Hello all! I am sosoososoososo sorry. I know I haven't updated this in forever. I've been really busy and honestly I was a little stuck with this story. I haven't even been on this site in months. BUT don't worry, I'm back on track - I've gotta plan for this story now and I'm going to try to get it finished! Thank you to everyone that is sticking with me here! Here's a little something to make up for it: .net/s/7757160/1/Distracted (hopefully).
They were sitting on Kaylie's couch halfway through The Notebook when Austin spoke up.
"I want you to meet my sister." he stated, looking down at her.
"Really?" Kaylie asked anxiously. His desire for her to meet his sister honestly surprised her, but she had no objection, in fact she wanted to meet her. Kaylie could see that Austin genuinely loved her and cared about her well-being, which was one of the things she loved about him. His protectiveness of his sister, and herself, was incredibly attractive.
"Yeah, you two are actually incredibly alike, and I think that you'd be friends, plus she's been begging to meet you forever." Austin replied.
"Of course I will. She sounds pretty cool, surprisingly, considering she's your sister." Kaylie joked, looking up at him and batting her eyelashes mischievously.
"Ooh, you're just mean today." Austin replied with his hand on his heart as if she had wounded him.
Kaylie turned her head to place a light kiss on his chest, "There, all better. Or do you need a Band-Aid too for your bruised ego?"
Austin suddenly lifted and placed her so that she was sitting on his lap, "Your kisses always do the trick."
Kaylie smiled into his mouth, with a great mixture of feelings whirling around her stomach. She wanted to meet Austin's sister, she honestly did, but she was nervous that she wasn't up to it. Kaylie wanted to be able to be a good role model for Austin's sister, she had felt the same pressures as Kaylie had, and she obviously didn't react to them any better. Although Kaylie had conquered her problem, the problem didn't go away. She still felt that urge, she had simply learned to resist it, learned that she was better than her problem. However, bringing another anorexic into the picture, Austin's family couldn't be happy about.
Kaylie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. In, out. In, out. She felt Austin squeeze her hand and she opened her eyes to look at him. He had that perfect, confident "I'm Austin Tucker." look on his face, complete with his knee-weakening smile. But Kaylie had grown to read him almost as well as he could read her. She knew that he was nervous too, she could see it in his eyes.
"Relax," he told her, "it'll be fine, they'll love you."
She pulled the corners of her mouth up to make him feel better and inhaled once more before he opened the door.
Her first thought was how pretty they were. Austin's mother was a petite blonde woman who had a heart-shaped face and a welcoming smile. She was pretty in a natural way, as if her kindness was what made her so beautiful. She greeted Kaylie immediately, pulling her into her welcoming embrace and smoothing her hair in a motherly way, as if she had known her all her life. When she pulled away, Kaylie could see that Austin had her eyes. "Hello, Kaylie, I'm so happy to finally meet you. Austin has told me a lot about you, all good things, don't worry."
Kaylie smiled, "It's very nice to meet you too, Mrs. Tucker."
"And this is Kira," Austin said, gesturing to another girl standing next to his mother. The first thing Kaylie noticed about her what that she was small, no she was miniscule. Kaylie wondered if people had the same reaction when they saw her for the first time. Kira was a pretty girl of about fifteen. She had gorgeous, long and wavy red hair and green eyes. Kira grabbed Kaylie and hugged her tightly, laughing.
"I'm so excited to finally meet you! You are so cool, and talented, and pretty!" she exclaimed.
Kaylie blushed, flattered that she thought so much of her. "Thanks, it's really nice to meet you, too!"
"So, Kaylie, Austin tells us you recently tore your ACL, I see you're back on your feet. I assume the recovery is going well?" Austin's mother asked.
A sense of dread overwhelmed Kaylie, wiping out her initial sense of relief. She didn't know. Of course she would like her, she didn't know that Kaylie was anorexic. All she saw was a nice girl, a good gymnast, a person perfect for her son. Kaylie saw Austin exchange a quick glance with his sister and he squeezed her hand, silently warning her not to speak.
"Her recovery is going great, she's a strong one. I'm really proud of her." he quickly cut in, moving his arm to squeeze her shoulder.
"That's great. I hope it doesn't give you any more trouble. A gymnast like you, World Champion, needs to keep healthy." Mrs. Tucker told her, smiling warmly.
"Mom, can I show Kaylie our Victory room?" Kira asked her mother hopefully.
"Yes, go ahead. Have fun, don't brag!" She told her.
"Thanks!" she said, grabbing Kaylie's hand and leading her to a room filled with trophies, medals, plaques and certificates.
Kaylie "oohed" and "ahhed" at all the appropriate times, deciding to wait and talk to Austin about his mother later, she didn't want to spoil the rest of the day and she honestly wanted to get to know his sister.
She noticed a framed picture of who she assumed was Austin's father on the wall of the Victory room.
The man in the picture had an Olympic gold medal around his neck and had a huge smile on his face, with his fist thrust in the air in victory.
"Why didn't you ever mention that your dad won the Gold?" Kaylie asked, pointing to the picture.
Austin shrugged, "It never came up."
Kaylie suspected there was more to the story, but she could tell he didn't want to talk about it, so she left it alone. She had known that his father had passed, but he didn't bring him up much. Kaylie just assumed that it must be too painful for him to talk about, but now she wished that he would someday be able to talk with her about him.
So they spent the rest of the day playing around on their indoor trampoline and beam (he was filthy rich after all) doing flips and teaching each other new tricks. Kaylie stayed for dinner, Mrs. Tucker had prepared a very nice meal. Then Kaylie said her goodbyes to his family and they left so Austin could take her home.
It wasn't until they were almost to Kaylie's house when she spoke up.
"Why haven't you told your mother about me?"
Austin reached over and took her hand, "I just don't want her to worry, she has enough to worry about."
"That's bullshit Austin, and you know it. You're afraid she won't accept me if she finds out I'm anorexic."
"Look, ever since my sister got sick, my mother has been extremely strict. Always monitoring her food intake and training time. She never understood why Kira started starving herself. She's the only one in the family that's not a gymnast, she doesn't understand the pressure. In her eyes, it was unacceptable. Period. I was just trying to protect you. If she knew you were anorexic too, regardless of the reason or the fact that you went through rehab and you're better now, she'd never look at you the same. The way she hasn't looked at my sister the same since the day I told her."
"Austin, I appreciate your trying to protect me, but we can't lie to her. I lied to everyone else, I won't lie to your mother. I've learned that lesson. No matter what happens, we have to tell her. If she doesn't accept me, I understand. But we can't lie to her."
Austin pulled into her driveway and parked the car. He turned it off and looked over at her, smoothing his thumb across her cheekbone and tucking her hair behind her ear. "You are so brave, so strong. How can so much heart and courage be contained in that little body?"
"I just want to do the right thing."
Austin sighed, leaning over to press his lips to hers. He stayed there for a second, enjoying her, the feelings she evoked in him were extraordinary.
"You're right," he admitted, "we'll tell her tomorrow, I promise."
"Okay," Kaylie agreed, her stomach churning with anticipation. She opened the door and gave him one last peck before getting out. "Tomorrow."
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