“Whoa, start from the beginning honey, I’m REALLY confused right now,” Alyissa said, looking around for a chair.
She finally found one and dragged it over to Kayla’s desk. She folded her hands together and placed them on the desk, attentively waiting for Kayla’s story to begin.
“All right, now start from the beginning,” Alyissa said calmly.
Kayla sniffled and pulled a tissue out of a nearby tissue box. She wiped her eyes and sighed, ready to tell her story.
“Lance thinks that I’m living with my daughter and her father,” Kayla began.
“Your WHAT and her WHO?” Alyissa asked in shock. “You...have a daughter...?”
Kayla sighed again. “Not exactly.”
“Well then WHAT exactly do you mean?”
“Ok,” Kayla said, taking a deep breath. “I take care of my little sister.”
“Oh and you guys play house or something when she visits?” Alyissa asked, hopeful.
Kayla shook her head, “We play house ALL the time...I’m her legal guardian, so in actual reality, she IS my daughter.”
“But...she’s your sister?”
“Yes, she’s really my sister, but legally, I’m her mother,” Kayla tried explaining. “Never mind about that right now, I live with this guy, that you supposedly met already.”
“That guy on the phone and at the door?” Alyissa asked, annoyed by the mention of him.
Kayla nodded her head, “He was the only one who knew about Casey--”
“Who’s Casey?”
“My daughter,” Kayla said. “I lived at my own place with Casey until Bryce suggested we move into together since he was always taking care of Casey for me.” Kayla paused to take a deep breath, “So then I finally agreed and now we live together, but there’s nothing going on romantically between us, we’re just strictly friends.”
Alyissa nodded her head slowly, taking in all the information.
“I kept them both a secret because people might look down on me and think I was different, but I’m not really,” she said helplessly.
“But lying didn’t help you,” Alyissa replied.
“I know,” Kayla replied miserably. “But you have to understand, no one would listen to my story and I might have even lost this job over it...I’m really tight with money and I need this job really badly.”
Alyissa studied Kayla’s expression and knew she was serious. Here was this girl sitting in front of her, helpless, scared, and hurt. There was one possible solution, but the problem was getting that one solution to talk to Kayla.
“So let me get this straight,” Alyissa said. “You live with your guy friend and your 'daughter',” Alyissa said, making quotation marks with her hands.
Kayla nodded her head, “Bryce and I aren’t romantically involved.”
“Ok,” Alyissa replied. “Lance came over to surprise you but ended up finding out about Casey...is that her name?”
Kayla nodded her head again.
“Ok...Casey and Bryce, so he assumed and then what?”
Kayla wanted to started crying again, but held back her tears. “Then Lance asked for an explanation and what did I do? I stood there like an idiot, saying nothing.”
“Well why didn’t you tell him the situation?” Alyissa asked.
“I couldn’t get it all out, if I started to talk I would have started crying and I wouldn’t get anywhere crying like a child and trying to choke out a story like mine,” Kayla said sadly. “Then he said...” she started, getting choked up again. “He said since I didn’t have anything to say...that...his assumptions...were right and...” Kayla took a deep breath to try and contain herself. “Then he said we were...over,” she finally managed to get out. Tears ran down her face as she spit out the words.
Alyissa sat for a moment, thinking about what to say next. “Kayla, I’m going to be honest with you...is that ok?”
Kayla hesitated for a second and finally nodded her head slowly, “I think I need someone’s honest opinion and you know him well...so shoot.”
“All right, this might sting a little,” she warned.
Kayla sucked in a deep breath and waited for the blow.
“It was wrong for you to lie and keep secrets from Lance...as crazy as it sounds, if you had just sat him down and talked to him I guarantee you he would have listened attentively and tried to understand your point of view as much as possible.” Alyissa paused to take a breath.
Kayla’s head hung down shamelessly, knowing every word was hurtful, but true.
“BUT...”
Kayla looked up.
“There might be a chance that he still is understanding towards you, you just have to talk to him,” Alyissa said.
“But...how?” Kayla asked. “He doesn’t want to talk to me, I’m the LAST person he wants to even SEE.”
Alyissa was silent for a moment before speaking again, “Kayla....Lance has been through a lot more than you think. True he’s been through that whole legal mess with Lou, he’s been through a bad break up, and he’s gone through fame, but there’s a lot more to him that meets the eye.”
Kayla sighed, “I know there is...and I want to know every last detail of his life, I was doing so well developing a relationship, but now it’s ruined...ruined, ruined, ruined.”
