Comments & Reminders To those who don't like how the Kim character is developing… I have to remind you that in this story Kim is a changed her person. This is how I want to portray her. And I apologize if people are offended by the swearing, but its just part of how the story is. So if you are offended by swearing then DON'T read. I've been getting a lot of complaints… which really makes me not want to complete this story, but I am going to try my best to finish it because I've gotten so far and it wouldn't want to just leave it incomplete. Also, there IS Kat bashing in this story, so if you DO like her then DON'T read this story.
Endless Roads
Chapter 9 - Telling the Others
One week later…
It was a bright sunny afternoon in Angel Grove, and Kim decided to show Lacey the best part of town: the shopping. As they walked down the sidewalks checking out Kim's favorite stores, the topic of the incident last week just had to come up. Kim wanted to forget about it, but as curious as Lacey was, she wasn't going to give up until she knew exactly what Tommy's actions meant.
"Why must you think that everything happens for a reason!" Kim exclaimed.
"Because they do." Lacey muttered. "Do not deny it Kim. Tommy stopped you from dancing with that guy 'cause he cared."
"Well so what if he did. It doesn't matter."
"Oh come on, do not tell me that what Tommy did was not a tad sweet."
"If you call embarrassing someone in front of dozens of people sweet, you're completely out of it."
"Okay, so maybe it wasn't the greatest scenario. Believe me I didn't enjoy it either, but if you think about it… he saw you with this guy, and he immediately came to your rescue, ditching his girlfriend at the table just for you."
"My RESCUE! What the hell are you talking about? I was never in danger." Kim replied. "And where is this coming from, I thought you didn't like Tommy."
"Who said I didn't?"
"Never mind." Kim muttered.
"Kim, I'm serious. Maybe if you would just see things my way, then you wouldn't have to avoid this guy everywhere you go."
"I'm not avoiding him!" Kim exclaimed.
"Yeah… right." Lacey rolled her eyes.
"Look! I just think it's better this way. Every time I get him involved in something he always does or says something completely idiotic, and then I get mad. All I'm saying is that if he'd just stay away from me then everything would be fine, but noting the fact that we share the same friends that's going to be completely impossible."
"So what do you plan on doing?"
"Simple. I'm going to stay away from him."
"But Kim…"
"Lace." Kim interrupted. "Give it up. You're not going to change my mind."
"Fine. Whatever."
"Besides, Tommy is the least of my worries. Right now, I should be worrying about telling everybody else about myself."
"You still haven't told them?"
"No." Kim shook her head.
"So when do you plan on telling them?" Lacey asked.
"I don't know. " Kim sighed, sitting herself down on a sidewalk bench. "I keep trying to push myself to tell someone, but I just can't find the guts to do it."
"You had the guts to tell Tommy…"
"That was different. I didn't intend on telling him, he just happened to over hear a conversation I had with Jason and I no choice but to."
"So who does know so far?"
"Well only you, Jason and Tommy." Kim replied. "And did I mention the hell I went through when I told Tommy?"
"Yeah." Lacey nodded.
"I'm just really scared that they're gonna have the same reaction that Tommy did."
"But didn't he apologize?" Lacey wondered. "I do recall him coming over to the apartment, convincing you that he didn't mean what he said."
"But that doesn't erase what he said." Kim shook her head. "Even if he didn't mean it, he still said that I deserved it, and that's something I can never get over."
"Well I have to admit… that was kind of harsh." Lacey replied. "But when we were all at the club, when you and Tommy were still on 'good terms', I could see how much you enjoyed your time, Kim."
Kim gave a little chuckle. "Kay, Lace. You're getting a little too sappy for me."
"Sorry." Lacey laughed. "But it's true. You've gotta learn to get over it, 'cause it's just eating you up inside."
"Yeah well… it's nothing I can't handle." Kim muttered.
"Fine, suit yourself."
As Kim and Lacey continued on with their conversation, a familiar person began to make way from behind them. He slowly walked up to the girls, making sure that he wasn't seen. With the sounds of laughter he then finally decided to give the two a surprise.
"Boo!" He jumped out, startling Kim and Lacey.
