Endless Roads
Chapter 8 - Causing More Problems
Kat's POV
I walked into the living room to see Tommy talking on the phone again. I immediately knew that he was talking to Jason. For some weird reason, Jason seemed to be the only one calling us for the two past weeks. It annoyed me, because every time he called it always led to being invited somewhere. And most likely it was for Kimberly's sake, since she just came back to Angel Grove and suddenly everybody wanted to do something. I just couldn't stand the way all the guys treated her, like she was some sort of queen that needed to be constantly entertained. And that was the last thing on earth that I would ever do. But that's what sucked about having friends who were friends with a person that could possibly be your worst enemy.
"Hey, Kat!" Tommy yelled out.
"Yeah?" I replied.
"You in the mood to go to Glitters tonight?" he asked.
I gave him a glare. Of course I didn't want to go… especially at a club where girls dressed trampy, showing off their newly enhanced boobs, and shaking their asses everywhere just to get men's attention. It wasn't my style, but for some reason all the other guys loved to go, so usually I'd just tag along. And every now and then, I'd always see Tommy's wandering eyes… which annoyed the hell out of me, and now with Kimberly there, there was no way I was going to risk that.
"So you want to go or what?" Tommy asked again.
"Tommy, are you sure it's a good idea to go out tonight?" I responded.
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"Well you work tomorrow, and I'm sure if we go we won't come home until late…"
"Kat, that's not a problem." He interrupted. "I don't start until one, Dan's opening the shop tomorrow morning."
"Damn." I thought to myself. What else could I use for an excuse?
"Kat, come on. What's it gonna be?" Tommy replied.
I couldn't think of another excuse without sounding bitter. I looked at his face and I could see that he really wanted to go. And that face always made me give in… it worked every time. So I regretfully made the decision. "Yeah…" I replied.
"Okay cool." He smiled, and quickly went back on the phone. "Hey Jason, we'll meet you there around eight, alright?" He replied, as I made my way to the kitchen. This evening was not going to be an enjoyable one.
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Tommy's POV
There was only one way that I was going to be able enjoy tonight, and that was to get myself on Kim's good list again. I wasn't going to give up until I had my chance to apologize to her. When Jason told me that he, along with Kim and their friend Lacey were heading back to his place, I found it to be the perfect opportunity for me to deliver my apology. I rushed through my closet, put a good shirt on and made my way towards the door.
"Tommy, where you going?" Kat asked, as I grabbed the doorknob. I turned over and looked at her as she stood by the doorway of the kitchen.
"Uh… I was just about to go run an errand… why?"
"I though we were going out tonight?" She replied.
"We are." I answered. "I'll be back soon. It's not gonna take long."
"Alright…" Kat replied a bit skeptical.
"Kay… see ya babe." I quickly said, and rushed out the door.
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After a long drive from the airport…
Jason, Kim and Lacey finally arrived at the apartment complex. They took a bunch of boxes, and brought them up to the hall in front Jason's apartment. Kimberly was exhausted, her arms aching from carrying too much weight, but she managed to dig into her purse, got the keys, and quickly opened the door.
"Seriously Lace, you brought way too much stuff." Jason managed to say, lifting up some boxes from the hallway into his living room.
"Oh go cry over it, you baby." Lacey snapped, as she made her way inside his apartment. Once she got in, she checked out the rooms. "Wow, I gotta say Jason, you've held up this place really good."
"Yeah, and you can stay in it, if you help me out with you stuff!" Jason replied.
"Alright, alright." Lacey sighed.
"Hey Lacey, me and Jason set up a bed in my room for ya, so you can set most of your stuff in there." Kim replied, bringing in more bags.
"Sounds good."
"Okay cool." Kim replied as she set the bags down on the floor. "So, is this pretty much it?"
"No, there's a couple more back at the car… I'll go get them." Jason replied, and started walking down the hallway.
"Hey Jason!" Kim called out.
"Yeah?"
"Elevator's this way, buddy." Kim said, pointing at the opposite direction.
