expecting. The two could still comfort her, offer her safety. Juice could just be her friend, holding her without crossing the borders of friendship. What really kept her from walking closer to that door, was the fact that Juice would lose his mind. He already hated Kozik; if he figured out what Kozik had done, he would forget about all the horrible things he had done himself when he was drunk. He would go straight to Kozik's house and kill him. 

And obviously, she didn't want her best friend to die. 

She was sure that Kozik would feel horrible the next morning; he needed no help with that. He was her best friend, his relationship had just ended... He had drank too much, had done things that were really wrong but nobody else needed to interfere. This was something they had to solve together and since Kozik was – when sober – always calm and understanding, she knew they would work things out. 

Dana turned away from the house. There was another place she could go to, and after a ten minute walk she found herself in front of the door behind which her own future might lie. Kip wasn't as short-tempered as Juice or her brother; he wouldn't defend Kozik but he would neither go to him in the middle of the night to beat his head to pulp. He was more stable – he was what she needed right now. 

Still she was nervous as she pressed the door bell. Going to Juice had been her first instinct; something that had felt natural. There had been countless times he had comforted her, that he had hold her until she had calmed down. Kip had done that a hundred times too, but it still felt different. They only had each other, both being a victim of the same person. Even though their feelings had been real, she knew those never would have grown without Maddox's actions and somehow it made their love feel unhealthy. Maybe he felt that too, even though he couldn't remember anything.

The door opened. Kip was only wearing boxers and his blond hair looked messy; apparently he'd already been asleep.

"Hey," he said, his voice sleepy. He studied her face.

When she failed to tell him what had happened, he took her hand and gently pulled her inside. Leading her to the couch, he helped her to sit down without letting go of her hand, his thumb stroking her skin in a soothing way. 

"You're so cold," he said softly. "I'll run the bath and make you some tea."

His caring nature made her blush. She had expected him to ask her all sorts of questions, but not a single one slipped his lips. She listened to his footsteps as they went from the bathroom to the kitchen, until he returned with a steaming cup of tea. Gratefully, she took the cup from him. 

Dana stared into the dark fluid wishing Kip would wrap his arms around her, but he kept his distance. Instead, he told her how Casper had helped him cook and how they had made a puzzle together. 

"I even had a memory when I put him to bed." His voice sounded warm and together with his enthusiasm, it made her smile. 

"What kind of memory?"

"A lullaby my mom used to sing for me. I met her... but she never felt like my mom. Now – now she does." He paused for a while. "I taught Casper the song. It's You are my sunshine. I... I liked teaching him something." 

His eyes flashed to the side, as if he wasn't sure whether she wanted her son to learn things from his dad. But that was exactly what she wanted. The thought that Kip had missed two years of his son's life still made her sad and she could only hope that he could catch up. This however sounded like a beautiful start.