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CHAPTER - 25

AN UNKNOWN FEAR

By the time I reached home, I was pretty sure that everyone else was already home. Hailey, Brian and Kim were, I knew that. Mom and Dad must have come back from the dinner they went to, I assumed.

'No sh*t, Sherlock.' I snorted at myself. Of course they were back. It was freaking three in the morning. They were out for a dinner, not dinfast.

I smiled as I thought this and inserted the key in the door lock after a lot of struggle, I might add. Like a thief on mission, I quietly entered the house and shut the door behind me, locking it. "Good boy." I patted the door for not making any noise and chuckled. I was drunk, but hell, no amount of alcohol was enough to make me sway or make me lose my focus. And, my focus tonight was to talk to Kim. That's why I sprinted upstairs trying not to stumble on the way and when I didn't stumble, I bent down and patted my shoes. "Good job. I'll buy more of your family." I stood up straight and started walking. I stopped right in front of her door.

I wanted to talk to her so bad. I wanted to finish what we started three hours back. I sighed heavily and pressed my forehead against the door. I let my body relax and whispered, "Kim."

After merely five seconds, I felt myself falling forward.

Earthquake!

That's what it was. I was ready to die, but there was just a single regret. I really wanted to talk to Kim before I was taken to heaven, or hell for that matter. Not only talk, I wanted to do many more things. My entire life flashed in front of my eyes in a split second. And, in the other split second, I snorted at how girly I was sounding to myself. It sure must have transferred to me through Hannah's sloppy kiss.

"Keith?" I heard a very familiar girl's sound from under me and I realized that the fall, I, had prepared for actually never hit me. I had fallen on somebody.

I looked down and found a pair of very confused brown eyes looking back at me. Light laughter erupted from my mouth and she scrunched up her nose. "You're an angel here?" I asked in an over cheerful and over-excited manner. I was so happy to see her here. "It's good that you are here with me... with me. I was thinking I would get bored... bored in heaven," I slurred and buried my head between her shoulder and her hair. Her hair smelled really nice. I pushed myself slightly up so I could look at her again and asked, "Or is it hell?" Confusion rose up in my head and I looked around the place. I laughed again and told her, "This is hell, Kim. This place looks like my parents' home." With that, I again buried my head in her hair and smelled the strawberries.

I felt her shake her head and she said, "Firstly, I'm no angel." I nodded my head in agreement, but then I understood what she had said and shook my head. She chuckled and continued, "Secondly, none of us is dead and this place doesn't look like your parents' home. It is your parents' home."

Slight understanding dawned upon me even in my drunken state and I asked, "You mean I'm not dead?"

"Duh," was her reply.

"Wow," I mumbled, smelling her. "God sent me back from the doors of heaven to be with you." I heard her chuckle and I asked, "Thirdly?"

I heard her take in a deep breath and she answered with lightly gritted teeth, "You're freaking heavy and you need to move else I'll be paralyzed." With that, she pushed me from above her so that I was lying next to her and I chuckled. She got up instantly and stood at the spot where she was lying just seconds ago.

"But, I like being on top." I grinned as she narrowed her eyes at me and I added with seriousness in my voice, "But I wouldn't mind you being on top of me." My grin grew bigger as her cheeks turned redder and her eyes betrayed her cheeks, by turning into slits as she looked down at me.

After about a minute, she shook her head and mumbled, "You're so drunk." Just as I was about to shake my head in a 'No' she continued, pointing her finger towards me, "Don't bother denying the obvious."

Laughing lightly, I mumbled, "Okay."

She kept looking down at me with a weird look in her eyes for a minute and then shook her head lightly. "You can sleep here tonight; I'll go in your room."

"No!" I exclaimed, making her widen her eyes at how loud I was. She shushed me and I again chuckled. I guess, I was really drunk. "I don't like this bed. How have you managed to sleep on it for a week is beyond my funderstanding. It's not comfortable. We both will sleep in my room." I told her, trying to get comfortable on the bed in her room. Hard. It was very hard.

She looked at me like I've grown a new head and I gave her a huge smile. She chuckled and bent down, so that she was near me. Her head was right above my head and my smile grew bigger as I looked at her face. "Keith?"

"Yeah?"

'She's going to kiss me.' I grinned at her and the uncomfortable bed was not so uncomfortable anymore.

"You need to 'funderstand' that you're not on the bed. You're on the floor," she told me like making a five year old understand that taking candies from strangers is dangerous.

"I am?" I shot up in an instant, hitting Kim's forehead with mine in the process.

"Ouch," she hissed at the impact. The impact made both of us sit on the uncomfortable floor, facing each other. Both of us were rubbing the spot where we had been hit. Despite of the pain she must be facing, a smile broke on her face and she asked me, "How much did you drink?"

