Loving Kinnick (Rewritten)

I Thought You Knew

If I knew she would be leaving the second her clothes were dry, I would have started convincing her to stay before she stepped through the front door for the first time. As she stood in front of me, tying her curly hair into a knot of the top of her head, she kind of said it had nothing to do with me, but she didn't want to get home, and her dad realized she wasn't there.

The whole time she talked, all I could hope was that she was looking at me, telling the truth because, for the first time, I prayed. I prayed that it wasn't me she was trying to get away from. When she talked, I rearranged her words to fit what wouldn't make my chest sting in the way it did the time she looked at me and said she never wanted to see me ever again.

As much as I wanted her to change her mind, we were walking outside. I could hear Bo's teeth chattering the second we stepped off of the elevator. It was the only reason I started my truck - I wanted her to be warm. She deserves nothing less, and I'll do what I can to be the person who gives her more.

When I opened the passenger door for her, and the gust of wind hit her face, she turned to me with her lips parted. "It is already warm."

"Yeah," I cleared my throat. "I wanted to make sure you were comfortable."

"Thank you," she squeaked as a smile painted itself across her lips.

Things happened inside of my stomach when she got happy. It was as if her happiness fueled my own, and I was low on gas nowadays. Even though I didn't go looking for a source for supply, I found her. It was the only thing I needed to stay running. She was the only thing keeping me going.

Bo wasn't hard to please, though. It seemed like she wasn't used to small affectionate gestures. It bothered me that no one treated her the way she deserved to be. This is ironic for me to say, considering I wanted nothing to do with her when she came to the gym for the first time. Every reason I had, though, had nothing to do with her.

For someone who always had something to say, she didn't say a word to me on the drive. I started getting concerned when we made it to the stoplight on the main road. We have made it two blocks, and she hasn't hummed once to the music. So, I rested my hand on her thigh to see if I could bring her out of the thoughts she kept herself exclusive to.

I worried that something was wrong, but when her fingertips started grazing the hand I rested on her leg, I felt at ease. I continued to look in her direction as we turned down certain roads, just to make sure everything was okay. She wouldn't have to tell me. I would see it on her face. As I pulled in front of her house, I checked her face again to see if I should pull away as quickly as I parked.

"He isn't home."

I looked over at the driveway, nodding before leaning back against my seat. "I see that."

"Do you want to possibly come in?"

As she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, I looked at the signs that would say that she would want anything otherwise. It looked like she needed a friend that way; she didn't have to be alone. I killed the power to my truck and stepped out. I would be lying if I said I didn't notice the way her toes curled as I joined her on the sidewalk.

On the way to her front door, I noticed something behind her privacy fence. "Do you have a garden?"

She peered back at the wood, hiding the rest of her yard away from the world. "Mhm."

"What does it look like?"

"More tragic than the dead plants hanging from the porch."

"Show me," I mumbled as she looked up at me.

As she hesitated, I wanted to start asking questions, but her fingers slipped in between mine, and she started pulling me back toward the place she said made her feel closer to her mom. I listened to her explain it all. From the way she spent every free second with her mom out here, down to the moment she stopped, she loved it all.