It Takes Two
Chelsers93 (chelseamariec)
"I am not sure you are hearing me correctly." Kate kicked her door open and plopped down on her bed. She picked up the magazine off her nightstand and ignored her dad.
"Katie, please. I am just asking you to give it a shot. I know you aren't pleased with your mom and I but come on. You have to admit it sounds intriguing." Jim sat himself on the edge of her bed and smiled proudly at her.
Kate's eyes traveled from her magazine to her father. "If I am hearing you and mom correctly, you want your baby girl, who is newly eighteen to go out on a blind date with a boy who is in college. Are you nuts?"
"Your mom is newly friends with this woman, Martha Rogers, and her son seems nice. And he is only nineteen. It's the carnival, Katie, not a wedding chapel."
"Dad, I have friends and I don't have problems with boys. I appreciate your and mom's concern but, no thanks." Kate kicked the pillow that was by her feet, successfully across her room.
Jim Beckett stood up and left, knowing that this wasn't a battle worth fighting. He smiled one more time at Kate and closed her door.
After he left, Kate looked to her closed door and jumped off the bed. She hated hurting her dad's feelings and she knew it was harmless. She would go, get it over with, and never have to see him again.
What's the worst that could happen? I like him? Yeah right. That will never happen.
She went over to her memo board and stared at the pictures of her and Annaliese, her best friend. Annaliese and Kate were friends when they were both three. After the car accident, Kate had to admit to herself that she didn't bother with making friends. Other than the ones she had already had, she left others alone. Now looking back, she was lucky she hadn't ended up killed too.
It was a cold, December, night and Kate, Bruce, Alec, and Annaliese, had all decided to go to a party they had heard about. But Kate couldn't go because she was grounded for talking back. It was something she rarely did but her mom was getting on her case, and she lost it.
Anyway, they attempted to sneak her out but Kate wasn't dumb enough to risk that. So, Annaliese was on the phone with Kate as they made their way there and Kate heard it all.
"Turn down the damn music Bruce! I am trying to talk to Kate!" Annaliese was busy shouting at Bruce from the backseat and he only turned it up louder before reluctantly turning it down.
In the background Kate heard, Crushcrushcrush by Paramore, blasting. "Just relax, I can talk to you later. Just go have fun and I will see you in school on Monday." Kate clutched a pillow to her stomach and laughed at her friends.
"Hell no! You can enjoy the party from the phone, you are my sister Kate, besides Monday is way too long. I will be taking videos and pictures for you. Wait a sec." Annaliese flashed a picture of herself and sent it to Kate.
Kate pulled her phone from her ear and smiled at the picture of Annaliese. She looked at how she was giving her way too excited face.
Kate flashed a picture of herself doing the same and sent it to Annaliese.
"Check it out. Twins, I knew we were separated from birth Kate. One more."
Kate looked at the picture of Annaliese sticking her tongue out. She took one just like it and sent it to her.
"I love you Kate. You know that?"
"Duh. You know I love you too."
"Duh. By the way, Alec is making kissies to you. Want him or what Kate?"
Kate was busy laughing with Annaliese when she heard Alec yell, "WATCH OUT!" And then there was a big crash sound and crunching. Then the phone went dead.
"Annaliese?! Bruce?! Alec?! OMG! Hello?!" Kate ran out of her room and into her parents' room. "Dad! Mom! You have to help! I was talking with Annaliese and then the phone went dead! But there was this crash and crunching sound! Help them!" Kate had spent the rest of the night crying. She had even slept in her parents' bed.
"Kate, I am so sorry." Kate's mom, Johanna, held her, until Kate cried herself to sleep.
After losing both Annaliese and Alec, Kate and Bruce pulled apart. Kate blamed him for killing her best friends and Bruce blamed himself too. There wasn't much of a friendship after that.
Now two years later, Kate was staring at Annaliese's last photo. It was the same one Kate had taken. Side by side, was Annaliese and Kate sticking their tongues out.
"Annaliese, sis, I miss you." Kate wiped at a stray tear and tried to clear her mind. She opened her door and crept to her dad's side. She tapped him on the shoulder and smiled. "Dad? I have decided to give this date a chance."
Jim smiled and pulled Kate onto his lap. "I knew you would! Thank you, Katie." He rubbed her arm and kissed her on her cheek.
"I know you and mom are just worried about me. I get it, I do. But don't expect anything. Ok?"
"Deal. That's all we ask of you. Thank you." He kissed her one more time before she went back into her room.
"Now. What to wear?" Kate shrieked and Johanna ran into her room.
