Chapter 4: "Round Two"

Kuki trudged into the house with absolute dread. The last thing she was prepared to do was to try and explain to her husband what was bothering her about the day's events. She felt rather righteously that he should already know. After all a blind person would be able to see exactly where the trouble started. How could Wally have known her since middle school, and still not realize what was bothering her? Every step she took toward her front door, the door that just this morning had held the happiest home she could imagine behind it, now filled her heart with an indescribable ache. The image of the love of her life ogling and flirting with another woman came rushing back to her and she suddenly felt very sick – actually physically ill.

Kuki sprinted into the house and darted quickly into the small hallway powder room below the stairs. As she finished retching, cleaned her face with a damp length of tissue, flushed, and stood up again on shaky legs. She got a quick sip of water and rinsed her mouth. Not enough. She rummaged under the sink until she found the extra bottle of mouthwash stashed there and swished some to rid herself of the traces of the nausea. Only after she'd turned the running water off did she begin to notice the sounds from within the rest of the house. They filled her with alarm. *Bang!* *Crash!* *Smash!* The closer she got to the sounds the more upset she became. What if Wally was hurt? What if someone was in the house after them? What she saw as she timidly pushed the door open was not an intruder, not some villain come to attack, but Wally. He had apparently decided to do some redecorating when he'd come back in from the car. He stood amid shattered objects and looked up with dull eyes as she moved into the room. That's when Kuki noted that everything that had been broken belonged to him. Her things had gone unscathed as did the framed 8x10 wedding photo he clutched in his trembling hand. She thought she saw a tear splash onto it's glass enclosure, but could not be completely sure.

For a split second she wanted nothing more than to comfort him, to reach out and ease his obvious pain. He had clearly been raging at himself for the last few minutes, but then that bouncing blond voice came sing-song back to her head forcing all pity for Wally out of it. She looked again at the mess and spoke with Arctic chill in her tone.

"You having a little pity party, Wally? I hope you don't expect me to clean this up for you", she started to leave the room when she felt his eyes on her and froze. Something in the weight of the stare told her not to move, that if she did it would be the end. That's really not what she wanted, not if he was honest with herself. She was hurt yes, but she still didn't want to lose him.

"I want you to tell me what the crud it is that you think I did?", he yelled.

That was all it took, the dam broke, the floodgates flew wide, the walls of resistance crumbled to dust, and she launched a tirade that went on for what felt like years. It was spectacular, her fury made her look lit from within, and her hurt made him feel the air being sucked from his chest and his heart being crushed with the intensity of her disappointment.

"You really want to know? Fine, then you asked for it! You looked at that girl, that cheap looking, man hungry, husband stealing girl, like you wanted her! You looked at her and followed every move she made with that perfect curvy body of hers. You laughed at her jokes, you blushed when she 'accidentally' bumped into you with those, those – Arrgh!", she stopped panting and looked at him.

"Go on, I know you're not done yet", he stood facing her with a clam expression. He was holding his retorts back to let her get this out of her system.

"You let her think that it was OK to flirt with you! You never once told her about me, or that we're married! You played up to her and I saw you showing off to impress her. Don't even try to say you didn't see me walk up to the game, you did. And you never even tried to get her off you. You never even tried to tell her that you aren't available! Or are you available and I just didn't know it? Is that what you do with the nurses and interns at the hospital too, just don't tell them that you're taken, so then you can have all the fun, get all the attention? Has it gone farther than that Wally? Has it?", she was reaching now and she knew it. He'd never actually cheat, even she was convinced of that much.

He had heard enough when she accused him of cheating. He'd never, ever choose to be with someone else. Even the thought that she could think that of him made him so angry he couldn't see clearly. Red danced around his vision, and he picked up the nearest object, a vase, and hurled it to the wall above the fireplace. The shards of crystal rained down on him, but they made no marks and they did not touch her from where she still stood.

