Closer Ch. 06

"What would you have done if I told you?"

Justin sighed and looked away from her. Kim smirked a little because that response told her everything she needed to know. She gently put her hand on his cheek and guided his face back towards her own.

"That's exactly why I didn't say anything."

Justin sighed again and stroked her hand that was still placed on his cheek. "You sure it's okay?" he asked.

"Positive."

Justin nodded and leaned down to claim her lips again before pulling away. He looked around the empty store. The only people he saw were a couple customers in the dairy aisle and Maria looking up from her magazine at them.

"Slow night?"

Kim chuckled quietly, "It's always slow here." She stood on the tips of her toes to kiss him again.

"Does that mean you can go on break?"

"Tom's watching us on his handy-dandy surveillance cameras," Kim replied with a shrug.

"Okay, well I can wait," Justin exclaimed, shrugging off his jacket.

"Okay, watch me work," Kim replied before walking back over to her cash register. She waited for her next customer patiently while sharing small smiles and stealing small glances at Justin.

Justin watched as Kim greeted one of the few customers in the store. It was an elderly man who looked so small a fragile. One small gust of wind and the man would probably tip over. Kim seemed so nice and helpful as she made small talk with the person and loaded his bags into his cart.

"Have a good day," she said quietly before the man pushed his cart towards the entrance. Justin watched her and felt like crap as he remembered what he'd done, well what he'd almost done, with Erin a few nights ago. He knew he had to tell Kim what happened and soon. The longer he waited, the more pissed or hurt Kim would be. It wasn't going to be easy, but he had to do it…tonight.

*********

"Let's get some ice cream," Kim suggested, making her way over to her car. Justin had gotten dropped off so they were going to ride together. Justin got into the driver's seat and Kim got into the passenger side of the car.

"Okay, from where?"

"Ummm, that Italian Ice place that's a few block from your house."

Justin nodded and started the car. He pulled out of the store's parking lot and began driving towards his neighborhood. He pulled into the parking lot of a small ice cream place. He and Kim always came there when they were kids. It had the best cookies 'n cream ice cream they'd ever had.

Justin got out of the car and ordered the ice cream while Kim sat down at one of the picnic tables that were outside. She waited until he came back with their cones and handed one to her.

"Sooo," Kim started, taking a bite out of her ice cream.

"Sooo," Justin repeated, watching her closely.

"I have some news."

"Good news or bad?"

"Very good news. I, uh, went to this orientation meeting a few days ago. I was curious about some things so I went and it was pretty cool. I'm going to enroll into the city college. I'm getting financial aid and everything."

Kim looked at Justin trying to grasp his reaction. She knew he was going to be happy for her since he was the one who thought she should do more than work at the store all day. She saw him smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. What was his problem?

"That's great," he said, not sounding excited at all.

"I thought you, of all people, would be jumping for joy and now…."

"I am happy for you, Kim. I really am. It's just…," he started, but then paused. Just tell her, man, he told himself.

"It's just what?"

"There's something really important I have to tell you." Kim took a small bite of her ice cream. He could tell she was nervous and it was making him nervous. She looked at him carefully and waited for him to go on.

"A couple nights ago, I went to a party and I drank a lot. I was acting like a complete idiot and I did some things I shouldn't have with this girl named Erin. Baby, I'm so sorry."

Justin stopped and watched Kim closely. He felt like some detective who was studying any sudden movement on someone's face. He'd broken the news the best way he knew how and hoped to God she could find it in her heart to forgive him. She didn't move, she didn't speak, and she didn't look at him. She just stared down at her ice cream cone. He wished she would scream at him or something because her just being silent hurt most of all.

"Kim," he whispered her name so softly he barely heard himself. She still didn't move. He reached over to touch her hand but she quickly jerked away from him. She pulled back with so much force that her ice cream cone shot out of her hand and landed somewhere on the ground. Her reaction broke his heart, but he had no reason to be hurt when he'd gotten himself into this mess.

"You asshole," she bit out before climbing out of her seat. She started to walk towards the car. Justin quickly got out of his seat and ran after her. He caught up to her grabbed her tightly in a bear hug. Her back was so tense against him and then he felt her break down. She shuddered and then a cry racked through her.

