A Word of Praise
Chapter 49

Chris looked up to see Kiara shouting at him from the inside of a car. He must have looked like trash but didn't really care at that point.

"I was waiting for you."

"Why?" She didn't seem annoyed, but her guard was definitely up.

"Because our deal isn't over."

"Fucking hell, what is it with you and deals?"

"What is it with you and breaking them?" He criticized but regretted it right away. There was something about her that made him say what he wanted with no filter, but he knew it only served to lift her guard even higher.

"I didn't break it, you said you wanted to talk to me, and you did." She crossed her arms, but he saw a glint of defiance in her eyes. The same that bent him out of shape a while back, but now was just evidence of how passionately wild she

was.

"Yes, but the offer said I'd also take care of your hands." He raised a brow, indicating her bandages with his head.

"As you can see, I took perfectly good care of them on my own," she retorted, bringing her hands up for inspection. It was actually impressive; the bandages were tightly wrapped and clean.

"Fine. I'm here because I want you. I don't know what happened back there, but you can't just walk away from us."

"Watch me," she replied, turning to the entrance of her building, and heading inside.

"Kiara, can you fucking wait?" He closed the distance between them and held her arm, trying to keep her from running away again.

He couldn't stand how she left his apartment in the morning, and he didn't want to go through it again. Her expression darkened when she turned around, and a menacing look took place on her face, looking at his fingers wrapped around her arm. He held in the smile. She was back. He didn't know what had happened back at his place, but she was not herself. He would choose fire-spitting Kiara over distant one anytime.

"Sorry. I just want to talk to you."

"Chris, stop. We are not a thing. We won't be. The holiday was nice, yesterday was fine. Now get over it."

"You are not making any sense. I love you, and I know you feel something too." He got closer to her and for the first time noticed the slight shiver in her body. Like she was a string of a guitar that's been strummed and left to resonate on her own. "You are denying both of us a chance to be happy."

"Not everyone that loves stays."

***

Chris got home with the nagging feeling of having misinterpreted a situation. He was trying to understand Kiara's behavior, but everything seemed so contradictory, he was sure he missed the point. When his mind was almost combusting from the lack of a breakthrough, he called the person who could help him sort it out.

"Luke, I'm losing my mind here. What are you doing?"

"It's Sunday evening Chris, what do you think I'm doing?"

"Studying?" Chris teased. He never did.

"Just tell me what you want already, or Amanda will make me hang up on your face."

"Right. Can we meet? I need your help."

"Did you go after Kiara?" Shit, that man had a pact with the devil. Reading people like that shouldn't be allowed. But then again, that was the point of his call.

"Can we meet?" He asked again. There was no point boosting his ego even further, he was already enough of an arrogant bastard.

"I'll call Marcus."

The trio met at their usual bar, and Chris was already two beers down when he began to talk.

"I went after Kiara," he said after the last gulp of his bottle.

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"Finally!" Marcus cheered.

"Did you tell her?" Luke asked. He didn't need to explain, nor did Chris. He simply nodded and began to peel the label of his bottle.

"How did she take it?" Marcus dropped the fun attitude, knowing how tough the subject was for his friend.

"She was amazing." She really was.

"So why are we here? Edgar and Patricia had something to say?" Marcus asked.

"No, I sort of dealt with them."

Luke raised a brow. Marcus was about to ask for more, but Luke raised his hand in a subtle gesture and shook his head. Even after all these years, Chris was still impressed by his blond friend. He had no idea how he knew Chris didn't want to talk about his parents, but he knew.

"How did you replace her?" Luke asked.

"I helped!" Marcus said, feeling proud of himself for lending his stalker abilities to replace her. Chris proceeded to explain the whole story. The club, the burned hands, the kiss. Then the run, the phone call, and her reaction.

"She just left?" Marcus demanded, already too tipsy to notice how troubled Chris was about it.

"Yes, man, that's what I just told you. Anyway..." Chris was about to continue, but then he noticed Luke's expression. He knew the man long enough to know he was struggling with something he knew but didn't know if he should share. Chris had seen it multiple times. "Just fucking say it already"

"It's not my life to tell," he blurted.

"Luke, she's not your patient, for fuck's sake!" He always did that. He knew something about someone that could help all of them out. But then he decided to keep it to himself because he couldn't control the information once it was out. After a few seconds of silent ponderation, Luke finally blurted out.

"She might have a dissociative disorder."

"What?" Marcus questioned.

"When you guys fought at the island, I thought I saw a few signs. It seemed like a derealization of sorts, she didn't know what was happening and went straight to the shower. It's a common strategy, allows the person to focus on the water and get her grip back. I think it happened again."

"Shit." Chris was a bit stunned.

"Maybe it's triggered by stress."

"I think it's about her parents," Chris mumbled, thinking out loud. His friends turned inquiring eyes to him. "They died, but I don't know how. And I mentioned them that day we argued, so if you think she had it today again, it might have been it. Shit."

He felt like the ultimate jackass. Of course, he knew losing her parents must have been hell but considering his own family issues he thought she might be better off this way. It was a shitty thought, he now realized.

"Well, that sucks. What are you going to do about it?" Marcus asked.

"I already did." Chris proceeded to tell them about the second half of the day, and how he showed up at her house and she sent him home without looking back.

"The girl walked out on you three times? Damn, my heart can't take a triple blow. Even from cute blue eyes. I'd call it quits." Marcus threw his hands up in the air. Chris turned to Luke, trying to get a little more sympathy from the smart one. "I'm with Marcus here, Chris. She clearly asked you to stay away. It's hard to deal with the kind of problems she has, and we all know you don't have your own shit figured out."

Chris kept peeling the already trashed label off of his third beer, silent for a whole minute.

"Well, I'm not quitting." Both men looked at him, surprised. "She said something before she walked away. Not everyone that loves, stays. I'll prove her wrong." He didn't know if he was making any sense, but the decision was made. She wanted him gone? Too bad he liked to annoy the shit out of her.