Digging Deep

The wind was hyper and wild tonight as I approached our meeting place, where I saw Kyle a day ago.

It took a lot of effort to stop myself from appearing too eager, which I really was, but I didn't want to give that impression.

I already felt embarrassed enough. There was no need to give him more bullets.

Upon stepping on the last step of the stairs, I reminded myself to breathe as I saw Kyle, from afar, leaning on the movie pictures, wearing faded denim, still the same sneakers and a white shirt with his favorite black leather jacket.

He met my stare halfway and gave me that heart-stopping smile.

"You made it," He uttered. His voice rang like a melody in my ears.

I gulped and nodded like this was a regular thing we often did together. 

He leapt away from where he was leaning and hugged me tightly. 

I didn't know how to react. My heart thundered inside my chest, and my brain short-circuited. 

Kyle buried his face in my hair. 

I felt nervous, but inhaling his scent didn't feel foreign to me at all.

My hands moved on their own, circling him in an attempt to reciprocate the embrace.

"Katie, you have no idea how much I missed you." He whispered in my ears before letting me go, caressing my face and allowing me to stare at him.

"I missed you too," I said, the words flying out of my mouth before I realized what was happening. 

I watched him smile and slowly, gently place his mouth to mine.

Even his lips tasted familiar. I heard fireworks and felt the butterflies in my belly, melting me with the thought of Kyle and his lips on mine.

When we finally broke apart, I was out of breath and even more confused.

"Sorry, that was a jerk move," 

Kyle spoke, touching his forehead to mine before pulling away. I grabbed his hand, surprised by my reflexes.

"Don't. Please don't leave yet. I… I have some questions." 

I had to force myself to meet his lovely hazel eyes without melting into them.

He stared at me for a while before sighing, gathering my hands in his and smiling apologetically.

"I'm sorry I was selfish. But I promise I will do my best to make this less confusing to you."

To me, who had always seemed to know everything about him but also couldn't remember my connection to him, hearing him say those words almost brought me to tears.

"Okay," I heard myself say. "Thank you. For starters, I would appreciate you explaining what you're doing here and what happened. I can't remember anything from the night of the accident. I think," I paused.

Kyle looked at me, his eyes bore into mine, waiting patiently for me to proceed.

"I think you were there with me. But that's it. Everything is a blur from there."

Watching him closely, I noticed the slight shift in his expression. He looked sad but not the usual kind of sad.

It was like those that held something profound. But in a few blinks, his lips parted into a smile, chasing away any trace of that emotion from his face.

He gave my hand a gentle tug, grinning like he was about to share some secret that no one should know but us.

"I have no idea where to start, Katie. But I can show you."

"Where are we going?"

Kyle took a step closer, towering over me by a few inches. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, grazing the tender skin behind it.

It tickled me in a good way, sending shivers all over me.

"Do you trust me?"

His question had me swimming in his hazel eyes, vague images floating in my line of vision.

"Yes," I answered, my heart confirming the truthfulness of my words.

--

One of my friends wanted to go to a bar. But my parents only allowed me to have a sleepover.

I was nervous.

Getting caught would mean visiting the police station and my parents needing to pick me up. 

It was a ridiculous idea, but my friends were pretty persuasive. 

They dressed me as decently as possible, knowing I would rather wear oversized shirts over some sexy tank top. 

I wore cowboy boots and skinny jeans to appear like an adult. They even convinced me to apply heavy makeup so we wouldn't draw too much suspicion by looking too young.

Technically, we were only sixteen. That counted as young in my vocabulary.

I was scared from the tips of my hair down to the tiniest part of my body, but I was even more horrified for the security to believe we were legally allowed to be in there.

There was loud music, grinding bodies and alcohol-induced people.

I didn't join the girls as they butt each other on the dance floor with drinks in their hands. I preferred to sit on a stool, watch them laugh, and have fun.

My nerves didn't go down, and as the night wore on, they only rose higher.

I began feeling uneasy when I found my friends suddenly looking really scared, like they could go out of their mind kind of scared.

I followed their gaze and saw a big guy holding a shaking Beth, trying to lick her disgustingly.

It didn't take long for me to decide. I got off my stool, heart hammering against my chest and went directly towards the beefy guy.

"Hey!" I tapped him on the arm, my entire body shaking at what I was doing.

But I knew I couldn't sit and watch my friend getting attacked. I created a distraction for Beth to escape.

When the beefy guy stared at me, I saw how drunk he was and figured he might be in his twenties. He gave me a wide grin which pissed me off instantly that I hadn't stopped myself from hurling a punch to his face.

I wasn't an expert in throwing punches, but my dad had Kelsea and me trained with punching bags at his gym. He said just in case, and I'll be forever indebted to him for this one.

The beefy guy fell on his butt with a grunt while Beth unfroze herself from the shock and ran towards the rest of our friends.

I went after her and ushered them to go before things could escalate.

But we weren't fast enough.

In a few seconds, I felt big hands pulling me back. I squirmed and tried to break free, but it was no use.

My heart beat wildly against my chest.

I closed my eyes and prayed for my parents to forgive me after this was all over.

They probably won't forgive me easily. But I'll take that. This was, after all, my fault.

I had just accepted my fate, anticipating something horrible to happen to me when I was released.

I fell on the tiled floor, face first. It hurt, but I actually breathed out a sigh of relief and thanked God I was okay.

Then I heard it. There was a fight brewing behind me. I got myself up and spun to see what was happening.

I found the big beefy guy being attacked by someone. The burly guy seemed to be scared that he scurried off to his feet before the other guy could make another move.

I waited for my savior to show himself to me so I could thank him. I waited patiently, and when he finally did, I almost yelped.

In my entire high school life, I had never met anyone so good-looking and had this fierce aura.

It was his eyes that pulled me in, and I was unable to tear my gaze away.

It was nobody else but Kyle.

My Kyle.