UN-RELATED (UN-RELATED SERIES) (21 page)

I sighed, but nodded.

“Call me with any questions, okay?” she said as she shook my hand and walked out.             

I got re-dressed and walked out to the waiting room, but saw no sign of Kellan.

“Excuse me?” I asked the person behind the counter.

“Oh, yes, Miss Shepard, your boyfriend paid the bill and said he’d meet you outside. I hope he’s okay, he was pretty pale. He sure is handsome, though.”

“Yes, thank you. He isn’t feeling well,” I mumbled and walked out. It was true, he wasn’t feeling well. He had worked himself into a needless
frenzy.

“Hi. Are you okay?” I asked when I saw him pacing the length of his rental car.

He looked up at me and said, “Yeah, sure. Can we go?”

I got into the car and was about to chastise him for his earlier behavior, during and after my appointment, but as I looked over at him, I knew he was agonizing over not only my doctor visit, but our deal. I decided to do what my doctor told me, I was going to offer him a reprieve.

“Dr. Paulson gave me a three month sample pack of the pills,” I said, but couldn’t finish my sentence before I noticed Kellan’s knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.

“I um, I can’t start taking them for two weeks…”

“Why?” he asked, but I noticed his grip eased up.

“I can’t take them until my period starts…and that’s not for another two weeks.” I was letting him off the hook for now, and I watched his entire body relax when he heard he had at least a two week reprieve.

“Oh, okay.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it, but he seemed quite content to weather the storm for the next two weeks.

“It’s fine. What do you want to do today?” he asked, sounding more like himself.

“I just want to be with you. I don’t care what we do.”

“Okay, then I’m taking you shopping.”

“For what?” I asked.

“Whatever you need. Lord knows
Nancy won’t buy you anything, it might interfere with her gambling habit.”

“I have everything I need, Kellan…you’re here.”

He reached over and squeezed my hand. “I don’t deserve you, Abby.” He sighed, and as I looked over at him, I knew he honestly believed that. I wasn’t sure quite how to get through to him, but I knew that I wasn’t going to quit trying.

The next two weeks rushed by in a torrent of fun in the sun. We did everything together. We went to the beach, we went roller blading, we went to Disneyland. The fun was never-ending. We pretty much spent every waking moment together, and I loved it. The only problem,
he
was all I wanted. I was happy to just sit in the sun with him. He was insistent on keeping us busy every second. It also seemed like he had an endless supply of money, but whenever I asked him about it, he said not to worry about it. He kept saying that he had managed his money well and had saved. 

I was finally able to start taking my pills, although each morning as I swallowed one of the tablets, I wondered if I was ever going to really ‘
need’
them. Because, even though we had spent every waking moment together, he had yet to touch me or even kiss me. I had given him a lot of

time…but my time with him was running out. He was only
going to be with me for another

seven weeks and I knew I had to get through to him somehow.

“That was a good movie,” Kellan said on our ride home.

“Yeah, it was good. Kellan, can we go to your apartment for a while, please?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Joe and Nancy are home, and they’re fighting. I don’t want to go home. I’m not going to attack you or anything. We can play chess or talk, whatever you want. Please, I just don’t want to go home. They’ve been fighting a lot lately.”

“About what?” he asked.

“I don’t know, I just shut my door and plug in my ear phones.”

“Why don’t we play miniature golf, or…”

“Why are you so afraid to be alone with me?” I interrupted.

“I’m not. I’m just trying not to tempt fate.”

“Well, if it’s fate, then it’s going to happen.” I rolled my eyes and added, “Whether you want it to or not.”

He glanced over at me and said, “Fine. I guess we can rent a movie or something.”

I nodded, but really didn’t care about watching a movie. We stopped at a Redbox to pick out a movie, and ran into Tyler and a very pretty blond.

“Hi Abby, how are you?” he asked quietly.

I hugged him and said, “I’m good, thanks. How are you?”

“I’m good, I guess. Um, this is Stephanie, Stephanie this is Abby…and that’s Kellan, her…”

“Her, what?” she asked after smiling and nodding at me. She was very pretty, and she seemed very nice. I was happy for him.

“Her…I don’t know, friend, I guess.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, realizing that even though technically Kellan was my boyfriend, physically, we hadn’t progressed past the friend stage of our relationship.

Kellan walked over to us and cautiously reached out his hand toward Tyler. Tyler shook it, although I knew it was hard for him. 

“Hi
Tyler, how are you?”

“Fine. Um, this is Stephanie.”

We all exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes and then Tyler asked to speak to me in private. I looked up at Kellan and said I’d be right back.

We walked a few feet away and
Tyler asked, “Are you happy, Abby?”

“Yeah, I am,” I smiled.

“Good, you deserve it.”

“Stephanie seems nice, and she’s really pretty.”

“She’s not you, but she’s…nice.”

“Just nice? She seems to really like you.”

“I guess. Abby, um, I just wanted you to know that…I still love you, and if you ever need me…for anything, I’ll be there, okay?”

“Thank you,” I said for lack of anything better to say.

“So, I know it’s none of my business, but how did it go?”

“How did what go?”

“Nothing, never mind; it’s none of my business. I don’t think I really want to know anyway.”

“No, what were you going to ask?”

“He um, he was good to you…gentle?”

I blushed and looked down at my feet.

“I’ll take that as a yes. I’m glad you have what you want.”

