lifeline ⇾ kai parker

37┃memory lane

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"I DON'T KNOW WHICH IS WORSE: being the one forgotten or being the one that can't remember," Mila says, turning away the TV screen playing the credits of The Notebook and looking over at Kai. "I mean, I know forgot you but that was temporary. It lasted a day. Imagine having to go through that for years."

He is seated closely beside her. His arms are cradling a pillow and his head is tilted up towards the ceiling. If it wasn't for the glaze to his eyes that reflected blue light and the fact he would have started distracting her with touchy gestures and excessive talking, she would have mistaken his response to the movie as boredom.

After dealing with the impromptu drama at the school and her own brief kidnapping, they desperately needed a night in. Kai had spent a couple of hours doing secretive wedding planning that he refused to let her in on, she had gone shopping for a wedding dress, and they reunited back at her parents house. With the living room to themselves, a bottle of wine opened, and an impressive amount of popcorn digested, they lounged on the couch for the rest of the evening.

Mila had recently taken up the challenge on seeing which movies could get him to cry. Outside of their relationship, Kai was still pretty much emotionally deficient and it baffled her at how much he shrugged off so many awful things. She wasn't the most sensitive person, either, but she wanted to make sure she wasn't marrying the Tin Man. Besides, if he wanted that miracle baby he brought up now and again, he would need to work on his compassion.

Kai rolls his neck over the couch cushion to face her. His eyes are in fact watery like she'd guessed, but he doesn't look upset. There's a dreamy way to how he gazes at her. Like they were both angels laying among the clouds or children chasing each other through an open field of wildflowers. He expressed a different side of his emotions, one that seemed to liberate both of their souls.

"Being the one who forgets. That's worse. They say what you don't know can't hurt you, but it does. It's like the universe is playing this cruel joke you're not in on, and it steers you away from the one thing that makes you happy," Kai answers in the form of a hush whisper. One side of his mouth curls up to form a slight but undeniably fond smile.

"You sap," Mila resorts. "I guessed you liked the movie, then?"

"Eh. It was alright. I've seen better. Could've used robots or aliens or at least some ninjas. Watching some rich girl and poor boy take eight hours to take their clothes off just to have the most awkward sex ever is not the kind of action I wanted."

"Please. During our first time you were just like Allie. You couldn't stop talking."

"Hey, I was talking dirty. There's a difference. I was being hot."

"I could've used some earplugs."

"You mean some crutches. Yeah, if I remember correctly, you had trouble walking after," Kai resorted with lifted eyebrows. He leans in closer to her until they're foreheads were threatening to touch.

She snorts. "You most definitely do not remember correctly."

The humor eases from his features, which only intensifies the affection radiating from him. He blinks slowly, almost as if he were in a daze, but his eyes held irrevocable clarity. Her heart thumps like a drum in response, steady but booming as it awakens her entire being.