The New Beginning

I was slumped down in my couch with an ice cream tub in my hands, tears in my eyes, Keith's jacket, that I had so discreetly taken away five years ago, beside me and 'The Notebook' being played on my television. Add to horror, I was actually liking the movie.

The world had come to an end.

The mighty sun had risen from the west, or was it the moon that was shining so bright at nine in the morning.

Okay, I was over exaggerating but this was not what I was supposed to do in heartbreak. I was supposed to go out of this place, discover a new city, get lost in the streets, click pictures till my fingers started aching and forget everything about a certain footballer who was getting married in merely an hour. But, I could not.

My shoulders slumped at the realization of the pathetic state I was in and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't stop the pettiness I felt for myself.

"Choose Noah, you idiot!" I shouted looking at my TV screen in futile hopes of making Allie listen to me and follow my golden advice. Maybe I could say the same to Keith. 'Choose me, you idiot! Not Veronica!' But it was me who had asked him to keep her happy under our deal and my loneliness along with my pathetic state of mind was making me regret my words.

The sound of doorbell made me snap out of my thoughts and my eyes wandered towards the door, as if it would open magically and I won't need to get up from my seat. Continuous rings made me frown as I paused the movie and told whoever my unexpected guest was, "Coming!"

I peeked from the hole and my eyes widened in surprise when I saw who was standing on the other side. A light gasp escaped my lips, but I quickly covered my mouth before he could hear me at all. How could I face him after everything I'd done to him?

No! I couldn't.

He continued ringing, but I just took a few steps backward, staring at my door in hopes of making him go from here.

The images of the last time I had seen him came in front of my eyes and I flinched at the hurt in his eyes, face and voice. And, it was me who was responsible for all of this. In the last five days, I had not only mourned over Keith, but Josh as well. And, here he was standing at my door, showing no mercy at the door bell.

I could pretend that I wasn't home. Right?

"Just open the door, Kim. You just said, 'coming'. So, I know you're inside," Josh said from the other side as if reading my thoughts and my eyes widened at my stupidity.

So much for pretending!

Biting my lips very hardly, I dried my face from any unwelcomed tears drained on my cheeks and took steps towards the door. I knew I had to face him now. I couldn't be a coward. I was done being a coward.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and found Josh waiting for me at the other side with his hands in his pants pockets. He looked fine, but not good. It was obvious from the faint lines under his eyes that he had a pretty rough time in these past few days and this just added to my guilt.

"O-okay," he said slowly as he looked at my face carefully and then my clothes. This was not one of my good times and I knew that I was looking miserable after all the crying and sulking I had done in the past few days.

Biting my lips, I stepped aside and asked, pointing my thumb behind me, "Wanna come in?"

He nodded his head quickly and entered. I shut the door beside him and turned around to look at him. I had no clue as to what he was doing here. Neither was I planning to pry. I was just quite happy that he was here as I really needed a friend at this hour.

"This is so not you," he mumbled, but was loud enough for me to hear. A frown etched on my face at his statement and I followed his gaze, which was fixed on my TV screen or rather 'The Notebook'.

"Oh!" I managed to utter.

He turned around to look at me and shook his head as if disappointed with me. Of course, he was disappointed. Even a lifetime of apologizing was not enough to erase whatever I had done to him or for the pain that I had caused him.

I was despicable.

Just as I opened my mouth to apologize again, he beat me to it as he asked, "What are you doing here?"

His question caught me off guard and I looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Huh? It's... um.. my home?" My answer came out as a question amidst the confusion I was facing. 'Shouldn't it be me asking him this question?'

His lips twitched up slightly at my response and he shook his head at me. "Yes, it's your home. I know that." He chuckled at me and looked at me with love in his eyes, which made me feel terrible and very uncomfortable. Just this one look was enough for me to reach the new heights of guilt.

I didn't want this. I didn't want him to be hurt anymore. I wanted him to be happy and loving me could never make him happy. I wanted him to move on and find a girl who loved him with all her heart; a girl who actually deserved him.

