Unspoken

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

^*^*^

Kasey and Kiera spent every free second that they had that week, together. Whether at Kasey's apartment or Kiera's house, it didn't matter – they just took advantage of the time they were given, knowing that the next week, or even the one after, they might not get the same chance.

With the life that Kasey led, he could be there one day, but be gone the next, and both of them knew that. So they enjoyed the time they were given rather than waste it doing meaningless things.

That Tuesday night found them laying on the balcony of Kasey's apartment staring at the sky and watching the stars come out.

They had watched the sunset from the swing on the balcony, and once it had started getting dark, they had moved to the ground.

"It's been so long since I've done this," Kiera whispered, not wanting to break the peacefulness and serenity of it all. "It's been at least a few years – since I lived with my parents – and I moved out of there after graduation."

"I haven't done this since I was a little kid," he told her, bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing it, "Me and my brother used to lay out in the backyard and look at the stars."

The door slid open, and Kale popped his head out of it, "What are you guys doing out here?"

"Kale," Kasey groaned, "Go away."

"Why?"

"Because it was peaceful out here until you ruined it."

"Fine, fine, fine," Kale sighed, "Leave me out of everything why don't you? I'm going. I know when I'm not wanted."

The door slid shut once again, and Kasey laughed, pulling Kiera towards him until her head rested on his chest. "He's such a pest sometimes."

"Tony's the same way, but at least you know he loves you, and you have some of your family with you, some people aren't as lucky as us to have our brother's with us all the time. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have Tony. Probably go out of my mind. I have to have someone around me that I know loves me, I just have to."

"Me too."

"So do we really both have to leave tomorrow?" she asked quietly.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Well, when do you get back?"

"Monday afternoon. When do you get back?" he questioned.

"Sunday night," she said sadly, "Tony has to go into the shop first thing Monday morning."

"So how about we make plans for Monday night?"

"Sounds good to me," she answered, "But are you sure you'll be up for it? I mean, you won't be too tired from the flight?"

"I'll make sure I'm up for it," he replied, kissing her nose, "Don't worry."

"Okay, I won't."

"Ugh," Kasey groaned.

"What's wrong?"

"It's almost midnight, I didn't even realize it was so late."

"And I have a flight early in the morning," she sighed, "This sucks."

"Yes, it does, but I guess I better get you back home."

"I guess."

"Don't worry Kiera, Monday night will come soon enough."

"I hope you're right, otherwise it's going to be torturous."

"I'm right. Trust me."

^*^*^

Kasey pulled the Durango into her driveway, and shut it off. "Don't be sad, Kiera. Go home, have fun, and don't think about me."

"Haha. Easier said than done, Kase."

"Well try, Ki."

She giggled.

"What?"

"You just called me 'Ki'."

"So?"

"You've never called me that before."

"Oh. Okay. I didn't even realize I called you that. Sorry about that."

"No. Don't be sorry. I like it."

"Okay, then Ki it is."

"Okay."

"But you better go, because you have an early flight, and you need to get sleep."

"I can sleep on the plane."

"Now that is easier said than done. I can't sleep on a plane. It's physically impossible for me to do that."

"Not me," she grinned, "I am out like a light when I'm flying."

"I'll remember that."

"Bye Kase."

"Bye Ki."

He leaned over, and kissed her. "Remember," he told her, "Monday night."

"It can't come soon enough." She leaned over once more, and kissed him again. "I can't get enough of that."

"Me either, but you should really go. Right now. I mean it. Really."

She nodded, and opened the door, and closed it before she could change her mind. The window was open, so she leaned through it and stole one more kiss. "Bye Kase."

"Bye Ki."

"I'll have my cell."

"I'll have mine too."

"Call me."

"I guess I'll have to, and I'll see you on Monday."

"Yeah, Monday."

Monday could not come soon enough for Kiera Stewart.

^*^*^

Nelson and Helen Stewart lay in bed the night before their children were due home. Neither could sleep, because many things were going through each of their minds.

"I think we might have made the wrong decision."

"About what?" Nelson questioned.

"Letting Kiera leave home and go live with Tony and tour the circuit with him. I think I want her back here with us."

