Walking Corpse

chapter nine

May 1, 2005

"It's just lunch with Scott, don't stress yourself out about this," Kai tells Dakota who was tapping her fingers against the armrest of the wooden chair.

She breathes out deeply and looks at him, "Yeah but Scott is the person who looks after you. He's like your father as Kate is my mother. You were just as stressed when you were going to meet Kate, we weren't even dating at that time."

"You make your point but you'll be fine. I'll warn you, though, that Scott may discuss some things that are unsettling."

"Such as?"

"Just prepare yourself also he'll probably ask a lot of questions."

Dakota rolls her eyes at him which causes him to smile instinctively. He crosses his leg and looks through the menu quickly. She links her arms through his right arm and looks through it briefly with him.

"So have you found anything on your parents?" Kai asks and sets the menu down.

"Not really and Kate won't tell me anything either," She answers quietly while brushing down his sleeve.

Not knowing what to say, he changes the topic, "Want to get something to share?"

She nods and leans against his arm as they look through the menu again, "Let's just go for something light."

"I wasn't planning on getting a full meal, probably wouldn't even finish eating," Kai implies setting the menu down.

"Have you been eating enough?" She moves back to look at him.

"I mean I'm not keeping track but I would think so," He tilts his head pondering what his meals have been like lately.

Before Dakota can say anything, Scott accompanied by a caregiver, walks through the gate and towards their table. She grips onto Kai's hand for a bit of comfort but reluctantly lets go when he has to shake hands with Scott. She then shakes hands with Scott who seemed to be observing her.

"Now, where did Kai meet such a beautiful woman?" Scott chuckles as he sits.

"Must've been luck," She keeps the conversation light and laughs a bit, "It's finally nice to meet you. Kai speaks highly of you."

"Likewise, all he does is talk about you," Scott smiles then turns to speak to the caregiver, "Thank you, I'll send Kai to tell you when we're finished."

"Alright, I'm going to go buy us some drinks," Kai shakes his head and gets up to head to the bar. It was the one thing she didn't want him to do. She was only hoping Scott wouldn't give her a speech about being with Kai.

"How did you meet Kai?" Scott starts with his questions immediately.

"At a drive-in on the night of our graduation," Dakota answers and smiles thinking back to it.

"Ah, yes, I recall that night. We were going to celebrate but then he had a change of mind and wanted to go out to see a movie. Also told me he might try to talk to a few people."

"That must've come off as a surprise to you seeing as he's not generally the one to be doing those kinds of things."

"It was. I do wonder now if his change of mind that night was because of you."

She tilts her head slightly at this and questions him, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, Kai has always felt something for you since high school. It only started off as him noticing you but eventually grew into loving the person you were. I believe he actually fell in love with you during the last year and he's waited this long for you. It's incredible to see how much you've both grown with each other," Scott tells of his perspective.