Hawk's Eye

Chapter 19

Kyndall walked over to Ryder and kissed him quickly. "I have practice today, it starts at four," she explained. Ryder smiled.

"No problem, I'll take you in the truck," he smiled. He laced his fingers with her and walked over to the parking lot. He drove them to her house and they went up to her room. She laid down on her bed and Ryder sat at her vanity. He faced her and looked at her confused for a second.

"What is it?" she asked. He sighed and shook his head.

"What you said earlier, I didn't understand it. You said that... this used to be your dominate side," he said. She looked at him blankly and blinked.

"Oh yeah, it was nothing," she said trying to dismiss it. He raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed. "In order to tell you what I meant, I would have to tell you the whole story, and that might take some time." She explained. He sat on the floor and leaned against the wall.

"We got time," he said, looking at her. She sighed and closed her eyes before she nodded. She looked at the floor and avoided Ryder as she started her story.

"In... England, I started off as... me. I was nice, kind, and I had lots of friends. I also had a boyfriend; his name was Declan. Anyway, I was happy, until one day at a school dance, I saw Declan kissing my best friend, Charlotte. The next night, I went to his house to confront him about it. We went to the living room and he was... different. I told him I saw him at the dance and he just laughed. Then he told me I was being delusional and kissed me. I pushed him away and told him I was done. He got mad and pushed me to the couch. I tried to get up but he held me down. Then he said, Charlotte put out, why wouldn't I, and then he..." Kyndall stopped as her voice cracked, and her tears spilled over. She sniffed and wiped her cheek. Shaking the memories out of her head, she continued. "Anyway, after that, I was a conquest to him, and he made sure I remembered that every day. He started dating Charlotte and she was only too happy to rub that in my face. I actually considered killing myself. I tried, but I didn't take enough pills to overdose. Finally, something in me just... snapped. I found it easier to cope if I was a bitch... so that's what I became. I ruined Charlotte's life, and I made it my life's mission to destroy Declan every day of his life. And I had something against him that I could hang in his face every day. I was really good at revenge. It became my occupation. Things kind of calmed down after that, but I was tired of being someone that I wasn't. How I acted wasn't who I was, and I wanted to go back to just being me, so I begged my dad to take the offer with your dad and move us here. I wanted to be me again, but I guess history really is repeating itself. What Brett did, reminded me of how it all started in the first place. I just... I don't want to get stepped on again. I've already let her get away with hurting me twice. I don't want to get hurt again," Kyndall finished in a whisper. She looked at Ryder finally, her eyes red and watery. Tears streamed down her face.

This was the first time she told anyone what happened, and it was opening scars that were deeper than she thought. Ryder sighed and closed his own watery eyes. He felt her pain and understood. She had been so livid when she found out what happened to Brett that he just assumed that she was being a good friend, but it was because she'd been through the same thing, if not ten times worse. Ryder looked at her sympathetically.

"You've never told anybody this, have you?" he asked even though he already knew the answer. She sobbed once and shook her head. A broken sigh escaped her. He stood up and went to sit on her bed. Pulling her close to him, he kissed her forehead and closed his eyes. "History isn't going to repeat itself. I'm not going to hurt you... ever. I never want to hurt you," he muttered against her forehead. She sobbed lightly as she nodded. Squeezing her eyes shut, she turned into his chest and let herself cry.

She hadn't cried about it since it happened, and she needed this. She kept this cooped up way to long, and it was taking a toll on her. Ryder only held her lovingly and let her cry. He knew she needed this. He rubbed her back gently and rocked slightly. His eyes were about to spill over listening to her cry. He closed his eyes and a tear finally did escape him. He felt angry. He wanted to track the bastard down and kill him for hurting her. She didn't deserve that, and Ryder knew it. She was good, and a jerk took away what was hers. But then Ryder's anger melted to overwhelming love for Kyndall. All he wanted to do was to hold her and protect her from anything that life would throw her way. Kyndall loved him on a level that she didn't think she could ever love anyone, and of that, she was certain. Ryder pulled back only enough to look at her.