Me>Kate: when do you arrive home?
Kate>Me: in a few.
I smiled at my phone and placed it on the counter. Kate comes home today, after three weeks of being gone. Then, next week I leave to visit my own family. I'm rather excited. I picked up a small velvet box I kept hidden on my desk and flipped it open. A diamond engagement ring sat perfectly. Okay. Maybe I lied about Kate being my best friend. She's more than that.
"Howl!!! I'm home! Really early!" Kate exclaimed, entering the apartment. I dropped the box on my desk and dashed to the door. When I made it, I wrapped my arms around her body.
"You've been gone for far to long!" I mumbled into her neck. .
"Jesus, Howl!" Kate laughed, dropping her luggage and wrapping her arms around me. I smiled and kissed her cheek.
"How was it? You were gone for a long time!" I asked, looking at her. Her grey eyes glittered with happiness and a small, teeny, tiny hint of regret.
"Excellent! But, Howl, we uh... We need to talk." She said, holding my hands.
"What? Is... Is everything alright?" I asked. She lead me to our living room and sat on the couch. I sat next to her.
"Kate, is everything okay?" I asked again. She shook her head.
"Howl, I'm sorry. I really am." She said, taking my hands into hers.
"Katlyn, what happened?" I looked at her.
"Luke and I... While I was gone... Luke and.." She rambled for a small second.
"Katie. Don't. You say it." I said, shaking my head. "If you finish the sentence, I'm leaving." I finished.
"I'm so sorry, Howl." She looked away. I stood up and looked at her.
"Why would you?! Kate! After all we've been through! And you just go ahead and... It took... Katie..." I asked, a tear threatened to fall, but I sucked up my feelings.
"I don't know." Kate responded back. Her voice lightly cracked. I looked at her one more time and went to my room, packing anything and everything I could in my three tiny suitcases.
"Where are you going to go?" Kate asked, standing in the door frame. I turned and looked at her.
"Nowhere. Not that it matters to you." I muttered, throwing all my clothes into a suitcase, then some of my books into another.
"Howl,"
"Kate, shut the fuck up. I'm going to come by tomorrow to pack up the rest of my stuff up." I said, walking over to her. She looked down at me and sighed.
"I'm so"
"Stop." I said, closing the door. I spent the rest of my evening packing what I could.
This isn't the first Kate has done this. And it most certainly won't be the last.
After I finished packing, I took my cases, got my phone and laptop and left without saying anything to her.
Right as I stepped outside, it started to rain. Great. I walked to the corner of the street and waited for a bus or a taxi. As soon as one came, I called Dan.
"Howl? Is everything-"
"She did it again." I sighed, slouching into the seat of the bus. People on the bus looked at me and made odd faces. I mean. I suppose you don't see an English goth (which I'm totally not!) looking girl with wet light pink hair crying while talking on the phone with her brother and three suitcases on a bus.
"Who? Howl, is everything okay?" Dan asked with worry in his voice.
"Katlyn. She bloody did it again." I shook my head. I heard a loud sigh come from the other end of the line. I know I'm calling him rather late, for him anyway.
"Katie? She cheated on you? Again?" He asked, sounding really frustrated.
"Yeah. I left the flat." I paused to inhale some air. "I'm going to a hotel for the night. Is it all righ-"
"Howl Grace, you don't even have to ask. You know I'll say yes. You know Phil will say yes." Dan interrupted me. "I'll tell Phil. I'll see you soon. Okay?"
"Okay. Thank you, Danny." I said.
"You're welcome, Howl. I'm gonna go. It's 3 in the morning and I'm tired."
"See you soon." I said just before he hung up. The bus drove around for awhile before I finally got off. The hotel that I stayed at was literally, the cheapest one there is.
Kate>Me: I'm sorry, Howl! Please come back!
Bitch. I'm not. I don't want to see your face.
Right when I made it to my room, I redid my flight tickets for tomorrow afternoon.
Me>DannyDogg:I changed my flight for tomorrow afternoon. I should land at about 11:00 your time.
I closed my laptop and shut my phone off. I laid my head down on the pillow and slowly fell asleep.
-~-
I woke up at the most inconvenient time. My flight is in two hours. That gives me 30 minutes to get whatever I can from Kate's flat. I grabbed all my belongs and went out to hail a taxi. As soon as one came I gave him the address to the flat. When he arrived at the flat, I told him to wait while I went in.
I grabbed a box and went right to my room. When I stepped in I saw Kate asleep in my bed.
"Thanks." I muttered, dropping the box on my desk. Kate woke up at the sound.
"Howl?" She asked, looking at me.
"Go back to back to sleep, Katlyn." I said, putting whatever I could in the box before she really woke up. I threw the engagement ring in the box before Katlyn saw it.
"Please stay." She sat up and looked at me. Her cheeks had tear stains on them and her eyes where red and puffy.
"I can't. I have a flight out to London in an hour and a half. I don't want to be late." I said in a monotone voice. She let out a loud groan and flopped back.
"Please. I made a mistake. I promise it won't happen again." She said, voice cracking as she spoke.
"That's what you said last time." I said, looking at a picture of Dan and I when we were little. When they just adopted me. A small smile form but soon went away.
"I'll mean it this time, Grace." She said, standing up and reaching for my hand. I pulled it away and looked at her. Grace. No. Grace is my middle name. And she only calls me that when she really needs me.
"Kate, I can't. I'm going back home. You're going to stay here. I can't stay with you anymore. This isn't the first you've done this. I cane worry about who you're with or who you're banging. I just can't." I said, closing the box up.
"Please! I..." She started but then sat on the corner of my bed.
"I'm going now." I said, picking up the box. She looked up at me and shook her head. "Bye." I placed my apartment key on the table and left. I told the driver to go to the airport.
Me>DannyDogg: see ya soon.