A/N: An extra long chapter! Hope you all enjoy!
Beating Hearts
Chapter Nine
A legal kiss is never as good as a stolen one. – Guy de Maupassant
Kari was frozen. She could not believe this. Could not believe this. She felt something that faintly resembled lips—MATT'S LIPS—on her mouth, and it was sort of half open from pure shock, and she didn't know if that was gross, it probably was, and he was holding her hand and she didn't know what to do with her other hand, or her mouth, because Heaven forbid she actually kiss him and he wanted her to forget TK so did he like her or was he just living in the moment as Matt was prone to do and oh my God he was still kissing her, he didn't seem to think her lack of response was a big deal and—
OH NO. She was responding! Her hand was in his hair, she could feel it, it was smooth like silk and flowing like water and he seemed to like it because was that a noise coming from his throat that sounded like a moan and hey this was actually pretty nice once she got used to it, although she didn't know if her lips were doing the right thing, but oh there went Matt's hands, down her sides, up her back, to her neck, and they were moving and she felt uncomfortable but also sort of at ease and wasn't this going to make things weird and what about Tai and TK and hadn't she started this whole dancing thing for TK and was she that transparent that Matt would notice she didn't really love him anymore and—
"Stop," she finally said, pulling away an inch. Matt's eyes snapped open, but he looked dazed. Kari knew how he felt. Her head was light from thinking and kissing or whatever they'd been doing. Matt just stared at her for a moment, and then he must have realized his hands were wrapped around her waist, and they were pressed tightly against each other. He took in the scene in a second and then whispered,
"Oh fuck."
Kari was surprised, but she could understand his horror. "We just—"
"Yea. I know." He pulled away, running a hand across his face and through his hair, a nervous habit he didn't use very often because—well—Kari had noticed that Matt didn't get nervous a lot.
She slid down to sit on the ground, still in shock. It was so hard to even process it, because this was Matt. Cool, calm, hot Matt. Matt who was in a band, who played bass and had the voice of a god. Matt, who was her brother's best friend and TK's older brother. Matt, who could waltz. Matt, who always thought of Kari's feelings. Matt… "This is so weird," she finally uttered in a horrified choke. "That—that didn't just happen, did it?"
Silence swelled. Matt's back was to her, and he was staring at the painting Kari had been looking at earlier. She could only see the back of his head, but she remembered running her hands through that hair (which was mussed from her fingers now) and shivered. Matt didn't reply, and that scared Kari. "…Ma—"
"I shouldn't have done it," he spat, his back still facing Kari. She didn't like talking to him when she couldn't see his face. "It was my fault. God, I took the chance and I didn't even—I wasn't even thinking—" He broke off. Kari felt her heart sink, because no girl wanted to hear that the glorious, beautiful, and awkward first kiss they'd ever had was a mistake.
"Right," she answered weakly. "Of course. Who would think to kiss me, right?" She hadn't meant for the sarcasm to drip from her words, but she was still thinking of the feelings she'd had at the kiss, and her lips were still pulsing, and she wanted more, but of course not now. Matt would hate her now, and that made her bitter.
"Righ—no. No." Matt turned around then, kneeling down on his knees to face Kari. She saw that his eyes were wide with the aftershock, and his face was pale. But he still managed to look as gorgeous as ever. "No Kari, that's not what I meant. I just—It's a surprise. I didn't mean to. It was an acc—" He stopped.
"An accident?" Kari supplied, watching his eyes as he blinked nervously. "Of course. I get it." Something in her had changed. She had wanted more at first. She had wanted Matt to keep kissing her. She could barely believe he'd still done it—initiated it and everything. But now that he was making a fuss, it touched upon a nerve that had not often been touched.
She stood up, brushing the dust off of her pants that had accumulated when she slid to the ground in disbelief. "All right. Well, you can leave whenever you'd like." She turned and walked swiftly toward the sewing room door, ready to go hide in her room and mope but also remember that amazing kiss, and remember that Matt had kissed her.
"Wait, c'mon. Kari?" She didn't turn around, not until his hand grabbed at her wrist. He was much stronger than her, and she felt her body being snapped back to face him before she could object.
"Hey—" she began angrily, but Matt held a finger to her lips. This silenced her automatically, merely because he was touching her.
"Let me talk, okay?" She noticed that the finger against her lips was trembling; he noticed it too, because he looked flustered and lowered his hand to his side again. His other hand was still gripped around her wrist.
