Chapter Eighteen:
March 9, 2002,

For years, I had thought that Reese was always right—and it annoyed the hell out of me. But in the past month, I've come to realize that Reese isn't exactly the smartest man, in terms of common sense.

Against my better judgement, I agreed to tell someone else about what Jordan had tried to do. So I went to Miguel's house, and I tried to confide in him. I reached out, hoping that he would seize the opportunity to resurrect our friendship.

He didn't. Rather, he, essentially, accused me of lying, which was just what I had been afraid of.

Needless to say, I was upset and mad at Reese for persuading me to tell him, so I hid up in Reese's treehouse without him realizing it. I sat in the corner and cried all by myself for a few hours before he found me.

The he got the bright idea of attempting to beat the crap out of Miguel. He ended up getting knocked out, and now I'm waiting for him to wake up so he can tell me what the hell he was thinking… although I'm not quite sure if I really want to know.

"Kay, what's happened to you?" Reese asked out of nowhere one sunny afternoon.

"What the hell do you mean, Reese? You know what almost happened to me!" Kay sniffed, as she lifted her head off of his chest. They had gone over this time and time again. Did they really need to rehash it yet again?

"I know that, Kay, but that's not what I meant. You're not the same person anymore. When I look into your eyes, I don't see the fire that used to burn inside of them. You don't seem to care about anything anymore. Kay, what happened?"

Kay shrugged. Did it honestly matter? Her life had changed forever when she had let her jealousy blind her actions on the night of the dance.

"Kay, you have to tell someone about what happened. Tell your father—he could help you more than I ever could."

Kay spun around and stared at Reese like he had just slapped her. "Are—are you serious? Reese, I told you that I can't tell anyone. I thought you understood that. And now… you want me to tell my father?"

"Kay, look, it's just that—"

She wasn't in the mood to listen to his excuses. He was turning against her, trying to get her to do things his way. She didn't have to deal with that. She wouldn't deal with that!

She quickly tried to extricate herself from Reese's grasp, but he just wrapped his arms tightly around her, barely allowing her to move an inch.

"Kay, let me explain. Please. He's your father. He, and the rest of your family, can help you more than I ever could. Plus, he's the police chief, so he can punish Jordan for what he's done to you." He paused to stare Kay's eyes, causing Kay's heart to skip a beat.

God, why did he have to look at her like that. Her hurting heart would destroy her willpower, leaving her at his mercy. She had to stay strong. She had to resist his persuasive words.

"Kay, I love our talks and that fact that you feel that you can trust me. I'm glad that we have been able to rebuild our friendship. But you need more than me. Please, Kay, at least tell someone else. Someone else that you feel that you can trust, that you believe in. Please, Kay, don't hide from the world in my treehouse. Go out there and live."

Kay looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes. He loved her. No, not in the way that she wanted him to, but he cared about her. He honestly believed that this was what would be best for her. Slowly, she nodded. "Ok, Reese. I will."

She couldn't tell her father though. That would just be too difficult. Who could she tell?

Miguel. They had promised to always be there for each other when they were younger. He would surely help her, just as Reese had been doing for the past month.

She stood up to leave the treehouse. "Do you need me come with you?" Reese asked, quickly getting to his feet himself.

Kay shook her head slightly. "No, Reese. This is something that I need to do on my own."

~*~

"M—Miguel?" Kay asked as the door to his bedroom slowly creaked open.

"Kay? C'mon in," he replied, tearing his gaze away from the television screen momentarily. "I'm watching Ocean's Eleven."

Kay took a deep breath. "Miguel, can we talk?"

"Isn't that what we're doing now?" Miguel asked, watching the events unfolding onscreen very closely.

"Miguel!" Kay shouted, causing him to look at her. "Can we turn off the movie and just talk—like we used to?"

With a sigh, Miguel paused the movie. "What do you want to talk about, Kay?"

"Do you remember the Valentine's Dance?"

"Yeah, of course I do. You were crowned the Queen of Hearts. Man, I was so proud of you, Kay."

"Well, do you remember who my date was?"

"Yup. Jordan Aberman. He's a great guy, isn't he?"

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. This most definitely wasn't going as she had planned. She should just leave now, before he broke her trust again.

She had to tell someone though. Reese was right. She was slowly withdrawing from all of her friends and family. She had to do something to stop that. Something to reverse the process she had begun last month.

"Miguel, after we left, Jordan tried to rape me. I managed to get away, but he was so close, Miguel! And I was just so scared!" Kay paused, waiting for Miguel's reaction. What he did was certainly something that she hadn't suspected.

"Kay, are you sure that you didn't misinterpret his actions? Jordan wouldn't do something like that."

Kay dropped her jaw in shock and just stared at her supposed friend. Had those words really just come out of his mouth?

She had to get out of there before she started to cry. She couldn't let him see how much he had hurt her.

So, she stood up and ran out of Miguel's room. She ran out of Miguel's house. She ran out of Miguel's life.

~*~

Hours later, Kay was huddled in the corner of Reese's treehouse, cursing everything in her life: Miguel, her family, her luck, her wisdom… even Reese.

Reese had no idea what the hell he was talking about. Telling people wouldn't help things at all. Telling people would only make her upset, make her feel like she was nothing more than a manipulative liar.

