Disclaimer: do not own, yada yada

Chapter 4: Blossoming

Kairi did not get to meet Sora's mother the following Friday, as planned. Her parents spoke with her grandparents, and decided that week happened to be a good week for Kairi to go spend with her grandparents, as she hadn't seen them in several months. Not that this was a bad thing, Kairi loved her grandparents, and they had lakefront property on a gorgeous lake. It was a great summer vacation spot. However, she was dying to spend more time with Sora. Sure, texting him all day, every day was great, but in person, he was even more wonderful, and she was infatuated. Spending the week with her grandparents meant two weeks before she would be able to see him again, and that was a long time, dammit.

Sora promised her they would get together and hang out the weekend after she got home, and she knew she'd be counting down the hours.

Her first night with her grandparents, she admittedly said goodnight to them a lot earlier than she would have in the past, and hurried up to the guest room, where she could give Sora all of her attention and not have anyone paying attention to her reactions to his text messages.

What did you have for dinner?

Kairi shook her head with a smile. If there was one question she could always count on him to ask every night, it was that one. He loved food and he seemed quite interested in the types of things she enjoyed eating.

Beer brats, she responded. Not her favorite thing in the world to eat normally, but for some reason everything at her grandparent's house tasted ten times better. She figured it had something to do with activities by the lake such as swimming or lounging in the sun stoking the appetite.

Ah, so you like you a little sausage, eh?

Kairi blushed at the obviously suggestive question. She loved it when Sora strayed away from the usual conversation and sent something flirty like that. She waited a moment, thinking of what to respond with. She was new at flirting, and she was very shy and afraid of scaring Sora off if she said something lame. On the other hand, she figured if there was a time to step out of her comfort zone, it was now, while he was interested. She began to type.

I only go for the biggest sausages.

She pushed "Send", and squeezed her eyes shut, nervous about what he would send back.

Ten minutes went by, and there was no response from Sora. She began to panic a little. She should have known better, they had only known each other two months and had only hung out twice. She was too bold, and now he was creeped out and wasn't going to answer her.

At the fifteen minute mark, her phone buzzed.

Oh, you don't have to worry about that with me ;)

Was he really suggesting what she thought he was suggesting? She had no experience with the world of penis, at all. She had never even considered anything about size, and it certainly had never crossed her mind thus far with Sora. Yet here he was, practically bragging. Naturally, he could be lying, but she would have to see it to find out. Oh God, what was she getting into? This was way too much to handle. The idea of sexual relationships was foreign to her. What if he expected her to sleep with him? She didn't know if she would ever be ready for that step, although she certainly wanted to be. Too nervous to send anything sexy back, she chose to change the subject.

It's really great here. I'm gonna go fishing tomorrow, I hope I catch enough to cook.

Sora replied back with words of encouragement, seemingly not even missing a beat. Kairi was relieved he didn't try to bring it back up. She wasn't sure exactly how far he would have taken that conversation if she had allowed it, but it scared her that she was disappointed in herself for not finding out.

The rest of the week, and the next, went by without another attempt at dirty flirting from Sora. Kairi hoped that she hadn't caused him too much embarrassment by blatantly ignoring his come-on.

Finally, Friday came. Kairi was nervous about meeting Sora's mother. What if she hated her? Boys cared about their mothers' opinions. If Sora's mother didn't like Kairi and made it clear to Sora, he would probably drop her on the spot no matter what.

Sora spent the whole car ride to his house talking about how much he was sure Kairi and his mother would love each other, but she was still nervous.

As soon as he opened the front door, she was right there, in the doorway, ready to intercept the pair. "Hello!" She said enthusiastically.

She looked young for her age, Kairi noticed. She was a very pretty woman, with light blonde hair and hazel eyes. No wonder Sora was so handsome. A woman this good looking couldn't possibly give birth to an ugly child, no matter who the father was. "Sora's daddy isn't home tonight so you won't get to meet him, but I'm Heidi. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Kairi said shyly.

"How long have you been seeing my son?" Heidi asked, and as she did so she pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter and gestured for Sora and Kairi to follow her to the back of the house, where she led them to a basement breezeway that clearly had been set up into a smoking room.

"O-oh, we're friends," Kairi stammered. "We're not-"

"If you say so," Heidi said, and took a big puff of her cigarette.

"Did you take Dad his lunch yet?" Sora asked his mother.

"I did," Heidi responded in a cold tone. "I picked him up some burgers and dropped them off. Didn't sit with him tonight."

Sora was quiet for a moment, and Kairi felt awkward. She was just meeting this woman, and Sora had brought up a clearly touchy subject. She already knew his parents didn't have an ace relationship based on what he had told her during their online chats, but it was weird to see it in person so soon.

"Was he pissed?" Sora asked finally.

"Of course he was pissed!" Heidi said loudly. "When isn't he pissed? He's a big fuckin' crybaby!"

Oh. So that was where Sora got his mouth from.

"Okay Mom," Sora sighed. "You need chill out, don't scare Kairi. We're gonna go watch some TV."

Heidi looked at Kairi. "I'm sorry, honey," she said. "I'm having issues with his dad so I'm not very nice to be around right now."

"I understand," Kairi said. "I'm a child of divorce. I stay with my mother mostly, my dad and I don't speak right now because we had a falling out."

Heidi looked at her sympathetically. "It gets better." She lit another cigarette. "I'm a Catholic, though. I don't believe in divorce. I said 'til death do us part, and that's how it's going to have to be, godammit."

Kairi wasn't sure how to respond to that, but thankfully, Sora pushed her back out into the main part of the house before she had a chance to think of something.

