Love of Autism Ch. 07

Jillian smiled at Katie's little assumption. "The private investigator was actually a woman and yes, she was hired to take pictures of the affair and deliver them to me."

Katie had always wondered who and why someone would do such a thing. It never made any sense to her for some random person to want her mother to know that her husband at the time was cheating on her. Now it was starting to make sense to her, but then another question came to her mind. "If everything you're telling me is true, then Scott shouldn't have known about the pictures and the affair."

"Well, he accidently found the envelope in his parent's safe when he was looking for his social security card so he could get his driver's license. He opened it up and saw the pictures and told Steve and Liz he was going to show them to everyone to get back at you. When his parents found out about his plan they put a stop to it and told him to never use the pictures against you."

"Scott was seriously planning to show everyone the pictures?" Katie asked in disbelief.

"Katie that was two years ago," Jillian said defending Scott, something she couldn't actually believe she was doing, "and honestly I don't blame him for having felt that way."

Even with recognizing that it was two years ago Scott wanted to do that, it still didn't make Katie feel any better about it. She closed her eyes as she tried to process everything that had happened that evening. First her dad made an appearance at dinner that could have derailed the evening. But Scott being the amazing man she was starting to see, helped make the night feel special and the best first date she had ever been on in her young life. Hell, it was actually the best date she had ever been on that was capped out with an amazing goodnight kiss from her now boyfriend...if she still wanted to call him that.

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"What do you mean you told Katie's mom everything?" Scott said not anticipating hearing that news when he got home from his date with Katie.

"Well your mom and I saw that this might be a good time to make peace with Katie's mom seeing as you two are dating," Keith defended. "I mean after all, if you two keep dating I'm sure you would like to spend time at her house too and not just have her over here."

"But why did you have to tell her how I found the pictures and what I was planning on doing with the pictures? You could have left that part out."

"Sorry Scott, but we felt she needed to know the truth about everything if there was going to be any peace between our two families. I understand you are worried about Katie now finding out, but I'm sure the worst case scenarios that are going through your mind right now won't happen."

Scott laid his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes tightly as he tried to not cry. "Dad, you don't get it. I asked her to be my girlfriend and I had my first kiss with her tonight. What if she wants to breakup with me because of what I was planning on doing with the pictures?"

When Scott had gotten home he had told his parents that the date was great, and he was eager to spend more time with Katie. Little did he know that his parents went to meet with Katie's mom and tell her everything and if she knew everything, then Katie would shortly as well if not already at that point in time.

"I'm sorry Scott," Keith said trying to comfort his son, but Scott didn't want to hear it. He got up from the couch and immediately went to his room, stripped off his clothes and put on a pair of athletic shorts to sleep in. As soon as he got into his bed and covered himself in his fleece blanket he started to cry. He cried into his pillow for a long time, not ready to deal with the fact that what once seemed like a promising relationship with Katie was most likely about to end.

Once he was done crying, he tried to will himself to sleep, but he just couldn't no matter how hard he tried. His mind just kept playing multiple scenarios of how Katie would breakup with him and it wouldn't stop, no matter how hard he tried. He tossed and turned trying to get comfortable and just wishing his mind would stop torturing him. By the time he did finally achieve some form of sleep, it was nearly three in the morning and his mom came into his room around eight to wake him up.

"Scott, it's time for breakfast," Jackie said shaking her son. Scott shoved his mother's hand away and mumbled that he wanted to be left alone. "I made plenty of bacon for you. A whole plate is set aside just for you."

Scott turned over and looked at his mother with contempt. "Just leave me alone. You and dad have ruined my weekend and my relationship with Katie."

"Scott, your father already explained to you why..."

"I don't care," Scott said cutting off his mother. "You didn't even think of how it would affect me. You didn't even bother asking."

"Scott, you're not even trying to understand why your father and I did it."

Frustrated, Scott threw the fleece blanket off the bed and sat up straight on his bed. "No mom, I completely understand that you and dad wanted to make peace with Katie's mom. I completely understand you wanted her to be nice to me and maybe, just maybe life will go on without having to worry about her trying to convince her daughter to bully me anymore. The one thing you forgot about was how Katie might react to learning that I planned to use the same damn pictures against her and how that might affect my relationship with her.

"And of all nights you and dad decided to do this was the same night I asked Katie to be my girlfriend and she more than happily said yes. I was on cloud nine up until I come home to find that everything her and I have been through this past month to get to this point is now all but over. But no, I'm the one who doesn't understand anything because I'm your dumb autistic son."

Jackie was about to respond to Scott's rant when Sarah, who had been listening from the hallway, grabbed her mom's arm. "You need to leave him alone mom." Jackie turned to look at her daughter and tell her to not interrupt but the look on Sarah's face said it all. She knew that her brother could not be reasoned with right now and the best thing to do was to give him space. They exited Scott's room and went back into the kitchen where they sat down and ate their breakfast.