"Fine." She wasn't in the mood for this. Everything in her brain was a complete and utter mess, and she could barely even concentrate; the one thing running through her mind was kiss Matt kiss Matt who's TK? Kiss. Matt.
He watched her carefully, and she realized in that second that a kiss probably meant next to nothing to him. He was obviously gorgeous, and he was older and had had girlfriends (she'd seen them but never really noticed them before). So was he just going to hastily patch up a mistake with his best friend's sister and then leave it at that? She hoped against all odds that he wouldn't.
Matt was silent, and Kari could almost see his brain scrambling to think of something right to say to an angry girl after a kiss. "Are you going to talk?" she asked idly, and she saw irritation flash through his eyes; if she hadn't, the tightened grip on her wrist would have told her anyway.
"It was your hair," he blurted out, and the anger in his face changed rapidly to embarrassment. Or shock. Or both.
Kari herself was a bit surprised. "My—hair?" she repeated, and she could see the words made Matt's cheeks grow pink with awkwardness.
"Yes, but that's not important," he replied hurriedly. "I just—it was impulse and I should have ignored. Not because I don't like you—" he rushed at Kari's tiny scowl that had taken over her face, "—but because you're my best friend's little sister, and TK's—" He stopped. Matt hadn't finished his thoughts, but she had known what he was going to say and felt her stomach churn uncomfortably.
TK's my little brother.
"Oh my God," Kari whispered again, feeling as if she may seriously be sick. "This is—we can't—"
Matt nodded. Kari couldn't finish her words. They could never fix this. It was absolutely impossible to turn back time and pretend it hadn't happened. Crushing on him was understandable; even disturbing thoughts were easily forgotten. But a kiss? A kiss? She couldn't run away from that! She couldn't act like everything was fine! How would she—how could she—
"Hey. Are you all right?" Matt's hand, still clutching her wrist, shook her skinny arm lightly. She blinked, looked up at him and then felt something in her stomach move again.
She clapped a hand to her mouth, and Matt instantly understood, taking a hasty step back. "I'm going to be sick," she muffled against her hand as explanation, and then flung open the door and dashed down the hall.
Only after puking over the toilet for several moments and panting as she hastily brushed her mouth with toothpaste, did Kari feel horribly mortified. She'd just run out on Matt to go throw up. How often did he kiss a girl and get a reaction like that?
But he kissed me, she thought again, and felt the giddiness that made her head throb and feet light. But now, it was plagued by worry. Trouble.
Where could they possibly go from here?
After leaving the bathroom, Kari treaded softly down the hall, peeking into the sewing room; Matt wasn't there. She was struck by the thought that he might have snuck out, and her heartbeat sped up.
"Matt?" she called.
"Out here," came his reply a moment later, and she was relieved to see the glass door to the balcony open, and Matt's lean body resting against the railing. She couldn't see his face, but only his back. The rain had stopped, and the clouds were a dark violet as a violent storm just waited to erupt.
She hesitantly stepped outside, feeling a shiver of excitement run through her as the warm storm wind blew past her. It was nearly impossible to look at Matt and realize that he had kissed her—for one second, he had wanted to kiss her. He had had feelings for her. Maybe it wasn't all as much of a far off whim as Kari thought.
Without looking at him, Kari rested her elbows on the railing and let out a puff of air, watching her bangs flutter in front of her eyes. Briefly she remembered Matt saying something about her hair; this led to her recalling his question about her being really heartbroken about TK, and the giddiness overtook her again.
"S—Sorry," she mumbled, feeling terribly out of place and young, once again.
"Don't be," he answered, and she could hear a strange lilt to his voice. She risked a flickering gaze in his direction to see a resigned sort of expression on his face. "It happens a lot."
Kari gaped at him. "I don't believe that," she told him stoutly, turning to face the city below them; their apartment complex was older than most, and was erected in what would be a normal downtown area. "No girl would normally do that after… after kissing you." At the words her face flamed up, but she refused to act childish. She couldn't help but remember what had gone on between them in quick flashes. It had been…
"I honestly don't know what to say." Matt slumped down, his arms crossed as they hung lazily on the railing; Kari could see how tense they were, though.
"It's… fine," Kari said, but she didn't believe her words. Fine? Fine? It wasn't fine at all! How could they leave something so important so… open-ended? So untied?
"I mean, I don't have the answers to everything," Matt muttered, but Kari wondered if he was still talking to her or to himself now. "I'm not a god… or something."
