A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for the super long wait. I wish I could say it would be the last time but sadly, life happens. Not that it is really important but I wanted to let you all know that I haven't given up on this story. In fact, I work on it quite often in what little free time I have. The problem is finding that free time. I had originally intended to have it completed before I left for police training but it came a lot quicker than I thought and once it started I was pretty much dead to the world outside of it. So that's where I have been. I still have 7 weeks left and may or may not update again within that time period. BUT, I will absolutely update when I am able and am continuously working hard to finish.

Thanks so so much for the review. It really lifts my spirits to know people still look out for my updates. Makes me feel more terrible when they don't happen in a timely manner but I really appreciate it a lot.

You are the best readers ever.

Also, because of the time gap in posting I felt a little off with how I connected back in to the previous chapters so I may or may not work on making it flow better at a later date by changing a few things. However, I did the best I could and thought I fixed most of the weird kinks. Sometimes I think I am just never satisfied until I have ruined everything. Haha, anyway, enough mindless rambling from me. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Love Isn't blind, It's Ignorant

"Something is different…" I stand in the middle of the bedroom and look around. Kai is in front of the dresser picking through clothes to pack for his trip. "And I'm not just talking about you owning plaid." I pick up a plaid shirt from a pile of mixed clothes on the floor and turn to face him with a questioning look. He doesn't deviate from his sorting and packing. His departure is first thing in the morning and he has been doing all of his last minute things to prepare. I had been out most of the day and had only just now found time to track him down after dinner was cleaned up.

"That's why it's over there," he states, as if that explains everything. I nod skeptically and walk over to him, holding the shirt out near him as if to help picture what it would look like if he was wearing it. He briefly stops to send me a displeased 'are you really doing that?' look, before shaking his head and closing the dresser drawer. "It was a present." He turns and takes the shirt from me, throwing it back onto the pile. "It's quiet," he moves the conversation on as he zips up the suitcase.

"Hmm, perhaps… But I don't think it's that either," I muse, turning away from him again. I hear him slide the suitcase into a corner and walk back over to me.

"You told me to get something for the wall." He replies indifferently.

"Okay but…what IS that?" I eye the very plain, very old looking picture he has put up above the bed with curiosity. To me it didn't look like much of anything at all. It was almost as if somebody had framed a canvas bought right from the store before actually painting anything on it. If you squinted you could see silhouettes of things that MIGHT be there but the more you looked at it the more it just appeared like nothing.

"What does it look like?" he goads, almost as if reading my train of thoughts.

"Creepy." I say bluntly. Catching it with the corner of my eye instead of full on kind of made it seem possessed by shadows. I had a feeling if I walked by it too fast I might think there was a ghost there.

"Art is in the eye of the beholder," he offers with no further explanation. Being done with the conversation, he goes to walk away but I turn around and catch him by draping my arms over his shoulders. Automatically his hands move to my hips and he takes a small step closer, waiting for whatever it is I have detained him for.

"Maybe…" I start. "But I'm not even sure if it really IS anything at all. When I suggested getting something I was thinking of something a little more personal."

"You mean like one of your drawings?" He tries not to smile but I can still hear the playfulness in his words despite his conviction to sound as somber as possible. I feel a tug at my cheek as I suppress my own smile and give him my best 'this is totally serious' face.

"I meant more personal to YOU," I stress. He makes a tiny motion with his eyebrows that indicates how much he doesn't care and the conversation drops off. I gently run my hand up the back of his neck and through his hair and his eyes drift closed.

"I don't like that it's so quiet," he says lightly. He keeps his eyes closed as I slide my hand back down his neck and massage the sensitive spot between his shoulder blades.

"And here I thought you LIKED the quiet." I let the smile out this time and drift forward, lingering a few inches from his face. "You're full of surprises today." I slow down my words and lower my voice gradually, then bridge the final few inches to kiss him tenderly. He lets out a long sigh and opens his eyes to look at me disapprovingly.