"Rocky!" Kim exclaimed. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Sorry." Rocky chuckled, as he noticed the many bags that were held in Kim and Lacey's hands. "I see you two have been shopping?"
"A lot of shopping, I may add." Lacey said.
"I can tell." He nodded, as Kim and Lacey got up from the sidewalk bench.
"So what have you been up to, Mr. De Santos?" Kim asked.
"Oh, just went around, paid some bills… you know, all the exciting stuff."
"Yeah, you're life is just full of thrills ain't it?" She mumbled.
"You calling me boring?"
"What if I am?"
"Hey, hey, hey." Lacey barged in. "No fighting." She laughed.
"So what else do you fine ladies have planned for today?" he asked.
"Oh nothing much." Lacey replied. "Kimberly here decided to show me around town some more."
"Well I'll tell you right now Lacey, there's nothing much to see."
"Way to be positive Rock-o." Kim muttered.
"Hey, I'm being honest. Nothing wrong with that."
"Sure." Kim rolled her eyes.
"So you guys have no plans for tonight?" Rocky asked.
"No… why? You have something in mind?"
"As a matter of fact I do."
"Oh really? And what is that." Kim replied.
"I'm having a little party tonight at my place. I saw you guys walking from across the street, so I thought I'd come over and tell you." Rocky smiled.
"Wow, a party at Rocky's already. You must be bored."
"No…" Rocky muttered. "It's just been a while since we last did something, and hey what's better than having a party."
"Rocky you do remember that the last time we got together, it turned out to be a huge nightmare." Kim replied.
"Yeah, well this will be different…"
"How so?"
"First off I don't intend on inviting strangers you can dance with, that will piss Tommy off."
"Shutup Rocky!" Kim snapped.
"Relax Kim, I was only joking."
"Yeah well that's a joke that is definitely NOT funny."
"Ok, ok." Rocky muttered. "So will you come?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe? I'm not taking a 'maybe'… or a 'no' either."
"Geez, you really are that desperate."
"I never said I was desperate, I just really want you two to come."
"Fine, we'll go." Lacey immediately replied.
"Lacey!" Kim snapped.
"What?" Lacey shrugged. "Oh come on Kim, what's the big deal, it's just a little party at someone's house, what could possibly go wrong?"
__________________________________
A few hours later Kim dropped off Lacey back at the apartment because she wasn't feeling good, and then headed over to the Starbucks to get herself some coffee. For the past week Kim had been way to caught up with her social problems, that she really needed to take time to herself and just think. So many things were weighing her down, whether it'd be Tommy's behavior, Lacey's annoying curiosity or the pressure she had to tell her friends what happened to her.
Finally when Kim got her coffee, she took a seat by the window near the entrance of the store. She sipped away at her coffee while thinking about everything that was going on in her life. Ever since her talk with Lacey earlier, she couldn't stop thinking that it was about time to tell the rest of the group the truth. Just thinking about it made Kim feel sick. She couldn't do it; it was too hard. Usually Kim wasn't the kind of person to give up on something because it was difficult, but this was something that was far beyond difficult; it was more like a matter of life or death. She couldn't stand the thought of losing her friends that she had known for so long, over her bad choice of direction in her life. If they had the same reaction that Tommy did, she would be doomed. She was more concerned about Billy and Aisha than the others. Besides Jason, she knew Billy the longest. They had gone way back, all the way from first grade. They grew up with each other, doing homework and studying. But what Kim loved the most was that every time she needed someone, Billy was there, and she was there for him. Just the thought of that special bond between them ending made Kim feel at her worst. And Aisha was her best friend all throughout highschool. One thing was for sure, that when Aisha found out, she wouldn't be happy at all. Kim remembered Aisha saying that she had lost one of her favorite aunts to drugs and alcohol. And if Aisha found out that her very own friend messed up her life because of the same reason, there would be no room for remorse. Kim could already hear the lecturing and the scolding in her head.
But what was different was that Kim got help. She was better now, and was now able to start all over again. And Kim just hoped that that was enough for them to understand. Maybe Rocky's party was a great idea after all. It gave her the perfect opportunity to tell them all the truth, but was Kim ready enough? Was she ready to handle any kind of reaction that she'd get? She continued to think about that, when suddenly a tap on her shoulder interrupted her. Kim turned her head and looked up to a figure that stood tall from behind her. It was Tommy. Kim rolled her eyes and immediately got up from her seat, grabbed her purse and began to make her way out of the store.
