oh simple thing

[Taeyeon Kai]

It had been a week.

One long, exhausting, nerve-wracking week filled with work, chores, a family scare, and dreams of the hottest kind, involving a tall, broad-shouldered man with eyes like blue pearls and lightning dancing between his fingers, taunting her with the pleasure she could have if she danced back into his arms. Pleasure as such she had experienced last week, when she had visited her ex-boyfriend turned friend and helped him move into his new apartment with his father and dog. He had received news of his sick brother and she had held him, comforting him through tears until their pent-up feelings had spilled forth from a stolen kiss.

Her fault.

She looked at the phone in her hand, a text message from a friend of her’s glowing on the screen. “I haven’t seen him in a week. It’s like he’s died.” was all it said, and it was from Sam, her bike-riding daredevil friend who had no respect for safety. That alone, that he was worried enough to send her a text message, had made her drop her taekwondo class to drive to Cole’s apartment, still dressed in her taekwondo uniform and sandals from the dojo. Anger clouded her brain, made the edges of her vision fuzzy as she pulled to a dead stop in front of Cole’s apartment and got out of the car.

Even if she had been the one to leave, he shouldn’t act like this. She had only been following rules, and it wasn’t like she could defy them. She hadn’t acted like he did when Robbie left her; oh no, she had tried to pin the blonde down and kill him before she realized that Robbie would always be her friend, regardless, and what they had done was a mistake. She came up to the front door and knocked, noticing how it swung in a little when she did. Growling, she opened the door and stepped inside, looking at the mess before slamming the door behind her.

“Cole Allan Kessler!” she yelled into the apartment.

[Cole Kessler]

A week ago, he'd made the mistake of doing what he had done with Tae. He hadn't left the apartment since that day, blaming his power's side-effects for him missing school. He had sat in his home alone, no one had even stopped by. Sure, his phone had rang, but he hadn't the will nor the want to answer it.

He'd been upstairs in the shower for the passed hour now, just letting the water flow down the contours of his muscles trying to relax. He had leaned forward letting the water drop onto his neck and shoulders bringing almost instant relaxation to his entire body. His forehead bounced off of the shower wall lightly and he killed the water. The trickling stopped just in time to hear her shouts.

With a slight growl he stepped out and wrapped a towel around his waist. Opening the door, he looked around making sure she wasn't upstairs. He tucked the towel into itself and headed downstairs. He looked at her as he passed her by and went to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water, opening it immediately. He knocked back a heavy swig of the water and stood in the opening from the kitchen and living room. After he finished gulping the water, he took a breath and looked at her, his face expressionless, "You rang?"

[Taeyeon Kai]

She heard water running as soon as she had quieted her voice, and then when the echo of her voice faded, she heard it being turned off. Good; she wanted him to talk to her, and if he had just gotten out of the shower, that meant he was awake enough to listen to her. She was pissed at his sulking behavior. Sam had also told her that he had tried calling his best friend, and no one had answered. At first, Tae had thought that Cole had another woman here, which made her even more mad, but she had reasoned that the only person he wanted was her.

She looked up as she heard movement, looking as Cole descended the stairs in nothing but a towel. Tae did her best not to lick her lips at the sight of the water droplets coursing down his chest, but she bit the inside of her cheek when he went into the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle. He looked at her like she was in the wrong, and she glared back at him, crossing her arms, the motion opening the V of her shirt, showing the cross laying like a gleaming beacon against her skin.

“What the hell is Sam talking about you not leaving this apartment since last week?” she told him in an angry tone, her eyes sparking fire if she had powers. Oh, how she wished to have them, if only to light a fire under Cole’s ass. “He tells me that he’s been calling you and you haven’t been answering. So I called the school and they told me that you’ve been home all week because of side effects, but I see you’re looking real fine now. What the hell is going on, Cole?” she demanded, walking to his chest and glaring up at him.

“If this is about last week, you know I have curfew with my aunt and uncle. You think I was going to stay the night and cuddle and get into trouble?” she further elaborated.

