Kris knocked on the door. As she waited, she replayed what she wanted to say in her head. Brian scared her to the point where she was shaking, and she nearly ran into a few other cars while on the road. This was the only place she had to go where he couldn�t find her and hurt her.
�What are you doing here?� Zac asked, after he opened the door.
�Is Taylor in there? I need to talk to him.�
�You�re pale. Lose your breath on the way up or something?�
�Is he here or not?�
�Yeah. Taylor, Kris is here.� Taylor looked up as Kris walked in.
�What do you want?� He failed to make contact with her, and just looked back at the television. �Shouldn�t you be in school right now?�
�Zac, could you leave for a second?�
�Why?�
�I don�t want you to hear this.�
�Whatever you can say to Taylor you can say to me. I�m not two years old; I can handle it.�
�Fine, whatever, stay.� Kris put a hand through her hair (and realized it was still pretty much covered in her own blood.)
�Thank you.� Zac sat.
�What is it?� Taylor asked, and looked up at her. For the first time he noticed how scared she looked.
�He said he was going to kill me.� She began to shake harder than she already was, and felt tears welling. Taylor immediately got up and wrapped his arms around her. She began to cry, gripping his shirt in her fists. �I�m so scared.�
�Kris, you need to do something. Tell someone, get help. He�s not safe to be around.�
�He said if I didn�t see him tonight, he�d really hurt me. But if I go, I don�t know what he�ll make me do.�
�Kris, stay here. You can�t go. Just as long as you have people around, he won�t do anything. He�ll never know to look for you here.�
�He knows about you. He knows I�ve seen you and whenever I try to deny it, he hurts me more.�
�Don�t let him do this. Leave town, change your name or something; you can�t go on with him hurting you.�
�It�s only been happening since Sunday. Maybe he�s just going through a phase��
�Stop defending him, Kris. He�s hurting you. He sent you to the hospital twice.�
�Three times.�
�You went again today, didn�t you?� She nodded. �What did he do?� Instead of saying anything, she turned around and pulled off her shirt. �Kris, don�t let him do this anymore. I don�t want to see you hurting so much.� She put her shirt back on.
�He wasn�t always like this, you know.�
�Stop it. You�re still making excuses for him. If Brian could do this to you, then he is seriously demented, He has a problem with controlling anger, and he needs help.�
She sighed and laid on the bed. �Do you think it�ll be alright if I stayed here?�
�Yeah, it�ll be fine. Mom and the kids are at home, so it�s just Dad and Ike with us. They�re in another room.�
�You guys so do not include him,� Kris said. �I feel bad.�
�It�s his decision,� Taylor said, and laid next to her. �We�ll have to say something anyway, they�ll wonder why you�re here.�
�I don�t know what to tell you. Make something up; just don�t tell them the truth.�
�I won�t. No one else needs to know. Except for the proper authorities�hint, hint, wink, wink.�
�I will, I will.� She waved it off. As she put her hand down, Walker came into the room.
�Who�s here?� Kris sat up and looked at Walker. �Kris! I thought you didn�t come by these parts anymore.�
�A few things changed over the past few days, so we�re talking to each other again.�
�That�s good. Does it have anything to do with someone beating the shit out of you?� She nodded. �What?�
�It�s one of my old friends that Taylor knows, but it�s a really long story so we won�t get into it.�
�Is it Brian?�
�How do you know about Brian?�
�I find out everything, Kris. I have the power to never let him out of his room again. It comes in handy when prying into the lives of my children.�
�Oh, I see now.�
�I�ll find out sooner or later about this one.�
�Please do it later; the saga isn�t quite over yet.�
�Will it be over soon?� Taylor whined. �I�m sick of being in it.�
�We�ll see. All depends.� Kris smiled. �Hey Zac, where have you been? I haven�t heard a peep from you since you sat down.�
�I�m just thinking.�
�Well think and get done with it. The conversation�s getting boring. We need your wit to spice things up.�
�Hey!� Taylor said. �I have a wit.�
�You try, but Zac�s is better.� Taylor stuck out his tongue. �I still love you, though.� She put her arms around him.
�I�m left out!� Zac said, and ran over. He grabbed Kris and pulled her away from Taylor. �You�re mine now.�
�Careful Zac, we don�t want to break any more bones,� Taylor warned.
�I am being careful! See?� Zac said, and lightly stroked Kris�s hair. �Oh my God what is in your hair?� He looked at his hand and wiped it on his pants.
�Blood.�
�Ew! Where�d that come from?�
�My shoulder blades popped out of my skin, Zac. Usually when skin is opened, blood comes out.�
�Why would it be in your hair?�
�Cause blood went everywhere! I left a trail in the emergency room.� Zac made a face. He sat back down in his chair with her in his lap. �I ruined one of my favorite shirts too.�
�What happened?� Walker asked.