"You are determined to not make this easy aren't you?" he replies dryly. I give him an innocent 'I don't know what you're talking about' look and he shakes his head. "I think I liked it better when you were mad at me."

"I'll add 'joking' to the list," I tease. "But! If it will make you feel better…" I start to shuffle backwards towards the door, bringing him with me. "We can go investigate." I stop when we get to the door and I reach behind me to open it. "And maybe…make it a little LESS quiet…" He studies me curiously.

"What are you up to?" he questions, which only makes me smile wider. Not very many people can say that they ever made Kai confused. I step back into the hallway but he remains planted inside the room so my arms slip down off his shoulders.

"Well, I've been thinking…" He crosses his arms as if he's not convinced and gives me his best 'uh oh, this can't be good' expression. "You said you didn't want to feel like you were doing something wrong." I push, hoping he can pick up on where I am going.

"So…?" He waits for me to explain further and I get the feeling that he's trying to use his demeanor to make me back down from whatever idea he thinks I may have come up with.

"Well, I figured…the best way for everyone to get comfortable, is to make sure everything is fully exposed. We spent a lot of time hiding everything because…well…many reasons, but now there is no reason to continue doing that. We have to start acting more natural. Everything else is just building tension. And I don't mean just with the others. There's been some between us too. And I know a lot of it is my fault and that's what I want to work on, so I thought maybe if I started to BE more comfortable expressing myself, that maybe it would help me FEEL more comfortable too. Which in turn would make YOU feel more comfortable and so on and so forth… I want it to work for everybody." I frown a little. "And I wanted to make sure you missed me while you are gone."

"I thought you didn't want to alienate anyone," he returns sternly, but almost in a challenging way. His words are true, but after seeing both Tyson and Max get a bit uncomfortable when facing our relationship, I didn't want to end up doing exactly what Kai had been trying to avoid. Which was, letting them make us feel like we had to keep hiding everything. If it were up to me, I would go on hiding forever but knowing that Kai was not the type to hide I was simply making a choice to let him know I was there to support him. The line had been blurred up until now and I wanted to make a clearer decision about which side I wanted to be on.

"I am more concerned with not alienating you. Which I feel that I may be doing unintentionally…" I drop off a little, unsure if he understands or if he is considering whether or not he wants to participate. I had seen his own reluctance to act the way he wanted when we weren't alone as well. In a way I felt like I was also doing him a favor. One, because if he felt more confident he would feel less trapped. And two, he would have another way to make everyone else more uncomfortable than he was. Which, in turn, would give him back his pride. "Come on, Kai. It's not like you to hesitate." I taunt with a sly smirk. There had been many reasons why I considered this to be a great idea but the most prominent was the fact that I was offering Kai something he craved as much as I did. Now all I had to do was make him understand the contest. "Don't you wanna know which one of us will break under the pressure of prying eyes first?" I can almost see those little wheels inside his head break when he decides that he's done letting me toy with him. He takes my challenge on by dropping his arms to grab mine and push me backward roughly and with quite a loud 'THUD' as my body impacts the wall behind me. I practically purr, feeling like I had accomplished my goal, and graciously accept him as he drives forward to kiss me passionately.

"What was…" Tyson comes rushing out of the room next to us and immediately stops short and turns around. "That's too much guys, I totally thought somebody was hurt…" he announces, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Kai breaks away but doesn't release me, keeping steady eye contact with me. I think he is trying to determine my comfort level since I haven't made any attempt to relax Tyson or to shy away with my own embarrassment, but my main conviction in wanting to mend things between us has made me temporarily forget my insecurities and I don't waver in my resolve.

"You see? Everything is fine." He doesn't respond to my declaration, still trying to judge what is happening and when my attitude had become so defiant. So I do what any good competitor would do. I wink then give a short glance in Tyson's direction. "Don't mind us, Tys. Kai was just worried." I shift my attention back to Kai and watch him narrow his eyes, a sure sign that he is irritated because he doesn't want to be the first to waver and he knows I am pushing all he right buttons for him to do so. Something that, if I knew Kai, he wasn't going to let me continue.

