21/03/2009 00:01:00
Kyle walked over to Amanda's house and knocked on the door around 7:30. As Amanda stepped out Kyle couldn't help but let a look of surprise sweep across his face. Amanda was wearing the red top the first day he saw her and slightly hugging black skirt that stopped right below her knees.
Amanda noticed Kyle's expression, "Kyle?"
Kyle snapped out of his trance and looked at Amanda slightly worried, "You look nice. But I thought we were just going to keep Lori company? All I did was put on some jeans and shirt." Kyle was slightly worried he had missed something Amanda said.
Amanda got an "o" expression she had told Kyle that she wasn't going to get dressed up. "Well when I was getting ready I realized that this is the first time you and I are going to Preston's party together, and I wanted to look the part of your girlfriend," Amanda's voice was light and playfully sorry.
"I thought you didn't care what people think?" Kyle asked.
Amanda was a little taken aback by Kyle's observation but knew he meant nothing by it. "I don't but it still nice to let everybody else know were a couple. Besides it is like Hilary says it pays to advertise these things."
"I don't know if I like the idea of you listening to Hilary," Kyle teased noting Amanda was having fun with the moment.
After Amanda saw that Kyle was joking he offered her his hand and began to walk towards Preston's.
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(Kyle's Inner Monologue: Even though I was not the same person as the last time I was at a party like this I still found myself just as out of place. The big huddle of people talking, drinking, and the loudness of the music were unnerving.)
Amanda could see Kyle did not like being here and held his hand tighter to let him know she was with him, "Come on I see Lori over there."
As Kyle and Amanda navigated their way through crowd of partiers they found it strange that Lori seemed to be in such a good mood. "Hey Lori", Kyle said rather loudly trying to make his voice clear over the music.
Lori looked at them half ashamed, half ecstatic. Amanda thought this was weird behavior for Lori, "What's up?"
"Well first off I want to apologize for asking you two to come here," Lori said apologetically.
"Why? I thought you said you needed us to keep you company," Kyle said rather confused.
"I did," Lori started, "but apparently whatever you two did it got through to Hilary and instead of going guy hunting she decided to stay with me."
Kyle and Amanda both looked at each other both happy Hilary was feeling better about herself.
"Actually I didn't do anything," Amanda confessed, "By the time I was about to come over and help, Kyle already took care of it."
Lori let an amused grin spread across her face, "The resident Dr. Phil comes to the rescue once again… Hilary is over getting some drinks but if you two want to stay you can hang out with us."
Kyle got excited at this information, "Thanks Lori but…"
A thought occurred to Amanda and she cut him off. She knew Kyle didn't want to be at the here but she thought there might be one place he might be comfortable. "Come on I think I have an idea," Amanda smiled slight before walking off towards the doors going into the backyard.
Kyle looked at Lori puzzled hoping Lori could give him a heads up to what Amanda was doing, but to his disappointment she shrugged her shoulders and did a hand motion for him to go after her. Lori did have a knowing expression thinking whatever Amanda had planned would allow them to be at the party but alone.
With a hesitant look Kyle turned and followed to catch up with Amanda. Kyle found Amanda waiting on the patio outside, "Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise," Amanda said teasing before taking him by the arm and led him further into the back of the property.
Kyle kept quiet but wondered where they were going because they were approaching a row of trees. Kyle noticed an opening in between the trees as they got closer which Amanda led him through. As they got to the other side he saw where they were going. Hidden behind the trees was a rather large open area and in the middle was a hammock.
As they got right next to the hammock Amanda turned back to Kyle, "This is it.
Kyle looked at her somewhat confused and amazed. "How did you know this was back here?" Kyle asked.
Amanda looked slightly embarrassed, "I noticed it back here before and I always just wanted to come back here and just lay but never had the chance."
Kyle knew Amanda was referring to the times she had been to parties with Charlie and saw she was uncomfortable remembering those times. "Shall we?" Kyle said and gestured towards the hammock and Amanda let gave him a small smile.
Kyle sat on the hammock first and held out his hand to help her on. Amanda gave him a look of appreciation for understanding, slid out of her flip-flops, and sat next to Kyle.
