When Our Worlds Collide (29 page)

Chapter Forty-Four

-Graham-

 The next night, we are lying in Kennedy’s bed pretending
that she isn’t secretly checking me over for bruises.

“Will you quit doing that? I know what you are doing and I
don’t like it,” I sit up forcing Kennedy to sit up along with me.

Kennedy’s straddling my lap. She does this because she knows
my mind goes hazy whenever she’s this close to my dick. She’s sly, that one.
Her parents are out to a movie, so we have a few hours to ourselves. Of course,
we intended on using the time differently but once Kennedy shoves my shirt over
my head I know what she’s doing. It’s the way she runs her hands over my ribs
to see if I’d give a reaction. I love her for it, but it’s sort of hard to get
into being with her when she’s more into giving me a check-up instead of
getting me up.

“I’m sorry,” she apologizes forcing a smile.

Kennedy has been making a habit of checking me over for any
signs of my father’s wrath. It’s been a few weeks since she made her fears
known in her bedroom. Her inspections are driven from a place of love. There’s
no way to be upset with her for that.

I put my shirt back on pushing her off of my lap. I jump off
the bed to grab a movie showing her the cover to The Proposal knowing it’s one
of her favorites. The girl has a thing for chick flicks. She nods in agreement
and grabs her blanket from the foot of the bed to cover up. I climb in next to
her once I put the movie in wrapping my arm around her letting her cuddle in
next to me.

“I love you,” Kennedy whispers.

“I loved you too, baby,” shaking my head and laughing I kiss
the top of her head as she melts into me.

“Did you ever think you’d be saying that a few months ago?”
She looks up at me with the sweetest smile that nearly melts my heart. This
girl makes me such a pussy.

“Not at all,” I answer honestly.

Kennedy sits up abruptly sitting back on her shins watching
me for a few moments. “Sometimes I can’t help but be happy that you hit me with
your car that night,” she shrugs her shoulders as if she should be ashamed of
that revelation.

Opening my arms to have her fall back into them where she
belongs I have a hard time stopping the smile that forms on my lips. “I feel
like a dead beat fuck up for saying it, but me too, Ken.”

We spend the rest of the night watching movies until her
parents come home with pizza. We meet them in the living room once we hear the
garage door opening. They know I’m here. Kennedy wouldn’t be dishonest with
them, but we like to give them the illusion that we aren’t up to no good. We
usually are though.

I never thought sex could get much better than that first
time with Kennedy, but it seems that fucking girls doesn’t compare to what
Kennedy and I are doing with each other.

“Isn’t the scout coming to see you this Friday?” Mr. Conrad
asks putting the boxes on the table. He always asks me about baseball. It’s
nice to have an adult invested into my future like he and Mrs. Conrad have
seemed to be.

“Yes sir,” I answered feeling suddenly nervous.

“I’ve seen you play ball, son. You don’t have a god damn
thing to be nervous about.” Mr. Conrad obviously can read me just as well as
his gorgeous daughter.

Son? Hmm…

I like the way that sounds.

“Thank you, sir.”

“How will your mother and father like you being away from
home once you graduate? I’m sure baseball is time consuming in college,” Mrs.
Conrad asks innocently. Kennedy’s head springs up at her mother’s question. The
look on her face says it all. We have never discussed my family with her
parents. It’s unchartered territory.

“My father travels a lot. I’m sure he won’t even notice I’m
gone. As for my mother, she’ll be the one that misses me. We are really close,
so…” I smile reassuringly at them both.

“Kennedy, are you okay? Your face is white as a ghost,” Mr.
Conrad observes just as I turned to look at her. He’s right. She looks like
she’s going to be sick.

“Yeah, just got a little lightheaded is all,” Kennedy
explains brushing it off as nothing.

“Okay well, don’t forget you have your appointment tomorrow
to schedule your surgery,” Mrs. Conrad points out.

