How We Began

by Sandra Corton

  Kayla's thoughts were beyond her, as the pleasant daze of his kisses still engulfed her. When she first heard strains of soft, lilting music, she thought she was imagining things. When his hands enfolded around her, and he began swaying to the rhythm of the music, she knew it was all his doing.

  It took her a moment to recognize the familiar piece of music. She realised it was from one of her dance afternoons when they had decided to create their own dance for an upcoming recital. She smiled up at him barely able to see those already dark blue orbs that always captured her attention.

  "I like your choice," she told him; as she tucked her head against his chest and let him lead.

  "I really liked your outfit choice that day," he replied cheekily, but for the life of her, she has no recollection of what she had been wearing. "What are your doing to me, Kayla?" He murmured the last words, as he dropped his chin to the top of her head, and she relished how he cradled her in his embrace.

  "What do you mean?" She asked, as she feathered a hand through his hair.

  "You've somehow made me into the kind of sappy person that saves a recording of music because it reminds me of you."

  "What's wrong with that? I think it's kind of sweet." She told him earnestly

  "It gets much, much worse than that." He admitted, and she would have begun worrying, except for the teasing hint in his voice.

  "How so?" She enquired curiously.

  "It's like I'm hooked on you, and I can't get enough. I barely even notice any other girls. You can twitch your nose in that way you do, and it always makes me smile.”

  "I don't twitch my nose." She told him firmly.

  "Yes, you do. Are you telling me that was all you got from what I just told you?" He sounded exasperated.

  "No, I also understood that you like me, but you don't realise that you do," she ran her hands down his chest, and he groaned. "Oh, and I don't twitch my nose," he stopped all movement then, and she was a little disappointed. "Okay, okay, I twitch my nose." She admitted, while shaking her head.

  "It's not that. I like you. I mean beyond looking at a girl, as a well... girl. How did I miss the fact that I actually like you?" His voice rose, as the epiphany took hold and Kayla laughed.

  "How did you miss that? Of course you like me and I like you, otherwise why would we be together?" She told him, as if it was obvious. She felt immensely pleased by his words. It sent a tingling warmth through her and made her heart race even faster.

  "Kayla McCrae, I like you as more than just a girl to look pretty on my arm for a week. I like you! Even your crazed ‘must do homework now' persona. I like your bossiness, that ugly grey cardigan, and even how easily you blush. I like all of these things about you. How have I missed this?" He shouted out happily to the shining stars above him, as he threw his head back.

  "I'm starting to think that you really are as blind as the proverbial bat." She slapped him lightly on the chest with a grin, and he returned his focus to her.

  "Hey, I've never really liked a girl before, give me a break." He said and she let out a snort.

  "How about you finish up your, oh, so shocking revelations and kiss me already."

  "Back to the bossiness," he grinned, as he tapped her nose. "And the twitching nose."

  "What? That's how I keep my glasses on my nose." She peered down at her nose going almost cross-eyed.

  "And I really like the hot librarian glasses too. Geez, Kayla, there's not much that I don't like about you." He told her and she felt tears fill her eyes. He was being so sincere and wonderful that her whole body felt like bursting with happiness.

  "Here's a hint for you, Isaac. I really like you too."

  "You do..." His words muffled, as her lips captured hers.

  He liked this bolder side of Kayla, as much as any other part of her. This was deep for him, but he knew that he wouldn't mind spending every single second having her kiss him like this. He had his girl now and nothing in the world could make him happier than that.

  Chapter 20 - Unforeseen complications

  The drive back to her house filled Kayla with a delicious warmth that she wished would continue forever. Their hands linked together on the console, and sometimes he would look her way, while smiling so softly, that her emotions twisted inside her pleasantly.

  When they pulled into her driveway, she noticed the lights on in the garage, which made her frown. That was the last place Mitchell would go, and her Mum was at work. All her earlier happiness fled, as she got out of the car.

  She walked straight over to the garage and tested the door. When she found it unlocked, she quickly flung it open. The surprise that awaited her had all her feelings of dread disappearing. Ecstatic joy filled her at who was waiting inside the garage.

