This is the very first scene I ever wrote for this story. Kinda weird that it ended up being in book two, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. Only problem is I have to completely re-do my outlining of Through the Dark to keep this scene as is. I still haven't decided what to do on that end yet, but I'll let you know when I figure it out.
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Kyla woke with a start, clutching her pillow in a death grip and struggling to breathe. She looked frantically around her, trying to figure out where she was, but it took her a moment to remember why she wasn’t in her bed. It had been so real, the nightmare she’d just woken from. It was dark and blurred and almost impossible to distinguish, but something about it was so vivid and lifelike she didn’t know that she’d been dreaming.
The feeling from it lingered on her as she sat up in the loft. She remembered the terror she had felt in it…the dread. And she remembered Caden.
All through the dream, she was being torn away from him, and somehow she knew that once he slipped away, she could never get him back.
The familiar stabbing in Kyla’s chest that she had lived with the entire time Caden was in Nashville, it was back again. It took a moment for her to realize it was just a nightmare, but the pain was too familiar. She couldn’t shake it off.
When she couldn’t take it anymore, Kyla threw off her covers and climbed down from the loft.
Scampering barefoot in the rain across the flagstone around the Howell’s pool, she ran for Caden’s bedroom before she gave herself the chance to think about what she was doing. She told herself five distinct times in a thirty-yard stretch to turn around and go back to the house, but her feet weren’t listening to her head. They rarely did.
Ignoring whatever sense she should have possessed when she reached the glass sliding door, she knocked on it quickly and then hugged herself in a failed attempt to keep warm. It may have been summertime, but the mountain rain was cold at night.
Kyla peered into the room through a gap in the curtains, trying to see if he’d woken up. It was too dark for her to see anything, though; in there or out here. The only light she had was coming from the blue glow of the pool. So she knocked a little harder.
This time she saw Caden sit up in his bed at the sound of her knocking, looking somewhat confused and disoriented. He rubbed his face with his hand and looked over at the door, and as soon as he saw her, his fatigued expression fell to a scowl. Kyla had seen that look on him a lot lately. It didn’t make it any easier seeing it now.
Shoving off his covers and getting up out of his bed, Caden made his way angrily across the room. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, but he had on some long black basketball pants; a fact for which Kyla was grateful. When he jerked the door open, she wasn’t sure what she expected him to say, but he only ended up asking her, “Are you serious?”
“No, I’m joking,” she replied sarcastically. “I just felt like freezing to death out here for kicks. Are you gonna let me in or not?”
He stood there as if to debate it for a moment, so Kyla shoved past him and walked into his room. Caden scowled and slid the door shut behind her. She was still hugging herself and looking away from him, not to mention drenching his carpet as she scanned the room compulsively and stood there in a sopping mess.
“Do you have some sort of defect in your brain?” Caden asked her, clicking on the lamp by his dresser. “Some sort of trigger that gets set off at the worst possible times that drives you to do stupid crap like this?”
Kyla told herself not to retaliate, but she couldn’t just stand there and let him insult her either. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say when she turned back around to face him, but whatever it was, it left her the moment her eyes fell on him. She already knew Caden wasn’t wearing a shirt; that much was obvious when he’d gotten out of bed. It really shouldn’t have surprised her, either. In the hundred times they’d gone swimming together in the summer, or played basketball or worked out or been on ten-mile runs…or sometimes when Caden just didn’t feel like wearing one, there were always occasions that arose which left him running around half-clothed. Kyla had never been bothered by it. It was normal for her to see him like that. It just wasn’t normal for her to see him like this.
Back then, he was still a scrawny little kid. Now he, well…wasn’t.
Kyla remembered the last day they spent together swimming in his pool last August. That was the day before he left her. She distinctly recalled teasing him and telling him he needed to “beef up” because he was so skinny. Apparently he had listened to her.
Kyla didn’t realize she was staring until he snapped at her, “What do you want?”
She forced her eyes up to his face again. “I want to talk to you,” she said.
