That Abercrombie Model

TWELVE

Kystan opens the door for me and helps me get into the car. His cologne is more distinct in his car; it smells like mint and some woodsy scent. A silence stretches between us. It's been many days since we were together and an inkling of the past tension still remains.

Kystan breaks the silence first, "How is the leg faring?" Our eyes meet as I look up. His concern has nothing to do with my leg.

"Great. Thanks to my mom's soup, which I dread, I am healing quickly." I reply.

"Good," his gaze is fixed on the road, "were your parents home?" He asks out of the blue.

I look at him with confusion, "No. They went out before you came." He releases a sigh of relief and I get the gist, "Oh my god, you were scared of meeting my parents?" I laugh uncontrollably. "What happened to 'Mr. I don't scare easily'?" I mimic him in a baritone.

His mouth tilts upwards, "It came as an afterthought. And I was not really dressed for it." He says to his defense.

I unconsciously give him a once over but our eyes meet as I am at it and I look away to hide the blush which I know is apparent on my cheeks.

"You look good if you ask me." I notice his eyes on me through the rear view mirror and I can definitely see a smirk coming onto his mouth. "But you're right, my dad would have thrown you out." I add. He doesn't stop looking at me mischievously.

"Would you repeat? I didn't hear you properly."

I scowl at him and repeat, "I said you are the most annoying person I ever met." He pouts and does puppy dog eyes. Anybody would have fallen for it.

But I am not anybody.

I lean my head on the window and revel in the comfortable silence in the car. I sneak a glance at Kystan and our eyes meet. He smiles at me and returns his eyes to the road.

In a few minutes, we reach there. There is completely no parking space; we have to park three houses away after a neighbor agrees to lend us their parking space.

Kystan's car is too high for me to jump out without hurting my leg, so he has to help me down. As I am wearing a dress barely below my mid thighs, he touches my skin in the process and chills erupt on my skin. My heart beat increases but I tell myself to calm down because this is nothing, I am definitely overreacting.

I grab the crutches I got at the last minute and we make our way to the party.

The nearer we get, the more the music bombards my ears; there is definitely so much noise and a lot of people. I am excited to enter. The steps are littered with plastic paper cups and people who are already wasted at eight-freaking-pm.

I head straight to the kitchen to get a drink. That ride made me thirsty. I pour cola into a cup as Kystan looms over me like a hawk. I take the first sip and it's as bland as I thought, I want some beer. A guy walks up to Kystan and engages him in conversation. I catch a mention of Abercrombie. I want to listen in but this is mother nature giving me the go ahead to find a proper drink. I mix whatever alcohol I can find into the cup. It is taken away before I can take a sip. Kystan hands me a bottle of water instead. To say I am annoyed, would be an understatement.

With nothing else to do, I look around for the nearest distraction. I spot a beer pong table across the living room and what better way to spend an alcohol-free party than playing beer pong.

I don't know anybody there but that doesn't stop me from having the time of my life winning every round. If I was intent on drinking, I'd let myself lose but losing is not fun. As I am about to launch my last ball my eye catches on a familiar person clad in white; Kystan. I lose track and miss by a hair. The shout that ensues is humongous. After winning five rounds, everyone is happy to see me chug a glass of lager. I lock eyes with Kystan as I am drinking. He shakes his head in disapproval and comes over. I place the glass down after downing the beer and bail out of the game. I waddle towards Kystan.

We meet near the dance floor. "I want to dance." I say as I clutch his hand and pull him as best as I can.

"Can you dance with the cast?" he asks, standing his ground.

"Sort of." I am uncertain if I can without help but he doesn't need to know that.

He obliges me but he is reluctant to let my hand go. "Dance." I urge him while wiggling his hand along with mine. He wraps his arms around me and sways us from side to side along with the beat. I drape my arms on his neck and laugh my head off.

The song changes to a faster pop. I detangle from him and bop to the beat, whirling my arms, and shaking my hips without a care. Until I make one wrong foot movement and pain shoots through my entire being. My face scrunches with pain, my legs give out on me, as the pain increases. I see the ground coming at me at full force, it's going to hurt, I am certain. A fateful shuffle brings Kystan in my path, I fall into him. He is quick to react as his arms encircle me and prevent us from tumbling down to the floor.

"Hey what's wrong?" He breathes softly in my ear.

"I am not feeling okay. Can we go out for a minute?" My teeth clench because of the throbbing in my leg.

I lean on Kystan's shoulder as he leads me out to the outer deck. I settle into a chair and helplessly stare at the cast wishing I can scratch inside. I look up to push back tears forming in my eyes.

"Let me get you some water." He says as he rushes inside. I close my eyes and wish the pain away, but we are in no fairy tale, so nothing like that happens for me.

Kystan returns with a glass full of water and some aspirin. I take a pill and I lean back as I wait for it to get into effect. I feel Kystan's presence around me. I look up at him and he is poring over me with a lot of worry. I want to talk to him, to reassure him but I can't find the willpower to talk with all the frayed nerves down my leg. Instead, I close my eyes and try to distract my mind with happy scenarios.

"I know you will never hear this," Kystan starts talking. I am tempted to open my eyes and look at him. "But I have a confession to make." My breath catches at the possibility that maybe- "I guess I behaved weirdly the last time we saw each other" Would nodding give me away? Yeah, I think so. "Ever since I was young, I was always in the hospital because of my brother. You'd say I developed a phobia for that place because of all the bad memories. And my parents-" he cuts the sentence short. I don't think I am breathing anymore. I am not supposed to be hearing this, I feel so bad.

He continues, "So, I was shocked when Jade called saying you're in the hospital and all, when I saw you lying there with your leg badly hurt, with IVs everywhere, it kind of came back to me. I care about you and I just couldn't bear it." I wish I could open my eyes and see his facial expressions. "I wish I could have done something to prevent whatever happened to you." I hear him shift in his seat. "Who am I kidding? You are not gonna respond to me anyways." His finger remove a strand of hair behind my ear.

Something about his tone pushes me over the edge. I have never heard a man so vulnerable, because of me. Maybe I am a fool, but I hold his hand before it retreats and lean close enough to kiss him full on like my life depends on it. 

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