Dedicating this chapter to SmartQueen98 for being one of my regular readers, voters & for leaving awesome commnets always. :) Thank you so much. I really hope that you'll continue supporting me & my works.

Still, dedicating to my supportive fans & commentors. So, don't forget to vote & comment. :)

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CHAPTER - 22

MAKING A DECISION

"So you are telling me that you're going on a date with Kim and you're not telling her that it's a date?" Hailey looked at me with furrowed eyebrows and a disturbed expression on her face.

When she put it like this, I did think that what I was trying to do was strange. But, being the man I am, I didn't show the uncertainty, I myself had in my plan and smiled tight lipped. I nodded my head over-enthusiastically.

"Are you out of your mind?" she asked me incredulously.

I knew that this question was going to come out of my sister's mouth and with the same over-enthusiasm; I shook my head.

She rolled her eyes and looked around the kitchen, maybe to see if anyone was nearby. But my assumption was proved wrong when she picked up the nearest object, which happened to be a ketchup bottle and brought it up to hit me on the head.

Easily, I caught the bottle and took it from Hailey's arm before it could even touch my head. "What?" I asked, keeping the bottle behind me so it was out of her reach.

"I was hitting you in the hopes of making your dumb head work," she said with gritted teeth.

Rolling my eyes, I turned my back to her and grunted, "You're being stupid, Hail. It's just a date." These words sounded so wrong, even to my own ears. It was not just a date. It was a date with Kim. My own feelings were making me feel all weird and disturbed. I was feeling insecure and I doubted myself more than I could even think of.

"You're such a guy."

I decided to share my insecurities with Hailey and turned to look at her again, but she was moving towards the door. I jogged towards her and made her stop by calling her name.

"What?" She turned and crossed her arms over her chest.

Sheepishly, I scratched the back of my neck and exhaled a huge breath. "Do you think that I'll get over this crush quickly?"

She looked at me with wide eyes and mouth. I raised an eyebrow at her expressions and she found her voice. "Crush?" Nodding my head, I wondered if my sister had suddenly gone into the mode of memory loss and she even forgot the simple words and their meanings. "You think that what you feel for Kim is just a crush?" she asked, focusing special attention on the word 'crush' with disgust in her voice.

I snorted and said, "I don't think, Hail. I'm sure." She looked around the kitchen again and this time I was sure that she was searching for a heavy object to hit me and before she could even take one step towards anything, I continued, "Do you remember when I was four and I thought that I was in love with my classmate's eighteen year old sister? Do you remember when I was seven and all I used to do was talk about my teacher and how I thought that it was love? Do you remember when we went to New York and I spotted a beautiful blonde and thought that it was 'love at first sight' for me?" I asked her these questions and she looked at me with confused expressions, probably wondering that where I was going with these questions.

With narrowed eyes and tightly closed lips, she nodded her head and I continued, "It was never love, Hail. I don't even remember their faces properly. They were all my crushes and those stupid, unwanted feelings were gone as quickly as they came. And, I'm very sure that just like those crushes, I would be over Kim too in no time. It's just a crush and soon, it would be crushed."

The truth was that I was trying to tell all these things to myself rather than to Hailey. I was not ready to like Kim more than I already did, which was a lot! I had too many things to do in my life. I knew all this, but I really didn't know that why I was taking Kim on a date. All I knew was that I wanted to.

"You ready to go?" Kim's voice interrupted my thoughts and stopped Hailey from saying whatever she was about to say.

My eyes went towards her and a smile automatically made its way on my face. Yes, it was definitely more than a crush, but I was too stubborn to admit that even to myself. She was looking between Hailey and me with a smile on her lips. The purple overcoat fitted her body nicely and I could make out her curves very vaguely. For the first time, she was wearing a well fitted black jean instead of her baggy jeans and cargos. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and I was glad that they were not confined to the bun she always sports. Her brown hair now reached her mid waist and I imagined my hands running through those dark tresses.

Oh God! This was not helping my crush.

"Yeah," I breathed, replying to her question.

"Kim, are you sure you're going to wear this today as it's your da-" Hailey asked, but I interrupted before she could say the key word 'date'.

