Knockout

Chapter Nine

The same day as the incident in the exam room, Kylo called you to confirm your plans for that night, to meet at his apartment and talk about... everything.  The whole affair had your heart racing all day, practically pounding out of your chest. You miscalculated how long it would take you to get out of the hospital and traffic, but you scantily made it to his home on time. Your hair was still shoved in it's messy bun from work, but you'd managed to change from your scrubs to a pair of leggings and a ratty hoodie.

"Better than nothing, I guess," you thought to yourself, pulling up to the house.

As you peered out the passenger side mirror, your breath caught in your throat. You'd almost expected Kylo to either live in a shack with half of his boxing club or perhaps a marble-clad mansion, but his home looked... normal? 

It was a petite one-story home, a well maintained flower garden seemingly glittering even in the dark of night. There were a few weather-worn wood steps that led up up to a thinning screen door. Something about his home created a  more domestic Kylo in your mind. As images of him made with kids, laughing and playing clouded your thoughts... you shook your head and you climbed out of the car. You chastised your wandering mind, deeming it far too early to be thinking of a man and his hypothetical children.

You strode up the wood steps, trying to breath in and out with the click or your shoes on the creaky boards. The cool night's air made gooseflesh erupt on your forearms.You forced yourself to have no preconceived notions of the potential outcomes of the conversation with Kylo you were facing.

You almost felt as if an invisible force was trapping you to the step in front of his porch because, no matter how much you willed it, you couldn't bring yourself to approach his door. Your fingers twitched and wiggled by your side in trepidation.

Once you managed to force your legs, which pulled like lead to the ground, to the door, you shakily raised your fist to knock. It shook as you did so.

Before your knuckles could rap against the rickety door frame, the entrance swung  open with fervor. The now wide open wood door revealed a ruffled Kylo, eyes boring into you from behind the frayed screen. Your gaze held for a moment, an investable electric current crackling in between the short distance that separated you. A small smile pulled the corner of your lips into a smirk, eyes fluttering down as a blush burned your cheeks. His intense focus on you never wavered, causing insecurities to prickle in the back of your mind.

Your eyes flickered back upwards as the high pitched groan of the final separation between you and Kylo opened.

"Doc," he murmured, the electricity now humming like a live wire.

"Hi," you whispered back, all strength you thought you possessed gone so swiftly, as if a breeze and picked it up and stole it from you. In any other circumstance, the crescendoing silence would be awkward, tense. But not with Kylo. He gave you a sense of security; calming you in a way you couldn't verbalize.

Coming to his senses, he stepped out of the way, wordlessly inviting you in. You made your way slowly into the foyer, warmth surrounding you, a sort of heat penetrating your bones. It made you shiver.

"Oh, are you cold?" his voice asked from behind you,

Before you could answer, he wrapped his large arms around you from behind, his head settling in the crook of your neck. You could only imagine how hunched he must be, his height staggering. You keened into his touch, suddenly feeling as if the world was freezing, as if your body was carved from ice. He was like a fire upon your chilled body, but you relished in the flames. His exhaled breath on your jaw was like a blistering heat you wished to trap yourself in.