I'm going to apologize again for being so slow, but honors classes are sucking my life force. Anyway, I hope this is okay. Review!

Chapter 21

Kari's eyes fluttered open. Beside her, TK's eyes were still closed, his blonde hair ticking her forehead. She could feel his breath on her cheek, warm and steady. A tiny, amused smile pulled at her lips when she thought of what the girls at school would do to be in her place. Of course, this wasn't what they'd have in mind, was it? She flinched, trying to backtrack and erase the thoughts. She didn't want to think of him that way, didn't want to think that, as much as would deny it, he was only a seventeen-year-old boy. A sweeter seventeen-year-old boy than most, but still...

He'll fall for someone, eventually, and he'll forget about you. Not that she expected more than that from him, from anyone… Then again, it probably wouldn't be soon; TK never seemed to give any of those girls a second glance, or else he'd give everyone a "second glance", always smiling and saying the polite thing. Not that he realized he was doing it; he was simply too nice, to everyone. To you, came the voice in her head, and there was the familiar burning at her eyes. Don't cry, she ordered herself and took a deep breath, refocusing her thoughts.

He looked so young when he slept; she could almost imagine the oversized green hat he used to wear. Or the tan fisherman's hat, she smiled, as if he had ever gone fishing. He didn't wear a hat now, of course, just loosely gelled blonde hair that flirted playfully with his blue eyes. Blue eyes, she realized, that were open. She blushed immediately, averting her eyes from his gaze.

"What're you thinking about, pretty girl?" His voice was soft, still slightly sleepy.

She shrugged quietly, "What're you thinking about?"

"You." TK smiled playfully and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers, forcing her to meet his eyes again. "Did you have any more bad dreams?" His voice was still gentle, but it held a more serious undertone, a concern that rang deeper than he could hide. She had to stop letting him feel like that, wasting his worry on her. She shook her head 'no' silently, her forehead brushing back and forth against his. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," she admitted quietly.

"You need anything?" She shook her head for a second time and slid back slightly, putting a little space between them, but his eyes stayed on hers, his stare intense. "Have you had nightmares about him before?"

"No," she shook her head once again, using it as an excuse to tilt her face the rest of the way away from his. "I-It was probably just a one time thing, you know? I'll be fine." She scolded herself for letting her voice shake.

"Were you upset when you fell asleep?"

"A little," she admitted.

"When you say a little," he began, pausing for a second when she flinched. "Is there anything you want to talk about?" Kari was studying the ceiling, refusing to meet his eyes again. She replied automatically, not thinking about her answer.

"No."

The word had hardly escaped her lips when she felt his hand pull from her side and press into her neck, forcing her to face him again.

"Is there anything you want to talk about?" he repeated in a sort of forced-calm, blue eyes burning, his warm fingers locked firmly but carefully on her jaw. She didn't like to have him look at her that way, straight in the eyes, offering no escape. Her breathing was shaky under the intensity of his gaze, and it took her a second to process his question.

"No," she shook her head as best she could in his hold, "no, I actually do feel a lot better right now, and I really," she paused to swallow, "I d-don't want to start crying again."

His eyes softened immediately, his hand relaxing its grip. "I'm sorry," he murmured, leaning his forehead into hers again. "You shouldn't bury it all under, though," he added, slowly tucking loose hair behind her ear. He was doing that more and more lately, touching her face or her hand in constant attempts to comfort her. Too nice, the voice in her head reminded her, and she had to fight not to wince.

"I… I know; I'll let you know if it bothers me again, okay?"

"All right," he agreed, studying her eyes carefully; she had just begun to pull away, intending to sit up, when his arm returned to her waist, pulling her close and trapping her body against his.

"TK," she rolled her eyes.

"Hm?" he raised a blonde eyebrow at her innocently, amusement flashing in his blue eyes.

"Lemme go," she complained, straining against his hold. TK chuckled at her pitiful attempt to fight his grip. Heat burned at her face; he wasn't even trying.

"I'm never letting go, Kari," he pulled himself closer, letting his nose bump against hers, smiling slightly when she felt confusion flash on her face, "I'm the luckiest guy in the world right now."

She blinked a few times and rolled her eyes to hide the hurt at his lie; why did he have to do that? "Dork."

"Maybe," he grinned, "Are you still ticklish?" TK's fingers ran over her neck as his other arm continued to trap her easily on the couch.

"TK," she managed between bouts of laughter and gasps for breath, "TK, I have homework!"

"You liar!" his fingers paused as he laughed, "I asked you if you had homework at school!" He attacked her with tickles again, and it was a few seconds before she could get out another protest.

