Chapter Twenty:
March 10, 2002
Talk about a day filled with ups and downs. Believe me, if only one day would fit that description, this day would be it.
First off, Reese loves me—me! I just want to dance around in circles out of pure joy. After months of thinking that he loved my sister, we finally straightened everything out. It's me he loves—not her.
And then, Miguel came over today and apologized for his complete stupidity these past few months. So, that was good—for the most part.
The bad part about Miguel's apology was that he said that Luis was the one who made him realize how much of a dumbass he was being. Meaning that Luis knows what Jordan almost did to me.
Meaning that my father probably knows what he almost did to me.
So I have to tell my father before he yells at me for not telling him. I just hope that it goes over a lot easier than I think it will…
"So, Miguel, what did you want to talk about?" Kay asked as soon as they had their feet on firm ground.
Miguel took a moment or two before he responded, and in that time, Kay began to wish that Reese had come with her. It had only been her dumb pride that had made her ask Reese to stay in the treehouse. The same dumb pride that had gotten her into trouble more times than she could count.
She only hoped that Miguel wouldn't make her cry again. That was the one thing that she hated about the vast change in his personality—he now had the ability to make her cry.
She hated crying. She had long since given up her complete tomboy persona, but crying still made her feel weak and vulnerable—and she hated those feelings with her entire being.
"C'mon, Kay," Miguel said suddenly, breaking into her thoughts and extending his hand. "Let's go sit on the swings."
Kay nodded and headed over to the two old, wooden swings that still hung from the branch of an even older oak tree in corner of Reese's backyard.
"Kay, I had a long talk with Luis this morning, and he made me realize what a jerk I've been recently. I haven't been much of a friend recently, and I'm sorry."
"You should be sorry, Miguel," Kay replied bitterly. "Do you have any idea how much your words hurt me yesterday? Reese had finally convinced me to tell someone, and I figured that my best friend would listen to me and be on my side. But you weren't!! You were too busy watching that damn movie to even think about the pain that I was going through! And then you didn't believe me when I finally said what had happened! Miguel, that hurt—more than I can even begin to describe."
"I know it did, Kay. You would never make up something that serious—I know that now. I should have known that back then. I wish I could go back in time and take it all back, but I can't."
"Damn right, you can't," Kay informed him bitterly.
"Look, Kay, I know that Reese got his punches in yesterday, but you haven't even taken a shot at me—even though I'm sure that you've wanted to."
"Especially after that cheap shot you got in yesterday," Kay muttered, giving Miguel a pointed look
Miguel nodded slightly. "Yeah, that wasn't cool. I don't know what got into me yesterday, Kay. Anyhow, I've been thinking all morning about what I can do to make this up to you, and while I know that this won't make everything okay between us, I hope it will be a start. A new beginning, maybe?"
Kay sighed. "What's your big idea, Miguel. Just spit it out already."
"I want you to hit me a few times. Kay, when we were younger you never hesitated to beat me into a pulp when I pissed you off. You haven't done that recently—and while that's ok, I think that this is something that you need to do."
Miguel stood up and walked up in front of Kay. "So hit me, Kay. C'mon and punch me—you know that you want to."
Kay just sat in her swing for a moment, her jaw slack. Miguel was asking her to hit him??? Had he gone mad?
She had to admit that he had a point though. She had been wanting to hit him for quite awhile now—especially since he hurt Reese with that cheap shot yesterday. Maybe throwing a few punches would make her feel better.
Slowly, Kay stood up. "You're sure about this, Miguel?" she asked as she approached him.
Miguel nodded. "If this will make things better between us, then, yes, I am."
Kay smirked slightly. Apparently Miguel had forgotten how punishing her fists could be. Well, he was going to get a quick review of that in just a few seconds.
As her fists began to meet Miguel's face, chest, and abdomen, Kay felt a release of all of the pent up anger that she had been keeping bottled up inside for so long.
Miguel had been right. This was going to help things.
For the first time in a long time, Miguel had had a good idea.
