Costco Kisses

E.S.

Things had chilled out a bit since I got arrested and Charlotte bailed me out, that was except for the murder investigation against me. If you had told me that when Kyla and I started dating that it would end with me the main suspect in her father's murder I would've shit myself. None of what has happened since she fell out of her window makes any rational sense.

Things have gone off the rail and yet, as I sit in the living room where it all began, I can't help but feel a little at ease. Like I could just ignore that anything happened at all. That it was all just a dream and that I'm just having a chill day at Charlotte's.

But things couldn't and would never be that simple again.

Even as I tried to convince myself things were okay for my own mental health, little things at Charlotte's reminded me of my stupid mistakes from the past few months. Whenever I went into the backyard I'm reminded of fucking my girlfriend's bestfriend, mistake number one, or when I come across extra packs of smokes sitting around the house and I'm reminded of the reason all this shit started in the first place.

By far the worst, excluding the murder investigation, was Kyla. It physically pained me to think that she could think of me as the one who caused all this trauma for her. I still loved her so much that the fact that she probably hated me made my heart ache. An ache that dulled the more I drank.

So that's where I was at the moment, out of service, rotting on Charlotte's couch and downing a bottle of jack daniels. Things seemed to move in slow motion as I watched Charlotte move around her cottage home, making phone calls and searching for things on her laptop.

I felt like a hinderance sitting in her home, using her resources for nothing in return. Honestly, I think jail might have been better for my health right now. The immense guilt I felt for everything made my stomach turn.

Thats why when the door bell rang I decided to be a helper rather than a hinderance and answer it for Charlotte. She had been holding down the fort with Danielle missing and I assumed that if I did anything it would be a big help.

That was until I opened the door to see John, Chloe and the back of Kyla's head.

"K-Kyla?" I stuttered out, seeing as she was the last person I expected to see. She swiveled around and her eyes widened in shock. I felt my heart start to beat out of my chest as I looked her up and down. I was debating whether or not this was a dream when she started to walk away and back into John's car.

"What the fuck is going on?" I heard Charlotte speak, coming from the kitchen table to behind me, and making eye contact with John and Chloe.

"Hi Charlotte!" Chloe called out in an unusually excited voice. I turned around to see Charlotte rounding the corner from the kitchen and standing a few feet behind me. I was still flabbergasted to see Kyla in front of me, looking surprisingly good for the mental anguish I knew she was going through right now.

I tried to peek past John and Chloe to see Kyla in the car but she was faced rigidly forward in the car, avoiding looking at the cottage at all. John stepped into my view and I was brought back from my longing stare to the more uncomfortable situation in front of me.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked slowly, not understanding what Kyla would want with Charlotte or me right now.

"Yeah, what's up guys?" Charlotte concurred from behind me, leaning on the wall seperating the kitchen from the living room.

"We were actually hoping to catch Danielle, is she here?" Chloe asked taking the lead of the conversation and nudging John to look quickly into the house. I turned back to Charlotte and saw her roll her eyes.