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
"Stay"
(don't own Sugerland either)
In honor of Kari's wedding, Yolie wanted to host a special party for just the digidestin. While Kari had her bachelorette party the night before, Brian was having his bachelor party tonight. Which meant, Kari had to go to Yolie's party alone. She had a strong feeling TK was going to be there. Was it a good thing she was going alone? She didn't know. All she knew was that she didn't want to go. But of course, as usual, Sora was forcing her to go. After all, the party was in her honor.
As Sora and Kari drove up to Yolie's house, it was deja vu all over again from six months ago. Kari hoped this party would go smoother and would end better than the last party Kari attended at Yolie's house. She still hadn't seen TK since that night in Japan. The two sister-in-laws walked up to the house and Sora rang the door bell. Kari could her footsteps running towards the door. A few seconds later, a little purple haired boy and an even littler black haired girl answered the door.
"I thought I told you two to go to bed!" Yolie said as she walked towards the door. Immediately the two kids scampered away up the stairs. "Sorry about that. Please come in! Everyone is waiting in the living room."
Everyone. Kari's heart started to beat faster. Her body clenched and tightened up. She slowly followed Yolie and Sora into the living room and was relieved to see everyone but TK there. Her heart rate slowed down and her body loosened up.
"Sit down, sit down!" Yolie insisted as she kicked Ken out of the recliner so Kari could sit. "Can I get you a drink?"
"No thank ya." Kari politely declined, "ya have already done enough!"
"So Kari, are you excited?" Joe asked when the room settled down.
"Yeah, I am," Kari truthfully answered. She wished she could get married then and now, just to get it over with.
"You know it's kinda funny. I always thought you would be getting married to TK," said Matt as he took a sip of his Crown and Coke.
"I guess not," Kari casually shrugged her shoulders. The truth was, she always thought so too but after last night, she was confident she was making the right choice.
Kari watched as her friends mingled amongst themselves. Since the reunion, she did what she could to stay in contact with them all but she still felt out of place here. After about a half hour Izzy walked up to her.
"Hey Kari," he greeted her.
"Hey Izzy," she greeted back.
"How was New York?" Izzy asked.
"It was really good," answered Kari. "Hey, listen, I'm really sorry we couldn't meet up."
"Oh that's alright.," replied Izzy. "I was really busy anyway."
A few seconds later, the doorbell rang. Yolie got up from her spot next to Ken to go answer the door. Kari started to clench up and get really nervous again. She wanted to run away from here. She wasn't ready to see TK again.
"So um...can I talk to you privately?" Izzy quietly asked her.
'Anything to get out of here', Kari thought to herself. "Yeah, sure!"
Izzy lead her down the hallway and into Ken and Yolie's bedroom. Mimi curiously watched her husband, trying not to think the worst. Izzy couldn't have asked at a better time. As Izzy and Kari walked down the hallway, Yolie had just opened the door. When Izzy closed the door, Kari suddenly regretted the idea. She could only imagine how bad this looked to the other digidestin. Kari stood next to the bed as Izzy walked up to her. She was starting to jump conclusions.
"Izzy, I'm getting married in two days, I don't think this is a good idea," said Kari as she started walking towards the door. Izzy reached out and grabbed her arm.
"It's not like that, I promise. I just want to talk to you," Izzy tried to assure her. Kari still had her doubts. "I'm not trying to break you and Brian up but I just had to tell you. You see... a few months after the reunion I was doing some computer work for the Digital World when I came across what I think is an ancient prophecy. It wasn't like other prophecies I found. The hieroglyphics on this one were different than the other prophecies and I couldn't decipher it. But there were two words that were similar between this one and other prophecies, Light and Hope. I still don't know what the prophecy says because I haven't finished deciphering it but I think it has something to do with you and TK."
Kari couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was the last thing she wanted to hear. She knew everyone in this house expected her to marry TK and would rather see her marry him than Brian.
"I don't need to hear this...especially two days before my wedding!" Kari angrily said as she stormed out of the room. The digidestin watched in shock as Kari ran out of the house and to the rental car. Sora would have to find another ride back to the hotel because Kari was long gone.
