The Alvinstar Affair: Chapter 2
Kale kept driving, his eyes hard as he breathed slowly, trying to calm his nerves. That burning pain in his ear wasn't helping, nor the blood that was trickling down the left side of his head and down his neck.
Kayla was crying softly in the seat next to Kale. She was trying to stop, she knew that Kale needed her help, but the whole thing had been so shocking. And now they were leaving the only home she had ever known...
"It'll be fine..." He said, his voice wavering slightly. Kale wasn't one to cry, ever, but now tears were welling up in his eyes too. He couldn't deal with everything and the pain in his chest, the empty void, hurt more than anything his father could have done. "I have a friend we can stay with a while, that Jackal guy Dad doesn't like... He won't look for us there."
Kayla nodded as she gave a few little sniffles; "Yeah..." she glanced at Kale, "D... Does your ear hurt much?" she didn't know what else to say right now...
Kale replied with a nod, looking at it in the rearview mirror for a moment before turning back to the road. "Kinda sucks..... I was going to get it pierced tomorrow..." He chuckled a little, but it wasn't very convincing.
Kayla was silent for a few moments, and then slowly she placed her hand on Kale's leg, "Well..." she said softly, "At least we're together..." she gave her big brother a soft smile.
He looked up, nodding and a real smile finally forming on his muzzle.
They came to the apartment complex, Kale opening his door and heading towards the call button. He hit the one for his friend's room and spoke into the microphone. "Hey, Cairo let me in man." His voice sounded almost defeated, a tone that Kale never would have dropped into unless something terrible had happened.
"What's wrong man?" came Cairo's voice.
"We'll talk when I get up."
Kayla got out and followed after Kale, wrapping her arms tightly around one of his in a hug that still allowed him to move. Cairo had always made her nervous... though she could never really say why. He always had been nice enough to her... just something seemed off about him.
Once upstairs, Kale had explained everything to Cairo as he helped in cleaning up the blood and the wound.
"So you two..."
Kale only nodded.
Kayla was sitting very close to Kale, and she barely even nodded in response to Cairo's question. She knew she should relax, because Kale trusted Cairo. But after how the day had gone so far, she wasn't in any kind of mood to relax.
"What a brain trip man... And he did THIS because of that?" He cleaned up Kale's ear a bit more. "Well... You've done worse before, you'll be missing a chunk, but you won't die or anything..."
Kale sighed, looking up to Cairo. "So, you don't mind if we crash here?"
"My pad is yours, foxy. Just keep it quiet at night when I'm trying to sleep. Catch me?"
Kale looked up with a stare that seemed rather un-amused.
Kayla didn't even notice the comment, or at least the insinuation behind it. She looked up at Cairo cleaning Kale's ear, and then reached out her hands to take the stuff from him, "Here... Let me..." she said softly.
Cairo nodded, leaning back. "At least you two got out of there..." He switched back to the subject at hand. "And he won't know where to find you so don't worry, just chill here for a little and don't worry about rent... I'm good for cash so I can deal with you two here for a few months."
Kale tilted his head to let his sister have better access to his ear. "Alright, Thanks Cai."
"No prob man, besides I owe you."
Kayla carefully worked on Kale's ear, bandaging it once she was done cleaning and disinfecting it. As she was finishing she hesitated a moment, and then said, "Thank you..." softly as she looked at Cairo.
Cairo nodded. "It's cool... Hey I gotta split and go out for practice, you two behave now." Kale gave him the same stare. "Alright, alright, I'll cut it out." He headed to the door and left, leaving the spare key on the counter.
He winced a little as she cleaned it, but didn't let her notice.
Once Kayla was all done with Kale's ear she sat back down, snuggling up against him, "Cairo is really nice... I don't know why he scares me so much..." she whispered into her brother's fur.
He wrapped her in his embrace, stroking her neckfur. "Jackals are like that sometimes, just a feeling of uneasiness. When we first met, I felt the same."
Kayla nodded softly against her brother's chest, pressing into his embrace. She needed the comfort, and she wanted to comfort Kale too. She sat back slightly, looking up at her brother with love and concern in her eyes, "We'll be alright... right?' she said with a half smile.
Kale nodded. "We'll be fine, I promise. I'll call mom in the morning, so we can get in and get our things... whatever's not broken that is."
: Kayla smiled, and then leaned up to lick the side of her brother's muzzle, "Yeah... I'll be fine as long as I'm with you Kale..."
He reached up and stroked her ear gently. "Alright, let's get unpacked."