Tears threatened to slip from my eyes and before I could show him my weakness, I removed my gaze from him and focused on anything but him. The pain in my heart was increasing manifolds with each passing moment. Keith was getting married in about an hour and I knew that I had lost Josh too. Just like all the festivals in my childhood, just like my seventeenth birthday, just like the Christmas five years back, just like leaving the Warren household five years back, this time too I was left all alone. But the pain this time was incomparable to the pain of all those days.

Josh probably noticed my expressions as he cleared his throat and said, "He's getting married."

As if I needed a reminder.

I merely nodded and bit my lip. I couldn't cry. Wasn't it obvious that fate hadn't planned for me to end up with Keith? All I had to do was accept this fact and move on. It was simple and I could do it.

'Yeah right!' A voice from inside me snorted at me.

My lack of response made Josh continue, "You're not going there?"

My head snapped up at his question at the speed of lightening and I stared at him incredulously as he stared back at me with raised eyebrows. "Do I have 'crazy' or 'shameless' written across my forehead?" I asked him rhetorical question as I rolled my eyes at him. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, I continued, "I'm not invited." Involuntarily, my voice weakened as I told him one of the reasons of not going to his wedding. The other, more important reason was very obvious. I might be strong but I was not as strong to see him saying 'I do' to someone else and kiss his 'wife'.

"Okay!" Josh nodded his head in understanding and looked at me with a relaxed expression on his face.

His purpose of visiting me was beyond my understanding. Maybe he came here to see how I was coping with the heartbreak. If that was the case, well, he was not doing a good job at it.

"Are you going?" I asked curiously. I knew he was invited. I was supposed to be his plus one only if things hadn't turned out this way.

He pressed his lips together for a moment of thoughtfulness and answered my question, "I'm not going to the wedding."

"Oh!" was all I could say as I thought about what to say next. My tongue was itching to ask his purpose of visiting me.

"I just came to see you," he mumbled as if hearing my question.

My lips twitched up in a slight smile as I nodded and said, "Thank you, Josh."

He pressed his lips in a thin line and nodded his head. He stared at me for a long moment and eventually, sighed. "I should be going." I nodded. He started moving towards the front door with slightly tensed shoulders. He stopped when he was at the door and turned around to look at me. Digging his hands in his pants pocket, he told me, "Oh, the other reason why I came here was-"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he stopped mid-sentence. I asked in attempt to make him continue, "What?"

His lips twitched up in a smile and he cleared up all my doubts by continuing, "-to tell you that Veronica has been cheating on Keith with my boss." My eyes popped out of their sockets when his words settled in my head and before I could react in any way at the shocking news I had just heard, he bowed a bit and went out of my apartment.

I stayed rooted at my spot as I stared at the door through which Josh had exited. His words 'Veronica - cheating - on Keith' kept ringing in my head. Was this true? Whatever Josh had just told me, was it true? One thing I knew and loved about Josh was that he never lied. Even when he started having feelings for me, he never tried to beat around the bush. He was straightforward about his eagerness to take me out on a date. There was no way that he was lying.

Veronica, really, was cheating on Keith.

And Keith was going to marry her.

Oh, sh*t!

It was like a huge rock had been hit on my head as everything dawned upon me. I was the one who had asked Keith to make Veronica happy because I had thought that they loved each other and obviously, they would be happy together. But, how wrong I was! Veronica didn't love him. If she did, she would have never cheated on him.

Keith was going to marry her!

Just this thought was running in my mind and I was numb. I had no idea what to do. Here I was crying due to the fact that he was going to be someone else's, whereas he was going to suffer if he would marry that cheating b*tch.

"No," I said to myself as I tried to come back to reality. "I can't let this happen. I can't let this happen," I chanted as I started roaming in my living room with my mind running to what I could do to solve everything.

He was not going to be happy with her!

I had to do something.