"You know cruddy well that I have never, will never, could never be with anyone but you, Kuki", he said this with a deadly quiet that was more frightening than his raised voice could be. "I love you. No matter how jealous, or irrational you get, no matter what. I love you. Just you. No other girl could mean anything to me. I chose you when I met you, before that even. I don't know when, just forever I guess", he stopped and looked with agony at the tears pouring from her eyes.

When she didn't answer he took a breath and continued. "I should have said something to her, I know that. I knew what she was after and I didn't stop it. I was stupid, and flattered, and thoughtless, and I'm sorry!", she scoffed and he saw a flash of red again.

Didn't he just apologize? Didn't he just admit that he'd been wrong to act the way he did? She was mocking him, and it was too much. We'll see what she says to this!

"OK fine, laugh if you want Kuki! But I'd like to know one thing. Exactly what would you have done if I had told that girl to go jump in the ocean? Huh? You know as well as I do that she would've kept right on. She flirted with Hoagie, and he did tell her about Abby. She didn't care, she - ", she was suddenly standing right in front of him, and he halted flustered mightily.

Right in front of him with no space between them at all, her whole body was pressed to his tightly as if they'd been fused into one. He couldn't speak, he couldn't think, he could barely breathe she was so close. He didn't dare to move, or touch her for fear she'd get even more angry, so he stood stock still and looked down at her waiting to see what would come next.

"You wanna know what I would've done?", she spat the words low, but somehow her tone held a trace of something more than anger. Something that in that moment he couldn't think coherently enough to place.

"If you had told that little Barbie, Baywatch wannabe tramp that you were happily married while I was standing there, I would have done this!", she abruptly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. It was not a kiss that he'd experienced from her before. Sure she was passionate whenever they were alone, but this – this was entirely new territory.

Never in all the time that they'd been together had Kuki ever kissed her husband, her lover, her life, like this before. There were explosions going off behind his eyes from the feel of her mouth on his. The raw desire and territorial hunger with which she claimed him was overwhelming. She didn't allow him any time to really respond, she just kept his head locked in place while deepening the kiss to impossible levels. Her fingers dug into the back of his scalp, so deep he was sure they'd draw blood and his heart felt like it would burst at the sensation of her hot, soft lips ravaging him and soothing him at the same time. She would drink him in, devour him completely, he was sure of it and nothing on earth sounded more inviting a prospect.

To be utterly consumed by the fire of this woman's love for him was a fate he never would wish to avoid; 'Come death and welcome, For [Kuki] wills it so!' He felt as though all reality had been altered and there would never be anything in the universe but her again. Every move of her mouth made sanity just that much more elusive, every caressing brush of her skin against his made thought that much more insurmountable. She knew exactly what to do to him, how to render him totally and completely helpless with just her mouth. Just as he gained enough strength back in his limbs to lift his arms to close them around her she shoved him back again roughly.

Her voice was ravaged with remaining wrath, and she shook him out of his haze with the venom in her words. "There. That's what I would've done! Then everyone on the beach would have taken one look at your face, and known exactly who you wanted. Who you love, who you belong to. But you just let her go on with her scheme, you just ignored me and went on about your precious game with her. You took off your wedding ring!"

She screamed the last phrase, and startled him. Before he could reply, she took one more shot. "You promised to never take that ring off Wally! You did it anyway, just erased me from your life, just pretended that I didn't exist, just slip the ring off and you're free, well I - ", it was Kuki's turn to be shocked this time because Wally had reached the edge of his envelope of patience. He turned the tables on her and appeared suddenly right in her space as she'd done to him before.

He'd strode forward during her speech and was now holding her tightly around the wrists. Not harshly, but with no intention of releasing her, he backed her up slowly with her arms above her head until she collided with the opposite wall. He clasped both her small wrists in his big right hand and brought the other around behind her head just as she made contact with the wood paneled surface at her back. He placed his left hand up just in time to cushion her head from the impact with the oak that might have injured it. When that impact happened she saw something like pain flash across his face, but he was kissing her so fiercely, so suddenly that she didn't have time to figure out what the cause of the expression was. He poured every imaginable feeling, and thought, and apology into this kiss, paying her back for the one she'd given him. The tiny whimpering moans that met his ears as he explored every inch of her mouth with his told him that she was his. Still his. He dropped his head to her neck and growled when she squirmed in enjoyment at his actions. He had made it to her shoulder, working his way down when her voice drifted to his consciousness again, breathing his name and he lifted his head back up to capture her mouth once more before releasing his grip on her arms and stepping back.

