Spreading Your Wings
Ch 25: Getting Ready
On the day Kelly and Hiei were to go to the amusement park, Kelly woke and was immediately hyper. Not a good thing for Hiei. She practically pulled him out of bed. She then quickly changed out of her nightgown and into grey shorts and a red beater with the name of one of her numerous bands on it. She had started buying beaters with her bands on them whenever she was in Human World instead of the t-shirts because Hiei really liked the beaters. She had never really liked to wear them herself. In fact, she didn't even like wearing the shorts she was now either. She preferred to wear shorts that went just above her knees. But Hiei was right, she needed to be more confident in herself. And it was an added bonus that it left more skin for Hiei.
She almost jumped when she felt Hiei's one hand on her right thigh and his other running up her left arm and to her shoulder where his mark was. She shivered when he lightly ran his fangs over it.
"More skin is good," he muttered as he brought his mouth to her ear. He simultaneously ran his tongue over the shell of her ear and slid his hand up her thigh and into her shorts.
"H-Hiei… we hafta g-go," she practically panted out. "W-we can't make m-my parents w-wait."
He chuckled and removed his hands from her. "You're forcing me to go to a human amusement park. I deserve something to keep me going. Something in return."
"Jerk."
He smirked and then slid a hand up her shirt and then under her bra. She half moaned half protested when she said his name. He quickly kissed her neck and brought his hand back to his side. She turned around to face him, an annoyed look on her flushed face, but Hiei could see the glint in her eyes.
"We really do need to go," she told him.
"Hn."
She gave him a kiss and quickly deepened it, pressing her body up against his. As he started to pull her shirt up, she pulled back.
"We need to go," she said with a smirk. She laughed when he scowled at her. "I love you."
His scowl quickly disappeared. "I know."
She smiled and pulled on his hand. "Le's go. You'll have fun. I promise. You'll be with me the whole time. How bad could that be?"
He only gave her a look that let her know that he was very doubtful. She only laughed and ran out the door. He sighed. How had he gone from killing worthless demons to going to human theme parks for fun? It was unbelievable.
But then again, so was she.
Kelly quickly packed a bag of clothes and swim gear for herself and Hiei when they arrived at Kelly's human home. She then threw clothes at Hiei, telling him to dress in them while she went and talked with her family about the day and driving arrangements.
Hiei looked over the clothes with disgust. She had told him that the amusement park doubled as a water park, meaning he would need swim trunks and flip-flops, like the ones he had worn to the beach a little over a year ago. She had packed the swim trunks in her bag but had given him summer clothes to wear. He didn't like jean shorts, only the pants, or basketball shorts, so most of the shorts Kelly had bought for him were just sweatpants cut to be shorts. He held a black pair of them now and a dark green t-shirt with some American logo on the front. He also had a pair of what Kelly called "ankle socks" and a pair of white "sneakers" with black stripes on the sides.
He gave a deep sigh then quickly changed into them. He tugged on the annoying fabric, trying to get comfortable. The shoes he merely held in his hand. He didn't know how to tie them. He never really felt the need to learn, though it was annoying when everyone in Kelly's family laughed at him because he didn't know how and Kelly would have to do it for him.
He quickly left Kelly's room and went down the stairs. Kelly's brother, T.J., and her sister, Katrina, were sitting in the living room, watching television.
T.J was the oldest after Kelly, but much taller and bigger than her. At almost two hundred pounds and sixteen years old, he was a starter on his high school football team. Though he was very annoying and very strange, and sometimes not all that smart, he was supportive of his older sister. He was the closest to her, and knew her the best out of the three siblings. She was the only one he would invite to go hang out with him. Why? Because she got along with anyone, including his friends. And, she didn't embarrass him, and they always had a good time together. He had one of the biggest hearts that anyone would ever see and he had a great sense of humor. He could end most tense situations with one of his jokes or comments. Hiei even found himself smirking or even chuckling at the young boy's humorous outbursts.
Katrina… well.. she was the polar opposite of her only sister and yet exactly the same. Both girls hated attention, dresses, make-up, and anything remotely girly. They also had similar tastes in books and Katrina was slowly getting more into music. They were also both quiet until they were comfortable with the people around them. Then, they wouldn't shut up. But Katrina was different in that she was a walking attitude. Having turned thirteen one month before Kelly's birthday, she was head-strong, loud, annoying, stubborn, and short-tempered. She had even growled at Kelly, like an animal. She also knew how to get what she wanted and if she didn't, watch out. Kelly summed her up as being a brat, and Hiei couldn't have agreed more. But the girl was very kind hearted, just like the rest of her family. She had a love of animals and a talent for art. She could often be found cuddling with one of their cats or drawing up in the room she shared with her sister.
Hiei nodded at them when they waved to him.
"In the kitchen, talking to our mom and dad," T.J. answered before Hiei could even open his mouth to ask where his mate was.
Hiei nodded his thanks and walked into the dining room to get to the kitchen. He saw that Kelly's parents were walking around, packing snacks and drinks. He entered the kitchen slowly and saw Kelly on the other side of the island, drinking out of a cup. He figured it was raspberry iced tea, the one beverage she missed while in the Makai. She basically liked anything with raspberries in it, he had discovered. Perfumes, iced tea, pastries, hand cream, and of course the berry itself.
Her face brightened when she saw him. "Hiei, good. We're gonna drive with my mom while the others go with my dad."
"You're not driving?" he asked. He was curious as to why she wouldn't, but he was also disappointed. He was hoping to avoid her family as much as possible. It wasn't that he didn't like them. It was more he didn't know how to handle them.
