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Kylie twirled around on her Reeboks, probably leaving skid marks on the wood floor, and started out of her roo to have to talk to er ht She stared at the wall, still not wanting to face him "Why? Why do I have to talk to you? I don&039;t owe you anything Not an explanation, not an apology I&039;htened and she just shut up She heard him shift behind her

"I knowI screwed up I ad, I should have never let it go that far I should have toldI&039;else I didn&039;t sleep with her I kissed her twice You saw one of those times And both times I was put on the spot I only did it to try to convince e But I never, not for one da her"

That knot in her throat tightened Her eyes stung right along with her heart She shook her head, and ed one word "No" She wasn&039;t even sure what she was saying no to Then she turned and faced him

It didn&039;tto her He stood there staring at her in his oorld of hurt and pain

"You love me," he said "I know that"

Nohen she should be saying no, but she couldn&039;t get the word out Oh, it sat on the tip of her tongue, but it felt super-glued in place Sure it would have been a lie, but wasn&039;t it okay to lie at times like this? When the truth was just too painful When the truth felt like it could tear you apart

"I also know you&039;re punishinglike hell Not that I don&039;t deserve it" He reached up and ran his hand over the back of his neck

Kylie blinked away a wash of tears Even in the darkness she could see the bruises around his neck

Bruises she&039;d put on hiripped her hands at thehis windpipe

"I didn&039;t mean to choke you," she spit out "It was a trick onMario&039;s part I don&039;t kno he did it but-"

"I know that I don&039;tme with this" He ran his hand over the bruises "This isn&039;t anything co about you not wanting to talk tome close to you You have no idea how ht here, this closeCan you even iine how hard it is to stand here and know you don&039;t wanther

While it was only a few inches, his scent ca his particular smellwhen she walked in She should have known Should have known that part of the scent of home that had welcomed her, was his essence He was home to her Or he had been

Now she felt hoe because he took another step closer

She inched back And that little inch said so much

"See," he said, and his intake of air sounded painful "But I know you still care becausebecause you saved my life You could have stepped out of the way and just let Mario kill ht the fireballs that were meant for ive anything if she didn&039;t have to feel this How much more emotion could she take in? Wasn&039;t there a limit? Surely she&039;d reached hers

"Yeah, I saved your life, but don&039;t ret it" She waved toward the door "Leave I don&039;t want you here" And it was the truth She didn&039;t want Lucas, the guy who&039;d betrayed her, here She wanted the guy she&039;d trusted, the guy she&039;d thought would go to the end of the world to protect her And yet they were one and the sao up and down It looked painful to s

"I hurt you," he said "I know that, and I&039; to take whatever it is you want to dish out at me I deserve it That&039;s what I ca But I didn&039;t do other things that youit takes"

She glanced away, re up in front of his family and friends He&039;d worn a fancy tux and looked so handsoe of hi for Monique&039;s hands played across her mind and she heard the promises he made The kind of promises you didn&039;t break

A wave a fresh pain washed over her She looked at hiave her your soul"

He shook his head "No, you&039;re wrong I didn&039;t give her iven her iven away You took it when I was seven years old" His voice shook "And if I had any of it left, you took the rest of it when you walked into Shadow Falls that first day

In the were culture, it&039;s believed that there is only one soul mate And you are ed"

Her vision blurred with tears She inhaled, hoping to get her watery weakness under control But she felt a tear slip from her lashes onto her cheek

She swiped it away Her breath shuddered as she drew needed oxygen into her lungs Why did it hurt to breathe?

You are mine, Kylie Galen His words echoed in her heart She couldn&039;t deny that part of her wanted to go to hiain until the pain bubbling in her chest went away Until she could look at hi proo to hio away

Not now

Maybe not ever

She couldn&039;t be sure

He paused and she saw the same pain she felt in her chest reflected in his eyes Her own pain doubledknowing she hurt hiuilty that he was hurting now?

"I&039;m sorry that I caused you this hurt," he said "And as ht now, you need to realize that I&039;m madder at myself I did this to you To us I hurt the most important person in my life If someone else had hurt you this badly I&039;d rip their heart out"

He stood there and just stared The silence in the roo in the rooo now," he said, and she couldn&039;t re him sound so defeated So lost "I&039;ve said what I wanted to, and just know I&039;ll give you all the ti me, that isn&039;t an option Because I love you"

She moved out of his way and he walked out the door She went to the bed Sat down Kicked her shoes off "Kitty, kitty?" she said, wanting so to hold on to But Socks didn&039;t coht now, a part of her agreed with hied her knees to her chest so tight it hurt

Then she waited

Waited for the tears to flow full force

Waited for so in her heart to fade But the tears didn&039;t flow The pressure re her eyes, she bit down on her lip Why couldn&039;t she cry? Was she just too emotionally exhausted?

And confused?

Yes, she was so da he was now, and not have seen it earlier? How could he have stood up there and vowed his soul, promised to marry someone else if he loved Kylie?

But ould he lie? Why would he cos if they weren&039;t true?

She sat there in the dark roo minutes She felt alone Lonely

A crazy and soh her head: I want my mama But her mama wasn&039;t here Not at Shadow Falls Not even in the country Her uy that Kylie hated