"I've been thinking the same thing lately. It hasn't been the same without her for the last year. This house feels empty without her."

"Maybe," Helen spoke up, "We can talk about it with her this weekend. Maybe she'll want to come back home and live with us."

"We can talk to her and see Helen, but let's wait until they get here to discuss this."

"Okay."

^*^*^

Kiera woke up the next morning to Tony pounding on her door. "Kia! Wake up. We have to leave."

"I'm getting up, I'm up," she muttered, pushing the covers to the side.

She changed into her clothes for the day, brushed her hair and pulled it back in a ponytail, washed her face and brushed her teeth before applying light make-up and grabbing her bags.

As she walked out of the room, Tony was waiting for her outside.

"How much time do I have?"

"About twenty minutes."

"Good, enough time to eat breakfast before we have to go."

"There's something downstairs for you too."

"What is it?"

"You'll see," he answered cryptically, as they walked into the kitchen.

"Tony!" she whined, "Tell me!"

"Look for yourself."

She looked at the kitchen table where a bouquet of flowers sat. And she smiled. Kasey.

Picking them up, she pulled the card out and read it. Ki – Monday I will see you again. Have fun at home. And don't worry, Monday will come soon enough. I'll call you. – Kase

She was lucky the table was right there as she lowered herself into a chair.

"What's it say?" Tony asked.

"None of your business!" she exclaimed.

"Whose it from?"

"None of your business!"

"I bet it's from Kasey."

"I'm not saying yes and I'm not saying no."

"That's a yes."

"It is not."

"Yes, it is. I used to say that all the time, and when I said it, it meant yes."

"It doesn't Tony."

"You're lying."

"I am not."

"You're lying by denying that you're lying."

"Stop trying to confuse me Tony."

"I wasn't."

"Whatever you say."

"If you want to eat breakfast before we leave, you better start now, because we have to get out of here soon."

"Okay, what's for breakfast?" Kiera questioned.

Tony laughed. "Very funny Kia, because did you think I was going to make you breakfast?"

"Well... yeah."

"Sorry, it's whatever you can scrounge out of the cupboards."

"Well then, I'm not eating breakfast. How about we leave now and we can stop at McDonald's so I can get some breakfast."

"Fine, let's go."

^*^*^

Kale had to drag Kasey out of bed the next morning when it was time for them to head back home. They were both excited even though they had been home weeks before. It was always nice to go home, especially now that they had nothing planned for their few days back in Enumclaw. Just spending time with their mother, father and sister.

Kasey was slightly disappointed though, because he had been hoping to convince Kiera to come to Enumclaw with him, but he understood, she had to go back to Rushville to visit her own family. And a raincheck was better than nothing. That just meant that on the off weekend between Chicago and New Hampshire she was going to come with him.

And he couldn't wait.

He knew his family would know about Kiera before he left at the end of the weekend, because Kale would tell them. He had a tendency to have a big mouth about matters like that.

But Kasey wasn't ashamed about his relationship with Kiera. In fact, there was nothing about the special relationship they had that he was ashamed of; he was just wary to say anything about it because it was pretty new, and he didn't want to screw anything up before he got a real chance to flesh out what he and Kiera were really feeling for each other.

So when Kale told his family, he would answer the basic questions they would have, but after that, he wouldn't get into too many small, intimate details about her. They would find out soon enough - either on one of the weekends they visited the racetrack, or when she came back to Enumclaw with him in July.

That would have to be enough for his family.

He knew Shannon would be the worst. She would want to know everything about Kiera. She probably wouldn't even protest running a background check on Kiera. But he wouldn't let his family get too carried away, because he trusted Kiera, and he was beginning to think it was turning into something else too, but it was a little too early to be saying that.

"Kasey, are you getting up?"

He pushed out of the bed, finally realizing that while he thought he had been up and awake, he had indeed been up, but had yet to get out of bed and physically up for the day.

"Kasey, don't make me break down this door!" Kale threatened.

"I'm up Kale, and I'm coming, so don't even dare to break down my door, or I'll break you."

"Man," Kale said as he walked away, "Someone's grouchy this morning."

"No, someone just doesn't like to be threatened so early in the morning."

