Chapter Twelve

Kevin rang Megan’s doorbell and waited. This was the second time in as many days he’d come to see her, and while yesterday he’d been unsure of why he was there, tonight he really had to talk to her. When no one came to answer the door, he knocked and pressed his ear to the door. He could hear loud music playing inside and lights were on, so he figured she must be home.

Then his mind began to race. What if she was hurt? What if she needed help? Worried now, he tried the door and finding it unlocked, he let himself inside.

“Megan?” he called, shouting over the music. He walked through the living room to the kitchen where the music was coming from.

He found her there, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. She was dancing barefoot around the room and mixing something in a bowl.

“All you people, can’t you see, can’t you see,” she sang at the top of her lungs.

Kevin suddenly realized what she was listening to, and a sly grin formed on his lips. “MEGAN!” he shouted.

She let out a shriek and whirled around. The bowl fell to the floor, its contents spilling out.

“What the funk are you doing here?” she demanded, diving for the cd player on the counter and shutting it off. She turned to face him, her cheeks a dark crimson.

“Were you just listening to...us?” he asked.

“As a matter of fact, yes. And you can just wipe that shit eating grin right off your face, or else I’ll wipe it off for you.”

He held his arms out innocently at both sides and bit his tongue to keep from saying anything. Megan bent to pick up the bowl.

“Here,” he said, dropping to his knees beside the mess. “Let me. Just toss me a rag or something. What were you making?”

“Double fudge brownies,” she answered, getting a sponge from the sink.

“Sounds yummy.”

“They are.”

They cleaned the floor, and Megan rinsed the mixing bowl.

“Would you mind telling me why you’re here and how you got in? I thought I had the door locked,” she said.

“Nope, it was open. And I wanted to talk to you. I tried calling first, but the music must have been playing too loudly.”

Megan flicked water at him. “I just bought it today. I figured I should give it a listen, considering I’m around you guys so much.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Do you like it?” He looked at her expectantly.

“It sucks. I want my money back.”

Kevin flinched.

“I’m kidding! It’s really good. You guys have incredible voices and a lot of talent. I was wrong, and I apologize.”

“Thank you very much.”

They stood side by side at the sink, just sort of looking at each other. Megan finally coughed and took a step towards the refrigerator.

“Um, did you ever say why you were here?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah. Why I’m here...”

“Sit down while I make another batch of brownies. You can tell me everything.”

“Okay.” He took a seat at the cluttered kitchen table. “I’m here to talk about Dana.”

“What about her? She’s coming back tomorrow, right?”

“Nope. She called to say she’d be spending the week there, to visit her mother.”

“Ohhh,” Megan said, nodding.

“I don’t get it. She’s always saying she never gets to see me, but then when I’m here, she goes away and chooses to stay away. I was hoping you could explain why.”

Megan cracked eggs into the bowl. “Well, Kev. It’s like this. Dana’s mother is home less than you are. She’s a constant traveler. So for Dana to spend some time with her is rare.”

“Okay, I can understand that. So why didn’t she ask me to come meet her mom?”

Megan frowned. “Hmm, most likely because she hasn’t told her mom anything about you.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t feel bad. It’s nothing against you, really. Dana just likes to take things slow. Anyway, has she met your mother yet?”

Kevin shifted in his chair. “Well, no.”

“Guess you like to take things slow, too, huh?” She finished mixing ingredients together and poured the gooey batter into a glass pan.

“How long does it take to bake those?” Kevin asked, licking his lips.

“About a half hour.” She slid the pan into the oven and glanced at him. “You planning on sticking around?”

“Um...well...”

Megan laughed. “No, it’s fine. You can stay. I need someone to help me eat ‘em anyway.” She set a timer for 30 minutes.

“What about AJ? Where’s he?”

Megan shrugged and sat down next to him at the table. “Probably at home. We didn’t make plans for tonight,” she said, reaching for one of the many stacks of paper that covered the table. “AJ doesn’t have to be with me 24/7.”

“What if he doesn’t like the fact that I’m over here and he’s not?”

“Then he’s a crazy pig. We’re not doing anything wrong. Why, Kevin? Do you feel guilty?”

“No. I’m with Dana.”

“And I’m with AJ. You and I are just friends.”

“You seem to emphasize that a lot.”

“Well, that’s what we are.”

“AJ still can’t believe that. And frankly neither can I.”

“That makes three of us.” She started flipping through papers.

Kevin watched her a minute before asking her what she was doing.

“I’m updating the medical files for all the animals I take care of,” she explained. “Our computer system crashed so I have to do it by hand.”

“Yuck,” he said, sounding sympathetic. “But aside from that, do you like your job?”

“I love it. But it always tears me up to see an animal suffering. I do my best to save them all, but sometimes I just can’t.”

“That sounds like us. We try to please everyone, but there’s always a few that we just can’t.”

“It must be hard to be you.”

“Sometimes.” He sighed and drummed his fingers on the table. “Hey, you need any help?”

“Actually, yeah. You could sort these for me.” She handed him a pile of folders. “Put these in order with the most recent date on top.”

“Sure thing.”

They worked quietly for awhile, and then Kevin said she could play some music if she wanted.