Kyle felt really grateful as he layed down on the hammock with Amanda laying next him and his arm around her. Kyle hadn't noticed but the sky was completely clear and since there was no moon the stars were shining brighter than usual. Kyle glanced over at Amanda who was also staring the miraculous site that was above them. What satisfied him most was that Amanda appreciated the simple beauty of a clear summer's night, he himself liked to look at it in the exact same way. Even though when he glanced up at the sky he could list off all the layers of the atmosphere or how far away each star was from their exact location, he didn't like to look at stuff like this in that detail. This Kyle thought was one of their special bonds, to see stuff for purely their beauty and majesty.
Amanda felt relaxed as the warm night air wrapped around her as she stared up into the heavens. These were her favorite times just sitting and appreciating the world around her, happy to have somebody who wanted to share these moments with her. She knew that her and Kyle were not like most people, because everybody else would rather choose to be at a party instead of just sitting underneath the stars. After awhile Amanda looked over at Kyle who was staring wonderingly upwards, it amazed her that they could just be together in silence and still feel so close.
Amanda had to know what he was thinking about, "Their beautiful aren't they? They're so far away it kind of puts everything in perspective, doesn't it?" Amanda said breathlessly.
Kyle looked over briefly and smiled, "Yes... but stars are also like us."
"What do you mean?" Amanda asked knowing Kyle was about to use his impressive insight.
Kyle kept looking up at the sky, "Like us every star has their own unique story."
"How so?" Amanda asked as she scooted her body closer to Kyle.
Kyle inwardly smiled and lifted his other hand and pointed at a star above him and started tell Amanda about the star's name and the story behind it.
Amanda listened somewhat intently as Kyle listed off star names and their stories. She thought everything he said was fascinating but what she really enjoyed was hearing how thrilled he was to be able to share this information with her.
After awhile Kyle realized he had listed off about two dozen stars and even though Amanda was stilling paying attention she was probably starting to get bored. Kyle stopped talking and turned and looked straight at the side of Amanda's head.
As she heard Kyle stop she turned to face him and found him grinning at her, his eyes wide and appreciating. "What is that look for?" Amanda asked amused.
"Thank you for this" Kyle said happily.
"What did I do?"
"You wanted to stay at the party but you brought me here…" Kyle began.
"I think I made a better choice," Amanda said softly.
"Still being here alone with you… it feels like nothing else matters right now. For the first time in a long while I am not worrying about Latnock, Cassidy, or everything else that worries me. Thank you, you always know how to help me" Kyle said earnestly and leaned and kissed Amanda lightly on the cheek.
Amanda let out a small sigh; "Actually I had another reason for bringing you out here."
"And what's that" Kyle asked slowly but had an idea of where this was going. Kyle was surprised as a sudden shiver went down his spine and he felt the soft skin of Amanda's toes start to playfully glide up and down his ankle under his pants leg.
Amanda let a real flirty smile "This give you a clue" and moved forward to give him a soft kiss before rolling herself over to where she was partially laying on Kyle's side.
"Is this another one of Hilary's ideas?" Kyle teased in between kisses.
"What can I say she has some good ideas," Amanda decided to continue the playful banter before continuing to lay soft delicate kisses.
Kyle's mind began to slightly wander, thinking about how much more physical his and Amanda's relationship had gotten in the past week, it was still not at the point of where most teenagers would be at the same point but it was quite a big jump for them. Kyle decided it was telling Amanda everything was the changing variable. It dawned on Kyle that Amanda needed to feel complete honesty between them before she could allow him this close and part of him felt stupid for not noticing it before.
Apart from Amanda getting more adventurous in their relationship he also noticed he had also become bolder himself and most of the time Amanda appreciated that side of him. Kyle finally decided it was time to take another chance.
Amanda let out a small gasp as she was slightly lifted and placed lying directly on top of Kyle. She gave him a look of approval before continuing where they stopped. Amanda knew if anyone else but Kyle tried that they would have fallen of the hammock but what she had learned of Kyle so far she knew his body compensated for the quick movement. Now it was her turn again to be bold she thought, knowing this was another one of their little games. Without warning Amanda moved one her hands that was grasping Kyle's shoulder and slid it slightly underneath his shirt.