"Worried about what? Your face?" Tyson asks doubtfully, still keeping his back to us.

"If you have a problem, leave." Kai commands, moving back up close to me and placing his hand on the side of my face. Without hesitation I drift towards him, keeping him there being the only thing I want.

"Is that any way to treat your friends?" Tyson outbursts before our lips make contact again. I try to slow my breathing which had become quickened in the anticipation, while I watch Kai contemplate his next action. He visibly clenches his teeth and pulls away again.

Tyson has overcome his discomfort and now looks at Kai directly with his hands poised on his hips in annoyance. Kai's grip on my arm tightens and I know he's about ready to show Tyson just how great of 'friends' they really are but I shift a little, letting him know that he's making me uneasy. I had known that this was bound to cause some trouble but I hadn't made myself ready enough to accept it. We have a short conversation with our eyes so he doesn't feel like he's losing and he lets me go. For a moment I stay close to the wall, sharing one last look with him before turning back to Tyson.

"Don't be upset with Kai. It was my idea." They both look at me a little taken back. I step away from the wall and look down. It started to feel like I had chosen to pit them against each other instead of bridging the gaps between us. "Sorry for making you uncomfortable." I lower my voice. "I can see that it was a stupid idea," I mumble, more to myself than to anyone else. I nod and walk away down the hallway to the front door where I make my way outside without looking back.

After descending the porch steps I look down the street both ways and randomly pick a direction to walk. It was kind of late but I didn't really want to stay inside after all of that. Eventually all those feelings of apprehension and indignity had caught up with me. At the time it had been easy for me to focus on one thing and stay with it but when everything was over, I was still myself. The surprising part was, I didn't feel guilty at all. There was a part of me that had enjoyed making Tyson so flustered. A part that was thrilled by it even. And not just because I knew Tyson was uncomfortable, but because I wanted to keep going regardless. I hadn't wanted him to accept us at all, at least not in those moments. I had actually wanted the opposite just so I could feel the rush of doing something inappropriate without any concerns. I wanted the freedom. That and driving their responses had made me feel empowered. Was I secretly a trouble maker?

Either way, facing either of them right now was out of the question.

So I wander until I find a quiet place to sit for awhile and ruminate on what to do next. Kai would be gone in the morning and I would be left with Tyson alone. It hadn't been awkward before but it might totally be awkward now.

I laugh at my own insecurities. Knowing Tyson, he had probably already forgotten about it.

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I'll just apologize to Kai and we can all move on. I just hope they aren't killing each other right now.

I stay out for quite some time before I decide I have calmed down enough to return. Tyson is already in his room and the house is dark. I slip into the bedroom as quietly as possible knowing that Kai is either sleeping or pretending to. I do my best not to disturb him as I shed my day clothes to pull on my pajamas, before I pick up the piles that Kai had made earlier and move them out of the way. I would have to ask him what he wanted me to do with them later.

"Trash," he answers my unspoken question. I spin around as he rolls over in bed. I catch the shadows from Kai's new 'art' and nearly stumble, catching myself before I falter. Then I laugh at my own clumsiness.

"Who's gonna protect me from that thing while you are away?" I relay jokingly. He snorts and sits up. I take on a serious attitude and refocus my attention towards him. "Listen, I…" I start my apology before waiting for him to tell me how upset he is.

"Stop." He orders. My mouth snaps shut. A silence settles in before he continues. "You didn't do anything that needs an apology. We've wasted too much time on this already. Let's just get some sleep."

"Okay." I walk over and crawl in to bed beside him. He lays back down and faces me, his eyes flaring like fires in the dim light from the moon coming through the window. I bring my hands up to his chest and play with the buttons on his shirt to distract myself from dwelling. "Good-night, Kai." I smile. He sighs and puts a hand to my hip, bringing me in to a close hug and calming all my nervous fidgeting.