"Yeah I know… I'm gonna take the stairs."
"Okay, Mister high in fitness." Kim saluted and turned to look at her friend. "So what do ya think?" she asked.
"Think of what?" Lacey muttered, while opening up one of her suitcases.
"Jason's place…"
"Oh." She chuckled. "I'm surprised," Lacey said, commenting on how neat the place was. "I don't know how he did it."
"What? How neat it is… believe me, it wasn't like this when I got here."
"That explains it perfectly." The two laughed.
Kim looked down at Lacey's open suitcase, and couldn't help but notice something shiny hidden under a layer of clothing. She bent down to take a look and discovered it was a picture of Trent put in a silver frame.
"I guess I should have left that back in Florida, huh?" Lacey replied startling Kimberly.
"Well that all depends." She mumbled.
"On what?"
"On if you still have feelings for him."
"Of course not!" Lacey exclaimed. "After all that's been happening? If the situation wasn't bad, I wouldn't have come here."
"I know." Kim replied softly.
"I guess I'm kind of like you in a way Kim." Lacey muttered. "I came here… to start over, get away from the hell that exists back there."
"You mean your staying here indefinitely?"
Lacey nodded. "But don't tell Jason, please."
"I won't." Kim promised her.
"I'll only stay here for at least a two months… maybe one if I'm lucky."
"What do you intend on doing?"
"First off, I'm going to find me a job." Lacey explained. "Then, a new place to live." She paused. "I'm starting over, Kim. I'm making a new beginning for me."
"God, stop talking like that Lace!" Kim yelled.
"Like what?" She replied, a bit startled at Kim's tone of voice.
"Like you've been through hell!" Kim yelled again. "Because you haven't… you talk like what Trent was doing was a complete nightmare, when we know that all the dude did was place some bets and getting in shit for it."
"Kim…" Lacey mumbled.
"I'm the one who's suffering here!" She interrupted. "I made the stupid mistakes… so I should be the one starting over, MAKING A NEW BEGINNING FOR ME!" Kim continued to yell.
"Kim… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"
"Lacey, you have no idea how lucky you are…" Kim interrupted her again. "So don't think that your life was hell back there, because it wasn't. You don't deserve to put yourself down like that."
"I'm really sorry." Lacey muttered.
"Just forget it…" Kim shook her head. "It's all in the past."
"Kim…" Lacey mumbled again, staring at the door behind her.
Suddenly Kim heard a quiet knock at the door. She turned around to see who made the noise, and to her surprise there was indeed someone standing at the doorway.
"Tommy, what the hell you are you doing here?" Kim asked.
"I guess I came at a bad time." Tommy muttered.
"Yeah… you kind of did." Kim stammered. "You didn't answer me…what the hell do you want?"
"I need to talk to you." He replied.
"Oh really? What, you got more horrible things to say to me now?" Kim hissed.
"Kim, please… can I talk to you." He replied, and looked up to see Lacey standing behind Kim in the living room. "Alone?"
"No… whatever you have to say you can say in front of Lacey."
"Alright… look, I just came by to say I'm sorry." Tommy replied.
"You're sorry?" Kim quirked a brow. "Wow Tommy… haven't heard that one before."
"Kim, I'm serious. I wasn't thinking when I said what I said to you."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Yes I do, because it's the truth. I didn't mean any of it."
"How do I know you're being sincere?"
"Look, all I know is that I am… Kim I don't want you to hate me forever."
"Well what you said did really hurt."
"I know it must have, but I told you I didn't mean it. I guess I was just really mad that you never told me anything about what happened… I didn't think straight, and that led me to say what I said… I wasn't thinking."
"Damn, is this dude for real?" Lacey butted in.
"Lacey, shutup." Kim snapped.
"This sounds like some cheesy dialogue ripped of from Days of Our Lives or something." She laughed.
"Okay… maybe you should go. Get lost Lace." Kim replied.
"Fine." Lacey muttered, picked up a few things and headed towards her room, while Kim and Tommy watched as she went.