Kyle froze as he felt what could only be described as electricity pass through him as Amanda playfully tapped her fingers on his stomach. What surprised him more than the jolt was he saw Amanda have the same reaction.
"What was that?" she asked him nervously.
"I don't know it hasn't happened before," Kyle said softly before placing his hands on her hips and kissing her again.
Amanda let out a slight giggle, "Maybe you and I have some hidden powers when were together," Amanda slightly teased.
Between kisses all he could muster was "maybe."
A thought crossed through Kyle's mind and he found Amanda staring directly into his eyes as if knowing his thoughts. Kyle smiled hesitatingly and started to push Amanda's top slightly up. Kyle and Amanda were so focused on the moment the rest of the world seemed not to exist.
"Whoa!" a voice exclaimed. The sudden sound of the voice made Kyle and Amanda jump. They would of both hit the ground hard but instinctively Kyle grabbed Amanda and pushed his feet off the swinging hammock and landed right side up on the ground with Amanda safely in his arms.
As Kyle looked across the hammock he was happy to see that he performed his stunt in front of Josh instead of somebody else, otherwise he would have to do some explaining.
"Wow that never gets old" Josh said flabbergasted forgetting why he came to find Kyle.
Kyle put Amanda, who was looking slightly embarrassed, on the ground before looking at Josh, slightly annoyed that he came in when he did. "What is it Josh!" Kyle said a little more frustrated than he intended. Kyle wondered if every time he and Amanda got this close something was going to bring them to a halt.
Kyle's words brought Josh back to reality and he remembered why he came looking for Kyle, "Kyle you got to get in there, it's Jessie!"
"What about her," Amanda said concerned but a hint of annoyance slightly evident in the tone. Even with Jessie letting them be she was finding a way to get between them.
"Listen you got to get in there. Some drunk linebacker decided to start bumping and grinding on Jessie and lets just say she isn't taking it too well," Josh explained hurriedly.
Kyle had no idea what Josh had just said but he looked quickly at Amanda before running as fast as he could towards the house. He knew whatever Josh said meant Jessie was going to hurt somebody and he could allow that to happen. As Kyle entered the house he immediately saw a gathering of people surrounding Jessie and very disgruntled big muscular football player standing opposite of her. Kyle wasn't worried about Jessie getting hurt but Jessie beating the guy would call attention to herself and their secret.
As Jessie could threw a punch Kyle jumped in front of her and caught her arm, "Jessie you can't do this!"
The crowd murmured as they saw Kyle suddenly come out of nowhere and stop Jessie, 'how did he do that' some girl whispered somewhere to the side of him. Kyle noticed he had done exactly what he didn't want to happen, "Jessie we have to go now!"
Jessie looked at Kyle upset, "I told him to back off but he wouldn't listen." Jessie kept trying to focus on her target behind Kyle.
"We're leaving!" Kyle said as she tried to pull her away.
"Hey I have unfinished business with her," Kyle heard a deep voice say behind him. The football player was obviously annoyed with Kyle; it was not his place to interfere with Jessie. This girl humiliated him and he had to deal with it or his reputation would be nothing.
Kyle ignored the guy's angry threats, "Jessie you can't do this lets go home!"
"Hey moron I said she isn't leaving" the voice said angry and upset.
Kyle could feel the sound waves behind him indicating the guy was throwing a punch. As Kyle turned around to stop the guy he was awestruck as a slender arm came out of nowhere and grabbed the guys fist and pinned it behind his back.
Kyle looked on in shock as he saw Amanda subduing his attacker. "Amanda…" Kyle started not happy with the situation.
"Kyle get her out of here. I'll be fine but you got to go," Amanda said in voice of desperation.
Without argument Kyle quickly grabbed Jessie's hand firmly and forced her out of the house.
The football player stood there stunned momentarily at being stopped and having to watch Kyle and Jessie leave before looking back to see who had taken a hold of him.
Amanda knew it wouldn't be good if people saw her fight this guy, between the training and the strength provided by the drugs she could more than easily handle the situation. But people would begin to talk if she bested a football player, 'better talking about her than Kyle' Amanda thought. Amanda didn't know what to do when suddenly she saw a fist came from behind her and hit the guy square on the cheek before the football player could see her. Amanda let go of the football player and he stumbled forward in shock. Amanda turned around and was surprised to see Declan standing behind her, a smug grin plastered on his face.
