Hey! I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'm very fond of this one and the next one so I hope you enjoy the devlopment in this one! There'll be a part 2 to this chapter over the next few days as this is one of the "arcs" I was most excited about!
Call to Action: Chapter 8: The Party - Part 1
The days of class quickly turned into weeks and before they knew it, it was the night of the party.
Kale leaned against the wall outside of college, looking at the ground deep in thought. It wasn't until a hand waved in front of him that he snapped back to reality.
"What's up buddy?" Odd asked, pulling his hand back and leaning against the wall beside him. Kale looked up and noticed Odd had arrived with Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita in tow. Kale looked at them before reaching for his pocket, pulling out his phone.
"There's a party tonight I was invited too." Kale said, unlocking his phone and scrolling through messages.
"Oh! Is that what Goss and Hugh were talking about?" Yumi asked, putting her finger to her chin and recalling hearing them talking earlier on in the week about going out on Friday night.
"Damn," Kale sighed, "I was hoping they'd pass it on instead of me."
"Pass what on?" Ulrich asked, adjusting the bag sitting on his back.
"You're all invited." Kale responded, shoving his phone back into his pocket and turning to them, "William told me to invite you but I assumed Goss would anyway."
The group shared a look between them, Odd with a growing grin with even Ulrich finding himself smiling.
"Our first college party, huh?" Odd laughed, patting Ulrich on the back who responded by rolling his eyes yet smiling nonetheless.
Aelita stared at Kale in confusion. After he left in his car that day, he acted as if it never happened but she, along with the other three with her, couldn't shake Jeremie's story out of their head whenever they looked at him. Was he truly capable of doing such a violent thing?
"Yo!" a voice called behind them, growing closer. Turning on the spot, they seen Hugh and Goss approach them with smiles on their faces. They waved their greetings as they joined the circle that they were standing in. Kale pushed himself off of the wall and picked up the bag sitting beside his feet.
"So, are you coming?" he asked, slinging his bag over his shoulder and fishing out his cigarettes from his pocket.
They all nodded in unison with a smile.
"Alright, I'll let William know." Kale shrugged, taking out his phone and tapping it a few times before returning it to his pocket, he then turned to Goss and Hugh.
"You two are walking home, right?" he asked, earning a confused look from both of them.
"Yeah, why?" Hugh asked, looking at Goss then back to Kale.
"Good." Kale responded flatly before turning to Yumi, Odd, Ulrich and Aelita, "I'll drop you two home on the way, I want to talk to you."
Sharing a concerned look, the four of them nodded and followed him to his car and before long, found themselves driving towards Yumi's place. When they eventually arrived, Kale parked the car and climbed out, followed by the rest.
"So? What's up?" Yumi asked, grabbing her bag from the floor of the back seat.
"Can we talk inside, please?" Kale asked, rubbing the back of his neck. This caught them by surprise since Ulrich, Yumi and Odd had never heard him say the word 'please'. Nodding in agreement, Yumi led the way up to her apartment which as Ulrich mentally noted, was the first time he'd have been inside of it.
Following Yumi inside, they found themselves in the middle of her and Aelita's apartment which smelt faintly of vanilla which as Yumi pointed towards, was candles.
Ulrich looked around and felt himself smiling as he noticed various objects of Japanese origin, symbolizing her heritage. Once they had taken seats on the sofa and other chairs, Kale leaned against the countertop.
"You four have been acting weird towards me since that day and I just wanted to uhhh." Kale started but fading out of his sentence.
"Wanted to?" Aelita repeated, looking at her friends before back to him.
"I wanted to apologize if I made things awkward." he finally finished before turning away, rubbing the scar on the bridge of his nose. Ulrich looked at the others before gulping loudly.
"You don't have to apologize Kale, it's just... Jeremie told us about something." Ulrich started which caused Kale to turn on the spot and lock eyes with Ulrich.
"Told you what?" he asked, his eyes widening slightly, scared of what he'd say.
Ulrich sighed before going over the story that Jeremie had told them. Once he was done, silence hung over them before Kale sat down beside Odd and let out a sigh.
"It's true." Kale simply said, leaning back in the chair and looking up at the ceiling.
