Kaylee felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest as it was beating so fast. She couldn't believe that she had kissed Parker let alone had her first real kiss. Her heart had been beating so fast that she swore her chest might explode. The fear she had experienced earlier in the scrapyard was washed away the moment he had swept her into his arms and only brought forth that anxious feeling she has had when around him. She wasn't able to resist the sudden urge she had to kiss him up on hearing the kind words he spoke.
All she could think as she sat in the tub listening to the radio was that she had screwed up. The two kisses had felt magical and she didn't want the moment to end. It did though when Parker had drawn away from her. His face was masked with that calm expression but his eyes seemed conflicted. He didn't say anything. He simply kept on walking. Surely the reason he didn't say anything was that he didn't know how to let her down without doing more damage to her than what had already been done. She had made herself nothing more than a burden to him now.
"Kaylee!" Cass screamed from outside the bathroom. She opened the door as she continued, "Is what Parker saying true?" Kaylee sunk down into the water till it touched her chin. Parker may not have been mad, but Cass surely did and she didn't want to be lectured on her dumb decision. "I'm not hearing an answer Kaylee," the woman spoke impatiently.
"Yes, what he said was true."
"You can't just wander off into the middle of the night like that. It's dangerous as you clearly seen since you got raped."
"I didn't get raped," she shouted at her friend. The memory of the man's hands on her skin threatened to bring tears to her eyes. "I know what it looked like…"
"Thank goodness," the cowgirl sighed in relief. "But it doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't wander off alone."
"I know," she replied, her voice sounding defeated.
Cass pinched the bridge of her nose for second before asking, "Why did you go out alone? I know I was out like a light but Parker would have likely gone with you."
"Parker is the reason why I went to the scrapyard," Kaylee knew that it was naïve reason as to why she left.
"What did he do?" Cass her tone was almost angry.
"Can you close the door," she asked while peaking over the edge of the tub. The woman kicked it shut, but kept her scrutinizing gaze on the girl. Kaylee let a few moments pass before she sat up to see her friend better. "I was fairly certain of how I felt for him, so I put that on," she motioned to the pink garment on the floor, "and he saw me in it. He didn't even react."
"Kaylee, you can't let your emotions make your decisions on things like this. It's understandable that you were upset."
"Not as upset as I am now…" she mumbled.
The sentence had caught Cass by surprise as she hesitated to respond, "What do you mean by that?"
"I, well…" her cheeks began burning as she felt slightly abashed. "I kissed him as he carried me back to the room."
"What did he do? What did he say?" Cass asked intrigued, but her angry stare had turned to a sympathetic one.
"Nothing. He did absolutely nothing." She let out an upset sigh, "I'm just becoming a problem for him. Even if he said I wasn't."
"Why do you always have to beat yourself up like this?"
"Because doesn't feel the same for me," Kaylee responded, her voice wavering.
"But he hasn't said anything to you about it yet," the cowgirl countered. "What else did he say besides that you weren't a problem?"
"He said that he wanted to protect me," she spoke just above a whisper as she grabbed a towel and climbed out of the tub. "And that I keep him from doing rash things."
"And you feel like he doesn't care for you?" the woman's voice was filled with disbelief to which Kaylee gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. "He clearly has feelings for you. Maybe he just doesn't know how to express them. You can't deny that he hasn't been under a lot of stress."
Kaylee heard a low thud coming from outside the room followed by the sound of opening. She could hear the muffled sounds of Parker and someone else speaking. Cass had heard as well as she raised an eyebrow and slipped out the door.
Kaylee dressed quickly as she could hear both of her friends talking in the other room to whoever was at the door. Parker voice had raised and sounded completely different. He sounded defensive. 'Why though?' she thought. 'If it were the men that escaped from the scrapyard, there would have been gunfire by now.' She stepped out of the room after she finished changing. The first thing she saw was a pistol in Parkers hand. What she heard froze her heart.
"Kaylee!" someone spoke excitedly from the door. She thought she would never hear it again since the attack on Nipton. "I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Do you know him?" Parker spoke over his shoulder.
She bit on her lip to hold back tears as she practically leapt across the room. Parker had quickly side stepped as she wrapped her arms around the man. "Kyle!"
"I thought I'd never see you again," Kyle spoke quietly to her while returning the hug.
"Is this that boy you talked to me about?" Cass asked curiously.
"Y-yeah," Kaylee answered as she stepped back and wiped a few tears away. The man in front of her may have always been rude when he brought up them being together, but outside of that he was always nice. It was such a comfort to know that someone was able to escape the brutal act of the Legion in Nipton.