They, along with Keith sat in silence as they ate their breakfast of bacon, pancakes, and strawberries. Jackie wasn't lying when she said there was a whole plate of bacon waiting for Scott, but it became evident after a half hour that he wasn't coming to breakfast so they each ate the bacon that was on his plate before it went cold.

After breakfast was over Sarah went to her room and got her phone. She texted Liz asking her for Katie's number. When Liz gave it to her she sent Katie a text.

Hi Katie, it's Sarah. I was wondering if we could go to lunch together and talk.

Sarah laid on her bed waiting for Katie's response. After a while she figured that Katie didn't want anything to do with her or Scott, but then Katie called her a few minutes later.

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"So why did you choose Panda Express?" Sarah asked.

"Because it has been a while since I've eaten here, the food is always good, and no matter where we sit, we can hear each other easily."

"I wouldn't know if the food is good here," Sarah admitted. "I've never been here before."

"Do you like Chinese food?"

"Yes, just not sure what I would like here," Sarah said looking over at the food.

"Well do you like General Tso or Kung Pow chicken?"

"Not really. I do like orange chicken but I don't see it here."

"They do actually," Katie said with a smile, "it is a little further down and they have the best orange chicken here in my opinion."

"Where? I don't see it."

"Just go around the corner and you'll see it. I'll hold your place in line." Sarah left the line to find the orange chicken and felt somewhat stupid. She walked back to Katie sheepishly, but Katie gave her a reassuring smile. "It's ok. I don't like how they have it setup here because it is hard to see what the options are without getting out of line."

The two waited in line until they could order their food. Once they got their food and drinks they found a quiet corner, sat down and ate for a few minutes before Sarah decided it was time to say something.

"So you now know everything, right?"

Katie nodded her head as she chewed and swallowed her piece of Kung Pow chicken. "Yeah, I know about everything, including how Scott found out about my dad and what he wanted to do with the pictures."

There was a moment of silence before Sarah asked her next question. "So, are you going to breakup with my brother?"

Katie smiled at the question, knowing it was going to be asked sooner or later. "No. That was two years ago, and he wanted to get back at me for all the shit I had put him through. I am not that person anymore and he forgave me already for who I used to be. It wouldn't be fair to him if I were to breakup with him over that."

"I'm glad," Sarah said with a big smile on her face. "As much as I hate to admit it, you do make him happy and a happy Scott makes my life easier."

"Yeah," Katie agreed, thinking about how happy she also is with Scott now and enjoys seeing him happy.

"Now you need to tell him this when you drop me off."

"Huh, why?"

"Because he has convinced himself that you are going to breakup with him and he is really depressed about it."

"Why would he think I'm breaking up with him?"

"Because he has convinced himself that him wanting to use the pictures of your dad cheating on your mom would make you want to breakup with him and before you ask why again," Sarah said with a smirk, knowing Katie was about ask why again, which she was about to, "when he sees things not going according to plan or something happening that could lead to disastrous results he tends to think in the worst case scenario and just focus on that."

"He doesn't think that maybe the positive thing could happen instead?"

Sarah shook her head. "No. I don't know if it is an autistic trait or what, but that is just seemingly how he thinks."

Katie thought about what Sarah was telling her and some of it made sense. She remembered Scott telling her that he didn't know if he could truly fully forgive her for everything and not bring up her bullying past. Then again, when their date the previous night was nearly ruined by her dad, he managed to find a way to comfort her and salvage the night. The way the night ended for them put a smile on her face, thinking about their first kiss.

"So, how hard will it be for me to convince Scott that I'm not breaking up with him?"

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Scott hadn't left his bedroom other than to take a quick shower and use the toilet. He just laid in his bed, sulking, fearing the worst. Everything that he and Katie had overcome was for nothing. He just laid there, his back to his bedroom door, not wanting to give anyone any attention if they tried to talk him. When he heard the door open, he immediately felt annoyed that no one would actually just leave him alone.

"I'm done talking about this so please just leave me alone for the rest of the day," he said in a harsh tone.

Katie ignored what he said, knowing it was meant more for his parents and proceeded to sit down on his bed next to him. When Scott felt her sit down he just growled thinking it was his mom or sister. He knew it wasn't his dad because he knew well enough to actually leave him alone.

"Maybe you have no need to worry about your girlfriend leaving you," Katie said.

Immediately Scott turned over to see that it was in fact Katie sitting on his bed, smiling at him. It took a few seconds for the shock of seeing her to wear off before shock took over again when he realized what she had just said. "Wait, did I just hear you right?"

Katie let out a little laugh at his question. "Yes, you did. I am not leaving you over something that you wanted to do two years ago when I was a complete bitch to you."