“Well, almost…” I couldn’t help myself. I was so frustrated with Kellan, and I didn’t know what to do about him.

“What does that mean?”

I sighed and said, “He um, he still can’t get over the ‘foster sister’ thing.”

“I thought you were dating?”

“Yeah, we are…but that’s all we’re doing. I’m sorry, I’m sure you don’t want to hear this.”

He looked at me like he was confused, “What do you mean? What happened to seven weeks?”

“Well, it’s been a lot longer than that now…”

“Maybe he doesn’t think you’re ready.”

“No, that’s not it. He just won’t, I mean, I guess I shouldn’t talk about this, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I know how you feel about him. I want you to be happy.”

“Thanks. I am happy, really. I’m just afraid he doesn’t really want me.”

“Yeah, right,” he said sarcastically.

I just shrugged my shoulders.

“So, he really won’t…touch you? What the hell’s wrong with him?” he asked, shaking his head.

“I told you, he still sees me as his little sister.”

“Hmm, well then, I guess you’ll have to change his mind.”

“How can I, when he refuses to even kiss me?”

“Well, then, I guess
you’ll
just have to kiss
him
. Trust me, that’ll do it,” he grinned.

I laughed and said, “I miss you, Tyler.”

“Well, you wouldn’t if you weren’t always with him…but I guess I should be used to that by now. I’ll see you later, Abby.”

I reached up and hugged him. “Thank you,
Tyler. Be happy, okay?”

“I will be. I’m moving to
Washington.”

“You’re going to
Pacific University?” I asked.

“Yeah. I’m leaving in a few weeks.”

“I’m happy for you. Is um, your…girlfriend, going with you?”

“I haven’t asked. I told you, she’s not you. But then no one is. I’ll keep in touch, okay?”

“You better.”

We walked back to Kellan and Stephanie. Neither of them looked too happy with us, but Tyler and I needed to talk. We were still friends, and they were both just going to have to get over it.

“It was nice meeting you,” I said to Stephanie. She nodded and they walked away.

“Are you ready?” Kellan asked me, still looking a little angry.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

He didn’t say a word on the ride to his apartment. “Are you okay?” I asked as we walked inside.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. You tell me. You haven’t said a word since we left Tyler and Stephanie.”

He shrugged his shoulders and wandered into the kitchen. I sat down on the couch and looked around. I had only been to his summer rental once, and as I looked around, I realized it didn’t fit him. It was really pretty, much too pretty. I suddenly realized that the apartment belonged to a woman…and as I looked around more closely, I wondered how he could afford to pay for such a nice apartment. And then it hit me…it was Lorena’s.

He walked out of the kitchen with two glasses of soda and a bowl of popcorn. I was shaking and the look on my face made him stop in his tracks.

“Abby, what’s wrong?”

“How can you afford this apartment?”

“It’s a friends’…”

“That doesn’t answer my question, Kellan.” I had tears in my eyes now.

“Abby, it’s not what you think…”

“Is it Lorena’s?” I asked, dreading his answer.

“No, it’s not. I swear it. It belongs to another friend. She owns apartments all over
L.A.”

“Another friend? What does that mean?”

“Nothing! It doesn’t mean anything. She’s just a friend, that’s all.”

“How are you paying your rent, Kellan?” I asked, needing to know.

“Abby, I told you, it’s not what you think. She’s not charging me any rent. It’s vacant, and she said I could stay here for the summer. That’s all.”

“Who is she?”

“Her name’s Margot. She’s just a really nice lady with a ton of money.”

I looked him in the eye and said, “Are you sleeping with her?”

“No, Abby, I told you…”

“
Have
you slept with her?”

He sighed and looked down. He ran his fingers through his hair, like he does whenever he gets nervous. He looked back up at me and said, “Yes, I have. But not since before spring break, I swear.”

“Take me home, please.”

“I thought you wanted to watch a movie. And, you said Joe and Nancy are fighting.”

“I don’t want to be here.”

“Abby, I swear, I’m not sleeping with her anymore. I’m not sleeping with anyone!”

“I know! Believe me, I know.” I was hurt and angry and I didn’t know what to do with myself.

“Abby, you don’t need to be jealous of Margot. You don’t need to be jealous of anyone. If anyone should be jealous, it should be me!”

“What?” I asked incredulously.

“What the hell was that all about with
Tyler?”

“What was what all about? We just talked for a few minutes. We’re still friends.”

“And I’m still friends with Margot.”

“I didn’t sleep with
Tyler!”

He stopped and looked at me. “Do you want to?” he asked.

“NO! I’ve never wanted Tyler…like that. You know that!”

“Okay. I’m sorry. I guess I just can’t stand it when he’s near you. I get a little crazy.”

“You mean like when you made that promise? You saw me hugging him so you just agreed because it made you crazy? But you didn’t really mean it, did you?”

“Abby…”

“I don’t know what to do, Kellan. I’ve done everything you’ve asked. I’ve given you time, I’ve given you space. I haven’t pushed. But, you
know
, in no uncertain terms that I love you. Do you know that this is the first time we’ve been alone together all summer?”

“I know. I guess I don’t trust myself to be alone with you.”

“Why? You obviously have no problem controlling yourself,” I looked around the apartment and added, “…at least where
I’m
concerned.”

He sighed again, “Abby, I swear, Margot is just a really nice lady. She has tons of money and I’ve done some legal work for her as a student lawyer for some of her charities.”