As the crowd gasped Amanda whispered loudly to Declan, "I can handle this."
Declan leaned in quickly to Amanda's ear, "I know you can but if you beat up this guy it will attract attention to you and eventually Kyle. Also Kyle is going to need your help with Jessie. Now go!" Declan said quickly as the guy was regaining his head.
Knowing Declan was right Amanda rushed out of the house but she swore she heard Declan say under his breath 'Just like old times' as she rushed passed.
Upon re-emerging into the humid summer's night Amanda looked around for signs of Kyle or Jessie but they were nowhere in sight. Amanda felt heard the familiar sound classical music coming from her purse and reached in to find she had a text message, "Are you alright? At warehouse Jessie wants you to come, says it is urgent."
Since she was in flip-flops it took longer than it would normally take but Amanda made it to the warehouse in about half an hour. Amanda walked into the warehouse to find Kyle leaning against a wall upset about something and Jessie sitting on a table looking troubled in thought.
Amanda looked at Jessie and was surprised at her appearance; she hadn't time to notice at the party. Jessie was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a dark purple top, it was obvious she took the time to dress up, but for 'who?' Amanda thought.
"What happened?" Amanda asked concerned walking up to Kyle, "If I didn't know better I'd say Jessie looks heart broken."
As Kyle noticed her a flood of relief washed over him, he felt really bad leaving Amanda there like that. "Amanda what happened? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Amanda said quickly happy with Kyle's concern but more anxious to know about Jessie, "what happened to Jessie?"
Kyle looked at Amanda, a little agitated at the situation. "I don't know she told me she wouldn't tell me anything until you got here."
Kyle was angry for a couple reasons and a few were selfish. He thought Jessie was able to deal with these situations without resorting to violence. Also he was still upset Amanda and him had their time together interrupted.
"Why?" Amanda asked surprised, she was sure Jessie and her weren't to the point of trusting friendship.
Kyle calmed himself, "Lets find out," he said firmly as he began to walk towards Jessie.
Amanda followed Kyle and stood to the side of him facing Jessie. It was obvious that Kyle expected Jessie to be forthcoming with information now that she was here but Jessie sat there quietly. The silence and the stare from Kyle was unsettling so Amanda decided to take the initiative, "Jessie are you alright? What happened tonight?"
Jessie was happily surprised by the tone of Amanda's voice; it was warm and strangely concerned. If it was her, she would be pissed that her evening with Kyle had been interrupted. Jessie was about to answer looking at Kyle but saw his stare and directed her response towards Amanda; "The drunk idiot caught me at a really bad time I'm sorry I just snapped. I told him to back off but my anger over not being able to talk Declan came out on the guy."
"Declan?!" Kyle said a little disbelieving not knowing what he had to do with the situation.
Jessie gave Kyle a sort of an ashamed look but didn't say a word.
Amanda didn't like the interactions between the two and she could tell Jessie wasn't entirely comfortable telling all this to Kyle, "Why couldn't you talk to Declan Jessie?"
Jessie let her voice get softer and somewhat vulnerable, "When I tried to think about going up to tell Declan I wanted to see if a relationship between us could work out I froze. As hard as I fought every thought of Declan made think of Kyle."
These words stunned both Kyle and Amanda. Amanda calmed but the agitation couldn't be hidden, "Jessie?!"
The hurt and fear was clearly visible on Amanda. "Amanda it isn't like that" Jessie said firmly and quickly. "I think… most of my feelings are left over programming from Madacorp."
Kyle's eyes got big with the fear of the implications of the realization, "Jessie that is impossible I cleared out all that programming… it can't be that."
Jessie was frustrated at the situation and that anger came out at Kyle, "It has to be because every time I try to think about trying to meet another guy my thoughts are automatically kicked back to you. Every time I have tried to talk to Declan my body won't allow me to move… I think part of the programming Madacorp did is still controlling me."
"Jessie I took that away everything Madacorp did to you after we took down the CIR Chair," Kyle said worried where this conversation was headed.
