Disclaimer: I only own Cadence McKnight, Maureen and Amos Lawrence, Nadine Banks and Chuck Williams. Everyone else is property of Disney.
Note: Sequel to 'Go be with the girl you love' but it can be read on its own.
Kira sat on her bed at the Inn, staring off into space. It was five hours after she had stormed out of Conner's house and she had spent those five hours just sitting in bed. She felt numb. After a while, there was a knock on her door. Kira sighed and slowly got up and went to the door. She looked out of the peephole and saw Ethan standing there. She opened the door.
"Hey." She said.
"Hey." Ethan responded. He handed her, her bags. "You left these in my car." He said. Kira nodded and took them.
"Thanks." She said. "Do you want to come in?" She asked. Ethan nodded slightly. Kira walked over and set her bags down in a corner of the room. Ethan walked in and shut the door behind him. He just sat there and watched Kira as she began unpacking her things and putting them in the closet. She grabbed her bag of toiletries and went to put them in the bathroom.
"Are we going to talk about what happened?" Ethan finally asked. Kira stepped back and poked her head out of the bathroom.
"What do you mean?" She asked. Ethan sighed and sat down on one of the chairs in the room. Kira knew this-it was Ethan getting into long talk mode. She sighed and set her bag down on the sink counter and walked back into the room, sitting on her bed.
"Kira, you're one of my best friends, you know that, right?" He asked. Kira closed her eyes. She knew what this meant, it was the 'no offense but you royally screwed up' talk.
"Yeah, I do." Kira said.
"And you know Conner is to, right?"
"Yeah, I do."
"And in all the years that I've known you both, I never took sides or stood up for one party throughout any of this." Ethan reminded her.
"Ethan, just spit it out." Kira sighed. Ethan took a deep breath and stood up. He walked over and sat next to her on the bed.
"You fucked up." He said bluntly. Kira's gazed snapped to him.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me." Ethan said. He sighed. "You managed to make this about what happened ten years ago." Kira's jaw tightened. She got up to her feet.
"Wait a second, I was being civil until Conner started attacking me!" Kira exclaimed.
"Conner's wife just died. He's grieving, he's allowed to have emotional outbursts." Ethan replied. Kira glared at him.
"So basically, I should've just stood there and let him say those things?"
"Well you certainly shouldn't have flown off the handle like you did." Ethan stated calmly. Kira's eyes widened.
"Flown off the…Are you shitting me!" Kira shouted. She bit her lip and crossed her arms, forcing herself to calm down. She stared at Ethan. "Since when are you taking sides?" She asked. Ethan didn't respond. "What? So because I said something terrible to Krista while I was drunk ten years ago, I'm public enemy number 1?" Ethan sighed and stood up. He walked over to her and put his hands on her arms. Kira tightened her jaw and looked away.
"Kira, look at me." He said softly. Kira refused to do so. "Come on." Ethan begged. Kira sighed and looked at him, her eyes still containing her anger. "I'm not taking sides." He said. "And you're not public enemy number 1." He assured her. "Look, we were all a little surprised about that, but it's not like we hate you for it. You were upset and drunk, you were blaming Krista for the reason that you were sad, therefore you said it. We get it."
"Well, Conner doesn't seem to-"
"Conner just wants so badly to blame someone for her death."
"And he picked me, wow I feel so special." Kira said sarcastically.
"Kira, you've got to cut him some slack. I mean you cut yourself out of his life for ten years-"
"Yeah, because I was hurting." Kira cut in. She sighed. "I still am."
"…And now you show up after his wife dies, what do you expect him to say?" Ethan continued.
"What, does everyone think I've got some ulterior motives going on here? That I'm just some girl who swoops in and tries to seduce the grieving widower?"
"No, no." Ethan said quickly. "No one thinks that. I don't even think Conner believes that deep down inside. He's just upset. Give him some time, things will get better." Kira shook her head.
"No, I don't think time's going to fix this. I think I was doing the smart thing by nixing all contact with him for ten years." She said softly. Ethan sighed and gave her a look telling her she was wrong. "How about I go back to LA, and come back in ten years and see if things are better? Hmm?" She asked, her tone tinged with sarcasm.
"Kira, you can't leave." Ethan said.
"Yeah? Watch me." Kira challenged.
"No, I mean it, you can't leave." Ethan said. "I drove, remember?" He asked, his eyes sparkling with jocularity, trying to lighten the mood. Kira looked at him and gave a rueful chuckle. She stepped away and sat on her bed. "And don't try the whole bus ticket thing, unless you feel like riding all the way back to LA with a bunch of autograph hounds."
"All right, all right, I get it." Kira said. "I'm pretty much up a creek without a paddle." Kira said. Ethan smirked. He looked at his watch.
"Oh, wow, I promised Maryann I'd call her an hour ago." Ethan said. "She wants to make sure we got here all right." Kira saw the hesitance on his face. He didn't want to leave unless she was all right. Kira gave him a smile.
"Go on, call your wife, I'll be fine." Kira assured him. "Tell her I said hi." She added. Ethan smiled and nodded as he left and went to his room at the Inn. Kira got up and locked the door after he left. She then went back to unpacking her things.