Caden glanced at the clock by his bed and then back at her. “At two in the morning?”
“Well maybe we wouldn’t be doing this at two in the morning if you would stop screening my calls,” she said defensively.
“Can you really blame me for that, Kyla?”
“Yes, I can!” she said.
He scowled and turned away from her, and she was instantly struck with the memory of her dream. She still remembered what it felt like when he was ripped away from her…this boy who stood in front of her now that she could hardly convince herself was really there. And as she stared at him, trembling, she realized what a mistake it would be for her to get defensive right now.
“Caden…” she tried to say.
He snapped at her, “What?” and she tried not to choke up on her words.
“I miss you,” she said quietly.
That was all it took.
Pressing his lips together in frustration, Caden wrinkled his forehead and tried to resist her. She could see what he was doing, how he was trying to act calloused and tough and throw up walls so he wouldn’t have to feel whatever it was he was trying not to feel. But then he dropped his head and looked down at his feet. “Damn it, Kyla…”
Slowly, she uncrossed her arms and took a cautious step closer to him. Caden responded to the gesture by looking up and directly at her for the first time since she’d pushed her way into his room. His eyes started to soften and he tried to fight it when they did, but he didn’t pull them away from her after that. He swallowed hard when he saw that she was soaking wet and shivering, and though that was the least of her concerns right now, Caden obviously felt differently.
Without a word, he grabbed her and pulled her close to him, rubbing her arms up and down as he held her to his chest. He was so warm…so safe. And though she didn’t know why, the second that he touched her, Kyla had to fight off the urge to cry. Something about him holding her again, letting her back into that place he’d been keeping her out of, it came dangerously close to breaking her.
“You know, you’re an idiot for running out in the rain without any clothes on,” he told her.
Kyla laughed and leaned her head against his chest, biting her lip to keep back the emotion that was about to choke her off. Caden’s heart picked up speed when she pressed closer against him. She could feel it in the way he held her, in the way his grip on her tightened, how he was divided against himself. There was a fierceness behind it that she wasn’t used to feeling, like he wanted to hold her…possibly more than he ever had. But then he’d fight himself on it and start to let go, putting the guards back up again that she so utterly despised.
“I’m sorry,” Kyla's voice trembled.
Caden was still angry, but there was a weakness in him that wasn’t there before. He kissed the top of her head as she clung to him, and he stayed there like that for longer than she expected him to. “I’m sorry, too,” he told her.
She wanted to ask him why. She wanted the answers she had come here for, but she wasn’t willing to lose what she’d found instead. Nothing was worth more to her right now than this.
“Caden?” she asked him in a small voice.
“Yeah?”
Kyla shuddered at the thought of going back to the house. “Can I stay with you tonight?”
He hesitated, and suddenly she felt the need to explain herself.
“I just…I need you, Cade.”
He didn’t answer her. Instead he let her go and walked over to his dresser, pulling out the black Sleeping Giant shirt she’d bought him at a concert they went to last summer and tossing it to her one-handed. Kyla caught it shakily, the lump in her throat trying to get back at her.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
Caden still didn’t respond; he just grabbed another shirt for himself and moved back over to his bed.
Kyla turned around so her back was facing him and pulled her soaking wet shirt over her head. The strappy black sports bra she wore beneath it was soaked equally as much, but that, she would just have to deal with. Tossing her shirt on the ground, she slipped the one Caden gave her over her head; then she turned back to face him.
Caden was sitting with his back against the wall, pressing his fingers to his forehead like he would if he had a headache. Without even asking him, Kyla crawled across the bed and curled up next to him, resting her head on his chest.
Caden sighed and pulled his blanket around her, holding her with one arm as he laughingly whispered, “What are you trying to do to me?”
Kyla smiled and whispered back, “Keep you.”
She looked down at his forearm and her smile started to fade. Then she gently traced his scar with her fingertips, the same way she’d done a hundred other times. She felt his breathing stumble as she lay there in his hold, touching his arm, remembering the past, reminding them both of the first time he’d saved her life.
