Caramel | Rip Wheeler

Caramel - Chapter Thirteen

Maria sat on a log, ironically with a marshmallow on a stick. She huffed, twirling it over the fire. She looked over, Monica and Kayce had just finished putting Tate to sleep and were quietly and sneakily trying to leave his tent.

She rolled her eyes, watching as her marshmallow caught fire. "You know your marshmallow is on fire, right?" Kayce chuckled, guiding Monica to the blanket that lay on the floor across from Maria.

"Great." She thought. "Now I have to act like I can stand him."

She feigned a smile, but said nothing as they sat, cuddling close. "How was your ride out here?" Kayce asked. Maria shrugged a shoulder, but again said nothing.

"You okay?" Monica questioned, looking over at Kayce to try and read the room. When she got nothing she spoke again. "You seem–"

"I'm fine, Monica." She offered her a small grin. "Thank you for asking."

"Yeah no problem." Her grin showed she was genuine, then she began to speak again and Maria's smile fell from her face. "I was thinking about heading to the river tomorrow, see maybe if I can find some arrowheads." Maria hummed, uninterested. "Do you want to come with me?"

Kayce kept his eyes on Maria, he was cautious, she was a fire cracker with no warning signs. She thought for a bit, then slowly, she began to nod. "Sounds like fun."

"Great." Monica wholeheartedly smiled. "You're not invited." She teased Kayce with a nudge. "Girls day."

He became nervous, Monica had no clue Kayce and Maria had a past, let alone a baby together. Maria noticed his uneasy vibes, so she decided to change the subject. "Beth couldn't make it?"

"Uh," He began, clearing his throat. "No. She had to run back to her real world, big girl job."

"Why do you and Beth hate each other so much?" It was like word vomit, Monica almost wanted to throw her hand over her mouth and keep it there the rest of the conversation.

In that moment, they noticed Rip walking toward them from chopping fire wood in the forest, his eyebrows raised momentarily at the question that left Monica's mouth.

"Right on time." Maria began to scoot, making room for all of Rip as she thought about what she could say in this situation to make everybody uncomfortable. "Monica." She looked at Rip, then over at Kayce. "The only thing I can tell you is: it's not easy being the other woman."

"Oh." She was taken aback, looking around like she was trying to make sense of her comment. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you two were together." She pointed between Rip and Maria, confused.

"We're not." She glanced at Rip, taking a bite of her charred marshmallow with an evil giggle. "Are we Rip?"

Rip looked at her, a single eyebrow raised. She was testing him, it was up to him whether he failed horrendously. "Now, Maria." He was stern with his tone. "That's a conversation for another time."

Kayce watched observingly, trying to figure out what was happening between the two. "Seems to me like it's been twelve years in the making."

Maria's face contorted, dramatically confused. "The fuck?"

"What are you talking about?" Rip asked, the attention from all three of them was directly on Kayce, waiting for his next sentence.

"It's always been obvious." He almost mumbled, loud enough for everybody to hear.

Monica watched him, scanning his face to see if there was any sign of jealousy. He turned his head to look at a tree and she got her answer. She stood from her spot, wrapping her cardigan around her as she made her way to Tate's tent.

"You gonna let her go too?" Maria kept her eyes on the fire.

"What is that supposed to mean, Maria?"

"It means you're a fucking idiot, Kayce." Rip answered for her, sighing as he stretched his legs in front of him. "Go after your wife."

"There's nothing here for you anymore." She spoke softly, only looking up once to see if he had any reaction to what she said. Kayce stayed, shaking his head silently with a smug look, which caused her to become annoyed. "What?"

"You know." He chuckled, causing Rip and Maria to glance at each other, then back at him as they listened. "That day in the hospital, it changed everything for me." He began to stand up. "You broke my heart, Maria."

"The fuck did I do, you fucking psychopath?" She threw her stick into the fire, now becoming angry.

"You and him." He pointed at Rip, causing his eyebrows to meet in the middle in a questioning expression. "There was always something there." He shook his head. "The moment I was supposed to have with the mother of my baby, that we had just lost!" He whisper-yelled, glancing back to make sure Monica wasn't listening. "He took that moment from me. Made it all about the secret fucking sexual tension you two had."

Maria stood up, walking up to him. It took everything in her power to not punch him in his mouth. She licked her lips, standing inches from him. Rip stood, just in case he had to pull her and her claws off of him. "You fucking pussy." Kayce looked down at her, she pointed in his face. "You don't get to tell me who the hell gets to comfort me or not." She pushed her finger against his forehead, his head bopping backward. "So Rip hugs me? So what? You go and get somebody else pregnant? Fucking idiot." She spat, walking around him and toward her tent.

"Damn it, Kayce." Rip began after her, looking at him as he walked around the fire. "We almost had a normal trip, why'd you have to fire her back up?"

"There's nothing normal about her." He said, slumping back down onto the blanket. He couldn't take his anger into the tent, so he had to sit there and mope on his own until he got over it.

Meanwhile, Maria sat in her tiny tent, her head in her knees as she silently cried. They were angry tears, she didn't have any sad tears left in her. She heard the tent rustling, but she didn't look up, honestly she couldn't care less if it was a bear and she was about to be eaten alive.

"Hey." Rip said, sitting next to her. "Come here." He reached for her hand, but she pulled away. He sighed, realizing her walls had gone back up. "Just come here, god damn it."

His angry tone made her look up at him, his eyes were soft but his face was hard. She let herself go to him, melting into his embrace. He ran his hand up and down her arm as she sat in his lap. "I love you." He said, she felt nauseous at the three words, the only person who had grown to love her in twelve years was John, Kayce never loved her the way she thought he did.

She found herself yet again, crying into Rip's chest. "I don't care if you say it back." He kissed her head. "I just need to know."

"Everything I love dies." She shook her head. "Don't love me."

"I can't help it." He chuckled. "But I'll try not to die."

She looked up at him, her big brown eyes were glossy with tears as she sniffled. "You promise?"

It was then when he saw the seventeen year old girl he met way back when, with her big brown eyes full of life and hope. "I promise." He nodded, setting a finger under her chin. "Come here." He began to lean in, as did she. The kiss was small and sweet, she smiled softly as he parted.