"You didn't have to try so hard just for me to miss you," he replies softly. This further comforts me and I relax against him, burying my face in his chest and hugging him back. I settle in to the steady sound of his heartbeat as it slows down and I float away with it.

"People do crazy thing when they're in…" I start to mumble as I fall asleep. I hadn't realized how tired I was but everything must have caught up with me all at once. I didn't stir at all until the next morning.

"Did you pack everything you needed?"

No answer.

"What about your passport? Did you bring it?"

No answer.

"Do you know where you are going?"

"I've done this before," Kai responds with a flat, dry tone. I glance over at him and Tyson as they pass into view on their way past the living room to the exit and I can't hide my amusement. Tyson looks like he's trying to come up with another few questions to ask but can't find one that he hasn't tried already, while Kai looks ready to silence him permanently with his eyes. Neither one of them really looks over or sees me, caught up in their own situation.

"You sure you don't want us to come with you to drop you off?" he asks as if it's normal for everyone to participate in Kai's departure. You never would have guessed that there had been any malice between them at all the night before. Sure Kai doesn't look at all pleased but he isn't looking at him in a malicious way. Just the normal Kai/Tyson way that happens every day. And Tyson hasn't given up on trying to make sure he's a part of every step Kai takes forward even after Kai has already told him several times that he was fine on his own.

I stay back, giving Kai his space. Or maybe, on some level, just keeping my distance for my own protection. My stomach is in knots and my body aches as if I am coming down with a sickness. If I get too close I am afraid that feeling will spread or worse, Kai will notice. I didn't want Kai to think I couldn't handle a few days on my own. Especially since I wasn't fully convinced myself that I could. I had purposely spent most of the morning cleaning. One, so I would have a good excuse if asked. And two, I didn't want to be doing what Tyson was doing right now.

"Man, I wish we could all go. Why do you get to have all the fun?" Tyson pouts, taking Kai's bag from him and placing it somewhere close to the door. He then proceeds to pick at Kai's clothes as if grooming him.

"Don't you have something else to do?" Kai replies crossly to further prove the point that Tyson's mothering is unnecessary AND unwanted. Tyson huffs but accepts the truth and abandons his grooming. He gives Kai one last look-over and stalks away back to his room.

I wait.

Half of me expects something. Some heart-stopping exchange that will hold me over until his return…or at least until lunch time. The other half expects a simple nod and a door closing as he leaves. Of course I want the first choice but I am hesitant to initiate it. Afraid that it will end in my embarrassment and will only further complicate the feelings that are swirling around the air unspoken.

When he is sure Tyson is otherwise fully distracted Kai turns to me, his eyes asking me why I have been hiding. I catch my breath in my chest and takes a few steps closer just to dissipate any further alarm. He seems to relax a bit.

"I'll call," he says before an awkward 'what is the appropriate action here?' feeling sets in. For a minute we just stare at each other. I start to think maybe he is also expecting something but is just as unsure as I am about exactly what that is. Neither of us wants to be the one to show their true feelings, but I want to believe I am not alone. Naturally, I move first, pushed by the deafening silence.

"Take care!" I blurt a little too loudly, stumbling over the words as if they are difficult to say. He studies my rigid appearance but thinks better of saying what I know he must be thinking. I was never fooling him.

He picks up his things and nods. The nod. The unwanted of the two choices. The gesture makes me feel boxed in and the uncertainty of what to do or say grows. I nod back. In the pit of my stomach I feel the knots twist and suddenly it feels like this is just the beginning of the longest four days of my life.

He opens the door and sends a look past me as if to assess Tyson's whereabouts again, probably expecting him to try and leave with him. Suddenly, I can't take it anymore and I change my mind about being cautious. Throwing tact or doubt (or any other negative and unwanted emotion I had wanted to hold on to) away, I grab him quickly by the collar of his jacket and plant the most fervent kiss I can gather at the moment on him so forcefully that he has to take a step backwards out the door. A noise behind me breaks us apart as I am reminded of how things had ended yesterday but I hesitate to let go right away.

