Chapter 19
Clenching my fist inside the glove I put all my strength into the punch causing the punching bag to swing roughly away from me before returning for my second blow. I had been beating the shit out of this bag for almost an hour now and the sweat was dripping off me but the anger was still there. It was burning away inside of me making me want to go to the nearest pub and pick a fight with the biggest guy there. That was something I had done many times in the past and from those experiences I knew it was never a good idea and from past lectures from Lippy too. That girl is crazy. I don’t know what I would do without her though.
“Kale?” I heard Mitch call.
“Yeah?” I asked holding onto the punching bag and turning to look for him in the gym but his eyes weren’t on me instead they were looking at the figure that just entered the gym. At five foot nine she was hard to miss and with her green eyes narrowed and lips painted a bright red I knew that I was in for it. I had been avoiding her all week and ignoring her calls and texts and if there is anything that Lips hates as much as her arsehole of an ex that’s being ignored especially by me.
“What’s going on with you?” She growled as she marched towards me looking even more fierce than usual in her black military boots and Will’s Metallica t-shirt. When she got close enough to touch me she used all her strength to push me but I knew almost all there is to know about Lippy so I was prepared for the shove and the slap that followed but I took it anyway. “I’ve been worried sick! You’ve ignored all my calls, all the messages I’ve sent you and every time I go to your house your mum says you’re out. So I gave you some space. Some time with that girl and college. But it’s been two weeks Kale. I miss my fucking best friend.” When she finished her raging speech I watched a tear run down her cheek and sighed as I have managed to make another girl cry.
Pulling off my gloves I guided her outside but we had already caused a scene so all eyes were on us as we left the gym to sit on a bench just across the street.
“I miss your crazy ass too.” I smiled back.
“What happened?” She asked able to read me as well as I could read her. “It’s about Kimberly. What happened after you found her? You said she was ok.”
“There’s another guy.”
“What?”
“We broke up.” At that she wrapped her arms around me and sat there in the cold September afternoon with me until I had managed to tell her the whole story. I had avoided her for two weeks as I wasn’t ready to talk about how I had failed another girl. I was never able to save them.
“I’m so sorry.” She said once I had finished speaking.
“I loved her Lippy. I love her.” I choked the words out past the lump in my throat.
“I know you do.” She soothed as she rubbed my arm knowing that is the only way to calm me down.
“And I can’t stop thinking about her with him. Her with him while we were together. And I can’t stop thinking about will happen to her if he can’t make her happy. I’ve watched nightmares pull her apart at night then seen her smile and laugh the next morning. I know what depression looks like. I know the stages of grief. I’ve watched her experience them. I tried to make it all better. I tried to fix her.” Words tumbled out of my mouth, words that I’d trapped inside my head for the past two weeks.
“Kale look at me.” I tore my gaze away from the littered pavement and focused on the brown flecks in her green eyes. “It wasn’t your job to fix her just like it wasn’t your job to fix Hayley or Steph or Becca. They needed to overcome their problems. Yes what you did helped but in the end it’s something they have to do. Kimberly lost her brother. Now I don’t know the details but if I lost one of my brothers I wouldn’t handle it well. I would be more of a mess than Kimberly is, so I think she’s doing well considering. It’s just going to take time and she’s a fighter. She’s nothing like Hayley and I’m going to keep telling you that until you believe me.”
“You don’t know Kimberly.”
“Kimberly gets up every day. She puts a smile on her face every day. She goes to the gym, she does her dancing thing, she goes to work, she hung out with us all.” She said counting out a finger for each item. “That’s her fighting the depression every day. And do you know what since I love ya I’ll stop by her house tomorrow to prove that she’s still fighting.”
“Thanks Lips.”
“You’re welcome. You can pay me in drinks tonight with the guys. I need it after listening to you rabbit on about your girl troubles.” She smirked punching me playfully on the upper arm.
“And I need it after having to listen to another one of your lectures.” With that the talk about emotions and feelings was over and we headed back into the gym so I could collect my stuff. I was going to get absolutely shit faced tonight.