"She's looking great, Hail. You don't need to worry about anything." I waved my hand towards her, dismissing whatever she was trying to say. I couldn't understand why Hailey wanted her to change. Kim was dressed differently, but still, it was so... Kim. To me, she looked perfect.

Hailey gave me her narrow eyed look and turned to Kim. "You have fun, girl." She grinned at her and embraced her in a hug. A hug that took Kim slightly by surprise and it took her a moment to hug her back and her lips twitched up in a gorgeous smile.

"Thanks," Kim said once Hailey freed her.

It amazed me how such little moments were so important for Kim; how such little things always managed to bring a smile on her face. I was glad that the reason of those gorgeous smiles was me and my family. I liked that I was one of the reasons behind her smile, her genuine smile.

"Where are we going?" Kim asked once we got seated in my car.

Bringing the engine to life, I smirked and answered her vaguely, "Somewhere."

"You know, these stupid vague answers can't make me sit with you. I'm free to get out of this car anytime I want," she warned me and instantly, I started driving. With Kim, one can never know. She might have really got down.

"Chill, alright?" I clicked my tongue at her and told her, "It's just... um... a little... ahem... surprise."

For a moment, she kept quiet and I wondered if she would let the matter go now, but then she opened her mouth. "Surprise? Really Keith? What are you? Six?"

Her question made me want to hit my head on the steering wheel. Why did she have to ask so many questions? Couldn't she just enjoy the fact that I - Keith Warren - was taking her on a date?

'She could have, only if you had told her,' the voice inside my head taunted me.

Shutting that voice inside my head, I focused back on the numerous questions that Kim was showering towards me. It was as if someone had pressed the 'On' button of a radio channel and destroyed the 'Off' button in such a way that it could not be stopped, ever.

"Kim?" I called her over her never ending questions and she looked at me. "Will you just calm down? I'm not kidnapping you." I assured her and shot her a smug smile.

In reply, she snorted and said, "Yeah right! As if you could." With that, she started looking out of the window and I sighed in relief when she finally stopped asking me questions.

After about twenty minutes of driving and Kim asking me where we were headed to, too many times to even count on fingers, I stopped in front of one of the most famous arcades in Hendersonville. This was the place where I had come way too many times all my life and I was pretty sure that Kim would like it.

"This looks so cool," Kim uttered in awe when she spotted the cloud shaped building with 'Play Time' written on it in a funky font.

"I know, right?" I grinned and got out of the car. Way too quickly, I rushed towards Kim's side and opened her door as well.

She looked a bit surprised, well, I was pretty sure that the surprise was because of the weird shaped building in front of us instead of me opening the car door for her and being a gentleman. Once she stepped out, her eyes were still fixed on the arcade and I could see the excitement in her eyes. And, my eyes were fixed on her.

I noticed as she turned her head to look at me and raised her eyebrows. "Keith, what are we waiting for? Christmas?"

She broke my concentration and my cheeks turned just a slight shade of red as I realized that she just noticed me staring at her. Laughing awkwardly, I managed to say, "Let's go, then."

With that, we made our way towards the arcade which was thankfully not very crowded. People in Hendersonville usually head towards Nashville on the occasion of New Year's as there are a lot more clubs to party at. Once we stepped inside, our ears were hit by the music being played in the premises and the little chattering of people around us.

Kim twirled, taking in the entire scene in her eyes and faced me with a huge grin on her lips. "You've no idea how much I love arcades," she gushed, her eyes lighted up in happiness.

I cocked an eyebrow and couldn't help the grin that spread on my face. "Really? But, I do know."

My answer left her confused and she asked, "How?"

Rolling my eyes playfully, I dragged her towards the nearby counter and told her, "Look there." She followed my instructions and I stepped lightly behind her, so we both could see both of us standing together in the mirror in front of us. Her expressions were still showing that she was confused, but the grin never left her face. I pointed towards the mirror and said, "Look at that huge smile on your face." Her smile just grew bigger as she kept on looking at me through the mirror and I kept on looking at her through the mirror. I continued, "Look at that happiness and excitement dripping down from your eyes." She laughed lightly and tried to move away from me, but I held her shoulders making her stay where she was. "They are a huge giveaway, Kim," I whispered in her ears and felt her shudder slightly at the contact. I was having the same effect of having her so close to me. Our eyes were locked through the mirror and all the playfulness was gone.