"Well I had to, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten up."

"I would too have gotten up."

"Whatever Kase, I'm not going to argue with you."

"Good, because you know I'll win," Kasey taunted.

"Kasey," Kale warned.

"What?"

"Just stop. Get your stuff together and get downstairs for breakfast, or we're going to be late."

"Yes mommy," Kasey laughed, as he grabbed his bags to haul them out into the living room.

"I'm not kidding Kase, I've been awake a whole lot longer than you have, and have a whole lot more caffeine in my system right now. I could kick your ass if I wanted to."

"I bet you could."

"Well don't tempt me to do it then Kasey."

"Kale you couldn't hurt a fly, and you know it."

"Do I now? Just you wait, one of these days I'll prove you wrong."

Little did they both know, that truthfully Kasey would find out that Kale would hurt him if the situation called for it - and he'd find out the hard way.

^*^*^

Kiera had to admit, that it felt good to be home. It had only been close to a month since she was last here, but it always felt good to her to be home.

She walked in the front door and grinned as her mother and father approached her.

"Kiera! Tony!" Kiera smiled, and walked into her mother's arms.

"Hi mom," her reply came out muffled as her face was stuffed in her mother's shoulder.

"Are you two hungry? Dinner's almost ready, so why do you go upstairs, and put your stuff away, and then come downstairs and eat."

"Okay," both Tony and Kiera answered as they headed up the stairs.

^*^*^

Kiera had heard Tony head back down the stairs about ten minutes before she did, and as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, she could hear Tony talking in his typical loud tone. She paused at the bottom of the stairs and listened to what he was saying.

"Yeah, she's dating someone new now."

"Really? She didn't tell us that when we talked to her yesterday."

Her face began to grow red, and her temper bubble up. I'm going to kill that little rat. I told him I'd tell them about Kasey this weekend, and he told them!

She walked in, knowing she had no other choice.

"Hey, what were you guys talking about?"

"You, actually," her father told her with a smile.

She sat down on the couch next to Tony, making sure in the process she stepped on his foot and let him know that she heard him.

"Really? What about me?"

"Well," her mother smiled, and Tony let a smirk slide across his face, "Tony tells us you have someone new in your life."

She turned towards Tony, and shot him a dirty look, before turning back towards her parents. "I was going to tell you this week, but you know, Tony just beat me to it."

"Who is it?" he father asked.

"Kasey Kahne."

"As in the rookie who took over for Bill Elliott?"

"Yeah," she grinned, "That's him."

"How long have the two of you been dating?"

"Umm... a few weeks, I guess."

"And he treats you well?" She looked at her father, and she knew the look on his face. She felt the need to protect Kasey from the wrath of her father.

"Yes Dad, he treats me very well."

"Well, I want to meet this boy."

"Come to one of the races," Kiera told him, "He'll be there."

"Maybe I'll come and have a little talk with him."

She turned and glared at Tony, as if saying 'See what you've done?'

"Don't worry Dad," Tony spoke up, knowing that later he was in deep trouble with Kiera for telling their parents before she was able to, "I already talked with him before they even started dating, and he knows that if he hurts her, he's a dead man."

Kiera did not know about this conversation. "You did not Tony," she said in disbelief.

"Actually I did Kia."

"I'm going to kill you!"

^*^*^

It had been a long time since he had been able to go home and enjoy the time with his family without having to worry about appearances, and autograph signings and everything else that came with his new found fame in the Nextel Cup division.

There was a tree in the backyard that had used to be his escape, so the morning after him and Kale had arrived home, he snuck out of the house, after putting on his heavy sweatshirt, before anyone else was up and once again escaped to the confined safeness of the tree.

He was sitting out there for almost a half hour before he heard a slight rustling beneath him.

"We watched the race on Sunday."

He looked down and smiled as his sister climbed up the tree and came to sit next to him.

"Did you enjoy it?" he asked.

"Everyone was excited when you finished second, but you could have had Kenseth if you only had one more corner to go..."

"Or even another lap," he added, "That's run through my head so many times in the last few days. If only I had a little more, that could have been my first win right there."

