Silence lingered in the atmosphere as the tension in the car grew thick. I couldn't say that I blamed the poor girl-after all she had lost both of her parents and now she had lost her best friend. As I looked over at her, her reflection could be seen through the glass window. Her beautiful face had morphed into an expression of pure sadness as her glassy eyes glared blankly out the window. Her plump, rosy lips had been formed into a frown as her jaw tightened while little teardrops rolled down her peach colored flesh.

Facing towards the road again, I tried to focus on driving and not on the fact that she was literally sitting next to me and silently crying. I was never a fan of crying, for I had always thought it was a sign of vulnerability, of weakness. Yet I couldn't help but to see her as a delicate flower that had just been crushed. Sure, she's still intact, but she's crumbling and falling apart and for some odd reason, I felt like I was obligated to help her.

My job was to keep her safe, not give her emotional support. I didn't want to talk to her or get wrapped up in any of this, yet part of me felt like I needed to. She was none of my business nor were her emotions, and even I could tell you that I was definitely not the most emotional or expressive person around. In fact, I'd even like to believe that I was born without emotions-robotic you could say. I was made to live, carry out orders, and nothing else. But in this particular moment, this girl was making me feel something I have never felt before: attachment.

Attachments are the worst thing a person could ever have. Take it from me, getting attached to people isn't worth it. You invest your time with someone thinking that they will show affection towards you-especially as an adolescent- but in return, all you do is end up getting shut down. No love is ever expressed from good intention, but from the sole fact of getting something in return. That's it. It's just a game of take, no giving is involved within this process. So instead of repeating the same history again and again, I just try to avoid attachments all together.

KL Kiyano has this way of being that just makes her radiant. She can brighten up anybody's day, yet I can see that she's struggling, feel that she's struggling and I can't help but feel like she really just needs someone there for her. Obviously, I definitely am trying to avoid being that person but fate keeps working in its odd way and keeps leading me straight back to her. So here I am alone in a car with her crying, and am cornered with no choice to ask her if she is okay even though I already know that she isn't.

Steadying my focus on the road, I built up the guts to speak up. "Hey," I began.

From my peripheral vision, I could see her head move and her face looking over at me curiously. "Are you talking to me?" She asked.

Biting my tongue from replying with a sarcastic remark, I calmed myself down and replied with a simple, "Yes, I am." Intuitively, my mouth began to blabber things that I had not even processed through my mind. I did my best not to panic. " I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about earlier. I wish it had never ended that way." Of course Seth had annoyed me to the extreme, but I would have never wished death upon the poor guy.

" Yeah, me either," she replied in a weakened voice, letting a sigh escape. "I just miss him," she began. " I miss them," she cried. She was struggling to keep composure and I was trying my best to control myself from getting annoyed at her wailing. I knew this was going to happen, I just knew it.

" Hey, I know this is hard," I started off calmly. As you can tell, I'm not the best conversation maker. I continued, "I'm so sorry for the losses you've had. I can't imagine how hard it must be to be in your position."

" It's really hard," she replied. Through my peripheral vision, I saw her wipe tears off of her face.

"Especially when you have to go through it alone. I used to be so happy, so excited to live out life. I mean, I was looking forward to making a life for myself: finish high school, get a place, get married, have kids. Now look at me. I just don't feel alive anymore. I feel like all of the life is sucked out of me, like I have no future. I'm not going to be successful, I'm going to be alone. I don't have my parents or my best friend. I have no one to talk to. My life is just so lonely right now and everyday I feel like I'm falling deeper and deeper into this dark abyss of depression. It feels horrible and abnormal because it just doesn't feel like me, but I don't know what to do or where to go. I don't even know why I'm telling you this," she cried as she buried her face in her hands.

" Hey, you can talk to me. I'm here for you if you need to vent. Besides who else do I have to talk to right now?" I said, and I was shocked when I didn't regret saying that. In some sort of way, I felt like some part deep down inside of me actually wanted to talk to her, wanted to get to know her.

She slowly moved her head up to stare at me, "Are you being serious?"

" Yeah....Trust me, if anyone knows what it is to be alone, it's me," I chuckled. "Number one loner right here," I said, pointing my thumb at myself. KL released a light chuckle, that made my stomach twist and flop in a weird, yet warming kind of way.

