CHAPTER TWO
Kai stood in the living room, half of his buttons undone on his shirt, sunglasses still on and a duffel bag in his hand; slowly gazing around his childhood home.
He peeked out the top of his glasses at his twin, Jake and his new girlfriend, Bonnie, who were whispering in the doorway. Trading sweet smiles at each other, lingering touches on one another's waists then he was traveling towards the small of her back.
It was making him ill. And possibly jealous but he would never tell Jake that.
His brother's hand started sliding further down Bonnie's back, his face inching closer to hers, their smiles growing wider and their bodies impossibly close.
The duffel made a brash thud when it hit the floor. Kai figured it had to have been the extra liquor bottles.
"Whoops."
Jake and Bonnie turned their heads sharply but both with very different facial expressions.
Jake knew what his brother was doing, he sighed deeply taking a step backward barely lifting his brows and turning his head back towards Bonnie.
But she kept her face towards Kai, her mouth slightly gaped open just staring at him and then a tiny smile graced those full lips. Jake seen the amusement on his girlfriend's face. His eyebrows started to furrow, she still hadn't turned to face him and Kai was pacing the living room, not even paying attention. Randomly touching whatever he thought was interesting. Basically, what he did best.
Jake stepped outside, Bonnie taking notice this time, as well as Kai.
"Okay, I've got to get back to work, I've already taken up a lot of time with this ass hat." Jake gestured towards Kai who was now bouncing up and down on the large exercise ball. Kai gave him a toothy grin and slowly put up his middle finger.
"I love you too!" He yelled but then started to mumble to himself, and snicker; when he nearly fell backward.
Jake shook his head at his brother and shot his eyes to the back of his head at the nonsense that was his twin. He often wondered how he ran a business.
"Babe, it's really okay. I'm sure he will find something to amuse himself..." Bonnie looked off at Kai as he rolled the ball with the tip of his toes then rolling off and getting down on all fours to look at the collection of CD's.
"No shit! Dad still has AC/DC Dirty Deeds, Jake! Fuck. I loved that. Where is the-what the fuck is this? A CD? I really gotta get him updated. What the hell dude?" Kai was still on the floor digging through piles of CD's as Bonnie and Jake looked on in amusement.
Bonnie placed a hand on Jake's bicep, reassuring him that she would be fine and so would Kai but Jake wasn't completely sure. He gave a slight smile, pulling her petite body close for a kiss. Bonnie ran her soft palm over his rigid jaw that was covered in stubble.
"If he gives me shit, I will just kick his ass." she scrunched her tiny nose, pursing her lips; Jake mirrored her and then he went for a second kiss. They pressed their lips together a few seconds longer this time but were interrupted instead by Caroline, not Kai.
"Uh, Jake...Hi, Bon." Caroline smiled and waved at Bonnie then placed her hands on her utility belt. Her mid-length golden blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail and highlighted with brighter blonde strands. Her eyes were a brilliant crystal blue that gleamed in the sunlight.
"Hey, Care." Bonnie reciprocated, squeezing Jake's arm, turning towards the living room. "Just shut the door Jake." She winked at him and gestured at Caroline, leaving the two to their business. Jake stepped out, closing the door behind him, observing his girlfriend and his twin as he did, as they were conversing.
"Question." Kai was bent over the kitchen counter his elbows under him, pointing a finger at her, idly, watching Bonnie preparing lunch. He still had his sunglasses on and buttons undone on his shirt.
He managed to get her to play AC/DC.
Bonnie only looked up with her eyes from her preparations, "Question?" She didn't like the fact that she couldn't see his eyes or the fact that his shirt was falling off. He was very different from Jake. She realized that even more than from the stories she heard.
"Oh! You are gonna answer?!" Kai grabbed a finger of peanut butter and slipped it his mouth, then came sauntering around the counter to her side. Bonnie continued, looking out of the corner of her eye, watching him.
"It depends on the question, I didn't say I was going to answer, I only asked for the question." She suddenly looked up at him and he was much closer than she had originally noticed. Her lips split open suddenly and her eyes were darting briskly about his face. She hadn't imagined how much they would look alike but be so different. He had a clean shaved face, longer hair, making it look much darker, also making the deep blue in his eyes really emphasize. Kai really had the smolder look down.
Bonnie started tapping her manicured nails on the counter where she had her palms rested.
"Sassy." He licked the rest of the peanut butter off his finger.