Kari felt her stomach clench again. She had seen him as a god, like he was some sort of gorgeous being too perfect for normal human beings. It was so obvious now that he was just like anyone else, only better at hiding what he was thinking. Argh, she was so stupid! She was no better off than any of his rabid fans…
"Do you do this to every girl you meet?" she asked softly, half teasing and half serious. It tugged at something inside of her. What if he kissed all of his groupies, too? What if being in a band meant you were supposed to do something like that?
"No," he answered stiffly… seriously. Kari felt stupid for even asking it.
"Sorry."
"It's fine. I know you're probably weirded out."
Kari clenched her hands into fists, keeping her voice neutral. "What, and you're not?"
Matt snorted, still not looking at her, but out at the city. "Oh yea. I'm fucking scared. But I'm not going to make a huge deal out of it." She saw him glance at her, and then away. She realized she'd been caught watching him and quickly looked away as well. "That would just make things worse."
Kari couldn't think of anything to say to that. "I feel ridiculous," she murmured into her hands, trying to keep her focus. But every few seconds her mind was straying, and she wanted Matt to leave so she could sort out her feelings, but then she didn't because she wanted to speak to him about it, but that was too weird so maybe they should just make out again, but that was just her hormones talking.
"How are we going to deal with this?" she finally asked in a squeaky voice; Kari could hear the tremble in her words, and felt the tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. Argh. She wasn't supposed to cry. This wasn't some soap opera! This was just her life: her previously boring, dull, average life. Until Matt had stepped in.
"I don't know," Matt replied helplessly with a little sigh. His voice sounded a pitch higher than normal as well. "I have no damn idea how to deal with something like this." Hearing the exasperation in his voice, Kari clenched her eyes shut tightly for a moment, trying to think of an answer to their problems.
"Well… okay," she finally whispered, more to herself than anything. "There's really only one thing we can do for the first step."
Matt finally turned to look over at her, elbows still resting on the railing. "What's that?" he asked seriously. Kari felt strange now; was he looking at her like she was a woman now, or still that tiny girl he'd been teaching to dance as a favour to Tai and TK?
"We can't… have lessons anymore." The words came out faster than she intended. She didn't like saying them. She hadn't wanted to say them. But there was no escaping around the fact now. There was no way she'd be able to get that close to him again without having some sort of meltdown.
Matt was silent. "That's true," he agreed. "It was fun while it lasted, right?" he asked, a smirk tugging on his lips. Kari found it impossible to smile in agreement and just nodded her head obediently. I don' t need them to impress TK anymore, she thought mildly. I probably won't go—
"Oh no," she whispered, covering her mouth with her hands. TK. Why did things keep getting worse and worse? She had nearly forgotten about the dance and her promise to TK, and—well—TK himself!
"Finally realized it?" Matt asked idly. Kari flinched at his words, managing a glare in his direction.
"I wouldn't have had to think of a way around this if you hadn't kissed me," she snapped before thinking. They both froze, because she had spoken the truth they had been both silently denying. Matt was staring at her coldly; Kari struggled to keep her gaze even with his. "Well it's true," she added stubbornly, albeit quieter.
"I apologized already," Matt told her tightly.
Kari felt a twinge of irritation. "I don't want you to apologize," she told him calmly, but not rationally. "I just—do you—" She couldn't say it. Do you really regret the kiss?
Silence settled between them, and when it was clear Kari wasn't going to continue, Matt let out a soft, but heavy, sigh. "Just… don't tell your brother, okay?" He tried to smile, failed miserably, and stalked off the balcony back into the apartment. Kari stood silently as she listened attentively for the click of the door as he left the apartment. She heard it, and only after Kari was sure Matt was gone did she slide down to the cement floor of the balcony, wrapping her arms around her head as she felt the tears slide silently down her cheeks.
Who knew such an amazing kiss could have so many painful complications?
He wasn't going to make it. He wasn't going to be able to walk back to his apartment like everything was fine, like he hadn't just had an amazing make-out session with little Kari. Nope. His temper was already fraying, and mixed with confusion, frustration, and hatred for himself. Matt was near the breaking point.
Deciding he needed some time to think, he swerved at the next corner, where he knew a park was. He strode swiftly over to a bench sitting underneath the calming shade of a large tree; even the distant giggles and shrieks of children on the equipment didn't bother him as much as it normally would have. He was too tightly wrapped up in his own problems to really see what was going on around him.