“You weren’t doing as well as you thought,” Alyissa said quietly.
Kayla looked up and gave a questioned look, “We were doing really well...” she trailed off.
“In reality, no you weren’t...you both stepped off the wrong foot,” Alyissa said slowly. “Lance didn’t tell you the whole story of his ex and you didn’t tell him about your daughter and your roommate.”
“I told him about my roommate--” Kayla started to protest.
Alyissa raised an eyebrow and gave a knowing look.
“Ok, ok, so I didn’t tell him DETAILS, but...but...oh forget it, I screwed up and I screwed up bad.”
“Don’t give up all hope,” Alyissa encouraged. “There might still be hope.”
“How? Where? Lance probably hates me by now,” she said miserably, running her hands through her hair and sighing deeply. “I don’t deserve him, I never did, why did I even try? I tried to push him away, but he was just so damn sweet...” she mumbled to herself.
“Don’t blame him and don’t blame yourself,” Alyissa said, studying Kayla.
“Who am I supposed to blame then?” Kayla asked, looking back up.
“No one, stop trying to point fingers and FIX IT.”
“But...how?” Kayla asked.
“Well stop moping around here and get a grip!” Alyissa said. “Tell you what, in my opinion you and Lancey poo are meant for each other, so I’m going to try my hardest to help you two. You get your story straight and be prepared to tell it again...this time to LANCE’S face and leave the rest up to me,” Alyissa said, standing up.
Kayla looked up with a skeptical look on her face, “Do you...really think...this will work?” she asked, hopeful.
Alyissa nodded her head reassuringly, “I think so, let’s at least give it a try before we have our doubts, ok?”
Kayla nodded her head and smiled weakly, “Thank you so much ‘Liss...thank you.”
Alyissa smiled, “No problem.” She reached the door and took one last glance at Kayla, “Expect for me to get in touch with you...that means keep your cell phone with you!”
Kayla smiled, “You got it.”
“I’m smooth like butta baby!” Justin declared.
Chris raised an eyebrow at him and smirked, “Yeah...ok...you keep telling yourself that.”
Justin looked over, offended, “What are you talking about? I am!”
“Uh huh, if that makes you feel better about yourself, keep saying it and boost up that inflated ego of yours,” Chris scoffed.
“And who’s pimpin’ it to all the fine ladies out there?” Justin asked smoothly.
“You better not be or else there’s gonna be a ruckus, either between you and me or me and all those 12 year olds!” Alyissa exclaimed loudly.
Justin and Chris both spun around and grinned when they spotted Alyissa walking over to them casually.
“Oooh, caught by the controlling girlfriend!” Chris grinned.
“I am NOT controlling!” Alyissa protested. “Justin get over here, I’ve been walking around this damn building all day, you don’t really expect me to walk ALL THE WAY over there do you!?”
Justin grinned, “I like my women controlling.”
Chris rolled his eyes and Alyissa winked.
Justin jogged over to Alyissa and leaned over for a kiss. Alyissa turned her cheek and Justin brought his head back, offended.
“What’s that all about?” he asked.
“No time for kisses, we have a relationship to restore,” Alyissa said in a business like tone. “Come on curly one, we have work to do!”
“’Liss you have to be kidding me, Kayla can’t have a daughter,” Justin said in disbelief.
“Uh, you caught me, I made up this story on my way down to the studio to see if you were gullible enough to fall for it,” Alyissa said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I knew it,” Justin grinned. He smile fell when he saw Alyissa’s serious expression.
“She was a wreck J, she kept crying and stopping and crying and stopping and--”
“Ok, I get the picture,” Justin cut in. “But what can WE do about it?”
“Did you talk to Lance?” she asked.
Justin shrugged his shoulders, “Kind of.”
“Kind of?”
“Well I mean I went up to him and said ‘Hey man you ok?’ and he said ‘Yeah I just need to be by myself’ and then he walked away,” Justin said, recalling the incident.
“And you let him walk away with no other dialogue?” Alyissa asked.
Justin nodded his head, “I respected his privacy.”
Alyissa sighed, “Remember the last time Lance wanted his privacy after everything happened? He almost didn’t talk for months, I almost forgot the sound of his voice.”
Justin’s face fell to sad and concerned, “Well I don’t want to push him, but what can I do if he won’t open up?”
“Get someone else to talk to him, he NEEDS to know he can turn to you guys and talk to you people any time he feels the urge to,” Alyissa stressed.
“He should know that, we all know that about each other,” Justin said.
“I know, but sometimes we all need a reminder,” Alyissa said softly. “He might feel like his problems are a burden on your lives.”
“Their not though, they would never be--”
“Exactly, but he needs reassurance, see where I’m coming from?” she cut in.
Justin nodded his head and sighed. He looked up at Alyissa and smiled tiredly. “I’m glad I found myself a smart and caring girlfriend.”
Alyissa smiled softly, “And I’m glad I found you.”
Justin smiled broadly and kissed Alyissa lightly. “Let’s get those two love birds back together before it’s too late,” he said softly.
Alyissa nodded her head in agreement.
Kayla stared at the computer screen blankly, reading the same sentence over for the millionth time, still not comprehending the words. The blinking cursor seemed to put her in a trance and she stared at it, zoning out.
“Kayla?” a voice called, breaking her gaze.
Kayla looked up, dazed. “Hm?”
“Kayla, are you all right? You don’t look too good,” Mr. Collins said, studying her face.
“Oh, I’m fine, was there something you needed?” she asked, trying to make herself smile.
“No, I was just walking by and noticed you looking a little out of sorts, excuse me for saying so,” he said, still studying her.
Kayla turned back to the computer and tried to cover her face, “I’m fine, really.”
“Is something bothering you that you’d like to talk about?” he asked.
“No no, I’m just a bit tired, that’s all,” she insisted, still not looking at him.
“Kayla you really don’t look well, I think you should go home,” he suggested.
“No Mr. Collins, I’m fine, really,” Kayla argued. “I just need something to drink.”
“All right...take a break and get something to drink...but I still think you should go home.”
“Thank you for your concern Mr. Collins, but I’m fine, once I get a little caffeine in my system, I’ll be back to my good old self,” she said, standing up.
“Ok then, go ahead and take a break,” he said, walking towards his office door.
“Thank you Mr. Collins,” she said gratefully.
Kayla grabbed her purse and walked out the door. Her office seemed to be stuffy and the hall didn’t seem any better. She hadn’t seen or talked to any of the guys since Lance’s surprise visit. She wasn’t surprised no one came to her office to talk to her anymore or ask her out to lunch, they probably didn’t want to even look at her after what she did to their best friend. SHE wouldn't want to talk to the person responsible for her best friend’s pain, but then again, she wasn’t sure if she had anyone left in her life to call a friend.
She walked down the hallway slowly, staring at the floor as she walked along. She wasn’t really sure where she was going and she wasn’t really thirsty or hungry, so she decided on just taking a walk and stretching her legs. She was passing a studio room when something caught her eye.
She walked over to the window and stared through the glass. She saw five guys with headphones on, singing their hearts out. The concentration and passion written all over their faces made Kayla yearn for musical talent so she could step into their world. She sighed longingly and watched their faces change when they hit different notes. All of them had their eyes closed, hands on either ears of the headphones, and wrinkles of concentration creased on their foreheads.
Kayla’s eye traveled over to Lance who was singing. When his lips moved, they seemed to be spilling his soul out with every word, feelings dripping from the notes. He had his eyes closed tightly, almost as if he was trying to imagine himself somewhere else, where he was singing about. Kayla’s shoulders fell and she felt a tear roll down her face.
She did that to him, she made him hurt, she made him suffer, and only for her own safety. She cursed herself for doing those horrible things to him and bit her lip to prevent herself from crying anymore.
She managed to somehow, pull herself away from the glass and back away slowly. She wished she could have walked into the studio and listened to their beautiful voices harmonize perfectly, but knew that wasn’t possible.
She walked down the hall again and sighed miserably. She hoped, more like prayed, that she could fix things, that Lance would understand, and that he might even be able to love her one day, flaws and all.
Lance opened his eyes and looked out the studio window, just in time to catch a glimpse of the back of Kayla’s head. He wondered how long she had been standing there and watching them. He looked over to the other guys who were concentrating on hitting the right notes.
Lance looked back over at the door and almost dropped his headphones to run after Kayla. He was so hurt by her, but yet he still craved her. He still needed her affection, her guidance, her shoulder to lean on, he needed HER.
He had gone home the night before and spent the night awake, walking around his house restlessly. He watched every late night show he could find, tried reading everything boring enough to put him to sleep, went online and spend hours typing e-mail's and chatting with other late night owls. Nothing worked for him, he didn’t get any sleep and his appearance showed that factor. His expression was tired and he had dark circles under his eyes. He missed Kayla.
A knock on the door interrupted all of the guys’. They all looked up and found Alyissa looking into their booth with a serious look on her face.
