Summary: It's TK and Kari's senior year in high school and they take a surprise Thanksgiving trip to America where things get super complicated. It doesn't look good for TK and Kari's relationship when Kari decides to move back to America and have nothing to do with TK. Can their relationship survive the test of time or will Kari's stubbornness keep them apart forever?
Hard to Love You
'Hard to Love You'
(don't own The Wreckers either)
TK angrily kicked the gravel as he watched Kari drive away. He couldn't believe she was running away again. He ran back in the house to grab Patamon and then hopped into his old junker of a car and sped back into Tokyo after her. The closest parking space TK found was several blocks away from Hilton Hotel that Kari was staying at.
He remembered the last time he tried to visit Kari. This time TK tried to casually walk into the hotel but when he saw the same desk clerk from the night of the reunion, he knew he wasn't going to get far. The desk clerk recognized TK as soon as TK walked by the front desk and he immediately pressed the security button. TK turned around and kicked himself out when he saw the security guards coming to escort him out.
Kari watched TK leave the hotel from her suite window. Although he looked like a tiny blond dot, she could still easily point him out in the crowd from twenty-four stories up. She was relieved the hotel security kicked him out again, yet she was disappointed. Part of her really did want to talk to him but the other part of her wouldn't let her. She was just as confused now as she was in high school.
TK sadly climbed back into his car and drove home. When he got home, he grabbed his old laptop and walked down to the cyber cafe down the street to work on several articles for tomorrow's paper. He liked the free internet service and the quiet atmosphere.
Kari looked at her cell phone on the night stand. She wanted to call Brian but she knew he would still be asleep. She had no one to talk to. The one person who did want to talk to her, she always pushed away. The one digimon who wanted to Kari to open up, she shut out. Kari was good at pushing people away. She had done it for the last ten years of her life. The more she thought about TK, the more her emotions twisted and the more her head hurt. She cried herself to sleep for another night.
The next morning Kari woke up upset that she didn't make it down the isle, again. Ever since she arrived in Japan, she had the same wedding dream every night. She hadn't had this dream in years, Kari couldn't understand why she was dreaming the same dream every night now. Not long after she got up and ordered room service, her hotel room phone rang. She hesitated before she answered, afraid it was TK. Kari was relieved yet annoyed to hear Sora's voice on the other end.
"Hey Kari!" Sora happily greeted.
"Hey Sora," Kari replied, trying to hide the displeasure in her voice.
"Do ya want to talk about last night?" Sora asked, she was concerned when Kari suddenly left the party.
"No, not really," answered Kari.
"Ugh...please don't tell me you're going to stay in your hotel room all day!" Sora said frustratedly.
"Fine, I won't," Kari replied and stubbornly hung up the phone.
Kari walked over to her door and locked and latched the door before Sora could come and open it with the extra room key. She laid on her bed and watched paper-view movies all day as she ate room service food. It kept her distracted long enough to keep her mind off her problems. Brian called her when he finished testing his new race car. Hearing his voice calmed and relaxed Kari. He was the only person she wanted to talk to.
"I don't want to stay here anymore," said Kari, as tears streamed down her face.
"Ya don't like the hotel room?" Brian asked concerned, "I can get ya a different one."
"Oh, no! This hotel is just fine. I mean, I just want to go home!" Kari clarified between sobs, "I miss ya and I just want to go home!"
"You'll be back home and here in my arms in four days," Brian replied, hoping to cheer her up.
"But I want to go home now!" Kari cried into the phone.
"I know ya do babe," said Brian, he felt bad for her. "Hey listen, I gotta go. I have a team meeting before I hit the track again. I'll call ya later, ok?"
"Ok, love ya," replied Kari.
"I love ya too," and Brian hung up.
Kari sighed and casually threw her phone. Bored, she decided to turn in early and go to bed. Kari woke up the next morning to a knock on the door. She suspiciously got out of bed and saw room service breakfast she didn't order. The hotel employee who delivered the free food handed her a note. Surprised by the food, Kari read the note as the hotel employee left her room.
I bought you this expensive food, the least you could do is let me talk to you later this afternoon.
Sora
It was a nice gesture on Sora's part. She had never had shrimp, lobster and caviar for breakfast before. Kari graciously ate the free meal and later that afternoon went down to Sora's hotel room. Sora happily opened the door and welcomed her into the room.
"Kari what happened the other night?" Sora asked as they sat down on the bed.
"Nothing," Kari calmly answered.
"Ugh...Are ya ever gonna tell me?" Sora asked, trying not to get frustrated with Kari.
"Probably not," answered Kari.
"Fine, but could ya at least get dressed?" Sora asked as she got up and looked at herself in the mirror.