With a sigh, he collapsed onto the bench of wooden slats, the white paint long worn away by wind and rain.
There was no way to express his stupidity. No way to express how idiotic his move was. He wanted to blame it all on the hair, but dammit, she'd been bothering him for a while. He'd just never really… paid attention.
"Shit," he muttered, resting his face in his hands as he tried to sort out his thoughts. He summed them up in three words: trouble, awkward, and amazing. The kiss had been… amazing. She'd obviously been surprised, and he'd been about to pull away, but the second she responded he forgot just who he'd been kissing and attacked her with full force. Just… dammit. It was so completely wrong and horrible and messed up, but it had felt perfect in that moment. Why did Fate hate him so much?
"HEY MATT! MAATTT!"
He froze. Fate hated him, all right. Fate hated him very, very much.
Matt didn't move, but instead let Tai come wheezing and puffing his way toward him. Tai plopped down on the bench beside him; his cleats knotted at the strings and tossed over one shoulder. "What're you doing here?" he asked cheerfully.
Several emotions attacked Matt at once. He felt guilty for having kissed Kari and in turn, keeping it a secret from Tai. He felt sort of afraid, because if Tai ever found out what had happened, Matt would be a dead man. And he also felt uncomfortable, which was definitely a first.
"Er—thinking," he replied eloquently, his face still in his hands and his voice muffled.
"Oh yea," Tai agreed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world to find Matt huddled up on a bench, hiding his face from the world. "Man, I ruled at our game today! I scored four goals! It was intense." Matt nodded his enthusiasm, although he was just hoping Tai would hop up and leave him there.
"Well, I was just heading home and—oh yea! How were dance lessons with Kari?" Tai asked easily. Matt was always surprised at how Tai could be suspicious one day, and then so normal the next.
"Fine," he answered, finally deciding that hiding his face was too suspicious. Warily lowering his hands, Matt cast a glance at Tai. He was sitting on the edge of his seat, still filled with adrenaline from his soccer game. Matt could see it because Tai's legs were bouncing up and down on the ground. Tai caught Matt's glance and grinned at him.
"I'm glad. She's so hyped up about the TK thing." He paused, frowning lightly. "I think. She's sort of holed herself up in her room lately."
Matt did not want to be talking about Kari and her habits as of late, especially with Tai. "That's interesting," he told him politely, the tone clearly indicating he didn't find it at all so.
"Isn't it?" Tai asked seriously, completely missing the point. "She's been funny ever since she was sick." He puckered his lips in a frown. "But she won't explain anything anymore. It's weird."
"I didn't think you and Kari were ever that close to begin with," Matt told him nonchalantly, struggling to control himself from lashing out at Tai and running off. The anger he was feeling had nothing to do with Tai. It was better to get out of this conversation and leave as quickly as he could.
"Well, I guess not." Tai shrugged. "But usually she was never this—moody."
Matt frowned, and couldn't help but wonder if he'd been the cause of it. But seconds later he realized that was self-centred and, once again, completely idiotic.
"She's a girl, Tai. How old is she now, anyway? Fifteen or something?"
Tai nodded. "I suppose so. Remember when she was eight and so much more manageable?" he asked wistfully, staring up at the sky with a smile on his face.
Matt snorted. "She was never manageable." He was surprised he'd said it. So was Tai. He looked over at him, squinting.
"I guess so," he finally answered, and Matt let out a silent breath of air. His heartbeat hadn't had a proper chance to slow itself down ever since he'd stepped into Tai and Kari's apartment earlier that day. What he needed was peace.
"Look man, I have to go practice for our set at the dance on Saturday," Matt told Tai calmly, wondering if Kari would even be going to the dance anymore, and how it would affect TK, and oh God TK—
"All right. See you later!" Tai stood up, waved, and began to walk down to his apartment. Matt waited until he was out of sight before standing up himself. He decided to take his own advice and go practice his songs. He knew them off by heart already, but… it wouldn't hurt. Something needed to distract him from whatever the hell was wrong with him.
Kari jumped when she heard the door opening. For a fleeting second she thought it might be Matt, but her hopes were dashed when she the familiar noises of Tai when he walked in.
"I'm home!" he cried out. Kari ignored him and rolled back over on the sofa, face squashed between the pillows. Rather than stumble to the safety of her room, Kari had collapsed on the sofa in the living room. So far, she hadn't thought of anything. Normally she'd be analyzing every little thing, worrying about what could come next. But so far her mind had stayed blissfully empty, and all she'd done was remember that expression on Matt's face before he'd kissed her. It was something she'd never seen on any guy's face, and especially not TK's.
