Until Then (NaNoWrimo 2021)

Chapter 4

                                                                                      ****

"Sometimes, it's not the people who change, it's the mask that falls off."

Chapter 4

Everything had changed, Archer had expected that much. It had been years since he left, he wasn't delusional into thinking that he would come back to the same old things and the same old Kaycee, no. But Kaycee was a lot more different than he had expected; she was too quiet and calm, hardly showed any emotions, and was extremely reserved. That right there was a terrible combination when it came to Kaycee Rice.

Hand in hand they silently walked through the school campus and Kaycee couldn't help but peek up at Archer's face every few seconds. Interest, she later on realized was the emotion that she was feeling. It felt interesting seeing Archer like this after all these years but asides from that nothing else moved her, not even the way he held onto her hand. Kaycee wasn't even sure why she was walking with him and she wasn't keen on finding out but the interest that had built up inside her kept pushing her to gaze up at his face.

"Did you miss me that much?" Archer asked with a chuckle and Kaycee blinked once. "You haven't stopped looking at me ever since, did you miss me that much?" Archer continued as he stopped walking and turned to face her with his hand still in hers.

"Where did you go?" Kaycee asked the question before her brain could even process it but surprisingly she realized that she wanted to know. Interest, it was that emotion again.

"Hmm, we went around for a bit, traveled a lot but none of those places felt like home." Archer said thoughtfully.

"Is that why you came back?" Kaycee asked again and Archer smiled.

"It's one of the reasons." Archer admitted but didn't elaborate further. Looking down at their intertwined fingers Archer caressed her knuckles with his thumb as he let out a breath. "I heard about your dad, I'm sorry."

"Why would you be sorry, he's not your dad?" Kaycee asked as she looked up at him with a confused expression.

"Were you sad?" Archer asked instead as he ignored her previous question.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"That's not an answer." He countered with a smile and Kaycee tilted her head as she observed him further.

"And you, were you sad when your dad went to jail?" Kaycee asked and Archer sighed as he gave it a thought.

"No, I wasn't. I felt relief when he was finally out of our lives but it didn't last long." Archer said with a shrug and Kaycee wondered what his words meant. "You've drifted away from Bee, she says you don't have any friends." He continued after a while of silence and Kaycee finally pulled out of his grip slipping her fingers away from his.

"I've never needed any friends." Kaycee said looking him in the eye and Archer couldn't help but laugh.

"Ah, that's right you don't." He conceded because it was the truth, Kaycee wasn't the type of person that needed a lot of people in her life. All she needed was that one person that could understand and love her for who she truly was, someone trustworthy enough for her to open herself up to. "I've missed you."

"Really? I didn't, I hardly ever thought about you." Kaycee admitted and it was the truth. When Archer left he took along a very big piece of her and what was left of her wasn't strong enough, it was how she had easily slipped into that silence because the Kaycee now wouldn't have survived had she allowed her emotions to swallow her up.