"So you got anything else to say?" Kim replied sternly, turning back to Tommy.
"Nope."
"Tommy listen." Kim replied. "I want to put my past behind me. That's the whole reason why I came back here… so we'll make it a deal. I'll forgive you if you promise not to bring this up again."
"Really?" Tommy muttered.
"Yeah." Kim rolled her eyes, as a smile started to form on Tommy's face.
"Okay." He nodded. "Deal."
"But don't get too happy." Kim hissed again. "Don't expect me to forget what you said."
"That's fine with me." Tommy nodded, and looked over to see Lacey peek her head around the corner. "Hi, I'm Tommy Oliver."
Lacey slowly walked out, surprised that she was seen. "Lacey Chastenburg." She smiled.
"Right… the girl that talked to me on the phone earlier." Tommy blushed.
"That's right… sorry about that, but I speak my mind."
"I can tell." Tommy muttered.
"Can someone help me out here please." A voiced yelled out from the hallway. Tommy turned around and headed over to see Jason putting a few suitcases down.
"Tommy? What are you doing here?" Jason asked.
"Just thought I'd stop by." Tommy replied. "Do you… need a hand?"
"Yeah, that would be nice." Jason sneered, looking over at Lacey, who started to walk down the hall to where he was.
"Hey, you're the one who went downstairs to your car… I would have done it if you didn't beat me to the opportunity." She replied.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, now get out of the way so I can get this stuff in."
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Later at Glitterz…
Jason stepped out of his car, along with Kim, Lacey and Aisha. Even though a little steam was still inside of Kim from earlier that day, she wasn't going to let that bug her that night. Aisha finally had time off to hang with the group, and Kim was going to make sure she and Aisha had fun tonight.
Kim hurried over to the entrance of the club, with Lacey and Aisha along her side. It brought a smile to Kim's face to see the two of her closest friends, who had just met for the first time, were getting along so well. Kim looked over to see a huge group of people crowding around the entrance door, waiting to get in. Immediately, she noticed a familiar group of six standing in the crowd. The first person that caught her attention had her bright blond hair up in a bun. It wasn't hard to notice, since the moonlight reflected off it so well. It was Kat whom she saw, and not to mention clinging onto the arm of a tall individual, namely Tommy. It never occurred to her how lame the couple's display was, and she definitely did not want to look at that again. She then looked beyond them and noticed Rocky and Billy standing in line with Adam and Tanya. Seeing Rocky and Billy again made her excited since she hadn't seen them since the first day she came back. Kim began to run over, ignoring the fact that she had four-inch heels on. A huge smile appeared upon her face now that she realized everyone was here.
"Oh my god! I'm so glad you guys came!" Kim squealed, hugging Rocky and Billy.
"Glad to see you too, Kim." Billy replied.
"Everybody…" Kim turned, grabbing Lacey by the wrist. "This is my friend Lacey Chastenburg from Florida."
"Hi." Rocky replied, shaking her hand.
"Lace, this is Rocky, Billy, Adam, Tanya, Kat and I'm sure you already know Tommy."
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Kat's POV
"I'm sure you already know Tommy?" What was that supposed to mean. I didn't remember meeting or hearing about this Lacey character. I turned my head to Tommy and gave him a bit of a glare. I could see he knew what I was thinking and he shook his head to ensure that it was nothing. I looked at her, and I could see a bit of a snobbish characteristic in her. I knew that from the beginning I wasn't going to like her.
"Gosh, you guys, this is so great that you all came." I heard Kim say. I rolled my eyes at her comment. Before, we never really did the whole get together thing that much, and from that moment I could feel that more of these would happen. I was all for it, but not with Kim around, especially with what she was wearing. I looked at her starting from the feet. She wore these black knee high boots, a faded denim skirt and a black low cut halter top, showing a lot of cleavage. Her hair was made into tight shiny curls, framing her face perfectly. Her makeup looked like it had been done by a professional makeup artist. The eyeshadow nicely blended together, her brows perfectly shaped, and her lips covered with shiny pink gloss. In my eyes, she was another typical skank that went to these clubs to flirt with any guy that was good looking. I could say the same for that girl Lacey as well. It must have been a thing back in Florida. But what bugged me the most was that Tommy was looking at their slutty display.