I liked having her so close to me. I liked seeing us together in the mirror. I liked being the one with whom she was standing and staring with something strange in her eyes. I liked having this effect on her; just the way she had an effect on me.

Our little serious moment was over when something hit our feet and our heads snapped towards the ball that had broken our concentration. Chuckling, I bent down and picked up the ball and threw it towards the kid who was looking towards the ball in my hand with impatience.

"Let the game begin now," I said, looking back at Kim, who had her eyes fixed on her shoes in a thoughtful manner.

Her head snapped towards me when she heard my voice and breathed, "Yeah!"

And, so we played almost every game in the arcade except the childish stuff toy game which Kim was keen on playing.

"I'm so going to win a soft toy for you." She grinned and my jaw almost hit the floor.

Laughing sarcastically, I rolled my eyes at her and said, "You're not going to play it, Kim. If someone is going to play then it would be me and I'll win a toy for you."

She looked at me ridiculously and asked, "What makes you think that I like stupid soft toys?"

Raising an eyebrow, I countered questioned her, "And, what makes you think that I like that stuff?" I pointed towards the two game stalls placed next to each other and filled with every type of soft toy possible.

"The fact that you won the 'Most Beautiful Baby Girl' competition once," she answered, smirking victoriously and I face palmed myself.

Even though, I tried to act all worked up and irritated when she said this, the truth was that I was not even a bit irritated at her for bringing up the humiliating topic. My mind went back to the day when Mom showed her my pictures and the night that followed; the night when Kim told me everything about her life. Now that I thought about it, I couldn't help but question my own doings.

Why did I end up listening to everything she had said? If it was some other girl, it would have seemed like I was listening, but the truth would have been that I must have been singing some rap songs in my own head and nodding my head to make her believe that I was listening. Why did I feel a little pain when she told me about her family? Why didn't I feel happy when she said that she was jealous of me? Why did I end up showing her the three hidden albums that had equally embarrassing pictures of me? And the most important question, why did her sad, thoughtful expressions while watching my pictures, hunt me the entire night?

The answer was simple; I wanted her to smile always. Watching her smile gave me peace and contentment.

The real answer that was hidden in so many of my own developed answers was that my feelings for Kim were not newly developed, but just newly discovered. I had liked her for sometime now. 'Holy sh*t! I'm becoming a wuss.'

"Are you reliving your beauty pageant days?" Kim's teasing voice broke my train of thoughts and I looked at her with a little surprise. I was not surprised to see her here, why would I? It wasn't like I forgot that she was here. I was surprised because I couldn't believe that it took me such a long time to realize my feelings for her. Even though, it had been just three days, but in those three days, Kim and I had practically lived together. How could I not realize that I liked her in a manner which was something more than a crush?

Ignoring her question and the fast beating of my heart, I proposed an offer to her. "Why don't we both play this game and whoever wins will give the winning prize to the other person?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment and eventually brought out her hand for a handshake. "Deal!" she exclaimed, reminding me of the night we spent together two and a half years ago.

"Deal." I confirmed, nodding my head with a smile on my face. Instantly, I remembered what all happened the last time I had said this word to Kim. I was quite sure that this time, saying this word would prove to be much better than the last time.

"Get ready to lose, baby," I told her in a fake accent and started moving towards the station.

"Yeah? Watch me!" She smirked and took the position in front of the other station.

We inserted the required coins in the machine at the same time and the claws of the machines were loosened. As quickly as I could, I scanned all the stuff toys and found the one that I thought would suit Kim. Feisty, funny and cute! It was a monkey dressed in pink attire and I almost laughed as I thought about the look that she would give me when I'd give her this pink monkey. Controlling the handles, I tried my best to get hold of the toy. From my left, I could hear the noise of Kim's machines as she herself controlled the handles. I was way too busy and focused on my own game to glance at my competitor's game. Finally, the machine claw got hold of the pink toy and very carefully, I controlled it by taking it to the right and then dropped it straight into the bucket.