“Caden?” she said in a small voice.
He swallowed hard. “Yeah?”
“I love you,” Kyla told him.
Then she fell asleep.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kyla woke with a start, clutching her pillow in a death grip and struggling to breathe. She looked frantically around her, trying to figure out where she was, but it took her a moment to remember why she wasn’t in her bed. It had been so real, the nightmare she’d just woken from. It was dark and blurred and almost impossible to distinguish, but something about it was so vivid and lifelike she didn’t know that she’d been dreaming.
The feeling from it lingered on her as she sat up in the loft. She remembered the terror she had felt in it…the dread. And she remembered Caden.
All through the dream, she was being torn away from him, and somehow she knew that once he slipped away, she could never get him back.
The familiar stabbing in Kyla’s chest that she had lived with the entire time Caden was in Nashville, it was back again. It took a moment for her to realize it was just a nightmare, but the pain was too familiar. She couldn’t shake it off.
When she couldn’t take it anymore, Kyla threw off her covers and climbed down from the loft.
Scampering barefoot in the rain across the flagstone around the Howell’s pool, she ran for Caden’s bedroom before she gave herself the chance to think about what she was doing. She told herself five distinct times in a thirty-yard stretch to turn around and go back to the house, but her feet weren’t listening to her head. They rarely did.
Ignoring whatever sense she should have possessed when she reached the glass sliding door, she knocked on it quickly and then hugged herself in a failed attempt to keep warm. It may have been summertime, but the mountain rain was cold at night.
Kyla peered into the room through a gap in the curtains, trying to see if he’d woken up. It was too dark for her to see anything, though; in there or out here. The only light she had was coming from the blue glow of the pool. So she knocked a little harder.
This time she saw Caden sit up in his bed at the sound of her knocking, looking somewhat confused and disoriented. He rubbed his face with his hand and looked over at the door, and as soon as he saw her, his fatigued expression fell to a scowl. Kyla had seen that look on him a lot lately. It didn’t make it any easier seeing it now.
Shoving off his covers and getting up out of his bed, Caden made his way angrily across the room. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, but he had on some long black basketball pants; a fact for which Kyla was grateful. When he jerked the door open, she wasn’t sure what she expected him to say, but he only ended up asking her, “Are you serious?”
“No, I’m joking,” she replied sarcastically. “I just felt like freezing to death out here for kicks. Are you gonna let me in or not?”
He stood there as if to debate it for a moment, so Kyla shoved past him and walked into his room. Caden scowled and slid the door shut behind her. She was still hugging herself and looking away from him, not to mention drenching his carpet as she scanned the room compulsively and stood there in a sopping mess.
“Do you have some sort of defect in your brain?” Caden asked her, clicking on the lamp by his dresser. “Some sort of trigger that gets set off at the worst possible times that drives you to do stupid crap like this?”
Kyla told herself not to retaliate, but she couldn’t just stand there and let him insult her either. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say when she turned back around to face him, but whatever it was, it left her the moment her eyes fell on him. She already knew Caden wasn’t wearing a shirt; that much was obvious when he’d gotten out of bed. It really shouldn’t have surprised her, either. In the hundred times they’d gone swimming together in the summer, or played basketball or worked out or been on ten-mile runs…or sometimes when Caden just didn’t feel like wearing one, there were always occasions that arose which left him running around half-clothed. Kyla had never been bothered by it. It was normal for her to see him like that. It just wasn’t normal for her to see him like this.
Back then, he was still a scrawny little kid. Now he, well…wasn’t.
Kyla remembered the last day they spent together swimming in his pool last August. That was the day before he left her. She distinctly recalled teasing him and telling him he needed to “beef up” because he was so skinny. Apparently he had listened to her.
Kyla didn’t realize she was staring until he snapped at her, “What do you want?”
She forced her eyes up to his face again. “I want to talk to you,” she said.
Caden glanced at the clock by his bed and then back at her. “At two in the morning?”
“Well maybe we wouldn’t be doing this at two in the morning if you would stop screening my calls,” she said defensively.