In an instant, I shook my head several times and that made me a bit dizzy. "I'm not drunk," I told her in my dizziness.

She snorted. "Yeah, right. And the earth is not round."

I raised my hand at this and nodded my head forcefully, making my head spin. "I agree," I told her.

Chuckling, she got up from her sitting spot. She offered me her hand and I looked at her questioningly.

"Are you offering me your hand and asking me to marry you?" I tilted my head to the side and continued telling her the truth, "I'm not ready for that sh*t, Kim."

Laughter erupted from her lips and this time, I shushed her with my eyes wide open in alarm. "You need to sleep, Warren. Just get up." Her offered hand was still there in front of me.

As much as I wanted to hold her hand and not leave it, there was a drunken b*stard that possessed my body right now and I swatted her hand away. "I'm a man, Kim," I told her, pointing towards my chest.

Her mouth formed an 'O' and she chirped, "Thank you for the brand new information."

I was so out of my mind that I laughed at the huge obvious insult she had just thrown at me and I kept my finger on my lips, silently asking her to keep quiet and listen to me. "I'm a man and I'm ferpectlypackable of standing up on my own," I told her, looking straight in her eyes with the most serious face known to mankind.

"You meant 'perfectly capable'?" She tilted her head to the side and pressed her lips in a thin line. She was finding the entire situation funny. It was evident in her features.

I rolled my eyes at her and said, "I don't mean it. I said it. I'm ferpectlypackable."

Kim laughed at this and muttered, "I'm going to pack you in my suitcase and take you with me, Mr. ferpectlypackable."

I grinned, looking at her and asked, "You will?" She shook her head in amusement and I gave her a few words of wisdom that my Dad had always given me. "You should do what you say, man. Always stick with your words."

"Keith firstly, I'm not a man." Slight hint of humor was evident in her voice.

"That's not a brand new information." I laughed at what I was implying, looking at her from head to toe and what she understood as she laughed and her cheeks turned red. "Secondly?" I asked further once our laughter calmed down.

She gave me a smug expression and continued, "I'm not a Warren. So, I don't need to stick to my words." She was so making fun of my Dad's Warren's possessive rant, not that I minded.

I nodded my head in appreciation and mumbled, "You've got a point there." She patted herself on her back and I smiled at her. I tried to stand up on my feet and after about two minutes of trying, some unseen force helped me in standing up on my spot. I looked up where Kim was standing in front of me, but she was not there. Frowning, I looked around the room and spotted her standing behind me. "Did you just see that?" I asked in amazement and she frowned in confusion. "I got up from the floor so quickly. I think I've superpowers." I laughed at my probable superpowers and Kim chuckled too.

I started walking towards the bed and heard Kim's voice from behind me. "Did you drive till here in this condition?" I removed my jacket before sitting on the bed and threw it somewhere around. I faced her and raised my eyebrows, wondering what 'condition' she was talking about. She clarified, "Your 'ferpectlypackable' condition."

"No," I answered. "Wyatt's sister dropped me and Adam here. She was seeing billy like you."

She looked confused for a second, it was like she understood something and mumbled, "You mean 'being silly' like me."

I ignored her and continued, "She was saying that we were too drunk to drive and I kept telling her that I was ferpectlypackable of driving. She gave me this strange look and ignored me." Kim nodded her head with her lips tightly closed in a thin line. Thinking back about the girl, I added, "Now that I think about her, she is strange and emo." Kim nodded her head and had a grin on her face. "My car is at Infectious' house," I told her the complete answer and lay down on the bed.

Yes, this is comfortable; a lot comfortable than the bed on the floor.

At the sound of laughter, I looked back to the edge of the bed where Kim was standing. "You mean-you mean-Pre-Precious?" she managed to ask between her laughs.

Frowning in confusion, I asked her, "Isn't that a dog's name?" That made her laugh harder and a smile made its way on my face as I watched her looking so happy. "Come here. Sleep with me," I whispered, patting the place next to me. 

At that, her laughter died. It was like she was struggling as she answered after a moment of silence and said, "You should sleep, Keith. I'm going in your room."

This made me shoot up from the bed and look at her with dead serious eyes. "If you go and sleep in my room, I'll pee on my bedroom's door," I threatened her. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth in utter disbelief. I gave her a smug smile and informed her, "Don't look at me like that. I've done that before."

She laughed at that and climbed on the bed, muttering something like "How can I forget that?" under her breath. With a lot of force, I shook my legs a few times, finally making my shoes slip out of my feet. They flew in the air and fell down on the floor with a loud thud.

"Oh God!" Kim groaned at my side and I looked at her with a grin.

"I'm a fawesomeootballer."

She gave me a huge grin and patted my head lightly. "Yes, you just proved that you're an awesome footballer. Now, go to sleep."