"Yes!" The voice definitely didn't belong to me as it was a girl's voice and that too a very familiar one. For a moment, I wondered if Kim was cheering for me and I looked towards her. She was jumping excitedly and whooping when she looked at her machine. She stopped and shot me a smirk.

I replied her with a smirk of my own and this definitely confused both of us. Slowly, my gaze went to the bucket in her machine and her gaze went to mine. It took us a moment to take in everything and when we did understand the situation, we started laughing uncontrollably. We both had managed to win a soft toy each at the same time. This was unexpected and funny. But, something that had surpassed the definition of funny and unexpected was that we both had chosen the exact same soft toy for one another; the only difference was that the monkey she had chosen was dressed in blue, while mine was in pink.

"This was so awesome," she chirped excitedly when we started going towards my parked car. She was grinning from ear to ear and I was dead sure that I was mirroring her expressions. My cheeks were starting to hurt with all the laughs, grins and smiles today, but I was not complaining.

I glanced at the digital watch in my car when we got seated and turned to look at Kim, who had both the monkeys in her hand and she made both of them hug. The grin just couldn't leave my face, no matter how much I tried. "Ready to go to our destination?" I asked her, starting the engine of my car.

Her happy gaze traveled from the monkeys to me and she asked, "We're not going home yet?" I shook my head and she asked further, 'What about the party?"

Ah, the party! It had completely slipped my mind and I told her, "We're not going to go the party anytime before nine thirty. It's just five right now. We've plenty of time."

She was not the one to refuse as she very giddily nodded her head, showing her confirmation with my plan.

"You remember the deal we made that night?" I asked her and I watched as she nodded her head. "I'm talking about the deal we made in Miami," I told her clearing up any doubts that she might have.

"Oh! Yes," she muttered. "What about that?"

Taking the left turn from the corner, I told her, "You've still not told me what you want me to do."

"I remember," she said, caressing her fingers over the monkeys. "But there is nothing that I want from you right now. Maybe sometime later." She smiled in my direction and I smiled back.

After about fifteen minutes of driving, I parked my car in front of a tall deserted building and declared, "Here is our destination."

"Are you planning to rape me?" Kim asked me incredulously and my head snapped towards her at the speed of lightening. "If you're planning to, then let me tell you that I've taken a course of self defense and everything is still fresh in my memory. So don't try anything funny." The warning was clear in her voice and I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Why are you so crazy, Kim?" I managed to ask between my laughter and she shot me a confused look. "Okay, I agree that the building looks a bit weird, but it's not what you think it is," I assured her and pointed towards the huge symbol engraved on the entrance of the building.

"This is a school?" Kim asked, furrowing her eyebrows and staring at the symbol.

"My old school," I specified more precisely and got out of the car. "Now, we need to jump the wall and enter inside."

She got out of the car before I could reach her side and asked, "But why?"

Locking the car, I started moving towards the wall that had the shortest route to the school building. I could hear Kim's footsteps behind me. "Because the guard won't let us in," I told her over my shoulder in a 'duh' tone.

I stopped when I reached the too familiar spot and was joined by Kim in a moment. "But, why are we going inside?"

Scratching the back of my neck, I tried to look anywhere but towards her. "I want to show you something," I told her honestly.

For a moment, she was silent and reluctantly, I looked at her. She was smiling her gorgeous smile and said in a low voice, "Okay."

That was our cue to jump the wall. I let her jump first and I followed suit. Very discreetly, trying to not make any kind of noise, we went inside the building.

"Ahh, I feel like a spy," she muttered and laughed loudly. I shushed her and she kept a finger on her lips. So much for feeling like a spy. "Sorry," she said sheepishly and started looking around the corridor.

In the meanwhile, I took out my phone from my pocket and dialed a number. After about three rings, the person answered, "Where are you?"

"I'm in the main corridor. Where are you?" I answered, keeping in mind to speak in a low voice. Apparently, my voice was not as low as I wanted it to be as Kim's head snapped towards me, indicating that she had heard me.

"Stay there. I'm coming," the person said in a rushed voice and hung up the phone.

The moment I removed the phone from my ear, Kim asked with a serious face, "Are you kidnapping me?"

I looked at her stunned for a moment and erupted in laughter. This time, she shushed me with a smirk on her face and I said, "You are so unpredictable."

