Destined

Thirty Seven

Vince

"Hey, you know that hug meant nothing," I said and she nodded. "Can we talk about this?"
"No," She walked passed me.
"Kristina," I followed her, surprised by her brush off.

Maddie and Liz were in the living room when I closed the door behind me.

"Hi girls," I said.
"Uh hi," Maddie greeted.
"Trouble in paradise?" Liz asked and I gave them a small smile.
"You have a stubborn friend," was all I said before I followed Kristina.

I found her tying her hair up, and briefly I wondered why because I was probably just going to undo it. She knew I would. Sometimes I felt like she did it just so I could unravel all her hard work.

"We're going to have to talk sooner or later," I folded my arms in front of me.
"I pick later, Vee," She repeated Reese's nickname and stepped into her bathroom slamming the door.

I stared at the door in disbelief. Then I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Part of me wanted to demand she open the door and talk to me or I'd break it down but I decided against it. I had an idea of what was bothering her anyway. Those damn pesky mood swings you women go through. Clearly, she just wanted a fight. But underneath all that, I also knew she was hurting. Reese wasn't an easy subject.

Deciding to give her some space, I grabbed a book off her shelf and sat down on her bed and decided to read. Except instead of reading, I kept glancing at the door fighting the urge to break it down and get to her. I heard the water running and assumed she'd be out in a moment. I had to wait another few minutes though. But finally, she graced me with her presence.

She seemed surprised to find I was still there. I stared right at her, closing the book and placing it on the bed beside me. Then I stood slowly, afraid she might retreat into the bathroom again.

"Nice of you to finally come out," I said.

I was a bit irritated that she chose to run and hide from me rather than talk it out, like adults, but I'll blame that on her PMS.

"I thought you'd left," she said confirming my earlier suspicions.

It occurred to me then that the fastest way out of this situation was to get mad at her. She wanted a fight, so I'd give her one. Out of the two of us, I was more temperamental, but not usually towards her. And I knew she'd want to comfort me if she knew I was angry. Easy solution.

"While you're in this state?" I asked, my voice taking on an edge to express my profound anger.
"You say that like I'm prone to violent behavior," she said.
"You mean like me?" I asked, making sure my face conveyed that I was insulted.
She gasped, "What? Of course not, that's not what I meant,"

See? I told you.

"Tell me, Kristina, what did you mean?" I asked slowly, deliberately maintaining eye contact with her.

Except, seeing her genuine concern for me overshadow her anger, did something to me. Something she noticed, her next words made me aware of that immediately.

"I'm not falling for that," She said.
"Falling for what?" I asked trying to salvage my master plan.
"Vince, I told you, I'm tired, I want to shower and sleep, can you please just leave?"
"No," I answered immediately.

I wasn't going anywhere until we were back to not being able to stay away from each other.

"No?" She asked, like she was surprised I would deny her anything. Which I guess she was entitled to, I'd never denied her anything. Anything but this apparently.
"No," I repeated.
"Fine, I'll leave,"

She was really pushing this childish behavior today. I don't know why I found it endearing.

"And go where? I'll just follow you, let's deal with this here, and now," I said.