[Cole Kessler]

Cole merely chuckled at her words. He was depressed, for sure, but she didn't need to know that. He took another swig of his water, "So you only came over here because of Sam's concern? None of your own?" Cole knew that would make her angrier. She always worried about him and he knew that. She was already pissed so Cole figured why not build it up and have her let it all out?

He walked to the dryer and grabbed a pair of compression shorts from the basket in front of it. He turned around and dropped the towel, revealing his rear for only a moment before he'd pulled the shorts on. After doing so, he finished the water and tossed into the trash-can across the kitchen. He took a few more seconds to let Hoss in from the backyard and then turned to face her again, "You're right, sweetheart, I am fine," the monotone in his voice rang out, "but not comepletely." He said with a false grin.

He sat on the couch across the room from her and laid back, trying to continue to relax before he notcied something. A glaring reflection from her chest, his pendant. She must've grabbed it when she'd left. His eyhes moved from it to the eyes glaring back at him, "Last week?" Cole said innocently, "What happened last week, again?" Cole chuckled as he mocked the true reasons he'd stayed at home all week.

"Taeyeon," Cole said while leaning forward, "it has everything to do with last week." He rested his elbows on his knees, hands clasped in front of him as he looked down at the carpet, "We did what we did, we made love only for you to get up and leave me in the middle of the night." His voice growing with a mix of anger and sadness, "I know you have curfew. And no, I didn't want you to get in trouble. Fact is, you should have woke me up." He stood from the couch and stepped toward her, "Instead, you quietly sneak out of my house and drive home, not a word said, because you thought it was a mistake to do what we'd done."

He turned around and ran his hand backwards over his crown, wiping free more water that he'd not dried off yet. He turned to face her, standing now only a few feet if that away from her, "You should have woken me up! What we did was not a mistake! What you did after was the mistake." Cole's voice was loud and full of emotion just as his eyes were full of tears.

He didn't think Taeyeon knew how bad this had torn him apart inside, so now was the time to let her know. "You just don't get it do you? You did to me exactly what Robbie had done to you. Imagine how it made me feel to wake up. Hoping to see the woman I've loved from the very first day I met her. Only to wake up to a cold spot in the bed were she was when you fell asleep."

A spark from his hand caught his attention. His depression and anger were boiling into a mixture and it was manifesting it self physically. He looked away from her and turned around, slamming his fist into a rubber pad on the wall he'd set up to train while at home. A small wave of electricity flowed outward from the impact.

A tear rolled down his cheek. His breaths were mixed with small sobs, his teeth were ground together, and his arm was shaking. "If what we did was a mistake, why did you come back?" He said through his teeth and in monotone, his fist still planted against the wall.

[Taeyeon Kai]

His chuckle set off another wave of fire in her blood, only making her temper worse. Calm yourself, Kai. Only lashing at him will make you feel worse. The mantra kept repeating itself in her head, spoken in her voice to help make the message stick, but Tae knew this time that it wouldn’t work. “You know I care about you, Cole,” she all but snarled when he walked away from her, keeping her eyes on the back of his head when his towel dropped. She would not be distracted. “I was worried about you too, not just Sam.

“And you damn well know what happened last week!” She kept going, the fire in her voice matching the one in her eyes. “You were sleeping; that’s why I didn’t wake you up.” She watched as he got up, took a step towards her. She took a step back, watching to see what he would do. His words cut deep, deeper than Robbie had done, deeper than any knife or other sharp object would have done. She saw the spark and felt the first stirrings of fear, something she should have never felt when she was around Cole. He turned and punched the wall, looking at her with broken eyes.

Looking at her with eyes she saw herself in every single day.

“I came back for us, Cole,” she said softly, her anger beginning to disappear. It was a losing battle with him, and if he wanted to think that way, she wouldn’t fight him on it. Because, he was right; she had done what Robbie had done to her. “I came back because I was worried about you. I was afraid that your powers were turning you into someone I didn’t know, and that’s why I came over initially.” She looked away from him, feeling like his voice: monotone. Her voice became it as well.