"Kate what is wrong?" Johanna grabbed Kate and held her.
"Mom. I don't know what I am supposed to wear." Kate was released and she ran to her closet. She opened it up and called her mom over.
"Well, how about a nice dress? Like this one." Johanna pulled out a bright yellow dress with a black belt around the waist. It was cotton and a dress Kate never picked out.
"Mom, um. That's not me." She scanned her hand over her scuffed up jeans and loose t-shirt.
"Skirt?" Johanna pulled out a bright orange skirt and Kate shuddered. Her eyes bulged and she sat in her desk chair.
"This is going to take a while."
"Come on out Kate!" Johanna was overcome with happiness and eagerly awaiting Kate to come out.
"One sec!" Kate took a deep breath and scanned over her outfit. She pulled on the ends of her black colored, jean jumper and rubbed her bare leg. She adjusted the straps over the red shirt with a black skull across it. She gazed at the outfit her mom had laid out for her and cringed. It was a pink and purple dress with short sleeves. It was like the rainbow threw up on it.
She stepped out and closed her eyes.
"You look, what happened to the dress I laid out for you?"
"It's not me Mom. Don't be mad. So what do you think?" She twirled and smiled at herself.
"I think you look wonderful." Jim made his way to Kate and smiled. "Beautiful."
Kate clicked her black cowboy boots together and giggled. Her hair was pinned back on both sides and she was beaming.
"Mom?"
"I am just so proud of you. I love you so much." She ran to Kate and kissed her cheek. "Just have fun but be safe."
"I will." Kate checked her phone. "Is he coming?"
"He will be here any minute."
Just then, the apartment buzzed and Jim buzzed him up. Kate was checking over herself one more time and was nervous.
"What if he doesn't like me?" Worry stricken and busy pacing, Kate started to clench and unclench her fists.
"Honey, if he doesn't like you, his loss. Ok?" Johanna kissed Kate on her cheek and Kate nodded.
There was a knock at the front door and Kate heard him step in. She turned from the living room and made her way to him. Right away, Kate smiled.
Rick stood in front of the door with flowers. They happened to be Kate's favorite too. She slowly made her way to him, trying not to give herself away.
Rick's jaw dropped and he became speechless. He just stood there admiring Kate. His eyes traveled from head to toe and when his eyes caught hers, they both diverted their eyes. He smiled at her outfit and drooled over her long legs. She kicked her cowboy boot and he brought his eyes back to hers.
"These are for you." He handed her the mini bouquet of Audrey Hepburn Roses.
"Thank you." Kate smelled the bouquet and closed her eyes. Her face broke into a grin and she bit her lip. She was so happy. Audrey Hepburn was her biggest role model and the flowers were a beautiful pink and orange rose.
"I'll put them in a vase for you." Johanna extended her hand for them but Kate pulled one out and ran to the kitchen.
She returned with a rose in her hair and Rick smiled.
"You two should get going."
They both nodded and Rick held the door open for her. He even opened the car door for her. He kept taking deep breaths the whole car ride.
"I'm Kate by the way. Well, Kathryn but nobody calls me that but my parents when I do something wrong." She felt like an idiot and turned her face to the window.
"I'm Rick. Richard but I go by Rick."
"So no Dick?" She laughed but then felt bad. "Sorry, it was a joke."
"I know." He smiled but she could see he was holding back laughter.
She smacked his arm. "You made me feel like I hurt your feelings. You are just trying not to laugh."
"Guilty." He stopped holding back and they both cracked up.
"So, what made you agree to this?" Kate turned sideways in the car and enjoyed her view of him. He wore a loose baseball tee and the end was tucked in his pants behind his brown belt. his dark blue jeans were contrasted with his baby blue eyes. He wore a pair of grey sneakers that looked well worn. She went back to staring at his face but she did take notice of his muscles.
"My mom said that you were a nice girl. We're here." He parked the car and she snapped back to attention. He opened the door for her and held her hand to help her out but once she stood safely on the sidewalk, he still grasped her hand in his.
She smiled at the warmth and roughness of his hand. It was a man's hand and she was delighted that his pulse was beating heavy like hers.
"Sorry." He dropped her hand but as they fell in step with each other, he kept gently placing his hand on the small of her back.
Every time he touched her, chills ran up and down her spine. In order to keep breathing, she tried to start or better yet, finish their conversation.
"So your mom said I was nice. What else?"
"Just that you hadn't been out for a while and that you were kind of a loner." He knew he said something wrong the minute that she stopped walking.