�I�d prefer not to talk about it.�
�That�s alright,� Walker said. Kris put her head against Zac�s chest. �Zac, isn�t Misty supposed to come over tonight?�
�Yeah, after school.�
�She�s coming here? Do you know how long it�s been since I�ve seen her? What time is she coming?�
�Around four.� Kris looked at the clock. It was only one at that point. �That�s in three hours.�
�What are we going to do until then?�
�Watch a movie, have a few conversations, somehow pass the time before Misty gets here,� Taylor suggested.
�Guys, remember we have to be down at Milani tomorrow at noon.�
�Why the hell are you filming at Milani?� Kris asked, surprising them all.
�Cause it�s the perfect place to film the video. Why?�
�Hello? What club did we go to the night of the accident?� Taylor shook his head.
�No way, we went to Milani?�
�Yeah! Ask Misty; she�ll say the same thing. If it was me, I�d avoid the place like the Black Plague.�
�Trust me, Kris, if I would have remembered, I wouldn�t go near there. That place is the devil�s club,� Zac said, cringing. �Everything about that club was one big mistake.�
�You met Misty there.�
�Besides that.�
�You had your first drug overdose there.�
�And it was my last. I�m not doing that shit again. There must have been something else in that cause Ecstasy doesn�t do that to a person.�
�There was heroin in it,� Kris said.
�How do you know that?�
�I heard the doctors talking about it. There was heroin in the pills. Think about that. You had 20 hits of heroin. That�s enough to kill.�
�No, I didn�t have 20. I had 5.�
�You had 20! There were 40 in there. Me, Misty, and Taylor split 20 and you had the rest.�
�No way.�
�Yes way. You initially took only 5, but as the night went on you took the other fifteen.� Zac looked at her, amazed.
�Like I said before, it�s the devil�s club.�
�Kris, how many did you have that you remember everything?� Taylor asked.
�I had one hit of the pill, and two strawberry daiquiris all night. It was enough to get me high but not enough to not let me remember.�
�So you and Misty shared the other nineteen,� Zac said, directing to Taylor.
�We gave most of it to some other people.�
�That was nice, you could have killed more people.�
�I got some good money for that!�
�Sure��
�I did! They gave me about fifty bucks a pop.�
�How much money did you get?�
�About $750.�
�Hey, that�s really good. I got 40 for $500.�
�You actually paid that man five hundred dollars?�
�Well, $250, Misty bought the other half.�
�What were you doing with 250 bucks?�
�I had it in my wallet. I don�t remember why.�
�Stupid rich kid,� Kris muttered. �You got us all into that damn trouble.�
�You took it. You didn�t have to, but you did.�
�Shut up, it�s over now,� Taylor said.
�Let�s watch a movie,� Kris said, trying to get away from the conversation. It was quickly going to lead to a fight, which none of them needed. She played with a bit of Zac�s hair. �We can�t see to have a nice conversation.�
�Kris�� Taylor started.
�Don�t even think about it,� Kris said, knowing what he was going to ask her. �There�s no way I�m going with you to Milani.�
�Yes you are,� Zac said, and gripped her. �Or I won�t let you go.�
�No, I�m not going back there.�
�Come on.�
�No!�
�If she doesn�t want to go, she doesn�t have to,� Walker said.
�Yes she does! We�ll fall apart without her there! We�ll be a rack of nerves or however the phrase goes.�
�How do you think I�ll be? I�ll end up having a panic attack! I�ve never had a panic attack before we went there.�
�We�ll be worse. Ike will have to do the whole video by himself.�
�Then let him.�
�Kristina Maria Carter, you are going with us. It�s either us or the things that will face you tomorrow at school.�
�Fine, I�ll go. But I won�t be happy about it.� She lightly yanked Zac�s hair.
�Hey!�
�I�m not happy.�
�You�re supposed to be gentle, Kris. Otherwise I won�t be gentle with you.� She looked at the piece of hair in her fingers, but didn�t say anything. She felt like such a baby, sitting in Zac�s lap, playing with his hair. It felt comfortable, though. Zac had that effect with her. She could be as silly or even as vulnerable as she wanted, and he�d just be the same with her. She felt lucky to have such a good person as a best friend.
�I�m going now, pick a movie until Misty gets here,� Walker said.
�K, Dad,� Taylor said. He got up and grabbed the remote. �It�s either one of these movies or maybe we could order one.�
�What do we have?�
�There�s a whole bunch of Disney movies, Robin Hood, Austin Powers, Die Hard��
�What Disney movies?� Kris asked.
�We�re not watching any Disney movies.�
�Come on, I just want to know what they have.� Taylor groaned.
