Future (Kavi/Scomiche)

Confusion

The sound of the front door quietly shutting woke Avi, making him shoot up into a sitting position from where he'd been laying on the couch. Olaf was sitting across the room, seemingly grinning at him, reassuring him that the events of yesterday had actually happened.

Avi groaned at the stiffness in his neck while he looked around for Kirstie. He padded into the kitchen and found a simple note on the table, written in Kirstie's neat print:

Avi,

As a thank you for taking me in yesterday, I decided to go grocery shopping to restock the kitchen. It's the least I could do, considering what you did for me yesterday. I hope you don't mind watching Olaf while I'm gone. He really likes you, so I don't think he'll give you too much trouble! I'll be back around five. I want to clear my head. Call me if you need something!

Kirstie

He felt a bit better about yesterday since Kirstie seemed to be handling it as well as could be expected. Avi went back into the living room and sat down by Olaf, who'd relocated himself on top of a pile of blankets on the couch. He reached out and petted the husky absently and turned the TV on. "I think Kirstie will be alright, don't you?"

Olaf stared back at Avi blankly, causing the man to roll his eyes. "I'm going crazy. I don't know why I was expecting you to answer me." Olaf just wagged his tail a bit and turned away, seemingly done with the "conversation." Avi turned his gaze forward and tried to focus on whatever show was playing but his mind kept wandering back to Kirstie.

He'd never seen Kirstie cry like she had the day before. The sight of her tears had made him irrationally angry, confusing him more than he already had been. Why did it hurt so badly to see her in that state? He'd seen other friends cry and he'd been sympathetic, although their tears didn't make him want to punch something.

The fact that he wanted to punch something, at all, was a surprise. He'd never been prone to any sort of violence nor was he prone to anger quickly, at least under normal circumstances. He was usually the sort that would much rather just talk through problems and get them solved without the violence.

Olaf nudged Avi's arm with his nose, breaking the man from his train of thought. He'd quit petting the dog while thinking and Olaf was clearly not pleased about it. Avi grinned at the furry dog and resumed his petting, pushing thoughts of Kirstie away to examine at a later time. After a few more minutes of mindless TV, Avi had drifted back to sleep.

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Kirstie loaded the groceries into her backseat quickly, ready to get back to Avi's house. She'd spent much more than she normally would for groceries but didn't regret it. Not only was she trying to restock the food at Avi and Kevin's house but she wanted to make Avi a homemade meal tonight. Cooking had always been something she enjoyed, so she figured it would be a good way to thank him for being such a good friend.

She paused at that thought. Friend. Something about that didn't set well with her but she wasn't sure what. He undoubtedly was her friend but was that it? Calling him her friend felt so shallow. Even calling him one of her best friends still felt off somehow. She decided to think about her confused feelings towards her bandmate later and pushed them to the back of her mind.

Her thoughts shifted towards her, now, ex-boyfriend. She'd been shocked yesterday but today she'd expected to feel hurt. Instead, she didn't really feel anything towards him other than disappointment. Maybe she hadn't been so in love with him after all. She'd been trying all morning to remember why she had loved him but nothing came up. Instead, her thoughts turned to all of his flaws. He was dramatic, he whined more than the average person, apparently he cheated and had no respect for her, and to top it all off, she was pretty sure that she was braver than he was. Call her sexist, but she wanted her boyfriend to make her feel safe and protected, something Eric had never made her feel. She wondered how hard it would be to find out who had been with him yesterday. Maybe she could send them a thank you note for making her realize she deserved better.

Kirstie parked in front of Avi's house and glanced at the clock on the dashboard and smiled. She was right on schedule. She jumped out of the car and grabbed as many bags as possible before shuffling up the walkway and into the quiet house. The sound of the TV quietly playing in the living room seemed to call to her. She smiled at the sight of Avi sprawled on the couch asleep with Olaf molded to his side. She wondered if he'd really managed to sleep nearly the entire day away or if he'd woken up at some point. Quietly, she backed out and retrieved the rest of the groceries from her car.

Once she'd gotten everything sorted and stored, she set to work on dinner: pasta with homemade spaghetti sauce and garlic toast. Soon, the smell of homemade sauce filled with tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and onion filled the kitchen, along with the heady smell of frying ground beef. The noodles were boiling in a pot of water on the back eye of the stove, although it would be a while yet until they were done to her liking.

Kirstie had just set to work making garlic toast when Avi stumbled into the kitchen, looking thoroughly rumpled and confused. His voice was deeper than usual, groggy from sleep. "Um... what's going on?" He paused for a moment and spoke again. "It smells great in here, by the way."

His hair was down from the usual bun, leaving it to frame his face like a lion's mane. Kirstie smiled at him, thinking he looked adorable. Again, the word "friend" rang through her mind, making her forcefully squash any and all thoughts of Avi being adorable. She tossed him a smile before he realized anything was wrong. "I thought I'd make dinner for us. I got all sorts of stuff while I was gone and this was something that I could just whip up kind of quick."

She popped the toast in the oven and set a timer on her phone for ten minutes before taking a seat at the kitchen table, motioning for Avi to do the same. "I hope you like spaghetti. I used to make this with my mom pretty often but I haven't made it in years. Hopefully it'll be edible."

He cracked a smile. "I'm sure it'll be fine, if the smell is anything to go by." He popped his neck, still trying to shake the sleep from his system. "You can bake some pretty amazing stuff, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised you can cook normal food well, too."

Kirstie felt herself blush and sent a nervous smile his way. "Thanks." Unsure of what else to say, she sat quietly and stared out the window and watched as the occasional car would pass by. "I don't think I was as in love as I thought."

She heard Avi's chair squeak a bit and turned to see him leaning towards her a bit, his eyes questioning her. "What do you mean by that?" His voice was low and soothing, as if he were talking to a startled and frightened wild animal.

She shrugged. "I thought it would hurt more. Yesterday, I was so shocked that I didn't really know what to feel. I mean, yeah, I was angry but I think it was more because he went behind my back than anything else." Kirstie stood up from her spot and walked to the stove and stirred the noodles and sauce, then turned around and leaned against the counter to face the man still sitting at the table. "I tried to figure out what I loved about him this morning and couldn't actually come up with anything. I could come up with plenty of reasons to not love him but that was it. I think that relationship was already dead; yesterday was just the final nail in the coffin."

Avi was looking at her strangely, almost sheepishly. "So, you're not going to burst into tears or anything are you?" Kirstie glared at him and he held his hands up. "Just asking. I'm not good with tears."

Kirstie spoke before she could stop herself. "You were yesterday." She cringed as soon as the words had left her mouth. If she knew Avi, and she liked to think she did, then she knew that he really didn't like to be put on the spot like she'd just done to him.

An awkward silence filled the kitchen, making Kirstie want to slap herself. Avi looked as if he were looking for an escape route. Not wanting things to get weird between them, Kirstie spoke again. "Really, though. Thanks for yesterday. I didn't exactly mean to have a meltdown on you but well... Just, thanks."

The timer on her phone saved them from the oppressive silence. Avi jumped up from his seat and headed towards the door. "I'm gonna go change into some real clothes. I'll be back in a minute."

Kirstie cursed under her breath. She really hadn't meant to scare him off. If she'd had any idea that he was going to react like that, she wouldn't have said anything. Preoccupied with her sudden inner turmoil, she stupidly reached into the oven and grabbed the pan of toast without any sort of protection from the heat. All thoughts of awkwardness left her mind, replaced by a searing pain on her left hand.