"Another chapter" you ask? The answer is "YES!" it is anohter chapter! Partially to make up for my taking some extra time with the super-short chapter that was Chapter 8. Also I am home from school today, so I don't actually have that much else that HAS to be done (although, I probably should be working on my history project... hm...) Okay, enjoy!


Chapter 9


TK led Kari into the apartment building silently, her thin wrist secure in his right hand; a headache pounded relentlessly in his temple. He closed his eyes for a second, trying to will the pain away: no luck. Shifting his bag on his left shoulder for a second, he pulled a key ring from his back pocket. His shoulder bumped against hers as he stuffed a key in the lock. "Sorry," he apologized automatically, shooting her a worried glance when she shivered. His hand slid past her sleeve to feel her skin. "Cold," he murmured, shaking his head. Hasn't anyone been taking care of her? The thought only upset him further.

Matt's apartment was dark and modern, walls covered in framed concert photos and shelves lined with innumerable CDs. The flat screen TV stood in the opposite corner of the living room; if college students were supposed to be poor, clearly no one had told Matt. TK tried briefly to recall the details of Matt's contract- something to do with the TV station, something to do with music; he hadn't followed it all very well. Either way, it had more than paid for Matt's culinary school tuition, the apartment, the flat screen, all of it.

TK shook the thoughts away; just trying to remember the details of the contract made his headache worsen, or was that from the gentle trembling he felt beneath his fingers? Was she really trying to keep from shivering? He shouldn't have let her know that he was worried… He tugged gently on her hand, pulled her into the kitchen. Grabbing a stool from the beside the clean granite counter, he made sure she was sitting before darting back to the living room. His eyes fell almost immediately to a charcoal grey blanket on the couch; he scooped it up quickly, back in the kitchen within seconds.

Matt appeared from around the corner; his hair was looser than it had been when they were in middle school, less gelled. But he had retained his natural smoothness, coolness, through to college, currently sporting an aqua blue band shirt and a pair of dark wash jeans. "Long time no see, Hikari." He smiled, but TK ignored him completely, taking swift steps across the room and wrapping the blanket around Kari's shoulders "Something wrong, TK?"

TK ignored his brother again, focusing on making eye contact with the small, silent girl in front of him before beginning to speak. "It's time to talk, Kari."

Her eyes darted away immediately, studying the floor. "About what?" she asked quietly; the words sent an angry heat stinging through his bones.

"Don't you give me that!" he snapped, harsher than he really felt, but she couldn't keep this up. "You know exactly 'About what'."

She took a deep, slow breath, "Tai left two weeks after Dad's funeral- to college, I think. I haven't really heard from him." Her voice kept a dull, soft monotone.

"What-" But he didn't have to finish.

"Dad was in a car accident… And Tai- Tai has sent me a card for my Birthday, Christmas, Easter, and the end of school every year since he left. He just signs his name and stuffs a couple of fifty-dollar bills inside. No return address, no phone number," she paused for another breath, slightly shakier than before. Pain shot through his arms suddenly; he wanted to hold her again, he realized. Hold her body against his and make her voice stop shaking, hold her hand in his and make her fingers stop trembling. It took everything in him to let her finish; he didn't want to hear how the story ended, he had just seen it, hadn't he? It only made him angry again, watching her this upset. "Mom got remarried to, to him." Hatred flashed through him, whatever he had seen in that apartment was an it, not a him.

"Where is she?" TK forced himself to ask, to distract himself from the fury building in his chest, the still growing pounding in his temple.

"Mom," she stared determinedly at her trembling hands, "Mom was in a car accident too. H-he was driving, and he had been drinking, I think. I-I don't know everything…" TK suddenly felt sick.

"Kari, you- you never said anything, I-"

"S'okay, TK," she whispered.

"No, it's not," he spoke quietly, and closed his eyes for a moment, forcing himself to continue. "Did he ever hurt her?" Kari blinked frantically and shook her head 'no'. He swallowed, how much longer could he push her? Push the two of them? "Did he hurt you, before-" he couldn't finish.

"Not- not in front of her," she stammered, sending small stabs of pain through his chest. "When they fought, and she would leave… He'd sort of- take things out on me, I guess." Her eyes met his briefly and she quickly added, "It wasn't like tonight, TK. I promise. It wasn't like that before, honestly, nothing that-" Her voice dropped out.

"When?" he choked. There was no point in delaying the question. It would only hurt worse if he put the answer off. "How long has all of this been going on?"

"Dad's accident was right after you left, so a little over three years ago, at the beginning of the summer. Mom died late August, two years ago."

