Hey guys!

Thank you for reading this chapter of The Definition of Living!

Full A/N at the end!

- Katia

1988

"How was school, Malachai?" the woman asked as the teenager stormed his way up to his room to lay down on his bed for a bit. He didn't answer her for a few reasons. One, his name wasn't Malachai. It was Kai, and she knew that. Two, he knew that his mother didn't really care about how his day was; she was just asking to be nice. And three, it had been a terrible day at school, anyways. Why? The reason was very simple and could be summed up in two words:

Skylar Westbrooke.

He'd known the girl since he was in diapers, which meant that she had even more time to ruin his life. She was by far the most aggravating and annoying person Kai had met. (Which was saying something, coming from a teenage Kai Parker, mind you.) Yet, everything she did upset him. Even things she didn't do. Like, take today for example.

He's a teenage boy; he has needs. So, he's flirting with this girl in his biology class – Brianna Something-Or-Another – when all of the sudden the girl just shoots him down. Obviously it wasn't because he's ugly (Kai knew that couldn't possibly be true) so he had to ask.

"Why? Is it something I said?" he asked her.

Brianna shook her head, looking at him. "No, I just don't make a habit of screwing boys who are already with someone else."

Kai had been really confused. He wasn't dating anymore. His parents, of course, had technical other plans, but that wasn't something Kai chose to believe. "Who?"

"Haven't you seen the school newspaper today? Your parents submitted an ad."

As soon as she said that, Kai knew what had happened. Still, he knew that he had to see the paper for himself, so he asked her to pull it out of her bag. When she did, Kai practically snatched it out of his hands. There, on the front page, was a huge chunk of space that practically screamed his situation.

"So, no. We won't be doing anything, Kai Parker. Go on home."

Skylar Westbrooke was absolutely the worst thing to have ever happened to this boy.

Present Day

"Any idea what day it is, Cinderella?" Kai asked as he walked into the living room of the house that he and Skylar were choosing to stay in this year. His roommate was on the ground, scrubbing something on the floor, hence the "Cinderella" comment.

With a soft sigh, Skylar pulled herself up to look at him, her eyebrows quirking up as she looked at him. "Make another comment like that, and this sponge will be in your throat."

Kai held his hands up in surrender. "So feisty."

"So annoying."

Kai didn't have anything to say to that, just smile slightly as he looked at her. The smile was not returned at first, but his charm wore down on her. It always did, though. So, after a few seconds, Skylar smiled a bit, tossing the sponge at him, which he caught effortlessly. "You're such a dick."

"Well, we both know how you love –"

"Stop."

And he did. She might be the only person in the world who could tell him what to do and expect him to listen to her. Skylar had some kind of hold on him; it was amazing to see. Though, it might be because she was one of the only person who didn't see him as a psychopath. She saw the good in him. It was there, after all. You just had to dig a little deeper to find it.

Skylar stood up, striding over to the bookshelf, to pick up a journal off of it. She had been keeping track of the date since they got locked up in this place. She wasn't exact anymore, usually only knowing the month or season and the year. Still, she'd try to answer his question. "May 4, 1994," she said teasingly, which earned her a glare, so she sighed. "Sometime in the fall of 2015."

Kai sighed a bit, frowning as he sat down on one of the stools that was in the kitchen. "21 years. That's…a really long time, isn't it?" Kai asked softly, suddenly getting serious.

Skylar sighed a bit. She knew that this bothered Kai more than he cared to admit. So, she walked over to him, letting her hands hold his cheeks and make him look at her. "Yeah, it is, but we're fine. One day…"

"I hope you're right," he said, knowing how she was going to finish that sentence. He turned his head, biting playfully at her thumb before standing up looking around. "Do you want to do something today?"

Skylar shrugged a bit, moving to stand in front of him and raising an eyebrow. "I was thinking we could spend the day in here…"

Kai smirked a bit, before shrugging. "I'll meet you there," he said, before heading up the stairs.

Skylar chuckled a bit as she watched him go, before something hit her in the face.

Kai's pants.

His hand traced a pattern onto her hip as they laid in bed that night. "Do you ever think that one day you're going to get sick of me and take off for the other side of this hell of a world?" Kai asked softly, letting some of his insecurities out.

Skylar frowned, turning over so that they were face to face now. "Every day. You're really annoying," she teased lightly, before shaking her head. "No. I…well…I enjoy your company. You know that."

"40 years and you still can't say the words?"

Skylar was quiet, shaking her head.

"That's okay," Kai said softly, kissing her nose and then sitting up as he looked at her. "I know you feel it."

She didn't say anything in response, just smiling at him. He knew it though. They'd known each other for what felt like forever, and someone she had issues saying the words 'I love you' to him. He'd said it to her – once – when they'd been in this prison world for about 2 years. She froze up. After that, he'd stopped saying it in such plain words, instead opting to just do stuff for her so that she'd know. He knew that she didn't handle those emotions well, and neither did he. Yet, in some weird universe, he was the only one comfortable enough to tell the girl that he was in love with her.

The two got up to put on their clothes, when they heard it. It was unmistakable. Skylar froze mid clasping her bra, and Kai as he was pulling on his shirt. Finally, after a few moments, they heard it again.

"Do you—"

"Yeah."

Kai nodded, pulling his shirt on the rest of the way and then walking over to the window and looking out the blinds. There, across the street, was a car that hadn't been there before.

Next to it were two people: a boy and a girl.

"Someone's in this prison world with us."

I hope you enjoyed this part of The Definition of Living! I've been wanting to write this story for a while now, and I'm finally doing it!

This story is dedicated to one of my best friends: Amytb85! Amy and I RP this couple on a few forums on here, and those scenes are my inspiration!

Skylar's FC: Melissa Benoist

Question of the Chapter (answer in your review!): What are your opinions on Kai? I personally love him and think he deserved a redemption arc!

Please leave a REVIEW! It would mean the world to me!

-Katia