When Our Worlds Collide (30 page)

Chapter Forty-Five

-Kennedy-

“How are things going with you and Graham?” my mom asks. She
must have been in the mood to chit chat because she very rarely comes into my
room and sits on the bed. She’s making herself comfortable. It’s already twenty
past eleven. Dad must have been asleep by now, which means she’s either bored
or she came in here with a purpose.

“Great,” I answer quickly. I wasn’t sure where this
conversation is going.

“You guys are pretty serious then?”

“Come out and say it Mom. I know you’re trying to get at
something.” I sat up a little straighter to prepare myself for where this is
headed.

“You love him?” she asks with a smile. I can see the concern
and the hopefulness in her eyes as she the words slip from her thin lips.

“Yeah, I do. He’s a lot different than what people think. He
has this reputation that follows him everywhere. Most of it is true,
unfortunately. It’s just…when I look in his eyes I know there is something more
to him. He’s smart and compassionate. No one else knows that side of him. It
sounds crazy, doesn’t it?” I explain honestly surprised at what I’m saying to
my mother.

“No it’s not. He loves you too. That’s obvious,” she pats me
on the leg trying to be supportive.

We sit on my bed for a few minutes just talking about
anything and everything when we hear a tap on the window. It makes us both jump
then laugh at how ridiculous we are. I know without looking who it is. I
frantically try to come up with an explanation for my mother who’s now getting
up to check the window where Graham will be waiting. Why’s he here in the first
place? I grab my phone to make sure I didn’t miss a text from him. Nothing. 

My mom opens the window and stares out at Graham. It’s too
dark to see him fully. I have a feeling. Something’s wrong. I jump up from my
bed taking the few steps to stand in front of the window nearly knocking my mom
out of the way. I need to see him.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Conrad. I’m sure this looks really bad, but
I have to see Kennedy,” Graham says in a slow quiet voice. Something is
definitely wrong. The fearfulness is in his voice.

“Mom, please let him in,” I say almost to a near panic.

“What the hell is going on exactly? I feel like I’m missing
a piece of the puzzle,” my mother questions us both while looking back and
forth between where I’m standing inside my room and where Graham is hiding in
the shadows outside my window.

“Mom, please.” I beg for her to let him come in. I need to
make sure he’s okay even though I can tell he’s not.

“Graham, get in here but I want an explanation.” She steps
back from the window and paces the length of my room.

“Yes ma’am,” Graham whispers ashamed. He steps through my
window as I back up to give him room. When he stands, my mom and I both take in
a lung full of air when we see it. It’s hard to miss. There was no way of
hiding this one, unlike a lot of the others.

“Graham. Honey, what happened?” My mom goes to get a better
look. He seems uncomfortable under her watchful gaze. Someone else is going to
know his secret now. I know he’s not nearly ready for all that will entail.

“Come sit down, baby.” I grab his hand to guide him over to
my bed. My mom watches us with a fascination in her eyes. She’s just as
observant as I am. She already senses something is going on and she knows now
that I’m aware of it already.

“If you are going to sneak in my daughter’s window in the
middle of the night then please explain to me who did this to you.” Her voice
is soft with sympathy.

“Mom, if he tells you…” I plead. Graham tries to protest my
suggestion. I wave him off. “If he tells you then it stays between us. This
has
to stay between us.”

The room falls silent for a few minutes. You can practically
hear my father snoring from across the house. Graham reaches over to grab my
hand interlocking our fingers. He traces a small circle on my thumb with his.
He’s nervous. He’s never told anyone besides me about his father. There isn’t
an option anymore.

“Mrs. Conrad, my father…” he lets the thought trail off
looking up at my waiting mother. She smiles sadly at him knowing where the
confession is going. “He drinks. He drinks a lot. It started when I was eleven
I think. He only does it when he’s drunk which tends to be more and more these
days. No one knows because of my mother. Somehow she loves him still. I don’t
know if it’s the cushy lifestyle he gives her or if she truly can’t stop loving
him. I learned at a young age that if I let him take it out on me then he would
leave her alone, so that’s why I’ve never told anyone. That is until I met
Kennedy.”

She let it all soak in before saying anything. You can tell
the wheels are turning in her head. This is a big secret to have to keep. I’m
not sure she’ll be able to do that for Graham.

“I’m going to go get you some ice and Tylenol, sweetie.
You’re going to need it,” she pats him on the leg in a comforting way only a
mother is capable of.

Once she walks out of the room I turn to face him. I just
need to touch him to make sure he’s alright. I wrap my arms around his waist
and cuddle in next to him trying to ease some of his anxiety.

“You’re going to be fine,” I whisper into his chest.

“Can I stay tonight?” Graham whispers.

We hadn’t noticed her standing in the doorway. I don’t know
how long she had been standing watching us, but I can’t find it in me to care.

