Amazing

Hearing Alice enter the living room, Kyle turns slightly to give her a smile. He hadn't been sure how long she'd be gone, and was just as glad that he wouldn't be alone this afternoon. "Hey there." As she draws close, he shifts to slip an arm around her waist and kisses the top of her head. "Wassup?" 

At the mention of doctors and not feeling well, Kyle immediately stiffened and turned so he could see her face. Worry flooded his eyes. Why hadn't she told him? Stress or not, it wouldn't have mattered to him at all. 

Hearing she was okay, his shoulders relaxed, and then her last words hit his ears. Pregnant. He blinked and just stared at her for several dumbfounded moments. "You're...really?" He backed up a step to put her at arm's length. "I mean...really, really? Pregnant? Like...we're gonna have a baby?" His eyes had grown as huge as dinner plates.

A smile slowly spread across his face and both hands flew into the air. "Woohoo!" What he'd forgotten was that one hand still held his mountain dew...which was now raining onto the living room carpet.

"Oh, oh, not good." He stopped, trying really hard not to bounce, and careful set the now almost-empty can down. As soon as his hands were free though, he wrapped his arms around Alice and spun her around with a laugh, then stopped short, to give her a kiss on the lips. "You are.." He kissed her forehead. "An..." He kissed her lips again. "Amazing woman." 

He paused and hugged her tight, laughing again. "Oh this is so exciting." He pulled back again. "Are you feeling okay? Anything I can do? Or not do? Or...something??" 


Garret simply shook his head at Nate. "Names won't do any good. They never use their real names on stuff like this. The only chance we might have is security tapes and staring at faces. If we spot someone, then we can have Hawks match them up with their alias." 

At least maybe he could help with this. At least maybe it would give him something to do besides stare at four walls. Maybe Reese didn't want him in the middle of the action again yet, but maybe this was a chance to prove he didn't have to kill someone to help out. 

His stomach growled, but he ignored it like he usually did. He hadn't been starved multiple times as a child for nothing. He'd learned early on he could survive a lot longer than he thought. Unfortunately, it was Laura's chicken that his tastebuds suddenly remembered.


Kip’s bedroom walls did very little to drown out any of the loud music being played in the living room. The party had been going on for over an hour, and even though there were just ten people, it was enough to crowd the apartment. Kip had retreated to find his phone, but now as he found it, he also saw another missed call. From Erik. Again. He sighed. He was tempted to block Erik’s number, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that.

Finally, he went to his text messages.

I’m alive.

A reply was quickly returned.

Erik: Are you okay? Where are you?

Kip: Im fine

Erik: Where are you at?

Kip: Somewhere

Erik: Seriously? Are you really okay?

Kip: Im fine. End of story

Erik: Please dont shut me out. Whats up?

Kip: Nothing

Erik: Can I call you?

Kip: Im done with this convo.

He closed the app and aimed back for the living room. He wasn’t going to let Erik bug him or make him feel guilty. He was on his own now and living a different life. He had a new circle of friends. A new lifestyle. Erik wouldn’t approve anyway, so there was no point in trying to strike up a conversation.