Her eyes widened at his question as she sat back in her seat a moment, heart leaping up into her throat. It was such a simple question yet it was enough to cause her face to pale a moment. I..I wasn’t going to tell yet..b-but I can’t lie..and say everything is fine when it wasn’t..
She felt the blood in her veins turn cold as her hand snaked back and into her lap, nibbling on her bottom lip. Tucking her head against her chest she took a shuddering breath to gain some form of nerves.
“I-I was going to wait to tell you until you had gotten some rest..b-but…Psycho Delic..you know..the one w-who you ran into back in December..cause of me..when I finally decided to go out and get some fresh air he..he found me and used some of his drugs on me..m-made me hallucinate..”
One hand tugged at the hem of her shirt and she tried to keep talking, willed herself to and knowing he wasn’t going to be very happy with the news. She hadn’t handled it well after all.
“I-I ended up seeing things..a nightmare of e-everyone dying in front of me because of the second Psycho..I-I was so angry and scared and I took my de-gun out and I tried to fight the spell when I realized what was going on..I did…and I tried shooting where I thought Psycho Delic was..I…I ended up being arrested b-but I was able to convince them it wasn’t my fault..I-I’m sorry Jack..I-I really tried…to stay safe while you were gone..I did..”
She shook in her seat slightly as she waited for his response, licking her lips in her nerves. She thought she was past attracting villains but she had delusioned herself into thinking such a thing.
Jack had sensed something was wrong, but even with the trouble Katelynn had attracted in the past, he hadn’t imagined it would be this bad. He listened with his eyes wide, horrified – not because Katelynn had fired her gun and been arrested, but because she’d been attacked, and been hurt, when he wasn’t there …
He didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he got up from his chair, came over, and gently hugged his trembling fiancee.
“K-Katelynn, it’s okay.” His voice was a choked whisper. It wasn’t okay, but that was the best thing he could think of to say. “It w-wasn’t your fault. You w-were halluc-c-cinating. Crazy. You d-didn’t know what you were doing.” He swallowed. “It’s n-not like you went out looking for Psycho D-Delic, right?”
She shook her head in vehement denial against his shoulder, her hair most likely tickling him as she let out another soft breath against his shoulder, trying to soak up his warmth and understanding and glad for it. Still she couldn’t get rid of the stone of guilt that had settled in her stomach. “No..I didn’t..b-but I should have been careful..worn the holo-watch..I should have..”
And she realized then why she felt guilty, her old thoughts of being nothing but a problem for Jack springing forth in her mind. How much she hated being a burden. She had tried to be stronger in the past but the past month had made her take steps back. But she was still determined to try harder again. She didn’t want to be a quitter.
Returning the hug, she tried settling down and letting go of the plaguing feelings. It almost had her letting out a nervous giggle. “S-Sorry I tried..making this a nice dinner..relaxing and..I just couldn’t lie to you again..” As she had done it before when Psycho had attacked her. She had done it to protect him but it had ended up backfiring. “T-Thank you for understanding though..”
He hugged her tighter, for his own comfort just as much as hers. In the back of his mind, he agreed that she should have been more careful and worn the watch, but he wasn’t going to say so. She clearly felt terrible enough as it was.
“N-no, it’s all right. I’m glad you told me.” He tilted her head up so he could look her in the eyes. “W-when you used to hide things, and go out to dangerous places without telling me … Katelynn, I hated that. But this I can h-handle. I’d r-rather have the truth, always, even if it’s n-not nice.” Unable to stand it any longer, he kissed her forehead. “It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t your fault, and it’s over n-now.”
Jack Maple 