Chap 5 – New Beginning
Kirstie went to the studio and saw Phil who runs it and he agreed to let her come in and work on some music, he loved Pentatonix and always let them use the studio whenever they needed too. Kirstie went into the studio and loved the peace and quiet of it. She was there for a little while when her phone lit up; it was a text from Scott. She glanced at it, 'K-You want some dinner? Mitch and I are going to get some food, just didn't know if you were coming back to the apartment tonight?'
She typed, 'Yea, I'll be back in a little while; I'll grab some stuff from my apartment and then be over. I've been at the studio.'
She heard a voice behind her and turned to see Avi. Avi walked up to her and said, "Hey Kirstie, I heard about you and Aaron. I'm so sorry; I figured you might be here."
Kirstie smiled and said, "Thanks Avi, how did you know that I was here though?"
"Well, Mitch said that you weren't home and I know where you like to go when you need some peace and quiet," Avi responded.
"I'm leaving soon, I've been here for a little while," Kirstie said standing.
"You don't have to leave on my count, I just didn't know if you needed a friend to talk too?" Avi said with a genuine look towards her.
"I think that I'm kinda over talking about me right now, talk to me about you. How are you and Grace doing?" Kirstie asked.
"We are doing okay," Avi replied feeling guilty for the feelings he was feeling about Kirstie right now. He loved Grace, but he also loved Kirstie.
Kirstie could tell that Avi was thinking about something and said, "Avi, what's on your mind, you look like you are a million miles away."
"I'm not, I'm here with you. I'm just thinking of you, Kirstie, that's all," Avi said.
Kirstie felt her cheeks warm at the comment and smiled and looked down at the floor. She used to like Avi a while back, but she also didn't really know where things were going to head with Scott now that she and Aaron were over. She was feeling like her younger self at the moment torn between Scott and Avi, although they never knew that she was at the time. Avi looked over at her and said, "Now you are the one who looks like you are a million miles away."
Kirstie looked over at Avi and laughed, "Well, I'm going to go over to Mitch and Scott's apartment, you want to come?"
"Sure, I can come, you want a lift? I drove over here after dropping Grace off." Avi asked.
"Yea, okay." Kirstie said grabbing her stuff and heading out the door.
Avi jumped in front and grabbed the door for Kirstie and headed outside as they both waved goodbye at Phil. Avi and Kirstie walked up to his car and Avi pulled the door opened for Kirstie and she said, "Thanks."
He walked around and got in and started up the car. Kirstie turned to Avi and said, "You are so sweet, I hope Grace knows that."
Avi smiled and said, "Thanks Kirstie."
They headed down the street and Kirstie went to turn the music on and saw that it was on Say Something, the version that the band covered. She turned to Avi and said, "Listening to old tunes?"
"I love this song, you did so great on it," Avi said reaching for her hand.
Kirstie's heart skipped a beat a little bit as Avi held her hand and she slowly pulled it away and Avi noticed and said, "Sorry."
"It's okay, I just don't want to do anything that I shouldn't be doing since you are with Grace," Kirstie said wanting to be honest with Avi.
Avi thought about this and wondered if this meant that Kirstie wanted to do something if Grace was not in the picture. He was feeling confused lately because of the feelings that were resurfacing with Kirstie. He took a deep breath and said, "I wasn't going to do anything."
"I know, I'm sorry, I don't want you to think that I thought that you were going to do something, sorry, Avi, you'll have to forgive me, I'm a little out of sorts tonight?" Kirstie said.
Avi patted Kirstie's arm and said, "It's okay, Kirst, we all have our days like that."
They arrived at the apartment complex and Kirstie said, "I just need to grab some things from my apartment, meet you over there."
"Okay, you want me to come with you?" Avi asked.
"Uh, sure, okay. It might be less awkward if someone is there." Kirstie said.
She walked over to the apartment and knocked and Aaron answered and said, "Hey."
"I just need to grab a bag of stuff and then I'll be gone, okay?" Kirstie said as she walked in with Avi coming in after her.
Aaron looked at Avi and said, "Hey Avi, how's it going?"
Avi smiled slightly and nodded and said, "Hey Aaron."
Kirstie quickly went to the bedroom and was surprised to see a lot of boxes sitting on the floor with her name on them. She came out and asked Aaron, "You started packing up my stuff already?"
"Yea, not everything, just some books and stuff like that, don't worry, I didn't touch your personal items, clothes, or stuff like that," Aaron said sincerely.