Rubbing my face with trembling hands, I thought of what I could do to stop Keith from marrying her or of telling him that she was a cheater. Yes, I could tell him. He would definitely believe me, I was sure about that. Or would he?

Deciding not to ponder on this question, I sprinted towards my couch and picked up Keith's jacket that I had taken out from deep inside my closet after breaking up with Josh.

Even if Keith would not believe me, I could definitely kick his a*s and make him understand that whatever he was going to do was absolute sh*t. That would make him understand. And there was this dire need inside me to teach Veronica a lesson.

How could she do something like this to Keith?

My mind was busy contemplating the different ways in which I could teach Veronica a lesson and amidst weighing the pros and cons of all those options, I exited my apartment and locked it. With Keith's jacket resting on my arm, I spun around to run to the venue. But then my eyes landed on my Asian neighbor's seven year old son, Sam, who was whining in front of his adorable mother for a chocolate bar.

My eyes widened as an idea entered my head and just one word repeatedly flashed in front of my eyes.

Jackpot!

*************

"Just go inside, point in the front and say the line that I was teaching you in the car. Okay?" I tried to make Sam understand in the calmest voice while my heart was beating at twice its speed.

"You promise to give me two chocolate bars?" he asked, ignoring what I had just told him.

"Five, dude, five! I'll give you five chocolate bars," I told him as my impatience to go barge inside the hall was increasing. His black eyes widened in happiness and he opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him, "I promise! Now, go inside."

He grinned happily and nodded his head. Just as he turned around to enter the hall, I again adjusted Keith's jacket to make it look like my belly. I smile threatened to grace my lips as I recalled the first time I had done this. He would definitely catch my lie.

The sound of the heavy door opening made me snap out of my thoughts and my heart started beating much more rapidly. I sprinted towards the door and tried to hear whatever was happening inside the hall.

All I could hear was pin drop silence and then, Sam said the line I had taught him to say, "This wedding can't happen." Everybody gasped, and I smiled at the reaction I was expecting. Listening to a little boy, calling the groom his father must have been a shocker.

"What?" Veronica asked in a ridiculed voice.

'Yes! Very good! You're in for a lifetime of shock, Veronica, you cheating b*tch.'

"He is my father," Sam said and I grinned at the loud gasps erupting from inside the hall.

"What?" A voice reached my ears. "N..no..no! He is not my kid," the same voice continued and my grin faded as I realized that this was not Keith's voice.

'Who the hell is he pointing at?' I wondered and to put an end to my confusion, I opened the door and entered inside where everybody was murmuring.

My eyes briefly landed on Sam and I stopped the urge to face palm myself when I noticed him pointing towards the preacher, who was looking mortified at the allegation thrown his way. My eyes very swiftly drifted towards Keith, who was looking at me with a huge smile on his face. Why was he smiling? Was he happy to see me here? I just hoped so.

His smile was infectious and my plan of breaking the news of his cheating fiancé was creative, that's why I stopped myself from erupting in a huge grin or laugh. To stop my lips from twitching upwards, I stared at him with a determined look on my face. I stopped beside Sam and bent down slightly. I moved Sam's pointed hand slightly so it was pointed directly at Keith.

Keith's change of expressions was commendable as he looked completely bewildered and highly shocked. He looked at me with eyes as wide as saucers and his jaw touching the ground.

It was time to put my acting skills on work!

I sighed very loudly and looked up at him. "This is what happens when a son doesn't get his father's love for years. He is not your son, sir," I told the preacher with misery dripping down from my voice. I looked back at Keith and pointed towards him. "He is Keith's son."

Keith's eyes popped out of their sockets, the crowd erupted in much louder gasps and the murmurs changed to loud chattering. "Oh, I'm a granny!" A voice reached my ears and my head snapped towards Keith's mom, who had squealed so happily as she got up from her seat in excitement. Everybody's attention went towards her and she realized her mistake as she slowly sat back on her seat. She turned to look at me and gave me a huge smile, telling me that she was happy to see me here. I tightly pressed my lips as laughter was threatening to erupt from my lips. Oh God! I loved this woman.

