Chapter 48 – Giving up.
Kat walked in her front door and into the kitchen to get a drink. She was running on auto pilot and her body was simply telling her after that long walk in the hot sun she needed water. She took a glass and filled it with water and started to drink.
She paused half way through her water and it was like everything hit her in a wave. The glass slipped out of her hand and hit the floor where it shattered into a thousand pieces and sent water cascading everywhere as she started to sob. The noise brought Stacy running, thinking that someone was destroying the place. Instead he found Kat, looking at the mess she had just made with tears in her eyes. And a slightly crazed look as well. She was shaking slightly. She looked up when she heard Stacy at the door of the room.
"Kitten, what's wrong?"
"I...I...I..." She couldn't get the words out. One tear slowly left her eye and made its way down her cheek. She looked blankly out at Stacy, like she wasn't really sure where she was or what she was doing there. Stacy tried to get more info out of her, anything that would help him understand what was wrong with his Kitten.
"You what baby girl?"
"I broke up with Leon." She sobbed out.
"Why?" Stacy asked in shock as he skirted the water puddle and broken glass and pulled Kat's small form to his chest.
"Cause he still hates me for what I did and I can't pretend not to know, pretend it doesn't bother me any more. I've said I was sorry so many times and I just don't know what he wants from me! It's hard enough for me to say it once or twice, I can't keep on forever feeling like I'm always on trial for something I did and owned up to already."
"I thought he wanted to try again. I thought it was his idea."
"It was but I don't know what he was thinking when it's obvious he still doesn't trust me at all and I'd say he's still mad at me most of the time. I'm so confused. Maybe I did the wrong thing. Maybe I should have given it more time to work out. But it hurts so much to be treated like a liar every second of every minute you're with someone." Kat wailed.
Stacy shook his head.
"I told him that if he ever made you cry again I was going to kill him and I meant it." Stacy growled and released Kat on his way to leave the kitchen and head across the street to follow through on his promise.
"No Stacy. Let it go. I want him out of my life and if you go fight him it just brings him and his team back in." Kat implored her friend.
"Kitten, I can't...I can't just let this go. Look at yourself! This guy hurt you again! He can't just get away with it. I can't let him."
"Stacy! I said no. Let it drop. It's my life. Let me live it for a change why don't you and take my word for it that I don't want you to go beat Leon over this. It's time we all grew up and grown ups don't have fist fights over everything that goes wrong." Kat screamed.
Much as the little girl in her wanted to go see her hot-headed protector go try to beat some sense into Leon the newer part of her that had finally grown up some knew it wasn't the way to go.
"Fine." Stacy sighed. Fighting was all he knew. He was Kat's family. And family took care of family. He'd do what she asked though. But he wasn't happy about it. "Come on. Let's go sit down."
"I need to clean this mess up." Kat answered.
"The mess will keep for awhile." Stacy tried again to get her to go with him.
"I'm fine now Stacy. I'm going to take care of this now." It was obvious that Stacy had more to say but he kept it to himself and left the room, shaking his head. He found Sean and Kale and told them what had occurred. They were upset as well but decided to do as Kat asked and let it drop, let her make up her own mind about how she wanted things handled.
Sean had known that Leon was trouble but no one had listened.
*~*
Leon walked into his house with his head hanging. He found everyone else sitting at the table eating supper. It occurred to him that he never did get to eat but he didn't find himself hungry anymore. He still wasn't in the mood to be alone so he sat in his seat at the table and looked around at all the happy couples. Dom and Letty, Mia and Brian, Vince and Nyssa. He felt like the only one out of place. Jesse was alone but since Jesse only chased skanks that wasn't likely to change any time in the near future. He didn't pick up on the tension between Letty and Nyssa or really the rest of his team.
"What happened to you?" Vince asked, seeing that Leon was upset.
"I'm havin' a real bad night." Leon growled.
"Somethin wrong with the Skyline?" Jesse asked. The car being broken was all he could think of that was sure to ruin Leon's night.
