Chapter 19

Abby sat quietly as she looked at the man seated across from her at the diner. She didn't know what to say. She didn't trust herself to speak anyway. Whatever she might say, she would never be able to take back.

"So, uh, how are you, sweetie?" he asked nervously as he toyed with his lunch.

He looks so tired, and stressed out, Abby thought. "I'm a'right, I guess. All things considered…" she replied softly.

David Lincoln nodded. He looked at his daughter's sad face. "That's good," he said just as quietly. The child he was most close to sat there with contempt on her face. "I'm sorry I betrayed your trust, Abby," he continued. "I shouldn't have cheated. I hope–"

"Yeah, you shouldn't have cheated," Abby cut in, unable to keep her annoyance out of her voice. She felt her eyes sting. "But you did. I…I don't understand. What went wrong? I mean…Mama? How do you cheat on Mama? Have you looked at your wife? She's beautiful. Inside and out. What's not to love?" She had rambled quietly but forcefully, her tears rolling freely down her cheeks. She grabbed her serviette and wiped her face as she glared at her father.

He had been in the country for the last couple of days, and had spent them wondering how to get his family back. He didn't know where his wife was. But he had Abby's number, so he had called her that morning and asked to see her. He was just glad she didn't hang up on him.

"It's all my fault," he admitted solemnly. "You're right, your mother's perfect. She didn't deserve this. None of you did. I fell. I…" he swallowed the lump in his throat, having difficulty admitting his faults, "…I was weak," he said finally.

Abby felt sorry for her dad, even though she did her best not to. No sympathy. He cheated. She could not live up to her thoughts though. She let out a sigh. "You should tell that to Mama. She's the one you need to be making amends with." She got out her little writing pad and pen from her purse and wrote down her mom's new address. Tearing off the paper, she handed it to him.

He took it and read through it slowly before pocketing it. "Thank you."

Abby just nodded. Her gaze softened as he held her hand in gratitude. She couldn't hate him, no matter how hard she tried.

xxx

Wally had class, so Nigel had the room to himself; himself and his girlfriend. The room was quiet. Nigel basked in the afternoon's sunlight as it passed through the window behind him. He looked at Lizzie who sat on the opposite end of his bed stiffly. She had a pout on her face. She was upset because her boyfriend had insisted they 'talk'. Talk about what was bothering her. But nothing was bothering her, she had insisted.

"Really?" he had asked. "Then why do you seem so aloof?" He pointed at his chin. "I don't even know what you think about this," he said in reference to his new goatee. "Do you like it? Does it suck?" he asked as he raised his arms questioningly.

"This is about your stupid facial hair?" she asked angrily.

"At least now we're getting somewhere," he replied, though his voice was laced with hurt.

Lizzie realized she had hurt his feelings. Right there was one of her weaknesses. When she was pissed she would do or say something to hurt the other party involved. "I…I didn't mean it," she stuttered.

"No, it's fine. You hate it. Now I know."

"I didn't mean it, dammit! I mean it, your goatee and moustache is nice. You…you look really handsome," she said with some difficulty. She wasn't used to issuing compliments, hence it could not roll off her tongue easily. "You look very handsome," she said quietly as her cheeks burned.

Nigel was relieved, but just for a second. "But then what the hell is the problem? Why can't you try to like my friends?" he asked as he held her gaze.

"Please Nigie, just drop it," she said as she adjusted her glasses with her index finger.

"They are my best friends. You're my girlfriend. I need you guys to get along. You guys are the most important people in my life."

Lizzie stood. She was fed up. "Gimme the keys," she demanded as she held her hand out to him.

"Not until we talk about this," he said defiantly.

She shot him a nasty look. "I swear Nigel, if you don't open the damn door…" she shouted, "just open it," she continued in a lowered voice, "I've got nothing to say."