“Graham, you can stay here. We’ll keep it between us.
Kennedy’s father wouldn’t be thrilled, but something tells me that you need my
daughter right now,” she explains with rather wet eyes.

This is why Graham doesn’t like people to know. He knew
people would feel sorry for him. There’s a certain pity that comes along with
dark family secrets like Graham’s.

“Thank you, Mrs. Conrad. I really do appreciate it.” Graham
stands to walk to my mom hugging her for the first time. She wraps her arms
around him holding him for a minute or so. He needs it more from her than he
does me. He isn’t used to having adults fussing over him.

My mom cups his face in her hands looking him over once
more. “You promise me that if you ever need anything that you’ll come to us.”
She looks around him glancing over to me. “Get some sleep.”

Before we can say anything she’s gone. She is going to let
him sleep in my bed. This is awkward.

Graham walks to my bathroom without looking back at me. I
give him a few minutes to himself before I walk in. We need to talk about what
happened tonight. I find him in front of the mirror inspecting his eye hissing
out in pain when he touches the bruises and cuts.

“Kennedy, I just need a minute if that’s okay?” Graham turns
to face me. There’s emptiness in his eyes. He’s far away. I allow my mind to
think for a split second that he could have been easily been taken from me
tonight in a blink of an eye.

“I’m not leaving. You can get that out of your thick skull.
Tell me what happened,” I demand. I hike myself up onto the vanity countertop
pulling him in between my legs. I run my fingers over his head, down his
jawline over his neck and down his arms. It’s my way of convincing myself that
he’s standing in front of me still in one piece. One battered piece.

“There’s not much to tell. I came home and he wasn’t
supposed to be back until tomorrow. He was mad that I didn’t call my mom to
tell her I wouldn’t be home for dinner and I sort of snapped back at him. He
threw a few punches and slapped my mom. Just a normal day in the Black
household,” Graham shrugs his shoulders like it isn’t a big deal. I hate the
way he dismisses the severity of it all.

“This is what I’m talking about, Graham. You can’t keep
living like this. It’s not fair to you or your mom. He’s going to go too far at
some point. I’m going to get a call someday telling me that you’re dead. I
don’t want to get that call, do you understand me? I can’t live without you in
this world.” I confess in a state of panic. Graham brushes my tears away then
kisses the skin where they once were.

“Can we just go to bed please?” Graham asks. I know I should
have argued. Should have put up a bigger fight to get what I needed from him.
It’s the look in his eyes that have me relenting from my inquisition.

“Yeah, we can go to bed.” I jump from the counter reaching
for his hand guiding him back to my room. I pull back the covers just as I had
the first night he stayed here waiting for him to climb in. He pulls off his
clothes until he was standing in just his boxer briefs. Once we are both
comfortably under the comforter, I curl into the nook of his body where I fit
perfectly. It’s as if he’s made for me. I just hope he lives long enough to
realize it.

Chapter Forty-Six

-Graham-

Kennedy and I lie in her bed without saying anything to each
other for several minutes. Neither of us knows what to say. Nothing seems
appropriate. She said her peace about everything. She has every right to be
worried after how I showed up at her house tonight. Now her Mom knows
everything. It felt nice to have her mom embrace me the way she did. Usually
after my father had an episode, my mother was too busy trying to talk him down
that she doesn’t have time to check on me. I never knew that was something I
needed until Mrs. Conrad held onto me tonight.

 Kennedy is running her fingers up and down my arm drawing a
pattern that I can’t quite place. I grab her hand to stop her. She scoots over
to rest her head on my chest.

“I love you,” she whispers into my skin with such
conviction. It’s just loud enough for me to hear.

“I know. I love you, too,” I whisper into her hair. She
props herself up on an elbow and plants a kiss on my lips quickly. Neither of
us turns off her bedside lamp. I can see the worry all over her face.

“It won’t last forever. I’ll be out of here before we know
it,” I say softly playing with her hair that falls down her back.

“Yeah, you’re right.”  Kennedy’s voice is apprehensive like
she doesn’t quite believe that.

“What’s wrong? I can hear it in your voice and see it on
your face.”

Kennedy sits in silence. I can tell she’s mulling it over in
her head. She always does this when she’s really thinking about her answer. She
forces a smile before she speaks.

“What’s going to happen when you go off to college?” she
asks softly.

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is what is going to happen with us? You’re
going to go to Georgia and I’m going to be going to New York hopefully. Where
does that leave us?”

I now understood the tone in her voice. She’s worried about
what will become of our relationship. I don’t know what to tell her either. I
don’t have the fix-all answers to her worries and insecurities.

“Ken, we have a whole year to worry about that. We will
figure it out when the time comes. Let’s not wrap ourselves in the future too
much that we forget to enjoy each other right now.” I explain honestly. I know
at some point we are going to go opposite directions and I’m not sure what will
become of us when that day arrives. Honestly, I don’t want to think about it
either. For now I want to ignore the inevitable that will tear us apart.

