Cameron raised his fist to knock on the door; he needed to speak with her. He needed to see her. He had spent the better part of about two weeks avoiding her. With his fist hanging in the air, he hesitated; she said she was okay with it, she said it was fine and she understood.
He shook off his nerves and pulled his hand back, readying himself and unprepared when the door flung wide open with not Kirsten standing in the doorway, but Liam.
"Kirsten?" Liam's accent bellowed in the direction of the kitchen. "You have a visitor."
"What?" Kirsten came out with a towel wrapped around her left hand. She stopped mid step and her eyes went wide like a deer caught in headlights. "Cameron."
"Hey, stretch." Cameron cleared his throat, lowering his hand and staring right in her eyes. "I was going to take you up on that rain check for dinner, but-."
"Oh, I was just leaving." Liam reached over to the couch and grabbed his leather jacket. Turning to Kirsten, he walked over and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Kirsten gave him a fake smile and nodded, ushering him out quickly.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked as he stepped around Cameron to leave. "I can take you to the hospital if-."
"It's just a scratch." She assured, waving goodbye before tugging on Cameron's jacket to pull him inside. Even though she knew Cameron was standing not three feet behind her, she still accepted Liam's kiss and smiled into it. "Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow." Liam promised, dropping one more kiss to her mouth before turning and leaving.
Closing the door, Kirsten turned to Cameron to find him standing in the middle of her living room with his arms crossed. "So…"
"Liam?" Cameron cleared his throat as an attempt to hide the way his voice cracked. Last he checked, Liam was out of the picture and wasn't even supposed to be in town. "That's uh…wow. When did that…happen…exactly?"
"A little over a week." She avoided his stare. She knew what he was thinking; she said she wanted to be friends.
Cameron knew he couldn't be angry, he didn't have that right; she needed time and instead of giving it to her, he met and started a relationship with Nina. "That's nice, I suppose."
Kirsten could only keep her eyes on her feet, unsure of what to do. She never meant to make things awkward with Cameron, she just wanted to find her father and she wasn't willing to put Camille in danger.
"What happened to your hand?" He couldn't help but ask. The towel wrapped around her hand was now drenched in her blood. "Did something happen?"
"I dropped a champagne glass and I just immediately started picking up the pieces without thinking it through." She stepped back into the kitchen and turned on the faucet, letting to cold water wash away the blood. "It's not that bad, really."
"Kirsten, it looks like a crime scene in here." He huffed, grabbing another towel and wrapping her hand again. "I'm taking you to the hospital."
"No, it's fine, I swear." She tried to pull away from him, but his grip tightened and he pulled her closer. Her breath hitched and her stomach was in knots; she hadn't been that close to Cameron since the night he asked if they were really just friends. She wanted to kiss him then and she wanted to kiss him now. "Cameron."
"Come on, princess." Cameron smiled gently, trying to coax her to the door so they could leave. "I promise these stitches don't involve dead bodies." Glancing down at her lips, he knew he was in trouble. The point of his visit tonight was to tell her that he and Nina decided to part ways because as much as Cameron tried to fool himself, he was still in love with Kirsten.
"O-Okay." She breathed out, moving to step around him and clenching the towel in her hand.
"And done." Dr. Rosario wrapped a bandage around Kirsten's hand and smiled at her. "It wasn't too deep of a cut, so it should heal pretty well. Over the counter ibuprofen can help with the pain should you feel any and I will write out a prescription for some antibiotics." He stood and scribbled on his notepad, tearing the paper and handing it to Cameron. "You just make sure your girlfriend's hand doesn't get infected."
"Oh, she's not-." Cameron tried to explain their odd situation when she snatched the paper from his hand.
"Thank you." Kirsten smiled at Dr. Rosario and led Cameron out of the room. "And thank you for bringing me."
Cameron stuffed his hands into his pockets and nudged her shoulder. "What kind of a boyfriend would I be if I didn't bring my girl to the hospital?"
She shook her head and laughed with him. "About Liam…"
"No explanation needed." He swore and pushed open the door for her to walk through. "We're friends. We don't owe each other anything, right?"
"Right." Agreeing with him, Kirsten bit her bottom lip. "But as friends, I thought…this isn't exactly a normal situation with us, Cameron, and with Liam being my ex-fiancee, it's hard to explain."
"So, he just…showed back up and asked you to take him back?" Cameron fisted his hands inside his pockets.
