"I just. . . I don't think it's working out right now. I love being in your company, having you as a friend, but I can't do a relationship." Especially when I'm texting another guy on our date, I almost added aloud.
Cain moved back and forth between a couple positions. The first being his hands buried in his thick, ear length hair and eyes on the concrete below. The second being his eyes lingering on me, mouth opening and shutting as if he wanted to fight back, but thought better and kept his mouth shut instead.
"Okay." he finally managed, his eyes roaming every inch of my face.
"Okay?" I repeated, surprised.
"Yeah, Kasey. Okay." he shrugged, "I get that you have a lot going on and you aren't ready for anything serious. I'm willing to wait until you are." it was my turn to stare at him, gaping.
I had expected him to at least force an explanation out of me; a reason for me calling off the relationship.
"Thank you." I closed the gap between us and threw my arms around his torso, nuzzling my face against his chest, hopefully it wouldn't be for the last time.
"Sure. Friends again, then?" He gently pushed me away and outstretched his hand, eyes smiling as much as the one stretching across his face.
"Yeah." I smiled, taking his hand, "Friends."
*
I laid, sprawled across my bed after Cain had dropped me off with a quick kiss on the forehead. He had taken off about an hour ago for one reason or another, and hadn't answered any of the few texts I'd sent him, so I had just stopped trying to message him in general.
There had to be some part of him that was at least a little angry or disappointed that our relationship didn't work out. Or maybe that was just be, the sad sappy girl that wished that she could have one of those coming-of-age movie relationships with the underdogs coming out together in the end.
I got ready to set my phone and laptop down for the night when a text lit my screen, revealing the picture of Tommy and me at Coachella a few years ago. A small smile tugged at my lips as I read the text.
Beast: Did u make it back ok?
I fought the smile as best as I could; I shouldn't be smiling. I had just broken up with my boyfriend, someone I had cared about my entire life, and he wasn't talking to me. There was no part of me that should be happy-let alone smiling. But seeing the question, I couldn't fight the smile that broke out across my face.
No. I got caught in a stampede of wild beasts and am currently in critical condition at the hospital.
Beast: Not funny.
Yeah? Why not?
Beast: It just isn't
Sorry if I hit a sore spot, Beastie Boy
I slipped my phone into my pocket as I headed out of my room, gnawing at the inside of my lip.
Why had he gotten so defensive over a joke? I mean, sure I'd been in the hospital, more than once in the last four years, but I didn't recall him ever being there. And I'd know, considering my Dad works down there.
"Hey, there, Kaser!" Kevin brushed passed with a ruffle of my hair before disappearing back down the hall, my phone buzzing in my pocket snapping me out of my daze.
Beast: Wanna run?
Just as I thought my answer through, a text from Cain lit my screen back up.
Mr. Mysterious: I'm fine, Kase. Just at a party. Stay safe and inside tonight, supposed to be cold. Sweet dreams
Cain was right, it was supposed to drop into the forties and possibly lower by midnight. Before I could talk myself out of it, my fingers dancing across the keyboard as I responded to both boys.
*
"Hey, Baxter!" I called, cupping my hands around my mouth. Callum looked up from the park bench he was hunched over in, his elbows on his knees as he stared at the dimly lit diner parking lot ahead.
"Blackwell." he nodded, starting to rise.
"Ready to run?" I started jogging in place, hoping to be able to clear my thoughts for the night. The thought that might happen faded when I saw the fresh bruise beneath Callum's eye, one that hadn't been there when I saw him this afternoon.
"Are you okay?" I fell on to the bench beside him, pushing the uneasiness in my chest down before it could get the best of me.
"No." he avoided my gaze entirely, "But I guess I can deal with it, right?"
"Callum-"
"Kasey-" he mocked, his eyes still everywhere but me.
"Who did that?" I thought about my question for a second, "Eric?"
"I deserved it." I watched in silence as he scratched at his arm under his sleeve nervously, "It really isn't that big of a deal."
"Callum, you have a black eye that's pretty much swollen shut. I think that's a pretty big deal." I replied, my hands seeming to have a mind of their own as they reached out and barely brushed against the bruise around his eye.
His eyes fluttered shut against my fingertips, his body growing tense. I could feel a tightening in my chest at the familiarity of the position.
I had done this, weeks before Tommy died, my hands pressed against his bruised face. He had refused to tell me who had done it, had believed it was his fault.
"I understand." my voice was a choked whisper. His good eye shot open.
"Understand what?"
"I understand you, Callum. I. . . I care about you, alright? Don't go and do anything stupid on me." he pressed his own fingertips against my cheek.
"You can't possibly understand me, Kasey." I tried to pull away, but his eyes had me frozen in place. "I destroy everything I touch. That's what everyone wants to believe, right? So why not give them what they want?"
"And I'm the poor girl that got raped and lost her brother within a month of each other. That doesn't define who we are, Callum. We aren't the poor rape victim and the suspected rapist." he laughed then, a cold, bitter and heartless one.
"But aren't we, Kasey?" he leaned back and let out a shaky breath, "Isn't that what we'll always be?"
***AN***
Sorry for the short chapter guys!
Let me know what you thought! Are you happy Cain and Kasey are done? Do you ship her with Callum?
Let me know, I'd love to hear your responses!
~ChasingMadness24