***This is a continuation of the story from Kiss: Casablanca High School, so read that first if you want! It's not necessary to but it would help***
It's been five years since anyone's heard anything from Gene Simmons, and at this point Paul Stanley...
Gene stretched out on the sand, pulling his sunglasses a little lower over his face. "Hey so yeah do you guys want to come over for dinner?" We looked at each other, shrugging, before I turned back to him, trying really hard not to stare at his bare chest.
"That'd be nice. I really would like to be able to talk with Shannon for more than two seconds," I said, nudging him with a faint smile. He smiled back. "Perfect! Perfect yeah that's great, how about you guys come over at like seven? That gives me time to make dinner and all that."
"Sounds like a plan! It's getting kind of late so we'll head back and get showered and stuff and you can get cooking. It better be good," I said, nudging him. He raised an eyebrow, shaking his head. "Shut up, it will be. Anyway I'll see you guys tonight!" he said, jumping to his feet and dusting off the sand from himself.
We headed home too, fighting the entire ride over who would get to use the shower first, a fight that I thankfully won. I just took a quick one, still trying not to think about Gene. I mean hell, I had blocked him out for like five years, but now that he was back I didn't know how to feel. I was mad, I was furious with him for what he did, but I was also really, really excited to see him, and not even just because I still thought he was cute. He had been a good friend for years and the thought of being able to restart that bond was really tempting.
But I couldn't forget everything he did to me either.
Seven o'clock rolled around pretty quickly and I was kind of freaking out as we walked up to his front door. "So we get to meet Gene's wife, that's fun!" Ace said cheerfully, holding Peter's hand as I rang the doorbell. "Yeah I talked to her briefly when I first saw Gene, she seems really nice. It'll be nice to be able to actually sit down and talk to her," I said with a faint smile.
Shannon pulled open the door, giving me a huge smile. "Oh, Paul! It's good to see you again, I can't wait to have an actual conversation and get to know you!" she said, giving me a hug. I nodded, smiling in spite of myself. She was just so friendly and nice. "Same! Anyway I should probably introduce you to the rest of them."
"Oh no let me guess, Gene's told me so much about all of you I'm sure I can get it right! Let's see, Peter, Ace, Bruce and Eric?" she said, pointing at the correct ones. "Yep. It's nice to meet you Shannon, sorry we weren't able to meet you sooner!" Bruce said. Shannon rolled her eyes, ushering us inside. "I know, I know. That's because Gene was just being so fucking stubborn about everything. He's a wonderful husband but can be an absolute dumbass sometimes. Anyway, can I get you guys anything to drink?"
"Ooh, yes please," Ace said. "But here, you just sit down, we'll ask Gene where the drinks and stuff are!" Shannon laughed, shaking her head, but also looked incredibly relieved to have the opportunity to get off her feet. "Hey Gene! Show your friends where the drinks are, would you?"
Gene stuck his head out of the kitchen, raising an eyebrow. "The liquor cabinet is in the living room. Go wild."
"Hey! I respect my hosts, I'm gonna have one drink," Ace said indignantly, before turning to the rest of us. "Do you guys want anything?" Of course Peter said yes, but it was just him, so Ace returned quickly with two beers. "Gene still not drinking?" I asked. Shannon nodded with a smile. "Nope, he still doesn't drink. You have to admire his dedication though. Has he ever drunk?"
The five of us exchanged glances before I grinned. "Only like twice but both times he got reallll drunk. You'll have to ask him about it, it's always fun to make him tell that story." "Largely because he gets super embarrassed," Peter said with a smile, leaning against Ace's shoulder. Shannon grinned, eyes shining. "Ah, perfect. But anyway, tell me a bit about yourselves! I know some things, Gene would talk about you guys a lot when we talked about high school, but he'd never say how you guys were doing now. I didn't even really realize he had cut all y'all off completely until Paul showed up! He can be so stubborn sometimes, it's ridiculous. But he's a good husband."
"Me and Peter got engaged!" Ace said with a grin, holding up Peter's hand and showing off the ring. Shannon's eyes filled with tears as she placed a hand over her heart with a huge smile. "Aw! Aw that's adorable, I'm so happy for you!"
"Yeah that's about like all the news though, the rest of us have just been kind of living life," Bruce said with a shrug, and Eric nodded. "But tell us about yourself! You know a little bit about us but we don't know anything about you! Or even that you existed until what, yesterday?"
"Yeah, like how did you meet Gene?" I asked, giving Shannon a smile. She really was a nice person.
A dreamy smile spread across her face and she let out a happy sigh. "We met like halfway through freshman year! It was a little rough dating him in college, I'll be honest. I was never sure if we were actually dating for awhile just because...you know, he'd run off with other girls. But eventually he settled down and stuck with me and we became official. He's a dear though, once he got his life together he just turned into the perfect man. He can be so romantic too. He proposed to me on the beach after we ate dinner there, it was just wonderful. He said he had something to talk to me about and I had just found out I was pregnant so I said I did too but he should go first. He asked me to marry him and I said yes then I told him I was pregnant. Then we got legally married the next day," she said with a laugh.
"Damn that's romantic as shit," Peter said, giving Ace a look. Ace just rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "You know what babe, if you wanted a more romantic proposal then you should've proposed," he grumbled. "Shh, I'm teasing! I liked your proposal, it was cute. I really loved the part where you almost lost the ring you were trying to propose to me with."
Gene walked out of the kitchen, giving us a smile that wavered when he looked at me, probably because I was scowling at him. "Dinner's ready so if y'all want to come and get a plate and food and stuff that works." I turned to Eric, nudging him. "Hey, you go last so the rest of us can actually eat something," I teased. "Shut up," he muttered.
It was going to be a nice evening, Shannon was great and everyone was getting along, so why couldn't I forgive Gene and just move on?
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