"Why?" Kari asked suspiciously.
"Cause we're going to have supper with Davis and his wife Sarah tonight," Sora explained and took off her white bath robe to reveal the black dress underneath.
"Tonight?" Kari asked. She really didn't feel like going out.
"No...next month." Sora sarcastically replied, "yes tonight! Now go put something nice on."
Kari sighed as she turned around and headed back to her suite. She put on a light pink halter top dress that hugged her body just right. She straightened her short curly hair and met Tai and Sora in the lobby forty-five minutes later. They hopped in the limo and drove to Davis's restaurant. The hostess directed them to a table in a separate part of the restaurant. It was a secluded part of the restaurant where all the celebrities ate when they came to eat at Davis's restaurant. Davis and Sarah were already waiting for them when they arrived. Kari took a seat next to Sarah when she realized something was wrong. She counted the chairs at the table and the people sitting in them. There were six chairs, six menus and only five people here.
"Why do we have an extra chair?" Kari suspiciously asked.
"Oh, Sora told me to reserve a table for six," Davis explained as he passed the wine list around.
"Well I was going to invite Ken and Yolie but I finally got you out of your room so I decided to not invite them after all," Sora lied and casually took a sip of her water.
"Oh," Kari replied and calmed down.
Kari couldn't help but feel like Sora was trying to set her up with TK again. Every time Sora dragged her out of the hotel TK coincidentally showed up. She was glad to hear no one, especially not TK, was going to join them tonight. She picked up the menu and started looking at the exquisite choices.
"Sorry I'm late," an all too familiar voice apologized.
Kari lowered the menu and looked up to see TK. She glanced at the empty seat on her left and back at TK. She felt herself getting nervous and scared. TK took the empty spot next to Kari and picked up the menu, ignoring her as if she wasn't even there.
"Hey TK," Sora happily greeted.
"Hey guys," he greeted back.
As the night went on, TK and Kari sat quietly in their chairs as they listened to Tai, Sora, Davis and Sarah talk amongst themselves. They tried to get TK and Kari to join their conversations but neither had much to say. Kari avoided looking over at TK and TK did the same.
"Excuse me but I have to use the restroom," said Sora as she got out of her chair.
"So do I," said Sarah and she followed the tall, red head to the bathroom.
"Hey Tai, you do want to come with me and help choose another bottle of wine to drink?" Davis asked and Tai accepted.
The two men walked away from the table leaving the former lovers by themselves. Kari knew this was planned and she was pissed. This was her worst nightmare. Kari fiddled with the silverware, doing whatever she could to avoid a conversation with TK.
"I'm sorry about the other night at Ken and Yolie's house," TK quietly apologized. Kari continued to ignore him, hoping the conversation would just end. "Can we please talk without one of us walking away?"
"What do you want?" Kari stubbornly asked.
"I just want to talk to you," TK answered and Kari crossed her arms and stared directly at the wall in front of her. He knew this would be a one sided conversation. "I know you don't want to hear it Kari, but I still love you. Finally seeing you after all these years has made me fall in love with you all over again. I have never stopped loving you and I don't think I ever will."
"Finally seeing ya after all these years has made me glad I dumped your sorry ass. You're a pathetic drunk who can't seem to let go of the past." Kari retorted, "get it through freakin' head, I don't love you!"
"Why do you make it so hard to love you?" TK asked frustratedly.
"I don't want ya to love me!" Kari angrily explained, "Please, just move on with your life! I promise ya, you'll be much happier if ya do."
"Well maybe I don't want to move on. Maybe I want to try to tell the girl of my dreams how much I love her and how much I miss her and how much I still want her in my life. You're the only girl for me Kari. You're the only person I have ever truly loved. You're the only girl I want to spend the rest of my life with," replied TK.
"Well that's not my problem. Unlike ya, I have have moved on with my life and I fell in love with someone else," said Kari.
"It sure took you long enough," replied TK.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Kari angrily asked.
"The last time I saw you, you hated Nascar and you hated Brian. And instead of facing your problems and working them out, you ran away from them. You ran away from everyone who truly loved you. You even pushed away your own brother and sister-in-law," explained TK. "You are the most beautiful person I know. If you were really over me, you should have been able to find someone new right away. And if you were truly over me, you would have been married by now."
Kari knew he was right. He had caught her. Kari looked away, she couldn't bare to even look at him. She was ashamed at herself and she could only blame herself for the way her life turned out, even if it was for the better. But her stubbornness wouldn't let her admit that. "I don't need this from you!" Kari angrily replied and stormed out of the restaurant, leaving TK to sit all by himself at the empty table. Once again, she was running away from her problems. Only proving TK's point.