"Why don't you two talk things over, I need to talk to Cliff," Parker suggested. "Just head back to the room when you're done."
Kaylee was too excited to talk to her friend to hear anything else that Parker might have said as she ran out the door. She dragged Kyle behind as she made her way down the stairs and into the small courtyard. Moving him to be arm's length away, she examined him from head to toe. He had a duffel bag slung over one shoulder with an assault rifle over the other. As usual he wore a frayed pair of jeans with a black leather jacket.
Giving him another hug she exclaimed, "I can't believe that you're here!"
Kyle gave a chuckle, "I'm just as surprised to see you alright as well."
"How did you… I mean I thought everyone…" she began stumbling over her thoughts.
"Settle down," he motioned with his hands. "The day after the dance the town noticed that you were missing so everyone started looking for you. Me and my father searched the area outside the town when no one found you anywhere in town." He let out an exasperated sigh, "While were out the legion had struck the town. When we got back the sky was filled with smoke and NCR soldiers wouldn't let us in."
"When did you get back? Like what day after the dance did you arrive back at the town?" she asked curiously.
"Let's see here," he made a low coarse sound with his throat as he thought back. "Oh yes, it was four days after the dance. We arrived in the late afternoon."
Kaylee ran a hand through her hair, "I can't believe this. We left that morning from the town."
"So," he leaned against the old rusting car that was left in the courtyard, "tell me what happened to you. Where did you go?"
She told him everything that had happened since she had left the town that night. Kyle had mentioned that he visited Goodsprings after the attack on Nipton and learned from Michael about the geckos and trip to the town. He listened carefully as she explained how Parker had gone into the town itself while the Legionnaires were still occupying it. The one thing she didn't mention was the brotherhood's bunker. She explained it to be that they were trapped up on a ridge with hordes of radscorpions roaming the area.
"That's why I didn't come across you when I passed through here a week ago," Kyle spoke up after she finished. "Michael had told me you went back to the town and a soldier pointed me towards Novac. It took me some time to find someone who was there when you stopped at Nipton."
"Did you really spend that last few weeks looking for me?" she felt flattered for once by something the boy had done for once.
"Of course I did, I care very dearly for you." He looked over at the dinosaur building were Parker and Cass had entered while she told her travels. "I can understand that cowgirl, but can you trust that…" he struggled for words before saying, "courier?"
She was confused, "What do you mean?" How couldn't she trust Parker? He had stayed true to his word with everything that happened. She felt foolish for thinking that he would leave her behind.
"You don't know anything about him," Kyle stated plainly.
"I know he grew up in Hopeville and the things he did around the town." She had to admit though, the stories he told her were of the trouble he got into. "He was also was a soldier."
"It sounds like there is a large chunk missing," his tone had become more serious. "Enough that he could be hiding something. He could quite possibly be lying to you too."
"You just need to spend some time with him," she sat down on the car with a foot between her and Kyle. He was right, Parker hadn't said much about himself.
"Look what he's gotten you into with those radscorpions."
"It was my decision to go with him," she spoke back slightly angry.
"What about last night? That sniper up in that dino said he saw him carrying you back last here last night."
She bit her lip as the memories of the night before was brought to mind once again. She just wanted to forget what had happened. Everything but the kiss she gave Parker. "He saved me from something stupid I did…"
Kyle merely shook his head but didn't push the subject, "Come with me. Head back west with me and my father. We can get far away from the standoff between the Legion and NCR."
"I-I don't know what to say." The idea of being somewhere safe and away from danger was appealing though she didn't want to be standing inside a shop all day again. As hectic as her travels had been so far, she would likely never see Cass or Veronica again. Then there was Parker. If what he said the night before was true, then she would truly never see him again. She would never know if felt anything for her.
She hadn't realized Kyle had scooted closer to her until she felt his hand on hers. "You'll be safe and away from any possible danger."
"I need time to think."
"What is there to think about?" he questioned with an incredulous tone.
"I don't want to leave my friends behind," she got up and took a few steps away from the car. His hand held onto hers until she was about to be pulled back by him.
Sounding defeated, "Alright in the morning I'll come by for an answer."
"I think I'm going to need more than a night to think about this." As she finished her sentence, the door to the dinosaur opened. Parker stepped out with a thoughtful expression.
"I'm in the last room to the right on ground floor," Kyle spoke low as if to only have her hear, "You can come by anytime." He walked off as Parker got closer.
Kaylee walked up to Parker which appeared to drag him from his thoughts. "What's up? Have a nice talk with your friend?" he questioned.
