The Trouble With Three

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I feel like my readers' interest is waning in this story, but I will definitely complete it :)

Chapter 9 – The Heart Wants What It Wants

Kevin appeared tense. “Are you sure you’re okay, Carly?”

Carly nodded a little too quickly. “Yes, yes, I’m fine, Kevin.”

He parked his car in her driveway and peered over at her, his eyebrows furrowing. “Are you upset about the kiss, Carly?”

Carly shook her head, even though the kiss had bothered her – but for entirely different reasons that the ones probably flying through Kevin’s mind at that moment. It was ten to midnight, and Carly was fortunate to live very close to Abagnale Point. She wouldn’t even have to steal her dad’s car and drive there. All she had to do would be to cut across the woods beyond her backyard…in order to meet up with Aaron, then –

“Carly?”

Carly abruptly shook out of her thoughts and brought her eyes back to Kevin. His green eyes flashed before her, but this time, they were devoid of Kevin’s characteristic cockiness. Instead, he looked…unsure and…vulnerable.

“Carly?” Kevin repeated.

How could she do this to Kevin? Carly had told Aaron straight-out that she wasn’t going to choose. Aaron had been the one to persist, and even thought Kevin flirted with her all the time, he hadn’t pursued her with constant questions as to who she really wanted. He had done everything in his power to save her from hurt, and what had she done? The least she could do was be up front with Kevin, and yet…Carly couldn’t see the up side to that either.

“Carly!” Kevin demanded, his tone harsher than before. “Say something!”

Carly’s eyes widened in shock. “We can’t, Kevin.”

A very intense, long silence ensued. Carly didn’t know whether to feel comforted or terrified by it.

“We can’t what?” Kevin’s tone was edged with hostility, seeming to suggest that he knew exactly what Carly was referring to. He probably just wanted to make her deal with the pain of having to admit it out loud.

“You know what I’m talking about! Please don’t make me say it,” Carly pleaded.

“Do you hate me?” Kevin asked, without warning.

Carly blinked. “Of course not.”

“So why can’t we?” he asked. “As I see it, the only problem would be if you hated my guts, and you just said that you don’t.”

“It’s not that simple, Kevin.”

Kevin stared straight ahead. “Do you know how much I thought about you between the time you left and the time you returned?”

Carly was unable to immediately respond. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “No.”

“I was waiting for you, Carl. I knew you’d be back one day because we were destined to be together.” He turned to face her. “When my parents split, that was, like, the toughest time in my life. You walked in and made things better somehow, Carly. I never forgot that.”

Carly knew deep down that Kevin had been thankful for her love and support during his parents’ divorce, but she hadn’t realized the depth of his gratitude until now. Carly opened her mouth to speak when Kevin interrupted.

“That’s when I fell in love with you, Carly.”

She gasped but didn’t say anything. Just as well; Kevin looked like he was ready to pour his heart out anyway.

“I may not have exactly known what love was at that time, Carl, but I know now. And those feelings that I felt for you when we were both in the second grade…nothing’s different. We look different on the outside, but deep down…we’re still the same, sweetheart.”

Kevin’s words eerily reminded Carly of what Aaron had told her just days before, and suddenly, Carly felt torn up inside. She thought that her heart had known what it wanted, but maybe things weren’t as black and white as she had presumed. Maybe Kevin Maguire possessed more layers than she had been led to believe.

“I thought that we’d have a really special night, Carly, but…I don’t want to force anything on you.”

Carly regarded Kevin with slightly teary eyes. She wasn’t going to cry because Kevin would just want to hold her, and she knew exactly where that would lead. Instead, Carly slowly opened the passenger side door of Kevin’s pick-up truck and stepped out. She was so emotionally distraught at the moment that she forgot to thank him for paying for everything and showing her a mostly good time that evening. She had barely made it up her front steps when she heard Kevin backing out of her driveway. He was pissed, she could tell. And why shouldn’t he be? He had basically poured his heart and soul out to her, and she had barely given him a coherent response.

Carly suddenly remembered the midnight engagement she had set with Aaron at Abagnale Point. She hadn’t exactly promised to meet him, so failing to show up wouldn’t exactly be a betrayal to Aaron. Yet, if she did go, she felt like she would be betraying Kevin. Carly shuffled back and forth until she finally made her decision.

She was going straight to bed.

