𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐔| 𝐊.𝐊.

23: Taking things slow

"I can't do this." I say, turning on my heels.

"Yes, you can." He says, grabbing my shoulders and turns me back around.

James opens the door and lets me go first.

"Kendall!" James calls out, shutting the door behind us.

"Kendall, come here! I have a surprise for you!" James says once again.

"What happened?" I gasp as I see the couch all torn apart, a window cracked and items thrown on the floor.

"Kendall's temper happened." James states and I swallow the lump in my throat.

"Yeah, like I said, I can't do this!" I exclaim and turn on my heels, ready to speed off.

"Yes, you can." James says, blocking my way and I frown.

"Kendall!" James yells one last time and we finally hear a door open.

"What?" He says in a stern tone, still standing by the door.

"Come out here, you need to talk to someone." James says.

"Who?"

"Amber's here. I sorta dragged her over here. You need to man up and face your issues. I'm your best friend, I want what's best for you." He states and we finally hear footsteps.

Kendall's eyes finally meet mine but I back away, breaking the eye contact with him.

"I said I was done with her. There's nothing to talk about." He says, turning away but I grab his bicep and he looks back at me.

"James is right." I huff and he looks at James and then back at me.

"I'll leave you guys alone." James nods and heads out, shutting the door behind him.

We turn back at each other and just stand there, examining one another.

He takes his arm out of my grasp and pulls me toward him instead.

He kisses me and my eyes widen in shock.

"Shouldn't we talk first?" I say in a shaky voice as he pulls away.

He nods and I get out of his grasp and stand across from him.

"Where's Skylar?"

"She's with Carlos and Logan. Is this what James dragged you here for?"

"No! Look, I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it, I was just mad. And what you said about Nate, I don't know if it's true or not. I'm not saying you're lying, but I don't what to believe." I huff.

"I know you didn't mean it. I'm sorry I scared you earlier." He sighs.

"Who said you did?" I ask, coming closer to him and he looks up at me.

"Your reaction."

"Kendall, there's a difference between being scared and caught off guard." I state and he huffs.

"I'm sorry." He says.

"I'm sorry too. Now, can I ask you something, and please don't get mad?" I say and he nods.

"Why is Jo such a sensitive topic? Was the breakup that bad?" I shrug.

"Uh, yeah. It was." He breathes, running his fingers through his hair.

"I really don't wanna talk ab-" I cut him off as I grab his hand and lead him to the couch.

"Just tell me. No judgement. I'll listen." I say and he studies me for a moment.

"We dated back in Minnesota about a year ago. The first 4 months were great. Until one night, I got drunk. I was with some friends from my school and I guess you can say they peer pressured me. So, I started drunk texting Jo. She caught on pretty quickly that I was wasted. She came to my location to pick me up. She kept telling me to get in the car but I wouldn't listen. So, I hit her." He says and my eyes widen.

"It was an accident. I meant to yank her off of me but I flew my arm up too hard. I then ended up getting my ass beat for it. I deserved it." He finishes.

"Have you spoken to her since?"

"Yeah, two months ago. She came over and we talked it out. But she said she needed a break. But then, a month later, she got a movie role over seas. We decided to break up a few weeks after she told her agent she would do the movie."

"Do the guys know?"

"Yeah, I told them a couple months after everything happened."

"Do you still drink?"

"No. I've been sober for eight weeks now." He says and I nod.

"So, you're really not scared of me?"

"No, I'm not. You've been here for almost a week and half. You're a good guy. I know you didn't mean to hurt her. You were drunk." I say and he gives me a sad grin.

I lean in slowly and kiss his cheek, letting my lips linger on his skin for a couple seconds.

I finally pull away and see his green eyes get darker.

Then his phone rings.

Kendall takes his phone out of his pocket and his eyes widen at the screen. 

"What?" I say and he shows me the phone.

It's a video of Nate raging and saying what his plan was.

"Who filmed this?" I ask.

"Logan sent it to me."

"You were right. Nate was just faking all along. Can't believe I told him some personal stuff." I mutter, shaking my head.

"What personal stuff?"

"I told him my brother died in an accident and other family stuff. I know, I know. I shouldn't have told him. But I felt like he understood. He's a good actor, I'll give him that." I scoff, shaking my head as I put it down, folding my hands.

"Hey." He says, turning my face to face him, with a finger under my chin.

"You can always tell me anything. I may not understand in some situations, but I'll always be there for you." He says and his hands moves to cup my face.

I rub his arm and lean in, kissing him.

"Amber, I need to ask you something. Something I should've asked a while ago." He says and I nod.

"Can we try and take things slow? I really wanna see how things will go between us." He says.

"You didn't even have to ask." I smirk and he smirks back.

Let's see how this goes.