"Gees, would you look at this crowd?" Lacey asked. "Damn, it's gonna take forever before we get into this joint."
"It goes fast, don't worry Lace." Jason replied.
Fifteen minutes later, we all made it inside of Glitterz. Jason insisted that we get a table first. When Kim took her seat, I made sure and Tommy and I were at a good distance away from her. God knows what I would do if I had to listen to her bullshit. Jason came back with tray full of margaritas for us, which was really sweet of him, but he knew that I didn't drink. I hated when Tommy would get drunk with the guys. They always acted stupid and arrogant, and it annoyed the hell out of me. That was one of the reasons why I didn't really come along with them here often.
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After a short while of talking and drinking, a familiar beat of a song played, which got the attention of Lacey.
"Oh my god! I LOVE this song!" She exclaimed. "Come on Kim," She said grabbing her arm. "Let's show them how it's done back in Miami."
The two rushed onto the dance floor and started shaking their hips to the music, while waving their arms in the air. Soon after, Aisha, Jason, Adam and Tanya joined them.
"Hey, we're gonna go roam around… maybe collect some phone numbers if we're lucky." Rocky replied, as he and Billy got up from their seats and headed towards the bar. Tommy and Kat remained in their seats.
"You want to go dance?" Tommy asked. Kat looked up at him and shook her head.
"I'd rather not." Kat replied.
Tommy noticed the displeasure in her voice. "Listen… do you even want to be here?" He asked.
"Don't be silly, Tommy. Of course I do… I'm just not in the mood for dancing right now that's all." She replied.
"Are you sure?" Tommy asked, a bit skeptical.
"Yes." Kat insisted. "Relax Tommy. Let's just sit here and…"
"And what?" Tommy asked.
"And… enjoy our margaritas." She smiled.
The two then continued sitting at the table, talking away about what they were going to do over the weekend. From the dance floor Kim could see them sitting there. She didn't understand why they wouldn't come onto the dance floor. But whatever their reason, Kim wasn't going to let that bother her. She the turned around and continued dancing. Seeing the enjoyment on her friends' faces made her happy, happier than she had ever been for in awhile. At that moment she knew that coming back to Angel Grove was the right thing to do. But suddenly, when she turned around to see where Jason was, she felt a little weak in the knee, a bit dizzy and toppled over onto Aisha.
"Whoa, Kim! Are you okay?" Aisha asked, as she caught Kim before she reached the floor.
Kim took a deep breath a realized that she was no longer standing on her feet. She blinked a few times to clear her vision, and got herself back up.
"Yeah… I'm fine." She softly replied. "I just got a little dizzy… that's all."
"Are you sure?" Aisha asked. "Maybe you should sit down… drink some water, or something."
"No it's okay Aisha… I think I should just step outside and get some fresh air."
"Okay, I'll come with you."
"No, don't do that." Kim replied. "Don't ruin your night because of me."
"Kim, it's okay." Aisha insisted.
"Aisha, I'm fine. Don't worry about me okay. I can go outside by myself, it's no big deal."
"Okay…" Aisha said, a bit skeptical.
Kim made her way out the door, but not without getting the attention of Tommy, who was still at the table sitting with Kat. He became very curious as to why Kim left the club and he immediately stood up to find out.
"Where you going?" Kat asked.
Tommy looked down at Kat. He couldn't tell her that he was going outside to go after Kim, he already felt a vibe off of her that she wasn't enjoying Kim's presence back in Angel Grove.
"I forgot something back at the car… I'll be back." He replied.
"Okay…" Kat muttered.
Tommy rushed over to the entrance way and through the door. He immediately looked at all directions looking for Kim. Tommy finally spotted her crouched down to the ground, leaning against the building and resting her forehead against her knees. He slowly walked up to her, wondering why on earth she rushed outside by herself.