“You’re right.” She leans up to kiss me before flicking the
light off. She curls back into me where she fits perfectly. There is no better
way to fall asleep than with her in my arms.

I wake up the next morning still holding onto Kennedy. It’s
also the best way to wake up. Neither of us has opened our eyes yet until we
hear her bedroom door opening slowly. I’m afraid to look to see who it is just
in case Mr. Conrad had decided to check on his daughter this morning. There is
a dip in the mattress and I know right away that it’s Mrs. Conrad. Kennedy and
I both look down at her at the same time. Talk about awkward.

“Good morning,” Mrs. Conrad whispers.

“Good morning,” Kennedy and I answer at the same time.

“Your father left early this morning, so it’s safe to come
out. I made pancakes.”

“Thanks Mom,” Kennedy sits up looking over to me. Mrs.
Conrad let me sleep in her daughters bed last night then made me breakfast this
morning. This is a first.

“I’ll see you guys when you get around,” she says leaving us
alone again. She even closes the bedroom door. She has some misplaced trust.

Kennedy always looks gorgeous first thing in the morning,
making it hard to try not to bury myself deep inside her. I have to talk my
dick down from the ledge.

Kennedy gets out of bed heading over to her dresser pulling
out a pair of shorts and the white blouse I love on her so much. She doesn’t
bother going into her bathroom which I appreciate. She strips down putting on a
rather cute pair of striped boy short underwear. At least I think that’s what
they’re called. A white lace bra (my favorite) is thrown on next. She turns
grinning at me as I watch her get dressed. I couldn’t force myself if I tried
to look away. She’s fucking perfection.

“You going to get ready or just watch me prance around in my
underwear?” she jokes with a wink.

“I think I’d rather watch you prance around in the cute
little underwear, to be honest,” I jump off the bed getting to her side as
quickly as possible. Planting a kiss on her shoulder and wrapping my arms
around her waist. “God damn…you’re gorgeous.”

Kennedy pushes me off of her to continue to get dressed. I
can see the smirk on her lips at the attention I’m showing her. “Get ready. I’m
starving,” she says bending down to pull her shorts on.

“I have something you can eat,” I whisper in her ear as I
envelope her pushing my front into her backside. The assault gets me a harsh
shove on the chest and a disapproving shake of the head. “What? I thought it
was funny.”

I pulled on my clothes from last night leaving Kennedy alone
to get ready. Once I reach the kitchen Mrs. Conrad is sitting at the bar
picking at her food. She notices that I’m walking in the room and looks up at
me. There is no sign of pity in her eyes that I half expected this morning.

“Good morning, honey. How did you sleep?” she asks with a
new sad expression on her face. I have to keep telling myself it’s because she
cares.

“I slept great. Thank you for letting me stay,” I smile in
appreciation.

“Something tells me this isn’t the first time this has
happened.” She raises an eyebrow at me in speculation.

“No ma’am, it’s not. You have a very sweet daughter who took
me in when I didn’t have anyone else to go to,” I explain honestly fiddling
with the hem of my shirt. There’s no point in lying at this point.

“I figured,” she smiles. “Come get some food before you have
to head to school.”

I stack a few pancakes and pieces of bacon on my plate
smothering it all with syrup. Kennedy comes out a few minutes later finding her
mother and me talking about baseball. She snatches a piece of bacon off my
plate and nearly ate it in two bites grinning.

Kennedy must have overheard our conversation. “Georgia’s
coming this Friday? That’s exciting,” she says cheerfully. She walks by kissing
me on the cheek before filling her own plate of pancakes.

After breakfast and a quick goodbye Kennedy and I drive to
school in near silence. I can tell she’s deep in thought. I just don’t know
about what yet. She’ll talk when she’s ready. That I can guarantee. I’ve
learned that when something is bothering Kennedy it’s best to let her fiddle
with it in her own head before trying to convince her to share it with anyone
else. 

I dodge everyone’s questions the remainder of the day about
what happened to my eye. Most people just believe I got into a fight. I let
them go with that theory. I don’t have it in me to come up with some bullshit
excuse anymore like I use to. Kennedy keeps quiet as Dan and Mark ask about it.
She looks up at me almost pleading to quit hiding the truth.

Coach pulls me into his office during third period to talk
to me about my newest wound. I tell him the same lie I had told everyone else.
I got into a fight with some jackass from a neighboring school. He seems to buy
it, but he explains that he’s postponing the Georgia scouts until it’s healed.
I express my concerns that they will overlook me now, but he assures me that
that isn’t possible. Apparently I’m on the top of their list. My dreams are within
my grasp still and nothing is going to get in my way as far as I’m concerned.