"Get off of me, you asshole," she cried, trying to shake him off. "Get off of me."

Justin just held her tightly and whispered how sorry he was over and over again. Kim didn't know why, but her legs suddenly gave way under her weight and she was falling to the ground. Justin didn't let go and he fell down with her.

She couldn't believe she was in this parking lot, crying on her knees with Justin on his knees too, trying to comfort her. She felt like one of those damsels in distress in cheesy romance films.

"You promised you'd be faithful. You promised you wouldn't hurt me. You promised that the distance wouldn't come between us. You promised me, Justin. And, I believed you. I believed you," she sobbed over and over.

"Baby, I'm so sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am. Just please don't leave me. I never intended for it to happen, but it did. And, I'm telling you because I love you and I don't want us to keep secrets from each other."

"You wouldn't have done it if you loved me."

This was not how the night was supposed to go. In Kim's mind, they were supposed to hang out and tell each other what had been going on the past couple months. They were supposed to be making love in his room or her room. They were supposed to make the most of their time together before he had to leave again. She wasn't supposed to be crying in the Italian Ice parking lot. He wasn't supposed to be apologizing for cheating. This just wasn't how their first time together since August was supposed to go. What the fuck!

"Did you fuck her?" she strained out. She didn't know if she really wanted to know that answer, but she had to. She wouldn't be able to handle having to guess constantly how far it went between him and this Erin girl.

"No, no, I didn't let it get that far. We only kissed."

"Sure you did," Kim replied, malice dripping off every last word.

"Kim look at me," he commanded, taking her chin and making her look up at him. "We only kissed," he whispered again. She didn't believe him and he knew it.

"HEY!" a voice coming from the back sounded. Justin and Kim turned to look at the person who had interrupted them. "What are you two doing?"

"Nothing, man. Sorry for the disruptions."

"Are you okay?" the person asked Kim with their slight Italian accent.

"Yeah, peachy."

"Okay, well we're about to close so you guys need to get out of the parking lot."

Justin looked down at Kim and she looked at him with such disappointment. "Take me home," she sniffled. "Now!"

*********

"What's wrong?"

Those two words jarred Kim from her thoughts. She'd been sitting in the hospital room with Anita for two hours and hadn't uttered a single word. It was a dramatic change from the norm. Usually, she couldn't shut up and now she was as quiet as a mouse.

She just stared at the TV and pretended to listen to Anita talk. She didn't mean to feign interest. Her mind was just somewhere else. She hadn't spoken to Justin since he confessed about "misbehaving," which was what Maria called it. That was two days ago. Kim didn't want to ignore him. She really did want to talk it out, but she would suddenly get nervous about it.

"Huh?" Kim asked, dumbfounded. Her head jerked to the woman who was laying in bed and pressing buttons on the remote to lower the volume.

"What's wrong?" Anita repeated.

Kim sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Anita," she said exasperated.

"Tell me," Anita nagged, causing Kim to smile a tiny bit.

"There's nothing to tell. I'm just tired from work."

"I don't believe you," Anita replied bluntly.

"Well, that's too bad because that's the truth," Kim snapped. Get a grip, she scolded herself.

Before Anita could say anything else, Kim had risen up from her chair and was on her way out the door.

"I'll talk to you later," Kim exclaimed, already shutting the door. She hurried out of the hospital and made her way to her car. As soon as she got inside, she let out a deep breath and rested her head on the steering wheel.

"Smooth, Kimberly," she said, remembering how she snapped at the poor woman. "Get a fucking grip." She started the car and pulled away.

*********

Helen put the finishing touches on the cake she just baked. She hadn't made anything else for Thanksgiving because the plan was to spend the holiday with Steve's family. His parents always had caterers since they were older and lazier. Ugh, she wasn't too excited about seeing her in-laws. Steve's father was okay, but his wife always pushed her buttons.

From the moment Helen met Steve's mother, she tried to be in the older woman's good graces, but it was never good enough. Steve's mother, Ruthie, adored Justin even though he had the worst attitude when they first met, but the woman could not stand Helen at all. Helen always held her tongue because she didn't want Steve to think she was disrespectful. However, he was always quick to say something when his mother stepped over the line.