"TK! I-I'm hungry! And my side-" She caught her breath as his fingers fell away, but TK wasn't smiling anymore.

"You don't play fair, pretty girl," TK complained moodily before releasing her and shifting into a sitting position.

"TK, I didn't mean that-" The sudden absence of his warm side made the guilt worse, like the room had just dropped ten degrees.

"No, Kari, it's my fault; just tell me right away next time, all right? I don't want to hurt you." Kari pushed herself up onto her elbow and touched his arm. His muscles tensed immediately. Disgusted.

"I was just, I mean, it hurt a little, but it wasn't bothering me; I promise." Concern tore through her painfully when he didn't respond. She sat up completely now and lay her other hand on his elbow. "Please, TK?" she whispered, leaning her forehead into the top of his arm. There was a few seconds of quiet before he spoke.

"I think that's the first time you've really hugged me in a week, you know that?" His arm relaxed, and she looked up to find a smile tugging gently at the corner of his mouth. Heat burned at the back of her neck (He doesn't really want you touching him, her mind brought back the way he had tensed when she touched him, revolted, the way he saw her when he was too tired to give everyone that second glance.), and she dropped her arms from around his. "I'm sorry," he added, "I guess I need to be getting some more sleep, too." He closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath.

"It's okay," she murmured.

"Just," he paused, "does it hurt right now?" She thought for a second before answering, wary of upsetting him again.

"Only if I move the wrong way, or too fast, like-" She made to turn her shoulders towards the other end of the couch, but TK gave a sharp intake of breath and quickly touched her arm.

"I didn't mean for you to make it hurt, pretty girl. Be… careful. If anything bothers that side, I know you're okay, but you should take it easier than you think you need to, you know?" She nodded in agreement, grateful when the worry eased from his eyes a bit more. "The food thing was a bit of a cheap shot, though," he smiled.

"You're about four times my size; I didn't have a whole lot of choices." TK's smile widened and he chuckled, brightening his blue eyes again.

"We'll have to work on that." He tucked the hair behind her ear again and shifted away slightly, starting to get up.

"TK?" She wasn't sure what made her do it, what gave her the sudden short burst of false confidence.

"Hm?"

She twisted so she sat on her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck, setting her chin on his shoulder. For a second she thought his face looked a little red, but a voice in her head shot reality through her before she could pretend, probably just embarrassed to have you hanging off him like that, stupid girl. "Th-thank you." She pressed her face into his shoulder to hide the tears that threatened to escape her eyes. Don't- Don't cry, she was about to warn herself, but TK's arms were around her then, and the tears were gone.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world, remember? No need to thank me." His arms pulled her closer, snug against his chest, and she suddenly felt very small, abruptly conscious that her arms couldn't even reach the whole way around his shoulders. His arms, which the incident on the couch made her realize were very, very solid, pulled her close enough to feel the warm strength of his chest through his clothes. It wasn't the bad small, though, not like what she'd felt at home, not like his arms could crush her, or that his foot could land a kick more powerful than her stepfather ever had, though she supposed they could. She felt safe. Like nothing in the world could touch her, nothing but him, not even the voice in her head, the one that should be telling her he deserved to be out with his friends and with girls who weren't ugly, needy little pieces of trash. That's what it would be saying, anyway, but she couldn't hear it now, muffled by the sounds of TK's breathing.

He pulled away slowly, smiling gently and murmuring, "I could really get used to those hugs" (which was probably a lie, but she was in a good enough mood that the mere memory of his warmth was enough to overlook this fact). "You wanna pick a movie?" he asked as he stood, "I've got pasta in the fridge." She nodded silently and began to shift off the couch as he moved towards the kitchen. "And Kari?" She glanced over her shoulder; he stood in the doorway, leaning against the wall.

"Hm?"

"You better eat at least two bowls of this stuff; if it weren't for that side and the fact that you weigh less than my backpack, I would never have let go." There was that smile, lighting up his eyes, and his hand, running through his hair. She rolled her eyes as heat burned behind her skin, but for the second time in only three minutes she pushed away the voice in her mind, or else, TK did.

So when I went back and found the original rough draft for this part I literally cringed at the tickling thing. Like, really? Because no one else has used that before. Ah, well, it's not like I'm claiming to be super original, and I couldn't really cut this, so I hope having that darker side to things at least made it bearable. Please review! -love.

PS: Some not-so-great news, well, not-so-great for you guys: I'm going to be attempting a Young Writers Program NaNoWriMo this year (ywp because I'm a wimp and there's no way I'm making it to 50000), which will make November a challenge fanfiction-wise. I will definitely try, though! I have the next part mostly written; it's just a matter of typing and editing.