"Kim?" he quietly muttered.
She lifted her head up to see who it was. As soon as she saw Tommy, she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Go away." She replied.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing."
"Then how come you went rushing outside, and I see you sitting here in the parking lot by yourself."
"I just went outside to get some fresh air alright?" Kim said, standing herself up. "You happy now?"
"You alright?" Tommy asked.
"God! YES! Yes, I'm fine." Kim stammered.
"Ok." Tommy replied. "Just chill, I was only asking."
"Well do yourself a favor, and forget about it, okay?" Kim said. "There's nothing wrong with me."
"Alright." Tommy nodded. "I'll go then."
"Good." Kim rolled her eyes, as Tommy turned around and re-entered the club. Kim gave out a big sigh and thought to herself, asking why she acted the way she did. It felt like it was a basic instinct for her to act defensively against him. The more she thought about it, the more she felt bad that she snapped at him the way she did.
"I probably got him upset." She thought to herself, shutting her eyes, ashamed of her actions. Suddenly she realized that the one thing she didn't want happening that night was indeed happening. She was letting things bother her, making her feel down, when she promised herself that she wouldn't. This was a night for her to enjoy, a night for her to have fun with all of her friends and yet she still let stress get to her as well as Tommy's curiosity.
"Kay, forget about it Kim." She continued to think. "Just go back in there and have fun." She slowly nodded, took a few deep breaths and made her way inside and back onto the dance floor.
Kat watched as Kim joined back in with the others. Watching them all dance, while sitting by herself wasn't what she intended for tonight.
"Where the hell is Tommy?" she thought, turning around looking for him. She saw Rocky at the bar talking to a mysterious red head, while Billy chatted away with the bartender probably ordering another drink. She turned back to the dance floor. Jason, Kim, Tanya, Adam, Aisha and Lacey were all there, and yet there was no sign of Tommy anywhere. She started to worry and soon stood up. She decided she'd walk around to look for him.
Suddenly she spotted him walking by the bar chatting a bit with Billy.
"Tommy!" she yelled out, waving at him. Tommy spotted her and made his way over to her.
"Hey." He said as he gave Kat a quick kiss on the lips.
"Where did you go?" Kat asked.
"Oh took a quick stop to the washroom." Tommy replied.
"So what did you forget at the car."
"Oh, I just had this feeling I left the lights on, but I was wrong."
"Why did you take so long?" Kat asked.
"Kat, I didn't take that long, relax."
"Relax! How the hell are you supposed to except me to relax when you left me all alone at that table?" Kat snapped.
"Well why didn't you join the others if you didn't want to be alone?"
"I told you Tommy, I don't feel like dancing tonight."
"Kat, I'm sorry… alright. Let's just forget about this and sit down." Tommy replied, and the two walked toward their table.
"Are you sure you don't want to go dance?"
Kat just gave him a blank stare.
"Oh come on Kat, have some fun."
"Speaking of fun, check them out." Kat replied pointing at Kim, Jason, Lacey and Aisha on the dance floor. The two of them continued talking at the table, while the rest of them danced the night away.
"Hmm… Kim just seems to go to guy after guy doesn't she?" Kat replied. Tommy looked over to see Kim getting freaky with a guy she didn't even know. It got Tommy a little upset, the guy was all over her and Kim did nothing about it. The two just kept dancing. The sight was just too much for Tommy to handle, so he turned around and paid attention to something else. Kat could see jealousy written all over Tommy's face, and that upset her a whole lot. Soon after, the two could hear loud cheers coming for the dance floor. Tommy turned around again, and saw the look of enjoyment all over Kim's face with Lacey, Aisha, Tanya and the guys dancing behind her, having a good time. Tommy couldn't stand the look of seeing Kim dancing with that stranger. He could see the guys' hands starting to wander lower down Kim's body, which started pulling her more towards him. That finally set Tommy off, and he immediately stood up and started pushing his way through the crowd towards Kim. He quickly pushed away the guy dancing with her, and grabbed Kim's arm.