"I take that as a compliment," she chirped, again looking around the corridor that had reception on its one side and the labs on the other.

"It is," I told her.

"Here you are," a voice reached my ears and I looked past Kim to see a lady in her forties approaching us with a huge smile on her face.

"Beth," I greeted and she embraced me in a hug once she reached me. She pecked my cheek and stepped away.

"You've grown up so much," she said, looking at me from head to toe.

Chuckling, I told her, "I haven't, Beth. And you said the same thing when I last visited you."

Dismissing me, she said, "You've grown up a lot in these six months." I opened my mouth to say something, but she beat me to it. "Don't bother arguing with me, Keith. A woman is always right."

I held up my hands in surrender as I thought about what my father always says, 'A man can win the biggest battles in the world, but he can never win in an argument with a woman.' I didn't blame him for saying such a thing. That man had spent almost twenty five years with a woman named Rose Warren and he knew it better than anyone else. Period.

"And, you are?" Beth asked from Kim, who was looking between Beth and me with a smile on her lips.

"Uh? Kim," she answered after a moment.

"You're such a pretty girl," Beth complimented her and Kim turned slightly red at the compliment. Beth looked back at me and said, "I see that you've finally found someone. Huh?"

I didn't have the power to lie to her and that's why I didn't bother denying her. I chose to ignore her question and told her, "It's getting very dark, Beth. You should hand over the key to me and you'll find it at the very same place when you'd come back."

She looked at me with judgmental gaze and finally sighed. "Okay. I'll see you later. Jeremy keeps asking about you. Come and meet him sometime" Then, she turned towards Kim, who was looking a bit confused. "I hope I'll see you around too." There was like a hidden message in what she said but I decided not to ponder over it. Kim nodded a bit in reply and soon, Beth was moving out of the school building.

"Who was she?" Kim asked, breaking the silence. Her voice echoed slightly as Beth had closed the main doors on her way out.

"That was Beth," I told her and started moving towards the reception. "She works in the cafeteria," I added.

"Why did she give you a key?" she asked and followed me towards the reception.

"You'll see," I answered her vaguely and stopped in front of the huge showcase proudly kept in the reception area. My eyes went to the biggest trophy in the lot and a huge proud smile made its way on my face as I noticed that there was no other trophy like that here. Slowly, I caressed my fingers over the glass that was separating me from the trophy.

"You won that?" The awe in Kim's voice was easily detectable.

"No, my team won that," I corrected her, still not taking off my eyes from the golden shining trophy.

"But, you were the captain," she said as she read the white plate resting at the lowest part of the trophy. It had a few words engraved on it.

Captain - Keith Warren. Year of Pride - 2004-05

"Yeah," I whispered as I relived the most amazing day of my life again.

I could still feel the nervousness that I was going through that day. I could still feel the pressure of performing the best as Coach looked at me with hope in his eyes. I could still remember the never ending practice sessions that the entire team went through for this one match. I could still hear the loud cheers of the crowd whenever a goal was made. I could still see the utterly happy expressions on the face of each and every team member when we had finally won the competition; the competition that won me the scholarship of Vanderbilt. Remembering those moments was surreal.

Kim didn't interrupt me even once as I relived all those moments and sound of something colliding with the floor made me break my gaze from the trophy.

"Sorry," Kim said sheepishly as she picked up her phone from the floor. "Thankfully, not broken," she mumbled.

I chuckled and took her hand in mine. "Come with me," I told her and started moving towards our next destination.

"Where?"

"I told you, I've something to show you," I told her and started climbing the stairs.

"Wasn't it the trophy that you wanted to show to me?" she asked as she followed me.

Her hand entwined in mine felt nice and warm. She didn't resist me holding her hand and that itself made me happy. Being with her was in itself amazing for me. We reached the last of stairs and I stopped in front of a closed door. I freed her hand from mine and fetched the key that Beth had given me, from my jean pocket and unlocked the door. Opening the door wide, I motioned for Kim to enter inside with my chin. She did the same and I watched as she froze the moment she took the second step inside the school's terrace.

"Wow," she breathed as she took in the view in front of her.