"I am a pity date? You felt sorry for me? You, you are only taking me out because you are just trying to be nice. Are you going to tell all your friends about how charitable you were, taking me out? I am just a charity case to you! Aren't I?" Hot tears stained her cheeks and she began to run away from him. She ignored his calls and shoved past people on the street. She stopped on the corner and waited for the walk sign to light up.
"Kate! Wait! Come back!" He caught up with her and paused to take a breath.
She turned away from him and kept wiping tears off her face. She wasn't going to let him see her cry but she wanted him to hurt, the way she did.
"Please," He laid a hand on her shoulder but she pulled away.
"Don't touch me."
He cursed his big mouth and tried to explain himself. "Look, my mom wanted me to go with you, yes. I am not going to lie. She told me all those things, yes. But what you don't know is that she said if I didn't want to go out with you, I didn't have to. We're both adults here Kate. Neither of us had to come but we both did. Plus, I only have two friends. And you could never be a charity case." He waited for him to say something but when she didn't he started to make his way back to his car. He hung his head low and knew he messed things up.
You are so stupid. She is the hottest girl you have ever seen, and you go and mess it up? Dummy. He looked down, just before he stepped on it, and he picked up the flower that was in Kate's hair. He turned around to give it back to her, when he saw her running towards him.
"Rick! Wait!" She caught up with him and smiled. "Thank you. For what you said back there." She bit her bottom lip and stared into his smiling eyes.
He reached out and placed the flower back in hair and she took his hand and they fell back in step with each other.
"Can I have a piece of that?" He reached for some cotton candy but she pulled it away and grinned. She kept dodging his attempts and laughing. He loved looking at her happy. A big toothy smile, that spread from ear to ear, was permanently sketched across her face. She finally relented and let him have some.
They grabbed a bench and she kicked her boot up and pulled her leg against her chest. "Did you always want to be a writer?" She took another mouthful of cotton candy and handed it back to him.
"Kind of. I wanted to be a Pro Baseball player but my arm was crushed in a car accident two years ago." He took a mouthful and didn't notice her shell shocked face.
"Did you say two years ago?" Her leg dropped down and she fought the lump in her throat.
"Yeah. It was a bad accident. A car crashed into the car in front of me and I slammed into the back of theirs. My arm was slammed against the door and after that, no more baseball." He looked up and dropped the candy. He saw fresh tears sliding down her cheeks and he became worried. "Kate? Are you ok?"
"The car that crashed into the car in front of you was my best friend… I lost both of them." She rubbed at her cheeks and stood up. "Excuse me." She ran a little ways from him and collapsed to the floor. She held her stomach and was overcome with cries.
He ran to her and pulled her into his arms. He rubbed her back and let her cry on him. She gripped a handful of his shirt and laid her head on his shoulder. No words were needed, he just held her in silence.
She pulled away after five minutes and she was all cried out. She still held his shirt and stared up at him with tear filled eyes. He reached out and wiped her cheek with his thumb and smiled at her. His deep, blue eyes were calling her and she leaned up and kissed him. His lips were warm and tender and tingles ran down her spine and exploded in her heart. She withdrew from him just enough to get a good breath.
"I am sorry." She let go of him and pushed herself away from him. She disentangled herself from his arms and stood up. She ran her fingers across her lips and smiled to herself.
"Don't be sorry. I am sorry. I didn't know…"
"How could you?" She admired her handiwork, his cheeks were red and she wondered if hers mirrored his.
"But, that was nice." He blushed and pulled her closer to him.
"It was." She bit her bottom lip and before she over thought it, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and she was lifted from the ground. His arms were wrapped around her, tightly, as if she would run from him again. Their bodies were woven together as their lips struggled to taste all of the other. She ran her fingers through his thick and rich, brown hair while his hand ran along her backside and he placed his hands along her hips while squeezing her to him.
Both having ragged breathing and trying to regain control, they stood holding each other. His hands still grasped her tightly and her hands rested along his neck. They just held each other's eyes and tried to remember to breathe.
"I wasn't expecting that." He let out sharp breaths and intertwined his hands behind her back.
"That makes two. I don't know what came over me. I just wanted you." She lifted herself on her tiptoes once more and planted a light kiss on his beaming smile. "I bet you didn't expect this date to be filled with so many tears. I really am sorry for crying so much, it isn't you. I, it's hard for me to get to know people. After I lost Annaliese and Alec, I didn't bother with others for fear of them leaving me. I just wanted to get to know you and then never see you again so I wouldn't get hurt. I never expected to feel something." She nervously lowered her eyes.
