Chapter Twenty-Three

"Bye guys," Heather called out to her parents when she heard the doorbell. 

"Are you coming home tonight?" her mother called. 

"Maybe. I might stay at Kevin's," she answered, really wanting to open the door. 

"Can you let us know?" Mrs Fawcett asked now, reminding her daughter of her promise earlier that summer. 

"Sure thing, mum. See you later," she promised, now finally pulling the door open. "Hi," she smiled happily. 

"Hi, for a second I thought you weren't coming out anymore," Kevin said relieved, stepping up to the next step to give her a kiss. 

"My mum just asked me something, that's all," Heather shrugged. "So, where are we headed?" she asked as she pulled the door shut. 

"For now, to the beach. Then I thought maybe we could call the Tamarind for a take away as my parents aren't home tonight," he suggested as he took hold of her hand and headed towards Stone Bay. 

"Sounds good to me," she smiled. 

"Great," he smiled back. 

"Oh, how did your parents react?" she asked curiously, confused when his smile faltered for a second. "Was it that bad?" she failed to keep the hurt from her voice. 

"No! No, it wasn't that bad," Kevin rushed to say and pulled her in for a hug when he saw she was fighting back a pout. "It's just they weren't quite as easy about it as your parents. How do I say this? They are happy we're back together, of course they are. I think they're just a little concerned because I'm going straight out of one relationship into another, which would bother them with whoever my new girlfriend is. They're just worried about whether I might be going too fast and that it'll impact us in the long run," he explained now, not realising it wasn't comforting her as much as he would've liked. 

"Do you agree?" he heard her mumble against his chest, at which he pulled her back to look at her. 

"No, I don't agree. I think they're just being good parents. I told you yesterday, it's always been you Heaven. What I felt for Stephanie is just a smidgeon of what I feel for you," Kevin put her straight. It was a little over-simplified, but he knew she needed to hear it and he needed to say it. 

"Yeah, but… I'm sure until recently you thought your feelings for her were strong enough," she couldn't help saying. After all, they'd both thought it at least one and so did his parents. 

"True. But only because I didn't let myself feel for you, it was the only way to 'get over' you," he said, using air quotations. "But I wasn't over you. Not even close. And Steph knew it better than I did, this was always what she was scared of. I can't keep fighting my own heart, Heaven," he said, taking her face in his hands. Hearing her nickname, along with what he was saying obviously, helped and she nodded. 

"Okay sorry, I just had to check," Heather said. He smiled sweetly before leaning in to kiss her. 

"Okay," he nodded and now pulled her along again towards the beach. "What did you do today?" he asked. 

"Bianca came over and we went for a walk and ice cream. She was thinking of going for a film and dinner at Westwood on Wednesday or Thursday," she told him. 

"Oh, that'd be good," he nodded. 

"Uh huh. Oh, you know what, she told me that Jamie and she have been talking and he's asked her out. So, he might be coming as her date," Heather remembered her friend's news. 

"Really? Huh, how'd that happen?" Kevin asked amused. 

"He asked her about why I'd broken up with him, and they got to talking. Doesn't surprise me really, considering how they hit it off at the reunion," she answered. 

"True," he chuckled. "And you're okay with this?" he asked seriously now. 

"Uh huh. He's a nice guy and I think they'd be good together. I only went out with him for a month or so," she shrugged, tightening her hold around his waist; she couldn't be more okay with this if she tried. 

"Well then, good for them," he said, getting a smile from her now. 

"Oh, this smells good, I can't wait to get back to yours," Heather said as she impatiently stood dancing on the spot by the bar in the Tamarind. They'd just placed their order and were just waiting for it to be ready. 

"Me neither," Kevin responded but the look he gave her as he stepped in closer to give her a kiss on the head suggested it had very little to do with the food. She smiled as she wrapped her arm around his waist. 

"Then maybe we should put the food in the fridge when we get back," she said softly so no one else would be able to hear her. Instead of responding verbally he let his hand rest on her bum and gave her another kiss. "We never used to be this bad, right?" Heather asked as she tried to stop herself running her hand along his abs and chest; they were in public after all. 

"You were," he teased, pecking her on the lips. "I'm kidding," Kevin laughed when she poked him in the side. "We had our moments," he said. 

"But this is so weird, we were teenagers, surely we would've been pumped full of hormones," she commented now. 

"Yeah but we were still just kids really," he shrugged and kissed her again, lingering a little longer than socially appropriate. 

"Here is your food. Thank you for waiting, hope you enjoy your meal," one of the waiters interrupted them as he held up a bag of food. He probably really wanted to get them out of the restaurant before they put all their customers off their food. 

"Thank you very much," Kevin responded as he took the bag. 

"Yes, thank you," Heather said as well as they headed towards the door. "Maybe we should leave it a little while before we go back there," she chuckled as they made their way to his house. 

"Yeah maybe," Kevin laughed as well as he took hold of her hand. "So, you think it's a bad thing we're 'worse' this time round?" he asked now. 

"Ehm, no not really. It's just... I don't know, confusing I guess," she said with a shrug. 

"Confusing?" 

"Yeah… it's almost like falling in love all over again, but more intense in a way because the basis is already there, and we already know everything about each other," she tried to explain. 

"That sounds like a very good thing to me," he said with a chuckle as he nudged her gently. She pushed him back. "I think I know what you're saying, and I feel the same," he said seriously now, giving her hand a squeeze. She smiled as she leaned in against him as they continued walking. 

"So, food first or later?" Kevin asked after he'd unlocked the door and let her in. She thought about it as she headed in to the familiar living room. Heather was about to say she wanted to eat first until she turned around to face him. His T-shirt perfectly accentuated his toned physique and he was looking so deliciously innocent, she couldn't wait. 

"Food can wait," she said as she strode over to him and kissed him. He kissed her back eagerly as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He'd already put the food in the fridge before he'd followed her into the living room. When he noticed she'd started undoing his belt, he lifted her up and carried her towards the stairs.