“Can you really blame me for that, Kyla?”
“Yes, I can!” she said.
He scowled and turned away from her, and she was instantly struck with the memory of her dream. She still remembered what it felt like when he was ripped away from her…this boy who stood in front of her now that she could hardly convince herself was really there. And as she stared at him, trembling, she realized what a mistake it would be for her to get defensive right now.
“Caden…” she tried to say.
He snapped at her, “What?” and she tried not to choke up on her words.
“I miss you,” she said quietly.
That was all it took.
Pressing his lips together in frustration, Caden wrinkled his forehead and tried to resist her. She could see what he was doing, how he was trying to act calloused and tough and throw up walls so he wouldn’t have to feel whatever it was he was trying not to feel. But then he dropped his head and looked down at his feet. “Damn it, Kyla…”
Slowly, she uncrossed her arms and took a cautious step closer to him. Caden responded to the gesture by looking up and directly at her for the first time since she’d pushed her way into his room. His eyes started to soften and he tried to fight it when they did, but he didn’t pull them away from her after that. He swallowed hard when he saw that she was soaking wet and shivering, and though that was the least of her concerns right now, Caden obviously felt differently.
Without a word, he grabbed her and pulled her close to him, rubbing her arms up and down as he held her to his chest. He was so warm…so safe. And though she didn’t know why, the second that he touched her, Kyla had to fight off the urge to cry. Something about him holding her again, letting her back into that place he’d been keeping her out of, it came dangerously close to breaking her.
“You know, you’re an idiot for running out in the rain without any clothes on,” he told her.
Kyla laughed and leaned her head against his chest, biting her lip to keep back the emotion that was about to choke her off. Caden’s heart picked up speed when she pressed closer against him. She could feel it in the way he held her, in the way his grip on her tightened, how he was divided against himself. There was a fierceness behind it that she wasn’t used to feeling, like he wanted to hold her…possibly more than he ever had. But then he’d fight himself on it and start to let go, putting the guards back up again that she so utterly despised.
“I’m sorry,” Kyla's voice trembled.
Caden was still angry, but there was a weakness in him that wasn’t there before. He kissed the top of her head as she clung to him, and he stayed there like that for longer than she expected him to. “I’m sorry, too,” he told her.
She wanted to ask him why. She wanted the answers she had come here for, but she wasn’t willing to lose what she’d found instead. Nothing was worth more to her right now than this.
“Caden?” she asked him in a small voice.
“Yeah?”
Kyla shuddered at the thought of going back to the house. “Can I stay with you tonight?”
He hesitated, and suddenly she felt the need to explain herself.
“I just…I need you, Cade.”
He didn’t answer her. Instead he let her go and walked over to his dresser, pulling out the black Sleeping Giant shirt she’d bought him at a concert they went to last summer and tossing it to her one-handed. Kyla caught it shakily, the lump in her throat trying to get back at her.
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
Caden still didn’t respond; he just grabbed another shirt for himself and moved back over to his bed.
Kyla turned around so her back was facing him and pulled her soaking wet shirt over her head. The strappy black sports bra she wore beneath it was soaked equally as much, but that, she would just have to deal with. Tossing her shirt on the ground, she slipped the one Caden gave her over her head; then she turned back to face him.
Caden was sitting with his back against the wall, pressing his fingers to his forehead like he would if he had a headache. Without even asking him, Kyla crawled across the bed and curled up next to him, resting her head on his chest.
Caden sighed and pulled his blanket around her, holding her with one arm as he laughingly whispered, “What are you trying to do to me?”
Kyla smiled and whispered back, “Keep you.”
She looked down at his forearm and her smile started to fade. Then she gently traced his scar with her fingertips, the same way she’d done a hundred other times. She felt his breathing stumble as she lay there in his hold, touching his arm, remembering the past, reminding them both of the first time he’d saved her life.
“Caden?” she said in a small voice.
He swallowed hard. “Yeah?”
“I love you,” Kyla told him.
Then she fell asleep.
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