Water Under the Bridge

I woke the next morning to find my head on Kaden's bare chest, his arm wrapped around me, and my legs weaving through his like a soft melody.

I freeze, taking in my surroundings, remembering everything that happened last night and definitely feeling the headache that is sprouting behind my eyes. Kaden had given me some Tylenol before I went to sleep, but I turned down the stronger stuff he had offered me.

After I caught my bearings, I went to sit up, but Kaden's arm tightened on me. "Hey, hey. Slow," he crooned to me in a low voice as though he knows I'm going to have a hell of a headache.

I sit slowly and run my hands through my hair. I had texted Gabs last night letting her know that I wasn't going to be home and not to wait up, but I casually left out every other piece of information, like the where and the why, and the who. She knew I was going to a party with Kaden, so I am willing to bet that she put two and two together, but I'm in no hurry to have that conversation.

Picking up my phone I immediately see a return text from Gabby.

Text me when you're up. I want to know you're really okay. It's not like you to not come home, especially with who I knew you were going out with.

She's like a mother hen, I swear.

I'm up. I'm safe. I might be a bit before I get home, though.

I hit send and the phone buzzed a response before I had even set it down.

Ok, and where exactly are you?

I close out of the text without responding when I notice that Kaden has his hand splayed across the small of my back.

I turn my face to his and realize he looks exhausted. "Hey. Do you want me to get out of your hair? You don't have to babysit me today. I think I'm probably in the clear."

He shakes his head. "No. I'd prefer it if you'd stay for a bit, actually."

His eyes held no hint of facetiousness, no anger, no bullshit front that we both know we're guilty of putting on. It's just Kaden. A very tired Kaden. He tugs on the shirt I'm wearing until I give in and lay back onto his chest, and it feels so right, but I know in my head that it's so wrong.

"Kaden. What are we doing?"

He takes a deep breath that I can feel against my head as it's pressed into his muscular pecs. He runs his hand down my hair. "We're doing whatever you want, Vale. We don't have to call it anything if you don't want to."

I bristle slightly at the insinuation that I'm the only one holding us back. Am I? I look back at every previous situation and realize that I'm always the one to pump the breaks or steer a conversation back to the more comfortable territory.

Deep down, I know that it's out of self-preservation. I don't trust people easily, and that's especially true for men. I've seen what can happen when you let the wrong person in. It can destroy you and everything you hold dear.

Tentatively I wrap my free arm around Kaden's taut stomach, and he tightens his grip on me. "Can we just, take it slow? Be careful?"

He leans down, pressing a kiss on my forehead. "We can do whatever you need. I don't want to rush into a relationship if you're not ready for one."

I let his words rest in my ears for a moment. "Do you want one? Is that what you want, Kaden?"

Without hesitation, he answers confidently, "Yes."

I lay against him a moment longer before becoming more comfortable with the idea. "Okay," I breathe out.

I feel Kaden's muscles tense below my arm. "Okay?"

I take another deep breath and blow it out. "Okay. I still want to take it slow, but okay. If you'll get me some more Tylenol because I'm dying."

He laughs gently before moving to sit up, maneuvering himself out from under me and making sure to ease me back down onto his bed gently. When he leaves the room, I roll to my back, take a deep breath and pick my phone back up. I dial Gabby who picks up on the first ring.

"Vale?" I wince at the worry in her tone.

"Yeah. Sorry, I didn't make it home last night, but I'm fine."

The silence stretches over the line a beat. "You don't sound fine, did you get too drunk or something? You're not a big drinker."

I threw an arm over my eyes blocking the sliver of daylight that was coming through the blinds next to Kaden's bed. My headache is getting worse by the minute and the anxiety that this phone call is producing certainly isn't helping matters.

"No, it's a long story, but I got into it with some guys and I think I have a concussion. Kaden helped me."

I immediately hear the jingle from my phone alerting me that Gabby is trying to turn this from a phone call into a facetime. I have no idea what my face looks like yet today, but I am not letting her get a look at it before I have the chance to explain it to her. I hit the button to decline it.

"Um, before you set eyes on me there's something you should know."

Her voice drops and holds a hint of warning. "What exactly should I know, Vale?"

"My face may or may not have had a little redecorating." I sink my teeth into my lip and brace for impact.

"What the fuck? Did someone hit you?"

I don't want to give credence to her rage by answering her question directly. "It's not a big deal. Kaden took care of it, but I'm probably just going to hang here for now. I just wanted to let you hear my voice and know that I'm alive and kicking."

"It's a huge fucking deal. I understand why you're doing what you're doing and I'm trying my best to be supportive where I can. I love to party, I'm not one to judge - but when people start hitting you in the face, it might be time to reassess."

I remove my arm over my eyes and look up to see Kaden standing next to the bed with a glass of water, observing me with pity. And I hate it. I hate being pitied. The schizophrenic's kid, the alcoholic's kid. I'd do anything to make that look go away.

"Ok. We can talk more about it later, but I'm not feeling the best right now. I'll text you in a bit."

A deep over-wrought sigh rings out over the receiver before she agrees and disconnects the call after copious promises that I will keep her up to date on what's going on and how I'm healing throughout the day.

I sit up to take the water and Tylenol from Kaden's hand, but apparently, I sat up a little too quickly and my head spun, causing me to ground out in discomfort. Kaden's hand was on my shoulder immediately.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Just Dizzy." I look up and take the medication from his hand, noticing for the first time that his knuckles are black and blue. One of them is split open and a crust of dried blood adorns the area.

I take the pills, tossing them back with a healthy gulp of water before grabbing his hand and bringing it into my view.

"Does this hurt? Do you need to go to the doctor? I think you're worse off than I am."

He snorts a laugh. "They'll heal. They aren't the first and they probably won't be the last. I'm more worried about you. I've had concussions before. They're no joke. They can have some serious side effects. And the rest…."

He doesn't finish the sentence and I couldn't be happier. I don't let my mind linger in that dark place a second longer before moving forward and running my hands on his hips, letting my fingers dip below his a t-shirt to play against the skin of his abdomen.

I look up to see his eyes are hooded, his mouth relaxed. He sucks his bottom lip into his mouth briefly before stepping back. "You're going to kill me, Vale. But you need some rest. Let's lay back. I'll order some pizza and we can just take it easy for a bit, okay?"

I know he's right, though I really just wanted to take my mind off of everything that happened last night, but this will have to do.

I watch Kaden as he circles around to the other side of the bed and climbs on before pulling up an app on his phone for pizza. "What toppings do you want?"

I considers this only a moment. "Pineapple."

"Pineapple? My god, Vale, you must have hit your head harder than I thought. Everyone knows that pineapple doesn't go on pizza."

I tut. "Maybe this isn't going to work out after all."

He quirks up the side of his mouth before placing an order for one pineapple pizza.