"Yeah, it was really nice to see him again," she could see that his gaze was towards Kyle. "Are you headed back to the room?"
"No but Cass is. She'll be out shortly."
"Where are you going?"
He indicated outside the wall with a small gesture, "Around. I need to think."
"That makes two of us then." She lowered her gaze as she asked, "Do you mind if I join you?" She quickly added, "Since you know, you don't want me going anywhere alone."
He motioned with his head to follow as he started up a slow pace towards the gate. Kaylee kept up as she walked beside him. As much as she wanted to think about Kyle's offer, she couldn't help but wonder what it was that Parker was pondering. Reaching the gate, they turned left and began walking down the road. He was completely silent as they made their way slowly to the bridge. Halfway across he made his way to the railing and leaned against the railing on his arms. She stepped over but kept a foot or two between them.
They sat there together in silence for what seemed like hours since the sky was beginning to darken. She had gone through a never ending circle of thoughts concerning Kyle's offer. The main points being that she be possibly never seeing her friends again, having to rely on him until she could support herself, and traveling the Mojave like she has always dreamed of. She tried not to think about it but every time she did, she would look over to Parker. He was always the same as when she checked each time before. His face gave way to no emotion, but his eyes were always staring off to the horizon.
"You know how I said I'd tell you more about my time as a soldier?" he spoke up suddenly.
"Yeah…" she breathed out slowly. She was curious but confused as to why he chose now to talk about that now. It wasn't like it was a bad time, but what made him want to talk about it?
"Do you still want to hear about it?" he questioned.
She kept herself from bursting out with a loud yes. As calmly as she could say, she spoke, "Only if you want to tell me."
He was quiet for a few seconds as if he was rethinking the decision before speaking up, "Private William Parker, of the first battalion 2nd platoon."
"William?" Kaylee muttered playfully.
"Yes, William," he gave her a small smile. "I was stationed on Hoover Dam as a guard. My platoon was the nearest to Legion controlled territory. It was before they had attempted to push into the Mojave so their fortress on the hill wasn't there at the time. I don't know if you would be able to, but imagine the stress of waiting for a raid or even a full out charge from your enemy at times of the day." she gave a nod that she somewhat could understand the feeling. "I was young and naïve still. I thought I was so much better than I was and that led me to make one of my biggest mistakes."
When he didn't continue, she waited a minute or two before asking, "What happened?"
"When I should have been off duty, I had taken a night shift of one of my squad mates. I was already tired from my shift. I fell asleep and the Legion attacked," His eyes dropped to the ground as while his tone became low and sad. "I'm sure you don't want a history lesson as it was the day they stormed the dam. Don't get me wrong, I fought tooth and nail in a failed attempted to hold the NCR's position on the bridge. I watched all my squad mates die around me before they had dragged me off. Because I was trying to…" he trailed off. With a shake of his head, "I'm going back to the room."
Parker turned and began to walk back. Kaylee followed behind him with questions filling her mind. She wanted to know more as he clearly didn't say the whole story, but didn't want to push him to tell more. The idea of him having been in captivity was hard for her to believe. The Legion normally hangs their prisoners of war on the crosses or selling them into slavery. An NCR soldier would likely be put on the cross of executed on the spot.
When they got back to the room, Cass was sitting at the small table cleaning her shotgun. "What were you two up too?"
Kaylee was about to speak up when Parker spoke up, "Just enjoying the night air."
"Did you tell her?" the cowgirl set her gun down gave Parker a scrutinizing stare.
"No I didn't," he mumbled as he walked towards the bathroom.
"Why the hell haven't you yet?" she spoke angrily.
Kaylee went sat down on the edge of the bed and kicked off her shoes, "Tell me what?"
"That he's going to chase…" the woman began.
"Cass, I wasn't sure if I was going to do that," Parker interrupted.
"Don't bullshit me."
"Parker?" Kaylee spoke up before either could say another word.
He walked out of the bathroom rubbing his eyes. "What is it?" he spoke gently.
"What is that you want to do?" She had a feeling what he was going but wanted him to say it.
"I was thinking of finding and killing the man who shot me in Goodsprings," he answered in low voice. "I just need to know how you feel about it, since you are part of the group. If you don't want to do it, we don't have too."
She sat there staring at the ground as she thought. There was no way she could know how he was feeling but the idea of finding the man who shot would seem like a good one. Maybe if things got too dangerous, she could get him to stop and walk away. Her dream was right before her though not in the way she had envisioned it all those years ago.
She met his gaze, "When do you want to leave?"