(Conclusion to the collaboration by @BeastofDestiny and @Narcotic Dollie)The tears are still streaming down his cheeks as Nori unleashes her tirade of insults, he lowers his head and his body begins to shake; he starts to chuckle. When his head raises up again, the same soft smile is still on it,
”Yea, maybe I am a little dense,” he starts to step forward,
”and maybe...just maybe I’m pathetic for even thinking I have a shot with someone as drop dead gorgeous as you. But to be perfectly blunt, you must be just as dense as I am if you think for even a second I’m going to buy that bullshit you just spewed.”He’s standing barely inches in front of her now, before he wraps his arms around her, pulling her close to him.
”I don’t know what’s going on...to make you want to try and push me away so hard that you’d have to lie to my face about it...but all I know, is that I want you in my life, and no matter how many insults you throw, how hard you hit me, what lies you say, I won’t give up on you. All I want is the truth…and...if it really is something I did, I’d like to know how I wronged you...”He sees right through her and Nori hates it and is relieved by it all at once. He steps into her space and gathers her up into his arms like she's made of spun silk instead of the girl who just viciously tried to tear him down not even a minute earlier. Kyle's shoulders are so wide that his embrace blocks out everything else and she lets herself relax for just a second, pressing her face into his chest and inhaling deeply.
“I can't say it,” she murmurs quietly, the image of the detective that had promised to protect her flashes into her mind and she can't admit it out loud.
Because then it really happened and she was the reason a good man was gone.
“I'm sorry Kyle, I can't right now. I need some space,” she finishes quietly, her golden eyes shut tight.
”Please…” his voice is almost begging,
”Nori, I’m really scared, scared for you and so fucking lost in the dark here, its unbearable.” His grip tightens on the woman,
”I don’t have to know everything, I just need to know you’re alright, that you’re safe, because I saw your apartment,” the charred husk of her building’s remains, vividly appear in his mind,
”As time went on, I kept thinking, what if you had been in there? ...what if I hadn’t offered for you to stay the night? ...What if...if the weatherman is trying to kill you..?” the image of the weatherman from the documentary flashed in his mind,
”I couldn’t stomach the thoughts...I was so afraid of just...of just losing you, even now that thought terrifies me…” he pauses briefly,
”Whatever is going on...I want to help you with it, I don’t even know what I could do, but you don’t have to do it alone…”“Hey, cut it out, cowboy,” Nori tells him, her voice soft as she reaches up and wipes away the tears on his face with her thumb. “It’s going to be okay, I swear,” she stops to give him a watery smile, before continuing, “And I know you’ve got my back, but I’m not ready to talk about this yet.” She meets his gaze and pats his cheek gently, trying to reassure him in some way, but she can’t tell if it’s working or not. “I’ll be alright and I’ll always pick up the phone if you call me, but you have to let me do this on my own. There’s something I need to work out, before I can be with anyone.”
“It really is going to be okay, Kyle,” the blonde reiterates, and she feels her cell phone buzz in her purse, but she ignores it for now.
She tried to reassure him that everything was alright, that everything was going to be okay, and when she pressed her hand against his cheek his breath shuddered under her gentle caress; he didn’t want to let go, but wiith a great amount of reluctance, Kyle nodded,
”Okay…””I believe you,” he said,
‘...but I don’t’ he thought,
”I’ll trust you to deal with...whatever it is you are dealing with,” he hated this feeling of being lost, but despite saying everything he could think of, there was nothing else more he could go off of, he just...had to accept her decision. With watery eyes he leaned down and planted a tender kiss on her forehead,
”Just..be careful okay? If you get in too over your head, you call and I’ll come running, I promise that.” A serious expression was written across his brow,
”You might want to get back to whoever’s messaging you,” he stated,
”And...I need to get back to her,” another lie,
”I’ll…” he was having a hard time with this one,
”I’ll see you around.” ‘hopefully’He released his grip on her before he turned and started walking towards the mansion, he couldn’t bear to watch her leave, lest the urge to chase after her and pull her back overwhelmed him again. The tears were welling up again, but he couldn’t let her see them,
’Damn it Parker, get a fucking grip on yourself!’ The words felt useless, so all he could hope to do was pick up his pace a little and that Nori had already started walking away. Nori had things to deal with, things that Kyle couldn’t help with, things that she couldn’t tell him, that hurt more than he could have imagined, especially after bleeding his heart out to her like that. He had to wonder if this all came back to the same theme again, that she didn’t trust him...well...he’d have to trust her to do the right thing and to keep herself safe; Kyle, unfortunately, didn’t think she’d ever allow him to.