"No wait!" Tommy replied, grabbing her by the arm.
Kim looked down at Tommy's hand that clutched on to her. Tommy looked too and was immediately reminded of the incident at the club last week. He quickly let go.
"Don't leave." He muttered. "We really need to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you." Kim sneered.
"Yeah, well I do. Now sit." Tommy demanded.
Kim hesitated for a moment, but she was fed up with all the arguing and running away, that she finally decided to sit down.
"So what do you have to say Tommy? That you're sorry, 'cause I've already heard that one from you."
"Look, I know I've used those words probably like a millions times by now, but I can't stress them enough because I really am sorry."
Kim just sat there giving him a blank stare.
"You have no idea the guilt I felt after we all left the club that night."
"I'm sure you felt pretty bad." Kim muttered. "But that's still no excuse for what you did it."
"God! Do you have to be so bitter!" Tommy raised his voice.
"I'm not being bitter! I'm being honest! You completely humiliated me in front of all those people!" Kim exclaimed.
Kim' s voice could be heard throughout the whole café. The two turned to see everybody in the store looking at them.
"Maybe we should take this outside." Tommy whispered. Without a word, Kim quickly grabbed her things and headed out the door. Tommy followed behind her, but Kim didn't stop there. She started heading towards her car, but Tommy stopped her from opening the door.
"You're not going anywhere, we still need to talk."
Kim turned around and gave him a glare. "Well what is it then… what do you want to talk about?" she hissed.
Tommy paused for a moment. "Uh… that's a nice car you have there… where'd you get it?"
"Is that what you want to talk about? 'Cause seriously your wasting my time."
"No… that's not what I have to say."
"Then what is it then?"
"I know you must have been embarrassed that night." Tommy replied. "I was too."
"Well obviously! You acted like a complete jerk!" Kim snapped back.
Tommy shut his eyes taking in the harshness of Kim's comment. "Geez, you're really not gonna make this easy on me, are you."
Kim immediately calmed down and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." She muttered. "I'm being a complete bitch aren't I?"
"Well I wouldn't say your not."
"Tommy, it's not that I'm extremely mad at you, it's just I've been going through a lot these days that little things just totally set me off."
"Well it's not your fault. I mean the things I've done… let's just say I can understand why you'd be mad."
"Yeah I guess." Kim replied.
"Can I be perfectly honest with you?" He asked.
Kim stared at him for a few seconds before answering, knowing she wasn't going to like what he had to say. "Go ahead." She nodded.
Tommy paused once again. He was about to completely open up to Kim right there and then. It was something that took a lot of courage. And hopefully it was the right thing to do.
"For the past week, I've just been thinking about why the hell I acted the way I did at the club. Some people were saying that it was just that I wanted to protect you."
"And…" Kim mumbled.
"And I don't think that was it."
"So what was it then?" Kim asked. "Why did you pull me away from that guy."
"It wasn't like I had this feeling to protect you…" Tommy paused. "It was more like a reflex."
"A reflex?" Kim replied with curiosity. "What the hell are you talking about."
Tommy stayed silent.
"Tommy, what are you talking about? What do you mean?"
"You said I could be honest with you, right?" He muttered.
"Yeah." Kim nodded.
"You and me share an interesting past…" Tommy began to say. "A past that I don't think anybody could replicate."
Kim continued on to listen.
"It's just that no matter what you do, or what happens…" Tommy paused again, looking straight into Kim's eyes. "I'm still always going to care for you."
Kim remained silent. The awkward silence made Tommy uncomfortable. He had just opened up himself to Kim, revealing what he felt, and Kim didn't know what to say in return.
"I-I have to go." Kim muttered.
"Is it what I said?" Tommy asked.
"No! No… of course n-not." Kim stuttered. "I just have to… to…."
"Go?" Tommy finished for her.
"Yeah." Kim nodded, quickly grabbing her car keys out of her purse and unlocking her door.
"Are you going to Rocky's tonight?" Tommy asked.