"OW! What's your fucking problem!" Kim shouted.
"My problem! What's yours? You don't even know this guy!" Tommy shouted back.
"We were just dancing you dumb shit!" Kim yelled, hit his arm.
"HEY! What's going on here?" Jason asked as he made his way towards Tommy and Kim, with Rocky, Billy and Adam behind him.
"Nothing! Tommy's just being a jackass!" Kim answered. "Let go of me!" She yelled as she quickly pulled back her arm.
"Kim you're coming with me." Tommy said grabbing back her arm.
"What are you, my father? Let me go!" Kim stammered, pulling back.
"You guys don't make a scene!" Aisha came over. "Tommy just leave Kim alone."
"Exactly! Now let go of me!" Kim yelled.
"Kim just shutup!" Tommy snapped which caught Kim by surprise.
"Hey let go of her man, you're hurting her." Jason yelled out. Tommy looked at what he was doing. He looked down at his hand that clutched onto Kim's wrist. He quickly let go, astonished at what he had done.
"Oh god, I'm sorry." Tommy replied staring back at Kim.
"Fuck!" Kim replied, rubbing her arm to make it feel better. She gave Tommy a big frown, wondering why he acted like that.
"Kim, really… I'm really sorry."
"Oh you're sorry again? What, you weren't thinking before you acted, is that it?"
"Kim…"
"NO! This is exactly what happened three days ago… and I am sick and tired of taking your shit! So why don't you just leave me the fuck alone!"
"Kim… I think we better go." Lacey butted in. "Everyone's looking at us."
The group all turned to see all eyes staring at them, which made them feel very awkward.
"I think I'm gonna go too." Adam replied. "Tanya, you coming?"
"Yeah." Tanya replied, giving a little glare at Tommy.
Kim and Lacey started walking towards the exit, with Adam and Tanya following behind. Jason stood in front of Tommy with disappointment.
"She was just having some fun man." Jason replied, and started making his way to the exit of the club, with Aisha, Rocky and Billy following him from behind. Kat stood beside Tommy and ringed her arms with his.
"Tommy let's go." She whispered. Tommy nodded staying silent. He had no idea why he acted the way he did. The two continued walking out of the club, and into the parking lot. There, Tommy could see Kim, Lacey, Aisha and Billy getting into Jason's Explorer. Kim looked back at Tommy still frowning. Tommy turned his head to see Adam, Tanya and Rocky getting into Adam's car. They all looked at him like he was a criminal. He quickly took his keys out of his pocket and opened the car door for Kat. He felt really uncomfortable knowing that all eight of them watched him as he got into his car. Once he got in, he gave out a big sigh.
"What in the world were you thinking?" Kat scolded.
"God, I really don't need this from you Kat." Tommy answered as he started his engine.
"Well you're gonna hear it anyway." Kat stammered. "Kim is a big girl, she doesn't need you protecting her."
"What did you expect me to do? Just leave her alone. The guy was all over her." Tommy raised his voice.
"Tommy I seriously think you should stay away from her." Kat whispered.
"What?"
"Look if she is ever in danger, she has Jason, Adam, Billy, or Rocky to help her. She doesn't need you." Kat explained.
"What are you saying?" Tommy replied, in disbelief.
"Look, I just don't understand why you still care about her, even when she dumped you straight in the dumpster for another guy." Kat replied.
"Kat, me and Kim have known each other for years. I can't just all off a sudden not care for her." Tommy replied. The two were silent. Tommy didn't notice it, but Kat was hurt from what he said. After all those years that she and Tommy had been together, she thought his feelings for Kim would be gone by now. But Kim just had to come back, and since then she could feel her and Tommy slowly growing apart. She looked at Tommy, as he continued driving. Suddenly she felt her biggest fear was coming true, because he would have never acted the way he did, if he wasn't still in love with Kim. But she wasn't just gonna sit there and watch her dreams fall apart. She was going to do everything that it took to prevent what she feared from happening.
