"Alright you two, sit down and explain to Kate and me what the hell just happened out there!" Dr. Fischart looks at Kate with an angry expression. I assume there will be a lot more of that look when they find out what's been going on between the three of us recently.
I twiddle my fingers awkwardly and watch this family-to-be sort through their problems. Kyle looks far away from us, despite sitting about three feet from Anson. His neck is colored from Anson's grip. I feel no pity for that.
"Well?" Dr. Fischart demands. "Is someone going to answer? Anson!"
When being spoken to, Anson's hostile gaze directs itself towards Kyle beside of him. "You heard me out there." He looks at his father.
Whatever he wants to say, I hope he doesn't isolate his father further by doing it.
Anson glances back at me occasionally, as if making sure I'm safe. I shoot him a look, trying to communicate how delicately I think this situation should be handled. His expression softens at my reminder.
In front of us, Kate shakes her head. "I don't understand. You said something about Kyle and Indie?" Her gaze is fixated on my boyfriend. I suddenly wonder to myself if Kate is aware of Kyle's flaws.
Does she know how her son treats girls? Does she know what he's capable of?
I do. I remember. I've not panicked, yet. I think it's getting easier to stand up for myself around him....
While I think, Anson grips his chair and his knuckles turn white. "Your son," he looks from Kate to Kyle, "is a twisted, sick human being. He may be young, but he's already a psychopath."
Kate's mouth drops. Anson's father begins to scold him, but Anson continues.
"Kyle has, time and again, threatened Indie, nearly sexually assaulted her, and tonight he almost raped her." Anson's chest rises and falls quickly with his words. "He intimidates girls and threatens them with sex."
Kate raises a brow at me. "Is this true, Indie?"
In her eyes I can see the growing darkness. I can see a woman who believed the best in her son. Someone who had no intention of creating a sick, nearly-evil son. It's a terrifying decision for me to decide how to answer this woman.
Do I tell her the truth and ruin her entire mirage of motherhood?
I feel all eyes move to where I'm standing. I focus only on Kate's pale green ones.
"Yes. I'm sorry, but yes." I break, my voice is hoarse. I feel terrible to admit the truth, and it shows. Anson's face twists, sadness clouds his features.
For a moment I just wish we would have stayed in his room and never come out. Unsure of what to say, Kate places a hand on her forehead. Kyle remains silent in his chair.
"Anson got Kyle benched on the football team after the first incident-" I start to explain.
"First?!" Kate interjects with shock. "How many times has he done these things?" Her face goes slack.
"Well..." I look up, mentally counting the times Kyle has approached.
"Five, I think." My voice is weak.
"Five." She whispers in disbelief. She fans her face exasperatedly, and Anson's father shakes his head gravely.
"I can't believe they never told either of us." his widened eyes observe a distressed Kate. I notice that her hands are shaky as Dr. Fischart holds them to him.
This was their engagement celebration. Their special night. We ruined it.
"If they would have said something sooner-"
"Really?" Anson's voice is low. "Why would I tell you anything? We never talk, Dad."
Like being pricked with a needle, Anson's father makes a pained face. "Son, I wanted to apologize for failing to tell you about this engagement. It slipped my mind, and when I realized it, it was too late." His voice is earnest. When I look at my boyfriend, I know he believes it to be a lie.
I feel a pang in my chest.
"It doesn't matter. I'm out of here as soon as you tie the knot." His shoulders are tense.
My lips part in surprise. Leaving? What's he talking about?
Dr. Fischart and Kate exchange glances. "Son," he clears his voice and continues, "there's no need for that."
Anson looks at Kyle. "Yes there is. I won't be his brother."
Kyle closes his eyes and props his head against the chair back.
"You're not his brother by blood. By marriage, you don't make that decision." Anson's father speaks clearly. "You can't run away from that." His glance meets mine. I blush unhappily.
"We aren't family, dad. This isn't a family. You and Kate have no interest in me or Kyle. If you did, things might be different. I doubt it," Anson sighs, "but they might be."
