.:Chapter Six:.
"Kevin…what are you doing here?" Mrs. Knight asked as she looked up at her ex-husband. He shuffled his feet for a moment, looking over his shoulder down the hallway as if looking for someone. Or maybe, trying to avoid someone.
At least he had the grace to be nervous.
Especially after everything he had put her family through.
"Look, we need to talk," Mr. Knight said, running a hand through his hair. Mrs. Knight opened her mouth to turn him down and he took a step forward, closing in on her personal space, causing her to close her mouth and instinctively take a step back. "I took a red-eye out from Minnesota; just to talk to you, please, give me the chance."
Mrs. Knight sighed and looked at her watch. Kendall and the others would be home soon. She didn't even know what she would do if they had gotten back and he was still there. She wouldn't know how any of them would react. Katie would probably fall back into that 'Daddy's Little Girl' relationship that the two of them used to have, but Kendall. She knew that for him it wouldn't be easy. He'd be angry and downright pissed that his father was sitting there; he'd probably attack him, she wouldn't put it past him.
"Please," Kevin gave her a pleading look and she had to let him in.
A man didn't give you a pleading look, taking down all of his defenses, if he wasn't being completely serious about it. He was a man, for god's sake; the kind of human being that was socially shunned if they showed even the slightest bit of an emotion that wasn't strong and overly masculine.
"Fine," Mrs. Knight took a step back. "Come in, but make it fast, the kids are going to be back soon." She closed the door behind him, but not before checking the hall for anyone that could recognize him. If anyone was going to tell Kendall and Katie that their father came by, it was going to be her and no one else.
"Don't worry; I'll try to make this as quick and straight forward as possible." Kevin gave a small smile, his green eyes boring into Mrs. Knight's own hazel ones.
In that brief moment, Mrs. Knight thought back to how the two of them met. She had moved from her home in Roanoke, Virginia to go to university and start a new life in St. Paul, Minnesota. She had her whole career and future life up to her wedding planned out. But she didn't know that it was going to be completely derailed by the time she met him.
She was walking to the bus stop to get back to her dorm. Being the kind of student that studied hard in between the times she was doing ballet or playing the piano, she was walking down the street, her nose stuck in a book. Unfortunately, as she was so engrossed in a book, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. Minnesota is notorious for its snow and slush, and while she wasn't paying attention, she stepped on a patch of ice and slipped. She smacked into something solid and cried out when she fell on top of the solid thing. Her book went flying from her hands and she looked up and saw that the solid thing was actually a human body.
A very large human body.
grunted and she tried to help herself up, she slipped and her knee smacked down in between his legs, causing her to wince as she heard a cry of pain.
Mrs. Knight quickly jumped up and kneeled by the man's head, a look of apprehension on her face. She pushed her auburn hair out of her eyes and peered over the man, her eyes darting back and forth frantically. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking to see if there was any blood. She had hit him pretty hard and hoped that he didn't hit his head on the ground or fall at an odd angle.
"Uh," The man's eyes fluttered for a moment before he grimaced once more, bringing his hands over his face. "Yeah" he finally replied, his lashes fluttering once more. "Yeah, I'm good."
"I'm really sorry," Mrs. Knight pulled her hair from her face once more as she lifted her head, looking around. Maybe someone could help them, there had to be a doctor nearby, or maybe they could duck into a store to assess the damages. "I should have been looking where I was going" She apologized.
"It's okay," The man said as he ran a hand over his face once more. It was starting to snow; the small white flakes danced down from the sky, lightly landing on his face. "Really, I'm good."
Mrs. Knight bit her lower lip; she wasn't sure what she could say and do to make it up to him. It was ironic, really, that she had knocked him over. She was a dancer; she should be able to walk around gracefully despitethe ice and the slush. She reached her hand out to help him to his feet. He accepted it, and smiled at her weekly, obviously still in a lot of pain.
"Okay, let me take you to my dorm room or something," She offered once the two of them were on their feet. She hovered by his side, holding a hand out in case one of them fell once more. "You should rest and maybe get some ice. Did you hit your head?"
"I did," He rubbed the back of his head, his eyes squeezing shut as his fingers grazed over a bump, sending pain flashing through his head. "But no," he gingerly shook his head, shaking the offer away. "I couldn't"
"It's just a quick bus ride away" she said, quickly. "Please? I would feel much better if you would let me help you"
The man sighed and lowered his head, he raised it back up again and flashed her a weak grin, "Alright, it seems that you're not going to take 'no' for an answer. Let's go." Mrs. Knight smiled and offered her arm to help the man walk. He stopped, and bent down to pick something up. He looked over the cover for a second before turning and handing it back to her. "Your book?"