"My dad has been kind of a douche lately," Sora mumbled. "I'm sorry, I didn't know they would be fighting tonight. I figured since he was at work it would all be good, but they must have fought when she went to take him lunch."

"I know you said things were bad between them, but I never thought…" Kairi trailed off. Her parents had awful fights the months before they finalized their divorce and her mother moved out of her dad's house.

"They never used to be, really," Sora said as he reached for the TV remote. "He cheated."

Kairi's eyes widened. "Oh my God." She couldn't imagine that kind of betrayal.

"My mom just found out about the affair the day of my open house," Sora continued, flipping through the channels.

Kairi's mouth dropped open. "How awful!"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, still trying to figure out why he decided that was a good time to confess." He shrugged. "I dunno, I'm really disappointed in him. He's been my dad for 14 years, a huge role model for me. I expected better from him."

Wait…fourteen years? Sora was eighteen. That must mean…

"Oh yeah, forgot to share that," Sora said, noticing Kairi's confused look. "He's not my real dad, he adopted me when I was four. My real dad is a piece of shit that I haven't spoken to in years."

Kairi felt her eyes get misty. Sora had a few rough things going for him. He really deserved a break, being the great guy that he was.

"Well," Sora shifted on the couch and unmuted the TV. "Let's add some fun to this dreary evening." Kairi couldn't agree more.

They ended their evening at about 10:30, but naturally they resumed their chatting once Sora arrived back home from dropping Kairi off.

At around midnight, Sora disappeared from IM for nearly half an hour. Kairi was about to assume he had fallen asleep, when he returned.

Chickenwingz: They're fighting again…

KairiMarie: I'm sorry

Chickenwingz: My dad came home late, kind of drunk. My mom is flipping out.

Kairi wasn't sure what to say. She had a lot of support when she was going through her parents' divorce, but it felt strange to be the one giving it, especially when she knew Sora's mother had no intention of leaving his father. He was going to have to live around this hostility until he moved out, and it was going to be very tough for him.

Chickenwingz: Come over Sunday for dinner? My mom wanted me to ask you.

And there was the giddy feeling again. This would be the first time Kairi and Sora hung out more than one time in one week. And if his mother told him to ask her to Sunday dinner, that meant she didn't have to worry about whether she liked her. Mothers didn't invite girls they hated to Sunday dinner.

Sora's mother was marinating steaks when Kairi and Sora got to Sora's house on Sunday evening. She would lay a steak out on a cutting board, pound it to death with a meat mallet, and dunk it in her bowl of marinade. She seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit. Kairi guessed it was a way for her to relieve stress. She knew Sora's dad was home today, and was nervous about how this would turn out.

"Sora," Heidi said in a sing-song voice. "Look, I'm beating my meat! Beatin' the meat!"

Sora looked horrified. "God, Mom, stop saying that."

"What, you don't like to beat meat?" Heidi looked at Sora and cracked up, snorting as she laughed.

"She's inappropriate sometimes, ignore her," Sora said to Kairi, his face beet red.

Kairi was laughing though. It was good to see Heidi in a better mood. Maybe tonight wouldn't be too bad.

"Chris!" Heidi hollered at the top of her lungs. "Light the grill for me please!"

There was a grunt from the living room, and a beefy guy with dark brown hair shuffled in. Kairi found herself trying to find the resemblance between Sora and his dad when she remembered the revelation that they were not blood-related. Chris, as he apparently was called, did not look to be in a pleasant mood. He barely acknowledged Kairi on his way through the kitchen to the back patio.

Sora sensed her uneasiness and reassured her. "Don't worry, everything will be cool."

Everything was cool, until dinner was finished. Heidi asked Chris to put away dinner while she did dishes, and he muttered something no one could hear under his breath. This set Heidi off and suddenly the house was filled with her foul-mouthed yelling.

Chris did not take this silently though, and after a few minutes of listening to her, he started spouting back.

Kairi sat rigid on the couch in the living room as multiple uses of "motherfucker", "cocksucker", and "bitch" echoed around the house.

Sora came down the stairs from where he had been using the bathroom looking infuriated. "Let's go," he said, and led Kairi out to the car.

This was disappointing. She had been hoping for an evening of TV watching, trying to talk herself all day into being brave enough to move in for a cuddle this time. Now Sora was cutting the date off early because of his stupid parents.

He was quiet the whole way to her house. She knew he was upset, but she wished that it weren't affecting his wanting to talk to her.

When he pulled his car up in front of her house, she opened the door and let herself out, expecting that Sora would probably just want to take off.

"Kairi," Sora sighed, and turned off the car. He got out and followed her to her porch. "I'm really sorry that happened, I should have known they couldn't keep it stashed away until after you left. And I'm sorry it ruined my mood."

Kairi swallowed hard. "It's okay," she said, even though it really wasn't.

"I hate that I can't even have you over for Sunday dinner without shit hitting the fan," Sora said in a frustrated tone. "It's really embarrassing and I don't want you to hit the road because of it. I really like being around you and I would like to be more often. I mean, I dunno if you really get where I'm going with this."

Kairi perked up. Was this it? The question she had been wondering if and when she would hear?

"Kairi," Sora said shakily, "no other girl has ever made me feel the way you do. I feel like we are so in sync all of the time, we have so much in common. Spending time with you is a real highlight in my day. Will you…will you be my girlfriend?"

It was the words.

"Yeah!" Kairi said, a little too eagerly she thought. What happened now? Would they kiss?

No such luck. Sora apparently used up all his bravery just asking her out, because he choked out a "great," and then opened his car door back up. "I better make sure my parents haven't killed each other," he told her grimly. "I'll text you and we will make our next plans."

Kairi couldn't wait to get this thing started.