"No, no. Um…he was seeing Camille because they went to the same gym." She bit her cheek and wanted to badly to tell him about Maggie's plan. "I…I got jealous and suggested we work things out."
He was silent as they reached his car and he opened her door for her, making sure she slid in easily. "Kirsten Clark jealous, never thought I'd see the day."
She smiled at his joke as he walked around and sat in the driver's seat. Taking in her surroundings, she thought of the fact that if Liam was working with her father, then it's likely that either one or both of them would be keeping an eye on her.
"Uh, so what um, were you doing at my house tonight?"
"Oh." Cameron sighed heavily and tried to think of the best lie he could come up with. When, for some reason, his mind went blank, he said, "Nina and I broke up."
"What?" Kirsten frowned at him and tilted her head to the side. "Why?"
"I just didn't think the time was right." He shrugged his shoulders and raised his fingers to his mouth to chew on his nails. "Our work kind of makes it hard to date anyone with normal jobs."
"I'm sorry." She patted his shoulder; she didn't want to be happy with that news but she couldn't help herself. She also wanted to kick herself and Maggie for getting into this situation, but she'd rather it be her than Camille, who risked everything with Linus in order to keep Kirsten safe.
Parking outside her house, Cameron escorted Kirsten to her door and leaned against the frame. "You sure you're going to be alright?"
She wanted to say yes, that he could just leave and then maybe he wouldn't be put in any danger. Instead, she responded with, "Camille's staying with Linus tonight. You can come in and hang out if you want."
"Sure." He smirked at her, almost laughing when she fumbled with her house keys. "Here, let me."
Kirsten glared playfully at him as he took the keys from her hand and opened her door with no trouble at all. "Ha-ha." Pushing through to the living room, she threw her keys on the kitchen table and sighed heavily.
"Liam can't put his dishes in the sink?" Cameron joked and picked up the dirty plates and glasses.
"I can do it." Insisting on helping, she reached for a dish, only to have him spin around and head straight for the kitchen sink.
"I don't think so, princess. It's late and we have to work in the morning."
"Then why'd you agree to stay?"
Cameron was stumped; he said he'd stay because it's what they always did. "So I can help you clean up, obviously."
With his back turned, he didn't know she had stuck her tongue out at him and went to her room to change.
'Pull yourself together, Cameron,' He thought, scrubbing the dirty plate and setting it on the drying rack.
"Cameron?" Kirsten's voice rang from the living room and he turned off the sink to find her.
"What's up?" Drying his hands with the only clean towel left, he blinked at her; she changed into pajama pants and a tank top, fairly simple and yet still able to make his mouth go dry.
"You're right, it's late." Kirsten explained, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She shouldn't say what she's about to say, but no one could really stop her. "You can stay…if you want."
"You sure? I mean, according to you, I snore." Cameron dropped the damp cloth on the table and crossed his arms. "Which, I do not, by the way."
"Whatever helps you snore at night." She shot back quickly and turned on her heel to walk down the hall, leaving him glaring at her back.
The sunlight hit her eyes and she wasn't sure how many times she blinked before she finally registered the warmth that her head was resting on. Glancing up, she nearly jumped out of bed when she saw Cameron. She had forgotten that she invited him to stay and that just last night he found out about her and Liam.
"Morning, stretch." He yawned and stretched his free arm out. Freezing, his eyes wandered down to realize he hand wound his arm tight around her in their sleep. He was sure she was yet to notice and he didn't know if he should try and pry himself away or not.
"Morning." Kirsten plopped her head against his chest again and exhaled. She was very aware of the fact that his fingers grazed the skin at her hip. Not ready to address it, she decided to pretend she didn't notice. "Breakfast?"
"Breakfast." He threw the blankets off and jumped out of bed as she stretched her arms above her head and arched her back. "How do pancakes sound?"
"Like we need the material to make them." She rubbed her eyes. "Let's just grab some on the way to the lab?"
"Yeah, that's fine." Running his hands through his hair, Cameron stalked to the living room to give her some privacy to get dressed.
"I think you should be careful." Camille warned Kirsten as she stepped into the conference room with Maggie.
"I am being careful." Kirsten insisted and Maggie shot her a look.
"Isn't Cameron wearing the same clothes as yesterday?" Camille winked at her.
"He took me to the hospital."
