Chapter Twenty Three

"I think he's going to be okay," Kane said, strolling into the cafe an hour later. "Like you said."

   He sat down across from me. I had bought him a muffin; I'd planned on bringing it back up for him later. But now, I pushed it towards him. I'd been sitting there, sipping from a water bottle and nibbling a bagel, for over an hour.

   "I just said that to calm you down," I told him. "How'd you know I was here?"

    He took a big bite of the muffin. I took another sip of water. My stomach rumbled.

   "Food." He looked at the muffin. "He's got a huge road rash on his side, a broken leg, cracked collarbone..."

   "Woah," I said, shaking my head.

   Kane nodded. "But he's talking, and his head is fine. They said it's pretty amazing."

   "I'm so glad to hear that," I told him, letting out a breath.

   "I was so scared, Marley," he admitted.

   "I know," I said.

   "Thank you for being there."

   "Of course."

   "No, really. I was, like, wasted, and I was totally going to drive here." He shook his head now, like he couldn't believe it.

   "I know, Kane," I touched his hand.

   Now he took another deep breath in and let it out slowly. "You stayed here all night? Did you even sleep?"

   I smiled now. "We actually... sort of slept next to each other for a couple of hours."

   "Oh. The blanket?"

   "I don't know who put it on us." I shrugged, then added, "I woke up with my head on your shoulder and your arms around me."

   He let himself smile. "Yeah?" I nodded. "Too bad I don't remember that. How're you feeling?"

   "Rough," I replied, then drank back some more water.

   "Same," he said, then smiled at me.

   "Kane, I'm sorry that I..." I wanted to talk about it, but the words didn't seem to want to come out.

   "No. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I was drunk, when I kissed you. I didn't even ask, if I could-"

   "I didn't run away because you didn't ask," I paused. "I ran because I liked it. And I was scared."

   "Scared of what?" he wanted to know. "And... you liked it?"

   "Kane," I said. "We've gotten closer. And it's obvious, to people, that we..."

   He looked surprised. "What?"

   "Jessie told me... that you're into me." That was not what she had said, but it was close enough.

   "Well. I never said that." He looked amused.

   "Okay?"

   He reached out and grabbed my hand. "I'm not 'into you'. Okay? I love you. There's a difference."

   Instantly, my heart was pounding and my hands were sweating. Was this actually happening? Kane was telling me right to my face that he loved me?

   "Kane."

   "Marley, we've spent so much time together the last couple of months. This whole time, I've wanted you. To kiss you, to hold your hand. To be with you."

   "Kane... I-" I started again, but couldn't finish.

   "I was looking out for you before, because your dad asked, yes. But I punched Kyler in the face at that party because I was so fucking jealous. And... when you told me that he..."

   "I'm surprised you didn't kill him," I said, blinking.

   "I wanted to. But I didn't want to be in in jail. I just wanted to be with you. Last night, in the basement, drunk... was not how I should have kissed you for the first time."

   I smiled at him, eyebrows raised. "How about now, hung over in the hospital cafe?"

   "Still not ideal, but..." He stood, and pulled my hand so I stood with him. "You are so beautiful, Marley. And I fucked up, pushing you away when I started high school. We should have been together this whole time."

   "I really missed you," I told him, "so much."

   "Marley, I love you."

   I had tears in my eyes. "I've always loved you."

   He kissed me, again, and this time my hands were at his face, holding him so close. His hands went to my waist, pulling me against him. It was everything I'd always thought would happen to people in movies, or just to anyone else. But this was happening to me. And to Kane.

   "Marley?"

   I heard my mom's voice. I knew it was her even before I looked over. She and Andy were standing in the doorway of the cafe, basically in shock, staring at us. I was still standing so close to Kane that I could feel his heart pounding in his chest. His hands dropped off my hips.

   "Shit," he whispered and stepped back.

   I looked at him, then to my mom again. She suddenly let out a laugh. Andy looked so confused.

   "We are heading up to see Bruce," she called over to us. "They just moved him to a regular room."

   Kane nodded. I was covering my face now, as my mom turned, taking Andy's hand, and walked back down the hallway.

   "Oh my God," I said to Kane. "Did that just happen?"

   "The kiss, or the fact that your Mom saw us kissing?" Kane laughed.

   "Uh... both."

   "Well, yes."

   "Oh God," I said again.

   He slipped his hand back into mine. "We were hoping this would be a secret?" he asked me, attempting to look serious, but grinned.

   "I hadn't exactly planned this out," I told him.

   He sighed. "I can't believe I kissed you last night. What was I thinking?"

   "And you also kissed Jessie," I added.

   "Shit, I forgot about that." He looked embarrassed.

   Now I laughed, and he pulled me close again. His arms around me fit perfectly, even though we had never been so close before. It really did feel new, yet completely familiar. I laid my head on his chest, listening to his heart beating again.

   We found Bruce's new room a while later, but he was asleep. Carla told us his pain medications were making him tired, which was good for healing his body.

   "He'll be here awhile," she said, smiling at him. "But he's okay. You guys should go home and get some real sleep. I don't think two hours in those chairs, with a shared blanket is adequate."

   "Are you sure?" Kane asked her.

   "Yes, I'll be here. And Marley's mom is here. She just took Andy to the bathroom. We will call if anything changes," Carla went on.

   "Okay," Kane nodded. "Thanks. Tell him I'll be back this afternoon."

   We had somehow forgotten that we had left Kane's car at Trenton's, until we were on our way outside. Thankfully, my dad was also approaching the exit at the same time that we were. He looked at us, somewhat unsure, but forced a smile.

   "Dad," I said quickly. "Can you drive us to our friends' house, where we were last night?"

   He thought for a second. "How'd you two get here?"

   "We took a cab. We were -"

   "I was drunk," Kane interrupted. "And Marley called a cab."

   My Dad glanced at me, skeptical once again. "Let's go. I haven't slept a minute."

   I thanked him when we got to Trenton's, then Kane and I go out of his car and stood on the sidewalk until he drove away. We were in the same spot that I had called out to him, the night before. It felt strange, now that it was morning and we were sober. But that wasn't all that had changed.

   Once we were inside Kane's car, he put his key in the ignition and turned it, then turned up the heat. The warm air blasted onto me, and I felt good, finally. My stomach was settled, my head had stopped pounding.

   "I'm surprised I'm not still drunk," Kane said, out of no where. "I drank a lot."

   "Me too. I had like four more beers after..."

   "I kissed you in the basement and you ran away?" he grinned at me, pulling off of the street.

   "Yeah."

   "But it wasn't such a bad idea now, was it?" he asked me.

   "No, I guess not," I smiled.

   "Where should we go?" he asked, changing the subject.

   "Well, there's no one at your place," I said, half teasing him.

   "Oh, true. Good idea." He grinned and did a U-turn on the main road, then drove back towards his house.

   Being in Kane's bedroom with him this time felt very different. The last time I had been high and confused. I hadn't really thought about anything, besides eating those M&Ms. Maybe he had wanted to tell me then, that he loved me. But maybe the timing was just all wrong. Now, so much had changed.

   He sat on his bed; I knew he was trying to play it cool. He pulled off his hat and tossed it to the floor, then he pulled out his phone to look at it. I unzipped my sweater and placed it on the chair, then sat down. His laptop was still open. There were papers spread out on the desk. I just glanced at everything, waiting.

   "Hey," he said to me quietly, putting his phone down.

   I smiled at him. My eyes were heavy. He patted the bed near him, and I didn't hesitate to lay beside him, his arms around me right away, as we fell asleep together again.