Her mind was a blur as she thought of all that had happened to her over the past few days. Before she knew it she was at Kevin's house in the driveway just sitting there. It took her a few minutes to get out of the car and walk the few feet to the front door. She raised her hand to knock but the door suddenly opened and Kevin stood in the doorway. He gave her his best smile. She just looked into his eyes and thought, How could this person that I have trusted for so long take advantage of me? How could I get so lost in my own self-pity and my own lust to be able to fall for this? All she said was, "How did you. . . I-I-I mean how could you have..."
"How could I have known you were standing here? I saw you coming through the window," he said pointing to his picture window.
"Oh," she said averting her eyes from his. Christel suddenly felt uncomfortable around him, which was totally unlike her. Kevin and Christel could always talk about anything and everything.
"Come in, is something wrong?"
"Well . . . Chinita's back and I uh . . . told her everything that happened . . . everything," she said looking at the floor.
"You told her everything?" he asked stunned.
"Well yeah, I mean she's my friend. I had to, I told you if she were here I'd talk to her," she said.
"I understand that but did you have to tell her so soon?"
"I couldn't help it Kevin!" she exclaimed. They stood there in silence for what felt like forever.
"Look I know that what happened between you and me wasn't supposed to," he said as he leaned towards her to embrace her. She pulled away. "Okay what was that for?" She looked at him then at the floor where her eyes remained. I have to know and this could be my last chance to have enough courage to ask, she thought.
"Kevin, did you take advantage of me?" she blurted in a rush.
"Did I do what?!" he exclaimed.
"Well it did seem a little fast, now that I had time to think about it," she said focusing on the floor.
"I know it seemed that way but, what I felt was real. It was fast but who knew it would happen that way. I just saw someone who needed to be kissed," he said moving in for just that. Christel pulled away again.
"It was real to me too. I just keep thinking that part of me did it to get back at AJ and the other part did it because I have feelings for you that I've never explored before," she started. "Chinita told me that you liked me from the beginning . . . ever since we met. Is this true?" she asked cautiously.
"She's right . . . it's true. I saw you at the mall and I wanted to be the one to come up to you but, I was to shy and AJ got to you first," he said looking at the floor.
"You never said anything or gave me the slightest indication. You even had a girlfriend for a while, Sonia wasn't it?"
"I thought that if I had a girlfriend it would take my mind off of you. Needless to say it didn't work. I broke up with her, remember?"
"I knew that but, I didn't know why you broke up with her," she said.
"Well . . . to make a long story short you were why we broke up. I couldn't concentrate on our relationship, she got fed up and I got restless," he replied.
"Oh. I didn't mean to open any old wounds," she said.
"You didn't, besides, you were bound to find out sooner or later. Come sit down on the sofa with me," he said leading her to the sofa. Christel felt weak in the head after having such a load of information dropped on her and she must have looked it too. "Are we still cool? I mean even after all that I've just told you."
"Yeah just give me a minute to take this all in and I'll give you an answer to that question."
Kevin looked at her intently before leaning closer to brush her lips with his. Christel was still lost in her thoughts, until she felt his soft lips against hers. She leaned in closer to deepen the kiss. Kevin only meant a soft kiss but couldn't stop when she deepened it. When he pulled away she looked up at him.
"I guess I uuuhhh needed a kiss," she said looking into his eyes.
"I thought you did," he replied.
"I realize I took that further but . . . I don't know what's happening to me, Kevin. Ever since that night at the club my life has gotten really complicated and I don't know where exactly to go from here. Lately, I haven't been able to-" before she could finish her sentence Kevin kissed her again except this one lasted longer. They pulled away breathlessly, "-make sense out of anything, anymore. I know I needed that, but I don't think it worked quite as well as last time. I might need another," she continued still trying to catch her breath. Kevin happily gave her what she needed. He kissed her softly then the kisses got harder as her arms went around his neck to deepen it.
Meanwhile, outside Brian walked up the walkway to Kevin's front door as he past the picture window he noticed his cousin in a passionate embrace with a woman. Brian smirked to himself thinking, My cousin the official ladies man. As Brian turned to leave he noticed Christel's car in the driveway. He quickly returned to the front door and knocked loudly.
Kevin and Christel surprised by the loud banging, instantly broke apart.
"I'll go see who it is," Kevin said irritably rising from her side. He walked slowly to the door and looked through the peephole.
"It's Brian," he said looking grave.
"Well don't open the door yet, let me uuhh fix my hair. Do my lips look like they've been kissed roughly?" she asked with a slight smile.
"No not really. What 'bout me, how do I look?"
Gorgeous as usual, she thought, but she said, "You have lipstick all over your mouth." Kevin quickly wiped his mouth while Christel reapplied her lipstick. They looked at each other and nodded. Brian began to knock again when Kevin opened the door.
"What's up Kevy Kev?" Brian said jokingly in his usual cheerful mood. He decided to act normal.
"Hey Brian nothin' really we were just tryin' to figure out what to do. What's up with you," Kevin replied.
"Nothin' I just came to hang out. Hey Chris how are ya?" he said coming over to her and sitting right next to her, in Kevin's seat. Kevin walked over to the couch and sat on the other side of Brian.
"What were you guys planning to do?" Brian asked looking from Christel to Kevin.
"Well . . . uh . . . I had suggested we watch a movie just before you came Brian," she said.
"Yeah but, we hadn't decided on what to watch," Kevin said reaching for the TV guide.