"What?!" Yumi almost shouted, unable to believe that he had admitted to the story, "But why though?"
Kale leaned forward again and let out another sigh.
"The people that night with me in the alley were Hugh and Goss." Kale started, noticing all four of them leaning in to listen to his story with full interest.
"The reason the fight happened was because," Kale started, let out a shaky breath as Odd noticed he clenched his fists hard enough that the knuckles turned white, "One of those assholes grabbed Lucy when we were all out."
"What?..." Odd whispered, his eyes darting around at the others before back to the brunette.
"We were out for the night and one of them tried hitting on Lucy and when she said no, he grabbed her... inappropriately." Kale muttered, his teeth clenching while recalling them memory, "When she went to leave, they had followed her out and the fight happened."
"Jesus Kale... I'm so sorry." Ulrich mumbled, unsure of how to continue or what to say.
"Lucy is pretty much all I have," Kale sighed, his fists unclenching and his anger fading, "I'm just a little over protective of her."
Odd felt himself gulp loudly, he hadn't considered Kale being the protective type so he instantly became nervous of their lunch dates but felt himself at ease when Kale put his hand on his shoulder.
"You're good Odd," Kale said, offering the blonde some assurance, "You're a nice person." he finished before standing up.
"Look, if you all think of me different now, so be it. Just don't hold it against Hugh and Goss, they were helping Lucy." Kale sighed, running a hand through his hair, unable to make eye contact with anyone in the room.
"No way," Ulrich smiled, standing up and walking up to him, looking him straight in the eyes, "You were standing up for family! Can't blame you for that!"
Kale looked down as Ulrich stook out his hand before taking it and shaking the Germans hand. Aelita and Yumi smiled at each other while Odd stood up and pat him on the back with a smile.
Kale looked at the both of them and then at Yumi and Aelita before he felt his eyebrows shift, for once not downwards but upwards.
"Oh! That was almost a smile!" Yumi laughed, pointing at the expression on Kales' face, earning a laugh from everyone except Kale who rolled his eyes at her but nonetheless, felt the expression stay on his face.
After a while more of talking, Ulrich suggested they return home to get ready and give the girls time to get ready. With a round of nods between them, Ulrich, Kale and Odd said their goodbyes and left, leaving Aelita and Yumi in the apartment to get ready.
Hours later, Ulrich sat on the sofa in the living room scrolling through his phone. It wasn't until Odd walked in that he looked up.
"Hey, looking good!" Ulrich smiled, standing up and slipping his phone into his pocket. Odd stretched out his arms and gave Ulrich a twirl, earning a laugh in response.
Odd was dressed in a purple shirt with one button left open at the top, a pair of black jeans and shoes with a mix of purple and black.
"You don't clean up so bad yourself, good buddy!" Odd laughed, gesturing up and down at Ulrich. Ulrich looked down at himself and adjusted the dark green shirt he wore, accompanied by grey pants and brown shoes.
"Well thank you so much, my most esteemed good buddy!" Ulrich said with a lordly accent, giving his best friend a bow, which earned a bow in return from Odd.
"Hey, you too look great!" Goss said, entering the room behind them. Goss stood looking at them as they looked at his outfit. A light blue, short sleeve shirt with various patterns snaking around it, a pair of white jeans and finally, white shoes.
"God, you are just stuffed into that shirt, aren't you?" Odd laughed, gesturing to Goss's arms that even as Ulrich had to admit, looked like they were barely contained in the shirt. Offering a smile back in return, Goss lifted both of his arms and flexed for Odd and Ulrich, earning a laugh and a clap in return.
"We ready to go?" Hugh asked, entering the room behind Goss as he adjusted the red tie around his neck. Under the red tie, Hugh wore a white shirt and black jeans with black shoes.
"Think we're just waiting on Kale and we're good!" Goss responded, patting his pockets to make sure he had everything. Eventually, Kale made his way down the stairs and entered the living room.
"Ready?" he asked, walking over to the backdoor and jiggling the handle, making sure it was locked. Odd took this time to inspect his outfit which was to no surprise to Odd, all black. The black shirt he wore which just like Odd's, had the top button undone was matched with a pair of black jeans and black shoes. The only difference in their outfits being the color and the fact Kale had his sleeves rolled up, revealing the tattoos on his arms.