“I came back because I still love you, Cole, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” She turned away from him and started walking towards the door, ice encasing her heart as she stopped in front of it. “So go ahead, tell me how much of a bad person I am before I leave, so I know that I’m not wanted here again.”

[Cole Kessler]

Cole's sobs took over as she spoke to him. She till loved him? After everything that had happened, everything he'd just said and done, she still loved him. He turned to look at her, his eyes broken and tears flowing freely.

"You just don't get it do you?" Cole asked, his voice broken, absent of the monotone. "You're not a bad person, Taeyeon." Cole's original ideas faded from his mind and he focused on the now. "Taeyeon, I love you. That's why you leaving, not waking me up, and stealing my necklace tore me apart."

Cole laughed as he thought of what else he would say, "Taeyeon, the love and passion that I hold for you," he said placing his hand over his heart, "right here, is enough to kill me if I lost you. Which is what I thought had happened when I woke up that morning."

He sat down and thought more, "And if you weren't wanted here, you wouldn't be here right now, Taeyeon." He said as he looked up with a smile. "I want you here. With me. Every single day."

[Taeyeon Kai]

Sobs in his voice, tears in his eyes…Tae didn’t turn around, knowing she would break if she looked at him. Her hands fisted at her sides, her teeth biting into her lip as she held her own tears back. His words cut her more, but they healed the previous wounds that had come from his mouth. When the last sentence left his mouth, she took a deep breath and turned slowly, looking at him watching her with that smile, the one that would always melt her and captivate her, and those eyes she loved looking into.

“I do get it, Cole,” she said, looking at him with eyes bright with held-back tears. “I am a bad person. I broke your heart not once but twice, all because I’m afraid of what I feel for you. I left you with no notice or note because I thought what we did was wrong, and it is, because we’re friends now,” she said, knowing that the last part would change in the future. She couldn’t see herself without him. “I’m so lost and confused because this isn’t me, this isn’t who I am. I’m a girl whose look on love is twisted because her parents gave her up when she was twelve, when they became too busy with their jobs to even love their only child.”

She clasped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide and tears at the corners. He wasn’t supposed to know about that painful aspect of her life; no one except her aunt and uncle. It was too painful, like ripping open a healing wound with stitches still inside.

[Cole Kessler]

Cole finally pieced it together with her last sentence. "I take it I wasn't supposed to know that." Cole started as he stood from the couch. He sighed as his hand ran back through his hair again, at this point he semi-missed the long hair he once had. His mind rushing through words, trying to piece together what he would say to her. He wanted to do it carefully, but still be blunt, he didn't want to bring her down or hurt. It had been done enough, by both of them to each other.

He walked in the kitchen and grabbed two more bottles of water, setting one on the coffee table in the living room for Taeyeon. He opened his and took a smaller drink than the one he'd taken with his first bottle. He sighed as his mind still built what needed to be said.

As he finished wording it, now he had to say it. He took a bigger drink this time to help him get ready, "You're right." He told her softly, "Not about you being a bad person. And yeah, you broke my heart, but each time now you've helped me fix it, just by being here. And now, with what you've just told me, I understand it all."

He took another drink as he sat back down and had her sit next to him. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and continued, "You're afraid because you've never known any other love than what Michael and Rei have shown you. You're afraid because the girl you've gotten used to. The one who's all twisted inside when it comes to love? She wasn't the real you. Maybe the real you, the true Taeyeon Kai, is the one that I fell in love with."

Cole paused for a moment, letting the words soak in, "Face it, Taeyeon, this IS who you really are. Maybe that's why byou're so lost and confused. Because you know this is the real you and you're not used to it."

[Taeyeon Kai]

She closed her eyes as her face bloomed like a rose in color, turning the color of pale peach against the dark golden skin she had. No one was supposed to know about that, especially Cole. She heard movement and opened her eyes, those withheld tears pooling at the corner of her eyes as she watched Cole move around, grabbing an extra water bottle for her. He spoke, being kind and considerate, and she didn’t want him to be. She found herself walking to his side and sitting next to him, drawn into the comfort of his embrace.