"Oh yes, thank you" Mrs. Knight smiled and took the book back from him and the two walked slowly over o the bus stop. Once the bus came, they got on and went to her dorm room in silence. Once they got off the bus at their stop, they went inside and Mrs. Knight helped the man into the elevator, she pushed the button and it started to move.
"I just realized I never got your name," The man said, suddenly, getting her attention.
"Uh, it's Kacy" Mrs. Knight replied after a minute. She gave him a smile. "And what about you? What's your name?"
"Kevin. Pleased to meet you."
Mrs. Knight let out a sigh as she brought herself back to the present. Her ex-husband was standing in front of her now wanting to talk to her about something important. If it wasn't important, she wouldn't have heard from him. She didn't really put up a fuss with the fact that he hadn't been sending any child support, at this point, she technically didn't need it, but it was the principle of the matter. If he didn't send any child support, he obviously didn't care about his kids, so why would he want to drop by now.
"I'm pretty busy, Kevin, if you could make this quick, I'd be obliged." Mrs. Knight gave a tight-lipped smile. Kevin gave her a look and then took another breath. Obviously he knew that she was trying to get rid of him, he would be an idiot not to get that.
"I want to be a part of your guys' life again." Kevin blurted out.
Mrs. Knight blinked. She must have heard wrong. He couldn't have said that he wanted to be part of their lives again. The idea was just so ludicrous. He had left them years ago, she couldn't even remember the last time that he had contacted them to say 'Happy Birthday' or 'Merry Christmas' or ask how they were doing now that Big Time Rush was getting big. She hadn't heard a word from him in years and now he thinks that she would jump at the chance to take him back?
Well, he had another thing coming.
"I know that you don't think that I deserve to suddenly jump right back into it," Kevin said, as if he could read her thoughts. Mrs. Knight scowled a little, clearly even though they were separated, he was still able to read her mind like an open book. "But I really want to make this work. I realized recently that I've made a HUGE mistake, taking my family for granted like I did and acting selfishly. I can't help but think that Kendall and Katie both hate me."
"I wouldn't put it past them." Mrs. Knight agreed with a bit more bite than she intended. She mentally smiled when she saw the pain flash through his eyes. Good, now he was beginning to know how she was feeling.
"I know you're angry too." Kevin continued.
"You think I wouldn't be?" Mrs. Knight asked calmly, crossing her arms over the front of her plush robe. "My husband left me with no good reason for it, and I've had to explain to Kendall and Katie over and over again that you weren't coming back. On top of that I had to work over-time as a waitress with crummy pay as Kendall started working early at Sherwood's, just to be sure that we were able to keep our heads above water because, well, you haven't been paying child support."
"I know," Kevin licked his lips. "I'm sorry about that too."
"Sorry isn't going to change everything that you've done," Mrs. Knight shook her head before reaching up with her delicate hands and rubbing her temples. Her head was starting to throb mercilessly. "Look, we're not going to get anything done today, you told me what you wanted to tell me, and I've listened." She walked back over to the front door. "Now, please, just go."
"Are you going to tell Kendall and Katie that I was here?" Kevin asked as he slowly walked over to the door, trying to stall for time.
"I haven't decided yet," Mrs. Knight said as she made a sweeping gesture towards the hallway. "I don't know if it would help or not." She continued to wave her hand as Kevin inched out the front door. "Really, Kevin-"
"I know you don't believe me, but I really want things to work out for us." Kevin interrupted. "For all of us." He looked at his watch. "I have to go check out of the hotel and catch my flight back home, but I'll be in touch." Kevin didn't give her the grace of a wave or a parting word before he disappeared around the corner.
She could hear the elevator doors 'ding' open before she closed the door behind him.
Mrs. Knight had a bad feeling when she woke up that morning. And if she knew ahead of time that that bad feeling was going to manifest itself in the fact that her ex-husband was visiting her, she would have bolted the door shut.
A/N: Still don't know why my chapters are kinda short, but the next one will definitely be longer.I decided to try the 'flashback' style I had for Live and Let Live, Live and Let Die, and Live and Love in this. Let me know what you think. Sorry for the wait.
Also, to those that I know that are going to say it WE KNOW MRS. KNIGHT'S NAME IS JENNIFER! We just choose to make her name Kacy to go along with the 'K' theme of Kendall's actual family. Geez, we're Rushers, not idiots!
Sorry, that just needed to be said because we get many people telling us that, even if we have a big author's note/disclaimer on our fics saying it. People feel the need to point it out when we already know.
Cheers,
-Riles
