Kay glanced in the mirror. She hadn't ever put on blood red lipstick, but right now, the occasion seemed fitting. That, together with a thin eyeliner and mascara was the only makeup she would wear.

Like in a fever dream, she remembered Kyle mentioning that she didn't need makeup, that she was beautiful just the way she was. She'd believe him. And she still believed him now. After all, her growth was organic, not tied to him. He'd made sure of that.

Yes, she was beautiful. And a lot of good that did since he found someone else. Jessica was beautiful as well. Kay couldn't deny it as much as she wanted to hate her.  And a part of her would've felt offended if Kyle had gone for someone much worse, way out of his league. The thought of them together made Kay sick, so she decided to stop thinking about it and focus on what needed to be done.

Crushing Kyle.

And just for that, she'd put on a pair of black skinny jeans, the blue off-the-shoulder top she'd changed into at prom and the high heel sandals she'd worn then. He'd surely remember her outfit, how he almost took all of it off, how they almost... She shuddered. Was it bad that she still regretted the interruption, even under the circumstances? He's surely slept with Jessie. They were engaged after all.

No, no crying. She would not ruin her makeup. Instead, she would get up, walk out, go to this concert and do what she had to do.

She could still do it, go down the stairs and head for the door all confident and everything. It wasn't the end of the world. Nothing was. She'd just do this one thing and then move on with her life.

"Kathy, where are you going?" 

She froze as her mother stepped out of the kitchen. She took in her daughter's outfit with a forced frown Kay had come to associate with Cassandra appreciating her outfit but not wanting to say anything positive about it.

"I'm going out with Angie and her boyfriend," she lied immediately. After such a long time, it had become second nature, all sense of guilt vanishing when her own parents decided to kidnap her.

"Really?" Cassandra pursed her lips. "Angie has a boyfriend?"

"Yes. Why?"

Her mother didn't answer, but continued to stare as if searching for ways to play the situation to her advantage. "And you're going to be a third wheel? That's unfitting. Unless you take Donnie with you and make it a double date."

Donnie had suddenly become such a none-issue, Kay didn't even see the point in fighting this. "Okay," she said instead. "I'll call him on my way out and go pick him up."

"You don't have to call me. I'm here." Donnie strutted out of the kitchen, a devious grin on his face, as if he could tell she was lying and he was ruining her plans.

Which was true, but she wouldn't get thwarted because she was running late. "Okay, fine. Get in, then."

Her acceptance brought shock to both his mother and her ex's face, but Kay had no time for their bullshit. She had her own drama to take care of, so she turned her back on them and headed out of the house. Donnie hurried out after her and got in the passenger seat before she could lock the doors and keep him out.

"Where are you really going?" he asked, fastening his seatbelt as she drove off.

Damn, now she couldn't brake and smash his face against the dashboard. "I'm actually going to a concert. Want me to drop you off somewhere?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Drop me off?"

"It's just us. You don't have to pretend that you still want to get with me." 

Though now that she came to think about it, would it hurt Kyle more to think she got back with Donnie? But the thought made her want to throw up. She wouldn't sink that low, not even for revenge.

"The fact that I don't want to get with you doesn't mean I don't want to screw your plans." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Besides, I wouldn't mind screwing you once. You owe me that much for putting up with you."

"I owe you absolutely nothing, you piece of shit."

"Watch your mouth, Kathy."

"Or what? You'll get beaten up by me again? I can kick harder, just so you know."

Donnie cowered and for a second looked ready to jump out of the car.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off on some shady street corner?"

"No. I'm coming to the concert, too."

"Cool. Got tickets?"

He glanced at her as if she were insane. "Don't you?"

"Nope. And especially not one for you."

Donnie just huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. Kay ignored him and continued driving, too on edge to deal with his pathetic ass right then. After all, bringing him to the venue and leaving him outside wouldn't hurt. Hell, he might even bring the news of Kyle's engagement to her parents and maybe then they'd finally set her free and let her own a phone and use the internet. She really wanted to get in touch with Kelly again.

