Consumed » Kai Parker

Forty One

"I'm just saying mistletoe kisses are supposed to be, you know, awkward when they're with a just-friend and that wasn't."

Scoffing, I avoid Bonnie's scrutiny and swirl the red straw around the thick chocolate milkshake filling the glass set in front of me.

After the belated-Christmas dinner, Bonnie, Liv, Caroline, and I decided to change out of our hideous sweaters and go out for milkshakes at the ice cream parlor near campus. Though my original plans were to head back to my dorm and fall into a deep slumber, Caroline protested that it was "only nine p.m! On a Saturday!" We tried to get Elena to join, but my sister already had plans to spend the night with Damon.

"How would you know if I felt awkward or not? I was the one kissing him, not you."

Liv groans, forehead falling into her free palm that wasn't cradling her root beer float. "Ugh, I still can't believe you kissed my brother. I never thought I'd have to even suffer through this gross best-friend-and-brother situation since Luke would've–" she clears her throat and I glance up from my milkshake, frowning at the way she appears to be struggling to continue, for reasons that have much less to do with her disgust over me kissing Kai and more to do with the fact that she brought up her twin.

After taking a long sip from her beverage, she goes on, "Since he would've never been into you, cause you know, he doesn't–didn't swing that way."

Her palm drops from her forehead to the tabletop and I reach over to cover her hand with mine. She gives me a grateful smile.

"Yet here I am, living this horrifying nightmare with the brother I'd never thought I'd see again."

I roll my eyes, chuckling. "Oh shut up, it's not even that bad, I just kissed him! Only because of a Christmas tradition that no one is allowed to back out of."

"I forced them to do it," Caroline jumps to my defense. "You guys know my rule with mistletoe."

"Char here didn't look much like she was being forced into anything," Bonnie says suggestively, cocking her head.

"We've established that, yes, Kai Parker is a good kisser. Sue me for enjoying it." I shrug, taking a sudden interest in my milkshake to avoid their stares.

Liv scrunches her face up. "Ew. I'd like to get this root beer float down without it coming back up, thanks very much."

I stick my tongue out at her childishly and she returns the gesture, causing us both to chortle.

"At the end of the day, she's a girl and he's a guy and they both have needs–"

"Care." I press a palm to my forehead, struggling to suppress a grin.

"I don't wanna know where you're going with that, Caroline, but stop, please stop," Liv begs, holding her palm up to the other blonde who immediately shuts her mouth, grinning.

"Yeah, Char has needs, we all do, and there's also a bunch of fish in the sea, so Kai Parker definitely doesn't need to be the one to satisfy those needs," Bonnie says, sipping her vanilla milkshake.

I catch Caroline's searching eyes and avert my own, pretending to be unaffected by my friend's disapproval of the guy I feel so much for that it scares me.

"Did you know he's actually a pretty nice guy?" Caroline tells them, obviously trying to help me out; an effort I appreciate. "I was talking to him a little today, he's not such bad company."

"He does seem different lately," Liv adds, reluctantly. "I didn't want to believe it but...maybe the merge did change him."

Looking at her curiously, I wonder what brought on this change in her previous notion that all the merge gives a witch is magic, nothing more, certainly not a greater emotional capacity. Then, I remember when Kai wanted to talk to Liv in private during dinner, about "Gemini politics" but I'd been skeptical. Perhaps their conversation was much deeper than Kai simply filling Liv in on the coven trials and tribulations.