Temporary Home

Kevin offered to give me a ride home, so I txt Brian to let him know that we'd be coming. Jake, Beth, and Devin were coming with us. Then Derek, Carson, Joe were going in Ben's car. I hadn't told any of them other than Kevin about my family. Let's just say this was going to be interesting.

I walked through the front door and everyone followed. "Guys! We're here!" I called, closing the door behind everyone.

"Kitchen!" Zacky yelled.

I led all of them to the kitchen and awaited what was to come next. "You have a really nice- holy shit!" Joe stopped mid-sentence. Kevin and I tried holding back our laughs as he looked at the guys with huge eyes. The rest of the group looked to see what he was stunned about. Soon, their faces were the same.

Brian and the others just looked at the group. "Kels? Are you going to introduce us?" Brian asked.

"Oh, sorry." I stopped laughing and cleared my throat. "Family, this is Beth, Devin, Ben, Joe, Kevin, Carson, Jake, and Derek." I pointed to everyone as they still stood there in shock. "And I'm pretty sure you guys know who they are."

"Why aren't you shocked?" Derek asked Kevin.

"Because I knew." Kevin smirked. Beth suddenly punched him in the arm. "Ow! Dammit, Woman! If you weren't a girl..."

"Yeah, you keep thinking that, Hun." Beth laughed, crossing her arms.

"Ha, I like her," Leana said.

"She's pretty cool," I said, putting my arm around Beth's shoulders.

"I guess you're pretty cool too," Beth said, wrapping her arm around my waist.

"Aw, I feel left out now." Joe pouted.

I smiled. "Come here, Joe." I held out my other arm and he ran over.

"Ok, I'm good now." I just laughed.

"Anyways, you wanted to meet them, here they are," I said to Brian.

We hung around the house so that the adults could get to know my new friends. The girls kept giving Kevin and I looks and smirking. I just glared at them. About three hours later, we were on our way to Joe's house.

"Is there anyone else coming tonight?" I asked Beth as we were getting food ready in the kitchen.

"Yeah. Pretty much anyone we know that wants to come. My cousin might be coming too. You'll love her."

"Cool. Can't wait."

"Hide me!" Joe screamed, running behind Beth and I as Carson and Kevin came running in after him.

"What'd you do this time, Joe?" Beth asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," He said, smiling innocently.

"Bullshit!" Kevin and Carson yelled at the same time.

"Let me guess, he pranked you guys again?" Beth asked, putting her hand on her hip.

"Ha, yeah." Joe smiled, looking proud.

"I don't want to know," Beth said, going back to what she was doing.

"Aw, guys. Leave poor Joe alone," I said, keeping him behind me.

"Suckas! She's on my side! Take that!" Joe laughed.

Kevin started walking towards me slowly with a smirk on his face. "Kels... Why would you hide him? We won't hurt him. We just want to repay him." Damn, that charm was working. No! Bad Kels! "C'mon, please." He was barely inches away from me, and our eyes were locked.

"Gotcha!" Carson yelled, throwing Joe over his shoulder.

"Ah! No! Beth! Kels! Come on, guys!" Kevin smirked and started backing away.

"Thanks, Kels," he said, before turning around and following Carson. I looked over at Beth and she didn't look happy.

"What?" I asked confused.

"Do you like Kevin?" She randomly asked.

"What? I've just met him. How could I like him?"

"Just... Don't fall for him, ok, Kels?"

And there goes the happiness. "Sure."

"AH!!! They're gonna kill me!" Joe screamed, running through the kitchen and out the back door. The disturbing thing was he was only in his boxers. Then Carson and Kevin were chasing after him with, what looked like, sharpies.

"I don't want to know, do I?" I asked Beth.

"It's better if you just ignore them," she said, laughing.

"Do you know what Joe did this time?" Devin asked as he walked in laughing.

"Nope."

"He put itching powder in their boxers." Ben explained, walking in after him.

"Priceless!"

For the next few hours, I couldn't help but think about what was so wrong with liking Kevin? There had to be a reason behind Beth not wanting me to. I knew she didn't like him, because she had her eyes set on Derek. God, why is being a teenager so confusing!

Everyone who was coming to the party, started showing up at around nine. I was out sitting by the bonfire on a log. I just loved watching the flames. "Hey, cutie," Kevin said, sitting down next to me.

"Hey."

"Why are you sitting all by yourself?"

I shrugged. "No reason. Just like the fire." He nodded, then went silent. It was a comfortable silence.

"Kels, can I tell you something?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I know I just met you a few days ago, but I feel like I can already tell you anything. Like I could tell you my deepest, darkest secrets and you wouldn't judge me... You don't find people like that really anymore."

"Well, I guess it's because I never really had anyone to talk to as I grew up. So I want to be that person someone can go to talk. Call me weird, but I like helping people." He smiled, but didn't say anything. He just continued to stare.

Suddenly, it felt like everything was in slow motion. He was slowly leaning into me. I was caught by surprise, but then started to react. Just as our lips were about to touch, "Kevin!" A high pitched voice squealed. Yes, squealed. Way to screw up a moment.

Kevin jumped up and spun around. "Bridg! You're back," he said in shock.

"Duh! Now, are you going to give your girlfriend a kiss or not?" She asked.

"Girlfriend?" He did not just play me.

"Kels, I-"

I stood up shaking my head. "Save it, Jackass." I turned and went back to the house. I went up to one of the rooms and closed the door. I sat on the bed and pulled out my phone. Maybe this was a mistake. It was too good to be true.

Just as I was about to call Jimmy, someone opened the door... And it wasn't who I wanted to see. "Looks like you read my mind."

"Fuck off, Colton." I hissed, heading to the door, but he caught me.

"Now what did I tell you about that?" He growled, tightening his grip on me. "It's time for me to get what I want." He threw me on the bed and held me down with his weight. I struggled, but it was no use. "Go ahead, try to scream for help," he said, pulling out a knife. From then on, I knew it was useless. I just tried blocking everything out.

A few hours later, he left. I just lay in the bed, wondering what I did to deserve this. Before he could come back, I got up and put my clothes back on. He had left a few bruises, but those would heal.

I slowly made my way down the stairs and out the door. I went unnoticed, and started my journey home. When I got there, I was lucky everyone was already asleep. I snuck up to my room and locked the door. Before I could go to bed, I took a long, hot shower.

As I just stood under the steaming water, I let everything play through my head over and over again... It was starting again. I could feel it. I was going to relapse just like last time... After I worked so hard... But that silver edge was just so tempting. It was my only true friend. It knew how to make things go away. It knew how to erase memories. It didn't need to know the right things to say. It knew perfectly well what to do to make things go away.