"What's the question, Malachai?"
"Kai."
"Okay. Kai?"
"Did you kill my dad?" he was now pointing the finger that was once covered in the peanut butter at her, pouting his lips slightly, tilting his head, one eyebrow cocked.
Bonnie's eyes were wide and she was just staring at him, "What? No, I-what?"
Kai slid an arm around her squeezing her small frame into his lean, muscular body, she could smell a mixture of liquor and cologne from him. Which actually didn't smell awful. She was surprised at how good he smelled considering.
"I'm just kidding! Wow! I really thought that Jake would find one with a sense of humor." Just then he turn her body toward his, yanking her closer by the waist, slanting his head, smiling, "Guess I'll have to loosen you up." he bent closer towards her face, smirking, his eyes narrow and glinting in the light. He backed away but as he did he held onto her hand, skins slithering against each other, parting as they did.
He turned on his heel, facing away from her, "I'm assuming dad is at Physical Therapy..." He headed into the bathroom. Bonnie heard the shower start.
She licked her lips slowly and rubbed her palms on her shirt. For some reason she felt like she had done something wrong. She felt like she needed to call Jake. Just to tell him that everything was fine. Everything was fine. Maybe it was best if she went to pick up their father, Joshua early. Early is good.
Bonnie didn't move.
"Is there a reason he is back?" Caroline had an elbow bolstered on the armrest of the passenger's side, watching as the scenery whisked by. Her head was cradled in her hand, fingers sunk in her temple.
Jake was tapping on the steering wheel of the squad car, he knew that Kai and Caroline didn't get along but she was his partner and basically his best friend. They needed to try. He was his brother.
"I called him about my dad and I guess he randomly decided to come back." Jake was still staring forward, noticing the piercing look that Caroline shot him. She could read him like a book and he hated it. Most people could but not like her. He supposed that came with knowing each other since they were five.
"Well, he will be gone in a day. So, whatever. I need to pick up Luke. He isn't feeling good. He mentioned a sore throat earlier this morning." Caroline started dialing her cell phone, glancing at Jake.
"Hey, hey, we can pick him up." Jake tapped a couple fingers on Caroline's hand, she paused.
"Oh, are you sure?
"Yeah! He loves getting picked up in the squad car!" His grin was ear to ear.
"You mean he loves you." Caroline was shaking her head, smirking. Then she nudged Jake as he scrunched his nose and lifted his eyebrows.
"But are you sure with everything this morning..." She rolled her eyes, biting the corner of her lip.
"Well you have a son and I have a twin brother that acts like a toddler. You got it waaaay easier."
His laugh filled the car as he pulled off and turned the squad vehicle around. Caroline just stared at her partner, admiring him. He caught her gaze though and her eyes were quick to divert. Jake glanced out the window, a sly smile quick to appear on his face.
"That is not how we met..." Bonnie started laughing so hard her whole body shook, her head tilted back, mouth wide, and eyes shut; covering a grin over her wide plump lips, muffling the laugh.
Kai's gaze lingered over her as he watched her giggle and writhe in amusement, "Okay, so you weren't a stripper? Paying your way through nursing school? I always thought he was." Kai pretended to look down, sad; feigning a frown. Popping his bottom lip out, pouting.
"Everything I knew about myself is now dashed. Just complete LIES!" He waved a dramatic hand. And then brought it back towards the doorway and only in his towel wrapped around his waist. Their laughs started to trail and then silence fell between the two. Eyes locked on to one another's. Small drops of water sliding down his lean, sculpted body.
Bonnie had been sitting at the table eating the lunch she was prepping from earlier. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So plain he thought. Nothing crazy or exciting. He had noticed she was watching him stroll from the bathroom to the bedroom before he said something. Her eyes had lifted from the novel she was reading, delicately following his movement.
"I have to get your dad in about a half hour, if you wanted to go?" She shifted in her seat, a smile still gracing her lips from the laughter.
Kai ran his hand down the door frame, slowly and stared off, towards the room.
"Sure." He spun his head back towards her; Bonnie's fingers were gently tracing her pout; then heading in he slid the towel off, hearing a gasp escape from her innocent lips.
Closing the door, a grin crawled across his devious mouth, as he tossed the towel onto the bed.
Everything was still the way he had left it, his old room hadn't changed the slightest. He could hear Bonnie in the kitchen, dishes clanking against each other in the sink.