"Kari? Where're—" he stopped short as she heard him walk into the living room. "Sleeping?" he asked quietly.
She was about to lie and stay silent, but her normal habits kicked in before she could stop them. "No," was her muffled reply.
"Man, dancing must have tired you guys out," Tai said huffily, sitting down at the foot of the sofa Kari was lying on.
Kari stiffened. "Whaddya mean?" she asked, voice still muted from the pillows.
"Well, I met Matt on the way home at the park, and he looked tired too. Now that you mention it, he was hiding his face as well." There was silence, and Kari tried to imagine how Matt had taken that scene. He obviously hadn't told Tai, as he'd asked Kari not to tell him either. So what he done? She couldn't possibly imagine the humiliation he must have felt.
She shuddered. Kari would be able to understand the next time she saw TK… she knew that for sure. "That's odd," she finally muttered, refusing to turn her head away and look less suspicious.
Tai was silent for a moment. "Yea… you're right." She heard him stand up and leave the room without another word. Wincing, Kari realized that Tai wasn't as stupid as he acted. Why did he have to meet up with Matt? She wouldn't be so suspicious if Matt—
Wait. Did that mean Matt was freaking out? Did that mean he was having feelings for her? The thought warmed her, but also scared her. After all, the constant question on her mind was, what can come of this anyway?
She sat up, her head feeling light. No matter how much she just wanted to hole herself up in her room, she had to at least act a little bit normal, or Tai would catch on way too quickly. "How was your game?" she asked him as she trotted into the kitchen, where Tai was busy making a bowl of cereal.
"I did great! Four goals," he told her with a grin. Kari smiled back.
"Congrats!" she cheered, and at the funny look on Tai's face remembered that she was not this chipper very often. So she fell silent and walked toward the refrigerator to grab some juice.
"So how's TK?" His question was mild, but Kari jarred at his words.
"How would I know?" she asked back quickly. "It's not like I talk to him all the time, you know!" Just learn to keep your mouth shut, Kari.
"Uh, okay," Tai, said warily, casting her a funny glance. "What, did you and Matt have a lover's spat or something?" She couldn't see his face, but Kari seriously hoped he was joking.
After recovering from shock, she snapped, "do you ever think before you speak?"
There was a short pause. "Not really, no."
Kari rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Mom and Dad will be home soon. Your turn to make supper!" And then she dashed out of the kitchen and down the hall. Hearing a strangled, delayed yell of protest from Tai, Kari was glad she was escaping to her room. After Tai's last comment she wondered just how much he knew about them.
"Argh!" she yelled as she face-dove on her bed, squishing her face up against her pillow. Normally one to keep her room tidy, Kari hadn't cleaned her room in days. There just hadn't seemed to be enough time.
I always thought my first kiss would be with TK, she thought suddenly. Instead it's with his older brother.
She unleashed another muffled scream. How was she expected to deal with this? Not only this, but also having to see TK tomorrow, and trying to stay normal around Tai and everyone else! How would all their friends take to that? They'd be shocked! Mortified!
What would TK do? He would probably… give in without a fight, but not until he made Kari feel sufficiently guilty and horrible for being alive.
TK hesitantly dialled the numbers on his phone, waiting impatiently for Matt or his dad to pick up on the other end. Five rings went until he heard Matt's voice say, "sorry, we're not home. Leave a message so we can decide whether we want to call you back."
He waited for the beep. "Uh, hey Matt and Dad. How are you two? Uh, Matt, can you call me back when one of you gets this? Thanks." He hung up the phone, nibbling on his thumbnail nervously.
TK knew it was pathetic to be calling his older brother for girl advice. What kind of fifteen-year-old boy needed to check with his graduating brother every five minutes to make sure he wasn't losing Kari? It felt like every second that passed was another second wasted.
Hesitantly, he sat down on the impeccable living room sofa. His mom had just recently renovated, and everything in their apartment was clean, new, and predictably white. It made TK feel awkward, whose bedroom was a mess of color.
Staring at the vase on the coffee table with the plastic white lilies sitting daintily inside, he began to worry again. Whenever he worried, he became flustered. Was it horribly clingy of him to be hoping Kari would call him? Hoping Kari would ask to spend time with him like she used to? Ever since a few weeks ago she'd been backing off.
