KURT EVENTUALLY TOOK Lindy to Krist's house, which was a shorter walk than she anticipated but still long. She suspected Kurt wanted as much time with her as possible, because he didn't seem to mind their two mile jaunt down the streets of Aberdeen.
The entire walk there, Kurt attempted to entertain Lindy, scooping up pinecones from the ground and gifting them to her, or pelting her playfully with tiny pebbles. She would jump out of his way, but he was much quicker than her. He'd always come up from behind and grab her by her waist, sending a tingling shock down her legs. It was a nice feeling.
"KRISTYYY," Kurt yodeled, throwing open the screen door to Krist's house. Lindy treaded behind him carefully, looking back and forth in search of her brother.
"It's too early for that," a petite, dark-haired girl groaned from the kitchen. She was cute and spunky looking, her hair cropped short and her facial features strong. "Who's this?" she asked, her eyes darting to Kurt with interest at his choice in company.
"I'm Trae's sister," Lindy said automatically. "Lindy."
"The famous Lindy!" The girl sat her mug of coffee down and went straight in for a hug, pulling Lindy into her arms with a tight squeeze.
"I'm Shelli," she beamed. Lindy smiled back, taking a liking to Krist's girlfriend immediately.
"What are you doing caught up with this riff-raff?" Shelli teased, swatting Lindy's shoulders and giving Kurt a knowing look that proved how much she knew of his antics.
Kurt and Lindy appeared to share a mutual moment of embarrassment as they looked at each other, neither one answering Shelli's question. Kurt finally decided to speak, picking up a rubber band from the countertop and slingshotting it across the kitchen.
"I kidnapped her off the street. I'm willing to return her, but the going rate is about 10 g."
"G as in grand, or as in grams," Shelli grinned, as she pinched her thumb and forefinger together and mimicked smoking a joint, pursing her lips and puffing invisible air.
"Both. Now shut up and give me your money," Kurt demanded, retrieving his rubber band and stretching it backwards to snap in Shelli's direction.
"Lindy?"
Lindy whipped around to see Trae standing in the doorway, wearing the same rumpled clothing from the night before. His curly mop of hair was sticking up every which way.
"Trae!" Lindy ran for her brother, throwing her arms around him and holding him tightly against her. He squeezed her back, patting her head with the sentiment of a father.
"Did you walk here?" Trae asked incredulously. Before Lindy even considered answering his question, she blurted out her own.
"When are you coming home?"
The room became dead silent.
"Linds . . ." Trae sighed. "I can't give you an answer to that."
"I need one. Because if you're not coming back, I'm leaving," Lindy said firmly.
"No you aren't. You've got to stay. Who else is going to help pay for your college, Lindy?"
"I'll get a job," she said back defensively, not paying attention to the fact that she had an audience.
"You know that's not going to happen. You had a job all throughout high school, and look, Dad made you quit once he found out you were saving for school. He'll always find a way to bring you down, Lindy. Just roll with it. Cross your T's, dot you I's. You'll be out in no time."
"He made you quit a job because you were raising money for school? That's fucked up," Shelli finally said, shaking her head with disgust. Lindy wondered how much Trae had told her about Lee.
It was true, though. Lindy had held a position as a bagger in a local Aberdeen supermarket, but when she'd accidentally let it slip to her father that her money was going into savings for UW, he'd coincidentally made her quit in order to help out more around the house. Just another reason why he was nowhere close to winning 'father of the year.'
"Trust me on this, Lindy. Stay put. I'll figure something out," Trae assured his sister, nipping her nose with his fingers, a childhood trick he had used on her many times in order to make her smile. This time it didn't work. She stared at him desperately.
"And if your dad ever gets mad at you, feel free to come here," Shelli added with warmth. Lindy offered her a smile, sad to have given up her argument but confident that Trae would be safe where he was. Shelli was already doting on him, handing him a mug of coffee.
"I have to get ready for work," Trae announced, accepting his coffee before he rustled his sister's hair and turned back towards the hall.
"Wake Krist's lazy ass up!" Shelli shouted, pulling out a container of eggs and a frying pan.
"Hey Linds," Kurt said under his breath. "Want to skip breakfast and go somewhere with me?"
Lindy flashed Kurt a tiny smile, having almost forgotten that he was still there with her. This raised her hopes slightly.
"Of course. And we already had breakfast, remember?"
"How could I forget, you green Skittle eating-alien-weirdo?" Kurt smiled back.
________
It turned out that Kurt's place that he desired to take Lindy to was a little more sketchy than she had originally thought. It was underneath the Young Street Bridge that cut over the Wishkah River, a river known for its exceedingly muddy banks. You could have probably sank to your death alongside the banks after a rain shower, disappearing into their depths as if you'd stepped into quicksand.
"Are you planning on killing me down here?" Lindy called to Kurt, gingerly stepping from rock to rock as she made her way up to the higher part of the bank where people had obviously sat before. The area was littered with beer bottles and cigarette butts.
"Not today, but try your luck tomorrow and maybe I'll surprise you," Kurt said, sitting down on a concrete beam that jutted out from the ground. Lindy sat beside him on the cold, damp beam, laughing quietly at his comment as she turned her hands over in her lap.
"I actually just wanted to bring you here because this is where I go when the world, or at least my world, is falling apart," Kurt explained. "I've had a lot of bad shit happen to me and I find that after it does, I spend quite a lot of time beneath this bridge."
Lindy listened solemnly, tucking her chin into the palm of her hand. She could feel her eyes getting misty as Kurt talked, unlocking apart of himself that she could sense he rarely talked about.
"Basically, if your evil sperm donor ever flips out on you, I want you to be able to come here. Like I do. Because it's a place of solace. I know it's not very nice but . . ."
Kurt paused, seeming to consider a passing thought before finally saying it aloud.
"Maybe we could even come here together, sometimes. If you, you know, wanted that."
"I'd like that a lot," Lindy said softly, unable to stop herself from gazing into Kurt's blue eyes.
For the second time that day, he leaned in to kiss her, once more lifting his hand, but this time to graze the flushed skin of her cheek. She felt so good to him— warm, welcoming, and full of love, all the necessary components that Kurt had lacked in a true home. And yet, home had miraculously appeared, sitting right in front of him with her lips on his.
They kissed for what seemed like forever. With the sound of gently moving water in the background, nothing could have been better for the two misfits who had finally found a home within each other.