"Your time will come Kase, believe me, you've got the talent - you've always had the talent, and now you have the equipment too. I have faith that this season will see you in victory lane."

"I hope you're right, Shannon, because I want a win, and I want one bad. I want to make up after the terrible first week, and I think this second place finish has created a monster," he joked.

"But Kase, that wasn't what made the family curious on Sunday."

"'Curious'?"

"When they interviewed you, at the end, there was a girl with you."

Kasey laughed. "I knew sooner or later you would ask about her."

"Who is she?"

"Kiera Stewart."

"Is she Tony's sister, or is the same last name a coincidence?" Shannon questioned.

"She's Tony's younger sister."

"Are you two... together?"

"Yeah, we are," Kasey nodded, "We have been officially for almost a week, but I've actually been 'dating' her for close to three weeks."

"Wow, you're getting brave Kase. I never thought you'd get involved with the sister of one of your competitors. That could get messy if something bad happens between you and Tony."

"I know, but I really like Kiera, she's different than anyone else I've ever met. I've known her for close to a year, we were introduced last year when I was racing in Busch, and it was her first year touring the circuit with her brother. I rarely saw her all year long though, unless I was walking through the Garage, or through the Cup areas of the tracks, or the few, select races that Tony raced in the Busch. But, we met up again at the Awards Banquets last December, and sort of have been talking ever since."

Shannon nodded, and grinned, "So... when do we get to meet her?"

"How did I know you were going to ask that?"

"Because you love me, and you know me too well."

"I guess that's it. But... she's going to come back here with me in July after Chicago. I tried to convince her to come with me this weekend, but she had to go home herself, so she promised me next time. Or, she'll be with me at the tracks on the weekends, so if you end up making it down for a race, you'll get to meet her then."

"Maybe I'll have to get the family to get to the tracks one of these weekends."

"You can ask Kale about her, they're friends."

"I may do that. Grill him to give me all the dirty details."

"Shannon," Kasey warned, "I don't want anything to go wrong. Everything's so new right now, and I don't want to screw anything up."

"Okay, I won't grill him too hard then."

"Thanks Shannon."

"Now come on, I'm going to cook breakfast for everyone."

"After you," Kasey told her, motioning for her to get down out of the tree.

Once down, the two siblings ran back into the house.

^*^*^

"Hello?"

"Hey Ki."

She sunk back into her bed and smiled. "Kase. How are you?"

"I'm okay, relaxing at home, but I miss you."

Kiera wanted to squeal uncontrollably, but she squashed that urge and instead grinned, "I miss you too."

"So how is home?"

"It's good, Tony told my parents about you, so they've been bugging me all week long."

"Haha. My entire family saw you with me when they interviewed me after the race at Rockingham, so Shannon's been pestering me for your life history, and when she's going to get to meet you."

"Well, tell everyone I said hi."

"I will."

Her bedroom door opened, and Tony walked in, "Kiera, Mom told me to come tell you dinner's ready." He shook his head. "Are you talking to Kasey?" She nodded. "Tell him I said hey."

"And tell Mom I'll be down in a little while."

Tony shut the door again, and Kiera shook her head, laughing. "Tony says 'hey'."

"I know, I heard him," he laughed along with her, "But I can let you go now so you can go eat dinner with your family."

"Okay."

"You leave tomorrow, don't you?"

"Yeah, Tony and I fly out tomorrow afternoon."

"And I fly out Monday morning, so I guess I'll see you then."

"Okay Kase, bye."

"Bye Ki."

"I miss you," she told him, blushing slightly, and hoping that even though he had said that to her earlier, that he would say it back this time too, or she'd feel dumb.

"I miss you too Ki, and I'll see you Monday night."

"Okay... Monday."

She collapsed against the bed and sighed, before putting her phone back in her bag and heading down the stairs. Tony sat at the table with a mischievous look on his face, and she secretly wondered what he had done.

"So," her mother spoke up, "You were talking to Kasey..."

"Tony!" she screeched.

Tony just sat there and laughed as Kiera got up and chased him around the kitchen. Their parents sat back and watched their two children interact with each other, and realized it was the right decision to allow Kiera to go and tour with Tony on the Nextel Cup circuit.

^*^*^