Kim suddenly stopped what she was doing, turned to face Tommy, and nodded.
"Yeah, I am."
"Okay, then I guess I'll see you there." He nodded, turned, and began heading towards his car.
"No Tommy wait!"
"What?" He turned to look at Kim. When he looked at her face, he could see that she was nervous, and he could see fear in her eyes.
"What is it?" he asked again.
"I decided I'm going to be doing something tonight, at the party… and I kinda need all the help that I can get."
"What do you mean? What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to tell them…" Kim mumble.
"Oh." Tommy replied. "You're seriously gonna go through with it."
"I have to." She responded. "I've waited long enough, they need to know."
"I understand." Tommy nodded. "Don't worry, I'll be there for you."
"Really?"
"Of course…"
"Thanks." Kim sighed.
"No problem." Tommy smiled.
"Oh, and Tommy…"
"Yeah?"
"I got it from aunt Lara."
"Huh?"
"The car… it's my aunt Lara's." She smiled.
"Oh." He chuckled. "Cool. I'll see you tonight, okay?"
"Yeah." Kim nodded and got inside.
_____________________________________________
Hours had passed when Kim finally found herself standing on Rocky's doorstep. She could hear the sound of music blasting through the windows, and the laughter of people from inside. She couldn't wait to get in there and meet all her friends but another side of her just wanted to turn around and go home. She stood there for a couple of minutes practicing her speech, that she would soon say in front of them all, inside her head. Her hands shook vigorously of nervousness, as she inched more to the door.
Suddenly she found herself interrupted by footsteps from behind her. Kim turned to see who it was. To her surprise it was Tommy and Kat.
"Hey Kim." Tommy replied. "Are you gonna ring the door…" he paused to see the paleness of Kim's face and the great fear in her eyes.
"Kimberly, are you okay?" Kat asked. "You don't look so well."
"I-I'm fine." She slowly replied, as Tommy noticed her shaking hands.
"Umm… Kat, why don't you head inside first, I'll meet you in there."
"Oh come on Tommy, I don't want to go in there by myself."
"Why? There you're friends, it's not like your going to meet a whole bunch of strangers."
"Please." Kat begged.
"Okay fine." Tommy gave in, as he stepped up to the door passing Kim.
Kat rang the doorbell and ringed her arms with Tommy's, while Tommy turned around to take one short glimpse of Kim.
"Oh my god… I can't to this." She thought to herself, and quickly turned around heading down towards the driveway.
The front door finally opened to an excited Rocky behind it. "TOMMY! KAT! Great that you could come!" he shouted. "Hey, where's Kim going?" he asked, as he noticed Kim walking down the driveway as well.
"Yeah I'm going to find out." Tommy quickly replied, as he pushed Kat inside.
"Tommy! Where are you going?" Kat replied.
"I'll be back… don't worry." He said, as Rocky shut the door.
Tommy quickly ran down to the driveway to see Kim getting into her car.
"Kim… what are you doing?"
"I can't be here… I can't do this." She whispered.
"No, Kim. Listen to me… you're not going to leave, okay?" He replied. "Get out of the car."
"Tommy, just leave me alone, all right."
"No I'm not going to leave you alone. Get out of the car!"
"You don't understand, I can't do this."
"You convinced yourself before, why are turning back now?"
"Because before I wasn't standing in front of Rocky's house."
"Kim, just get out of your car, and get in there. Who says that you have to tell them tonight?"
"I've waited too long… they have to know."
"And you're just going to make the wait even longer if you leave right now."
Kimberly froze. "You're right." She muttered.
Suddenly their conversation was interrupted when a black Explorer pulled up in the driveway. Jason and Lacey had stepped out of it and walked up to the two.
"Hey you two… what's up?" Lacey smiled.
"Kim… what's going on?" Jason asked with curiosity.
"She backing out." Tommy replied to him.
"Kim no… come on. You can do this all right You've got me, Lacey and Tommy to support you. Get out of the car." Jason replied, offering his hand.
Kim sat there for a moment to collect her thoughts. Getting out of her car would mean that she was actually going to go through with her plan, and she didn't know if should was able to pull it through. She looked up to see all three of them staring back at her. She slowly nodded and reached for Jason's hand. She stood up and closed her car door. The four of them walked up to Rocky's door and rang the doorbell.