His father looks exasperatedly at Kate, as if he's waiting for her to come to his rescue. She is quiet and
looks only at her feet. "I guess it's time I reveal that I had plans to send Kyle to a military boarding school."
Uh yeah, this is a great time to mention that!
Kyle's eyes blink open at this. He looks angry. "What did you say?"
"It would be good for you, Kyle!" She seems defensive. "I was going to ask Dr. Fischart about sending Anson there, too."
"Woah woah woah," Anson's voice is low in disbelief.
Kyle stands up and sneers. "Good for you, you mean! You marry the doctor and leave me at a boarding school. I'm not surprised!"
Anson slowly rises from his chair, blocking Kyle from coming near me. Kyle laughs. "I'm not fighting you, Anson. And I don't want your girlfriend anymore. It seems like it's our parents that are against us."
At that, they both turn and share a silent moment with their parents. Dr. Fischart shakes his head at Anson.
"I wouldn't send you away, son." His eyes are wide.
"Maybe because I'm already out of your life." Anson's voice is harsh.
"That's not true! Kate and I want you and Kyle both to be part of our new family. This drama is all temporary!"
"Don't f-ing tell me what's temporary." Anson yells. "Don't look at my girlfriend and me and tell us that we're overreacting, that this is just drama. This is about Kyle disrespecting Indie and me in the most terrible ways, and it's about our parents that are so incapable of noticing when their own children are struggling."
At that, Kate bursts into tears, clutching onto a disengaged Kyle and begging to know if he's felt neglected. His jaw hardens, and he starts to blame Kate for many of his problems.
The conversations begin to spiral out of control. I suddenly wish to be in my own home, in my own bed, with my mom and Bryn to comfort me.
But I'm here for Anson. I watch him unhappily.
My heart squeezes in my chest, I fidget with my shirt and don't look back up until I see that Kyle has fled the home altogether. Kate pinches the bridge of her nose with two fingers in frustration. I wonder if she has a migraine.
"Kate, Kyle will be fine." Anson's dad tries to rub her arm, but she jerks away.
"Really?" She frowns. "You don't even know your own son. How would you know about mine?"
Like a slap to the face, Kate wrenches away and follows Kyle's path out of the house. With the Parrs gone, Anson takes a deep breath.
Silence suspends over the room for a moment.
"Are you drunk, Anson?" The voice comes from Dr. Fischart. It's not cold, but definitely not warm or inviting.
Anson looks at his father and shrugs. "I'm not an alcoholic. I had champagne once tonight."
That seems like ages ago. I think to Anson sharing the drink with me in his room. We made out and he fell asleep. I wish we both would have, now.
His father looks skeptical. Anson makes a brisk movement towards me. He touches my waist, but seemingly remembers something. He turns and addresses his dad.
"Don't pretend you can recognize substance abuse. Mom died because you didn't bother to see the signs. Don't think that my one time indulgence makes me anything like her. Or you."
Anson's father looks sick.
"- I don't want to ever be anything like you." Anson adds.
"Anson." I say, causing him to think about what he's saying.
"I've got to take her home." He gestures to me, gripping my hand and pulling me with him. I manage to cast a sympathetic glance over his shoulder to his father.
Nothing about tonight was right.
My heart hurts.
*****
On Sunday morning, I sit in my living room in my pink-lemonade colored pjs. My hair is piled on my head in a messy bun. I sip raspberry tea from a mug and watch Bryn play Just Dance on her old Wii.
I use this comforting time as a way to recover from the events following Anson's Dad and Kate's engagement party. Last night was hellish; so Just Dance is an upbeat, welcome alternative to arguing and yelling like what took place then.
Bryn giggles as she adds her own spin to the moves, dropping down into the splits at the end.
"Ta-da!" She says, looking at me.
I roll my eyes. "You're such a ham."
I wish I could be that carefree.
"You should join me." She tries to wave me over, I shake my head in refusal.
"You've been kinda distant." She notices with a frown.
"I've had a lot on my mind." I say honestly.
I hope Anson is doing okay with his dad. After the fiasco last night, I've not heard anything from him.
