A/N: Finally! I'm anticipating two more chapters of this before I'm done. Also I'm going to do something that I haven't done before and recommend a few fics which I've been enjoying. Firstly A Burning Thing by LilyLanie. It's not a Kavi fic but it's really well written so you should definitely check it out. Secondly Not Enough by NaturalDisasters. It's a Kavi fic by the writer of A Good Idea and it looks like it should be pretty good. Finally if you haven't then you should definitely check out Lovebirds by PTXoxo which is an adorable oneshot collection. I think I'm going to do recommendations each chapter now so if you know of any good Kavi fics then feel free to ask me to check them out and I will if I haven't already. Enjoy!
"So you're taking her home?"
"I don't know." Esther looks unsurprisingly concerned. Kirstie is in my room deciding what she wants and Darien is downstairs distracting the rest of my family so Esther and I can talk. "It might be best."
"You were all for us being together last time we talked about it."
"I want you both to be happy. Right now it doesn't seen like either of you are happy." We're not. It turns out it isn't as straightforward as I thought it would be. There's years of friendship and a weird unexpectedly intense crush that I'm not sure how to deal with. The last thing I wanted was for her to get hurt but the inevitable pressure put on her by family has gone too far. It's not even their fault. It's mine. I thought it was going to be easy. "Yeah. She's one of the most important people in my life, I can't make her do this." Esther sits down next to me and rubs my shoulder reassuringly. "It sucks Avi but maybe you'll have a chance to do this properly one day. you both deserve better than a confused, almost relationship that you've been forced into by our parents' assumptions." I give her a hug. "Go and hang out with everyone, I'll be fine." she smiles and pats me on the back. "Good luck. Remember to just be honest with her." She walks out and I put my head in my hands. This is going to be hard.
"Hey, can I come in?" There's no reply but she opens the door and sits on the bed. She's dressed in her t-shirt and shorts and she crosses her legs and looks up at me. "Hi."
"Can I sit?" She nods and I walk over and sit down beside her. "I just want to say that I'm sorry for putting you in this situation. I can drive you home first thing tomorrow and we can pretend this never happened and go back to normal." She laughs humourlessly. "Sure we can." Her voice is darkly sarcastic "Well what do you suggest then?" She sighs and leans back against the wall. "You could really just forget about this?" She looks nervous. "No I couldn't." I swear she looks relieved. "I don't think I could either. It's been weird and confusing and hard but at the same time." She doesn't finish her sentence but I understand her perfectly.
"There are bits that you liked." She nods slowly. "Can we just go to sleep? I'm tired and it's making me even more overemotional."
"Ok. I'll sleep on the floor." She looks at me and in her eyes I can see flashes of emotions that I struggle to decipher. "No. We already crossed the line. What's the point in you being uncomfortable?" I switch off the light and climb in beside her, unsure of what to do with myself in this bed that suddenly seems way too small. "Goodnight Avi."
"Night."
When I wake up we've managed to keep to our own side of the bed. I look at her peaceful expression and decide to leave her to sleep for a bit longer while I get ready. When I'm dressed I go downstairs and am greeted by Darien. "Morning. everyone else is out." I fix myself a cup of coffee and lean against the kitchen counter. "Esther told me what happened." of course she did. I'm not really annoyed there's no problem with him knowing. "Yeah. It's been a little intense for her and I think it's created some unexpected problems for both of us."
"Like realising you have feelings for each other?" His tone is casual in that way that it's quite easy to be when it's someone else's issue. "I don't know. That's what's happening for me but." He finishes his drink and washes the glass. "You don't know if it's the same for her?"
He's worked it out perfectly. I'm pretty much gone by this point but all I know is that she's a bit confused. Who wouldn't be in this situation? Kirstie's a tactile person. She cuddles with everyone and holds hands with Mitch and Scott all the time. There have been some moments though, that have been more than that. Things that we've said and done that couldn't be classified as strictly friendly. After all of that it's not been easy to keep a clear head.
"Sometimes I think there's something there but I just don't know."
"Well then you should try and find out. Me and Esther are going out for dinner tonight and if Kirstie stays that long then you two should come. We'll be there so it won't be too intimate but it'll still be a chance to assess your feelings outside of this bubble that you've been in."
"Kirstie. It's time to get up." Her eyes open slowly and she blinks a couple of times. "How long have you been awake?" Her voice is croaky and sleepy sounding. "About an hour. I've been speaking to Darien." She eyes me curiously. "Get dressed and then we'll talk about it." I leave the room and head back downstairs to start to make breakfast. She joins me surprisingly quickly and I take that as a bad sign. "So do you want me to take you home after breakfast?" She shakes her head. "If we just go back now then we won't be able to work out what this is." When she says 'this' she gestures between us and my heart flutters nervously. "Well Darien and Esther are going for dinner tonight and they invited us along if that's something you'd want to do. They both actually know that we're not together so it might be a nice break." "Yeah. I think that'd be nice. Do you know if it's anywhere nice because I didn't bring anything to wear."
It's an appropriate moment for Esther to enter the room. "So you guys are coming? That's brilliant! Yeah it is pretty fancy. I'd lend you something but you're pretty short." Kirstie fake pouts as though that's news and Esther laughs. "I could lend you some shoes though. How about a shopping trip?" Kirstie's eyes light up. "Yes that'd be amazing!"
"If Avi can cope without you for a day." I roll my eyes but Kirstie seems unphased. "I have to go and finish getting ready." She runs upstairs and leaves me standing with Esther.
"She seems like she's in a pretty good mood."
"Yeah. She agreed to stay a bit longer so that's something." Esther smiles and shakes her head. "What?"
"I'm just wondering how you didn't realise that you liked her until now. You've known each other all this time." "I don't know it's like I saw her but I didn't really see her if that makes sense."
"You are so hopeless and so lucky." "Lucky?" She smiles again and turns to walk out of the room. "Lucky that she's just as hopeless."