“And it doesn’t have to be ours,” he added quickly.

“No, that’s okay. I like the music.” She reached over to the cd player and pressed play. AJ’s crazy laugh soon filled the room. Megan couldn’t help but giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Kevin wondered.

“That laugh scared the shit outta me the first time I heard it!”

Kevin smiled. “Me too.”

After a few minutes, Kevin asked to use her bathroom. She told him where it was, and he followed her directions up the stairs to the second floor. He passed her bedroom and forced himself not to peek inside. When he came back, Megan was humming loudly with the cd. She stopped when she saw him in the kitchen doorway.

“Caught again,” she said.

“Keep going, I like it when other people enjoy the music.” He slid into his seat and they continued to work. Kevin occasionally joined in with the recording to sing along. Megan really liked his voice. When the timer went off, she jumped from her chair, and then almost fell right to the floor. With lightning quick reflexes, Kevin reached out and caught her, helping her back to her seat.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Oh yeah, fine,” she said, pounding her foot against the floor and shaking her leg. “Fell asleep I guess.”

“Just stay there, I’ll take care of the brownies.” Kevin put on her piggy oven mitts and removed the pan from the oven.

Megan couldn’t help but giggle. “You look funny,” she told him.

He glanced down at the oven mitts and smiled. Then he waved them at her and snorted, which only made her laugh harder.

“Do you have any frosting or anything?” he asked.

A surprised look crossed her face. “You frost brownies too?”

“Sure do.”

“Wow.” She hobbled over to a cabinet and pulled open the door to reveal a shelf stocked with canned frostings.

Kevin grinned and reached for a can of coconut frosting. “We have something in common,” he said.

“Spooky.”

“You got a spatula somewhere?”

She pointed to a drawer. Then she leaned against the counter and watched as Kevin frosted the freshly baked brownies. When he finished, he passed the spatula to her.

“You don’t want it?” she asked, eyeing the frosting.

“Nah, you can have it.”

“Aww, but this is the fun part!” She used her index finger to wipe a line of frosting from the spatula and then pointed it at him. “Come on, it’s yummy.”

Kevin locked eyes with her, and then slowly lowered his mouth towards her outstretched hand. His lips touched her first, soft and warm. Then his tongue swirled around her finger, licking off all the frosting. When he straightened and moved away from her, she shivered.

“Um, otay, maybe that wasn’t such a good idea,” she said softly, avoiding his gaze.

“You felt it too?” he whispered.

“Felt what?” She dropped the spatula in the sink and then washed her hands. But no matter how much soap she used, she couldn’t wash away the feeling of his mouth on her skin.

“That...that feeling,” Kevin tried to explain. “There was a spark, or something.”

“I didn’t feel anything. Now are you gonna cut those or not?”

Obviously, she didn’t want to talk about it, so Kevin let the subject slide. He found a knife and started to cut the brownies into neat little squares. Megan got plates and forks and then poured two glasses of milk. They carried their snack to the table, and Megan made sure to sit across from him now, instead of beside him.

The cd kept playing. At the moment, it was the only sound in the room, unless the clinking of silverware counted. Megan closed her eyes and sighed as another song began.

“I love this one,” she said, swaying with the opening notes.

Kevin froze, his fork halfway between his plate and his mouth. “You do?”

She opened her eyes and nodded. “It’s so beautiful. I love the piano music. This is my favorite song off the whole album.”

He gulped and set his fork down. “Have you um, looked at the credits?”

“No, I looked at the pictures though.”

“Where is it? The case?”

Megan began looking under the papers on the table. She found it and handed it to him.

“No,” he said, waving it away. “I want you to look at it.”

“Okaay,” she said, not understanding. She took the little booklet from the plastic case and flipped through it. “What am I looking for?”

“Look at the songwriters for this song, ‘Back to Your Heart,’” he instructed her.

Thoroughly confused now, she did as he said. “’Back To Your Heart,’” she read out loud. “’Kevin Richardson...’” Her voice trailed off and she blinked several times. “You wrote this song?”

“Well, not entirely by myself, I had help, but yeah.”

“Oh my God.”

“And you really like it?”

She nodded and set the case down. “I really do. I was almost in tears after I listened to it the first time. It’s a really beautiful song, Kevin.”

“Thanks.”

Megan took a deep breath. “Okay, what the hell is going on here?” she suddenly demanded. “One minute, we can’t stand each other, and the next, it’s like...like...”

“Like we have some kind of connection? Like there’s something between us?”

“Hold it right there, cowboy, I think you’re going a little too fast. It’s just that, I never expected to like you as much as I find myself doing. It’s weirding me out.”

“Me too.”

“So now what?”

Kevin tapped his fork against the plate, thinking. “I don’t know. “ He laughed. “Come on, who are we kidding? There’ s nothing between us. We’re just friends.”

“Right, just friends. And that’s it.”

“That’s it.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah.”

They lapsed into yet another uncomfortable silence.

“Well, I really should get going,” Kevin said, getting to his feet a few minutes later. “I just came over to ask about Dana.”

“Yeah. Um, don’t worry about her. The longer you’re with her, the better you’ll understand her.”

“I’m sure I will. Thanks for the brownies, I can see myself out.”

“Okay.”