Chapter 6: Down Heartbreak Lane
"Whoa…" Tyson murmured aloud, in a very dazed manner. His eyes had just begun to focus on swirls of colourful spheres of light that seemed to spin around his head continuously. The dizzy boy groaned as a throbbing pain registered in his brain. "Ugh…my head hurts…Why am I on the ground? Why does my head hurt so much? Hm, the ceiling looks awfully like the underside of the table…I'm hungry…" then the reality of the party dawned on Tyson. "Crap! The party!"
The navy-haired boy leaped up from his bed of squished plastic cups that had once been filled over and over again with spiked punch, only to slip on them and land squarely on his backside. "Owie…that smarts." He rubbed his head gingerly. Then, his cobalt eyes widened and he leaped back up onto his feet. "Crap! The party! Dammit!" His head rammed upwards into the table top above him, causing the entire refreshment table to topple over.
Hurriedly, Tyson jumped up again, only to slip again on the plastic cups. "Owwwww…" he moaned, once again lying in a pile of cups. Dragging himself across the floor, and out from under the table, Tyson saw people dancing very drunkenly in the middle of the dojo. "What are all these people doing here…Crap! The party!" he scrambled to his feet—only to crash right into someone.
"Eh…Tyson?" Tyson looked up to see a startled and concerned Max. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, hey Max! I was just…uh…looking for Hilary! Yeah that's it! I can't find her anywhere!" Tyson laughed nervously.
"Um, I hate to say this Tyson, but you're not going to find Hilary under the table. She already left, and she didn't look too happy either." Max raised an eyebrow curiously at Tyson, who seemed to swaying in his place. "Tyson, are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Tyson said hurriedly. "But what do you mean 'she already left'?"
"I mean that she left! Poof, gone! Asta-la-vista! Bye-bye!" Max gestured towards the dojo's sliding doors.
"She's…gone?!" Tyson gaped. "Oh crap!" he dashed towards the door, grabbing his jacket along the way. "Thanks Max, take care of the party for me, will ya'? Ciao!" he took off into the biting cold without waiting for a reply from the speechless American.
"Wait!"
Tyson spun around and caught the small, lumpy, packaged projectile. Smiling back at his friend, without even wondering how he had known, Tyson shouted a "Thanks man!" before he slipped on a patch of ice. The clumsy Bladebreaker scrambled back onto his feet sheepishly and scampered off down the street into the swirling white snow.
I have to get out of here. Was the first thought that came to Hilary's head as soon as the idiotic officer drove away. I'm not going to let Kai see me cry anymore…I am not going to embarrass myself in front of him again. She sniffed and wiped her sleeve across her eyes. I can't just kick people out of my house…it's not like he would listen anyway.
"And where do you think you're going?" Kai's deep voice called after her as she put on her spare black fitting jacket, scarf, and mittens.
"Out." she huffed angrily and stormed out the door. Running down the sleet-covered street, Hilary ran into the whirl of snow with her head cast downwards. "And away from you."
"Out." The brunette had retorted before running out of the house and back into the cold.
Not again. Kai rolled his eyes and growled. Does she have to be such an idiot sometimes?
I guess I'd better go after her. Kai put on his scarf and grabbed the spare set of keys that lay on the coffee table.
Turkeys are for thawing out at Christmas time, not stubborn ass girls with emotional problems.
"Hilary?" Kai had finally found the brunette leaning against the railing of the bridge that over-looked the canal. She was staring motionlessly into the fast moving current below her. Her face was tilted downwards, shadowing her eyes that Kai assumed were filled with tears.
"Go away." Hilary replied in choked-up sobs, not daring to look in his direction. She didn't want him to see her crying. She didn't want him to see her so…weak. Having had him carry her home was enough. She didn't need this too.
"No." she felt his familiar presence right behind her. "I'm not leaving without you. You're going to freeze to death if you don't come back home."