"Car's fine Jess." Leon answered with a sigh.
"Well then, what's up?" Vince asked again. Dom looked on with a resigned expression that showed he clearly had a very good idea what had happened.
"Kat dumped me." Leon admitted with an embarrassed look at having to admit that he'd been dumped for the first time ever.
"Really?" Vince asked in shock. Kat had been so excited to get back with Leon that Vince found it hard to believe that she'd up and dump him mere weeks after getting him back. It had taken so much to get Leon to the point of taking her back that Vince couldn't believe Kat had just thrown it all away so quickly.
"No, I'm lying about it. I thought it would make a really funny joke. Of course really." Leon snapped.
"Well, I'm sorry I'm so shocked. I thought it was going ok. Why'd you break up this time?" Vince almost felt noisy but he figured that if Leon hadn't wanted to talk about it he wouldn't have sat down at the table in the middle of dinner. Nyssa kicked him under the table for his insensitive comments. Vince winced but no one could see the humour after Leon's announcement.
"What happened?" Nyssa asked softly, her caring sympathy for Leon's feelings evident.
"I don't know." Leon answered and shook his head. "We went out. I asked her if she was the girl you'd been talking to today. She told me no. I commented that that was strange because I didn't know who it would have been. She got mad at me for saying I didn't believe her when she'd told me it wasn't her, and that wasn't it at all. We had a big fight. She told me she'd known for a while no matter how much I said I was over everything," Leon shot Vince a pointed look, forgetting that Nyssa was watching, Vince cringed "That I wasn't and that I still checked her for if I thought she was lying or not. Then she left me. Walked home from the restaurant on her own. She wouldn't even let me drive her. It was like she couldn't stand to be in the same car as me long enough for me to drive her home."
"What did you have to get over Leon?" Nyssa asked. She knew the story from Kat but she knew without asking there was more to it then Kat had let on that afternoon. There was more to it and it involved Vince. Nyssa was sure of it. And she was very curious about why Kat had lied to Leon about their chat.
"Just something she did. Ironically before we even met. But I'm still pissed about it and I don't know what to do about it." Leon omitted the part of the story where Kat almost slept with Vince and sighed.
"Well, you'll just have to get over it on your own Leon. No one can make you or help you with that. But I wish I could." Nyssa smiled softly at Leon and Letty rolled her eyes. Leon picked up on the fact that Nyssa knew what she was talking about. She was going through the same thing herself. Letty was clearly still irate at her former best friend.
"Yeah. I guess." Leon stood. "But she dumped me. What was she thinking?" Leon winked at Nyssa and smiled. But it was forced and it was obvious to her. Leon walked down to his room, feet dragging.
Nyssa dropped off into silent contemplation of what she could do to fix the rift between two people she felt were meant to be.
"I don't know what to do about this." Nyssa said to the room in general.
"Bout what?" Vince asked.
"Leon and Kat." Nyssa answered, deep in thought.
"Not much for you to do Nys. They'll either work it out or they won't." Vince answered.
"But she's gonna need him. And I think he needs her too."
"What are you talking about?" Letty asked sharply.
"Nothing." Nyssa mumbled, not ready to fight Letty on her first day back with the team.
"It's gonna be ok Nyssa. God, those two fight all the time. They'll make up any day now and then they'll fight again. It's just how Kat is. She's such a fireball that things are volatile around her."
"I don't know about that Vince, but I hope so."
"I don't really care either way. Kat's cocky and arrogant." Letty added her opinion.
"She seems that way I guess." Nyssa answered, still looking at her plate not Letty.
Nyssa didn't know how she was going to make up with Letty, what the other girl would see as a suitable penance. But she did know that her life was going to be unsettled until she and Letty came to some kind of understanding.
She didn't want to correct Letty that mostly Kat only seemed that way. She was really that way when it came to racing which was likely what Letty was thinking of.
Nyssa wasn't going to fix anything on her own, or right then so she just went back to eating quietly.