When Helen first met Ruthie, she'd been quiet and respectful and had gone out of her way to be nice, yet the woman acted like a complete bitch. So, she was not exactly happy about going over there, and since she was hormonal there was a higher chance she wouldn't just let the woman bark at her without barking back.

"Oww," she complained, feeling a small cramp. She rubbed her belly and smiled slightly. "I guess you can sense we're going to the Devil's playground tonight," she whispered to her unborn child.

"Helen, she can't be that bad," Kim said, munching on some pretzels.

"Kim, she is ten times worse. I can't stand that woman and she can't stand me."

"Have you tried talking to her about it?"

"That would be pointless. She's a stubborn old fool and I can't wait until I get to put her ass in a nursing…"

"You ready?" Steve asked, quickly descending the stairs, not realizing he'd just interrupted Helen. Kim couldn't help but laugh and that caused her to almost choke on a pretzel.

"Not really."

"Come on, it won't be that bad."

"Steve, your mother shoved cake at my face before."

"That was three years ago," he offered.

"That's the exact reason why we haven't been to their house for Thanksgiving in almost two years."

"Come on, it won't be too terrible, and if it is I'll just make it up to you later tonight in the bedroom," Steve growled. Helen laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Mmmm, I can think of a lot of ways you can make it up to me," she whispered before kissing him deeply.

"Eww, will you two cut that out?" Justin said, mimicking disgust. "You're gonna mess around and make the baby pop right out."

"Yeah, enough with the public displays of affection," Kim added, pretending to cover her eyes.

Justin walked into the room and looked over at Kim. She purposely avoided his gaze, pretending to be fixated with the pretzel bowl.

"We don't complain when you two do it," Steve pointed out.

"Because when we do it it's not gross and creepy," Justin replied.

"Jealousy is an ugly thing," Helen retorted.

"Whatever. We should ride in the same car," Justin suggested. She can't avoid me forever, he thought.

"Why?" Kim immediately asked.

"Carpooling is green. I mean we're all going to the same place, why drive separately?"

"That's a good idea, honey."

"We should go; my mom will go ballistic if we're even a little late. We need to get there ASAP," Steve exclaimed.

"Yay," Helen said, rolling her eyes.

The car ride didn't go as expected for Justin. Kim had suddenly volunteered to drive and he ended up riding in the backseat with his mother. Damn, he didn't think she was going to do that. So, for the entire ride, he was left staring at the back of her head as she maneuvered her way through the various streets, and listen to Steve give her directions.

"Steve, darling, so nice to see you," Ruthie exclaimed happily, engulfing him in a hug. When she finally let go, Steve walked into the house and waited for his family to join him. His mother would let no one into the house until after they'd been properly greeted.

"Oh, Justin, you look so handsome," she said, moving over to hug Justin.

"Thanks, Ruth."

"Ooooh, and who is this?" Ruth asked, as she moved over to hug Kim. Kim was taken aback, she'd never met this woman before, but Ruth insisted on hugging her. After a moment she hugged back. Kim walked into the house and stood in the midst of everyone else.

Justin threw his arm over her shoulder and said, "Grandma Ruth, this is Kim, my girlfriend." Kim shot him a look before looking back at the graying woman.

"Nice to meet you," Kim said with a smile she hoped was sincere.

"Likewise. Oh my, Helen you look wonderful, dear. I know our relationship has been a little rocky but for the sake of my grandchild and my son, we should let bygones be bygones," Ruth stated, bringing the woman in for a hug. Helen's face showed her obvious shock but was soon replaced by a smile.

"Yeah, let bygones be bygones, Kim," Justin whispered to Kim, causing her to shoot him another glare. She shrugged his arm off her shoulder and waited for Ruth to take them to the dinner table. She hoped Justin wouldn't sit next to her, but she knew wishing for that would be pointless.

*********

"So when is your due date?" Ruth asked, passing mashed potatoes over to the next person.

"December tenth," Helen replied, waiting for something to be passed to her.

"Have you thought of names?"

"Umm, we're working on it." Helen looked over at Steve and he gave her a small smile. They were still debating on the name "Biddy."

"How was your birthday, Justin?" Steve's father, Steven sr. asked. He was mainly focused on the caterer who was carving the turkey for them, but felt the need to contribute some sort of conversation.

