don’t say anything else for a few minutes.
“Are you ready to leave?” Kallos looks up at Ian and nods. He gets up first and then comes to help her. She takes his hand and squeezes it. They walk out holding hands. Just before they walk out the door they see Nikki and Karissa. Great just what they need, and their day was going so well. Kallos knows that things happened with Karissa and Ian. Ian stiffens when he sees them.
“Hi, Ian,” Nikki pipes up, and Karissa smiles. Kallos can feel Ian’s whole body tense up, and she is sure that he knows that she isn’t too happy, either.
“Hello, excuse us please,” Ian says as he rushes past them. When they are outside, he leads them to the car. He opens the car door for Kallos and quickly gets in. “I’m sorry about that, Kallos. I thought that we would be out of there before they got here.” She turns to face him.
“What do you mean?”
“They come here every Saturday afternoon and I was hoping that we would be done before they got here. That’s why I wanted to be in Cindy’s section; I knew that she would serve us faster.”
“Ian, its fine. It’s not like we can hide from either of them forever. I don’t know if you have noticed, but this is a small town?” She smiles to reassure him. Seeing Nikki and Karissa isn’t Ian’s fault, and she doesn’t blame him about what happened yesterday. He smiles back, leans in, and kisses her. Even his quick, little kisses take her breath away. Ian starts the car, and they head back toward her house. On the way home, they didn’t talk, and Kallos is fine about that. She is in the mood for some silence and doesn’t know what to say right now. A part of her wanted to know what happened with Nikki and Karissa, but another part of her is yelling at her not to say anything. They pull into the driveway and park; neither of them moved.
“Thank you for today,” Kallos says and looks at him. “I had so much fun and thank you for my bracelet.” Ian looks down at her wrist, and she does the same. The bracelet is catching the sun’s rays in every stone and sparkling back at them.
“I’m glad you had fun. I want to be able to be alone with you more. I know that Sean wants the same thing. Would you be willing to go on more dates with us?” She smiles at him and brings her hand to his face.
“I love one-on-one time. I think alone dates is a great idea.” He smiles and turns his face into her palm to kiss it.
“Good, now we better head inside. I don’t want to make your dad mad on our first date.” She shakes her head at him and opens the door herself. She starts walking to the door when she feels pain exploding through her body. She gasps for air, but she can barely get her breath. Kallos feels strong arms catching her from either side of her. She knows that both of her soul mates are there. She can hear voices but barely can make out what is being said.
“Kallos, can you hear me?”
She can, and she also can see Sean talking. She tries to say that to him, but her mouth isn’t working. “Ian, help me! I’ll carry her inside, and you grab her stuff.” Kallos has never seen or heard Sean take charge before, and despite her suffering, she kind of likes it. The pain feels like it's coming from her heart and spreading throughout her body. Kallos can hear herself gasping for air; Sean picks her up, and she can feel her body go completely limp. He looks down at her and tries to smile, but it doesn’t work. “Hold on, Babe! We’ll be in your room in no time. Then, we will take this pain from you, and you’ll be fine. I know that you are hurting, but please, don’t pass out yet.” He leans down and kisses her forehead. When he moves away, she can see the worry in his eyes.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Sean doesn't understand why his touch isn't taking any of Kallos's pain. He rushes her up the stairs and kicks open her door. He looks back down at her and something doesn't seem right. Her eyes seem empty. Brooke is the next one in the door, and Kallos’ dad is quick to