"But... what the hell are you saying?" Veronica screeched, making me look back at her.

I gave her a wide eyed look, pretending to be sweet and innocent. "You don't believe me? Ask Keith. He'll tell you that we spent a complete night together eight years back." I motioned towards him with my hand and then, looked at him with narrowed eyes, daring him to go against my act.

It seemed like many emotions were going through his eyes as he looked back at me, but confusion of seeing me here or the hurt of being accused as a father on his own wedding day were not at all there, neither was the fear of losing Veronica because of this accusation there. Did he know it all?

After a moment of looking at me, he looked at Veronica with slight guilt and nodded. It was fake guilt, of course! Was he really going along in this plan? I couldn't have been happier.

"And, Keith and I spent a night together again last week. I'm pregnant," I announced, caressing my fake belly with a smile on my face. That was a real smile. I wasn't smiling because of my fake pregnancy. I was smiling at the fact that Keith probably already knew about it and was ready to let Veronica go.

"But... but you were not pregnant when we met five days back. This is impossible," Veronica shouted, looking at me with disbelief written on every feature of her face.

I stopped the urge to roll my eyes at her question. Obviously, I was faking it! Still, I continued having my dose of fun after crying and sobbing for so many days. I deserved every bit of this fun. I looked back at her with wide eyes and covered my fake belly with my hands protectively. "I failed Bella in the record of fastest pregnancy," I informed her bogus news and Keith pressed his lips together to stop the laughter that was threatening to erupt from his lips.

"Ho-how could you?" Veronica asked Keith with shock as her lips quivered as if she was about to cry.

I watched as Keith looked at her and said, "I should have taken lessons on cheating from you." He clicked his tongue at the end as if disappointed on being caught.

But all I could do was look at him with a huge smile on my face. My suspicions of him knowing the truth just became reality and I couldn't be happier. He might not love me back, but at least he was no more caught in her cheating web.

This made the color drain off from Veronica's voice. She opened and closed her mouth several times to say something but nothing came out of her lips "Close your mouth, fish. There is not enough oxygen for you here," I told her, rolling my eyes at her.

Veronica looked at Keith for a moment as if expecting him to believe her. I too stared at Keith for that moment and prayed that he wouldn't give into her good looks. 'Don't be an idiot, Keith. Please!'

Eventually, she ran out of the hall and her relatives followed her. The only people left in the hall were Keith's family and friends, who had by now got up from their seats and surrounded us. Their curious minds were taking the best of them as they asked all typed of questions from us. They wanted to know each and everything.

But their questions were least of my concerns as I stared at Keith with the same intensity with which he stared back at me. Cutting the sea of people between us, we took steps towards each other, all the while gazing into each other's eyes.

We stopped when we were a step apart. He smiled and glanced at my fake belly. "I guess, your over-acting finally worked."

I scoffed in reply. "I'm an excellent actor." Wasn't it because of me that we got that drive from Nashville to Hendersonville five years back, and that Veronica left him, finally? There was no doubt that I was an excellent actor.

He smirked and whispered, "You could have fooled me."

His blue eyes shone, telling me that he was extremely happy to see me here. Our feelings towards each other suddenly became very obvious as we looked into each other's eyes. This made me man up and tell him, "I hope you weren't thinking that I would be mourning and sobbing at my home like a stupid love-struck girl." It was part true, I was sulking, watching 'The Notebook', eating ice cream and smelling his jacket that had lost his scent years ago. But, I was never telling him all this.

A chuckle escaped his lips and he said, "I'm glad that you came."

My lips stretched in a smile at what he said. And to show his happiness of seeing me here, he closed the distance between us and snaked his arms around my waist. Without bothering about the audience we had, he captured my lips with his. I could have buckled or fainted if it was not due to his hands that were holding me. My hands travelled to his neck and I started running my fingers through his hair, just like the first time we had kissed. But this time, it was better, a lot better and full of desire than it was years ago.

