Remember To Remember Me| KJM

Chapter Twenty-Five

After lunch the girls decided to keep their promise. To be the boys' tourist guides, which was only fair since they were theirs when they went to Thailand. And this time without flyers. The first stop had been Nihayn, the New Port, one of Copenhagen's must-see places. It's literally the most famous postcard in town. It's a super charming 17th century canal with several ships anchored, colourful buildings, live music that caught the attention of the boys who stood still watching a group playing and several restaurants and ice-cream parlours that even though it was winter were always full of tourists.

Leaving from there, they went to the obligatory stop according to Emma's mother who suggested several places to her, the Church of Marble. Not that visiting churches was what the girls and even the boys liked best, but the Marble Church was quite beautiful and is the church with the biggest dome in Scandinavia so the group ended up there, but it didn't last long because they soon made their way to the Christiansborg Palace, the building where the office of the Prime Minister and the Danish supreme court is, and also the seat of the parliament. In front of the Palace it was possible to observe a large stable that functioned as a track for the royal horses, the animals caught the attention of Kai and Suho.

Emma still with her phone in her hand looking at the huge list that both her mother and father sent her to take the boys, they left the stable and went to Rosenborg Castle. A castle out of a fairy tale, they passed through the park seeing several people lying on the grass with towels and food. A lot of fun, conviviality and a lot, but a lot, of food. And also several people who were there for their daily physical activities. Their typical races and stretches that Emma and Anneliese just looked at were tired. The boys laughed at the girls' faces.

The third destination of the group that was, completely dragged by Anneliese because it was her favourite place, the Statue of the Little Mermaid. A work made in bronze that represents the character of the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen in one of his children's tales. Besides the statue, the landscape was quite beautiful and they decided to make their way along the Langelinie boulevard to the Amelianborg Palace, which is the residence of the Danish royal family. The group was getting tired of walking and they decided to stop for a while and go for a coffee. The girls didn't often go there so they decided to walk down a busier street in the hope that they would eventually find some nice coffee.

When they saw a café, the group entered the establishment and Anneliese entered in front of Emma but behind Kai. The blonde looked away and saw a tall, redheaded, skinny boy with blue eyes, freckled, she felt the air being sucked out of her, her chest started to tighten, and looked at Emma who was looking confused at her; Emma looked where Anneliese had looked and, without the boys noticing, grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out of the cafe.

"Hey hey, take a deep breath, it's okay." Emma carefully pulls the blonde against the wall and continues with her hands on her shoulders. Anneliese shakes her head repeatedly.

"No, no. He's going to see me, he's going to ruin everything." She says, tremendous. Emma sighs and wipes the tears from her friend's face.

"We're with you, he can't hurt you." Emma assured her friend, but her fear spoke louder. She kept shaking her head, nothing Emma said seemed to work to calm her down. 

"He will. He always did." Anneliese replies. Emma wraps her friend in a hug and runs her hands through the blonde's hair.

"I'll call the boys and we'll go somewhere else, okay?" Emma asks breaking the hug, ready to go to the cafe to call the boys, but Anneliese grabs her by the arm.

"No! Please don't leave me."

Emma looks into Anneliese's watery eyes and shook her head. She took her phone out of her pocket and called Suho to get out of the coffee shop and meet them outside. Suho got confused but ended up going. Anneliese hugging Emma with her face hidden in the curve of her friend's neck, not wanting Kai to see her in that moment of weakness. Kai seeing Anneliese gets worried.

"What happened?" He touches Anneliese's shoulder but she shrinks. Emma sighs and looks at Kai.

"She wasn't feeling too well." Emma replies. "Maybe we can go somewhere else, if you don't mind."

The boys said yes, and they started walking in front of the girls. Emma pushed Anneliese away and wiped her face with her thumbs and smiled. Emma held Anneliese's hand and went after the boys who were looking for another coffee to go. Kai once in a while looked back to see if the blonde was ok but quickly looked forward and sighed.

****

The group quickly found another coffee and sat on a couch with a small table in the middle. Suho sat next to Kai on a couch and Emma next to Anneliese on the couch in front. The girls decided what they were going to order and as soon as the boys too, Emma got up from the couch and took Suho's hand and went with him to order everyone's drinks, leaving Anneliese and Kai alone. The two were silent until Kai got up from his couch, turned around the table and sat down next to Anneliese.

"What happened back there?" He asks by approaching Anneliese slowly.

"Nothing. I just wasn't feeling well." She shrugs. Kai frown.

"Out of nowhere?"

"Yes."

"I know there's something you're not telling me." Kai says. "I'm just worried, I want to help."

"My ex-boyfriend was there." Anneliese finally answers Kai. He archs his brow not realizing what the problem was.

"Your ex-boyfriend? What's the problem?" 

"It's complicated." She replies.

"Do you not feel comfortable enough with me to tell me? If it left you this way, it can't be good." He says. She played with her hands. Nervous. Kai notices and takes his hand to hers, and with his free hand he turns Anneliese's face to him. She sighs.

"He seems perfect, super affectionate and kind. Everyone likes him, but–" She starts but stops. She turns her face away again and bites her lip.

"But...? It's okay, you can tell me." Kai encourages her to speak. 

"He was– He was always verbally abusing me, and sometimes physically. Only Emma knew and seeing him again brought back all the memories I had buried." She reveals, Kai swallows a dry one not expecting to hear that. He keeps quiet for a few seconds, trying to process everything. On impulse, Kai pulls Anneliese into him wrapping her in his arms, she hugs him back and he gives her a kiss on the forehead.

"I can't even think about someone hurting you like that. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I can't change anything that happened in the past but I can promise you I'll never let anyone touch you again." He whispers.