Not My Problem || Kai Anderson

perfect

       In the morning, I woke peacefully to the lingering scent of the vanilla-orange oils in my diffuser, and intimate memories of last night were the first thing on my mind. My heart and hands longed for Kai, but when I looked over, there were only thrown-back covers. I sat up, and got a faint whiff of cinnamon coming from the hallway.

I stood with intention of rushing out of the room to find Kai, but realized I only had underwear on. His shirt was the first I saw, so I threw it on. It smelled like him -- which gave me butterflies.

Out in the hallway, I could tell the cinnamon I'd been smelling was from French toast. I rounded the corned into the kitchen, and Pumpkin came trotting over making various little cat noises. He must've given me away, because Kai looked at him, and then to me. He froze in place and his face was immediately brightened with a smile.

"Hi," I said shyly, barely audible.

He set his spatula down and came over to hug me.

"You look like an angel," he said as we swayed. "But, you might want to change."

"I can't wear your shirt?"

"Please do, in fact I wouldn't even mind if you wore nothing."

Glad he was being his regular old self. "Then why?"

"Don't be mad," he said, half flinching as he moved to reveal three plates of French toast on the counter.

"Who's here?!" I demanded, stretching his shirt to cover my lower half.

"No one yet, but they will be soon. Like, any minute."

I so badly wanted to pester him until he answered all of the many questions I had, but I knew it'd be wasting time. I rushed back to what I guess was now our room, and put some of my own clothes on. Just as I finished up, someone was knocking.
I re-entered the living room to see Kai with a plate in his hand, and two plates on the table.

"You should get that," he suggested, but it didn't sound optional. "And remember, don't be mad."

I gave him a skeptical look before heading to the front door, and hesitantly opened the door-- where Alora stood on the other side. I took a huge step back and gasped, then immediately turned to Kai.

"What the hells going on?!" I demanded. "Y-You invited her here?"

"Yes, listen--"

"Are you crazy?!" I was appalled; what exactly was he hoping for?

"Y/N, no," he came over with his plate.

"He called a couple days ago," Alora spoke in a calm tone. "To talk things through about you, and you two together."

I looked back and forth between the two of them, extremely confused.

"I'll be eating this in my car," Kai announced, and headed out the door.

"Your car?" I repeated.

"Give you two some privacy," he smiled a flat line, held up his bottle of syrup, and turned to leave.

I looked over to the two plates that sat on the table. That's what that was all about.

"Um, come in I guess," I let my ex friend in, unsure of how I should feel.

We sat in our seats, and it was quiet for a minute before Alora spoke. "I'm sorry I called you a bitch."

I looked up with my mouth full, "Oh."

"And said that I was going to contact Justin," she looked disgusted from saying his name. "Of course I didn't actually do that."

I swallowed before replying, "I shouldn't have been sneaking around with your ex after you asked me not to."

"It wasn't a fair request," she took a sip of orange juice. "We dated for less time than I've known you."

That was a relief, I tried my best not to show it though. That means they'd dated for well under a year.

"Still, I could've gone about telling you a different way at least."

"I'm sure you didn't plan the way it actually happened," she laughed slightly. "I'd have been scared in your position too."

"Really?"

She nodded, and relief washed over me. I stood to hug her.

This was my perfect ending, I could have Kai, and my friend back, with no drama or sneaking around. She hugged me back, and we were back to our regular selves a few minutes later. She jokingly asked if I'd replaced her with another girl, because she'd seen a picture of Dani and I in my tagged pictures from the night of the movie. I told her no, and explained what happened that night: she thought it was hilarious, and pointed out that Dani was gorgeous.

A few minutes of catching up later, we finished our food. As she made her way to the door to leave, I confirmed again with her that everything was ok between us; it was. When she was gone, I pressed my back against the door and let out a deep sigh of relief. On the counter, I spotted the flower Kai had gotten for me last night, now neatly in a vase with water.

He disturbed my pleasant thoughts about him by gradually pushing the door open, and I moved to let him in.

"So.." he began nervously. "She walked out of here without screaming and you don't have a black eye. Can I assume it went well?"

"Yes," I said in a low voice. "But no more assuming. What if that had gone the other way? I mean what did you even say to her?"

"I knew my girl scout could handle herself," he placed a quick kiss on my forehead. "And as for the call, I don't know, guess I just talked some sense into her. I reminded her that we only dated for four months, over a year ago, and that you should be more important to her."

He began fiddling with a couple coffee cups as I pondered his words and felt my face heat in a blush. Time and time again he showed me how much I meant to him.

"So... last night," I messed with a piece of my hair, and avoided eye contact.

He set the cups down and came over to put the hair behind my ear, "You were perfect."

"You're not gonna leave now, are you?"

"Never," he said sincerely.

"Good, cause..." I trailed off for a second. "I really think I love you too."

An open-mouth smile appeared on Kai's face before he scooped me quickly into his arms and planted kisses all over my face. Even Pumpkin, who circled our legs now, seemed happy with our new perfect little family.