His words made sense, but she wouldn’t admit it. She still needed some time to get her head on, organize her feelings before she made a commitment. “No, I’m not,” she murmured, keeping herself from leaning against his chest and relaxing against him. “I’m not used to feeling like this, like I’m going to fall and trip over thin air.”

She looked away from him and crossed her arms over her chest, feeling alone even though Cole was there next to her. “My parents gave me away,” she continued, talking to herself more than to him. “Your mom died trying to protect you. My mom won’t do that much for me.”

[Cole Kessler]

"I know." Cole said quietly, "I know how you feel. It was the same way I felt when we first met." He said with a smile. He wanted to comfort her but was afraid of what it would lead to, especially when it was vice versa just last week. "But even if you take the risk, the reward is worth it. You trip and fall, I'll be there to catch you."

Cole listened to her, though she seemed to be talking to the air more than him. "So what?" Cole said firmly, "Taeyeon, I know that your parents did wrong by you, hell, they did wrong by the parenting handbook. Is there such a thing?" Cole chuckled before continuing, "Fact of the matter is, you have to stop living in the past. Look at what you have in front of you: You have a job, a good school with a chance to get a scholarship, guardians who love you. Hell, you've still got me after all the shit we've been through." Cole explained it to her as best he could, hoping that it would somehow help her.

"My mom died to protect me, sure, as anyone in my family would do for each other." Cole said with a laugh, "Your mom wouldn't..., but Rei would. Michael would......." He took an extended pause as he waited for it all to sink in, "I would."

[Taeyeon Kai]

She didn’t want him to be nice to her. She didn’t want him to be understanding to her, to know what she felt like and be able to tell it back to her in a way that made sense to her. All she wanted him to do was be quiet and let her find out these things for herself, instead of talking to her in that voice and making her see it before she was ready. As much as she believed him, she still wasn’t ready for their relationship to go back to what it had been.

She wanted it slow this time.

“I know that, but I don’t want to think about any of you dying for me,” she told him. “I just want to take some time and know for myself that I’m going to be okay.” She stood up, untangling herself from Cole’s verbal spell, and walked to the center of the room. She turned to look at him, imagining how he saw her; a tallish girl of Asian descent with her wild curly hair trapped in a ponytail, body encased in white cotton, with sandals on her feet…to him, it was the most wonderful thing.

To her, she felt the same whenever she looked at him.

[Cole Kessler]

"I understand." Cole said sadly as he felt the warmth of her body leave his side. She stood up and turned to face him from the center of the room. He gazed upon the woman he loved and kned she loved him. She wasn't ready for what they'd had and still have, which he understood.

He knew what she wanted, she wanted him to sit silently, let her find out, maybe even berate her a little bit. But that was the one thing Cole could never give her. It killed him inside to know he couldn't give her want she wanted this time, but he knew it would pass with time.

He stood up and walked towards her. He took her hand into his and brought it to his lips. He gently pressed his lips to her flesh for a mere split-second. He brought it away and looked at it, but spoke to her, "I'll give you all the time you need." Cole told her, "And I'll be right here when you're ready."

He let go of her hand and walked to the kitchen, getting some leftover pizza and placing it in the microwave. He walked baack to her after he ghad started the heating, "And I'm sorry it had to come to all of this."

[Taeyeon Kai]

She watched as he stood up and came towards her, those eyes trained on her like he was the hunter and she was the prey. She felt very much like prey, watching him prowl to stand before her and take her hand and kiss it, giving her a promise that whispered of his love for her and brought to her mind of more wicked things, things that had transpired last week and still lived in her memory and would for the longest time. He was understanding, giving just the amount of space she needed from him at this point and time.

Tae would respect that.

“I’m sorry it came down to this too, Cole,” she apologized, looking at him when he came back from the kitchen. When he was close enough, she laid her hands on his shoulders and gave him a kiss on his cheek, smiling when she pulled back. “I need to get going, but I’ll see you soon, okay?” She kissed his other cheek and pulled back, walking to the door. Before she closed it behind her, she waved to him, pulling it shut and leaning against it for a few moments before she walked out to her car and started it, driving away.