"Why?" Maggie became concerned; she knew Liam was with Kirsten last night, she had arranged it. "What happened?"
"I broke some glass and cut my hand open." Kirsten lifted her hand up to show them the bandages. "Cameron showed up to talk and he drove me to the hospital."
"Maggie?" Linus knocked, opening the glass door and sticking his head in. "Detective Fischer is here to see you."
"Thank you, Linus. I'll be right back." Maggie's heels clicked on the floor as she hurried out.
"What'd you guys talk about?" Camille asked Kirsten.
"He saw Liam." Kirsten stared at the table. "Caught him just as he was leaving the house. Camille, the look on his face..."
"Hey, hey." Camille tried to soothe her roommate. "I know this sucks, but if you think this can lead us to your father then let's pursue it. But if you have any doubt, whatsoever, Kirsten, tell us and we'll drop it. It's your decision."
"I can't make that choice based on my feelings for Cameron." Kirsten pinched the bridge of her nose, developing a headache. "I don't want to hurt him. I don't want him in danger. But I can't risk severing any kind of connection we have to my dad. If Liam's the only way, then so be it."
"Then why'd you let Cameron stay over last night?"
Hunching forward and dropping her elbows on the table, she said, "Because...because if I'm going to do this, be with Liam again, I needed to know..."
Camille put her hand over Kirsten's and encouraged her to go on.
"I just wanted last night to ourselves." Kirsten sniffled, trying to hold back her tears; she had denied for so long her feelings for Cameron and now that she grasped and understood them, they had no chance. "I just wanted us to be ourselves before Maggie sets the plan in motion again."
Camille left it at that; she knew Cameron had pretty much forced himself away from Kirsten while he was with Nina, and Kirsten had brushed it off when Camille knew it actually hurt her. Cameron and Kirsten had been on edge for almost a month and a half, their interactions so tense that everyone around them felt it.
"What is going on in there?" Cameron looked concerned as Camille seemed to be comforting Kirsten.
"Beats me." Linus stood beside him. "Camille's been lying to me for like, a week now, so I don't think I'll get anything out of her."
"Kirsten and Liam are back together." Cameron blurted, unsure of why he said anything when no one even mentioned Liam.
"Whoa, what?" Linus set his table down and face his best friend. "Are they engaged again or...?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask."
"You saw them? Together? When? Where?"
"Yes, yes, last night at her house." Cameron dropped himself into his chair and scratched the back of his neck.
"What were you doing at her house?" Linus asked him, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I went to tell her that Nina and I broke up."
"Why?" Linus almost smacked him upside the head. "Why would you want to tell her that?"
"Why else, Linus? Because I love her."
"Cam..." Camille interrupted, Kirsten at her side.
"Kirsten." Cameron shot out of his chair and stammered, "H-How long...? W-What are you...? Uh."
Kirsten took a deep breath to calm herself; when she had stitched into Cameron's temporarily dead body, she saw things that she was sure he didn't really want her seeing. Going into his brain, seeing his memories, it woke up her feelings and they had crashed into her like a brick wall. And so had her feelings for him. "I...I..."
Cameron didn't say anything. He didn't know what he could say to make the situation better. He just stared at her, waiting with his stomach in knots. He saw the tears threatening to fall and he knew he blew it. They had agreed to be friends for the sake of their team and their work. "Stretch..."
"I'm sorry." Kirsten rushed past them with Camille running after her. Putting a hand to her mouth, she pushed the elevator buttons and rushed in. The doors had closed just after Camille rushed inside to calm her down. Sliding down the elevator wall with her head resting on her knees, Kirsten ran her fingers through her hair. "I can't, Camille, I can't do this."
"Kirsten," Camille bent to her level and pulled her arms away from her head, "yes, you can. You're Kirsten Clark, badass extraordinaire. We can pull through this, Kirsten, we can do this. Yes, I know Cameron loves you and yes, I know you love him too, but you have to stay focused, okay? You remember what you said in the conference room? Huh? You can't make this decision based on your feelings for each other."
Kirsten tried to steady her breathing, but as the elevator doors opened, she bolted and ran as fast as she could to she didn't know where. This plan with Liam, Maggie's plan, had better be worth it in the end. Because she knew, when she found her father, there was definitely a bone to pick.
I don't know if I'm leaving it here or continuing it. You guys tell me. Give me some feedback.
Much love,
ReesesPieces2112(: