Kyle looked at Evie through the doorway of her apartment and sighed. "I guess this is it," he said, blinking at her sadly.
"I'll see you in class on Monday," she told him. "We're still lab partners."
Kyle nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you on Monday."
"Goodnight, Kyle."
"So that's it?"
"What?"
He stepped in the doorway so she couldn't close the door. "You're going to let me go without a kiss good-bye?"
She smiled at him. "And what do you think that was in the bedroom?"
Kyle gulped. "Give me a kiss," he begged as he placed his hand on the side of her face. "I think you owe me one."
"After what we did," she said, looking confused. "All you want is a kiss?"
"Please, Evie?" he asked, leaning down so that his face was right in front of hers. "Just one more kiss. Is that so much to ask?"
Evie leaned up, closing the remaining distance between them and sealing her lips to his in a soft kiss. When they parted, Kyle let his fingers linger on her cheek until she pulled away completely, and they slipped away. "Thanks, Kyle," she said, putting her hand on the door. "Not every guy would be as kind as you are. Not after what happened at my parent's house, anyway."
"You'll be okay." he promised her. "You've got your sister... and once you're out of school you can get your own place."
"You don't understand. I still want them to be my parents... I just want them to love me for me."
He nodded. "I understand."
She looked away from him. "I'll see you later, Kyle. Goodnight."
"Night," he whispered as she shut the door between them. Standing there alone in the hallway and facing the closed door, he put his fingers to his lips, remembering her kiss.
It was nearly two in the morning when Kyle finally gave up on sleeping. To take his mind off of Evie, he checked his e-mail, but apparently, no one had anything to say to him. Andrew was eating potato chips and still staring at his computer screen when a frustrated Kyle snatched up the phone and went into the hallway. He sat down on the floor as he cradled the phone in his hands. He didn't care how late it was or if Justin was already asleep... he needed to talk to his brother. As fast as he could, he dialed the number and then pressed the phone to his ear. It rang three times before anyone picked up.
"Hello?" he heard Adelyn's sleepy voice say.
"Is Justin there?"
"Is this important, Kyle? He's sleeping."
"I need to talk to him."
"Hold on, I'll wake him up."
Kyle sat nervously as he waited for his brother to pick up.
"Are you okay, Kyle?" Justin's voice said through the line.
"No," Kyle admitted quietly. "I sorta have a big problem..."
"Do you need a ride or something?"
"No, nothing like that. I'm at my dorm."
"Then what is it?"
"It's Evie," Kyle mumbled.
"Kyle, I already know about that problem. Remember?"
"No... there's more." He glanced down the hall to make sure he was alone. "I think I'm in love with her." He waited for Justin to respond, but his brother remained silent. "Say something!"
"Hold on a second. I'm taking the phone to the kitchen."
"Okay," Kyle said. At least he wasn't yelling.
"Okay, Kyle, are you absolutely positive about this?" Justin asked after a moment. "Maybe you just think you are."
"I can't sleep, Justin. I've liked other girls before, but this is different. I don't mean to mess up your life, but I can't stop thinking about her."
"You're not messing up my life," Justin told him. "You know you're more important to me than that. I just want to make sure you know exactly how you feel before you go and do anything. You haven't... acted upon these feelings, have you?"
"I haven't told her, if that's what you mean. She doesn't know how I feel... as far as I can tell, anyway."
"Good. I want you to make sure you know what you want. Before you said that you think you love her. Well, when you can call me and tell me that you know you love her, then we've got a problem."
Kyle rubbed the side of his head. He felt a nasty headache coming on. "Justin..." he said. "I love her. All I want is to be with her."
"I don't know what you want me to tell you, Kyle. I know you want to be with her, but is this just about sex?"
"No," Kyle insisted. "It's not, I swear it's not. If it was, would it really matter who I was getting it from?"
"No, I guess it wouldn't," Justin agreed. "I just want you to be sure. I love you, Kyle, and I don't want you to get hurt. Please, promise me you'll wait a few days... a week if you can before you tell her."
"How am I supposed to sleep? I can't even close my eyes without seeing her!"
"I don't know, but telling her isn't going to make it go away. Go to sleep. It's late."
"That's why I called. I can't sleep!"
"Put a movie on," Justin suggested. "That used to knock you out cold when you were little. It was my secret tactic to get you to bed."
"I'm not a little kid anymore," Kyle muttered.
"I know, Kyle," Justin sighed. "Why don't you come over here? I don't have anywhere to be tomorrow. We'll stay up and watch movies if you want."
Kyle sat up straighter. "Can I?
"Sure. Anything to make you feel better. Just drive safely... and at the speed limit for God's sake!"
Justin hung up the phone and went to turn around to go tell Adelyn that they would be having a late night visitor, when he almost ran into her in the dark. "What the hell were you doing standing there?"
"I came to see if everything's all right," she told him as she crossed her arms. "And apparently something's going on. Just who does your little brother think he's in love with, Justin?"
He pushed past her and made his way back down the hallway. "Do you even have to ask?" he wanted to know. "Look, Kyle's really confused right now and it's my job to let him know that everything's going to be okay. He's coming over, and we're going to watch movies until he falls asleep."
She grabbed his arm when he reached into the closet for some blankets. "Why are you pushing me away, Justin? Are you afraid that I'll be mad or something?"
"Aren't you?" he asked. "You don't think that your sister is too good for my brother? Because that's exactly the vibe I'm getting from you. Let me tell you something about Kyle. He is the most devoted guy that your sister will ever meet. She should be lucky to know someone like him."
"I never said that!" Adelyn almost yelled. "I think Kyle is very sweet. Sweeter than you, actually, but I wasn't talking about Kyle. I'm talking about you. When he called you, you walked out of the room like you were trying to keep something from me, and I don't like it!"