Kayla nodded, leaning into her brother's gentle stroking, "Mmmm-hmmmm..."
Kale smiled, kissing is sister on the top of her head before unwrapping his arms from around her. "Come on." He stretched and yawned.
Kayla smiled as she climbed up and off her brother, and then noticed his yawn, "Why don't you just rest? I can unpack our stuff," she said with a smile.
"Alright..." He stepped over to the couch, laying down and curling up.
Kayla smiled tenderly at her brother, and then took the keys to his car and made her way down to it. He'd protected her earlier... this was the least she could do for him...
He stayed tightly curled up while he napped.
Slowly, but surely, Kayla brought in the few possessions they had managed to grab before being thrown out. Every now and then she would check on her brother, to make sure he was sleeping well. When she brought in one of her favorite blankets she carefully put it over him before returning to her work.
Finally everything was moved in, and Kayla curled up on the floor in front of the couch her brother was on. She gave a very large yawn, and was soon drifting off to her own sleep.
Later that day:
Kale woke up, trying not to wake Kayla as he made a phone call.
"Hey mom..." He said quietly. "No, she's fine... I'm fine too..." He stopped, listening to what she asked. "Yeah, it's true. We did... And we don't regret it."
"Mmmm..." Kayla mumbled softly as she shifted on the floor, "Kale?>" she said sleepily, her head starting to rise up from the floor.
"Mom, Dad didn't tell you everything... I'm missing part of my ear because of him..." He said calmly. "I was scared for Kayla, not myself."
Kayla head rose up and looked at Kale. It took her a moment, but once she realized who was on the other end of the line she froze, wondering what her mother was saying...
"Kayla?" He turned and saw that she had woken up, nodding. "Did you want to talk to her? She just woke up..." He listened to what she was saying. "No we didn't just..."
It sounded like Kale was getting an earful from Mother, and Kayla looked at him apologetically. She was starting to feel like this was all her fault...
He placed a hand on her arm, smiling warmly. "I told you... It'll be-"
"No Mom... No... I... I wanted to..." she blushed a bit, "Yes... I... No...." her face was starting to fall. She'd always been sensitive to their Mom's feelings, and she hated the even remote possibility of disappointing her, "I... I'm sorry Mom..." she said softly as a couple tears started to form in her eyes.
"Don't cry." He whispered.
It was too late for Kayla though, and she burst into sobs, handing the phone back to Kale. Their Mother hadn't been mean or anything, she just couldn't take this feeling that everything was her fault...
Kale grabbed the phone, "Mom. Did you?" He waited then nodded. "Alright, I'll talk to you later then, I have to go."
Kayla had curled up against the front of the couch, her face buried in the cushions as she sobbed her heart out, "I'm sorry Mom..."
He almost dropped the phone, heading over to Kayla and wrapping his arms around her. "It's ok. She's not mad. Just trying to understand."
"I know..." Kayla said between sobs, "But all of this... it's my fault Kale!" she turned tear filled eyes up at him, "It's my fault all of this has happened... And I could hear it in Mom's voice... She's too nice to be like Dad... but she was disappointed in me..."
He frowned, holding her close as he stroked her hair. "Kayla... I love you, and so does she. She'll accept it; it'll just take time..."
Kayla couldn't speak anymore, just crying into her brother's chest as her last reserve broke and everything came crashing down around her. She clung to him, her only point of safety in the world at the moment, and he wasn't going to let her down, holding her to his chest as her tears came down her cheeks.
After a bit of time her tears calmed, and she was left softly hiccupping, something that always happened when she cried hard, "I'm sorry Kale..." she said softly against his chest between hics.
"It's ok..." He said calmly.
She sniffled and looked up at him, and then threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug. She couldn't put her feelings into words, and so she just tried to convey her love for her brother through her arms.
"Alright Kayla lets get some more rest." He held her tightly, kissing her forehead.
Kayla nodded, "Yeah... that'd be nice...." she blushed faintly, "C... Could I sleep with you?" Despite what they had done earlier she was still a bit shy about what she could do with her brother... After all, she had never really been in a relationship before...
He nodded, carrying her into the spare bedroom so they could sleep.
She held tightly to him as she was picked up, and once they were in the spare bed she snuggled up against him, his presence a huge comfort to her.
Kale kissed her gently, closing his eyes and drifting back off to sleep with her. He had to be strong, even with the problems they'd e facing. Kayla soon drifted off to sleep as well, her body pressed closed to her brother.