It's been a while since I have updated this one! I was having a bit of trouble writing this chapter and although I don't think it's my best one, I'm hoping this will make a transition to plot line I'm working towards for this story. Hope you enjoy!
Breaking Down Barriers
Waking up the next morning felt strange. I was now connected to two people I thought I would never have the chance to meet, my parents. Sure it wasn't how I thought it would be, having two dads instead of just a mom somewhere out there, but it was still something I was curious in testing the waters of. Growing up without any parents, I had always wondered what it would be like to have one and now was my chance.
After my conversation with Kai I felt a bit more open to the idea of letting new people into my life and decided to try to be as transparent as I could, opposed to putting up walls like I had been doing since leaving the Abbey. I had woken up at eight AM, surprisingly early for me for a Sunday, so I decided to make breakfast as an attempt to make things up to Justin for my cold behaviour and make Ray and Kai feel welcome.
I threw on an old Metallica tank top with some ripped up black jeans, making my way to the kitchen to start on making my breakfast specialty, pancakes. For someone who was barely given the opportunity until a few years ago, I was a pretty good cook when I wanted to be.
As I got all of my ingredients mixed together I heard light steps coming towards me. I turned around to see Ray, hair in a low ponytail instead of the bind I'd seen him in the past few days but still wearing what looked like traditional Chinese attire.
He looked at me a bit weary. "Sorry if I disturbed you. I can leave if you'd like."
I shook my head. "No it's fine. It's a free kitchen after all."
He laughed, coming closer to my workstation. "What are you making?"
"Pancakes. Thought it would be a good apology to Justin and maybe something everyone would like." I responded as I whisked the ingredients together.
"Would you mind if I help? I enjoy cooking quite a bit and am a good chef if I do say so myself." He smiled.
"Feel free but don't be surprised if mine turn out better. I make a mean pancake." I smirked.
He paused, starring at me before speaking. "You are the spitting image of your father."
I stood in silence, feeling my cheeks start to warm up into a blush. It was a weird feeling, being told I looked like someone. I'd never been compared to anyone before.
"Sorry, that was weird. Let's just get to cooking." He stammered, turning his attention to the pancake batter.
The two of us cooked in silence for a bit before Ray spoke up.
"So we know you're interested in music. Is there anything else you like to do outside of that?" He asked. I guess Justin hadn't told them much outside of the bare minimum.
"I like to read a lot. It's kind of what I do when I'm by myself. I like to cook sometimes. Music is my main thing though. Writing it, playing it, listening to it." I explained.
Ray nodded. "Well we have cooking in common. It's the one thing outside of beyblading that I have a true passion for."
I shuttered a bit even hearing the word beyblade. Something I had been so interested in as a child had turned into the one thing I never wanted to do again after Voltaire. It was something I associated with destruction and pain.
That was when I heard steps approaching us along with Justin's voice.
"Well isn't this a surprise! It's been a while since I've seen you in the kitchen Kyra." He smiled. I noticed Kai was standing close behind him, smiling at Ray who was grinning back at him. I could tell this whole cooking together thing meant a lot more to Ray than it did to me. But it was nice to know I was making someone happy in this odd situation.
"You act like this is foreign territory for me when I remember beating you last time we had a pancake competition." I rolled my eyes.
"So this is a regular thing?" Ray asked, looking at both Justin and I.
"Oh yes. Kyra is probably one of the most competitive people I've ever met and enjoys proving she can outdo me in some things. It's almost like she calls the shots when I am the guardian in charge." He laughed.
"Hey I never said anything about challenging your authority, I just make a better breakfast than you and had to prove it." I grinned while flipping my last pancake to perfection.
Just as things were starting to take a turn for the better I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. It was a text from Tristan asking if I wanted to see him today.
I sighed. The sooner I saw him the sooner that meant I had to explain everything to him. The evil great grandfather, the abusive past, the parents I just found out I still had. It was all so much and was something I'd hoped I'd never have to explain to him.
Justin looked up as the three men ate. "Hey, what's up? Something happen?"
I held up my phone to show him the text. He knew just as much as I did how elusive I was about myself with Tristan. He knew since I was almost as elusive with him. I figured the less I got people involved in my baggage, the less problems I would cause. I should've known everything would come back to bite me in the ass.
"You have to tell him at some time. The two of you have been together almost a year. You can't just keep shutting people out who want to know you Kyra." Justin murmured. I knew he was saying this about Tristan, but I knew deep inside that he was also referring to himself. I'd been living with him for almost two years and he still knew nothing about me other than the things in my file and anything that had happened in these two years together.
I shook my head. "This is too deep for this early in the morning. I'm going to go have a smoke." Getting my coffee, I slipped out the back door before Ray and Kai could really tell what had just happened.
As I took drags from my cigarette while sitting beside the pool I heard the back door slide open and closed.
"Justin, I'm done with this conversation. Just drop it, okay?" I sighed.
"Hey, sorry to intrude." I looked behind me to see Ray.
I shook my head. "It's fine. Sorry, thought you were Justin."
He came over, taking a seat beside me on the edge of the pool. "I kind of overheard the conversation the two of you were having."
"What are you, a super sleuth or something? First with the sneaking up on me and now with hearing conversations?" I mocked.
He laughed. "No, but I am a nekojin which gives me too good of hearing and a quiet step. I know I don't know you, but I do know your father who you seem to have a very similar personality to."
"What do you mean by that?" I questioned.
"I mean that I know what it's like to be on the other side of a relationship with someone who keeps to themselves. I have known Kai since we were fourteen and been in a relationship with him since we were sixteen. For the first part of our friendship he never told anyone anything. Nothing about his past, his family. The only thing we knew about him was that he was a fierce blader who never let anyone see him sweat. That is until some things went down where he couldn't avoid his past anymore and had to tell us everything. Ironically, it was his past and how strong it had made him that made me start to fall in love with him. It wasn't till we started dating that I finally started to see the real Kai and he ended up being the person I spent the rest of my life with." Ray smiled as he spoke.
"I still don't understand how this relates to me." I frowned.
"I don't exactly know what you've gone through, but I know both you and Kai have had rough childhoods that have shaped who you've become. Both of you try to take the same approach, shutting everyone else out so they don't get tangled into your problems. But what Kai has learned and I hope you do to is that you can't always go through your problems alone. Sometimes you have to let other people in to help you heal." He explained.
I looked down at the pool water. "But what if it just makes them hate me?"
He shook his head. "If that's the case, they probably weren't people you need in your life in the first place." He started to stand up, slowly walking back towards the house.
"Hey Ray? Thank you." I said before going back to my cigarette.
He smiled. "Not a problem. By the way, stop sharing cigarettes with your father. Our bed wreaks of smoke and it's not a good look for either of you."
I laughed as he made his way back into the house. I guess this meant that whether I liked it or not, Tristan was going to find out about everything. I just prayed he wouldn't change how saw me for it.
Slowly starting to see more of Kyra's dynamic personality. If anyone has any suggestions on things to touch on or possible things they'd like to see happen in the story (or certain characters they'd like to see make an appearance) please leave a review!
