The Shadow of Our Past

A Fool to Let You Go

Jason, Luke and I are all sitting at the round, wooden table in our kitchen. Natural afternoon light filters through the space, making the dust in the air visible. As they both promised, they're trying their best to help me with Kira.

"She was abused by him too. Shit," Jason concludes, leaning back in his chair.

Luke groans, "and you've made her life hell by just up and leaving." He leans on his hand, raising his eyebrows at me to emphasize his point.

"I know, I realized that when I got home that night," I sigh as I lean back in my chair as well.

The night Kira told me about her past doesn't feel real, as if it was a fever dream. When I had gotten home, sleep was unreachable. Instead, I cried until I couldn't continue. I thought I had understood what she was to me before that night, but this made me realize that she is so much more than I originally thought.

"So, what's our plan?" Jason asks as he looks between the two of us.

"Well, we need to get Ben's girl un-pissed and go from there," Luke offers, "do you still have her number?"

Before I can respond, a knocking reverberates from the door. We all look between the three of us in surprise. Luke shrugs and looks at me. Jason follows his gaze and nods his head towards the door. I take the silent hint and push my chair back to stand. Another knock fills the silence as I begin to walk towards the door.

Part of me hopes it's Kira, hopes that I can get a chance to fix what I've done. I quickly dismiss the thought, however, as I approach the door, reaching a nervous hand to the door knob. I twist it and practically throw the door open impatiently.

"Kira," I choke out, feeling my knees weaken and my heart flutter. She looks as if she's been through hell, her eyes tired and hair thrown up in a messy bun. Her eyes soften as she looks at me and I want nothing more than to pull her into a hug.

She only mutters, "I need you," before taking my hand and pulling me to her with a strength I don't expect. "So don't leave," she finishes, clinging to me as if I'm her lifeline. I wrap my arms around her waist, letting her rest her head on my chest.

"I know, I won't," I reassure her, pulling back so she can see the tears falling from my eyes. "I knew I couldn't leave you the second I walked out of your house." She lets out a refreshing giggle, bringing a hand to my cheek as I had to hers nights before. Instead of wiping away my tears, however, she lightly slaps me.

"That's for putting me through hell the last few days. Jess also wanted me to do that for her," she grumbles up at me. "But that's the extent of my fury." Her furrowed brows soften and she smiles, now wiping the fallen tears from my cheek tenderly.

"I was expecting much worse," I remark. "like never seeing you on good terms again," my joking tone is gone, replaced by a worried, soft whisper. Before she can speak again, I pull her head to my chest and hold her there. She melts into my embrace, resting her hands on my shoulders and sighing contently. I almost want to cry again at the relief I feel swelling inside me.

"Um, Ben?" a confused Luke says from the doorway, startling us both. I reluctantly let go of her so I can turn to face him. He raises his eyebrows at me then moves his gaze to meet Kira's.

"Hi," she squeaks with a wave, walking up next to me.

"So she's the girl you've been fussing about?" Jason appears from the kitchen, leaning his arm on Luke's shoulder. Kira looks up at me with a look that can only be described as relief. "I see," he finishes with a laugh.

"Can we have a moment?" I point my question at Luke, who gives me a curt nod. He walks away quickly, pulling a protesting Jason behind him.

I turn to Kira once more, worry filling my voice. "Are you sure about this?" I offer a hand to her as I speak, which she takes gratefully.