But Hilary wouldn't move. Instead, Hilary put a foot up onto the bridge siding and hoisted herself over. Standing with her back against the ledge, she stared unwaveringly into the dark, cascade of water below her. Beckoning her.
If I do this now, it'll all be over. Hilary closed her eyes and tried to reassure herself. Don't think of what everyone else will think. They'll just think your stupid to worry so much. Ignore them. The pain will be over soon and I can be free. I can be back with Mom and Dad. We can be happy together. Tears were reforming in her eyes. Was she really going to do this? Don't think about them, don't think about them. She told herself. Just think of the pain and suffering you won't have to go through. She took a deep breath. It's all for the best…
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Kai's angry voice sent shivers coursing down her spine.
Hilary cringed and froze in place, but remained silent. She felt a warm hand latch onto her arm, trying to restrain her from doing something stupid, that she might regret later on.
He harshly spun the brunette around to face him and looked her deep in the eyes. The look on his face made Hilary want to…to…
Cry. Hug him. Run. Scream. Smack him. Laugh. Shrink back in fear. Smile. Hate him…
Love him.
His eyes were so…different. She had never in her life seen anyone look at her like that. It made her blush and she felt her expression softening as she gazed into his deep auburn eyes. They were filled with so much emotion…all the emotion that Kai seemed to have hidden away for so long. Hilary could swear she saw all the hidden grief, pain, sadness, loneliness in them. But she could also see…concern. His concern for her.
And it felt like he was staring right through her. Like he could read her thoughts. God, how Hilary hated how he did that.
But she couldn't hate him.
"Don't jump, Hil. You'll regret it. I-I'll regret it."
Did he just say…what I think he said…
Suddenly, Hilary found herself being lifted back over the rail and onto the bridge with gentle, sturdy hands. As soon as her feet touched the hard concrete of the bridge, she threw herself into Kai and buried her face into his sweatshirt. Feeling the safety of being close to him, someone who cared, she let a river of tears flow from her ruby eyes and cried.
When Kai felt the girl latch herself onto him, he was…surprised, to say the least. It was quite odd to have someone so physically close to him. But it kind of felt…Oddly, strangely, amazingly, could you believe…nice? Their closeness was warm, comforting, and all together different. But it felt good.
Not having been in a situation as such before and not ever having any female friends, Kai didn't really know what to do. For the first time in his life, the Russian boy felt helpless as he watched Hilary sob into his shirt. Should he push her away, like he would have done to everyone else, in his regular state of mind?
But then again… a little voice inside his head began to argue.
Shut up before I mentally kick you out of my head for good! Kai threatened the little voice in his head. He did not need to have anyone thinking he was some deranged little schizophrenic.
But then again, you aren't in your regular state of mind, are you Kai? Did that stupid little voice ever give up?
What do you mean?
Well, for one thing, you didn't correct the policeman when he called you Hilary's "boyfriend". Kai could swear he heard a faint snicker from somewhere inside his head.
The boy gave a low growl. Damn that stupid voice! But, it was right. Why hadn't he corrected him? Correction; why hadn't he punched the lights out of the guy? Why was he arguing with himself? Come to think of it…why was he listening to a little voice in his head in the first place? And why was he suddenly getting a very damp sweatshirt?
Oh yeah. She was pouring her eyes out into his favourite, practically brand new sweatshirt.
Dude, it's only water. The voice reassured him. And besides, you should be comforting her anyway.
Dude? Okay, now Kai's brain was speaking like Tyson. And that was something to be scared of. It looks like she's already pretty comfortable right now to me. He pointed out.
Just do it!
And then much to his annoyance, Kai found himself putting his arms around the sobbing Hilary in a comforting manner.
See? The voice taunted. Wasn't that easy?
Oh, shut up.