Kirstie said, "Oh, okay, I guess, thanks." She turned back and grabbed some clothes, makeup, personal stuff, shoes, and other things that she might need for a few days.
Aaron and Avi sat in the living room awkwardly and waited for Kirstie to finish packing. Aaron turned to Avi and said, "So, where is she staying tonight?"
Avi said, "Um, I think that she's staying over at Mitch and Scott's."
"I figured that would be where she would run too, it's always going to come down to those two guys in her life, you know, she just has such a connection with them both." Aaron said.
Avi just listened; he knew there was some truth to what Aaron was saying. Kirstie came out of the bedroom with a couple of bags and Avi stood and reached for them. Kirstie gave them to Avi and said, "Avi, can I have a minute with Aaron?"
Avi nodded and said, "I'll meet you over there, okay."
"Okay," Kirstie said.
Kirstie turned to Aaron after Avi left and said, "Thank you for being nice about everything."
"Did you expect me to be a jerk?" Aaron asked.
"Yea, kinda," Kirstie said.
"So, you are going over to Mitch and Scott's?" Aaron asked.
"Yea, I just thought that it would be weird to stay here, you know," Kirstie replied back.
"Did you get in your old loft?" Aaron asked.
"I tried to call, but left a message. Hopefully, I'll have a place soon," Kirstie said.
"Let me know if you need anything, okay." Aaron said.
"Okay, talk to you later, Aaron," Kirstie said. She walked outside and saw Avi standing there waiting for her. She smiled and said, "You waited for me, you could have gone."
Avi shook his head, "Not a chance, Kirstie, that's what friends do, we wait on one another."
Kirstie and Avi walked into Mitch and Scott's apartment and saw them in the kitchen. Scott turned and saw Avi standing there with Kirstie's stuff and was a little confused by it and said, "Hey Avi, what's going on?"
Avi noticed a little tone in Scott's voice and said, "I was just helping Kirstie, that's all."
Scott smiled and said, "Sure, of course."
Avi looked over at Kirstie and said, "Where do you want your stuff?"
Mitch pointed to his bedroom and said, "She's sleeping in there."
Kirstie said, "Just put it here, Avi, that's fine. Thanks. Guys, I'm okay sleeping out here on the couch, okay."
"Whatever Kirstie, you are not going to sleep on the couch," Scott said laughing and heading into the kitchen.
"We got some pizza, come eat guys," Mitch said as he walked into the kitchen.
Avi said, "I had dinner earlier with Grace, I'm okay, thanks though. I think that I'm going to head home."
"Really, you can't stay?" Kirstie asked.
"I should be going, I'll see y'all tomorrow at rehearsal, okay?" Avi said.
Kirstie walked up to Avi and hugged him and said, "Thanks for everything, Avi."
"I don't feel like I did anything," Avi said.
"You were there," Kirstie said smiling as she pulled away.
Avi waved over at Mitch and Scott and headed out to his apartment with Kevin.
Mitch looked over at Kirstie and smirked, "Okay, what was that about?"
Kirstie laughed and said, "Mitch, you are so crazy with your facial expressions, it was nothing. And by the way, I'm sleeping on the couch. End of discussion."
Scott shook his head and said, "Um, no. That's not happening, sorry Kirst. If I have to pick you up while you are sleeping and place you into a bed, I'll do it. You are going to sleep in my bed and I'm going to sleep on the couch."
Kirstie looked at Scott and just smiled and said, "Fine, okay."
Mitch said, "If I fall asleep out here, will you pick me up and carry me to my bed?"
Kirstie laughed and then they all laughed. Kirstie must have been starving because she ate two pieces of pizza before she even realized it. "Thanks for getting some food, guys; I guess I was starving."
"Where did you go and where did you meet up with Avi?" Mitch asked knowing that Scott wanted to know as well.
Kirstie said, "I just went to the studio and then Avi showed up. He said he knew that I would be there."
Scott noticed a small smile when Kirstie said Avi's name and he wondered about that. He knew that Kirstie wasn't going to do anything with Avi as long as Grace was with him, but he couldn't help but feel like he should act quickly if he stood any chance to be with Kirstie.
Kirstie yawned and said, "I'm so tired, I'm just going to go sit down in the living room, okay."
Mitch and Scott finished up their food and headed into the living room and Kirstie had started watching American Ninja Warrior. They all sat and watched and were all amazed at the talent of these people. After the show was over, Mitch looked over and laughed, "Look who fell asleep?"
Scott looked over and saw Kirstie resting her head slightly on Mitch's shoulder while she was sleeping. He smiled and Mitch said, "Okay, I'm going to try and get up without her falling face first into the couch."