Standing beside her, I too focused on the view of the Hendersonville town in front of us. It was almost dark now and being the New Year's Eve, the entire town was lighted up in the most mesmerizing way. Our school's building was tall, which made the view much more worth it. We stood at the edge of the cemented railing, both of us facing the town and letting the cold wind blow on our faces.

"The trophy is very important for me. My best win ever. But, everyone has seen it," I whispered, but I was sure that the one person to whom I was telling this could clearly hear me. So, I continued, "This place is like my secret hideout. I always come here whenever I get bored of my 'oh-so-amazing' social life and want to spend some time alone. This place has helped me in making the most important decisions of my life." I chuckled as I remembered how I decided to play football when I found out this place for the first time; how I decided to chose Vanderbilt and a few more such decisions. "I used to teach Beth's eleven year old son, Jeremy, football. So, she always treated me as a son too. Even after I graduated, she never refused to give me the keys whenever I asked her to."

"She is lovely," Kim said and I looked towards her. She was staring at me all the time, listening to me intently.

"She is," I agreed and smiled at her. Looking into her warm brown eyes, I confessed merely in a whisper, "I've never brought anyone here." This was my way of telling her that this place was what I wanted to show to her, much more than the golden trophy. This was my way of telling her how special she was to me. This was my way of telling her that I liked her. And all I could do was hope that she could understand me.

I watched as she stared back at me for a moment and slowly, moved her gaze towards the view in front of us. The cold wind had managed to turn her cheeks into a shade that was darker than red tomatoes. "It's beautiful," she said, looking towards the view.

Till now, I had no clue what 'beautiful' was. I recalled the night we had spent on the beach and how she had said that it was 'beautiful'. At that time too, I had quickly scanned my brain for another adjective and used it. But somehow, I couldn't do that this time. My right hand went up and slowly, I pulled out the rubber band that was holding her brown hair together.

Her head snapped towards me and I watched as her brown tresses blew with the wind. They kept on coming in front of her eyes, shielding her face from my eyes and she fought to manage them and tie them back, but it was all in vain.

"You are beautiful," I whispered, telling her the truth.

What I said made her stop fighting with her hair. A gust of wind made the hair that was disturbing her move back, making it possible for me to see her beautiful face that was much redder than it earlier was. She was blushing and I loved being the reason of that beautiful blush.

"Uh-um-th-thanks," she stammered.

I smiled in return and told her honestly, "I had great time today, Kim."

A huge grin appeared on her face and she said, "It was awesome. I loved this day."

"Well, if you loved it so much, then why don't we count it as a date?" The words slipped from my mouth before I could even think about what I was saying. Someone must have rightly said that whatever we say without thinking is completely true. I had unintentionally told Kim that this was our first date.

Now would be the time that I was dreading since morning. Now would be the time when she would use my own secret hideout place to kill me. She could so easily do that my just pushing me from here.

All my fears were proved wrong when she said the next words, "I will."

Her answer brought a huge smile on my face and she mirrored my expressions of happiness and pure... happiness.

As we let the comfortable silence dominate us for the next few minutes, I realized that this place had helped me in making one more important decision of my life.

I was not going to let Kim go. Ever.

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A/N (Picture on the side - the monkey pair they won)

Wattpad Prize 2014 entry. Please VOTE, COMMENT, FOLLOW & spread a word about this story if you like the story. :)

Tadaaaaannnn!!! The longest chapter I've ever written. PHEW!!

Haaaa....He told her that it's a date & she agreed!! Yayyyy!!! :D

I'm in LOVE with Keith. He is MINE! Period.

How was it??? I LOVED writing this chapter. It's so um....I don't know...I just loved writing it & I hope that you all will love reading it too. :)

Did I manage to write a nice date? A perfect date for Kim & Keith? I really hope so. I had to think so much for it.

Don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT & FAN.

Don't forget to check out my new short story 'ENGRAVED IN MY HEART', the new chapter of which will be uploaded shortly.

PS. Whatever I've written about Hendersonville is completely fictional as I know nothing about this beautiful place, other than the basic facts as I belong to the completely opposite end of the globe. Please don't mind, if I'm wrong somewhere. :)

Thanks! :) Love you all! <3

3rd March 2016 - Edited!