Kai
Kai picked Sara up an hour later. He drove home to put the dogs away before stopping to grab some food from their favorite Chinese restaurant. He also did a quick cleaning, making sure that any dirty dishes or clothes were put away. He turned on the exterior lights before leaving.
He pulled into the parking lot at Sara's apartment. His hands were sweaty, and the nerves were coiling around his stomach, turning his intestines into knots. This almost felt like their first date. In some ways it was.
Kai desperately wanted this surprise to go over well. When he had originally planned to do this, he knew it would be received well. Then everything with Chelsea and Kyle happened and now he was nervous. Nervous that she was not ready for it. Nervous that she would reject his desire for them to live together.
He walked up to the door and knocked. His heart was beating fast, and he palms of his hands felt sweaty. He quickly wiped them on his jeans before AJ answered.
"Hey man," AJ greeted as he pulled Kai into a hug.
"Hey!" Kai enthusiastically replied, "Have you settled in okay?"
"Yeah, it's not as fancy as the condo, but I can't really complain. Casey is a great cook." AJ wiggled his eyebrows and shut the door behind Kai.
Walking into the living room AJ asked, "Are you two going to try and work things out?"
"I hope so. We're going to go over to my place, and I'll show her around."
AJ nodded. "I'll go tell her you're here." He headed down the hall towards Sara's room, leaving Kai standing awkwardly in the living room.
He fidgeted with the keys in his pocket while waiting for Sara to come out. He heard some murmurings before AJ came back out.
"So, what's been happening with you? I feel like I never see you anymore." AJ said as he sat on the arm of the couch.
"Well, you're not wrong. It's harder to hang out like we used to. But I'm doing well. Works been keeping me busy as are the dogs"
Sara walked out and joined them in the living room. She looked hesitantly at Kai before speaking.
"Are you ready to go?"
Kai nodded, "Shall we?" he offered his arm to her, and she held on to it. He smiled at her and helped her out to the truck.
"So..." Sara said after Kai helped her into the truck. "What are we doing?"
"Ahh, you'll see" He grinned at her and took her hand. It was still in a cast, and it made holding her hand a little bit difficult. He made an inner fist pump when she didn't pull her hand away.
They chatted about the upcoming semester on the drive over to Kai's. He thought it best to avoid the heavy topics until later in the evening. Not surprisingly, they wouldn't have any shared classes this semester.
Kai turned onto his street and pulled into the driveway soon after.
"What's this?" Sara asked as she looked through the windshield.
He looked over at her, "My place. I bought it a few weeks ago."
Sara turned her head quickly to look at him. "You bought it?"
He nodded, "Would you like a tour?"
"Yes please!" Sara said excitedly.
Kai left the truck and went over to the passenger side to help Sara out. He grabbed the Chinese food and walked with her to the front door.
"It's beautiful" Sara said as she marveled at the house.
Kai turned on the interior lights as they walked inside. He went to the kitchen to place the food in the oven to keep it warm while he gave Sara a tour of the house.
Their first stop was the dog room so they could let Bruno and Ashby out of their kennels. Sara seemed amazed at every room.
"When did you close?" she asked as they headed back to the kitchen.
"On the 11th he told her, "I signed the papers before the finals I had for that day." Kai started pulling out place settings. "Would you like to eat at the island or the table?"
"The island is fine" Her fingers tapped the granite and a few moments of silence passed between them. "Is this what you were doing all those nights you came home from work late?"
He looked at her, "Yes. I was house hunting with the realtor. I found this place pretty quick and placed a cash offer on it."
Her eyes widened, "Cash?"
He shrugged, "Yeah, I can access the trust fund before I'm 25 for living arrangements. I thought this would be an appropriate use for it."
Kai told her about the rest of the property as they ate. Sara was excited that it had a lot of land with the option to expand later.
"Sara?"
"Hmm?" she said through a mouthful of lo mein.
Kai took a deep breath.
Now or never.
"Would... Would you consider moving here with me? I bought it with the intention that you could use it for your base of operations."
Sara stopped chewing and looked at him. Her eyes were wide, and she had an unreadable expression on her face. It almost seemed like shock mixed with panic.
"It's okay if you don't want to. Just know that the off—"
"Yes." She said, cutting him off.
"Are you sure?" Kai was surprised, he didn't think it would be that easy.
"Yes. It would give Casey and AJ more privacy. I'm sure that's what the original plan was? We move in together and AJ takes over my half of the rent?"
He looked down at his plate and nodded.
"There are just a few things I want to talk about before I move in though." Sara said as she looked at him. Her brown eyes peered deep into his soul. Warmth radiated from them, and a smirk crossed her face.
So beautiful.
"Tell me what your father did and why Chelsea and Kyle wanted us to breakup"
He tapped his fingers on the counter then turned to face her.
"The two are related. Remember at Thanksgiving when my father was livid, and I basically disowned him and mom?"
Sara nodded.
Kai continued, "I guess he was furious over the next few days. One of the days that Christi was at the office doing her undercover learning, she overheard him talking to a couple people. He said that he wanted me to be forced back to the company and for you to be out of the picture."
He looked at Sara, who's eyes were focused on her plate. He grabbed both her hands before continuing. "Christi waited for whoever was there to come out of the office and she saw Chelsea and another man walk out. The man was Kyle. We didn't put two and two together until after they had already carried out their plan. When—"
"When I supposedly walked in on you and Chelsea." The realization hit Sara and she leaned back in the stool.
"Yes. I'm sorry I didn't believe you about seeing Kyle around town. I should have listened and believed you. If I had you wouldn't have been attacked and—" His eyes burned as tears formed.
"Shhh" she brought her right hand up to his face. He leaned into it and looked at her. "It's not your fault. I'm okay. Yeah, the past few weeks have downright sucked, but I'll be okay. What Kyle did to me does not define who I am. Only I determine that and I'm not going to give him another second of my life.
"I do wish you would have told me about the threat though. It might have made things easier overall if I had known." Sara pulled her hand away.
"I know. I should have." Kai hung his head. "I thought having a private detail on you would be enough."
"What?" Sara gave a gasp.
Right, Kai forgot he wasn't going to tell her that, but better be honest now. "Yeah, I hired a security team to keep an eye on you when I couldn't."
"Did they drive a black car?"
Kai furrowed his eyebrows, "Yeah"
"I had seen it around. It spooked me and I always thought it was Kyle following me."
"Oh" That was all Kai could think of to say. He really should have told her about it. He mentally kicked himself. He had inadvertently caused her more stress. Instead of helping her, it had hurt her.
"I'm sorry" he mumbled out. He looked at her. He could see the sadness and pain, the sliver of joy and determination. "I—I want to give you a love that takes your breath away. One that allows you to breathe deeper than you ever have before. One where you know you are safe. Can you forgive me?" He asked, a little unsure of himself. Their future basically rested on her answer.
She looked back at him. A small smile graced her face and her eyes glistened.
"I already have. I'm sorry it took me so long to talk to you. I just had some things I needed to process on my own."
He leaned closer to her, their faces inches apart.
"May I kiss you?" He asked, a mischievous glint crossed his eyes as he smirked.
She never answered, but Kai felt her lips brush his and he kissed her back, throwing all his feelings toward her. When they finally pulled a part for air, Kai pushed a strand of hair back behind Sara's ear.
"I love you." He whispered.
"I love you more." She teased as she kissed him again.