Mitch slowly got up and held onto Kirstie and then placed her gently on the couch as Scott headed into his bedroom and get his bed ready. He quickly looked around the room and cleaned up his dirty clothes and put those away. He came back out to the living room and saw Mitch cover Kirstie with a blanket and whispered, "What are you doing? I was going to bring her in my room."
"Oh, you were serious about that?" Mitch said.
"Yes, that couch is so uncomfortable to sleep on, she shouldn't sleep on that." Scott said walking over to Kirstie.
"Awe, look at you," Mitch said teasingly.
"Mitch, stop it," Scott said with a smile.
Mitch smiled and headed out of the living room into his room and said, "Good night, lover boy."
"Night Mitch, see you in the morning," Scott said.
Scott looked down at Kirstie and slowly reached down and picked her up, which was easy do to for him. He slowly pulled her up into his arms and she turned into him and he walked over to his room and gently placed her on the bed. She curled onto her side and he covered her with the blanket and leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. He started to leave and she said, "Scott."
He turned surprised to hear his name and that she was awake and said, "Yes."
"You don't have to sleep out on the couch, just sleep in here. It'll be okay." Kirstie said.
"Kirstie, did I wake you up?" Scott asked walking over to the bed.
"No, I don't know, I just woke up a minute ago, I guess when I came in here and you placed me down on the bed. I don't even remember falling asleep. But, seriously, we are grown adults, you can sleep on that side and I'll sleep on this side. There's no reason for you to sleep out there when you can sleep right here." Kirstie said with a yawn.
Scott said, "Okay, I'll be back in a few."
Scott went to the living room and put everything away and turned off the TV. He walked into the kitchen and put up all the trash. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get some water and headed back into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. He noticed that Kirstie was now in an oversized t-shirt and realized that it was one of his that he had.
"Nice shirt," he said.
"Well, all of my stuff is in the living room and this was just right here. I need to go brush my teeth, though." Kirstie said as she headed out of the bedroom to the bathroom.
Scott tried not to look at her when she got out of bed, but couldn't help it; she was so beautiful to him. He quickly got ready for bed and got in on the other side of the bed. Kirstie came back in after several minutes and she got in bed and said, "So, is this normally your side over here?"
Scott turned towards her and said, "Yea, but that's okay."
"We can switch sides if you want, you should have your usual side." Kirstie said turning towards Scott.
"It's okay, you can sleep there." Scott said looking at her trying his best to remain calm and breathe.
Kirstie looked at Scott and couldn't believe that she was in Scott's bed about to go to sleep. She finally said, "Okay."
Scott smiled and then turned on his back and closed his eyes and Kirstie turned on her back and looked at the ceiling. She leaned over and turned off the light and leaned back onto the bed. The room was so dark, she didn't like sleeping in pitch black rooms and leaned towards Scott and said, "Uh, Scott."
He felt her close by and said, "What's up?"
"Um, I don't really know how to say this, but I don't really like pitch black rooms," Kirstie said.
"Oh yea, hold on a second," Scott said leaning over and reaching over Kirstie and clicking on a small little lamp on her side of the bed.
Kirstie saw the soft light and then realized that Scott was leaning over her and he was directly over her at this moment. They looked at each other and Scott looked at Kirstie's mouth and then her eyes and felt like he did earlier today when Kirstie was in his arms. He felt that this was his chance. "Kirstie," he said almost asking.
Kirstie looked at him and said, "Yea."
"Can I kiss you?" Scott asked.
Kirstie was surprised by the question and smiled and in this moment and all she could do was nod. Scott bent towards her and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. He placed a hand gently on her cheek and moved it to her lips and brushed his thumb over her mouth and then reached his hand behind her head and gently and leaned closer to her and kissed her softly. Kirstie was taken aback by the kiss and realized how much she wanted this too. She brought her arms up and placed them around Scott's waist and pulled him towards her and his breath quicken. They kissed for a little bit and then broke free. Kirstie, feeling flushed, smiled and said, "Wow."
Scott laughed and said, "Wow is a good word for that."
Kirstie looked over at Scott and said, "What brought that on?"
"Just felt like doing that for a while now, I guess." Scott said looking back at Kirstie.
"We should get some sleep," Kirstie said wondering if it was possible to sleep now.
Scott stared at her and smiled and said, "Okay, good night Kirstie."
"Night Scotty," Kirstie said smiling.
They both leaned back on their backs and closed their eyes.