Genesis 9- Breakeven

Katherine stared at the mist her breathing created, her back against the wall of the small cafe she had reluctantly agreed to meet with David at. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing him look around the shop from outside the frosted window. She felt her breathing quicken. Her hands shook and her head felt as though it were pulsating.
Katherine quickly shook her head, dug her nails into her palms and stepped inside. David immediately stood with a grin plastered on his face. She walked straight to him, her eyes welled with tears, “I want to break up.”
David stared at her for a moment before laughing, “Kat, what are you talking about? We already were by most definitions.”
“You were right though,” She hung her head, pulling her hands up to her chest, “ I owe you a real break up.”
“I just wanted to see you.”
“And I want to make sure there are no misunderstandings,” Katherine grabbed one of his hands and sighed softly,”Yes I came, but this is not a rekindling and I need to know that you know that David.”
“I didn’t expect us to immediately pick back up,” David took a seat. He still held onto Katherine’s hand. He looked into her tear filled eyes, “And if we can’t pick things up, why are you crying? Wouldn’t that mean you don’t want to let go?”
“It’s because I don’t want to hurt you David,” She rubbed her sleeve against her eyes and took a deep breath, “I don’t love you the way you want me to, but I do still care for you.”
“Maybe it could turn into love though. You never know Katherine,” David edged his seat closer to her, “Maybe you don’t love me now, but you never know how things will change.”
Katherine shook her head, “That what I was trying to do before David. But I never felt right. I never felt the way they describe in books.”
“They’re just books. They’re exaggerated,” She looked into his hazel eyes to see that he too was holding back tears.
“So you’re saying what you’re feeling right now, that this real feeling of lost love, is nothing how it’s described?” Katherine released David’s hand and sat across from him.
David held his head in his hands.
He let out a half-hearted chuckle, “You can’t compare real life to fiction. It could never compare.”
“I don’t want you. I left you and I never felt the longing for you that you’re even now, feeling for me,” She sighed softly, “I don’t want you to stick around if you’re going to keep holding on to this. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“That’s my decision, Kat. I’m the only person that gets to decide what pain I do or do not endure,” His eyes grew distant as he whispered, “And it still hurts either way.”
“It’s Kitty now.”
He rolled his eyes at her. He tapped his fingers against the table and sighed, “You know I originally came into town to interview for an internship?”
“Why are you telling me?”
“I guess I just want to know if we can try to be friends, or if I should turn down this internship and avoid the problem entirely,” He rubbed his eyes with his sleeve before meeting her eyes again.
“Regardless of how things go here, David, you should do whatever is best for your future,” Katherine looked away from him, eyes on the window outside.
“I can’t stand the thought of being in a city where I could randomly run into you and am forced to treat you like a stranger,” He held his head in his hands, his voice began to shake, “My heart couldn’t take it.”
“David, we would never be anything more than friends,” Katherine attempted to plead with him.
“I’d prefer friends to strangers,” He shook his head, “Please just give me a chance to be friends. No promise of anything else. I just want my best friend back.”
Katherine bit down on her lip and stared at her hands in her lap. She took a deep breath of air before meeting his eyes again, “Have you told your parents that you ran into me?”
“After how weird you were acting, I thought it best not to,” He shrugged and tilted his head, “Why?”
“We can try this friends thing,” Katherine nodded, “But you have to promise you won’t tell anyone that you found me.”
“Why?”
“I’m still in witness protection so to speak,” She explained as she began to play with the ends of her hair, “And I was serious about wanting to get away. But if you can promise that you’ll never tell anyone I’m here then we can try to be friends again.”
David grinned, his eyes welled with tears. He reach out his hand towards her, “You have a deal, Kitty. Friends for now.”
“Only friends ever, David,” Katherine sighed and reached her hand to his.
He grinned as he shook her hand, “You never know what the future holds, Kitty.”
…

