Inside Your Heaven

Chapter 16: Need You Now

A/N: I finally made my update!!! Enjoy!

"It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now. Said I wouldn't call, but I've lost all control and I need you now. And I don't know how I can do without, I just need you now." ~Lady Antebellum

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All Kate was trying to do was cut a tomato for her sandwich. Her counter tops were too high for her to raise her left arm on top to be able to hold the fruit in place. So she carefully placed it on the cutting board and balanced it just right. Picking up the knife, she attempted to slice it in half, but just as she put pressure on the knife the tomato rolled off of the board.

The knife clattered to the counter and Kate took in a sharp breath. Saying she was frustrated was an understatement. She ran a hand through her long, brown curls and gave up on the tomato. She'd just eat her lunch without it.

Grabbing the mayo container, she placed it in her left hand that stuck out of the opening of her sling. In a struggle to unscrew the cover, she winced when squeezed the container too tight and the mayonnaise crashed to the floor. The lid cracked and it spilled all over.

Her face fell and she cushioned her forehead against the counter using her good arm. So much for making a sandwich, she thought. She wanted to cry or scream or laugh. She'd never not been able to take care of herself. Now look at her, mayo was spilt haphazardly across her kitchen floor and the still uncut tomato was rolling dangerously close to the edge of the counter.

She left the kitchen in search of her phone. Ignoring the texts and calls from Rick, she dialed the number of her favorite takeout place. She was over trying to make lunch herself, it just wasn't working.

While she waited, she relaxed against her couch and scrolled through Rick's texts. They were all variations of "call me if you need anything" and "I miss you". She let a small smile stretch across her face, but only for a second as she laid her phone to the side without giving him any reply.

She missed him, she really did, but if her shooting did anything, other than make her incapable of everyday tasks, it proved to her just how much she cared for Rick. She was falling hard and fast, and that scared her to no end. She just needed to take a step back, gain her composure again. She needed to focus on her life and bettering herself before she brought Rick and Alexis into the situation.

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Kate sunk down into the bubble bath and breathed in the sweet lavender scent. Her bliss was interrupted from the loud ring of her phone. Luckily, she was able to reach it with her good arm and she looked at the screen. Rick, again.

He wasn't going to stop calling her until she picked up, so she pushed her anxiety aside and swiped right to answer the call.

"Hey, Rick," she answered.

"Kate!" the young redhead's voice traveled through the line, "It's you! It's actually you!"

Kate's heart swelled at Alexis' excitement. "Hi, Pumpkin."

Alexis jumped into a story about her and Rick's adventure at the beach the day earlier. "And then Daddy sent me on a scavenger hunt for all kinds of seashells! I found so many, Kate! In all sorts of pretty colors!"

Kate chuckled at her excitement, but she felt a pang of sadness too. What was she doing avoiding him like this? Avoiding her? In an instant she didn't want to see her life without this small family. With complete sincerity Kate finally replied to Alexis' story, "That sounds amazing, Lex. I wish I could've been there."