“Hey dickface why so sad?” Asked a very drunk Will. We were all crammed together in a booth at our local crappy pub. Glenn was strumming the table top, Lippy was chatting up a guy at the table behind us and Will who had just got turned down by the third girl that night was now focusing his drunken banter on me. Lucky me.
“Cause I’m stuck with you arseholes.” I smirked before downing the rest of my pint not even remotely drunk yet.
“Don’t listen to him Will he’s lying. It’s girl trouble. Kimberly dumped his ass.” Slurred a slightly tipsy Lippy signalling that she’d lost interest in the guy. She hadn’t dated anyone since Dan. She only flirts and occasionally kisses guys, refusing to talk to me or anyone about what happened but refusing to put herself in a relationship again, staying away from what she sees as dangerous ground. She does like to immerse herself in my ‘girl trouble’ though, besides boxing it’s her favourite past time.
“Aww mate she was cool.” Chipped in Glenn.
“Yeah she is.” I replied putting my glass to my lips for another drink then realising it was empty.
“My round.” Chirped Lippy unnaturally cheery. I looked at Glenn and Will at the same time they looked at me, each of us holding out a clenched hand. “Shots, shots, shots!” Lips cheered as she clumsily clambered over me to stagger to the bar.
“One, two, three.” Mouthed Will as we moved our clenched hands up and down to the beat of the count. On three we each made a different shape with our hand: rock for Will, rock for Glenn and then scissors for me, making me the loser. And the loser had the fun job of dealing with Lippy. Cheery was the last stage in her drunkenness before she completely fell off the edge. The last time I was the loser I’d had to drag her off the bar as she tried to climb to get more alcohol then spend almost two hours with her in the girls’ toilets puking her guts up while she slurred on and on about Hayley. So I was in for one fun night.
At the bar Lippy had met another guy who helped her carry the shots to our table on one of the bar’s trays since she had bought us three shots each. “Drink hers.” I mouthed to the guy hoping he wasn’t a total dick who waiting to take advantage. He held out the only pink shot glass to her and she took it downing it with ease. I glared at him ready for a fight but he shook his head.
“Water.” He mouthed causing me to mouth a ‘thanks’ back. I slid down the booth seat to the wall allowing him to sit down with us and he helped Lips sit on the outside so that she had a quick escape to the bathroom. I liked him already.
“Hey I’m Leo.” He grinned confidently shaking each of our hands in turn as we introduced ourselves. “So you’re the one with women troubles?” He asked looking at me with understanding and passing me three of the shots. I downed two in a row the liquid burning down my throat making me want to cough and making him laugh.
“And you’re Lippy’s man of the minute?” I asked testing him. Yeah I did like the guy but I still had to protect Lips.
“I guess I am.” He smiled looking at her taking the shot she was about to drink and downing it himself earning him a drunken scowl and a forceful punch in the arm both from Lips. Dan had been the typical tall, dark and mysterious that sends girls crazy but this guy was the opposite. His hair was light, like a light brown or dark blond I couldn’t tell in the dark light of the pub, and he was shorter than Lippy in her heels but barefoot I’m guessing they would be roughly the same height. As the night wore on he told me more about himself than Kimberly ever had in the months we had been together which showed he was anything but mysterious, more like he was audiobook telling his life story to anyone who would listen. But what made me give him my unspoken approval was how Lippy acted with him. He had her drinking water knowingly this time so there had been no crazy bar climbing or spewing yet and he had her talking about more than just this night. She told him stories about her childhood some of which involved me so I could chip in and some that didn’t so we all listened and laughed and she let him put his arm around her. It may seem like such a small thing but for Lippy it was mammoth and seeing her happy and comfortable with a guy for the first time in two years allowed me to worry about Kimberly less and imagine her happy with the Cole guy. It didn’t get rid of the pain of being cheated on and dumped but the alcohol was helping with that so keep the drinks coming.
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I have been dying to write a chapter in Kale's POV but my plan was for the story to be all in Kimberly's POV so this is a wee bonus chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you want more of Kale's POV. I know I want to write more! :D