Mending Heart |18+|

Chapter 34

I Know Where You Live

"and yes, there are over a million words in our language but for some reason none of them can describe the way you make me feel." – r.m. drake

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"So," Taylor smirked, leaning against the door of her new apartment – arms folded over her chest. "When am I going to get to meet this mystery man that has you smiling like you just won the lottery."

"Just because I'm smiling, doesn't mean that a man is behind it." I defended, pushing one of the boxes out of the way to make room for the next batch we had to bring up. Taylor had officially moved back to Chicago as of last week and I was currently helping her move some of her stuff in. She finished her last semester as a research assistant at Michigan last week, and she was all set to start teaching her first class at UChicago in a few weeks when the next semester started after the holidays.

"It could be because my favorite roommate is moving back and I get to see her more often." I continued, placing my hands on my hips. Taylor cocked an eyebrow, staring at me expectantly. "Sure." She smirked, the look on her face indicating she didn't believe me.

"It's true!" I rolled my eyes. "Tay it's been years since we've lived in the same city together. Meg is happily married. You're starting your dream job. I'm seeing a really great guy I can see a future with. I don't know, it just feels like everything is finally coming together."

Her eyes softened as she began walking towards me. "I'm going to give you a hug now." Then, she wrapped her arms around me and said, "Seeing you so happy, makes me happy Kenz."

"I am happy. I promise." I squeezed her tightly before pulling back. Now typically, I'm not much for a hugger, but every once in a while it feels good to show some affection.

"Good." She flashed me a smile, squeezing my hands. "But I still want to meet him!"

"We'll all have lunch or something soon." I rolled my eyes, pulling the door open so we could go back down to the U-Haul and bring some more boxes up.

"Didn't Megan say she was coming over to help?" I grumbled as I placed a box labeled Pantry down in the kitchen after our second trip downstairs.

"She probably forgot now that she's a married woman." Taylor laughed. "For all we know, she forgot because she's too busy making babies."

I scrunched up my face and I glared at her. "I did not need that visual this early in the morning."

Taylor threw her head back and laughed, just as Megan's voice rang out from the living room. "Hi!" She yelled. "I brought reinforcements." When Megan walked into the kitchen, Eric and Megan's brother, Kevin, trailed behind her.

"Oh my gosh, Kevin!" Taylor yelped, jumping to her feet and rushing towards Kevin. "Look at you – you're all grown up." 

"Hey..." He awkwardly replied as Taylor enveloped him in a hug. "Long time no see."

"Can you believe this?" Taylor turned towards me to ask. "I swear it was like yesterday that he would stay locked in his room all day playing video games when we'd go to Megan's parents for dinner to get away from the crappy dorm food."

I nodded, smiling at the memory. Kevin was eleven back then, while the three of us were freshmen in college. Fast forward to the present, Kevin wasn't the scrawny kid waiting to get blown away by the wind at any moment. No – he had buffed up, grown into his height and the acne had cleared.

"It's good to see you Kev." I waved from where I was still sitting on the floor, sorting through one of the boxes.

"What about me?" Eric asked, mocking feeling hurt.