�Uh, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Pete�s Dragon, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame��
�Oh! We�re watching The Hunchback of Notre Dame!! I don�t care about anything else, we�re watching that.�
�How old are you again?�
�Put the movie in, Taylor.�
�No! I�m not watching a movie meant for two-year-olds, even though I do think this movie is a bit too deep for kids, it�s still a little kid�s movie and we�re not watching it.�
�Just put in the damn movie, Taylor,� Zac said. �Let her be happy, she�s had a rough day.�
�Yeah, I�ve had a rough day.� Taylor groaned and took out the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
�I�m never doing anything for you again. After this we�re putting on Die Hard.�
�I don�t care, as long as we get to see this.� Taylor started the movie, turned out the lights, and then jumped onto the bed.
�Are you two gonna be okay over there? Will I have to get the hose?� Taylor asked, looking over. Zac took Kris�s scrunchie out of her hair and threw it at Taylor. �I�m joking.�
�Sure you are,� Zac said. �I love my Misty, remember?�
�I don�t know�you�re a bit close over there. I might have to stop my Disney movie here��
�Shut up, it�s starting.� Taylor gave Kris a look. She watched, wide-eyed as her movie played.
�Are you sure you�re eighteen?�
�Shut up, I�m watching.� Kris watched attentively, but she didn�t last long. In about a half an hour, she was fast asleep. The movie ended an hour or so after Kris fell asleep, and Taylor turned on the lights.
�Okay, that was alright for a Disney movie,� he said. He looked to Kris, but found her out cold. �How long as she been asleep?�
�An hour or so.�
�You mean to tell me I sat through an hour of Quasimodo for nothing?�
�Come on, you liked it. You were about to cry when Esmerelda nearly died.�
�I was not!�
�You so were. I saw you.�
�Shut up bout it! I�m putting on Die Hard. I�m feeling too sappy.� Taylor grabbed the movie. �You want to put her on the bed?�
�No, I don�t want to move her. She�s fine here.�
�I feel like I�m talking about Zoe.�
�Oh well, Kris has gone through crap this week. She can be babied for a little bit.� A knock came at the door. �Is Misty here already? It�s only two-thirty.� Taylor shrugged and went to the door.
�Hey,� Misty said.
�Why are you so early?�
�We got out at one-thirty today. Sorry if it�s a bother��
�No, it�s fine. We were just about to watch another movie. Kris is here; she fell asleep on Zac about an hour ago.�
�Oh, okay.� Misty walked in. �Hey hun.�
�Hi,� Zac said. He kissed her, not moving too much so he wouldn�t disturb Kris. �I didn�t expect you till later.�
�Yeah, we got out early today. So you guys are talking to Kris again?�
�She�s been going through a whole lot lately. Brian�s been beating her.�
�I can tell.�
�So we�re just babying her until she can get rid of him and back on her feet. She doesn�t want to admit that there�s a serious problem.�
�You have to understand that she�s still in love with him, obviously if she�s back with him and taking this, and she�s never been in this situation before. She can�t trust anyone because she really trusted Brian and now he�s doing this to her. She�s lucky to have even said anything to you guys. And she�s living in fear because of him.�
Kris stirred and partially woke up. Zac noticed. �Kris, why don�t you go over and sleep on the bed? It�s more comfortable over there.�
�I don�t want to leave you, Taylor.� Zac looked over to Taylor. He blushed. Well, Zac could have some fun with this.
�Do you love me?� Zac asked, smirking.
�Yes.�
�How much?�
�Lots and lots.�
�More than Brian?�
�Way more than Brian,� she said, stressing her sentence.
�How come you never said anything before?�
�I didn�t want you to know.�
�How come you�re still with Brian, then?�
�Cause he�ll kill me if I leave him and I don�t want to die.� Zac stiffened.
�There�s things you can do about him not touching you.�
�Don�t you understand? He�ll kill me!� Zac decided to change the subject.
�Go over to the bed, Kris. I�ll join you.�
�I can�t walk. My leg hurts.�
�I�ll carry you over there.�
�Okay.� Kris put her arms around his neck and let him carry her to the bed. He laid her on it. Misty got off.
�Better join her, Taylor, she loves you,� Misty said. Taylor gave her a look and lay next to Kris on the bed.
�Taylor?� Kris asked, as she snuggled up to him. He smiled.
�Yes?�
�Do you love me?�
�Yes.�
�As much as I love you?�
�Probably more.� He kissed her forehead. �Go back to sleep now.�
�Okay�� Within a few minutes, she was asleep again. Taylor, tired himself, decided to join her.
�They are so perfect together,� Misty said, leaning her head against Zac. On the commute from school to the hotel, she�d taken off all the wretched make-up that she wore only at school and when they went out. The horribly expensive layers hit her scars from the rest of the world.
