Disclaimers-the WB owns them...but the instant they don't, Kyle is mine
"Oh...my...God..."
"There?"
"Oh...no, down...yes!"
"God..."
"Harder...damnit, I said harder!"
"I...heard...you the first...time..."
"Jim, if you're going to do this, then do it right. God, you're acting like a fumbling teenager."
"Amy, give me a break. I haven't done this in a while."
"I kn- oh God...that's perfect..."
The wind blew the screen door shut and Kyle knew that there was no chance that his father and Ms. DeLuca hadn't heard him come in.
He had just come home from the Crashdown where he had watched Liz with Max, Maria with Michael, and Isabel with Alex. They were all paired up and happy. And where was he? Walking in on the last thing he wanted to witness or hear- his father and Maria's mother. Together.
God, what had happened to him? Why did everyone else have someone else? And where was his other half if everyone else had found theirs? He used to be the one with the girlfriend- the one who was happy. He had even thought for a while that maybe Liz Parker was the one for him. She wasn't like all of the other girls he had dated, she was actually intelligent and kind and beautiful all in one. A rarity to be sure.
What he needed was that other piece- the one that was meant for him. If he could design her, she'd be a mixture of the three girls that were the closest to being his only female friends. She'd have Liz's intelligence and compassion, and Isabel's beauty and her genuine heart that he saw when she was with Alex, and she'd have Maria's passion and stubbornness and her sense of adventure. And he had always had a weakness for green eyes...with a yellow fire hidden in them.
The sound of someone bumping into the kitchen table brought Kyle out of his reverie and back to his present predicament. In the kitchen, through one wall, were his father and Ms. DeLuca. And they had apparently been interrupted.
"Kyle? Is that you?" His father's voice called out to him.
"Uh, yeah, Dad. It's me. I'm just going to my room and finish my homework."
"Ok. Don't you need your books?"
God, get me out of here... "What do you mean, Dad?"
"Your books are in here. Why don't you come get them and say hello to Amy. Join us for a few minutes."
What the hell? "Uh..." Kyle rubbed the bridge of his nose as he kept walking, intent on just passing the kitchen.
"Is something wrong, Kyle?" Amy's concerned voice had him turning despite himself and he almost laughed in relief.
Sitting in a kitchen chair with her head on her folded arms upon the table was Amy. His father was standing behind her, working the kinks out of her shoulders. She looked to be half in pain and half in ecstasy from the pressure on the sore spots.
"No, just a slight headache is all."
Kyle smirked a bit as he walked over to the counter to retrieve his stack of books and a coke from the fridge. "Long day at work?"
"I did inventory today. And Anthony bailed on me, leaving me to do all of the lifting alone."
"Ah. Well, I'm going to get my homework done now. Good night." Kyle resumed his trek to his room and shut the door behind him. Who knows, he thought to himself as he slipped his Creed CD into the stereo, Maybe I'll be lucky like my dad and the others one of these days. Maybe...