TK knew it could be anything… but it had been at that time he wanted to move things forward, and look what happened! It seemed to be scaring her off more. The dance debacle was strange in itself, and TK wanted answers. He had no idea why calling Matt would help. Maybe his brother's gruff reality would make him realize that nothing was wrong; maybe because Matt went over to Tai's almost everyday he might have talked to Kari more than TK himself had in the last while. Whatever it was, TK just needed… answers.
Asking Kari herself? Out of the question.
Waiting another fifteen minutes, TK couldn't stand it and picked up the phone again, hitting redial. This time it only rang twice before someone picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Matt," TK greeted in response, relief evident in his voice.
"Oh, right. I just got your message." Something was funny in his voice.
"Are you okay? You sound like you're sick or something." TK was worried.
"No, no, I'm fine," Matt reassured him hurriedly. Seconds later he sounded almost like his normal self. "So what's up?"
"Um, well… It's a bit strange," TK admitted, blushing over the phone even though his brother wasn't there to scold him in person.
Matt heaved a quiet sigh. "Are you worried about your girlfriend again?"
"I don't think she's really my girlfriend," TK argued stoutly for some bizarre reason. Wasn't that what he wanted?
"Fine, Teeks, okay. Kari's not your girlfriend, just your soul mate, your lover, and the girl that was meant to be with you! That sort of thing?" His voice had gone funny again… bitter, or something.
"Are you having girl troubles too?" TK asked hopefully. He wouldn't feel like such an idiot if Matt could complain too.
A pause answered him, but it was too long to be normal. "I don't get girl problems, little brother," Matt informed him breezily. TK frowned.
"Well, what about mine? What should I do? Has Tai said anything?" TK asked in a rush.
"TK, don't," Matt complained from the other end of the line. TK heard a thump as Matt flopped down on something, like a bed or a sofa.
"What?" TK asked, hurt. Wasn't Matt always there to help him? Why was he being so strange right now? "I just don't want… to lose her," he whispered softly. "But I'm afraid she hates me now, or something."
"TK, I don't—" Strangled noises, as if Matt was struggling to say something and failing miserably. "I don't know what to do, all right? I don't have all the Goddamn answers everytime you pick up the phone or come over to Dad's apartment. All right?"
TK grew quiet. "All right," he replied in an offended tone. "Geez, sorry."
"I don't want to talk about Kari," Matt suddenly snapped, and the sentence was final.
"Wha—you talked to Kari?" TK blurted out without thinking. When? Where? Why?
"TK," Matt's voice was hard, and it startled TK. "I don't want to talk about Kari," he repeated slowly, enunciating every syllable. "Okay?"
He wanted to know what was going on. Since when had Matt even cared about talking about Kari? Whenever TK had brought her up before, Matt had been all for discussing ways he could woo a girl's heart. But suddenly—
"All right, fine," TK replied sulkily. "Sorry for bothering you."
"Wait, TK—"
"See you in school." TK hung up the phone with a soft click, surprising because anger was radiating off of him unnaturally. Matt was one of the only people TK could ever truly get angry with. Maybe it was a brothers thing, but sometimes Matt just said the wrong thing, or pulled the wrong expression, and TK would know, deep down, that Matt was making fun of him or thought he was stupid, or… or… talking to his girlfriend behind TK's back.
"ARGH!" he cried suddenly, jumping up. "Kari is not my girlfriend!" he added in a shout.
Why in the world did he keep refusing what was once the inevitable? Probably because he just didn't know what to think of her anymore. Once she'd been so kind, and sweet, and yes, she'd gotten irritated with him. Yes, they'd had their little spats, but they'd always made up. They'd been through too much together to mysteriously start drifting apart without any appropriate reason!
What is going on in your head, Kari? TK asked silently, but there was no one to answer him.
At that precise moment, Kari's phone rang. She was the first to lunge for it, as it was cordless and hidden under her pillow and quilts on her bed. Kari could hear her parents yelling at each other to find it outside in the kitchen, but she quickly picked it up and without looking to see who was calling, clicked the 'talk' button.
"Hello?" she asked breathlessly, tired from having flung pillows and blankets haphazardly into different directions.
"Kari."
She knew who it was. Her stomach knotted, her knees grew weak, and butterflies not only erupted in her abdomen but in her head as well.
"Yes?" she asked, almost dazed. Was this how she was always going to act around Matt now?
"We need to talk."