"Okay…so Hilary's house isn't this way." Tyson stated as he stopped at the bend of a dimly lit street. "And it wasn't that way…and definitely not that way. That way is a dead end, that street is a court, that street has Mrs. Whatsherface and her grumpy old cats living on it so I'm not gonna go there anyway, and…crap. Where the heck did Hilary say she lived again?" Tyson cringed and glanced around the snowy streets desperately searching for a sign.
Why oh why hadn't he paid more attention to where she lived?
"Um…let's see. There was something to do with the river… Or was it the bridge over the river?" the navy-haired boy shrugged and ran towards the bridge.
Hilary sniffed and snuggled her head deeper into the warm folds of Kai's navy hooded sweatshirt. She needed this. She really needed a good cry and she was really glad that Kai had let her cry on him. But what really surprised her, was that Kai had put his arms around her…like he cared. Wow. That made Hilary feel really special. It also made her blush like crazy.
When she had finished crying, Hilary turned her head to rest it on Kai's shoulder. It was so peaceful. So…perfect.
Hilary sincerely wished that she could hang on to this moment forever. It felt so good and she never wanted it to end.
"Kai?" she whispered softly, finally daring to look up into his crimson eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you…again."
"No." Kai took her chin in his hand and tilted it up towards her. "Thank you." And with that, he lowered his head to meet her smooth pink lips in a warm embrace…
"HEY! HILA—whoa…!" the person's voice stopped in mid-sentence, gaping at the unbelievable sight before his eyes. Although very familiar, the voice sent shivers coursing up Hilary's spine at that moment.
Oh my God.
'Holy shit' were the first words that came to Tyson's mind as he rounded the bend that led to the river crossing.
Okay, maybe those weren't exactly the first words that came to mind. At first glance, he had seen the familiar hairstyle of the brunette friend he had been looking for, and had then shouted out at the top of his lungs to catch her attention. Big mistake. At second glance, Tyson had noticed that her back was turned to him…and she was attached to someone else. Literally. And that's when he realized she was attached to…Kai.
Kai. The unfeeling, lone wolf captain of the Bladebreakers. Kai, the emotionless loner who had always said that emotions were for the weak. Kai, one of his friends that had known about his little crush he had on Hilary and had never relented on teasing him about it.
And Hilary. She knew that he liked her. He had told her that he had loved her…wasn't that enough? What did she want from him? What did Kai have, that he didn't?
That's what opened the gate of frustration deep inside Tyson and let all the anger flow into him, like a hot river of molten lava. And man, did that hurt.
Dude, just stick to the plan. He told himself as calmly as he could. Pretend that you didn't see anything. Then Tyson backtracked on his thoughts. But how can I pretend I didn't see anything? Aw, screw the plan!
Tyson walked over briskly and steadily to his two friends on the bridge, his head bowed so that his navy hair shadowed his eyes. Even though he couldn't see their faces, he knew that they were looking at him with concern. But at the moment, Tyson really didn't care. He just wanted to do what he came to do and get it over with as fast as possible.
"Here." Tyson muttered in an eerily calm and dangerously low tone of voice that even he could barely recognize. Then he reached deep into his coat pocket and shoved its contents into Hilary's unsuspecting hands. With that he took a deep breath, spun around, and ran.
~*~
Silver Swiftness: Yeah, okay. I admit, by typing up this chapter of PC I'm procrastinating by trying to get away from studying for those stupid exams. . Gah, it's my first year of ever having real exams and man does it suck! Anyways, there was quite a bit of angst on Tyson and Hilary's part…and there might be a bit more coming up later. Oh, and I'll try to have some more TyHil in the next chapter(s), too. Thanks a bunch for the lovely reviews --they're like the fuel for my writing! _ Okay, so that doesn't make much sense, but oh well. My brain's turning to mush with all this studying… o_O
Sorry for my complaining…I'll stop that now.
Oh yeah…I reached the 50 reviews mark!!! ^-^ Hopefully that shall add to my momentum in fic writing…and exams writing! ~_^ Please don't forget to review and thanks for reading this chapter of Perfect Christmas!
And sorry for not updating in so long!