"No, i's in another state and you hafta go on major highways. Do you want me to get in an accident or get lost?" she said with a hint of sarcasm towards the end.
He rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to tell her that she wouldn't die anyway.
"So, who's all goin'?" she asked her dad who was standing next to her now, eating cereal as fast as he could.
"Everyone. Anthony even came home for it. Sean took off work and Danny and Joe were free too," her father said between mouthfuls.
Hiei could see the light in her eyes fade away when she heard this, though her face was still composed as she said, "Oh. Cool. I'm gonna go put our stuff in the car."
She put her cup in the sink and left the kitchen, Hiei following behind her. She led the way up the stars and into her room. Hiei shut the door behind him and stood just in front of it, watching Kelly as she stared out the window.
"You don't have to talk to them," he told her sternly. She was referring to her family (her aunts, uncles, and cousins) when she had asked her father who was going to be there. Her father's side of the family would also be going to the park. It was a sort of reunion.
"I can't jus' ignore them, no matter how much I want to," she responded, still looking out her window. Her family had been part of her trust issues. To sum up a long story, they weren't very nice to her or her parents. Particularly her parents. But, some of her relatives didn't even know who Ryan was, even though he was ten years old.
"And why not?"
She turned now to face him. "Hiei, they're my family. I can't ignore them. Besides, if I did my parents would hear about it later, and they don't need that."
He gave a huff of frustration, but didn't say anything else. He didn't understand the complicated workings of an American family. All he knew was that these people made his mate upset, and so he didn't like them.
She sighed and grabbed their bag and walked towards him and the door.
"Well, whatever. We are going to have fun today," she said with a smile, her eyes lighting up again.
He gave a small frown, but still didn't say anything. He instead held out the sneakers that were still in his hand. Kelly laughed hysterically at him. He narrowed his eyes at her and dropped the shoes to the floor so that he could slip his feet into them. Kelly knelt down to tie the laces, still laughing. He sighed but still kept his mouth shut. It wasn't worth opening it.
When she finished she stood up and grabbed their bag again, then hurried out of the room, down the stairs, and out the front door. Hiei followed behind her, as usual. They were halfway down the driveway when Kelly was tackled by a blur of blonde. Ryan.
"Kelly!"
"Hey there, half-pint." she said, using her nickname for her youngest sibling. The name came from the fact that he was so much smaller than the rest of them were at his age. He didn't receive the muscular build that the other three did.
She picked him up and swung him around.
"Put me down!" he cried with a laugh.
She did as she was told and then began walking towards the car, Ryan bouncing beside her. He was jabbering away about all the rides he was going to go on. She nodded and smiled, listening patiently to the young boy. The kid talked more than her whole family put together. Not to mention he had ADD and his conversations took on the most random topics.
Hiei didn't follow them. He merely stood where Ryan had stopped them and watched the two blondes (the other two siblings were brunettes). He smirked as he looked at Kelly. He could tell she really didn't want to listen to her brother who was talking non-stop. Yet, she paid attention to him and kept a smile on her face the whole time.
She really would make an excellent mother…
Hiei swallowed the growl that had risen in his throat. He really needed to stop thinking of this.
He looked behind him when he heard the screen door open. One by one the rest of Kelly's family piled out. He quickly moved to lean against the tree in the center of the front yard so that he wasn't in the way. Kelly moved to stand beside him and watched as her siblings argued over where they would sit, where they were packing everything, and who was going to play what game on their handheld gaming systems.
"Everything's a process," Kelly said with a sigh, "I sometimes wonder if I was adopted."
Hiei chuckled. It was an understandable thought. Though they were all crazy, Kelly was different from the rest of her family. Her laid back and lazy nature was out of place with her family's uptight one. She avoided all types of confrontation (and confrontation to her was something as small as calling up a pizza joint for delivery), while most of her family went right for it. She liked simple things and was happy with whatever was handed to her. She hated to inconvenience anyone, even if it was to benefit herself. The others liked things exactly the way they wanted it, and they got upset when something went wrong. They didn't care who had to be bothered in order to fix it.
She was different even before she was made into a half-demon. Maybe she had never been meant for a normal life after all. It wasn't even that she was different from her family. She was different from all humans. The day Hiei had probed her mind and sifted through her memories had shown him that she had always seen differently from normal humans. Perhaps that was why she seemed to fit in more with demons than she did with humans. Though most demons has a hard time accepting her, he knew that she belonged with them more than she did with humans. But he also knew that she would always have a human part within her, even if it was dissimilar from most other humans.
Hiei felt a tug on his hand and was pulled from his thoughts.
"C'mon, Hiei, We're leaving," Kelly said as she led him by the hand to the car they would be taking.
He ignored the curious look she gave him. He was aware that he had been spacing out and she had caught him. She was most likely curious as to what he had been thinking about.
But he would never tell her. He would never say that whenever he spaced out like that, he was always thinking of her.
He took a deep breath and prepared himself for the long drive and even longer day ahead of him. He ducked into the backseat of the car, sitting next to Kelly who was talking animatedly with her mother.
She slowly, almost absent mindedly, moved her hand over and clasped his own. She never stopped her conversation, never looked over at him. Just simply held his hand.
He smirked and leaned back against the seat. He grabbed her hand in return and closed his eyes.
Maybe today wouldn't be too bad.
next chapter is the actual park, i promise. this chapter was put in not only to move the story along but to explain a few things about Kel's personality, family, and other things. it touched on a whole bunch of issues that have evolved throughout my two stories. this chapter was basically a character sketch i think...