****

Eden lived on the outskirts of her school district. A drive to school took about twenty-five to thirty minutes. Yet, even though walking home would clock in at close to an hour for Eden, she didn’t really mind. She needed the time to stew over everything that had happened that night. What she did mind was that all of a sudden, close to midnight, the rain began to pour down like crazy. Where the fuck did all this rain come from? she thought grumpily to herself. Eden was thankful that her black halter dress only came to her ankles. Unfortunately, between the water and the roads that were now growing a little muddy, her strappy sandals were officially ruined.

She had been having such an awesome time up until the moment that Aaron had kissed Carly. After that, it was safe to say that the night could not be salvaged for Eden. She thought that if Aaron had even seen the effort she had put into getting ready for the dance, that he might fall in love with her or something. The thought made Eden cringe, and she swore inwardly at her own stupidity.

When Eden had decided that she was ready to go home, she caught a glimpse of Dean talking it up with one of his friends. He was hanging around his circle of friends, which coincidentally, included many of Eden’s friends, as well. But after witnessing the events of earlier this evening, Eden could not stand to socialize with anyone. She didn’t want to wreck Dean’s good time either, so she lied and told him that she was bumming a ride from another friend. Dean had offered to drive Eden home, but she didn’t want to be responsible for making someone else suffer a horrible evening.

The rain was really pelting down now. Eden hadn’t bothered with a coat or anything, so the rain mixed with the cold air was beginning to chill her severely. Her hair was probably starting to stick to her face, and her make-up was, no doubt, beginning to run. Eden was still another fifteen, twenty minutes from her home, so she willed herself to think about something happy and warm.

Just then, a pair of headlights flashed behind her. Eden panicked. Walking alone on a dark, rainy night as a car approached…she had seen too many horror movies to be comfortable in this situation. She began moving toward the side of the road, closer to the trees, but the dirt floor was growing muddy. She eventually retreated back to the asphalt, and the headlights loomed ever so closer. Eden tried to ignore the fact that a car was behind her. Maybe if she didn’t acknowledge its presence, the driver wouldn’t bother her. She just wanted to be alone and miserable right now.

The car stopped; Eden sensed it. The lights were still on. She continued to walk forward when she heard a car door opening. She picked up her pace, never turning to look at who had just exited his or her vehicle.

“Eden?” a voice called out.

It was a male voice, and he obviously knew her name. Okay, she couldn’t take it anymore. Eden slowly turned. She had to shield her eyes from the blinding headlights that belonged to a familiar red, pick-up truck. A sudden feeling of dread formed in the pit of Eden’s stomach because even though she couldn’t clearly identify the figure who had just emerged from the truck, she knew who this car belonged to.

Fuck!

****

Why the hell was Eden Halliwell walking along a dark, wet road on her own? Kevin was pissed, but he didn’t want to see someone he knew freezing to death…even if it was Eden. He parked his truck, keeping the wipers and the headlights on. Afterwards, Kevin opened his door and got out.

“Eden?” he called out.

She stopped and slowly turned. Her arm flew to cover her eyes from the harsh headlights of his truck. Several seconds passed before an unhappy look appeared on Eden’s face. She didn’t say anything, so Kevin continued.

“What are you doing here, alone?”

“Taking a walk,” she answered, as if that was a perfectly normal answer.

“In this weather?” Kevin shouted incredulously. Eden didn’t have anything to say in response. Kevin didn’t want to be stuck out in this weather with the heavy rain beating down on his nice suit, so he offered an olive branch. “Do you need a ride home?”

It was hard to tell, being so far from her, but Kevin detected a flicker of surprise cross Eden’s features. It lasted roughly five seconds before the usual look of disdain reappeared on her face.

“Just leave me alone!” she shouted back at him. Eden abruptly turned and began walking again. Kevin grew frustrated. Here he was being a complete gentleman after suffering the worst night of his life, and Eden Halliwell was still being a total bitch, as usual. He didn’t have time for this. He angrily climbed back into his truck and was about to slam the door shut when he heard a scream.

He turned to the only potential source of the sound and found that Eden had fallen. She was on her hands and knees and appeared to be unable to rise. Kevin swore before climbing back out of his truck. He left his driver’s side door open before running to Eden’s side.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m f-fine,” Eden gritted through her teeth without looking up at Kevin. She was still on her hands and knees. It almost looked as if she was struggling to get up.

“Do you need help?”

“I said I was fine!” she snapped. Eden struggled for a few more minutes before she swore out loud and settled on her butt. She began massaging her ankle.

