Bainbridge Bride

Chapter 13

"No," I decline Kent's request for me to come to bed with him."I'm sleeping on the couch and that's it." I explain. Kent frowns after his rejection.

"No, you won't sleep on the couch. It's too small." Kent says, taking the blanket away from me, against my will. I roll my eyes in frustration.

"Look, you asked me to do something for you. Didn't you?" I demand, balling up my fists.

"I did, but-" Kent begins to argue.

"But nothing, you asked me to do this. Therefore, this will happen on my terms. My terms say that you will not argue with me and that you'll do what I want or I can leave. My terms also say that you won't kiss or touch me unless we're with your parents or whoever else you're doing this for, okay?" I mentally praise myself for laying down a standard for Kent to follow.

"We can share the bed, I won't touch you." Kent pleads. I take the blanket out of his hands.

"Kent, please don't make this harder than it should be. Remember my terms?" I sit on the couch, earning an eye roll from Kent. I don't understand why he wants me to sleep next to him so badly.

"You let me lay next to you last week, didn't you?" Kent pushes me further. I take deep breaths and try to find the words to say.

"My hormones needed you, I didn't." I tell him before turning the light out and grabbing a pillow from the bed where Kent will sleep whether he wants to or not.

"Goodnight, Paige." Kent turns to face the wall away from me. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. For once I can sleep without worrying about anything bad happening when I wake up.
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"Kent thought he was Hulk for like two years before he realized we were just telling him that so he'd eat his vegetables." Olivia laughs. I look at Kent who doesn't look amused by the stories of him. The view from the hot air balloon is even better than the view from the helicopter.

It's easier to breathe and easier to relax without the sound of propellers and the constant yanking of the helicopter as it turns.

"Oh don't forget the story about the princess gown!" Arthur shouts. Kent clears his throat and shakes his head, his eyes widening severely.

"Dad, not a good story." Kent shakes his hand across his neck to tell his father to knock it off. I smile, wanting to hear this story.

"Go ahead, I want to hear this one!" I tell Arthur.

"Kent was in the erm- living room with his sisters. They were playing princesses and they insisted that Kent play with them and Kent wanted to play the prince. But they wouldn't accept that, so they put lipstick on him and arranged his hair into pigtails. It was quite a sight once he had the dress on." Arthur can barely contain his laughter. Quite evil laughter to be exact, like he told the story to be mean.

"There's so many stories, Paige. I'd like to meet your parents so we can hear some of yours." Olivia laughs. Kent and I look at each other, unsure of what to say.

"I don't think that's a good idea, is it sweetheart?" Kent wraps his hand around my waist.

"Yes- I mean no. You shouldn't meet my parents." I explain. Arthur squints, looking confused.

"Won't we have to meet them before you get married?" Olivia asks. I grab my water bottle and take a sip. I try to steady my breathing to keep myself from revisiting another anxiety attack. Anxiety attacks are part of my past and my family's past. When my father would go out late at night, we'd all worry and I found myself stressed out with school and keeping myself together.

Not having any friends didn't help. I only had one or two people I could consider friends but they weren't people that I always talked to or hung out with. I found myself weighed down with my own problems, leading to anxiety attacks. I've stopped carrying my pills with me. The little bright yellow tablets haunt me and make me feel slow and deflated, so I refrain from taking them ever.

"Mother, I don't think we're getting married any time soon." Kent hushes his mother.

"That's not what you told us last week." Arthur says, causing Kent to throw the sand bags over the edge of the basket. I grab two fistfuls of hair, angry that Kent would tell his parents that we were getting married.

"What'd you do that for?" Arthur demands. Kent clenches his jaw, clearly upset. The hot air begins to float down slowly. I try not to look down as we descend.

"Because you always have to ruin everything and be an asshole and I hate the way that you talk to Paige." Kent admits. The awkward silence makes me feel very uncomfortable.

"This is usually the part when you apologize for saying that." I tell Kent softly.

"I'm not going to apologize for saying what I meant, he has to respect you. You deserve respect." Kent says. Although Kent was very rude to his dad, I'm glad that he respects me and that he expects the same from his family. The terms that we discussed this morning have gone over well in Kent's mind.

"Thank you, I see you're following my terms now?" I whisper to him. He smirks infamously.

"Your wish is my command, Princess." Kent laughs. The hot air balloon nears the ground and we face a short walk to the dock where the boat is waiting for us.

"I hope you've had a good time, Paige!" Olivia says when we're closer to the boat.

"I had a wonderful time, thank you for inviting me!" I tell her. I look at the outside of the boat and wonder why Kent was so angry about me asking about his grandmother.

"Oh, she has manners. Perfect for my son, you guys are- what do they call it?" Olivia nudges Arthur. He laughs.

"The young people say, OTP these days. Whatever that means.." Arthur answers. Kent and I look at each other and burst into laughter.

"One true pairing." Kent explains to his mother.

"This weekend can't get any better." I tell Kent. He nods in agreement. My phone vibrates in my pocket.

"I think someone's calling you, Paige." Kent says.

"Obviously." I respond, answering my phone.

"Well who is it?!" Kent demands.

"My mom, do you wanna speak to her?" I ask sarcastically.

"You know she's my best friend, so duh." Kent laughs. I put the phone of speaker.

"Hello?" I ask. My mother's voice is barely audible behind a multitude of beeping.

"Paige, you have to come home now." she says frantically.

"What? Why?" I prepare to hear something important. My mother never calls me.

"Your father is in the hospital. He has alcohol poisoning and the doctor suspects liver damage."

"We have to go." Kent and I say in unison.