His anticipation of the pain did not lessen the hurt that ripped through him. It was as though she had stabbed him. He could hardly breathe, and throbbing, unrelenting aches shot through his chest. "Two years…" he echoed faintly. "He's been hurting you like that for two years?"

Kari made no attempt to answer, only continuing to stare down at her hands, shaking even worse than before. Matt's voice came from his right, TK had almost forgotten he was there. "TK, whatever this guy did, it's not your fault-" But it was too late, TK had buried too much of his anger that day; he could only take so much.

"You didn't see him, Matt!" He was yelling already, glaring at his brother as if it was all his fault, as if he was the reason she was like this, the reason she was hurting. "You didn't watch him hurt her! I-I'm never going to be able to forget that. Or the things he said- the things he called her!" TK took a rattling breath before continuing, his fingers raking unconsciously through his hair. "And you didn't stand there- j-just stand there and let him hurt her. And now I find out he's been doing it for two years?" He hadn't remembered moving, but his fist slammed angrily into cold black granite as he continued, "TO HER?"

But the hurt won out then, and pain ravaged through him as his anger ran out. Tears burned threateningly at the corners of his eyes. "I- I can't," he whispered, leaning his elbows on the counter and gripping his blonde hair in his fists. Why does it hurt like this? But he knew the answer, he had always known. Her mere presence tripled anything he might feel, multiplied it innumerably if the feeling had anything to do with her. Why? But he knew that as well. Because she's my best friend. Because I would do anything for her, be anyone. Because she means more to me than anything ever could.

Matt's firm hand on his shoulder pushed his thoughts away, made the battle to hold his tears back even harder. "TK…" his brother began, but another noise caught his attention: Kari's shoes as they hit the hard floor.

"Kari?" TK wiped his eyes and straightened quickly, pushing past Matt to see her. Her back faced him; she was walking away? He reached out and snatched up her wrist quickly, tugging slightly so she turned to face him. "Where do you think you're going, pretty girl?" he tried to lighten his tone, but his efforts only caused his words to catch tight in his throat.

"I, I don't know. I can't stay, TK," she stammered shakily. "I can't let you feel like this, it's not fair, I'm not worth all of this-" she shook her head and tried to turn to go.

"Don't leave," his words came out low, pained. His hand tightened on her wrist, pulled her closer. "Please, please, I can't-" he shook his head, trying to clear it. "I need you here, Kari. I need you safe, please." He was begging now, his right hand ached to stroke her face. "Please." Tears burned behind his eyes again, and he gave into the ache, running his hand gently along her skin. "I need you… I need you safe. Please, Kari, I can't even think that-" There was that terrible twinge in his chest again, the one that longed to hold her, begged to hold her so close that she could forget everything- that they could both forget.

"You have to-"

"Anything," he breathed; he had somehow drawn even closer to the small girl, his hand tilting her face up to his; he stared in her eyes, the beautiful chocolate brown mesmerizing him. "Anything, Kari."

"You have to believe me, TK. You have to know that this isn't your fault, none of it is." TK stared in her eyes for a few more seconds before speaking. He couldn't lie to her; he knew he had to mean it.

"I believe you," he whispered, nodding and rubbing his thumb across her cheek, soft and cool beneath his hand. "I believe you."


talkstoangels77: Yep. It's "Follow Sound" by Deas Vail. There's actually a few others that I really like too, but this was the first one I listened to after I wrote the bare-bones rough draft of the ending (most of which has been thrown out, and is in the process of being reworked, btw) which was right before I started posting.

Yep! There you go! :D Hrm.. what to say?

Okay, so I just realized that the John Adams thing yesterday was REALLY random, haha. I guess the point is I have a history project due like EVERY DAY THIS WEEK, which is pretty rediculous if you ask me. Ah, well, that's okay, at least I'm getting stuff up anyway, and I might not be in school tomorrow either, hm... Okay, well... that was... pointless. But I wanted to follow up my random fact from Monday, and I'm a little crazy because I went to bed at like 3:30 last night. Why? Because I was watching Anne of Green Gables. Now I don't really have anything against these movies, and I'm actually liking them (the second one seemed to drag on a bit though, idk), but after watching nothing but that for about 4 1/2 hours and then waking up to find my sister watching them AGAIN, I'm kind of in the mood for something a little more ""-ish, you know? Okay, if anyone actually read that rant, I am both flattered and impressed, as I don't even think I would have read all of that... okay maybe i would've, and maybe i would've said out loud as fast as I could and added sound effects as often as possible... maybe... okay, probably.

Alright, thanks for reading! As always: please review! :D -love