~*~
As Kay began the climb up to the treehouse, she heard Reese's large feet moving around above her head. She should have known that he would be worrying about her since she hadn't allowed him to follow them down to the ground.
"Reese, you can stop pacing," she informed him, as she neared the entrance.
Instantly, the footsteps stopped. As Kay pushed herself through the small hole in the floor, she stifled a laugh. Reese was apparently trying to figure out how she had known that he had been pacing. If only he knew just how heavy and loud his footsteps were!
"Reese, you're so sweet to be so worried about me, but I'm fine—really. Miguel just wanted to apologize—for everything. He said that Luis straightened him out, and that he knew that he should have trusted me. So, it's all good now." She flashed him a multi-million dollar grin and leaned in closer for a soft kiss.
The kiss was perfect for a moment. It was just them, two people in love wanting nothing more than to just be with the one that ruled their heart.
But then Reese pulled away.
"Kay, you said that he told Luis?"
"Yeah…?" Kay trailed off with a slight shrug. What was he getting at?
"That means that Luis knows. And if Luis knows…"
Kay winced as realization set in. Luis would surely tell her father—after all, they both worked at the police station. There was no way that Luis would keep such worrisome information from her father! "That means that my dad knows—or, at least, he will know by tonight. Dammit, Reese, I've got to tell him before he hears it from Luis!"
Reese shook his head grimly. "No, Kay, your father probably already knows, but you do need to tell him before he tells you that he knows."
Kay nodded. Reese was right. "But, Reese, I don't know if I can say the words. It's just… it makes it too real."
Tenderly, Reese pulled her to his chest and smoothed her hair. "I know, Kay. I know. But this is something that you have to do. And I'll be right beside you, if you want."
Kay nodded slowly. With Reese beside her, she felt as if she could do anything. But how would she tell her father? "Let's have dinner with my family tonight. I'll tell him after dinner—ok? Until then, can we just stay here—just you and me?"
Reese smiled softly. "Of course we can."
Carefully, he took a seat on one of the beanbags and pulled Kay down with him. "I love you, Kay," he whispered softly, as he gently rubbed her back.
Kay smiled, as she nestled up against his warm chest. He always knew just what to do and say to help her relax. "I love you too, Reese."
Tonight would be difficult, attempting to tell her father the horrible truth about what had almost happened, but at least she had her time with Reese right now.
If her world fell down around her later tonight, at least she had had her moment in heaven with Reese.
~*~
"Mmmmm, this tomato soup cake is delicious, Mrs. Bennett!" Reese enthused at dinner that night.
Kay rolled her eyes. She knew that she had told Reese to be upbeat throughout dinner, but did he have to take it to the extreme? Everyone but her blissfully ignorant mother would know that he was lying through his teeth.
"Why, thank you, Reese," her mother beamed. "Would you like another piece?"
Reese glanced over at Kay, hiding his expression of disgust from her mother. His eyes begged Kay to get him out of having to eat another slice. Her eyes dancing with laughter, she replied for Reese. "I'm sure he would, Mom, but we need to talk to Dad first, if that's all right."
Her father nodded. "Of course that's ok, sweetheart. Would you like to go into the living room?"
Kay nodded and instinctively reached a hand out to grasp Reese's own. He grabbed it and squeezed it gently, helping her to calm down just a bit.
Together, the three of them rose and headed towards the living room. It was time to discover how her father would react to her story.
While she knew that her father would probably be on her side, she still wanted to do everything in her power to prevent him from ever learning of what had almost happened.
Too bad that it was too late to prevent it from occurring.
~*~
Moments later, Kay and Reese were seated in the corner of the couch in the Bennett's living room, with Reese's arms encircling Kay's body. Her father was seated across from them in the armchair.
"Daddy," Kay began nervously, as she clutched Reese's arms as if they were her lifeline.
Daddy. What a comforting word that was. She hadn't called him that in a long time, but, somehow, that name seemed appropriate at a time like this.
She cleared her throat. "I'm sure that Luis has already told you what Miguel told him, but I wanted to try to tell you myself."