She pulled over a couple of blocks away from the venue, aware that she wouldn't find any parking space closer. As she and Donnie moved towards the place, she realized she'd been right. The streets were packed with exciting fans heading for the concert hall.

"Huh," Donnie mumbled. "Looks like a pretty big thing."

Kay ignored him and made a sharp right around the corner of the building, towards the side entrance. As agreed, Jimmy was already there, wearing faded blue jeans and a black t-shirt with the members of the Darling family from Disney's Peter Pen with their eyes crossed out and the inscription Kill your Darlings.

"Hi," she said. "Nice t-shirt."

"Thanks, it's Tom's. You look wonderful. Who's the dude?"

"This is my ex, Donnie. And thanks."

Jimmy's slightly worried expression turned into a scowl. "Do we want him here?"

"Not really, but my parents made him tag along."

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm right here," Donnie said. "Who's this guy?"

"My new secret boyfriend," Kay said, not missing a beat.

"Your new secret wha--" Donnie's mouth dropped open as his eyes moved from her and Jimmy to the poster right next to the door. Then, his face filled with twisted glee. "No way. No fucking way!" And he started laughing like a maniac. Because of course there was a poster advertising the concert right next to the door.

Jimmy turned to Donnie and jabbed him in the throat, cutting of the laughter abruptly, then with another sift hit to the sternum sent him to the ground. Her eyes widened as Donnie remained still on the ground.

"What did you do?"

"He was annoying me. I knocked him out," Jimmy said as if he'd done absolutely nothing impressive.

"Wow, you really need to teach me that."

"Agreed. I'll teach you all the pressure points. But for now..." He shrugged, grabbed Donnie under the arms and dragged him behind a big dumpster. "At least he's out of the way. Let's go. It's getting late."

Kay followed him inside into the darkness. A lot of people scurried about, getting ready for the performance. Jimmy just walked by everyone and led her to a tiny room filled with electric circuits which was under the stage. The sounds became muffled and distorted.

"Did you talk to her?" she asked the moment Jimmy closed the door and they were alone.

"No." He started flipping switched and didn't elaborate, but he didn't have to. He was still pissed.

Kay bit her lip, unsure what to do. Before she could ask if it was wise for her to be there, the crowd went wild outside their tiny room. She could hear the thump of footsteps above them and voices, but she couldn't pick up on what they said. She couldn't even recognize them as much as she strained her hearing for Kyle's voice. Everything sounded as if it were on the other side of a thick water wall.

Why did she even want to hear his voice? But she did, so much, especially once it became obvious that they'd started singing. She wanted to hear him sing.

Jimmy kept checking the setting and adjusting minor things and Kay realized he had the power to sabotage their entire concert, but was choosing not to. Then again, he needed the job and it was most likely more important then his grudge against the people who were paying him. She focused on the sounds again, but they were hard to grasp and she couldn't make out the songs or the voices properly. It created a horrid sense of frustration inside her. 

She really wanted to be out there. Maybe it was crazy, but she wanted to see him, stare him in the eyes and make him realize what he'd done. That he'd ruined them. And he'd have no choice but to stand there on that stage and think about what he'd done while she sang with his fiancée. 

"I'm going out," she whispered, putting her hand on Jimmy's shoulder.

He frowned in worry. "Are you sure? Because I can't leave this place until the concert is over."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll be in the crowd."

He still looked worried, but gave her a nod and returned to calibrating the sound or whatever he was doing there.

Once Kay exited the tiny room, the sound became crystal clear. It was Jessie singing, so it didn't impress her at all, even if her voice was pleasant. Like in a dream, she joined the crowd and pushed her way towards the center, to get in front of the stage, her eyes trained on the floor. She wouldn't look up, wouldn't see him, not until she was ready. Before she could reach her desired spot, Jessie paused and Kyle took over.