  "Hey, Muffin," her Dad, Ted, called out cheerfully.

  "Dad!" She exclaimed with a squeal of happiness, as she raced over to her father.

  Wrapped in one of her father's hugs was always part of the best things in her life. It made everything wrong in her life seen perfectly fine. He was a big man, tall and broad with a thick thatch of black hair, which was starting to show shimmers of grey.

  "Well, look at my little Muffin, aren't you all dressed up," Ted said, as he moved back to look at her with a broad grin.

  "I thought you weren't getting home until tomorrow," she grinned up at him before giving him another squeeze.

  "I was able to get an earlier flight than expected, which maybe a good thing, considering." This time her Dad's eyes looked firmly behind her.

  Remembering Isaac was still there had her turning to him. Isaac didn't just look intimated he appeared terrified. He stood stiff and tall, as his eyes darted between her and her Dad. She hadn't expected this meeting to happen so soon.

  "Ah, Dad, this is Isaac." Kayla said awkwardly.

  "Evening, Isaac. I'm, Ted McCrae." Ted offered a firm hand to the younger man, who seemed to have no idea what to do next.

  "Hello, Sir." Isaac said, as he cleared his throat and offered his hand too. Kayla watched anxiously as they shook hands.

  "Call me, Ted. I should tell you up front that nobody will ever be good enough for my daughter." Ted stated firmly, while Isaac simply blinked.

  "Dad!"

  "I probably don't deserve her, but as long as she chooses me then I'll still be here." Isaac finally raised his eyes to meet Ted's who seemed pleased.

  "Good answer, Son," Ted patted Isaac on the back, and Kayla let out a breath of relief. "Now let's get to the problem at hand. Do you see what time it is young lady?" Ted scowled at her.

  "Dad! Mum said my curfew is eleven, and I had to ring her then," Kayla said, as she glanced at her watch. "It's five past already! She's going to freak out!" Kayla went through her bag, frantically searching for her phone.

  "Hey, Kylie, girl. She's here with me, and yes she's been home since before eleven," Ted's voice sent a calm through her, as he spoke to her Mum. "She wants to talk with you." Ted handed the phone to Kayla.

  "Sorry, Mum, I was busy talking with Dad. Why didn't you tell me that he was home?" Kayla asked curiously.

  "I thought you might have been enjoying your night out," Kylie answered dryly. "I'm glad you called. It means that I don't have to send out a hunting party to track Isaac down."

  "Seriously, Mum." Kayla huffed.

  "Hey, I know all about teenage boys."

  "We are so not doing this again, Mum." She frowned, as she saw her Dad had taken Isaac aside, and seemed to be giving him a very unpleasant talking too. "Got to go, Mum, I'll see you in the morning." She hung up the phone quickly and rushed to save Isaac.

  "Dad, leave him be." Kayla whined, as she pulled on one of her father's arms.

  "It's, um, fine, Kayla. He's just worried about you." Isaac's voice had a tremor in it, and he appeared paler than earlier.

  "Stop it! He hasn't done anything." Kayla stated fiercely, as she tried to move Ted away from Isaac.

  "I was a teenage boy once. I know how they think, and it sur
e as hell isn't with their mind." Ted remained firm.

  "You are as bad as Mum!" Kayla scolded. "Are you okay, Isaac?"

  "Yeah, I should probably get home." Isaac gulped, and Kayla fully glared at her father who she was so happy to see only moments ago.

  "Alright." Kayla quite deliberately clasped Isaac's hands with hers.

  "Don't forget, Isaac," Ted's eyes narrowed on the boy. "I'm always watching."

  "Seriously, Dad, you need to get a new line." Kayla shook her head, and steered Isaac back to his car.

  "Your dad is one seriously scary dude." Isaac managed to whisper once they were out of earshot.

  "He's just a bit protective that's all. He's a nice guy really." Kayla defended her dad with a small wince.

  "I guess I'll believe that when I see it." Isaac said, as he let out a long breath.

  "I'm sorry he went so hard on you." She told him, as they approached his car.