Her father nodded. "Go ahead, honey. I'm listening."
"Well, uh, do you remember the Valentine's Dance last month? I went with Jordan Aberman, and, uh, I was really confused that night. I mean, I thought that I still loved Miguel, but I was uncomfortable about Reese going with Jessica—I know now that it was jealousy.
"Anyhow, Jordan and I went to the dance, and I was crowned the Queen of Hearts. I was beyond shocked. I mean, I'm not Miss Popular—and I know it. But Jordan was the King of Hearts, so it was kinda fun.
"Then, I saw Jessica kiss Reese, and I was just furious. I had to get out of there, so Jordan and I left. He just drove around for awhile, waiting for me to calm down a bit. Eventually, I did, so he stopped the car—at Parker Point."
Kay looked up at her father and saw his face cloud over with fury. He knew where this was going, and she just hoped that she would be able to get through the story. She had made it through the easy part. But the rest of it… she didn't know if she could bear to say the words!
She looked back at Reese, hoping for words of encouragement—or, better yet, the words to finish the tale. Reese knew what had happened. He could finish telling it.
But instead of resuming the narrative, Reese simply squeezed her hands, placed a soft kiss on her lips, and whispered, "You can do it, Kay."
"He—he kissed me, Daddy, and it was good—at first. But then he started moving too fast for me. He reached behind me to unzip my dress, and I tried to tell him to stop. I did tell him to stop… but he didn't listen. So then I tried to shove him off of me, but he was too strong, Daddy! He wouldn't move!
"Oh, Daddy, I cried out. I wanted someone to help me, but no one was around to hear my cries. Jordan told me to shut up. He said that I—I owed it to him to sleep with him. He—he said that he had gotten me crowned the Queen of Hearts. He also said that if I hadn't wanted to sleep with him, then I shouldn't have agreed to go to the dance with him.
"I was furious, Daddy! I punched him once in the nose—just like I learned in my personal defense class. He grabbed his nose in pain and let go of me. But since I knew that he would try again as soon as he could get the bleeding to stop, I knew that I had to get out of there. So I quickly opened the car door and ran as fast as I could into the nearby woods. I knew that if I ran along the road, he would see me, but in the woods, the night would hopefully hide me.
"So I ran and I ran until I couldn't run anymore. I had cuts and scrapes all over my body, and I was covered in dirt—and, I was lost. I was going to give up and just spend the night in the woods—and hope that someone would come and find me in the morning, but then I realized where I was. So I walked to Reese's house—and he took care of me. He gave me some new clothes to wear, made me take a bath—and he comforted me, Daddy. He helped me heal the wounds that Jordan had created."
Kay turned around to kiss the man behind her. "I love you," she whispered softly. "Thank you."
He leaned in for a longer kiss. "You're welcome, Kay… and I love you more."
"Well, honey, I'm going to call Luis and have him arrest this Jordan Aberman."
"Daddy, he didn't do anything. He only tried to—that's not a crime."
"Honey, just because he didn't rape you doesn't mean that we can't put him in jail. Sexual harassment is also a crime. We can get him on that. But, sweetheart, you have to be willing to testify in court. Will you do that?"
"I—I—I don't know if I'll be able to do it, Daddy. It was hard enough trying to tell you!"
"I know, honey, but you can do anything you set your mind to—you know that. You're determined, and if you want to, you can do it."
Kay didn't know if she could handle it. Could she really go up in front of a court and say these things to people that she barely even knew? It was hard enough trying to tell people that she did know!
"Kay," Reese whispered in her ear, "don't you want to see Jordan punished for what he did? Don't you want to make sure that he can't hurt anyone else like he hurt you?"
Kay nodded, as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Yeah, I do. Ok, Daddy—I'll do it."
She grinned as Reese leaned down to kiss her. Finally, Jordan was going to pay for what he'd done.
All that she needed was the nerve to go through with it—but something told her that with Reese by her side, she would somehow find the strength that she needed.