The sound of his voice broke her heart, and she couldn't help turning towards the stage. There he was, guitar in hand, playing like she'd seen him so many times before. Had he always been that tall, that well built and so good looking? Had she gone so long without seeing that it shocked her how gorgeous he could be? The sound of his voice seemed to fill her up, soothe her pain. Except he was her pain. Him and that beautiful girl with fiery hair playing next to him.

Why? Why was life so unfair? Why did he have to forget her, smile like that, enjoy himself with someone else? Why when all she wanted was to go up on stage, wrap his arms around him and kiss him? Tears filled her eyes, blurring the image the slightest bit. She wiped them away and took a step forward among the hopping people, needing to be just a tiny bit closer.

Then, like in a dream, his dark blue eyes fell on her and time seemed to stop. She felt just like she had when she'd seen him for the first time, like it was just the two of them in the whole word. Her heart began fluttering madly, begging her to move closer, touch him.

His gaze widened and he stopped playing. "Kay?"

She instantly felt like she was choking. Shit. She couldn't do this now. She turned around and darted through the crowd, towards the door.

"Kay!"

The music had stopped completely and something crashed behind her, but she couldn't stop, couldn't look back. She had to get out of there before he caught her and everything went to shit just because she couldn't keep away and stick to the plan.

Fresh air hit her face and she could finally breathe again. But it wasn't enough. Nowhere near enough. So she darted around the corner and then to the end of the next alley, taking the longest route to her car. By the time she reached it, she had a stich in her side and the air burned her lungs. For a few seconds, she leaned against the hood and took in deep breaths.

Then, she unlocked the car, got inside and drove away before she did anything else stupid.

🌓

Jimmy truly felt like laughing. He wasn't exactly sure what Kay had done, but it had caused a mayhem of crashing noises and brought the concert to an abrupt halt. It had been very hard to contain himself and not step out to see what happened, but he'd done it. After all, he didn't really want to see Jessie yet.

When the crowd started shifting, grumbling and cursing, he finally left his tech room and headed for the stage. One of the microphones, an amp and a few of the none-decorative speakers had fallen off the stage. Macy was there, yelling into her headset again, but the moment she saw him, she just hung up.

"There you are, tech genius. Help us with this, will ya?"

"Of course." He picked up the amp and put it on stage. "What happened?"

"Our boy gone and lost his mind," the woman muttered.

Sounded about right. Jimmy tried not to grin as he picked up the rest of the equipment. He'd need to find one of the toolboxes and get to it if they still wanted a concert. Macy moved away from him, shouting into her headset or alternatively at the movers, but there wasn't much for them to do since they probably had to reschedule the concert which had been cut short.

"Jimmy."

Jessie's voice had been so low, he almost didn't catch. It made his entire body tense with both pain and frustration. She sounded sheepish. Of course she did since her secret was out. But this wasn't right. She wasn't supposed to be here. She was only supposed to see him again with Kay, so he definitely had to get rid of her.

With a tired sigh, he turned to face her. She was wearing a short, vapory dress this time, in shades of dusty pink, a leather jacket on top of it and high boots, looking as gorgeous as ever. The expression on her face was filled with guilt.

"Hi," he said, his tone even.

"I'm so sorry. I can explain."

"You don't have to explain. It's not like you owe me anything."

"But I want--"

"Which is why I also don't owe you anything." And he turned with his back to her. "Goodbye."

There was a pause, and his heart started thumping. She really needed to leave because they were in public and this was a very bad idea. He most certainly didn't want to be in the papers for bringing discord into the happy couple's life.

"I never meant to hurt you."

Her words were so low, he barely heard them, but they managed to piss him off more than anything. Because they once again showed how entitled she was, how far removed from reality and what real people felt.

"I don't care," he said between his teeth. "Just go away."

It was a bit disappointing when she did, even if he didn't want to talk to her right then. She'd given up just like that and it hurt.

He wished he was worth more to her.

🌓🌓🌓

That was fun! And unexpected. Kay didn't think it would turn out so dramatic. And Jimmy needed to nip it in the bud before their plan failed.

But did it fail already? Let's see how that will go.

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