Kat walked in her front door and into the kitchen to get a drink. She was running on auto pilot and her body was simply telling her after that long walk in the hot sun she needed water. She took a glass and filled it with water and started to drink.
She paused half way through her water and it was like everything hit her in a wave. The glass slipped out of her hand and hit the floor where it shattered into a thousand pieces and sent water cascading everywhere as she started to sob. The noise brought Stacy running, thinking that someone was destroying the place. Instead he found Kat, looking at the mess she had just made with tears in her eyes. And a slightly crazed look as well. She was shaking slightly. She looked up when she heard Stacy at the door of the room.
"Kitten, what's wrong?"
"I...I...I..." She couldn't get the words out. One tear slowly left her eye and made its way down her cheek. She looked blankly out at Stacy, like she wasn't really sure where she was or what she was doing there. Stacy tried to get more info out of her, anything that would help him understand what was wrong with his Kitten.
"You what baby girl?"
"I broke up with Leon." She sobbed out.
"Why?" Stacy asked in shock as he skirted the water puddle and broken glass and pulled Kat's small form to his chest.
"Cause he still hates me for what I did and I can't pretend not to know, pretend it doesn't bother me any more. I've said I was sorry so many times and I just don't know what he wants from me! It's hard enough for me to say it once or twice, I can't keep on forever feeling like I'm always on trial for something I did and owned up to already."
"I thought he wanted to try again. I thought it was his idea."
"It was but I don't know what he was thinking when it's obvious he still doesn't trust me at all and I'd say he's still mad at me most of the time. I'm so confused. Maybe I did the wrong thing. Maybe I should have given it more time to work out. But it hurts so much to be treated like a liar every second of every minute you're with someone." Kat wailed.
Stacy shook his head.
"I told him that if he ever made you cry again I was going to kill him and I meant it." Stacy growled and released Kat on his way to leave the kitchen and head across the street to follow through on his promise.
"No Stacy. Let it go. I want him out of my life and if you go fight him it just brings him and his team back in." Kat implored her friend.
"Kitten, I can't...I can't just let this go. Look at yourself! This guy hurt you again! He can't just get away with it. I can't let him."
"Stacy! I said no. Let it drop. It's my life. Let me live it for a change why don't you and take my word for it that I don't want you to go beat Leon over this. It's time we all grew up and grown ups don't have fist fights over everything that goes wrong." Kat screamed.
Much as the little girl in her wanted to go see her hot-headed protector go try to beat some sense into Leon the newer part of her that had finally grown up some knew it wasn't the way to go.
"Fine." Stacy sighed. Fighting was all he knew. He was Kat's family. And family took care of family. He'd do what she asked though. But he wasn't happy about it. "Come on. Let's go sit down."
"I need to clean this mess up." Kat answered.
"The mess will keep for awhile." Stacy tried again to get her to go with him.
"I'm fine now Stacy. I'm going to take care of this now." It was obvious that Stacy had more to say but he kept it to himself and left the room, shaking his head. He found Sean and Kale and told them what had occurred. They were upset as well but decided to do as Kat asked and let it drop, let her make up her own mind about how she wanted things handled.
Sean had known that Leon was trouble but no one had listened.
*~*
Leon walked into his house with his head hanging. He found everyone else sitting at the table eating supper. It occurred to him that he never did get to eat but he didn't find himself hungry anymore. He still wasn't in the mood to be alone so he sat in his seat at the table and looked around at all the happy couples. Dom and Letty, Mia and Brian, Vince and Nyssa. He felt like the only one out of place. Jesse was alone but since Jesse only chased skanks that wasn't likely to change any time in the near future. He didn't pick up on the tension between Letty and Nyssa or really the rest of his team.
"What happened to you?" Vince asked, seeing that Leon was upset.
"I'm havin' a real bad night." Leon growled.
"Somethin wrong with the Skyline?" Jesse asked. The car being broken was all he could think of that was sure to ruin Leon's night.