"Oh, well let me see that," Brian said holding out his hand for the book. Kevin handed the book to him.
"How 'bout this uh Dumb and Dumber," he said brightly.
"Uuuhhh, sure whatever," Kevin mumbled. Brian turned to Christel.
"Yeah, great Bri turn it on and I'll get some popcorn," she said jumping from the couch. She walked behind the couch en route to the kitchen, as she did she brushed her hand across Kevin's shoulder. He turned to look at her; she winked at him, and continued on to the kitchen.
"Hey uuhh Brian I'll get us some sodas," Kevin said hopping from the couch.
"Alright but, hurry up the movie starts in about 5 minutes," he replied.
Christel stood in the kitchen waiting for Kevin anxiously not knowing what was about to happen between them. This evening could change everything between Kevin and her.
Kevin came around the corner and they were instantly in each other's arms kissing passionately. This is daring, we could get caught, she thought to herself.
"We can't . . . stay in here . . . for long or . . . we might get . . . caught," she said between kisses.
"I know but for some reason I just can't stop myself," he said as he trailed kisses down her throat.
"I can't either but . . . we have to," she said reluctantly pulling away from his questing lips.
"Alright, I'll get the sodas and you get the popcorn its in the cabinet by the microwave," he said running an agitated hand through his hair.
She got the popcorn and a bowl to put it in. She opened the microwave door and put the popcorn in. She turned to Kevin who was standing right behind her.
"What do we do while we're waiting for the popcorn?" she asked a little startled that he was so close.
"We do this . . ., " Kevin said. He wrapped her in a warm embrace and kissed her until the microwave went 'BING!'. They parted, she went to put the popcorn in the bowl and Kevin got cups for the sodas. Together they walked back out to Brian who was still sitting on the sofa. Luckily, he hadn't noticed a thing. He sat blissfully watching the movie, unknowing of the passionate exchange between Kevin and her in the kitchen.
Kevin and Christel returned to their seats and she put the popcorn in Brian's lap. They sat watching the movie but she couldn't pay attention after what happened in the kitchen. She couldn't keep her mind off Kevin. God, I wish Brian would leave. I want Kevin to kiss me again, hold me in his arms, and. . ., her thoughts were interrupted by Brian's sudden outburst of laughter. I have to sit here for the rest of this stupid movie and pretend I'm watching, when I really wanna be kissing Kevin, she continued with her thoughts. Completely frustrated, she dug into the popcorn and began to pull out a handful when she felt a warm hand close around hers, it was Kevin's. She looked over at him just when he looked over at her. Their eyes locked. They were so deep in each other's eyes that they didn't notice that Brian had stopped paying attention to the movie.
"Alright I have to say something, I know what's going on here. I saw you two through the window on my way in," Brian said suddenly.
"Saw what?" asked Kevin.
"I saw you and Christel making out, right here on this couch. I also know that you two did something other than get popcorn and sodas when you went in to the kitchen. Now tell me what's goin' on between you two," he asked looking from Kevin to Christel.
"I'll tell him Kevin," she said stopping him from saying anything. "Well Brian, Kevin and I have gotten a lot closer lately. We are officially more than just friends," she said looking past Brian into Kevin's eyes.
"What about AJ I mean I know you two broke up but this will kill him," Brian asked alarmed.
"Wait a minute, how did you know?" she asked Brian.
"AJ told them. He came to rehearsal looking like he had a rough night and Howie asked him what was wrong. At first he told Howie nothin' but Howie kept pressing him and AJ got annoyed and told him to 'go fuck yourself'. Howie was like 'well fuck you too'. AJ finally blurted out that he broke up with you," Kevin said.
"He wouldn't go into detail. He just said that he and you broke up because he did something stupid," Brian said finishing the tale.
"SOMETHING STUPID?!?! Is that all he thinks it was something stupid?!?! It was more than stupid he hurt me and I thought he loved me. Well, I did something stupid in believing that bullshit," she yelled.
"We found Mr. Cool at a club with some girl in a tight embrace," Kevin said gravely.
"We? You and Kevin went out together?" Brian asked surprised.
"Yes, but only because I was sitting at home miserable and alone and he wanted to cheer me up. I had just gotten into a huge fight with AJ then Kevin called," she said.
"Oh I get it now, but how did you and Kevin get closer?" Brian asked.
"Well that's a long story that I've already told once and I don't feel like telling it again. Brian please don't tell AJ, not until I feel he should know, ok," she pleaded with him.
"I won't, I don't think it should come from me, anyway. But, I do think you guys should be careful with this. We all know how AJ reacts to surprises especially upsetting ones. I'm going to go now. I really just wanted to see how long you guys would sit through Dumb and Dumber I mean I know Kevin hates the movie," Brian said getting up and walking to the door.
"Oh yeah for the record, I always thought you two would go great together," and with that Brian flashed his trademark smile opened the door and stepped into the cool evening air. When the door closed she burst into laughter thinking, Leave it to Bri to make even the most stressful situations funny.
"That little asshole, he thought this was all some kind of joke," Kevin said irate.
"Kevin it's ok, I thought it was funny. Brian is so silly," she said between laughs. Kevin just looked at her and smiled.
"Did you hear the last thing he said?" Kevin asked. "Well I certainly agree," he said moving in closer. "Now where were we before we were interrupted by my loving cousin?" He moved closer until they were eye to eye.
"Uuummm, I think we were right here," she said when they were nose to nose. She leaned up and kissed him passionately on the lips and he returned the kiss enthusiastically.