There was some satisfaction visible on his face as he gazed at her standing with her lips parted slightly, panting a little for breath, and white-knuckling the ridge in the paneling behind her to maintain her footing. He knew he'd given her just as gratifying a show after she'd kissed him, but that didn't matter. He could tell by her eyes, dark and clouded over with desire that he'd gotten his message through. No one could ever usurp her as the empress of his heart – not now, not ever, curves or not. She spoke softly and stepped toward him this time with her arms sliding around his waist and her head falling to his chest.

"Why did you take it off, Wally? Why would you ever take it off when you feel like that? That hurt more than anything else", she was crying again and he kissed the top of her head before moving her back by the shoulders so he could look into the violet orbs he loved so much.

"Kooks, will ya look?", he held up his left hand for her inspection and when he did she rapidly understood the flash of pain she'd seen on his face before when his hand had protected her head from hitting the hard wall.

"Wally! What did you do to your hand?" She shrieked and grabbed it lovingly, and was horrified to see a swollen purple-ish black bruise on the back of it, all under the last three fingers.

When she turned it over to look at the palm side, she found a terribly inflamed little gash there almost all the way around the third finger, and blood clotted with beach sand embedded in it. With a rush of clarity she realized! The ring! The ring must have somehow dug into his hand and forced him to remove it. As if Wally could read her mind, he reached down with his right hand and unzipped the tiny pocket in his trunks. It was zippered to prevent the wearer from losing their belongings while swimming. The ring had been safely stowed all this time. He grinned sheepishly at her and explained.

"I was just starting the volleyball game, when the guy on the other team spiked the ball really hard, and I had to dive to get under it. He really hammered it at me and when it hit my hand the ring, well it just cut right into my hand. I didn't want to lose it, so I put it here", he pointed to the pocket.

Kuki looked and saw the traces of his blood dried on the platinum band. He hadn't been in the water since before the game, so it was all still there. She had never felt so guilty in her life. Here she'd thought he'd been trying to hide their marriage, when it was really an injury that had driven him to remove the band.

"I probably should've quit playing, 'cause the sand isn't really doing the cut any good, but I really wanted to beat that guy, so I kept going. It was no excuse to flirt, Kooks – I am so sorry", he looked into her eyes with such sincerity that she felt her knees buckle.

He wrapped his arms around her instantly and held her up, wincing again when his sore hand made contact with her clothing. She felt dizzy from the torrent of emotions that day had held, but shook it off and quickly ushered him out of the room, upstairs to their bathroom so she could clean the cut. He followed her gladly hoping to pick up where the kiss had left off once she was done patching him up. She was secretly hoping for the same thing, and pulled him along with something akin to glee. Her world was restored to it's axis once more. Her husband was still hers, he loved her and had not betrayed her as she'd thought. She was happily going to show him just how much she loved him back. First things first though, to prevent infection in the already very inflamed, neglected wound.

"Come on Wally, let's get that hand cleaned up. Oh, I and I don't want to hear any whining about the peroxide either. You should have cleaned it sooner", he groaned and she giggled.

"As long as you kiss it and make it better once you're done, Nurse Beatles, I guess I can be brave", he hit her with his best pout and she leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"That's not all I'm gonna do, Mr. Beatles. Not by a long shot", she took off up the stairs and he followed as fast as he could go, slamming the bedroom door behind him.

Author's Notes:

Sorry this took a little longer than I thought. It also turned out longer and better than the last one (I think)...

Please forgive me for moving Abby and Hoagie to the last chapter, but I just couldn't keep going after Kuki's last line. Besides the next chapter will be the last, so it won't be too long a wait. I figure by the end of next weekend if not sooner...

Don't forget to review, you know you wanna...