Kitten [18+] ✔️

Ch. 31 - Katherine

I felt like my face might never return to its normal hue, sitting in the ER with Victor refusing to let go of my hand, pressing kisses to it every so often, calling me Katie. He's definitely got something wrong with his head if he's acting like this after I admitted to actively trying to sabotage his marriage.

But we weren't going to talk about it right now. I wasn't in any state to think that, not only did Victor actually forgive me, but that he'd tormented me as a kid because he liked me. It was the kind of thing you'd see in a TV show; boys didn't actually pick on girls they liked, right? And now he wanted to act like everything was just fine...

No, I was the one who didn't want to talk about it. I was the one keeping things from being fine.

"Victor Delaney?"

I looked up as a nurse called out his name, yelping as I was unceremoniously pulled out of my seat when he stood. "You can't get an x-ray on your own?" I muttered, trying to cover up the heat in my cheeks as we followed the older woman through the sterile hospital halls hand-in-hand.

"Nope," he hummed in return, squeezing my hand in his and leaning close to my ear. "I need you."

He's insufferable. Why does it make my heart skip a beat when he's so obstinate?

It turned out Victor had multiple fractures – no clear breaks, but enough damage to need his entire right hand put into a cast past his wrist. At least it didn't need surgery, eyeing the blue fiberglass as we left with a nifty painkiller prescription and an appointment to come back next week for another x-ray.

By the time we left the hospital, it was so late that it was early, blinking bleary eyes at the hazy blue hue of the sky as we found our way back to the car. I wanted nothing more than to just sleep, but I put up with the stop at the pharmacy where – again – Victor refused to let go of my hand.

"I'll have to teach you to punch when that's better," I huffed, looking away as he wrapped the injured appendage around my back, pulling me close in the elevator of his building.

Puffs of laughter against my hair had my face warming further, heartbeat spiking at the intimate hold in such an enclosed space. "So, you'll see me again?" he teased, laughing when I lifted my free hand to punch his chest lightly.

"You're an ass," I muttered, refusing to look up at him. I was just helping him because I felt responsible. He wouldn't have gotten hurt if it weren't for me. And I'd lied to him for so long, and ruined his marriage; I owed him for that, didn't I? That was why I was here, why I was letting him hug me, hold my hand, kiss my hair...

"Can we talk about it now?"

Blinking up at him in shock as the elevator doors slid open, I just stared at his face dumbly while he led me out into the hall. "It's late - early - is this really the best time?" I stumbled out, swallowing as he let go of my hand to grab his apartment key. I'm just going to help him settle in, I'm not staying, he just needs some help with only one good hand.

"You're going to avoid it if we don't," he shrugged, shoving the door open before taking my hand again. "And really, I'd probably avoid it too."

This is a damn nice place.

I hardly had time to look around before finding my back pressed against the door, caged in by Victor as he stared me down with the unbelievably blue eyes that I'd missed so much. I swallowed, looking away and nodding before I could be tempted to taste the lips I'd missed too. 

"Might as well then."

Sparks spread across my skin as he pressed his lips to my neck, biting back a whine as he trailed barely-there kisses up the sensitive skin. "I liked Katie," he murmured, positive he could feel how hot my cheeks were as he pressed a kiss to one. "I wanted to know more about you, why you avoided everyone, why you always looked so sad. I wanted to hug you, hear you talk, see you smile..."