The weeks that have followed the accident I’ve been sure to
go with Kennedy to her doctor’s appointments. They explained to her that
dancing wasn’t in the near future. Although it could take some time it couldn’t
be written completely off of her list as long as she works hard to get back to
where she was. She still needs surgery. They are hoping that it will correct
the damage without having to go back in to do any second procedure. I remember
the day that her doctor told her the news. She looked devastated. Any hope she
had drained from her eyes.

After that first appointment, Kennedy and I walked out to my
car in silence.

“Graham…” she leaned over the center console to gain my full
attention. I averted her gaze focusing on the people walking in and out of the
office building.

“Sorry,” I jolted back to reality from the sound of her
voice.

“You were dozing off there, babe.”

“I’m sorry. I was just thinking.”

“I could tell. You mind filling me in on where that pretty
little head of yours was running to. By the look on your face I’d say it’s easy
to assume that it’s not pleasant.” Kennedy gave me a warm smile knowing that it
was just what I needed.

I took in and released a long breath trying to calm my
nerves. “Kennedy, one day you’re going to dance again and I’ll be in the front
row to watch. The night that I saw you dancing for the first time had to be the
moment that I realized that you weren’t who you thought you were. You were so
beautiful. You moved with a purpose and now you can’t because of me. You can’t
do the one thing that you love because I’m an asshole and made one decision
that changed your life.”

There was a thickness in my throat as the truth fell out. “I
could have easily killed you that night and I’m the one that has to live with
that.”

Kennedy reached and held my face in between her two small
hands. I never forgot that night. It wasn’t something I’d ever forget. It was
the night that Kennedy took a chance on me without knowing who I was. She gave
me a future and here I am losing my shit in front of her.

“You listen to me. I mean really listen to me because I’m
not going to repeat myself again. Once I say what I have to say the subject is
closed, you got me?” Kennedy pointed a finger at me patiently waiting for an
answer. I nodded in agreement. “That night changed my life. Yes, I am afraid
that dancing might not be my first choice but none of that matters. Not
anymore.”

“Are you even listening to yourself, Ken? How can you say
that it doesn’t matter?”  Her nonchalant attitude about her future was
beginning to piss me straight the hell off.

“It’s not the end of the world. If I had a choice, of course
I would go to college and dance my ass off, but not if it meant that I didn’t
have you.”

“That’s insane.”

 “I would get hit by a hundred cars if it meant that I could
have you. It sounds reckless, but you and I have always been reckless,” she
confesses.

“Don’t say that.” I argued irritated with how she perceived
the situation. I would do anything to take back that night if it meant that
Kennedy could do what she loves.

“Graham, you and I were never supposed to be together but
here we are somehow. We come from two different worlds but life brought us
together. I will never regret the events that brought you to me. Now stop
blaming yourself, but take responsibility for bringing us together. That’s what
you did.”

“I think at some point if the accident never happened that
we would have passed into each other’s lives anyways. I think that you were
meant to be mine. When I’m with you it feels right. It feels as if I’m doing
the best damn thing that I ever done.” I leaned over and kissed her as if it
might be the last time.

Neither of us has said anything about the accident since
that day after her doctor’s appointment in the parking lot. We didn’t need to
and that’s how our relationship has always been. That’s what makes it work at
the end of every day. We may not be perfect and we are more than likely going
to make mistakes along the way but we get each other. Some people live their
whole lives looking for what we have.

Kennedy walks me out to my car after we finish dinner with
her parent’s. She always does this when I go to leave. I don’t know if it is
because she won’t settle for a simple peck on the lips and she wants one last
earth shattering one or what? Either way I don’t mind. We always sit outside
for a little while just to talk. It’s my favorite part of the day.

“Are you ready for your appointment tomorrow? You’ll get to
schedule your surgery at least,” I asked kissing the back of her hand.

“Yeah, it will be nice to get it out of the way and start
recovering. Hell, maybe I’ll be able to dance at the talent show next year,”
Kennedy smiles at me knowing that is just what I need to hear.

“I love you, Kennedy.”

“I know you do and I love you too.”