Bryn makes a face, but she is interrupted by a knock at the door. Jumping up, she runs over and answers it. I recognize the sweet voice of Fern as soon as I hear it.
Just who I needed.
I put my tea down and slip over to greet her. "You don't know how much I've missed you this past week." I say, extending my arms for a hug.
"We talked in history class Friday." She frowns; I shake my head.
"Come up to my room. I need to relax with my best friend. Who knows when we will get another chance?"
"Lead the way." Fern smiles, highfiving Bryn on our way up to my room.
When we first get upstairs, we collapse on my bed. Like always, we put on facemasks and make sure to spill tea about Fern's coworkers. After that, Bryn brings us a pack of cookies for us to pig-out on.
I almost feel like I'm in middle school again. The idle, boring gossip about people of no relation to me cheers me up for once.
I bite into a chocolate chip cookie while Fern changes the subject to talk about Leo. I ask her about her relationship, briefly wishing my own was as simple as hers.
I lay on my back, finishing my cookie, and listening to her talk.
"I was thinking of getting Leo something for our anniversary. Maybe a nice watch or something. His other one broke." She looks at me, "What do you think?"
I agree with her. She continues. "Indie, I'm so excited for our anniversary, you know?"
"Yeah."
"I mean," she laughs embarrassedly, "I got a new lingerie set, I'm ready to try it out."
I laugh at that, and she explains how it looks. With a smile, she asks me about my preferences. It's all fun and games until now.
"Oh, I don't know." I bite my lip awkwardly. "I've never actually had any."
Her mouth drops. "No way! Girl we should shop for some. You and Anson are gonna do it soon, right?"
I blush. I don't know. We just recently discussed it for the first time. I don't feel comfortable talking about it so openly... even if it is with Fern.
"It's just been so crazy recently-"
"Shut up, girl! You should know by now if it's gonna happen anytime soon." Fern bites her lip interestedly.
Should I?
"It's not that simple." I frown. "He's got a lot going on with his family right now. He's not in the right headspace to be intimate."
What am I even saying?! I think I'm also the one that's not in the right headspace.
"Bull crap." Fern giggles. "He's a guy, I doubt his ability to bone is affected by his family problems. Guys don't think that way."
Does she really even know what she's talking about?
"Are you sure?" I am unsure. Her green eyes are bright despite my skepticism.
"Yes, Indie. They compartmentalize." She starts to explain. "Its like they've got separate spots in their brains for everything. Love-making is its own box, trust me."
That does make sense, I guess. Goosebumps break out across my skin to think about Anson making love to me. It seems so unlikely. So unreal.
"So you're saying that just because his home life is crappy doesn't mean he won't be in the mood?" I raise a brow. "If I was him, I wouldn't be able to get my mind off of the uncertainty..."
"You're not him!" She interrupts. I giggle at that, wondering when she became such a know-it-all about relationships.
"That's it!" Her voice is happy. "We're going shopping, right now." She leans close to me. "You need to be ready with the right attire for when Anson wants to do it. Come on." Fern happily sits up. I grab another cookie.
"What if I just want to be a fatty and eat cookies? That sounds just as fun." I wave a cookie in front of her face, hoping she'll take me up on that idea.
Her nose crinkles up.
"Oh, Indie. You're ridiculous."
"Yes I am."
"Well, stop stalling. I'll drive us." Fern offers. "I can help you pick something out."
I doubt Anson's taste in lingerie will be the same as Fern's. How can I tell her that?
I wont. I decide. I'll just let her do her thing.
"Okay." I say, sitting up from my bed.
So much for us being middle schoolers today.
"Let's go."
Long chapter, yet again! I'll keep this a/n short, too. If you liked this chapter remember to vote and comment. Also add this story to your reading lists so you know when I update.
We've got 8 chapters left of His Blue! The countdown is moving onward.
So, Leave a comment about your thoughts on this chapter. Do you think Indie should take Fern up on the lingerie shopping spree?
Do you thing Anson handled things with his dad well?
Do you think Kate and Dr. Fischart will get married anyways?
You'll have to find out on Tuesday's update. Talk to you then,
~ Malibu