He smirked once more as he sauntered over to his old wooden dresser that stood nearly the height of his chest. On it sat a picture of him and his prom date, Caroline Forbes.
"What the fuck are you doing back on my dresser?" he whispered through clenched teeth grabbing the framed picture bitterly and thrashing it against his closed bedroom door.
He slid a pair of boxer briefs up his tense thigh muscles, occasionally glancing at the broken picture frame, the smiling faces staring back at him, Kai was muttering under his breathe.
A knock at the door. He placed his hands on his hips, lowering his head and smiling. Bonnie heard. He took a hand and swiped his mouth and jaw with one gesture, pausing a moment at his chin; holding on, staring off. The door opened a crack, his eyes following the creaking noise. Four delicate fingers lightly grasped it, waiting for an objection but Kai would give none.
"Is everything okay?" she still hadn't moved her head in, he only seen those elegant, elongated fingers, clutching his door. Waiting. Her nails were painted a bright cherry red. He liked that. Nail polish always said a lot about a woman, he noticed.
"It will be." Kai bent over searching through the bottom draw of his dresser.
Just then Bonnie pushed the door of his room open with her one hand, leaning on the door frame, arms crossed against her breasts. She slanted her head looking at him as he was bent at the waist rummaging through the clothing, she biting her lip, and then taking a deep breath.
"I told you that we needed to leave in a half hour. It has now been…" She looks down poignantly at her watch and then back up at Kai as he grunts and finally finds what he was looking for.
"Ha! Knew I still had it in here." He looked like a child at Christmas time, he grinned, jiggling the bottle at Bonnie, her emerald green eyes bright and wide with astonishment.
Kai started to lift the bottle to his lips but before he knew it, Bonnie had jumped over the mess of broken glass and splinters of frame, yanking the alcohol from his hands, in turn spilling the liquid all over her shirt.
Bonnie froze, gritting her teeth together, holding the neck of the bottle. Kai started giggling, "That is what you get when you grab a man's Jack."
He shrunk down towards her face, his nose just a few inches from hers, "You okay?" Bonnie's eyes met his, teeth still clenched.
"Take it. Take the bottle." Bonnie gave the bottle a jolt and then shifted the placement, to hand it to Kai. She was only clutching on it with two fingers now, he didn't move, still bent at his neck to be at her level. A wily smile crept over his plump pink lips, only aggravating her more.
"Don't you have clothes here? Wait do you live here with Jake?" He had already turned and placed the bottle on the dresser. He turned back to face Bonnie, watching as she patted her shirt which wasn't helping in the least. It was far too sheer, a pale mint green tank top and now her white lace bra was peeking through. Kai averted his eyes walking towards his duffel on the bed.
"Your brother hasn't lived here in a while." She threw up her hands, groaning, realizing she wasn't making it any better. She glanced over at Kai, tucking a strand of stray hair behind her ear. "We live a couple miles away. So yes I do live with Jake."
"Aww, how sweet. But for now…" Kai was rummaging through his bag, Bonnie side-stepped towards him. Her eyebrows furrowed, she tilted forward over the duffel, their arms nearly touching, only Kai noticed though.
A laugh escaped her lips as she lifted up a fuchsia push-up bra that was trimmed in silver leopard print. It hung around her finger as she look past it at him amusingly.
"Lydia." Kai smirked grabbing it from her holding it up for a bit then stuffing it in the side pocket.
"Girlfriend?" Bonnie once again crossed her arms, still grinning, chuckling in between. She uncrossed quickly though, looking down, remembering her wet frock.
"Nope, assistant…a very special one." Kai darted his eyebrows upward and then handed her his old Sex Pistols t-shirt. "Here, borrow this 'til you get something."
Bonnie grinned, biting her bottom lip, faintly skimming her hand across Kai's to take the shirt, "Thanks. At least you have good taste in music, just shit taste in bras." Before Bonnie turned she shoved a shirt into his chest and stepped extremely close; mere inches.
"Now get dressed. Five minutes. No more." Kai just watched as Bonnie maneuvered her way out of the room, over the mess, closing the door behind her. As she did she locked her eyes on his until the door was completely shut.
Jake was sustained against the police vehicle, arms against his chest, the muscles of his biceps visible through his uniform. The breeze was cool against his face and it felt refreshing with the humidity. He looked down at his watch, it was nearly 2:00 P.M. Bonnie would be picking up his father soon from Physical Therapy. He wondered if Kai had went with her. Probably not. Probably sleeping. Or off finding trouble. He had plans tonight though, she knew this. He had made these plans for weeks.