I leave her sitting on the swing as I pull out of the
driveway. I wave to her as she gets up to head inside and drive home. Being
blissfully wrapped up in Kennedy all day, I managed to forget to call my mom to
let her know that I wasn’t going to be home for dinner. I must have left my
phone in car. There are three missed calls. Being only a few minutes away, I
don’t bother to call her back. Whatever she needs can wait until I walk in the
door.

Pulling in the drive way after the short drive I park my car
in my normal spot. The garage door is open and my father’s SUV is inside
serving as a warning of what’s waiting for me inside.

I walk through the garage door that connects with the
kitchen. Standing over the stove refusing to look up at me is my mother. It’s
eerily quiet in the house. 

“Mom…” I call walking closer towards her where she’s
standing stirring something in a small pan. She looks up at me. Gasping I see a
huge bruise covering her left cheek that’s clearly fresh.

“What happened?” I demand an answer from her trying to keep
my voice down. Hopefully he’s already passed out.

“Where have you been, son?” My father’s voice fills the
kitchen. I feel him behind me.

Son? It doesn’t sound the same coming from him as it did
Mr. Conrad.

That frightened me.

“I was at Kennedy’s studying and having dinner,” I turn to
explain hoping that he’s still sober.

“You selfish little prick,” he spits out with anger. I guess
being sober is out of the question. He’s close enough that I can smell
the…bourbon? Looks like good ol’ Dad is switching things up these days. “You
fucking call next time you plan on not being home for dinner.”

I don’t know what I’m thinking before the words come out. They
have their own agenda. I quickly regret them the moment they pass through my
lips.

“Why do you even fucking care,
Dad
?” I yell in his
face.

His face turns this unnatural color of murderous red. My dad
is seeing blood and I’m in his eye line. I take a second to glance over where
my mom’s still standing by the stove to see her holding a spoon with her eyes
the size of saucers. She knows just as well as I do what’s about to happen.

I turn back towards my father. He throws the first punch
followed quickly by the second. There’s no chance to dodge his fists. My right
eye begins to swell within seconds after the first contact. That’s the problem
with having a dad who still works out. He’s just as strong today as he was
twenty years ago. I can feel the stream of blood falling from my face. I must
have fallen to the ground, as I try to stand up to get my bearings I feel his
hands on my shoulders shoving me back against the kitchen island. He slugs me
once more in the face for good measure. The tile is cold on my skin as a fall
over. There’s a temptation to lay my face down on the tile to help with the
swelling. I know if I do that I will be at his boots disposal.

“John, stop it. Now,” My mother yells in my defense. He
steps over me to get to her. While I’m trying to catch my breath I hear a loud
snap. I turn to see my small mother barreling over holding the side of her
face. I know he’s drunker than normal because he tended to avoid bruising her
face. Since he already released his anger on her earlier, what’s the point in
avoiding it now? That last hit will leave a lasting mark.

Once his back is turned heading out of the kitchen I get up
from the ground searching for my mother who is slumped over on the ground
pressed against the stove. I see the tears that always find a way of breaking
my heart a little bit more every time I see them fall.

“Mom, are you okay?” I ask gently. She looks up gasping at
what is probably the poor condition of my face. “I’m fine, but are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she mouths. I let myself believe that she is
because I don’t want to be in this house any longer. I can’t stay here. Deep
down I know I shouldn’t be leaving her here alone. “I’m leaving. I’ll be back
tomorrow.”

“Where are you going?” she asks before I walk out of the
kitchen towards the garage door.

“Don’t tell Dad. I’m going to Kennedy’s for the night. I
can’t stay here. I’m sorry, Mom.”

And with that I’m walking out of my parent’s house once
again after dealing with my drunk of a father. I don’t have time to stop to
peer in a mirror to see what damage he has done. I know it’s bad by the way it
throbs with shooting pain through my face every time I move any muscle.

Kennedy isn’t going to be happy when she sees me. This is
what she was talking about earlier. She’s scared for my well-being and it’s a
well-deserved concern. This isn’t the first time I’ve showed up at her house
with some sort of bruise or cut. She’s been far too observant. Of course she
would notice when I’m hurt without me having to explain it to her. She’s just
been kind enough to ignore it until now.