"But, I was ready to make your life a living hell."

"Yes you were, two years ago and I have been a bully to you for about a decade. If you can forgive me for everything I've put you through, I can very easily forgive you for wanting to do something about it two years ago." Scott was understanding what Katie was telling him and it was making sense, however he just couldn't let go of the guilt that he felt and it showed on his face. "Scott, I love you. I love you for who you are right now. You are not the person you were two years ago and I am not the same person I was a month ago."

"I know," Scott replied, "I still can't help though but feel guilty about it."

Katie decided to lay down next to Scott and facing him. "Well when you are done feeling guilty, I am here to give you a hug and help you feel better in any way I can."

Scott then did something that was hard for him to do. He looked Katie in her eyes. One of the least fun things about being autistic was that it was hard to make and keep eye contact. He forced himself to look at her eyes to see if she was being serious but it took only a second alone with seeing the warm smile on her face for him to believe her.

"If you give me a second to get out from under my blanket and put a shirt on, would you cuddle with me?"

Katie's warm smile only grew at Scott's request. "Of course Scottie."

"You two can cuddle in the family room," Jackie said from the doorway, "but not in his bed.

"Mom!" Scott protested. "We're not going to do anything that we shouldn't."

"My house, my rules and while I do trust you today, things can happen in the future so get used to it."

Scott was about to argue when Katie placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him. "It's not that big of a deal. Let's just do as she says."

That calmed Scott down and he nodded in agreement. Katie got up and went to the family room. She sat on the couch and minutes later Scott joined her. Once seated, they put their arms around each other and enjoyed the feeling of cuddling. They just sat there in silence for several minutes, holding each other, not saying a word. Katie knew that what Scott needed was not words of encouragement or telling him to stop feeling guilty. What he needed was just to know she was there for him, she loves him, and nothing from their past would jeopardize their relationship.

"Thank you Katie," Scott said quietly.

Katie turned her head and gave him a light kiss. "You're welcome Scottie."

Scott put his head on Katie's shoulder, feeling more relaxed than he had been the whole day. All the stress had plagued his body and mind. All his thoughts had been about how horrible things were going to be without Katie, but here he was, holding each in their arms, feeling completely at peace. They stayed like that for an hour with Katie sometimes rubbing his back. When she did that she could see a small smile form on Scott's face.

"Scott, is it ok if I head home?" Katie asked nervously. "With all the excitement that's been happening, I haven't had a chance to work on my homework."

Scott lifted his head up, looked at her and smiled. "Of course. I'm surprised you actually stayed this long."

"Well my boyfriend needed me. I wouldn't be a good girlfriend if I wasn't there for him."

Scott leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "No you wouldn't be and I will hold you to that high standard."

"Just as I will hold you to this same standard."

They both got up from the couch and Scott walked her to the front door where they hugged and kissed each other before they said goodbye. When he saw that she had gotten in her car and had left, he went into the kitchen where he found his mom trying to figure out what to make for dinner. He went to her and hugged her.

"I'm sorry mom for what I said to you this morning."

Jackie smiled and returned the hug. "I forgive you Scott," she said. "You were right though in the fact your father and I didn't think about telling Katie's mom the truth would affect your relationship with her and how you would react."

Scott let go of his mom and shook his head. "No, that was yours and dad's choice to make. I guess I just thought the worst case scenario would happen when Katie found what I thought about doing with the pictures."

"Yeah and your father and I should have anticipated that. You are the son of your father after all."

"Yeah, I am," Scott said with a laugh.

"So, I know that I'm springing this on you, but have you thought about what you're going to do in two weeks when he pays our respects?"

Scott let out a long sigh, remembering what happens in two weeks. "No, I hadn't thought about it, but... I don't think it is my place to ask her to come when it effects more so Liz and her parents."

"You mean because you don't think it is right for you to tell Katie and think Liz should be the one?"

Scott nodded his head. "Yeah. I mean, just like with Katie's dad, what happened with Liz's mom...it's personal and not my place to expose that truth."

"Why don't you have a talk with Liz about it and see what she says? And after that, let Katie decide what she wants to do."

"I guess I could do that," Scott replied not completely convinced.

"Just talk to Liz first and see what she says. Maybe she will be the one that wants to tell Katie and take that burden off you. I know you still don't like talking about it."

"No, I don't."

Jackie could sense that her son was growing more and more uncomfortable with the subject. "Why don't you start doing some of your homework and I'll call you when dinner is ready."

Scott nodded his head and went to his room.

Jackie had to remind herself to not get too emotional as well as she realized it had been ten years since that day that shook everyone to their foundation. 'Ten years', she thought to herself. Ten years ago should have been a joyous time, but instead was one of the worst events this group of people had ever been a part of and would never forget, when a life was taken from them way too soon.