He gave up and gave her the keys. She took them and unlocked the door as she walked out, freeing herself from the room that was filled with nothing but condemnation.

xxx

It was Friday night. Pauline and Kev had gone down to the coffee shop for The mOholos performance. It was the first time that Kev had ever attended their gigs. He had bopped his head to the music, much to the joy of his girlfriend, whom he had earlier told that he didn't want to come because he was sure the band wasn't as good as she said. Of course, he was just playing when he said that. He liked disagreeing with whatever she said, for he loved to see her slightly annoyed face as they argued about silly little things. She was so cute when she was mad. He would end up smiling when she was annoyed, which would piss her off even more before he put an end to the argument with a kiss. They had officially been an item for three weeks, after having gone on dates for nearly two months.

Now as they sat together listening to the music, he had his arms across her shoulders, and he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Pauline. She gave him so much joy, and made him feel alive. He appreciated every day he lived because of her. Some of Kev's former students sat at a table beside theirs, and the couple could hear them saying some nasty things about them. One girl from Pauline's English class had coughed 'whore' into her fist as she passed their table.

Pauline didn't give a damn what people were saying. She loved Kev, he loved her, and her best friends loved her too. That's all that mattered. But she had come to learn that Kev had quite a temper, and even at that moment she had to calm him down before he could call his former student back to say what she had to say to his face.

"It's ok, sweetie. We always knew some people would be against us, right?" she asked quietly as she rubbed his arm to soothe him.

"Yeah, I guess," he said in a low growl as he tried to keep his temper in check. She kissed him on the neck and he could feel the tension melt away, his face and jaw muscles relaxing as the angry furrows disappeared. She had that effect on him.

After the performance the two had gone back to Kev's place for dinner. They had helped each other cook. It was nothing fancy; pasta and meatballs, which they enjoyed as they ate together on the plush carpet in the middle of the living room. After doing the dishes they watched an omnibus of Star Wars: The clone wars on Cartoon Network before soon forgetting about their sci-fi as they engaged in a steamy make out session with the sounds of clashing light sabers as their ambience.

There were gasps and nips and bites and kisses and slow roaming hands and scattered apparel on the floor before Pauline gently held her boyfriend at bay, her hand on his broad, bare, hard chest and his lips a mere few centimeters from hers. She breathed heavily, "Whew," before she continued, "I am a young woman at the prime of my youth." She gulped, her eyes filled with desire. "I have needs…and this…," she said with a defeated smile, "…is not helping."

He smiled a lazy lopsided smile as he stroked her bare arm. "So, you wanna leave?" She shook her head. "You wanna stay?" She nodded. "So. Stay," he said, his eyes half lidded as he recaptured her lips with his. She leaned into him and trailed her fingers up and down his torso while holding the back of his neck with her other hand. He got up from the couch with the remote in hand, his lips never leaving hers as he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He pressed the power button and threw the remote on the couch as he walked to his room, still kissing his girl fervently. He swatted the wall a few times before he found the switch, killing the lights in the living room. He held Pauline firmly as he pushed the bedroom door open with his back and lay her down on his bed where they took a slow passionate ride aboard the ecstasy express.

xxx

The following day Wally and Kuki had gone to the coffee shop together for breakfast. As they sat in an empty booth going over the menus, Wally's attention was caught by a man walking briskly past their window. His jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide. "Kuks," he called excitedly as he kept his eyes on the man. "Kuks, that's him. That's the guy who saved my ass," he said as he pointed at him.

Kuki quickly turned her head to look at the guy. He wore a dark blue sports jacket with two white straps running along the length of the sleeves. His collar was up to keep the cool autumn temperatures out. He was carrying a paper bag with the coffee shop's logo on it. The man walked toward his car, unaware of the pairs of eyes following him. "That's my brother," she said in disbelief.

"Huh, you have a brother?" Wally asked incredulously.

Kuki barely heard her boyfriend as her mind went to Kensei. She would never have guessed that he was the one who saved Wally's life. The Kensei she knew could not possibly protect someone, could he? Not after what he had done. Surely, he is incapable of compassion, she thought.