"It was okay. I went to some party the seniors were throwing," Justin stated with a shrug.

Cole had been flabbergasted when Justin said he didn't want to do anything for his nineteenth birthday. Justin opted out of going to a strip club and settled for some bash being thrown downtown. He didn't really do anything except drink and get beat up by people who wanted him to get his "birthday licks."

"Do they have parties often at school?"

"Eh, not really big parties compared to the ones here. It's only November, by the time summer rolls around the kids will probably too busy partying to go to class."

"Do you go to school, Kim?" Ruth asked.

"Umm, well I'm applying for the city college here."

"Interesting," Ruth replied, holding up her plate for a serving of turkey.

"Yeah," Kim whispered, digging into her mashed potatoes.

"Kim was in the top ten of our graduating class," Justin added.

"Really, why settle for city college?" Ruth asked, sipping her wine.

"I turned down a scholarship to Berkeley."

"Why would you do something like that? I graduated from Berkeley. Good school," Steve sr. commented. Alternating between eating and talking.

"Because I needed to stay here so I could help my mom pay bills." Kim chewed her lip nervously. Why was she nervous?

"What is it that you want to study?" Steve sr. asked.

"I really want to study nursing. The aspect of helping people is alluring."

"That's sweet," Ruth replied.

"So, mom, dad, how have things been around the house?"

"Just fine, dear. It would be better if our only son visited us more often," Ruth replied.

Kim was sort of happy that the conversation moved on. She continued eating in silence. However, she could see Justin staring at her out of her peripheral and it made eating seem unusual.

Everyone had finished the delicious meal that was prepared by the catering service by six o'clock and were getting ready for dessert. Ruth had allowed the caterers and servants to leave after everyone finished dinner. She figured they could tackle dessert on their own. Everyone was sooo stuffed that they wouldn't possibly be able to handle dessert. Well, all except Helen.

"I'm going to fix some plates to take home," she exclaimed, rising out of her seat.

"Me too," Kim replied, quickly following her. She needed an excuse to get away from Justin even for a few moments. She and Helen walked into the kitchen and searched among the various foods for the ones they really, really want to eat later.

"Did you enjoy dinner?" Kim asked.

"Yes, it was fabulous. How about you? Ruthie not being a bitch was a plus too."

"It would've been better if Justin wasn't staring at me the whole time," Kim blurted out.

"What's going on with you two anyways? You guys seem a little…off," Helen commented, putting some rice on her plate.

"What do you mean? We're okay…I guess. Just like any normal relationship. We aren't perfect, you know," Kim replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Uh huh," Helen grunted, her disbelief obvious.

"If you guys are having a rough time, you know you can always come to….," Helen exclaimed before suddenly pausing.

Kim didn't really notice the woman's change until she heard a loud crash. She looked over and saw that Helen dropped her plate of food on the floor. She then noticed the large pool of water on the floor. Oh shit!

Kim rushed over to Helen's side and guided her into the dining room. Steve immediately got out of his chair and dashed towards his wife.

"My water broke," Helen breathed out. Everyone who was still sitting suddenly jumped out of their chairs and tried to see what they could for the woman.

"I'm gonna get the car," Steve exclaimed, running through the house. The sound of a door opening and slamming shut signaled he was outside.

"Here mom, do you want to sit down?" Justin asked, offering her a chair.

"I'd rather stand," she replied. She began to breathe deeply until Steve ran back into the house and helped her out to the car.

Kim and Justin followed and rode with them to the hospital. Ruth and her husband followed behind in their car. Kim was in the back with Helen, holding her hand and reminding her to breathe while the boys rode up front.

"You're doing a really good job, just relax and breathe," Kim coached.

"Oh my God, I forgot how painful this shit is!" Helen yelled out, holding onto Kim's hand for dear life.

"Just breathe, Helen. We'll be at the hospital in no time," Kim replied. She was finally going to meet Justin's baby sister. That made the pain of Helen squeezing her hand as hard as she could worth it.

*********

"Well, you're five centimeters dilated," the doctor exclaimed with a smile.

"That's it!" Helen fumed in shock and anger.

"That's a good thing, Helen. It means we're halfway there."

"Dr. McCloud, I don't know how much more of this I can take." She leaned back against the pillow and rolled her eyes.