I shook my head in a 'No' and told her, "I need to talk to you about something." I turned my body to my left to look at her. She was not looking at me. She was lying straight on her back. Somehow, she found the ceiling a lot more interesting to watch and concentrate upon. Her fingers were fiddling together as they rested on her stomach.

I watched as she closed her eyes and sighed. "You are drunk, Keith. You need to sleep. We can talk about it in the morning." Her eyes were still closed.

"Firstly, I'm not drunk," I told her.

She opened her eyes only to roll them at what I said. "And we are in Narnia," she told me.

"F*ck," I cursed and looked at her with wide eyes. "All these years, I was searching for Narnia in my closet and it was across my room?" I would still like to maintain that I was not drunk.

She laughed - full booming laughter and I kept staring at her. Once she stopped laughing, I watched as her eyes turned serious and after about a minute, she asked, "Secondly?"

This reminded me of what we were talking about earlier. So, I continued, "Technically, it is morning right now. Talk."

She shook her head and turned her body so that we were now facing each other completely, with a very little gap between us. "Morning as in when the sun rises and shines," she said.

My mouth formed an 'O' as understanding dawned upon me. We stared at each other for some time, I don't know for how long and eventually, my gaze went to her inviting lips. The lips that were on mine three hours back. I wanted to kiss her again. She wouldn't hit me. Right? She didn't hit me earlier. Why would she hit me now?

"Go to sleep, Keith," she whispered, breaking my little fantasies.

I smiled and brought up my right hand to remove the strand of hair that was falling on her cheek. She kept looking at me just as I was looking at her. Once I had tugged the hair strand behind her ear, I caressed her cheek with the back of my hand. In response, she closed her eyes and I whispered, "You're so beautiful." She opened her eyes instantly and I continued, "I'm happy that I didn't meet you when we were babies."

"What?" she asked, frowning at the random statement I just gave.

Nodding my head, I told her honestly, "Yeah. You would've won the award of the 'Most Beautiful Baby Girl'." This made her laugh and I snaked my right hand around her waist, pulling her close to me.

She gasped at my actions and hissed lightly, "Keith."

"Present please," I joked and laughed at my own joke. She tried to pull away, but my grip was tight enough. I rested my chin above her head and closed my eyes. "Just relax, Kim," I whispered and she obeyed me after staying tensed for a few seconds. I felt her getting relaxed as she buried her face in my chest. One of my hands was around her waist and the other one found its way towards her loose hair. I started playing with them. I liked this. My heart was pounding at how close I was to her. I just wanted to get closer and vanish every distance between us. Maybe it was just my hormones that were taking control of my feelings right now. The need of kissing her was overtaking me and this need made me tighten my grip on her waist.

I heard her intake a deep breath and she said, "You need to sleep, Keith. You're drunk." Her voice was muffled, but still clear. Realizing how right she was, I nodded my head. I didn't want her to think that whatever we did or were about to do was under the influence of alcohol. "Good night, Keith," she mumbled.

"Good night, Kim," I mumbled back.

There was silence for some time; neither of us said even a single word. Plain comfortable silence. I could hear her steady breathing and involuntarily, my hand was still caressing her tresses. This was the first time that I was sleeping with a girl and no matter how much the still alive 'player side' of me yelled at me to get up and go to my own room, I couldn't bring it upon myself to listen to him. Kim's heartbeat and her steady breathing were what I preferred listening.

I was sure that she was asleep by the time I started feeling sleepy myself. I tried to remain awake, but the alcohol started showing its effects. For the first time in my life, there was an unknown feeling building up inside my heart.

Fear

Fear of losing her and not seeing her again.

I kissed the top of her head for a few seconds and whispered with all my heart, "Don't go back." I tried to tell her how much I wanted her to stay here. Of course, she didn't reply, she was sleeping. "You would probably kill me if I'll tell you something." She was asleep but I still waited for her reply. When she didn't reply, as expected, I kissed her head again and whispered while kissing, "I like you so much." I knew she was not listening to me, her breathing was steady. And, I also knew that I would tell her all this in the morning when we both would be awake and neither of us would be under the influence of alcohol. I would tell her all of these feelings I had developed for her in the morning.

Closing my eyes, I prepared myself for the best night of my life. Little did I know what the most awaited morning had in store for me.

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A/N (Read please)

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The spelling mistakes are completely INTENTIONAL. Don't point them out. :D ;)

Okay, so it was actually a very long chapter & I decided to cut it in half. The other half is completely different from this one & thus, I decided to make two chapters. Please don't say that I'm delaying anything etc. because I know what I'm writing & where I want this story to go. IT'S ALL PLANNED. The other half will be uploaded in maximum two days.

How was the chapter, anyway? :D I love Keith's drunk side. He is sooo funny. I had a ball writing their conversation but at the same time the last bit was emotional for Keith and me. LOL.

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15th April 2016 - Edited!