" Well thank you. It's nice to have someone to talk to," she replied as she sniffled.

As Raine made a last minute sharp turn, I followed which sent KL flying back in her seat.
She looked forward with shocked, widened eyes.

" I'm sorry. Raine can be a bit impatient at times," I stated.

" I can tell," she scowled.

"Yeah, sorry for what she did earlier. She's very hot tempered. She's always been like that."
She just looked forward in the car, staying silent.

" Everything okay?" I asked.

" Yeah, it's just that-" she hesitated.

" Just that what?" I asked, curious as to what was going through her mind.

She spoke slowly, hesitantly. " I know that she is your colleague and all-"

"Raine?" I asked.

KL nodded, " And I hate to feel like this, but I can't help but feel like Seth would still be here if she wouldn't have stopped us like that."

We lingered in silence for a few seconds until a sigh escaped my lips, " He would."

The sides of her lips pulled down in sadness.

" I'm sorry," I nearly whispered. "Sometimes Raine does things, and I can't even explain why. I think sometimes she does things just to get attention."

" You don't say," she replied sarcastically as her eyes turned to little slits. "But it just gets me mad. I mean, why would she try to attack us then if she knew all along that it was you?" KL asked, anger lacing her every word.

" I don't know. She said she wanted to test me, but she already knows that I know how to take care of myself. Like I said, sometimes I have no idea what goes on in her mind."

" It's not fair though," KL sniffled. "It's not fair! Why do good people have to pay for others mistakes? If she just wouldn't have done that! If my parent's had never gone on that plane...," her voice lowered to a more soft, calmer tone as she controlled her emotions.

We sat in silence for a few minutes as I soaked in what she said. She went back to blankly staring out the window as I drowned in my thoughts. Raine shouldn't have done that, and I agree one-hundred percent with KL on that point, but on the other hand Raine is my....acquaintance. She was an absolute nuisance and she was highly irritating but she was my colleague and I have known her longer than I have KL. Yet, KL made so much sense and if Raine wouldn't have been so foolish, the other guys might have not caught up to us and we wouldn't have lost Seth. It was all a domino effect.

" I'll have a talk with her when we get back to Shadow's."

" What?" She asked, a hint of curiosity and shock lacing her words.

" If it makes you feel better, I'll have a talk with Raine when we get there," I replied.

" Really? You will?" She asked as she stared at me in disbelief.

" Yeah, if it makes you feel better."

A slight smile played on her lips, " Thank you."

" No problem."

Once again, we lingered in an awkward silence until she spoke up. She looked up at me with delicate, illuminated eyes. " You know Kratos, I have no idea what I would have done without you. If I wouldn't have met you after the passing of my parents, I have no idea where I would be right now. It's like God planned things out perfectly."

This made my lips curl up into a smile. " He always works things out."

She gasped in excitement. "Wait, you believe in God too?"

I smiled. "Sure. You have to believe in something, have someone to hold on to throughout your days. So why not believe in Him?"

KL chuckled, " Well usually people just look at me weirdly when I tell them that I'm Christian. I was born and raised within the church. My parents were both Christian and passed down the belief to me. If it wasn't because I had my faith to hold on to, I have no idea where I would be right now. I'd probably be even more lost than I am right now."

A joyful noise erupted from my chest and filled the atmosphere.

KL chuckled right along with me. She perked up in her seat and looked over at me as I paid attention to the road. "So when did you become a Christian? Or were you just always?"

"Ah, you're getting to the personal questions now," I joked.

"Oh sorry. I just assumed since we were talking about it that-"

"Hey, I'm just kidding."

"Oh," she said. Through the corner of my eye, I could see her cheekbones rise up.

"Well I wasn't born a Christian, I can tell you that much. My parents weren't really the best of people. My background had been rather horrid and traumatizing and I'd just rather not talk about it. It wasn't until I met Shadow that I finally found someone who genuinely cared for me. There was so much hatred in my bloodline that I was relieved when I found him."

" How did you meet him?"

