Forever Is Fine

It’d been almost a week since Tanner had last heard from Destery, and if he were being completely honest - it worried him a little. From the normal amount of time between letters, Tanner knew that Des must reply to his letters the very same day that she received them - something that he himself did.

There were so many logical reasons behind the lack of letters that Tanner could think up. The girl was very focused on her studies, so maybe that was it. As much as Tanner told himself a hundred times over that there were rational and logical reasoning’s behind the silence, there was still a small voice, buried deep in the back of his brain, that was telling him something had happened; that something was wrong.

___________

What had possessed Tanner to kiss Kat that other night, he would never know. And now, he was truthfully starting to regret it.

She was everywhere. Sitting next to him in their classes, eating lunch with him, tagging along as he walked home from school. He could not get rid of her. He did draw the line, however, at her coming in. There was no way anyone could see his mother in her after-school state.

It seemed as though, before the kiss, Kat knew her boundaries. She knew what topics were off limits. But now, it appeared Kat knew no limits.

“Tanner, how would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow night? My parents are really interested in meeting you.,” Kat said, one Tuesday after school as the two walked home.

It was all Tanner could do to keep from spitting back out the water he was drinking. Her parents? She had already told her parents about him?

“Oh, wow, Kat. You’ve, uh… You’ve already told your parents about me?”

She shrugged. “Yeah. They were curious about who I’d been spending all my time with lately. So I told them it was you. But don’t worry,” she added quickly, almost as an afterthought. “I didn’t tell them that you were my boyfriend or anything. I just told them that we were hanging out.”

And as quick as that, she was tugging on his heart strings again. He heard it in her voice - her failed attempt to be nonchalant and the slight twinge of hope that Tanner was going to make the first move and make things more serious with her. But Tanner knew that would never be a reality for them.

He had his sister to take care of, a drunken mother to deal with and school to focus on. His grades were in no danger of slipping anytime soon, but it was a worry of his that spending too much time with Kat and less time with his books, would lead to his guaranteed spot as valedictorian to be taken away. He couldn’t risk that.

Letting out a slow breath that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, Tanner stopped walking and turned to Kat. “Listen, before I agree to go to this dinner, I need to tell you something. I like being your friend. I like that we’re friends. And that’s what I need right now - a friend.”

“Not a girlfriend,” replied Kat, slowly.

Tanner nodded. “Exactly. And I know that it was stupid of me to kiss you the other day, when I knew that I had no intentions of getting into anything serious with you. That’s my fault and I know that. And I’m sorry.”

Kat was quiet for a moment as she mulled over Tanner’s words. “It’s okay, Tanner,” she said, finally, looking up at him. “I know when we first started hanging out that you weren’t looking for a girlfriend. I knew that. And I let myself think that you were. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Tanner replied, smiling, relieved that his feelings were finally out in the open. “I’d still like to come to dinner though, if the invite is still there.”

Kat smiled, pushing a stray curl behind her ear. “Of course it is. I would love to have you come for dinner, Tanner.”

“That’s good,” he responded, wrapping an arm around her slim shoulders. “Because I had full intentions of showing up anyway.”