Nodding in response, they made their way out of the house and began walking down the street, already previously planning on meeting Yumi and Aelita at their place before heading out, avoiding driving considering they were going to be drinking.
Before long, they found themselves standing on the street outside of Yumi's apartment, Ulrich already having sent her a text informing them they were waiting outside. While they waited, Hugh, Goss and Ulrich chatted excitedly among themselves and Odd was about to join in when he felt Kale tap his shoulder and nod him away.
"Everything okay?" Odd asked, stepped aside to talk to him, Kale nodded and let out a breath, the coldness of the night leaving his breath as a fog in front of him.
"Yeah, I just wanted to let you know" Kale said, blowing air into his hands in an attempt to warm them up, "Lucy will be coming tonight."
"Oh, okay!" Odd smiled, his mood instantly rising with excitement to spend more time with her.
"Keep your eye on her for me, yeah?" Kale said, placing his hand on Odds' shoulder in trust, earning a nod in response. Kale nodded back and they rejoined the group and the conversation before a door opened behind them as Aelita and Yumi exited the building.
"Hey!" Yumi smiled, offering a wave as she approached them, Aelita waving from behind her with her own smile. The boys took this time to take in the girls' outfits and Ulrich felt his face heat up.
Yumi was wearing a pair of jeans with various rips on them and a loose black shirt, also torn up, revealing the fishnet shirt she wore underneath and a leather jacket, ended with a pair of black boots. Ulrich couldn't stop staring until Goss secretly poked him in the ribs, slamming him back to reality.
"So, how do I look?" Yumi laughed, offering a twirl like Odd had previously. Ulrich gulped and nodded, showing his approvement, still too embarrassed to speak while Goss whistled.
"Looking good, Ishiyama!" he laughed, shooting her a thumbs up in approval, "You look great too, Aelita!"
Aelita looked down at herself and smiled, she didn't have too many clothes that could be used for parties but the outfit she had thrown together with the help of Yumi would say otherwise. She wore a white shirt which hung off of one of her shoulders loosely with a black shirt underneath and a pink skirt that came to just over her knees, along with a pair of pink flat shoes.
The girls almost in sync, put their thumb and index fingers to their chin in a thinking expression and looked over the four guys standing in front of them.
"You all look really good!" Yumi smiled with Aelita nodding in agreement, "You'll be fighting off girls all night!" she finished, earning a laugh from everyone. Not long after that, they turned to walk down the street in the direction of the party, with Hugh and Kale walking at the back of the group and Ulrich and Goss at the front as they chatted.
"So, Aelita looks cute tonight, right?" Hugh said, looking over at Kale who fished through his pockets for his cigarettes. Once he found them, he popped one into his mouth and lit it up and inhaled, using the silence to look at Aelita who was deep in conversation with Odd and Yumi. Exhaling the smoke, he tilted his head to look at Hugh and shrugged.
"I guess." he responded, scratching at his ear which Hugh knew was his habit when he wasn't telling the truth.
"You're lying! Tell me!" Hugh whispered with a grin, leaning into Kale who looked at him then back to Aelita before looking back to him.
"She looks great, okay?" Kale muttered before rolling his eyes at the grin that was creeping onto Hughs' face.
"I knew it!" Hugh almost shouted with a laugh, earning a slap on the back from Kale. Yumi and Odd looked over at them in confusion before turning back to their conversation. Aelita on the other hand, was staring straight at the ground, her entire face red from the conversation she just overheard.
As they walked down the round, the sound of music got louder and louder, indicating that their destination was just ahead of them.
They looked up at the house in front of them in shock. It was gigantic to say the least, easily bigger than any other house on the street.
"Is this a mansion or something?" Ulrich laughed, looking up at all the windows on the front of the house.
"Not a mansion but it sure is big!" Goss laughed before patting Odd on the back and pointing down the street once he got the blondes attention. Following his finger, Odd felt his eyes light up as he noticed Lucy making her way up the street towards them.
"Hey!" Lucy smiled as they joined the others, instantly standing in between Odd and Kale.
