I whipped around hoping that I had imagined it. Because it couldn't be. It couldn't be him. Right? Like, what were even the chances?
Killian stood behind me, his big green hoodie that spelled PSU in white style, illuminated by the headlights of his car, parked at the beginning of a forest path a few meters down. How the hell had I not seen or heard him pull up?
Oh yeah, maybe because I'd been busy yelling and jumping around. Oh God... Had he seen that?
"N-nothing," I finally managed. "Wh-what are you doing here?" I clenched my jaw and bit down on my cheeks, trying to suppress the shivers that threatened to take over my body.
Killian frowned as he came closer. "Jeez, you're completely drenched. What are you doing?" He even sounded worried.
As if.
"M-my tire broke down. Bu-but I'm fixing it, It's n-no problem."
His brows rose. "Fixing it yeah? Then why are you yelling at it?"
Shit. So, he had seen me.
Water streamed down my face, obscuring my vision but I didn't mind. My eyes had started to become hot again. It was this fucked up day messing with my head. I turned away and gestured with my hand. "It's fine, I got this."
He sighed but a few seconds later, a roaring engine told me that he had taken the hint this time. It had been surprisingly easy even. I swallowed the unknown feeling rising in my throat, picked up my wrench, and bent over the tire again. Maybe the screw would just fall off on its own if I stared at it long enough.
My shoulders drew together as I waited for his car to pass me, but even after a few moments nothing happened. Did he leave yet?
A hand tugging on my sleeves answered my question. Killian gently pulled me up and suddenly my vision went dark. A large towel covered my head and then he started pushing me toward his car which still had the engine running.
"Wait inside." His voice was surprisingly gentle. "And change. You'll definitely get sick if you stay like that."
"I'm fine," I mumbled into the towel, but my trembling body instantly betrayed my words. How long had I been standing in the rain? Thirty minutes? Forty?
"There's a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants on the passenger seat. You better change unless you desperately want me to take you home." He cleared his throat. "I mean, if that was your plan you could've just said so. No need to set this up and risk your health just to—"
"Okay, okay, I'll change." I cut him off before he got any weirder ideas about this.
"Good." He opened the door and waited until I was inside before slamming it shut and running back towards my car.
The inside of his car was warm and smelled slightly like him. Like soap and sandalwood.
I took a shaky breath and tried lifting my wet shirt, which was clinging to my skin. By the time my stiff fingers had pulled his hoodie over my head, the driver's door opened and Killian jumped into the seat shaking out water droplets from his hair.
"He-hey, I'm n-not done yet."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't give you enough time to change, princess, do you want me to step out and wait in the rain?"
I frowned at the sarcasm in his voice. "No, er..."
His hands rubbed together. "Shit, it's freezing. How long have you been standing there?"
"I..." I paused contemplating. "Not that long."
"Oh, yeah? Considering that you look like a drenched puppy I'd say it was too long."
Ignoring him, I reached down to get my pants off. His sweatshirt ended halfway down to my knees, so I was fairly covered anyways. I huffed as I tugged and squirmed, secretly regretting that I had opted to wear skinny jeans. My numb fingers just didn't have the strength to peel them off, and the fabric clung to my skin like glue.
"You good there?" Killian asked cautiously.
You know what? This day couldn't get any worse so fuck it.
"Actually, I'm not," I ground out. "I might need help to get this off."
Killian turned his head and his gaze dropped to my pants. "Sure," he drawled. His eyebrows rose just a fraction, and his lips pressed together as if he was trying to suppress a smile.
Why did it have to be him who found me? Why?
I leaned back and lifted my legs. "If you could just pull on it..." I mumbled.
His eyes met mine, the amusement in them evident. "Alright."
His long fingers grazed my skin as he started freeing me from the sticky fabric. This was so weird. Or rather it should have been, but the weird part was that I didn't feel that weirded out. Or maybe I was just too spent to care.
After a few more tugs, I was finally free, and Killian held my soaked-through pants in his hands.
"You took a bath out there or what?" A sharp note crept into his voice. "Why didn't you call anyone?"
Was he angry, or was I just imagining it? It was hard to tell with him facing away while I pulled on his sweatpants.
"So, did you get it fixed?" I asked, dodging the question.
"No."
I stopped. "No?"
"Yep. After I stood in the rain for five minutes, I finally got your flat off just to realize that your spare tire is broken."
I blinked a few times my hands clenching and unclenching at my side. I would not cry. Chris had brought my car to the inspection the last time. That should have been fixed.
"Do you need anything from the car?" Killian asked softly. Maybe he sensed that my mood had dropped.
"J-just my bag..." I said and bit my lip, hoping he didn't notice the tremor in my voice.
"I'll be right back."
I wanted to stop him, but he was already running through the rain again. He reached into the back seat to grab my bag and lifted the spare tire back into my trunk. Inside again, he ditched his hoodie, which by now, was completely soaked as well.
A hollow feeling spread in my chest, and I hugged my knees to my chest. "Sorry about the trouble."
"It's no problem," he said simply. "Plus, You can always pay me back—"
My arms tightened. So, he wanted something in return? I supposed, in the end, all guys did.
"—by promising me that you won't do this again."
Wait. What?