"Geez TK, that's a new record. Ya haven't even been here a minute and she's already running away from ya." Sora said as she watched Kari run out the door.
"But I didn't do anything," replied TK sadly.
"Thank ya everyone for coming to our rehearsal dinner." Brian said to the hundred or so guests standing around him and Kari the next night. "We hope ya'll enjoy the free food!"
Brian and Kari made the rounds as they made the effort to talk to all their guests. Brian was dressed very formally in his suit and tie. Kari wore a tight little black Giorgio Armani dress. Together, they were dressed to kill. Kari looked around at their guests. Most of them were their Nascar friends from America. The digidestin stood and talked amongst themselves in one of the corners of the room. She felt bad for them, they must have felt so out of place. Kari was starting to get bored following Brian around. At the moment, he was talking to one of his sponsors about how they could promote their product at the wedding.
As Brian talked business, Kari wandered away and walked over to the digidestin. She was relieved to see TK wasn't here, yet at the same time, she was disappointed he wasn't here. A few short seconds later, Kari realized Tai wasn't here either.
"Sora, where's Tai?" Kari asked concerned about her brother.
"Oh, he had to take care of some business. He'll be here shortly," said Sora.
"What are you doing here?" TK asked, surprised to see Tai standing in his doorway.
"What are ya doing here?" Tai reversed the question.
"I...live here?" TK answered, still unsure why Tai was at his apartment so late at night.
"No, I mean what are ya still doing here?" Tai clarified, "why aren't ya at the rehearsal dinner?"
"That's tonight?" TK asked out loud, pretending like he forgot. "Why aren't you at the rehearsal dinner?"
"Stop throwing the questions back at me TK." Tai sternly said, "what are ya still doing here?"
"I wasn't invited to the rehearsal dinner." TK angrily answered, "there, are you happy now?"
"Just because ya weren't invited doesn't mean ya can't come," replied Tai.
"Um...kinda Tai. That's the whole point of invitations," said TK sarcastically.
"Don't talk back to me mister," said Tai. TK looked at him confused. "Sorry, when ya have three kids it's kinda a habit. Anyways, I want ya to come with me to the rehearsal dinner."
"That's alright Tai. I'll pass," TK politely declined. "Formal gatherings really aren't my thing."
"I'm not taking no for an answer TK," replied Tai.
"I'm not going to a party I wasn't invited to. If Kari really wanted me there, I would have gotten an invitation," said TK.
"Well consider me your invitation. Now go get dressed. We're late the way it is."
"There ya are! I've looking for ya," said Brian to his finance and the digidestin. "I want ya to come meet some people."
Brian led Kari across the room to three guys in the same suit and tie. Brian introduced her to them. They were one of Brian's sponsor representatives. Kari put on a smile but inside she was dying with boredom. Kari pretended to be interested in what they were saying but she wasn't. She casually looked around the room at the guests. One tall, blond guest caught her eye. She could recognize him from a mile away. Kari pretended to laugh at one of Brian's jokes to make it look like she was having a good time.
TK followed Tai into the rehearsal hall. He was nervous about seeing Kari again. What would he say to her? He didn't know what to do. When he got to the hall, he immediately scanned the room for Kari. TK found the digidestin right away. When he noticed Kari wasn't with them, he continued looking for her. He found her completely across the room from the digidestin. TK could see she was having a good time. He didn't want to bother or upset her so he walked over to the digidestin.
"Hey guys," TK greeted the gang.
"TK! I never thought I'd see you here!" Jake happily said.
"Neither did I," TK truthfully replied back. "Did ya guys already eat?"
"Yeah, ya missed out. It was really good," answered Davis.
"He's only saying that because he catered," Yolie chimed in.
"But none-the-less it still tasted really good Davis," said Mimi.
"Thanks Mimi," replied Davis.
Suddenly the lights started to turn off one by one. Everyone to turned to see Brian and Kari standing at the front of the room. All but one light was left one so everyone could see what Brian and Kari had to say.