Once again Rocky opened it, and was ecstatic. "HEY YOU GUYS! Come on in!" she shouted.
Kim stepped in and saw Aisha, Tanya and Kat chatting amongst each other in Rocky's living room. What bugged her the most was that she saw people she didn't even know. They were probably people from Rocky's work, but she didn't want to make a scene in front of them. Suddenly Aisha and Tanya ran up to her and gave her hugs.
"What's up girl?" Aisha yelled out.
"Not much." Kim smiled back.
"Hey… I've got a couple of people I want you to meet." Aisha said as she grabbed Kim by the wrists. She led her two a group of people sitting in the dining room.
"Kim, these are my friends from work. This is Ken, Geraldine, Lisa and Craig."
The name Craig stood out from all of them; the evil name of her drunken ex-boyfriend. The one who started the whole mess in the first place. It made Kim feel a little awkward. She slowly nodded at them and shook each of their hands.
"Nice to meet you." She kindly said. "Hey Aisha, I'm gonna head to the washroom okay?"
"Yeah sure."
"Kay." Kim nodded, turned and headed towards the bathroom. But before she made it there, she accidentally bumped into a person on her way. Kim turned to see that it was Kat.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." Kim muttered.
"It's all right." Kat replied. "Are you seriously feeling all right Kim? You don't look too good."
"I'm great." Kim smiled. "Nothing's wrong with me."
"Oh, okay. It's just your really don't look well. Maybe you should go home and get some rest." Kat insisted.
"Kat I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me."
"Are you sure?"
Kim got the hint that Kat wanted her gone from the party, and she certainly wasn't going to take that crap.
"Kat, is there a reason for you insisting that I leave this party?" Kim asked in her kindest tone.
"No not all." Kat smiled back.
"Okay then." Kim gave a fake smile back and continued her way to the bathroom.
__________________________________________
A few hours later…
Jason wandered around Rocky's house looking for Kim. She was no where to be seen. He checked the kitchen to only see Rocky, Adam, Tanya, Billy and a couple others chatting. Jason then headed towards the living room and the dining room but Kim wasn't there either. He had this sudden fear that she probably slipped outside and decided to leave after all. Suddenly he saw Tommy walking out of the washroom and Jason immediately approached him.
"Tommy! Have you seen Kim?" He asked.
Tommy shook his head. "No… haven't seen her."
"Shit! Where the hell is she." He sneered.
"You don't think she left do you?" Tommy asked.
"That's what I'm thinking."
"Here… I'm gonna go check if her car is still here."
"Kay." Jason nodded.
A few minutes later, Tommy came back inside the house and shook his head. "No, her car is still there."
"Oh my god, this is fucking stupid. Help me find her."
The two split up. With Tommy going towards the living room and Jason heading over to the kitchen once again, they went in search for Kimberly. It wasn't until they both heard her voice saying: "Can I talk to you guys for a sec?"
It was Kim. Jason stepped into the kitchen and saw her pulling away Rocky, Adam, Billy and Tanya. She turned to see Jason standing there.
"Jason! There you are." She replied. "Can you do me a favor and get Aisha for me?"
"How 'bout Tommy and Kat?"
"Yeah them too." She nodded.
Jason turned to see Tommy standing right behind him.
"This is it." He whispered to Tommy.
"Get Aisha and Kat."
"Kay." Tommy nodded.
Kim led the guys upstairs to Rocky's room with everybody confused as to what was going on.
"You guys better sit down for this." Kim replied.
"Kim, what's going on?" Rocky asked.
"Just sit… I'll tell you in a minute."
She looked over at Jason, who shut the door. Kim paused for a moment to get herself together. She had the guts to round everybody up… now she needed to find the strength to tell them all.
"It's been almost three weeks now since I've come back…" She began to say. "And I haven't exactly been honest with you guys."
"Honest about what?" Billy asked.
"I haven't been honest about myself… about the reason why I came back." Kim took a deep breath. "I never left gymnastics because I didn't think it was cut out for me, I left because I was kicked out."
"What? I don't get it… You weren't good enough or something." Aisha replied.