Zac actually didn�t like her how she looked with make-up on. He complained that she didn�t look �natural� and when they weren�t going anywhere, he made her take it off. She�d even inquired once why he loved her scars so much, and he�d said that he knew where to kiss with them there.
�Yeah, but she�s sticking with Brian.�
�I can�t believe what she told me. How he�d kill her. I�m really worried about her, Misty. She�s my best friend.�
�I understand that, but she�s just gonna do this herself.� Zac looked over to Kris. �Don�t sweat it, hun. She�ll be okay.�
�It�s just he�s done so much. And she said he was going to kill her. I know he can if he tries.�
�Is that why she�s here?� Zac nodded.
�I want her to stay here as long as she can. If he gets a hold of her again, he could very well get rid of her. And we�re afraid of that.�
�Do you think it�s a good idea? She�s going to have to leave sometime.�
�She doesn�t want to go,� Zac said. �She wants to stay here with us. She�s scared and we�re the only people she feels safe around. Now I just have to live up to that��
�She�s really close to Taylor again. And you. I never knew how close you two were until today.�
�Normally we�re not as touchy but today she fell asleep on my lap. I had no problem with it.�
�I�m sure. You got a beautiful girl all over you��
�Not as beautiful as you!�
�Shut up, you loser.�
�I love you.�
�I love you too.�
�Hey,� Zac said. �It�s about time you woke up.�
�What time is it?�
�Four.�
�I wasn�t asleep that long, idiot. How�d I get over here?�
�I brought you over there a little bit ago.�
�Is Misty here yet?�
�She�s in the bathroom.� Kris brushed through her hair with her hands, and looked down at Taylor.
�What is he doing there?�
�You wanted him there.�
�Huh?�
�After stating how much you love him, he joined you on the bed and he just happened to fall asleep next to you.�
�Excuse me? I did what?�
�You proclaimed your love for him. You were just half-asleep at he time.�
�You�re joking. I didn�t say anything.�
�You did.� Misty walked out of the bathroom. �Misty is a witness.�
�What? What am I witnessing? It�s bad luck to be a witness; it takes a year off your life��
�Shut up, Misty. Kris proclaimed her love to Taylor, did she not?�
�You did alright. Taylor was pretty red.� Kris looked at Taylor, who was dead asleep and lightly snoring next to her on the small bed.
�What�d he say.�
�He loves you more than you love him.�
�Alright!� she said, an made a hand gesture to accent her happiness. Misty and Zac looked at her. �You didn�t see that.�
�Oh yes I did,� Zac said, smiling.
�I�ll beat your butt.�
�You can try.�
�I�ll win.�
�Sure you will.�
�I�m the winner!�
�Shut up,� Misty said. Kris sat at the edge of the bed for a minute, then slowly got up and walked over to Misty.
�I haven�t seen you in so long!! How�ve you been?� They embraced.
�Great. They told me about you and Brian.�
�Yeah, I know, it sucks but I can�t think about it right now. I�m here, I have my old friends back�at least for a little bit.�
�I heard you made them sit through the Hunchback of Notre Dame.�
�Yeah,� Kris said, smiling, �and then I fell asleep during it.�
�Yeah, I meant to thank you for that,� Zac said. Kris smiled widely.
�It�s just I�ve had such a rough week, and little to no sleep so at this point, if I can get a few winks, I�ll be happy no matter what position. On Zac or in a bed; it really doesn�t matter much to me.�
�Why don�t you just go back to sleep? I�m sure Zac and I can find some way to keep ourselves entertained.� Misty grinned.
�I�m sure you can. Actually, that sounds like a pretty good idea. I�m still dead tired. Night, guys.�
�Night, Kris.�
She lay back on the bed, facing Taylor. The movement woke him, and his eyes fluttered open. �Kris? You awake?� he whispered.
�Yeah, but I�m going back to sleep right now. You should too,� she whispered, glancing to Zac and Misty. They were already ignoring the two on the bed. They wouldn�t be able to hear.
�Alright. But I need something first.�
�What?�
�A kiss.�
�You don�t need a kiss. You need a 2x4 to the head.�
�Kris��
�You know what it�ll do to me. I won�t want to let you go.�
�Then don�t.� She shook her head. �Please?�
�Alright.� She pressed her lips against his, and the familiarity of it all washed over her. She knew his kiss; it was the same as she remembered. The kiss grew from the peck that it started out as, to full fledged making out. They lay there, deeply enthralled with one another, as waves of memories came crashing down on them. It scared them both, but not enough to stop.
As his fingers grazed her neck, she shivered, which sent pain throughout her body. She pulled away from his lips, and let his face stay next to hers.
�Can we be together?� he whispered.
�Yes.