"I'm sorry, honey, I really am. I don't know if my brother even knows what true love really is. Like I said before, he's confused... and he's frustrated, and I didn't want to bring you into this when I can talk him out of doing anything he'll regret. He's my brother, and I'll handle this how I think it should be handled."
"Your brother thinks he loves my sister," she reiterated. "So I think I should have some what of a say in how you handle this situation!"
"I don't think you understand my relationship with my baby brother," Justin said as he pulled away from her so he could reach in for the blankets. "Your sister has a father, but all Kyle has is me. He looks up to me for support, and I'm going to give it to him."
"Justin! Do I have to hit you across the head to get you to see what I'm saying? All I want is for you to be honest with me! You don't have to sneak out of the room to have private phone conversations. I know that it's not your fault for what your brother does!"
Justin turned to look at her as he held tightly to the blankets. "He didn't do anything wrong. It's your sister who's at fault here. She knew he was vulnerable the second she looked at him."
Adelyn's jaw dropped. After she recovered, she glared at him. "You're sleeping on the couch tonight, Justin," she informed him. "Get out of my room before I throw you out."
"Fine," he said as he moved to the bed and grabbed his pillows. "I was going to stay out there with Kyle anyway."
Adelyn stood there by the closet, still glaring. "Don't make me even more mad than I already am," she warned him. "And don't you dare insult my sister again."
Justin shot her an angry look as he walked out the door and pushed it closed behind himself. She had to realize that he'd die defending Kyle.
Kyle walked into Justin's apartment ten minutes later with his pillow and a bag with a change of clothes in it. "Thanks for letting me come," he said as Justin closed the door behind him. "I was going nuts over there."
"It's not a problem," Justin told him as he led Kyle into the living room. "I found some movies for us to watch. You can pick."
Kyle got down on his knees and looked at the videos underneath the little cabinet in Justin's television stand. He selected one from the middle of the pile and stuck it into the VCR. When he sat down on the couch, he glanced over at his brother, who looked withdrawn. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me," Justin assured him.
"You're not fine. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Here." He threw a blanket at Kyle. "Watch the movie."
"No," Kyle told him. "You're upset about something. I can tell."
"Can we just watch the movie? Please?"
"No. Tell me what's wrong first."
"It's really nothing," Justin said, but Kyle noticed how he wouldn't look at him. "I just had a little disagreement with Adelyn. It's not a big deal."
"You were fighting over me, weren't you? God, Justin, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you. I'm sorry."
"No, it's not your fault," Justin assured him. "It's mine. I should have told her what was going on."
"I told you not to!" Kyle pointed out. "This is all my fault!"
"Shut up, Kyle! Nothing is your fault! Put your head down on the pillow and watch the movie."
Kyle only stared at him. "I don't want to ruin your life," he said after a moment's silence. "If I'm ruining your life, tell me to leave, and I will."
"No," Justin said, suddenly turning to look at Kyle. "I'll never let you leave. I promised that I'd be your brother forever, and I'm not breaking it. If you tell me that you love Evie, then I'm going to make sure she's yours. Now, you're upset, and I'm here to help. So put your head down on the pillow and watch the damn movie."
Kyle did as he was told. "You don't always have to take care of me," he said sadly as he pulled the blanket up to his chin. "I could take care of you, too, you know."
Justin sighed as he watched his brother. "You can next time," he said. "I promise. But right now, I want you to forget about my stupid problems." He leaned forward to see if Kyle's eyes were closed. They were. "Kyle?" he said softly. "You sleeping?"
There was no response. He must have been really exhausted to fall asleep so quickly.
Justin got up from the couch carefully so he wouldn't disturb Kyle. He put another blanket over his brother's shoulders and then sat down on the floor next to him. "I know I treat you like a kid sometimes, but I can't help it," he whispered. "I get so worried that you'll do something stupid, and you'll get hurt. I don't want you to get hurt, Kyle. Sometimes when I look at you, I can see how afraid you are, and it terrifies me. I want you to be confident in what you do because I know you can do a lot more than you think you're capable of." He reached up and brushed a few curls from Kyle's forehead. "I'll do whatever I have to do to get you what you want," he promised. "And if you want Evie, then I'll make her see what a wonderful boy you are."
He stood up and quietly walked back to the bedroom. He didn't know if Adelyn was asleep or not, but he knew that he wasn't going to be able to sleep himself until they made up. He pushed the door open and walked through the dark to her bed. She turned over as he approached, and he saw a tear sparkle on her cheek.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm a jerk. Forgive me, Adelyn, please?"
All she did was wipe the tear from her face.
"You know how I get with Kyle..." he went on. "I have to protect him. He's my baby brother for God's sake, and I didn't want you to think bad of him. It's not his fault he couldn't resist your sister. She's just as pretty as you are, and you know that."
She reached up and grabbed his shirt, pulling him back down in bed with her. "I'm sorry, too," she whispered back as she pressed her lips to his. "I know you weren't trying to hurt me."
Justin pulled the blankets over himself and kissed her for another moment or so. "Next time I'm an asshole, just knock some sense into me. I love you too much to fight over something so stupid."
"I love you, too," she told him. "Is Kyle asleep already?"
"Out like a light," Justin smiled. "I think he just needed a sense of normalcy. Things keep changing for him... first moving in with Nicki, and then the dorm... I don't think he likes being there. When he's like that he just wants someone to tell him what to do."
"No, Justin," Adelyn said as she pulled him closer. "He wants YOU to tell him what to do. Anyone can see that he adores you."
Chapter 11
Keeping the Peace
Family: Timberlake
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email Me (irishgirl982@yahoo.com)