Stalking Kasey

Blazing Fire

I watched as Kasey's hope dwindled more and more with each passing week. She'd been despondent at first, but her despondency turned into motivation. She tried to pretend she stayed listless, but I could see right through her. She watched everything I did. She paid close attention to the doors, the locks, the keys, pass codes, windows, TV, anything she could potentially use to get out or call for help. I played along, acting like I didn't know she spent every waking moment trying to come up with a plan to get away from me. I already knew nothing she thought of would work. I'd spent too long making sure this was perfect. She was never getting out. At least, not until I wanted her to.

It had been three weeks. She was tired, and she got more and more tired with each new day that passed.

I eyed her as she read on the couch as I cooked us breakfast. I'd given her my favorite book (without telling her it was my favorite) and she'd hardly put it down. I had to remove the lamp from her side of the bed just to get her to sleep.

Kasey had never been much of a reader. She had the characteristics of one, which was why she fit in so well at the bookstore. Most of her friends loved reading, but she never read herself. She barely owned any books. But the way she was reading now made it seem like it was as natural to her as breathing.

And now I wondered if the lack of books wasn't just a general disinterest, if maybe getting a job at the bookstore was more than just a place to work.

I didn't like not knowing things, not when it came to her.

I transferred our food to two plates and moved everything I'd used to cook to a bin under the sink to wash later, locking the cupboard doors behind me.

"How far in are you?" I asked as I brought our plates into the living area.

She didn't look up, replying more out of habit than choice. "374 pages."

I chuckled and laid my hand on the top of the book, tugging it down slightly to see her eyes. She met my gaze with a glare.

"Time to eat, Kase."

Her gaze flit back to the book and she shouted in protest when I plucked it out of her hands. She sat up, looking like she was about to attack me, but I only set a bookmark between the pages and moved it to the side. I nudged her plate toward her, but she didn't move eat it, probably murdering me in her head.

"The sooner you eat, the sooner you can get back to reading." I raised my eyebrows.

She scoffed. "Don't talk to me like I'm a child. I can read whenever the hell I want."

I just shrugged and started eating. She grit her teeth but snatched up her plate, making a point to stare in the opposite direction from me.

"Did I tell you that that's my favorite book?" I hid a quiet smile, watching her out of the corner of my eyes.

Her fork paused halfway off the plate, hung there, then she brought it to her mouth aggressively and glowered as she chewed. She didn't say a word to me, finishing it in stiff, fuming silence.

She tossed the plate onto the coffee table when she was done, but when she started to turn away again, I touched the side of her face to pull her back to me. She flinched and jerked back so hard she fell off the couch. She was on her feet again before I had the chance to move, eyes wide as she took several steps back. I didn't move to follow, only watched her, and I could tell it unnerved her.

"Kasey," I said gently, "you know you can't run."

Several different emotions flashed across her gray eyes. Her fists clenched, eyebrows drawing together, shoulders stiffening. She turned her chin away, fixing her jaw with grit teeth.

"I'm not going to hurt you." I leaned back against the couch, but my eyes never left hers. "Come sit back down."

She bit back a laugh. "Yeah, okay, sure."

"You're only going to make things worse for yourself." I warned.

She jerked back to face me, arms rigid at her sides, advancing several steps without even thinking about it.

"I'm not the one making anything anything!" She yelled. "No, that's all you! All of this--all of this--is. all. you!"

I stood up, a little grin hanging off my lips. I loved this side of her, this passionate, wild, and angry side she so rarely showed. I loved that I was the only one who knew how to bring it out of her.

"Don't you freaking smirk at me!" She screamed.

I stepped towards her, but she didn't withdraw. Fire blazed in her eyes and her fists were shaking, breaths quick and jagged.

"Kasey," I teased her name through my lips, grin curling.

I reached for her and she jerked back, but I expected it, latching onto her arm and dragging her back to me. I turned us around and pushed her down on the couch cushions, hovering over her as panic lit up her eyes. I blocked every frantic attempt to get away from me, and I could practically taste the desperation rolling of of her.

I leaned closer, capturing her gaze in mine.

"I'll give you two choices this time." I smirked. "If you won't do one, then you're choosing the other."

I moved even closer, mouth just above hers.

"Either you kiss me, actually kiss me," I murmured, "for at least 20 seconds, or I get to kiss you however long I want."

She tensed, eyes wide. She shook her head and I arched a brow.

"No? So you're choosing option two then?"

"No!" She snapped. "I'm not choosing anything, asshole."

She fought to push me off, but I lowered half of my weight onto her to keep her down.

"Option two it is."

"No--!"

"No?" I grinned, cocking my head to the side mockingly.

She breathed heavily as she stared up at me, and I could see the wheels in her head rapidly turning. She swallowed.

"I choose option three."

I arched my brows. "Option three?"

She nodded. "I'll play that stupid video game with you." She bit out. "The one you've been trying to get me to play all week."

I pulled back. "You didn't think it was stupid when you wouldn't let me leave your apartment until we finished it."

She turned her head away and I moved to sit down beside her. 

"How long was I there?" I teased her. "Had to be at least 3am by the time I left. I basically slept over."

She crossed her arms and I could feel how badly she wanted to hit me right then. I grinned and moved to turn on the game.

"Hard to imagine how someone can get so worked up over Lego Star Wars." I continued. This time she did hit me, but I laughed.

I tossed her a controller, prepared for the argument over who got to be the main player, but it never came, and I glanced at her at the edge of my vision. She sat stiffly, holding onto the controller like it was her lifeline, glaring fiercely at the television. I turned on the game and loaded our old save, a smile touching my lips when I saw her grimace.

She didn't want to connect me with the boy she liked back then. She didn't want me to like the same movies we'd binged with chocolate and popcorn or the games we'd fought over so many times and played together all night long. She wanted to separate all the memories she had of the 'good' me from the 'bad' me. But I wasn't going to let that happen. The more those images blurred, the more comfortable she would get, and the more likely it'd be that she'd understand every side of me. 

It was only fair. After all, I knew every side of her.