He tilted her chin up and grinned. "I think that this is the best date I have ever had. And I have a hard time making friends or even conversation. Why do you think I haven't talked much? I don't know how. My friends talked to me first. I have never had to initiate conversation before. But with you, it's easy. I lost someone too." When she looked into him, he found the strength to continue. "My dad died when I was ten. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. He, he was trying to get me a new baseball bat and this guy came in and he took my dad as collateral."
"I don't understand." She bore her brown eyes into his.
"This guy was mugging a sports store and the owner had a gun. He shot the mugger but not before the mugger shot my dad. The guy was arrested but that didn't stop from taking my dad away from me."
"After that, how did you continue to play baseball?"
"My dad wanted me to. I did it for him. But after my injury, I started writing about everything and well, I found my gift. What about you?" He let her go and they made their way down the path. He grabbed her hand in his and locked on to her tightly.
"I want to be a detective. I have always loved solving things and I want to do good. I want to protect people. By giving family closure, something I haven't found yet." Kate grabbed his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I think that is noble and brave." He kissed her head and led her to the ring toss. "Pick something you like." He scanned his arm over the large assortment of stuffed animals.
Kate pointed to a monkey that wore a shirt that said I © U. "That one. You see it?" She looked back for his reaction and he nodded.
"You got it." He laid down a twenty to the man tending the game and he pointed to the monkey. "I am getting that one." He picked up a ring and missed.
"I think you can do it." She cheered for him after he missed and missed and did I say missed? She rubbed his back after every effort.
"I am going to get it." He picked another ring and before he threw it, Kate pulled him around.
"For good luck." She kissed him hard and then released him. He seemed startled and she smiled at the power of her kiss.
He loosened up and raised his right arm and tossed. He hollered loud when the ring wrapped itself around the neck of the bottle.
"You did it!" She cheered him on and he picked her up and twirled her. They kissed with gentle lips and held on to the magic.
He handed her the monkey and pulled her along the walk. "Anything else you want to do?"
"Just talk?" She sat down in the passenger car and pulled him next to her. As the Ferris Wheel took them up, she turned to him. "Why come with me? I could have been a boring or greedy girl."
"I don't mind taking chances and I had a good feeling about it. Besides you only live once." He brushed his lips against hers and wrapped his hand in hers.
"Que sera sera. Did you know that the flowers you gave me are my favorite? And what was your reaction to the way your mom described me?"
"I did not know that but I know now. And I was nervous. I thought I was going out with this mousy little girl."
"And now?"
"I never expected someone as beautiful and striking as you. You are smart, strong, and independent. But, you let on that you are pure with your heart."
"Pure? No one has ever said my heart was true but Annaliese. Thank you." She nuzzled against him and stared up at the sky.
"Want to go home after this ride? Your parents said you had to be back by ten." He checked his watch and frowned. "That's in ten minutes."
"Seriously?" She pulled herself from him. "I spent our entire date crying. I am so sorry. But if I don't get home in ten than my dad is going to kill you." She rubbed his chest and pleaded with her eyes.
He leaned over the side and noticed that they were almost to the bottom. "We'll be out of this in just a minute. Just wait." He reassured her with a quick kiss on the cheek.
As they approached the bottom, he leaned forward and started yelling, "Stop! I am going to get sick! Stop this ride! Now!" He clutched his stomach and the guy huffed but stopped the ride.
"Geez, get out kid. I am not cleaning up vomit today." He opened their car and they made a dash for it.
"I can't believe you did that for me!" She ran hand in hand with him to the car. Her right arm secured the monkey as he pulled her along.
"I would do anything for you! Plus, I don't want to die!" He made one last sprint to his car and opened the door for her. He jogged to his side and sped along.
"I had a fun time." She looked delightedly towards him.
"Me too." He looked before driving through a yellow light.
He exhaled when he pulled along the curb to her apartment building. "We did it. Thank God, I won't die." He helped her out and they waited for her dad to buzz them in.
They paused at the door and held each other.
She gently whispered in his ear, "I want to do this again."
"Me too. Tomorrow?" He stepped back from her and smiled.
"And the next day, and the next day…"
He stopped her by firmly pulling her in for a lip lock that would make anyone blush. His lips took over hers and he laid all he felt into the kiss. She pushed her worry away and fell into him. When they were both satisfied, they parted.
"You scare me Rick." Her heavy brown eyes locked into his.
"Love is scary." He lightly kissed her once more before weaving all that was to come.