“Yo J, did you...” Chris trailed off.
Justin nodded his head, “Me and ‘Liss are working on it,” he replied in a low tone, so Lance couldn’t hear him.
Justin walked over to the door and swung it open, “Hey honey.”
Alyissa looked over at him and didn’t say a word, just pushed her way into the room, “Lancey boy, we have to talk.”
Lance looked up confused and back around at the guys, who just shrugged their shoulders. Lance hesitated and finally nodded his head, walking towards ‘Liss. Alyissa opened her mouth to say something when she noticed all of them leaning in to try and listen, but busying themselves to try and act casual.
“Uh uh, I don’t think so, all of you OUT,” she said pushing them towards the door.
“But ‘Liss we have to--” Chris started.
“LEAVE!” Alyissa finished for him, pushing him out the door.
With a few small grumbles, they left and shut the door behind them.
Alyissa turned around to face Lance and placed her hands on her hips, “All right, we have a few things to talk about.”
“Man, your girlfriend is no fun,” Joey whined, looking into the sound booth unhappily. “I want to know what their saying!”
Justin grinned, “With ‘Liss’ words you just have to find ways AROUND them...she never said she didn’t want us to hear, she just kicked us out of the room, correct?”
JC, Chris, and Joey all looked at each other, then back at Justin, nodding their heads slowly.
“Yeeeaaahhh...so?” Chris said.
“Soooo...let’s listen out here,” Justin smiled mischievously.
“And how would we do that genius?” Chris asked sarcastically.
“With the magic of the sound booth system,” Justin smiled.
He walked over to the control panel and scanned over the controls. He smiled when he found what he was looking for and flipped on a switch. Alyissa’s and Lance’s voice fell out of the speakers and the three guys jumped from the sudden noise.
Chris turned around and grinned, slapping Justin a high five, “I gotta give you props for that move.”
“Like I said,” Justin grinned. “I’m butta baby.”
“Shhh! I can’t hear them!” Joey hushed the two of them.
They all sat down and started to listen.
“So what do we have to talk about?” Lance asked, looking down at the podium, holding the lyrics.
“You and Kayla,” Alyissa stated.
“There IS no ‘me and Kayla’,” he said, pressing his lips tightly together.
“And why is that?” Alyissa asked.
“Because she failed to tell me about her home life,” Lance said, almost bitterly.
Alyissa sighed, “She told me the whole story and now it’s your turn to tell me your side.”
“Because I wouldn’t understand,” Lance said, recalling the incident. “A sorry excuse if you ask me, of course I’m not going to understand! She was two timing me and she has a daughter with the other guy! Would YOU understand!?”
“You didn’t get the whole story did you?” Alyissa asked, staying calm.
“Well I stated what I thought it looked like and she denied nothing, so I think I got the full story,” he said, emotions stirring up again.
“Well you didn’t,” Alyissa stated matter of factly. “You didn’t even get CLOSE to the full story.”
“And how would you know?” he asked.
“No need to get hostile with me,” she said, narrowing her eyebrows. “I’m just trying to help the both of you. I know right now Kayla’s upstairs depressed and a wreck because of what happened and your not looking to great yourself.”
“Thanks,” Lance replied sarcastically.
“No problem,” Alyissa said, brushing off his sarcasm. “But she’s ready to tell her full story and you need to get ready to listen or else there might be no hope left for this relationship.”
Lance stared at the floor and remained silent. He took a deep breath and looked up at Alyissa, “Maybe I don’t want the relationship to work anymore. Maybe I don’t want to listen.”
Alyissa flashed a worried look and studied Lance’s expression, “I know you don’t mean that...”
“How do you know? I think I DO mean it, I don’t want anything to do with her anymore, I don’t even want her name mentioned in my presence,” he said, heading for the door.
Alyissa grabbed his arm and stopped him, “Lance don’t throw this out, Kayla’s good for you...you really need to give this a chance.”
Lance stared at her, hurt finally seeping through his hard expression, “I DID give her a chance, I trusted her and look what happened? I don’t need to go through all this pain again.”
Lance gently pulled his arm out of her grip and walked out the door.
Chris, Joey, and JC sat there dumbfounded to what they had just discovered in the previous conversation. Justin stared at Alyissa and then back at Lance, who was walking out of the sound booth. He finally snapped out of his daze and frantically looked for the switch to turn off the sound in the sound booth. Chris, Joey, and JC finally noticed what Justin was trying to do and proceeded in helping him.