"Next time you are in a situation like this and you don't want to tell anyone? Fine. But you will call me instead. Got it?"
I gaped at him. Didn't he find me annoying?
"So?" His gaze stayed fixed on me, waiting. "That a deal or you prefer if I hold this over your head for the next—"
"Fine," I interrupted him quickly. "It's a deal." I relaxed into the seat. With no number, there was also no one to call anyways. Not that I would point that out.
He wheeled back on the road. "Good... Are you still cold?"
"I'm fine. What about you?"
He let out a dry chuckle. "Don't worry about me. I'm more used to this. You better worry about yourself."
"Haha," I replied weakly. The rest of the ride was quiet but I was thankful for the silence. Chris had lied about fixing my car, he'd lied about Jess... What else had he been lying to me about?
I gripped my legs harder trying to hide my trembling hands. I was afraid Killian had already noticed. He was annoyingly perceptive.
After what felt like an eternity we finally pulled into my driveway.
I let out a shaky breath, not quite meeting his eyes. "Thanks for the help. And sorry again for the trouble."
"It's fine," Killian said his voice low. He held out his hand. "Your phone."
"What—oh."
He smirked. Damn. So, he'd noticed that as well. With a grimace, I unlocked my phone and handed it over. "Why would you even want to get called?"
"Oh, I don't really expect any calls," he replied dryly. "Since I'm probably the last person on your list at least you will be smarter next time and actually call someone instead of trying to solve everything by yourself."
"Well..." I couldn't say he was wrong. I would try to move heaven and earth first before asking him for help. "Fair enough."
He handed me back my phone.
"Well, er...thanks for giving me a lift."
His eyes seemed darker under the streetlight. "You're welcome," he said simply.
I opened the door and hopped out of his car. I didn't bother putting on my sneakers again. The water splashed over my naked feet as I sprinted towards the entrance door. Finally, I was home. My hands reached for my bag, searching for the keys. Then they went over my pockets before I double-checked my bag again.
This really was a joke, wasn't it?
I'd forgotten my keys. And now that I thought about it. I had been so distracted with the prospect of breaking up earlier that I was pretty sure I'd left the keys inside the apartment.
My head started to feel fuzzy as I slumped down on the front step, my hands gripping my hair ready to pull it out. Why, why was this day so cursed? This was legit one of the worst days of my life.
Footsteps approached, but I was too embarrassed to look up until a pair of boots stopped in front of my vision.
Killian reached out and took the bag from my hands to sling it over his shoulder. Then, without even a question he just plucked me off the ground and walked back toward his car.
I kept my head down as he deposited me in the passenger seat and fastened my seatbelt.
"You and Cody are friends, right?" he asked conversationally as if nothing out of the ordinary just happened.
"Ye-yeah," I mumbled.
"He might be home later, but not for now because he's taken it upon himself to let my sis have some fun. You can sleep in my room. She has taken up the guest room at the moment, otherwise, you could've slept there."
I slumped into the seat, feeling like a complete, and utterly useless idiot.
Killian rounded the car and pulled out of the driveway.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled, feeling like a broken record. "If there's anything I can do to repay you just say so. My head was just elsewhere today. I can sleep on the couch it's really no problem."
"You can repay me by listening. So, take the bed. You'll need rest or you'll get sick. Do you want me to look bad in front of my sister? Letting a sick girl that's staying over sleep on the couch." He shuddered at the thought and my stomach dropped.
How many times had I slept on the couch at Chris' place? "Fine... Anything else?"
He hesitated, his eyes flickering to me a few times.
I sighed. "Just ask."
"No... I'm just wondering. Did anything happen? You don't have to reply of course, but you're not acting like your usual self."
I closed my eyes briefly. "I broke up with Christian." The words tasted strange in my mouth.
Killian stilled. "Really?"
"Yeah. That's why I was on that road. I was on my way back from his place." I waited for a snarky comment or something like that. In the end, Killian had been right hadn't he? My ex was an asshole and I had put up with it for way too long.
"Good job," he said after a long pause. "That must have been tough."
I finally looked at him. "What? No, I told you so or I was right or—"
"What exactly do you think of me?" He sounded slightly offended.
"Well, I mean—"
"Wait. Never mind, don't answer that."
I snorted, feeling some of the tension leaving me. He'd walked right into that one.
Killian parked the car in front of an apartment complex not too far from mine but looking much nicer. "I meant what I said though. You did well. And I know it must have been hard."
I dodged his gaze, my heart thumping for an entirely different reason all of a sudden. "I think I like your annoying self more than this weirdly helpful and supportive version. Kinda destroys your image, you know."
His low chuckles rang in my ears as my phone vibrated in my hand. "Don't get too used to it. All bets are off as soon as you're back on your feet. But I'm not the type to kick someone when they're down."
I fake coughed into my arm.
"Well, you're special. You bring out the best in me."
Suz: Hey, Tay, I can come over at seven.
I froze when I read the text message. Oh, God. How could I forget about Suz? We'd even made plans and still, she completely slipped my mind.
Me: Can you pick me up at Killian's place?
I could see she was typing and stopping a few times before she finally replied.
Suz: I'm just gonna roll with this for now. Be there in ten.
My day was saved.