Chapter 40

Kieran invited me over to his house after I finished getting ready for the family dinner with his grandparents, and I had chosen a white knee length capped sleeved dress with lace embellishments and a sweetheart neckline as I figured I should probably dress to impress. My hair was done up in ringlets that travelled down to my waist and my feet were adorned with my favorite nude heeled sandal wedges.  I kept the makeup light on my face, opting for a more natural look and by the expression on Kieran's face as he opened the door when I walked over, it was a good decision on my behalf. I was pulled into the house instantly with his strong arms and I barely had time to soak in the delectable sight of him as his lips crushed against mine and I was lost in a tidal wave of lust and need. His lips like rose petals against my own, the delicious sensations drifting through my body in a powerful surge of exemplary emotion, all of it was a shock to my senses and I couldn't get my hands on him quickly enough. He pulled back just as suddenly, and the slick grin that was stretched across his features let me know just how into that kiss I had gotten, regardless of how long it had been. "Might need to save desert for after the meal is actually cooked," Kieran joked with me and my eyes widened in surprise at his admission. "You haven't cooked anything yet?!" I asked in shock, wondering if he was going to try to make me help him. He cast his eyes down toward the dark brown hardwood floors sheepishly and then brought them back up to meet my gaze as a hand lingered on the back of his cleanly shaven neck. "Not necessarily..." he drew the word out like he was in trouble with his mother and he thought that being cute would save him from her wrath. "I'm a terrible cook, you've been warned," I admonished as I strode past him and made my way towards the kitchen with a cheery Kieran in tow, probably happy that he had someone to help him with his cooking monstrosity. And what a monstrosity it was. "How hard is it to make spaghetti?!" I called out in frustration two servings of overcooked noodles and one pan of burnt red sauce later. "I don't know, but you do look adorable in that apron that my dad got my mom as a gag gift one Christmas.  I still remember how much she hated it until she looked in the pocket and saw that he put a necklace inside." His voice trailed off toward the end of his story and I could tell that his mother wasn't just a sore spot for him, but a place of reminiscence and a collection of happy memories that seemed to bring him to his knees. I reached up towards his face and placed my palm against his cheek, allowing my fingers to furl into the tufts of hair gathering at the base of his neck and he closed his eyes as he relished the feeling. The sensations of tingles shooting up and down my spine were there but I decided to focus on the sense of completion that he gave me, the feeling that he surrounded me with by just simply being there with me, and I was hoping that I was doing the same for him by just being there for him when he needed someone. It was something so simple as relishing in an old memory, but something so complex because it was a source of inexplicable happiness and irrevocable pain coinciding at the exact same time. I allowed myself to soak up his presence when the doorbell rang, shattering our fragile calmness and our residual sensations evaporated into the air as quickly as the boiled water in our spaghetti pot. "What are we gonna do about dinner?" I asked hurriedly, rushing to get the apron off and clean up as much as I could on my way to the door with Kieran looking around frantically, his green eyes wide with anticipation. "I-I don't know!" The doorbell rang again and he practically sprinted to the door to answer it.  I caught the flowers that Kieran threw towards me to hand to his grandparents once we opened the door and I straightened my dress at the last minute as the door swung open revealing two very well dressed older individuals holding not only flowers as well, but two sacks full of take out food. Their hair was still a dark brown, almost black color, and their skin was the same tan olive color as Kieran's, showing their Native American heritage.  It made me wonder where Kieran's drastic green eyes had come from, considering the fact that their eyes were both shades of dark brown. "Oh thank god, Grammy, Pops, how did you know exactly what we needed?" Kieran's voice reverberated through the foyer and I couldn't help but find myself smiling like an idiot at the megawatt smile painted on his face from seeing his grandparents again. "You always were a terrible cook!  Come here and give me a hug it's been far too long!" I was introduced shortly after the hugs and kisses from his grandmother and I learned that their names were Delores and James, and they were Kieran's late mother's parents. Sitting down at the table was when the real questions started. "So, how long have you two been together?" "Feels like forever," I answered honestly, as if the answer simply fell out of my mouth of its own accord but I knew it was the truth. Noticing the laugh lines and years of wear on Delores' face, I could tell that she had lived a good and happy life, but there was a sadness behind her eyes that I was almost positive mine used to hold. I no longer felt broken, an irreparable thing that someone would try to fix and end up failing in the long run, but I also didn't think that Kieran had fixed me, either. Accepting the truth and what had happened to me, and standing up to my abuser and what he did to me by telling my truth to someone else, that was how I had been healed, at least partially. I was never going to be the same, but I was not broken, unfixable. I was complete with Kieran, and I hoped he felt the same about me.  So when I answered that it felt as if we had been together forever, it wasn't an insult.  It was the truth; it felt as if I had always known Kieran, always been with him. It was as if I'd never seen green eyes before I met him, had never felt lightning ricochet through my bones with a simple touch. The laughter echoed around the room but Kieran's face mirrored my own expression, letting me know I wasn't the only one that felt that way.  He took my hand in his and caressed it gently. "I feel the same way.  Although we haven't been a couple for very long, it feels like I've always been with her." His eyes never once left my own as he spoke to his grandparents about me. "Well then that means you're doing something right!  Okay, now who has time for ice cream?" I was about to answer vehemently about the ice cream, my favorite desert, when I felt a notification go off on my phone.  I excused myself from the rest of the group as they went on the hunt for ice cream in the kitchen to check my phone to make sure it wasn't an emergency from my mother. It technically was an emergency, and it was about my mother, but it had nothing to do with cancer. There was a picture of my living room, and my mom was laying on the couch with my dad beside her holding the remote pointed towards the television.  Such a mundane activity, but the caption made disgusted chills run down my spine. I read the text words with a lump in my throat and a nervous apprehension flitting down my spine, and I knew what I had to do. Tick tock, time is wasting.  While you're having fun playing house, your parent's lives are at risk.  Meet me tonight, or you will feel the pain of what a real threat means.