Lance walked out of the room and all four of the guys sat back down, whistling nonchalantly. They looked up, acting like they hadn’t heard anything, “Hey man, you ready to record again?”
Lance shook his head, “I need some air, I’m going for a walk.”
They nodded their heads and watched him walk out of the door. They breathed a sigh of relief when he left and looked back at Alyissa who was standing in the sound booth, deep in thought. She turned to face them and gave a sad look.
“How am I going to tell Kayla?” she asked softly.
“I don’t know ‘Liss--” Justin started, then realized she knew they had the sound booth sound switch on. “How do you always know these things!?”
“I’m your girlfriend, I learn quickly,” she said blandly.
She walked out of the sound booth and sat down in a chair beside them. She flipped off the sound without any trouble while the guys narrowed their eyebrows, wondering how she found it so easily when she was rarely in the studio.
“Kayla has a daughter?” Chris finally asked curiously.
Alyissa sat for a second before responding, “Kind of.”
“Kind of?” Joey asked. “Either she does or she doesn’t, there’s no in the middle...is there?”
“Well actually in this situation there is,” Alyissa sighed.
They all gave puzzled looks.
Alyissa sighed, “I can’t explain right now, for now just please help me try and figure out how to fix this.”
Lance rounded the corner and sighed, staring at the ground. He was absolutely miserable without Kayla already, but he had learned in the past, time heals all pain. Even if it doesn’t make it go away completely, at least weakens it enough to move on. Kayla was one of these things that he would eventually get over and move on, or so he hoped.
Lance quickened his pace, needing to get rid of bottled energy, almost ready to start running. He rounded another corner and slammed into someone.
“OH!” a voice said in surprised.
Lance recognized the voice right away and wanted to crawl under a rock. Just his luck to run into the person he had no desire to see, but at the same time, craved to see.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, not looking up.
“Lance?” the voice asked.
Yes, what? You’ve already forgotten my face?” he asked bitterly.
After that last word flew out of his mouth, he regretted saying anything.
“No,” the voice said, dropping to a low tone. “I was just...making sure...I could...never forget you.”
Lance took a deep breath and finally looked up to meet Kayla’s eyes. The moment he saw them he wanted to break down and cry. He wanted to hug her and cry his eyes out, he wanted her to answer all of his questions and he wanted her to tell him he was the only one she wanted to be with and she really didn’t two time him.
“I didn’t see you,” he said slowly.
“Lance we need to talk,” she said hesitantly.
Lance stood there in silence.
“Or I need to explain,” Kayla said, knowing he wasn’t going to speak. “I know I'm probably the last person you want to see right now, but I need to explain a few things.”
Lance continued to stand there without making a noise.
“All right,” she sighed. “Bryce and Casey...”
Lance held up his hand, “I don’t want to hear about it.”
“But--”
Lance shook his head, “I know all I need to know and I don’t want to hear any excuses.”
“But you don’t know--” she tried.
“No,” he said firmly. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“Lance I--”
“Kayla, I don’t ever want to see you again,” he said quietly.
“What...?” she asked in disbelief.
“I said,” he breathed deeply. “I don’t ever want to see you again, we will continue to maintain a business relationship and may even have to encounter each other in social events between our mutual friends, but otherwise, I don’t want to see you...ever.”
Kayla wanted to break down right there and then. She couldn’t believe he was uttering these words and she couldn’t decide if he really meant them. His face was solemn and his voice was a business like tone, she didn’t like any of it.
“You can’t be serious--” she began.
“Oh I’m very serious Miss Dudley,” he cut in.
“Miss Dudley?” she asked, fighting back all her tears.
“Yes that's your name and I’ll address you by it, since we’ll have a business based relationship,” he said in a mono tone.
“Lance...stop talking like that please...” she pleaded.
“Like what?”
“Like...like...” she trailed off. Her shoulders fell and then her head, “Like we’re nothing more than business associates, me being on the lower level of the chain.”
Lance fought hard to maintain the same expression and force all his words out. He was glad she lowered her head, because then he could let his face at ease, looking at her sadly.
“All right Mr. Bass,” she said.
He flinched at the way she used his name, professionally.
“Well then I’ll step out of your life, but let me just say one thing.”
Lance paused, “Yes?”
Kayla looked up and Lance’s face hardened immediately.
“I care about you...more than you think, and I’ve been told there’s more to you that meets the eye. Well there’s more to me than you think and I’ve been through a lot in my life, I’m not saying I want you to pity me, because I don’t. Just know that I really thought we were going to get somewhere together, I can honestly say that I thought you were the one...the one meant for me,” she finished softly. “Maybe it’s still true, but maybe I just wasn’t the person meant for you...”