Once they exchanged hellos, Kale turned and led the way into the house as they were met with a heavy wave of music. Saying the house was packed was an understatement considering how difficult it was to navigate through the house without bumping elbows with someone. Checking his phone, Kale gestured to the others with his head to follow him. They found themselves in the kitchen and before long, face to face with William and a girl.
"You guys made it!" William cheered, placing his hand on Odds' shoulder with a grin.
"Of course! Wouldn't have missed this opportunity!" Odd responded with a grin before being handed a bottle by William.
"Oh yeah! Guys, you remember Emily from Kadic, right?" William said, gesturing to the girl at his side. Ulrich and the others smiled fondly at her, instantly remembering her and getting to chatting. Soon they found themselves all holding bottles and drinking casually, the music almost drowning out their conversation.
Before long, Ulrich looked around and noticed the groups had separated and he was left alone with William, Emily and Yumi. Looking around the room he noticed Goss, Hugh and Aelita standing in another room, talking to some other people that Goss knew from college. He looked the other way and noticed Odd and Lucy standing in a corner, chatting into each other's ears to be heard over the music and finally spotting Kale leaning against a wall in the hallway, chatting with a group of people.
"Alright, we're gonna go socialize, don't be afraid to help yourself!" William smiled, shaking the bottle in his hand and pointing to what almost seemed like a mountain of alcohol in the corner of the kitchen. Once William and Emily had left, Ulrich found himself alone with Yumi who was looking at his expectingly.
"Never would have figured we'd end up at a college party back in Kadic, huh?" Ulrich laughed, taking another sip from his bottle, earning a chuckle from Yumi.
"I think we had a bigger situation on our hands at that time!" Yumi laughed which caused Ulrich to smile.
"Yeah, I didn't think Xana would give us a night off honestly!" Ulrich responded, placing his bottle on the table in front of him and leaning back on the counter to talk to Yumi.
"Yeah, he was too busy using the Kolossus to step on you!" Yumi snorted, earning a wide eye look in response from Ulrich in mock offense.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Weren't you the one who got slapped off of the Overwing by said Kolossus?" Ulrich laughed, which led to a playful push from Yumi.
"Oh ha ha, very funny Stern!" Yumi retorted, sticking out her tongue in response. Ulrich grinned as he rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.
"I guess I was just too busy fighting and taking down both William AND the Kolossus!" Ulrich mockingly sighed, rubbing his hand against his forehead and throwing his head back in fake exhaustion.
"Okay, that's it!" Yumi laughed, lifting her hand to his forehead and gently flicking him right in the middle.
"Wow," Ulrich said, rubbing the spot she had just flicked, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with me, Ms Ishiyama." Ulrich sighed, fluttering his eyelids jokingly. Yumi felt her face flare up in embarrassment before shaking it off.
"Don't forget, I'm older than you! You should be showing me respect!" Yumi grinned, pointing her finger directly into the middle of Ulrichs chest who smirked in response.
"Oh, that's true! Would you like me to find you a cane?" Ulrich teased, pretending to look over her shoulder in search of said cane. They looked at each other and quickly fell into laughter as they mocked each other.
"Funny Ulrich, very funny!" Yumi retorted, rolling her eyes with a grin. She quickly felt a surge of bravery fill her body and smirk as she looked at him, "And maybe I am flirting." she finished before turning to find a bathroom with a wave over her shoulder as Ulrich stared after her, his mouth hanging open.
As the night went on, the group found themselves moving around the house chatting to people they had never met before and overall having a good night.
Feeling herself get light headed, Aelita excused herself to go stand outside and made her way into the back garden to breathe some fresh air. Noticing people sat around the garden talking and drinking, her eyes wandered to find a familiar face sitting against the wall, his hand on his forehead.
"Kale?" Aelita called, moving over to brunette and quickly finding herself looking at him concern as she noticed a fresh cut over his left eyebrow.
"Oh, hey." he responded, rubbing the scratch on his head to the dismay of Aelita.
"Don't irritate it!" she cried, kneeling down beside him to get a closer look. Kale looked at her and back to the drink he held in his other hand. Aelita reached a hand out to inspect the cut but felt herself stop, recalling the first night they had met.