"Thank ya everyone for coming tonight. We hope ya'll come to the wedding tomorrow to see us get married. Before ya'll go, a very special friend of ours put together a video for us and we'd like to share it with ya'll. We know ya'll couldn't be there with us when I proposed to this beautiful girl standing next to me but thanks to our friend Chris, ya'll can!" Brian explained to the guests. Two of Brian's pit crew members ran up behind the couple and pulled down a giant, white projector screen. Another one of Brian's pit crew members set up the computer and projector and lined it up to the screen. "We hope ya'll enjoy it!"
Brian and Kari took their seats in the front row as the video started to play. The video began with the song "Better Together" by Jack Johnson and was followed by childhood pictures of Kari and Brian as they grew up. The slide show video ended with the memorable Daytona 500 victory where Brian proposed to Kari. She had seen this race a million times. Kari glanced over at Brian. He had seen this race just as many times as Kari. Brian mouthed every word Mike, Larry and Darrell said, he had this entire race memorized.
"That is one happy driver right there. Over to you Matt." Kari could still remember Steve Byrnes saying those exact words.
"I also want to thank one more person."
Kari could hear someone leaving from the back of the room. She looked over at Brian whose eyes were glued to the screen. Kari looked behind her around to see TK leaving the room. TK couldn't stand to see Brian propose to Kari. He didn't need to see the rest of the video, he had seen enough. Kari waited a minute before she got up. She told Brian she was going to the bathroom but he didn't seem to notice her leaving. He couldn't take his eyes off the screen.
Kari walked out of the room and down the hallway looking for TK. Her high heeled shoes clicked and clacked as she walked down the hallway. When she couldn't find TK, her heart sank. She didn't know what made her follow him but she was disappointed she couldn't find him. Kari slowly turned around and walked back to the rehearsal room when someone grabbed her arm. She forcefully whipped around to see TK. Her heart quicken at the sight of his face. Just seeing him made her feel warm and fuzzy. The last time he grabbed her like that, she slapped him and ran away. This time she got lost into this deep blue eyes. This time she didn't want to run away. This time she wanted to kiss him and she did. This time she didn't resist his kiss, she embraced it.
TK and Kari passionately and lustfully kissed in the hallway. No words were exchanged, just hard, sweet kisses. TK pushed her up against the wall, never breaking their contact. Suddenly, the fear of someone catching them overwhelmed Kari.
"TK," Kari whispered out of breath, as TK started to kiss her neck. "Not here."
TK stopped his kisses and looked into her ruby red eyes. He understood her fear and trepidation. He looked both ways down the hallway and saw no one. TK grabbed her wrist and led her down the hallway. He stopped outside of the first door they came to and opened it. TK picked Kari up bridal style and carried her into the dark room. Before TK closed the door, Kari realized they were in the coat room. Kari wasn't sure what was going to happen next but she wanted to make sure she didn't get caught. She locked the door before TK came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her slender waist.
They were alone in the dark room. TK didn't need the light to find Kari's lips, they had already found his. Thoughts of Brian or her wedding in sixteen hours never crossed her mind as her hands traveled under TK's white polo shirt. Memories of that lustful night six months ago filled Kari's mind. Oh how she wanted that again. Apparently, so did TK.
Kari sat on the floor brushing her hair with her hand in the dark. She felt horrible for cheating on Brian for a second time. She started to regret her lustful deed with TK yet at the same time she didn't.
"I better get back..." Kari slowly whispered to her ex-boyfriend.
"Kari," TK whispered back as he reached out for her. "Please stay."
"I'm so sorry TK. This was a mistake. I should have stopped things before they went too far." Kari sadly replied, "I'm getting married tomorrow and this is not how a fiance should act. I've made a commitment to Brian and I'm going to honor it from now on."
Kari got up from the cold floor and slowly walked to the door. She readjusted her dress and carefully, yet quietly, opened the door and stuck her head outside to see if anyone was coming. When the coast was clear, she walked out of the coat room and walked back to her seat next to Brian. He hadn't even noticed she had left. Someone had started the video over and was showing pictures of the happy couple. Brian looked over at his fiance and gave her a smile. Kari forced one back and quickly looked away. She felt horrible about what she had just done. She had to be the worst fiance in the world. Brian deserved so much better than her. 'From this moment on, I'm going to be faithful and completely devoted to Brian. For better or for worse, in sickness and in health until death do us part.'