lifeline ⇾ kai parker

29┃true colors

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

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"HEY," KAI SAYS FROM BESIDE her. His forefinger pokes her side, but it doesn't make her pace stutter as they continue down the corridor of the Salvatore School. She tilts her head toward him expectedly. "We're getting married."

"I know. I was there when you proposed," Mila replies, bemused by his on-top-of-the-world attitude.

"I'm gonna be your husband. You're gonna be my wife," he continues, beaming.

"We haven't even gotten married yet and you're already in the honeymoon phase."

"I'm just excited," Kai answers before he suddenly takes Mila's hand, the one sporting the engagement ring, and shoves it into the face of a passing student. "We're getting married."

"Congrats?" The girl pulls back in reaction to the invasion of personal space and quickly slips around them.

Mila retracts her arm before he could pull the same stunt again. "Kai, you don't need to announce our engagement to every individual person we come into contact with. Just because the lady at the grocery store found it interesting, doesn't mean everyone else wants to hear about it. Especially people we don't know."

He had been just as eager to spread the word when they returned back to her parents' house. She had been excited to tell them, too, but her dad was apparently in the know and the second they walked through the door he and Kai had practically started square dancing in celebration. Her mom was the only one properly surprised, but her happiness quickly deterred into jealously when she realized that the diamond on Mila's finger was bigger than hers. Then, when she recognized the ring as the one that once belonged to Evan's mother, she was throughly aggravated.

Apparently, Evan had it all this time and had passed it off to Kai when he mentioned he was proposing instead of gifting it to his wife. Natalie always went on about how tiny the stone on her ring was and how she needed it customized. It's what she asked for for every anniversary and every big holiday. So, when she found out that her husband had kept the heirloom to himself all these years, let's just say Natalie decided to hold a grudge. Evan slept on the couch last night because of this.

Mila didn't let her parents' dramatics sink her mood. She dragged Kai up the stairs away from the cold shoulders and the brewing arguments. She kissed him, laughed with him, and curled into him underneath the sheets. He stroked her hair. She listened to his heartbeat. They intertwined their hands together and allowed them to stay like that, the cool metal of the ring warming between the crevice of Kai's fingers.

"Okay, but can I be the one to tell Ric? I know I'm supposed to be on good behavior or whatever, but I want to see the look on his face when he realizes that out of the two of us I'm the only one who's going to experience married life."

Mila's gasp transitions into a short laugh. "Kai, that is so mean."

"He stuck a sword through your heart. Remember that?" He reminded her.

"Okay, maybe enjoy his suffering a little," she relents, pursing her lips at the unpleasant memory.

The two of them reach their destination, the kitchen, that was completely vacant besides the presence of a certain platinum blonde. Lizzie stood over the counter, taking advantage of the fully stocked pantry and making herself lunch. She was taking a break from planning her own funeral arrangements while disguised as Hope since everyone was elsewhere for the time being.