"It's not that I wasn't good enough, it's more that I made bad decisions slash choices…" Kim responded and continued to tell her story.
After about half and hour of talking, her friends were in complete shock.
"Kim… I don't know what to say." Billy replied. "I mean, I'd never expect you to get into that kind of stuff."
"I know." Kim muttered, as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I was stupid, and I got myself involved with the wrong people."
"I really don't know what to say Kim." Aisha replied sternly, shaking her head. "This whole time you were struggling with your life and you didn't even rely on your best friends to help you?"
"Aisha, I didn't want to get you guys involved…"
"Kim you almost DIED!" Aisha interrupted her. "And if you did, we probably wouldn't know about that either!" she shouted.
"Aisha." Adam mumbled, putting his hand on her shoulder to make her calm down.
"Lay off Adam!" She snapped. "This is insane. I can't believe you Kim. When you first came back here I ignored the fact that you never called, or sent an email or letter. We could have helped you Kim, we could have prevented all these bad things from happening to you. But you made the decision to leave us out, and you come here and expect us to just welcome you back with open arms?"
"I told you I made some bad decisions."
"Well what on earth were you thinking?" Aisha yelled again.
"Aisha calm down." Jason replied.
"And you!" She pointed at him. "You've been here for a year and we only find this out now?"
"Aisha I told him not to say anything." Kim responded.
"God! You are an idiot."
"Aisha!" Adam stammered.
"This is fucking crazy… I-I can't even look at you." Aisha replied, turning away from Kim.
"Aisha, I didn't intend on isolating you the way I did. If I knew how it would make you guys feel, I wouldn't have done it."
"Well it's too late for that now, ain't it." Aisha slowly muttered. "I'm going back downstairs."
Everyone watched as Aisha opened the door and headed down to the party. Kim turned to the others. They all remained silent.
"Are you done now?" Billy asked.
Kim nodded.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you." He replied. "But I'm gonna have to agree with Aisha. It really hurts to know that during one of the toughest phases of your life, you didn't want your closest friends involved. Especially me…"
"Billy I'm so sorry."
"I-I know you are." Billy nodded. "That doesn't change what you did."
"Kim, I don't want to be rude or anything… but I think it's best that you leave." Rocky replied quietly.
"Yeah maybe that would be a good thing." Kat suddenly replied.
Kim quickly looked over at her who had no sign or emotion on her face, just a blank stare. Kim slowly nodded, and headed out the room. Tears began streaming down her face as she walked down the stairs. She grabbed her bag and jacket in the living room and left through the front door.
"Kim, wait up!" voices yelled from behind her. Kim stopped for those behind her to catch up. It was Lacey, Jason and Tommy, coming to comfort her.
"Look if you guys are gonna try to make me feel better nothing's going to work, okay." She replied.
"Kim, I'm sure if you give them time, they'll come around." Tommy replied.
"Why? Because you did?" Kim responded. "Well I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but what they said in there was way more harsh than what you said."
"Kim…"
"Did you hear what Rocky said!" She cried. "He asked me to leave!"
"He only did that because it's for the best."
"They hate me." Kim whimpered. "I knew this was going to be bad."
"Just give them time…" Lacey whispered, placing her hand on Kim's shoulder.
"I hurt Aisha and Billy." Kim muttered. "Aisha won't even look at me…"
"You'll be okay." Jason stepped up.
"I want to go home." Kim whispered.
"I'll drive, you're in no good condition to drive yourself home." Tommy offered.
"What about Kat?"
"I'll leave my car here. She's got the keys."
"No Tommy you should stay with her."
"Kim, if I don't drive you, who else will?"
"Lace?"
"Umm… actually Kim… my license was taken away. I was caught speeding." Lacey replied.
"Oh."
"You see… I'm the only one you've got."
Kim slowly nodded and started her way towards her car.
"Hey Kim… you wouldn't mind if me and Lace stayed would you?" Jason asked.
"Of course not." Kim shook her head.
Jason smiled back as he and Lacey started heading back inside the house. Kim opened her purse, gave Tommy her keys and the two got inside. The night was over. Kim had done what she was set out to do, and she couldn't feel anymore worse.