"Car's fine Jess." Leon answered with a sigh.
"Well then, what's up?" Vince asked again. Dom looked on with a resigned expression that showed he clearly had a very good idea what had happened.
"Kat dumped me." Leon admitted with an embarrassed look at having to admit that he'd been dumped for the first time ever.
"Really?" Vince asked in shock. Kat had been so excited to get back with Leon that Vince found it hard to believe that she'd up and dump him mere weeks after getting him back. It had taken so much to get Leon to the point of taking her back that Vince couldn't believe Kat had just thrown it all away so quickly.
"No, I'm lying about it. I thought it would make a really funny joke. Of course really." Leon snapped.
"Well, I'm sorry I'm so shocked. I thought it was going ok. Why'd you break up this time?" Vince almost felt noisy but he figured that if Leon hadn't wanted to talk about it he wouldn't have sat down at the table in the middle of dinner. Nyssa kicked him under the table for his insensitive comments. Vince winced but no one could see the humour after Leon's announcement.
"What happened?" Nyssa asked softly, her caring sympathy for Leon's feelings evident.
"I don't know." Leon answered and shook his head. "We went out. I asked her if she was the girl you'd been talking to today. She told me no. I commented that that was strange because I didn't know who it would have been. She got mad at me for saying I didn't believe her when she'd told me it wasn't her, and that wasn't it at all. We had a big fight. She told me she'd known for a while no matter how much I said I was over everything," Leon shot Vince a pointed look, forgetting that Nyssa was watching, Vince cringed "That I wasn't and that I still checked her for if I thought she was lying or not. Then she left me. Walked home from the restaurant on her own. She wouldn't even let me drive her. It was like she couldn't stand to be in the same car as me long enough for me to drive her home."
"What did you have to get over Leon?" Nyssa asked. She knew the story from Kat but she knew without asking there was more to it then Kat had let on that afternoon. There was more to it and it involved Vince. Nyssa was sure of it. And she was very curious about why Kat had lied to Leon about their chat.
"Just something she did. Ironically before we even met. But I'm still pissed about it and I don't know what to do about it." Leon omitted the part of the story where Kat almost slept with Vince and sighed.
"Well, you'll just have to get over it on your own Leon. No one can make you or help you with that. But I wish I could." Nyssa smiled softly at Leon and Letty rolled her eyes. Leon picked up on the fact that Nyssa knew what she was talking about. She was going through the same thing herself. Letty was clearly still irate at her former best friend.
"Yeah. I guess." Leon stood. "But she dumped me. What was she thinking?" Leon winked at Nyssa and smiled. But it was forced and it was obvious to her. Leon walked down to his room, feet dragging.
Nyssa dropped off into silent contemplation of what she could do to fix the rift between two people she felt were meant to be.
"I don't know what to do about this." Nyssa said to the room in general.
"Bout what?" Vince asked.
"Leon and Kat." Nyssa answered, deep in thought.
"Not much for you to do Nys. They'll either work it out or they won't." Vince answered.
"But she's gonna need him. And I think he needs her too."
"What are you talking about?" Letty asked sharply.
"Nothing." Nyssa mumbled, not ready to fight Letty on her first day back with the team.
"It's gonna be ok Nyssa. God, those two fight all the time. They'll make up any day now and then they'll fight again. It's just how Kat is. She's such a fireball that things are volatile around her."
"I don't know about that Vince, but I hope so."
"I don't really care either way. Kat's cocky and arrogant." Letty added her opinion.
"She seems that way I guess." Nyssa answered, still looking at her plate not Letty.
Nyssa didn't know how she was going to make up with Letty, what the other girl would see as a suitable penance. But she did know that her life was going to be unsettled until she and Letty came to some kind of understanding.
She didn't want to correct Letty that mostly Kat only seemed that way. She was really that way when it came to racing which was likely what Letty was thinking of.
Nyssa wasn't going to fix anything on her own, or right then so she just went back to eating quietly.