Lance stiffened and remained silent.
“I wish I could have been...because whatever girl is lucky enough to have you love her, is going to have it all...because she’s going to have you,” Kayla finished, tears running down her cheek. “Please excuse me now Mr. Bass, I don’t feel to well and I think I need to go home, good luck on the rest of your life.”
With that, she walked away without another word. As she walked away, tears streamed down her face and she let them fall, he couldn’t see her face anyway. It was now official, she had just lost the man of her dreams.
Lance turned around and looked after Kayla longingly. He couldn’t believe she had just said those words, she had dug deep inside of herself and pulled them out, even after all the cruel words he had just spoken. He wasn’t sure what he had just done, but all the sudden he felt physically sick.
Kayla asked Mr. Collins for the rest of the day off and he granted her request without any questions, catching her tear stained face. She thanked him gratefully, gathered her things, and left work for the rest of the day.
Kayla got back to her apartment and surprised Casey and Bryce who were eating lunch at the kitchen table.
“Hi,” she mumbled unenthusiastically.
“What are you doing home so early?” Bryce asked, concerned.
“I don’t feel too well, I’ll be in my room if you need me,” she said, dragging her things down the hall and into her room with her.
Kayla walked into her room and dropped all of her things by her door, kicking off her shoes. She changed into pajamas and crawled into her bed, these past few days had been some of the worst days of her life. The only thing that topped that was when she found out her parents died. That was probably THE worst day of her life.
Kayla curled up into a little ball and snuggled under her covers. She knew she wasn’t going to get any sleep, in truth, she was a little afraid to go to sleep because she had been having some unsettling dreams lately. She kept having flash backs to when her parents were alive and her memories seemed to haunt her.
She laid there for hours, staring at the wall blankly. She went over all the factors of her life and wondered where she was going to go from where she currently was. She didn’t know if she could go to work every day and know she could possibly encounter Lance and not be able to talk to him freely. Instead she would have to call him Mr. Bass and avoid all eye contact with him, that’s not the kind of work life she wanted. She didn’t want to live every day, wondering if she was going to catch a glimpse of him and if she did encounter him, what words would be exchanged, if any. She just couldn’t do that.
She didn’t even realize it, but she eventually fell asleep.
“Lance!” Kayla called out. “Lance!”
Lance turned around and looked at her sadly, but silently. He shook his head in disappointment and turned around, walking away.
Kayla started to cry and call after him again. She reached for him but couldn’t seem to reach him. She somehow caught his hand and clung on as tightly as she could.
“Lance wait!” she pleaded.
He stopped walking and turned around to look at her, crying desperately on her knees.
“I’m so sorry!” she sobbed. “I’m so, so sorry! Please understand...please!” she cried.
He stared down at her with a look of pity. Bryce suddenly appeared and whispered something in Lance’s ear and Lance looked down at her again, this time with hurt drawn all over his face. He shook his head and loosened his hand out of Kayla’s grip.
“No wait!” she yelled out.
He turned to look at her one last time and sighed.
“I-I-I love you,” she finally spit out.
Lance stopped and looked at her and for one brief moment his face softened. Then the next thing she knew he disappeared.
Kayla sat up in bed, beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. Her eyes felt tired and she could feel the stickiness on her cheeks from the left over tears. She was breathless and nervous, clutching the bed sheet in her tightly balled fist.
Bryce knocked on her door and entered. Kayla looked up at him confused as he made his way over to her bed.
“What’s wrong sweetie? You were crying out in your sleep,” he said gently, sitting on the edge of her bed.
Kayla started to cry again and Bryce brought her into his embrace. He hugged her tightly and rocked her back and forth, rubbing her back comfortingly. He stayed there for a long time, hugging her.
Kayla finally pulled away and sniffled, “I need to get away from here.”
Bryce smiled softly, those were the words he had been waiting to hear for a long time.
“I think I can make that happen,” he whispered.
Kayla looked over at him puzzled, “What do you mean?”
Bryce took a deep breath and brushed piece’s of Kayla’s hair out of her face.
“Kayla, I think we truly belong together,” he started. “I love Casey like she’s my own daughter and she even calls me daddy, I want to have a family and I want you and Casey to be my family.”
Kayla looked at him, “What are you trying to say?”
Bryce pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket and said the words he had been practicing for the past two months, “Kayla Dudley, will you marry me?”