"Don't touch me, please."
Holding her arm in the air, she let out a shaky breath and mustered up her courage.
"Can I touch you?" she asked, looking eyes with Kale. He looked up at her for what seemed like an eternity and gently nodded. Reaching her hand out again, she traced her finger over the cut and let out a 'tch'.
"Wait here." Aelita sighed, standing up and heading back inside. Moments later, she returned holding napkins and a cup. Kneeling down beside him, she tore the napkin up into smaller bits as Kale watched. He glanced down at the cup and stared at the clear liquid.
"Vodka, it'll have to do as a disinfectant." she said, shaking the cup around and dipping some of the napkin in, "How'd you manage the cut anyway?"
"I dropped my bottle and when I went to stand up, I hit my head on the cupboard." he admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away which caused Aelita to let out a laugh.
"You dummy." she teased, pressing the napkin against his forehead as he winced at the stinging sensation. She dipped it in again and wiped his cut yet again.
As she worked on his cut, Kale found himself staring at her. She was so close that he could smell her perfume. Strawberry, he noted as he continued to trace her face with his eyes. It wasn't until he looked at her eyes, she noticed she was looking back at him.
"Hmm?" Aelita asked, tilting her head innocently. Kale shook his head and let her continue her work, letting his eyes fall downwards. When he did, he noticed that her body was leaning over his and at the currently angle they were currently sitting at. He could see straight down her shirt.
"Oh, that's enough." he panicked, guiding her hand away and standing up, looking down the garden as a distraction. Aelita looked at him in confusion and looked down at the ground to see if anything would have caused him to react that way and when the ground was clear, she looked up at him again.
"Everything good?" she asked but felt her eyes widen when she seen the red blush on his cheekbones. Looking down once more, it finally dawned on her what had startled him as she felt herself blush, "Oh my god." she cried, covering her eyes with her hand.
"I'm so sorry." Kale said, turning away from her but stopping when he heard her laugh.
"Who knew that it'd be something so trivial to make you so embarrassed!" Aelita said before continuing her laughter, finding it funny that someone as serious as him would get embarrassed.
"Hey, I was not embarrassed!" he retorted, turning on the spot and pointing at her. Aelita kept laughing in his face as he tried to defend himself, something he felt himself surprised about.
"Whatever you say!" Aelita continued to laugh, using her finger to wipe away the water that had begun to collect under her eyes. Suddenly she felt herself stop laughing and stared at him in shock.
He was smiling.
He was smiling at her.
"You're smiling!" she almost shouted, pointing a finger at him which caused him to freeze, the smile instantly disappearing from his face.
"I... No, I wasn't." he coughed, trying his best to cover up what had just happened but it was too late, Aelita stared up at him with glee in her eyes.
"You did! I saw it!" Aelita smiled widely which caused him to roll his eyes but Aelita to grin back at him, her eyes closing as she smiled widely. Soon, he couldn't help himself.
He smiled again.
This time, Aelita caught it all as she took in how much his face had truly changed whenever he smiled. His eyes had almost closed and the serious nature on his face had completely vanished and was replaced with a cheerful look, almost like a child receiving their presents at Christmas. She basked in the moment before they were both snapped out of it by a voice shouting at them.
"HOLY SHIT!"
Goss was standing at the doorway to the house with Hugh, Ulrich, Yumi, Odd and Lucy staring open mouth at them, shocked by the smile on Kales' face which had begun to vanish. Almost running over to them, Goss grabbed Aelita by the shoulders, almost picking her up.
"What did you do?! How did you do it?!" he questioned, bewildered at the fact one of his oldest and closest friends was smiling, something he had solemnly seen over the past years.
"I don't know! I was laughing then all of a sudden, that!" Aelita said, managing to raise her arm through his grip and gesturing at Kale. Goss released the Pinkette and turned to Kale with a smile on his face.
"It was the alcohol." Kale coughed, rubbing the back of his neck in sheer embarrassment. Everyone laughed at his response, having the feeling the alcohol had little to do with it and more the company.
This chapter was one that was pretty much fluff dedicated to my friend and of course, I had to throw a little Ulumi in this one to set up for the next one! I hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll catch you next time!