" I ran away from home when I was about four years old. I nearly died. I practically owe my life to him," I felt a knot in my stomach, nearly choking me all the way up until a lump formed in my throat. My eyes turned glassy, and then was when I knew I had to turn off all of the emotion I put into my own story. There was no way I was going to expose my raw emotions to this girl I just met.

"Oh...I'm sorry," she said, waiting to see if I'd say anything back to her.

I shrugged, "It's life. What can you do?"

"You went through all of this alone?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it was me and Shadow against the world, but half the time he had his own things to do so I just dealt with my feelings alone. Up until the time where I felt mature enough to pick up the little book he had left in my room, I was just depressed and lonely. So trust me, I understand what you're feeling right now."

"What little book?"

"The Bible of course. I had heard things about it here and there, but never had much interest in religion. To me, it just sounded like a book that took a bunch of old people and made stories and rules about them.

"Shadow leaves a Bible in every room, and though he isn't big on religion himself, he leaves it there because he knows that some of us, such as me, can find an extra comfort in the words that it has to offer. Through some of the verses, I learned how to get through all the tough things I had seen. I found comfort in it because sometimes you come across that one verse that feels like it is literally speaking to you. It just feels like it was planted there in that book just for you."

"Exactly. I feel the exact same way," KL agreed.

"It's nice to know that someone else gets it," I said.

"Yeah it is," she replied, smiling. "So what's your favorite color?"

I laughed, "Oh, so now we're playing road trivia?"

She let out the most adorable giggle. "Mmmmhmm."

"Awe okay. I guess I'll participate," I surrendered. " I'd have to say that my favorite color is...hmm...black. Black is my favorite color."

"Black isn't a color though, it's a shade," she argued.

Shooting her a glare, I replied, "No it's a color."

"Shade," she said matter-of-factly.

"No, it's definitely a color."

"No, it's definitely a shade."

After I grumbled under my breath, I sighed and surrendered. "Then I don't have a favorite color."

"Well then I guess you could say black is your favorite color," she smiled.

"What? After you just argued with me about it?"

She giggled at my response as I boiled in irritation. " Yep. So aren't you going to ask me what my favorite color is?"

"Should I even bother?" I asked, questionably raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yes," she replied.

"Fine then KL, what's your favorite color?"

"Pink," she replied excitedly.

"Of course," I grumbled.

" Hey, be nice," she scolded. "Okay next question. What's your favorite food?"

" I'd have to say something between a nice juicy burger, or pizza."

" What kind of pizza?"

"Pepperoni of course," I replied. " I tend to stick to traditional dishes."

" But like Chicago style pizza or New York style pizza?"

" Definitely New York," I replied, smiling. It was so odd because for some reason it felt so normal to make small talk with her-something I was definitely not good at on a normal basis. If anything, I was definitely more on the antisocial side, but with her it was so easy to hold a conversation. "How about you? What's your favorite dish?"

She giggled, " I really can't choose. I have a three way tie between pizza, Fettuccini Alfredo, and General Tso Chicken."

" Oooo a tie between Italian and Chinese cuisine. The struggle."

"Ohmygosh you too?" She asked excitedly.

" Totally! But personally I'm more of a Lo Mein kind of guy, though General Tso is pretty good too."

" I love Lo Mein too!" KL exclaimed.

" So are you into sports?" I asked.

" Eh, not really," she replied, making a face like she had smelled something really horrible.

" So you mean to tell me that you didn't watch the NBA Finals between the Cavs and the Warriors?"

" It's all gibberish to me," she replied, playfully pushing out her lips into a duck face.

I shook my head. " It's alright. I only tune in when I have time anyway."

She giggled, " Are you a reader?"

" It depends on what you mean by reader."

" You know, are you into books?"

" Well I'm definitely not into that girly, chicklit stuff but some James Patterson, Rick Riordan kind of stuff I like. You?"

She released a laugh, " I'm into that girly stuff. Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer-"

" Oh no. Not Twilight. You've succumbed to the dark side, KL."

" Hey, hey it's a good series!"

" No, because vampires are not supposed to sparkle when they go into the light. It's way too girlified for my liking."

She folded her arms against her chest, " Don't hate."

I shrugged. "I'm not hating, but suit yourself."

" Yes you are."

" Am not."

KL glared at me, " Okay, how about music? What do you listen to?"