"I..." I start to say 'I love you' like it's the most appropriate thing to say at that moment but it gets stuck at the back of my throat and I release him and step away instead. "Take care..." I repeat with a weak smile. He half smiles back and I start to think he's having the same battle with words that I am. If anyone was watching us they would probably think we were the most awkward people in the world and not well respected athletes with jobs and responsibilities and crowd pleasing charisma.

"You too," he says before turning away. I lean in the doorway, tired, feeling half my energy walk away with him. I barely register Tyson coming back up behind me (now dressed for work) and pushing his way into the doorway beside me.

"Make sure to take pictures! I want to know what's going on over there!" He bellows. I imagine Kai rolling his eyes in my head as he doesn't turn back or acknowledge Tyson with any sort of expression or return. He gets in the car and leaves.

Not even ten seconds after the taxi rolls away, Tyson is on the phone.

"He's on his way now, did you get the stuff?" A pause. "Awesome! Cya later!"

I close the door and turn around.

"What was that about?" I inquire suspiciously.

"I'm gonna be late for work," Tyson dodges, running off to grabs his things to leave.

Why do I sense something bad is about to happen?

Fighting feelings of loss and separation that want to settle in swiftly, I prioritize the important things, specifically, keeping Tyson in line. I follow him to his room and block the doorway with my arms.

"Tell me," I urge. "Just because Kai is away doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. This is still his house and he..."

"Relax, Ray! It's nothing like that!" He evades my road block in one hurried duck under my arm and shoots down the hallway. "Catch ya later!" He waves before leaving quicker than I have ever seen him leave…well, ever. It's still really early but it already feels like I have endured the pressure of a whole day's work. I battle between crawling back into bed and sleeping away the next four days and going about my responsibilities like normal. Chances were if I wasn't getting the information out of Tyson, I was going to have to find the next best thing, Max. So I sulk back to my room and get ready for school.

I don't find Max in class so I look for him in the most obvious places. The cafeteria, his room, and the gym. I have no luck in any of them and start to wonder if he had gone somewhere else for the day until I spot him carrying some boxes out of the student council room with a group of people.

Seeing the happy look on his face and feeling a nostalgia overcome me, I am almost persuaded to leave him in his bliss before ruining it with my intended verbal assault. Almost.

"Max." I approach.

"Hey, Ray! How's it going?" he greets cheerfully.

"Been better. Can you talk?" I try to get this over with quickly just in case I needed time to come up with a plan to quell Tyson. He looks at the people in his group and nods. One of them takes the box from him and they move on ahead.

"Now, I know what you're thinking, Ray," he says, looking at me squarely.

"You do?" I freeze, unsure.

"And you don't have to worry," he continues.

"I don't?" This was just getting weirder…

"Tyson may seem a bit rough around the edges but he has good intentions and I know he's just trying to help."

"Help?" Wait, what?

"When I stop by later we are going to come up with a plan and it'll all work out. You'll see." He pats me on the back. I open my mouth to reply but he shifts and takes a step past me. "We'll talk later. I really have to go." He winks. "No worries, Ray. We'll figure it out!"

Um…thanks?

I stand in the hallway confused for a few minutes before I notice that I am attracting attention with my bewildered look. I smile awkwardly at the stares I have gathered and turn around, heading back to my class.

What the heck is going on around here? What is Tyson helping with and what are we figuring out? The further I went in questioning it, the less I understood anything. Here I was thinking Tyson was having some sort of party and he's really organizing a…what? Collaboration meeting? This is perplexing. I don't know if it is something that I need to dismiss or not. If it was truly nothing to worry about, I'd rather do that. But if it ended up being something completely ridiculous, I had a duty to put it down before it went too far. My next goal was clearly to find out what Tyson was thinking, which, when I really considered it, was something I would rather get through my life with never doing.

I guess there's a first time for everything, even things you don't like.