The sound of applause and wolf whistles from around us brought me back to reality and parted from his delicious lips slightly. But, that didn't mean that we stopped looking at each other with the biggest grins on our faces.

Keith looked down to his side and I followed his gaze to find Sam stretching his hand in front of him as he said, "Give me your game tickets."

"What?" Keith asked as slight laughter left his mouth and he looked back at me with a questioning look.

Oh c'mon. I had to bribe Sam in some way and chocolates were not enough. Acting offended, I said, "You gave them tickets for letting you lick the guy's mustached cheek."

This little revelation of our crazy night in Miami got his family and friends talking non-stop.

"You kissed a guy's cheek?"

"Why would you do that?"

"Were you out of your mind?"

"Is that supposed to be something funny?"

"I thought Adam's impact on you had faded."

"He had a mustache?"

"Why the hell would you do something like that?"

"Are you insane?"

I tried my best to not laugh and smile, all at the same time when I realized that the old times were returning. Keith rolled his eyes at them not bothering to answer any of the questions. He mock glared at me and grabbed my hand. Ignoring the calls for us from behind, he took me out of the hall. I guess, he was just as eager as I was to be with him after everything that had happened.

He hugged me once we reached outside like I had always wanted to be hugged by him. I was grinning so widely that any given instant, my cheeks could burst out from my face.

"So, this is how it would feel to hug a pregnant Kim?" he whispered in my ear, making me stiffen for a second. What was he saying? He pulled back from the hug and raised his eyebrows at me. "Do you really think I'm so much of a fool that I would let you go? Again?"

My lips stretched up in a smile and I whispered, "You've always been stupid, Keith."

"Have I?" he asked with a smirk, challenge in his gaze clear.

He wanted proof and this time, I was going to give him. "Of course!" I exclaimed, rolling my eyes playfully and took a step away from him. I took out his jacket that I was using as a fake belly from under my cotton jacket and showed it to him. The shock of seeing it with me was evident on his features. Well, I expected no less. He looked at his jacket and then back to me with confusion all over his face. "I'm just proving that you're stupid."

He stared at me for a while and my eyes widened when I realized what all could have happened if I hadn't interrupted everything that was going to happen. "You were about to marry that cheater. If I hadn't sent Sam to interrupt you'd have been Mr. Veronica Lyons now," I accused him.

He looked like he was stopping his laughter as he shook his head. "You were late." The anger and accusation from my face changed to confusion and he continued, "I had already said no."

His words registered in my head and I couldn't contain my happiness any longer as I hugged him.

"I love you," he whispered, making my heart flip at the utter joy I faced upon hearing him say these words to me, finally.

I brought back my face in front of his so our noses were touching and with the biggest smile on my face, I whispered back with all my heart, "I love you too."

Everything was fine now. Of course, we had flaws. Of course, Keith and I were not two perfect people. But, we were perfect for each other and it was perfect that way.

Sure we had taken such a long time to realize our love for each other but at the end, or I should say at the new beginning it was all worth it. Maybe if we hadn't stayed away from each other for so long, we wouldn't have been able to value the little moments we had spent with each other over the years.

I guess, at the end, it's all about those little, wonderful moments that make us smile whenever we look back at the mess that we fondly call as 'Life'.

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A/N (Important - Do read, especially the note at the end)

And with this, I bid adieu to this story that I had been writing for over a year & no, I won't be posting anymore chapters now. 

As I've said earlier, this has been an emotional rollercoaster for me. Reading your wonderful comments, messages just added joy to this journey and I can't thank you all enough for it.

Keith & Kim will always be a huge part of my life, even though they are as fictional as fiction can be. I LOVE THEM! <3

Hope you guys stay with me even after Keith's journey, and join me in the journey of my new characters in new stories. :)

Thanks!

Love forever, 
A very emotional Raima (RidingLife)

Note - I'm NOT WRITING A SEQUEL.