Amanda kept quiet but didn't like Kyle's answer. She couldn't help herself, a part of her liked the idea that some of Jessie's feelings towards Kyle was out of her control.
Jessie looked desperately from Amanda to Kyle, "I know what I feel and there is something still controlling me."
Kyle got defiant, "No! Jessie I am telling you I wiped out all the everything Madacorp did to you."
Jessie was breaking down and caving in to her overwhelming emotions, "It was the first time you ever did something like that, you could've missed it."
Kyle was growing impatient, "And what do you want to do about it?!"
Jessie's eyes fell to the floor knowing Kyle would not like her answer, "I want you to go inside my mind and see if the programming is still there. If it is there I want you to get rid of it," Jessie's voice low and distant pleading to Kyle.
Kyle was horrified, "Jessie I won't do it."
Anger shot through Jessie, "Why not! You did it for Amanda."
Kyle searched himself trying to stay calm and focused but his fear would not let go of him, "That is different and you know it. With Amanda I knew her personality and how it had changed because of the programming, I knew what would happen if I changed it back. But what Madacorp did to you has been in place for nearly six months, it has become engrained into your personality and we don't know what will happen to you if I remove it." Kyle's fear was evident; he could not bare the idea of him doing what Jessie asked and end up hurting her.
Jessie's eyes wide and brimming with held back tears, "Please Kyle I need this…."
Amanda saw the torture in Jessie's eyes. She knew the feeling only too well, the feeling one has when they realize they are not in control of their lives and like everyone else your at the mercy of the world around you. Before Kyle could answer Jessie Amanda touched Kyle on the arm, "Kyle." Amanda tried to give Jessie a look of understanding and sympathy before leading Kyle away to talk in private.
Kyle didn't know what Amanda had to say but he couldn't do it, possibly hurting Jessie. "Amanda I can't do it," Kyle said with sorrow and defeat.
"Kyle I don't completely understand all of this but I know what Jessie is going through and so do you," Amanda said sympathetically. "After that night when you saved Jessie from drowning I felt like I was losing you. As hard as fought to try and move my thoughts to something other than you I couldn't, it is unbearable to lose someone and not be able to move past them."
Kyle was quiet and reflective on Amanda's words they made sense to him. In a way he realized that Jessie was trapped within in her emotions. Kyle's voice got soft when he thought of how he had felt the same way, "And how I used to watch you with Charlie but I could never stop thinking about you."
Amanda's eyes got soft and she nodded in answer, "Kyle, Jessie knows what is at stake but she also knows that she can't live like this… I couldn't. Please Kyle you have to try."
Kyle could hear the sincerity in Amanda's soft delicate voice; she was truly worried about Jessie. It amazed him, even though Amanda and Jessie didn't see eye-to-eye Amanda didn't want to see Jessie suffer. Kyle's expression was once again calm and focused. Amanda words got through to him, "Okay I will try… thank you," Kyle gave Amanda a kiss on the cheek that tried to communicate his appreciation for always being there to guide him.
Kyle gave Amanda a soft look and started to walk back towards Jessie, Amanda followed to the side of him. Kyle saw that Jessie was not able to hold back her emotions because there were markings of dry tears on her cheeks. With as much strength as Kyle could muster he said, "Alright I'll try."
[A/N: So I am pretty sure most of you would have liked this chapter out sooner and for that I am sorry. It seems the passed week has pulled me into quite a few directions. The horrible cliffhanger, my involvement in the campaign (btw join the campaign at ), and that ever-pesky real life has kept me from my story. Also things didn't help with my own personal form of writer's bloc, to me I have the whole story planned out but every time I started writing it didn't come out right. Trust me I feel bad for such the delay in this chapter… I realize I am one the few Kymanda authors among this overwhelming slew of Kessi fics. I will try to be a little quicker on the producing of these chapters.
However I must let you all know not all my fan fiction writing time can be devoted to this story and the updates to the story may be farther apart than I would like. The reason for this is KJD and I are working on "Virtual Season 4" and we are really trying to make it good (3 hours of brainstorming just for the first episode). Hopefully you all can bear with me and the premiere of the "Virtual Season 4" is slated for 4/20/2009.]H