" Everything," I smirked.

" What's that supposed to mean?"

" I know a wide variety of music."

" Like what?"

" I don't know. Name a genre."

" Rap," she said raising her eyebrows, as if teasing me.

" Well you've got Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Trey Songz, Fetty Wap, Salt n' Pepa, Run DMC-"

" Okay, obviously you know that way too well."

" I even took it back to the old days, " I boasted while wiggling my eyebrows.

" I can see that. Alright next genre. Pop."

" Madonna, Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez-"

" Okay that was too easy. If you really know your music, I'm going to make this a lot harder. But only if you're up for the challenge," she said while looking coolly down at her nails.

" Bring it on."

" Name me a few Latin artists."

" Oh c'mon that's not hard at all. Prince Royce, Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias,-"

" Sing me a song."

" What?"

" Sing me a spanish song," she challenged.

" What? Why?"

" Oh, so you're chickening out?"

" No, no. I got this." In reality, I knew I could do this but I had never sang in front of anyone before and my nerves were starting to get the best of me. Before I could lock up and bail out of it, I began to sing.

"Y son las cosas pequeñas ,Un te quiero, Un te amo, Y son las cosas pequeñas,Un abrazo, Un te extraño."

As I glanced over at her, her jaw dropped and she nearly gawked at me. As she snapped out of her daze, she smiled and said, " Wow! That was amazing! Your voice is beautiful!"

" Uh, thanks. I've never really sang in front of anyone before-especially in Spanish-, so I was like really nervous. Hope I didn't mess up the words," I rambled.

" You shouldn't feel nervous! That was fantastic! I wanted to hear more. Are you musically inclined?"

" Uh, I guess you could say so," I replied.

" That was amazing. You're really talented."

I felt blood begin to rush to my cheeks. No, no don't blush. Not in front of her. No!

" Um, thanks," I said, feeling my cheeks flare up. Great. Just great. How embarrassing.

We sat in silence as I continued to drive.

KL asked, " How much longer until we reach Shadow's place?"

" Not too long," I replied. " Maybe about a half hour or so."

" So we're in New York now?" She asked.

" Yep. We've been here for a while already. Have you ever been here before?" I asked.

" Once or twice when I was younger but I can barely remember it," she replied, curiously looking out the side window.

" Oh," I said. A few minutes passed between us before she softly spoke up.

" You know Kratos, I can get used to this."

" Used to what?"

" Used to hanging out with you."

This girl definitely caught me off guard. Someone like her actually wanting to hang out with me? "Why do you say that?"

She shrugged and smiled. " I don't know. I guess it's because I'm in need of a friend," she said as she softly looked up at me, "And you seem to be in need of one too."

I smiled at her. Something about the way she said that seemed to make my heart flutter. I don't know why it was fluttering, but I felt like I was really starting to warm up to this girl. Maybe we weren't so different after all. We were just two lost souls looking for a friend.

I glanced at her and smiled, as my eyes connected with her beautiful amber colored eyes.
Her plump, rosy lips spoke again, " Maybe we're not so different after all," she said, as if she had read my mind.

Yet, we were so different. We were two different people from two different worlds. She has no idea what I've been through, nor do I have any idea what she's been through. I mean, I have no idea who she is besides her favorite color and favorite foods and the fact that she's also a Christian. Yet this strong feeling of trust overtook me every time I was around her and it was odd because I was not one to trust easily.

Part of me wanted to push her away and never speak to her again for the fear of getting attached to her. As sad as it was, I knew the other part of me had already became part of her world, feeding off her every word and wanting to learn more about the things that made her who she was. As her sentence replayed in my mind, I couldn't help but overthink it. Was it possible that two people so different could possibly be alike in some way? I was always a unique specimen, never able to fully compare myself to another. Also, I was afraid to make friends for the sole reason that I may end up losing them. If you don't get attached to people you have no ties and therefore, you wouldn't feel as bad when they leave this earth. Yet, I felt as though I was becoming attached to KL Kiyano, and as much as I tried to resist it, I couldn't.

So finally I succumbed to my own feelings and let my heart choose what was right.

And for the first time in my entire life I felt as though the words she said held truth.

© Lightning_Stryker 2015