“Spikes would you quit spacing out?” Katherine cheered. She wrapped her arms around her best friend. Spikes rolled her eyes and twirled Katherine under her arm. The sunlight reflected and danced off of Katherine’s dress as she spun. Spikes laughed as she released her and ran her straight into Nadine.
“I’m so proud of you girls,” Nadine clapped her hands, and pulled both girls into a hug, “Who would have thought the girls who tore apart the courtyard last year would be graduating as best friends.”
“Definitely not me,” Spikes rolled her eyes as she took of the graduation gown. Her eyes scanned the crowd, but she couldn’t seem to find Xander.
“Let’s go get food,” Katherine wrapped her arm around Nadine’s, “I’m absolutely starving. I cannot believe they had us just sitting out there-”
Spikes toned out Katherine as they made their way towards the car. Spikes glanced around again and for a moment she thought she saw him walk behind one of the school buildings. Again she was brought back into the moment my Katherine’s unexpected hug.
“Is there anywhere you wanna go, Spikes?”
“Anything but sushi to be totally honest,” Spikes laughed as Katherine immediately began to pout, “I can do cooked fish. The raw is just too weird.”
Katherine rolled her eyes laughing as she ran to Nadine’s car. Spikes glanced back at where she thought she had seen Xander, but no one was there.
…

Katherine raised an eyebrow as she followed behind Spikes. It had been almost an hour ago since Spikes had barged into her room and begged for Katherine to join her into town, and now here they were on the outskirts of Bridgeport. A chill blew through the air and Katherine crossed her arms over her chest while Spikes adjusted the giant leather jacket she wore.
Katherine opened her mouth to protest against the trip when her eyes fell on the cemetery and she stopped in her tracks. Spikes took a couple more steps before she turned around, “Kitty I know how you are with cemeteries, but please come with me.”
Katherine shook her head and took another step back, “You know I hate these places, Spikes!”
“Please Kitty!” Spikes’s voice carried an unfamiliar strain to it and Katherine took another step forward, “I’ll never ask you to do this again, but this is really important to me right now.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Katherine muttered under her breath as she walked past Spikes and through the cemetery gate. Spikes caught up to her and began to guide her deeper into the cemetery. Katherine’s breathing became more labored as they walked further in, her hands grew shaky and she could hear her heartbeat ring in her ears.
Katherine was so focused on her discomfort that she nearly tripped over Spikes when she came to an abrupt stop and knelt down. Katherine looked up and saw the tombstone they had stopped in front of. It was a plain unassuming slab of rock with “Takado Rovain” carved into it.
“Hey big brother,” Spikes spoke softly as she gingerly reached out to touch the tombstone, “I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last visit, but I wanted to introduce you to someone very special.”
Spikes smiled up at Katherine and gestured for her to sit beside her. She laughed at Katherine’s concerned face before she took a seat, “This is my best friend in the world, Kitty.”
Katherine wanted to roll her eyes when Spikes turned to smile at her expectantly. She took a deep breath and let out a nervous chuckle, “Hey Takado, that sounds kind of like Taco, anyways I’m Kitty and… well I guess Spikes said most of it.”
She looked up at Spikes as she pulled a flask from her jacket and dumped the contents in front of the tombstone, “It’s hard to get the good kind of rum he liked, but I manage every year for his birthday.”
“Well I hope Takado knows he doesn’t have to worry about you so much now that you have me,” Katherine giggled. She smiled at Spikes, who grinned in response, “I know how hard losing him was, but you’re never going to be alone again Spikes.”
Spikes rest her head on Katherine’s shoulder and sighed softly. She let a few tears fall and curled her fingers around Katherine’s hand, “Thank you. For coming with me, and for all the other amazing things you’ve done.”
“That’s what best friends are for Spikes,” Katherine ran a hand threw her hair, “Human, demon or otherwise.”
Spikes nodded and wrapped her arms around Katherine’s waist. They sat there for a few minutes longer before Katherine sighed with relief as Spikes agreed to them heading home. Katherine paused as they began to walk away. She glanced around briefly, spotting a patch of wildflowers she ran over and picked a few and gently set them down in front of Takado’s grave. Spikes wrapped Katherine in another hug when she caught up and they both quickly exited.