  "I get it. I mean if I had someone like you. Hey, wait a minute, I do have someone like you," He turned to face her and smiled. "What are you doing tomorrow?" He asked quickly.

  "Probably spending time with my family." She said with a smile.

  "Oh, yeah, of course. That should have been obvious to me shouldn't it?" He rolled his eyes at his own ignorance. "I will have to just text you." He sounded a little disappointed, so she pulled him in for a hug.

  "I had a really great night. Thanks, Isaac." She told him as she peered into those brilliant dark blue eyes of his.

  "Dismissing all the Melissa stuff." He grimaced.

  "She can be as jealous as she likes, it won't change the fact that you and I are a couple. Even my Dad's behaviour can't change that." Kayla assured him.

  "I like this bolder, Kayla, it's nice to see." He told her, as he touched the side of her face. On cue, she blushed, and he was happy that the shy side of Kayla still existed.

  "Just stating the truth." She said with a shrug, and he grinned.

  "Do you think your Dad will be mad if I kiss you goodnight?" Isaac asked abruptly

  "Probably, but you're not going to let that stop you, are you?" She asked hopefully.

  "No." He answered, and his voice went into a squeak that made Kayla laugh.

  "He's not that scary," She said, as she ran her fingers into his hair. "Fine, your defence will be that I kissed you."

  She went up onto her toes and tugged gently on his hair. She pressed her lips against his, and he smiled against her mouth at this new show of confidence. He pulled her tight into his embrace and returned her kiss passionately.

  With a clearing of a throat, Isaac moved back leaving Kayla feeling fantastically dreamy. He went to take a step back and she simply tightened her hands around him.

  "Don't go yet." She said as she cuddled closer.

  "You should spend some time with your Dad." Isaac told her as he gently extricated her hands from around his neck and stepped back.

  "Yeah, I guess so." She said a bit sadly, as she let him go to get in his car. He wound down the window and peered at her.

  "I'll probably see you on Monday at school." He enquired with a keen look.

  "That seems like an awful long way away." Her brows drew together at the thought.

  "Well, just think it's almost Saturday now, so it won't be that long till Monday. Plus, I promise to ring you." He traded and she relaxed into a smile.

  "You're right; I'm being silly, aren't I?" The blush crept into her cheeks yet again. "Now that you're here, and you're so much more than I expected, I want to spend as much time with you as I can." Her mouth blurted, only making her blush grow fiercer.

  "That's good to know. How about you ring me if some spare time comes up, okay?" He asked and she nodded.

  "Yeah, that's a plan. Night, Isaac." She leaned into his window a little bit closer and their eyes met, however briefly, before another unsubtle clearing of the throat had them backing away.

  "I'll ring you in the morning." He promised before starting the car and driving away.

  She stood and watched his car lights disappear into the darkness. She knew that she had just had one of the best nights of her life. Sure, it had its difficulties, but he had admitted that he liked her. Sure, it wasn't love or anything deep, but she knew how much that took Isaac to admit.

  She wrapped her arms around herself, and grinned into the velvety night sky. Things with Isaac were going so well, and she knew that she had never been this happy.

  "Muffin, come on inside, it's getting cool out here." She turned at her father's voice.

  She was immensely glad that he was home, but she wished the meeting between him and Isaac had gone differently. She smiled, as she looked towards her father. She was sure introducing any boy to her dad was never going to be easy.

  He held out his arms in that old familiar gesture, and she was happy to receive another one of his fantastic bear hugs. Tears stung her eyes at how much she had missed him. Something as simple as a hug could never relate the same across a computer screen.

  "That was a bit unexpected," Ted said, as he hugged her closer.

  "I'm sure that mum told you that I was on a date," Kayla told him dryly, as that dreaded blush bothered her again.

  "Look at you, my girl. You've grown up, Kayla. It's like I've blinked and missed it." Ted said in a melancholy way.

  "It had to happen sometime." She deadpanned and he laughed.

  "I know, Muffin, I was just hoping sometime was never." He hugged her again, before gesturing to the front door.