That's how Miguel had made her feel.

"K—Kay?"

Reese. He had found her. She should have known that he would come looking for her eventually, and this was obviously the first place that he would look.

She sniffed loudly, wiping her tears from her eyes. "What the hell do you want, Reese?"

"Kay, what's wrong?" he asked as he quickly approached her. "Why didn't you come and find me."

"I just wanted to be alone, Reese, after Miguel did exactly what I was afraid that he might do."

"Kay, what did he do?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Reese. Now leave me alone!" Thinking about it was bad enough. Telling Reese what had happened would only make things worse.

"Fine, Kay," Reese replied, slowly climbing down the ladder. "I'll see you later."

Kay wanted to cry out to him, tell him not to leave. Tell him that she needed him.

But she couldn't. So, instead, she watched him go, wondering if she was doing the right thing.

~*~

A few minutes later, Kay had realized that she needed Reese. She had to tell him what Miguel had said. She needed to cry on his shoulder.

But she hadn't been able to find him anywhere in his house. With a sickening realization, she had realized that he must have gone to see Miguel.

Quickly, she ran to his house, taking all of the shortcuts that she knew by heart. She had to get there before it was too late.

As she approached his driveway, she saw that she hadn't gotten there soon enough. Reese and Miguel were already pummeling each other into the ground.

"Reese, Miguel, stop!"

Reese immediately stopped hitting Miguel to turn his head towards Kay. Miguel saw his chance and hit Reese in the back of the head before Kay could shout out any kind of warning. Miguel's direct punch caused Reese's eyes to roll up into his head and his legs to buckle under him.

Quickly, Kay raced forward to catch him before he crashed to the ground. Gently, she laid him on the pavement before she began to give Miguel the lashing of a lifetime.

"Dammit, Miguel, what the hell do you think that you were doing?"

"Reese started it," Miguel retorted lamely.

"Oooooh, that's a mature approach, Miguel. Where'd you learn that one—third grade? Yes, Reese shouldn't have hit you, but you didn't need to retaliate. And that last punch was a cheap shot, and Reese could really be hurt, Miguel!"

Reese groaned, distracting Kay momentarily. Quickly she kneeled beside him.

"Reese? Are you ok?"

"Other than the fact that I feel like a truck ran over my head, yeah. C'mon, Kay, let's go." Slowly, he lifted himself to his feet and motioned for Kay to follow him.

"Are you sure you're all right? Do you need to lean on me at all?" Kay worried.

Reese offered her a wan grin. "I'll be fine, Kay. Just get me home so I can get some ice."

Kay nodded and walked with him, ready to offer her hand if he needed it. Reese could act like a tough guy all that he wanted, but Kay had come to realize that sometimes it was ok to need help. You just couldn't be afraid to ask.

~*~

"Reese, whatever possessed you to punch Miguel?" Kay asked minutes later as she prepared a cold compress for his quickly darkening right eye.

Reese flinched as the cool cloth touched his face. "I—I guess it was what he was saying. It was almost like he believed more clearly in Jordan's innocence than in your honesty. It just made me so furious that I couldn't stop myself."

"Reese, Miguel said what he said. Fighting with him isn't going to change that. Chances are, Miguel cannot be beaten into submission—believe me, I've tried. Besides, Reese, I'm a big girl—I can handle these kind of things myself. I don't need you to go and fight my battles for me."

"I'm sorry, Kay," Reese apologized.

"Whatever, Reese. I just don't want to have to come and break up one of your fights again."

He rolled his eyes. "Kay, do you realize that you're getting a Mom Tone here? You might want to step down from your soapbox a minute."

"Dammit, Reese, I just don't want to see you wrecking your future because of me! You've come so close to getting into so much trouble at school—and I don't want you to ruin your future because you feel the need to save me or something! Why do you have to play the role of the hero all the time, Reese? Why?"

"Because I love you, goddammit!"

Kay's eyes widened. Had she just heard him right? Had he just said that he loved her?

"Uh… what?"

Reese sighed at looked down at his feet. "I love you, Kay. I've tried to get over you—honest, I have. I just… can't. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to burden you with this. This isn't really the time or the place to be professing my love, but—"

Kay placed her hand over his mouth to shut him up. "I love you too, Reese. I think I've loved you for years—I've just been too stupid to realize it… but what about Jessica? I saw you two kissing."


"When I asked her out, I had intended it to be just two friends going to a dance together. She, uh, didn't quite see it that way. I wanted to keep an eye on you in case you needed any help. I was worried that Jordan might try something."

"And he did," Kay finished. "So what do we do now?"

"First, we kiss," Reese suggested, grinning widely. "Then, we tell your father."

"Reese, I—I can't. I can't tell Dad not yet."

He leaned in to give Kay a quick kiss on the cheek. "Then we'll start with step one—kissing. We'll get there, Kay. Together, you'll find the courage to tell your dad."

Kay nodded, as she leaned in to kiss him. She knew that she should tell her father, but she couldn't help but worry that he would react the same as Miguel did—questioning the validity of her words. If her own father didn't believe her, she knew that no one would, and that fear was something that had kept her quiet for all these days.

But she had Reese in her life now. She and Reese were together—finally. And somehow, that made everything just a little easier to handle.