“Is it broken?” Kevin asked.

“How the hell should I know?” she snapped again. “Didn’t I ask you to leave me alone?”

“You want me to leave you alone on a dark, deserted, wet road while you deal with a potentially broken ankle?”

Eden’s ensuing reaction proved that even she knew she was being unreasonable. Kevin figured he had convinced her. Not knowing what else to do, Kevin crouched down with his back to Eden.

“Climb on,” he instructed.

“What?” she asked, mortified.

“You can’t walk right now, can you?”

Kevin remained in his stance and waited several more silent seconds before he felt Eden’s weight descend over him. She circled her arms over his shoulders and around his neck. He stood and secured Eden on his back before urging her to wrap her legs around his waist. When it proved difficult, Kevin took the liberty of pulling her dress up slightly to free her legs. Eden gasped indignantly at the gesture but was pretty powerless to fight back. Kevin carried her over to the passenger side of his truck.

“Open the door.”

For once, Eden obeyed him. Once the door was opened, Kevin released her onto the seat. Once she had settled in, he shut the door. He raced over to the other side and climbed into his car. He sighed before running his hand through his now-wet hair. Kevin ventured a look over at his damsel in distress.

Not surprisingly, she was staring straight ahead and sulking.

****

Carly thought that she would be able to sleep, but that had been a huge miscalculation on her part. It was already a quarter after twelve, and all she could really think about was whether Aaron was still waiting for her at Abagnale Point or whether he had given up.

She also couldn’t stop thinking about how she had left things with Kevin. She had hurt him badly, and he was probably pissed off as hell at her. She wondered if Kevin had also retreated to his house to stew over how unfair he thought Carly was being.

Carly sat up in her bed and stared out of her bedroom window. The rain had started just as soon as she had made it inside of her house. As it continued to fall outside, Carly realized that Aaron could still be waiting outside, his tux getting drenched as he anticipated Carly’s “arrival.” She pulled her covers aside and rose to her feet. It was getting cold, and if she continued to think about the rain, she would continue to feel sorry for Aaron, who would be waiting for her at Abagnale Point to no avail. She walked over to the window to shut it.

“Don’t scream,” a low, male voice ordered. A shadowy figure made its way through Carly’s window, and she turned to run away. Carly opened her mouth to scream out of feminine instinct. The intruder was on her within two seconds, and he successfully marred Carly’s screams as his hand clamped over her mouth. “It’s me, Carly.”

Carly turned abruptly and found that she was staring into the eyes of Aaron. “Aaron? What are you doing here?”

“You didn’t show up…I got worried.”

Now, Carly felt extremely bad about her blatant no-show at Abagnale Point. “I was tired, Aaron.”

He looked skeptical. “Are you sure that’s the reason why?”

Carly didn’t really feel like answering that question, so she took the moment to observe Aaron. His black curls had a life of their own after being pelted by the rain. He was still clad in his formal wear, save for his tuxedo jacket. He’d undone the top few buttons of his dress shirt also, and his shirtsleeves were rolled up to just below the elbows. Droplets of rain ran in rivulets down his hard, chiseled face.

“Where’s our good friend, Kevin?”

Carly arched an eyebrow. “Why do you care? He’s obviously not here.”

Aaron shrugged his shoulders, trying to mask the uncharacteristic smugness that was oozing from every pore of his being. “Just making sure he’s all right.”

Carly rolled her eyes. “Well, he’s fine. He’s probably safe at home right now, so you can stop worrying.”

Aaron didn’t move. Carly was growing a little too weirded out by his inaction.

“That means you can go home, Aaron.”

He still didn’t budge. Instead, he walked closer to Carly, closing the gap between them. He gripped her arms in his hands and moved his face closer to hers.

“I can’t go home, Carly,” he whispered.

A chill raced down Carly’s spine. “You have to, Aaron.”

“Why?” he asked, like a petulant child.

“Because if you stay here, we’d be betraying Kevin.”

“Kevin’s been with a ton of girls, Carly. And you know why? Because he couldn’t wait for you. But…” he cupped Carly’s face in his hands, ”…you’re the only one for me, Carly Brooks. It’s literally impossible for me to be with anyone else, Carly. I waited for you, sweetheart, and right now, I want you…I need you, Carly.”

Before she had a chance to ask questions or protest, Aaron’s mouth descended over Carly’s lips, and he kissed her with the pent-up passion from all those years of unrequited love.

****