Jake slipped his hands in his pocket, fiddling around with a rock on the ground and fussing with the contents in pants.
"Jake! Jake!" A small boy was running at full speed towards him. His light, sandy brown hair wafting in the wind, his bright, sky blue eyes wide with excitement. Caroline was following behind him, holding onto a little girl's hand, she looked very similar to the little boy, her hair was lighter though and in curly ringlets. She was excited too but Caroline held her hand firm, the little girl's bright yellow sun dress was being blown all around her tiny body. Jake noticed she had paired it with bright green converse sneakers, he smiled to himself.
"Hey buddy! I thought you weren't feeling well?" Jake bent down onto one leg as the little boy met him, nearly running into him if Jake hadn't stretched his arms outward.
"Lucas! Slow the hell down! And we are gonna deal with this whole "Oh mommy, I got a sore throat" thing, mister!" Caroline was yelling down the walkway as the youngster was giggling with Jake and the little girl trying to wriggle free from her grasp.
"I don't know why you wore those sneakers with that dress today, Scarlett?!" Caroline and her daughter were now standing in front of Jake and her son, both were looking at them chuckling. Caroline was just shaking her head. She was running her fingers through Scarlett's hair, while she was scrunching her nose and clamoring for her to stop, pushing her mother's hands away.
"You just have a couple snarls…let mom get them. C'mon babies." Caroline was grooming her little girl as Jake looked on admiring his partner and best friend.
"I like these sneakers and this dress together, Momma. I feel like a flower." The little one scrunched her nose, looking up at her mother, the sun shining off of her bouncing curls. Caroline paused, hands still entwined in her daughter's golden tresses.
A wide smile came over Jake's face, "I like it too, Scarlett. And you do look like a flower." He let out a little laugh looking up at Caroline, smirking.
"But neither of you look NOR act sick!" Caroline cradled both of their heads and pulled both into her waist. "Ahhh! You kids drive me absolutely insane!" She was rubbing their cheeks, smiling at them as they looked up at her admiring her mutually.
Jake took this time to get up from the ground but as he did, the contents of his pocket fell out.
Lucas was quick to pick it up, "Hey, what's this Jake?"
Caroline stepped forward taking the ring out of Lucas's hand, she held it up. "It's an engagement ring, Luke." She stared at the circle for a moment, its brilliant diamonds encircling it, glistening in the sunlight. Her gaze then directed towards Jake who was fixated on her.
"C'mon kids, let's get in. Looks like Jake has plans." Caroline set the ring onto the hood of the car and guided the children into squad vehicle. And then she climbed into passenger's seat.
Jake stood for a moment, running a hand through his hair.
He turned, Scarlett was knocking on the car window smiling, both front teeth missing. She traced a heart on the glass.
Jake scraped his hand across the hood, grabbing Bonnie's ring and entering the vehicle.
"Did I do something?" He slid the ring in his chest pocket, slowly gazing in Caroline's direction.
The kids were giggling and playing with their IPads in the back seat, in their own little world.
Stray blonde hairs were scattered across her face, she shifted in her seat, looking in the rearview mirror at the twins. "When Matt and I split up, you were all they had as a father figure." Her cheeks began to flush, rubbing her fingers together and staring downward.
Jake placed a hand on her wrist, "Care I know what you went through with Matt. I know he isn't around enough for Scarlett and Lucas and I love these two nuts. We have been friends since forever. When you started dating my brother I wanted to kill him." Caroline's eyes slowly rolled up, meeting his, a tear tumbling down her cheek.
"Please don't do that…" Jake tilted his head, sulking and then taking his thumb, swiping her tear.
"I just…I think I got used—NO. I have always had you to myself. No one else and now there is Bonnie. She is perfect. I am happy for you. I am it was just a shock, I mean that was your mom's ring…the one Kai gave me…" Caroline trailed off sinking in her seat. Jake still held her wrist, gripping tighter now, she was more to him than what she thought.
"I love Bonnie but you and those little nuts back there will always be part of my life. I swear I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how, I mean after what happened…"
Caroline's gaze followed back towards the children and then to Jake. Her eyes intense and uncertain but she knew what she had to do no matter what she wanted to do. Their hands were intertwined now. Both gaping at one another.
"It looks like we're planning a wedding…"