  Her phone beeped in her bag at the same time that a car pulled up in front of their house. They both turned to the car where thumping music pounded only to see Mitchell exit one of the doors with a huge grin on his face. He saw the two of them under the porch light, and his grin fell into astonishment.

  "Dad?" Mitchell's voice sounded shocked.

  "Hey, Mitch."

  "You're home early." Mitchell glanced back to the car, and waved his friends off.

  "I was hoping to see you and have the family together for a day, before you went back to school. Not too old for a hug from your old man, now are you?" Ted asked and Mitchell hesitated. He made sure that the car drove away before coming over to hug his Dad. "By God, I knew the day would come when my kids would be embarrassed by me, but I didn't think it would be now." Ted's humour laced voice made the other two smile.

  "Embarrassed isn't exactly the word, Dad."

  "In that case, I don't want to know what the word to describe it would be." Ted replied wryly.

  "It's good to see you, Dad." Mitchell said sincerely, but with the cheekiest of grins.

  "I've missed you, Dad." Kayla told him cheerily, and they all smiled happy at their reunion.

  Kayla didn't remember the text until an hour or so later. The three of them had caught up with each other's news. They had teased Kayla mercilessly about Isaac, until she couldn't stand it anymore.

  With a yawn, she grabbed her handbag, and dropped it beside her bed. The phone beeped again, making Kayla go from dead tired to instantly awake. She scrambled to her bag with an excited happiness to clutch at her phone.

  "Things I didn't know about Kayla McCrae." The first message stated, followed by, "Your Dad calls you Muffin, which is a darn cute name for you. I was thinking cuteosaurus might work too." Kayla smiled at Isaac's odd message.

  "That might be a bit long to say and terribly hard to explain." She typed back.

  "I'm hoping you find some free time tomorrow or Sunday. How about Sweet Pea?"

  "I'll text you. Not sure about that name either." She replied, still smiling that he wanted to see her as much as she wanted to see him.

  "You sound tired and I don't want to disturb your beauty sleep. Night, Kayla."

  "How can I sound tired in a message?" She typed back quickly.

  "Take that back I think I'm tired *yawn*."

  "Are you insinuating that I'm boring?" She teased and awaited his reply.

  "You are anything but boring. You're articulate, i
ntelligent, gorgeous, and so damn bossy. I really like you, Kayla McCrae." That message sent her heart into a free fall tumble, making all her insides jumble pleasantly.

  "I've always liked you, Isaac Thornton." She answered before adding a good night message.

  She went to sleep that night with memories of that final message of his. He liked her, lots of things about her in fact. She had stared at that message, until her eyes felt heavy and her body ordered her to sleep.

  Morning didn't lessen the excitement of the previous night. She wondered whether to send him a message when she woke up, but dismissed the thought as too desperate.

  Breakfast was a family affair with her Mum home early from work. Her Dad had the whole day planned, and Kayla knew that today there would be no time to see Isaac.

  "Busy all day. Even going out to dinner tonight with Dad and Mitch. Sorry." She sent Isaac a quick message, so he would know not to expect to see her at all today.

  "It's okay. Jays coming over this morning. I'll still miss you." Her heart fluttered again at his thoughtful words.

  He was so darn sweet sometimes. She could only wonder at the jerk he used to be. To think there was this sweet as pie guy underneath made her life all the better.

  "Miss you too." She sent back with a flaming face. She scolded her blush, wishing she could be a lot cooler with the mushy stuff that Isaac was bringing out in her.

  She didn't hear from him again all day, which disappointed her. She obsessively watched her phone, and felt speared with sadness every time the screen stayed blank. Mitchell had threatened to steal her phone away when she stared at it mournfully again during lunch.

  By the time dinner rolled around, she began having doubts and fears plagued her. She knew logically that his phone had probably died, and that he had forgotten to charge it. However, she reminded herself that he had been notorious in her school, which she then debated with the fact that he had never had sex. Her mind went back and forth, driving her crazy.

  "C'mon, Kay Kay, stop mooning over your hottie boyfriend and let's go," Mitchell called out from the other side of her bedroom door.

  "Coming." Kayla forced her voice into some kind of cheerful sound.