great escape*[KALE<3]

[kimmi]

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She adored Kale. That much was certain, and she was sure that it wasn’t a secret to those who knew her best (even if there wasn’t many of those people). She never really fell so hard before. Her first boyfriend had been there, but later she saw how fake it ended up being. How the feelings within her had been mostly created by this thing made up for the media. What she felt about Kale was real. So real, she had been weary about seeing him in public in case his face was all over the papers. Then all of the talk people would start talking and asking who he was. Anything ever embarrassing from childhood or teenage years would be revealed. If he ever said something strange, it would be brought out to the rest of the public. Kimberly was positive that he didn’t understand what kind that meant. He was a sweet traditional southern gentleman. People he didn’t know digging into his life didn’t sound like what he wanted.

Which is why it broke her heart. However, that wasn’t the reason why she had been almost avoiding him lately. There was a massive burn on her arm caused by a firetamer’s burn. His firetamer’s burn. She had no idea that he was a supernatural. Kimberly should have guessed considering all the signs, she thought later. There wasn’t a lot of firetamer signs that could be caught right away. One of the big ones was the fire through their blood. It made it so vampires couldn’t suck blood (little Talia wasn’t able to do anything stupider than usual), and made their body temperature incredibly hot. Which was funny since most humans thought werewolves were hot blooded. That was a lie. Kale had always been warm. Also, the other little trait was the optional but common temper. She didn’t see it from him very often, but she would always remember the night he snapped at Tyler. One of the memories she held close to her.

Burning her had been a more complicated story just as well. It had been the full moon and Kimberly was wondering around in her werewolf cursed form. He just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, much like she had when she was first bitten. He defended himself- she totally understood. With fire blazing, she had no idea that would actually happen, but whatever method, she supposed to survive. Another supernatural who had been lurking at the time described him, knowing who he was, apparently. It caused a couple of problems now. Her arm couldn’t be cured by just any regular means. None of her doctors could figure out why the cursed burn couldn’t be treated correctly. It just had to heal with over time. She was sure not even a witch’s potion was able to cure it correctly. Well, that made a huge problem for her photoshoots. She didn’t have them every day or even every month, but enough where it was a large problem. Coming from a girl who was used to wearing nothing, sleeves were something odd. Something new. Something people noticed and thought there was something on her arm. But she just snapped it was just fucking sleeves. It should have been something that simple.

However, she couldn’t stay away from Kale for too long. After knowing him and him getting to know the real her, it wasn’t as if she could completely pull out of his life. She was sure that she didn’t want him out of her life. So they were meeting here. She was wearing her new little plan attire of sleeves. It wasn’t exactly a sweater though. It had no shoulders, but swooped, showing her collar bone and stopping just before her chest line. Still a fashion statement, but she wished it was just a little more loose considering it was now summer in Manuka. Spring was scampering away and all she had were shorts to cool her off. Walking into this small food place was a relief. Air conditioning was so welcomed. She’d rather be warm than cold, but man, there was only so much warm she really wanted to take. Her eyes were a little more welcoming considering the occasion. She even got herself to smile at the guy who seated her.

Kimberly had been slowing down. Really slowing down. There was a little bit of bumpy road, increasing a ton because of what she found out, and then slowing down realizing what she was getting herself into. Despite the fact she was worried all the time, and she found herself becoming more lonely, she also found herself as not as a bitter person. Her wall was still there. Her entire personality was still guarded. Still, it wasn’t as if she was frowning at everyone she saw. She wasn’t a complete bitch. Most of the time, she just learned not to respond. Growing up or something. Changing for the better? She wasn’t sure. In fact, if anything, she felt more exposed than ever. By the end of the day, she was at the same position anyway, so why did it matter? All of these conflicting thoughts through her new days. For now, she had to focus on one thing at a time. Right now- meeting Kale for a late lunch. Not pulling up her sleeves for anything. She could do this. For once, she was able to say, she could do this.

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[style=FONT-FAMILY: tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 7px]THANKS BROOKLYN!

[KALE ALEXANDER JAMES AUSTIN]

hi

hi

[/style][style=width:400;background:eaeaea; color: navy; font-family:garmond; font-style: italic; font-size: 40; letter-spacing: -5;text-transform:lowercase]love you like a love song baby

For the last few days he had been freaking out. He had holed himself up in his apartment, called out sick for the past week at work, and sat in his room wondering what the hell was going on with him. He had shot fire out of his hands at what he could only assume was a werewolf. Whenever he thought about it he freaked out and had a panic attack and didn’t know what to do. He told Kentley what had happened and she tried to calm him down about the whole thing, but Kale still didn’t know what to do about the fact that he could shoot fire out of his hands. How does one exactly cope with that? How the hell did Kentley? Well, she had moved her entire family to Manuka. But Kale wasn’t going to move anywhere. He had thought about going home to Atlanta, but how would a visit down there help him with what he was? He needed to somehow face what he was. He just had no idea how the hell he was going to do that. He didn’t even know how he was going to tell Talia of what happened. He supposed he could just spit it out, but what if she freaked out and left him? Kale didn’t want that to happen because he really cared about her and enjoyed being with her. Talia was the one girl he thought that could get him to stop thinking about Kimmi so much. For the first few weeks it was difficult because his mind was so wrapped around Kimmi that he couldn’t think of anything else. But eventually Kale developed feelings for Talia and their relationship got easier. He loved Talia as a person and would always be her friend no matter what happened, but he hadn’t fallen in love with her, which was very important because Kimmi was the one he had fallen for so easily. She was also the one he was trying to forget about.

He hadn’t seen Kimmi in a while. As far as he could remember the last time he saw her was when he had gone to her house after Lucas kissed him. They had fallen asleep together on her bed. Or was it that night at the party where Kimmi and Talia had fought each other? He couldn’t really be sure because it seemed like so damn long ago. But after that Kimmi seemed to be avoiding him, so he didn’t bother her. he figured if she wanted to see him she’d make it known. It was easier for him to not think about her if he didn’t see her for long periods of time. And he had Talia to keep him company when she wasn’t out doing shoots or with her therapist, who was actually a really cool guy.

His phone made a buzzing sound. Kale hadn’t checked his phone in a couple of days. Talia was probably worried about him. So he looked at his phone. His heart pounded in his chest when he realized it wasn’t Talia at all. It was Kimmi texting him to meet her at the town multiplex today. Kale stared at the text for a few seconds before finally replying that he’d see her there. He went through his other load of texts and calls, some from his dad, a few from Kentley who was telling him that he should see Damon about controlling his firetaming (but the hell with that because he hated Damon), and a couple from Talia. He returned calls and texts letting everyone know he was okay. Then he took a long hot shower.

When he was dressed and ready to meet Kimmi, he grabbed his truck keys and departed. He wondered why all of a sudden Kimmi wanted to meet up with him, but he didn’t think about it too much because just knowing she wanted to meet up with him made him smile. And he drove the entire way with a goofy grin on his face. He parked his car as Talia texted him wondering if they could get together tonight. He replied saying he was meeting Kimmi first, but afterwards they could go get some dinner together. He had to remind himself that nothing was going to come out of this tonight and that he needed to stop getting so excited about meeting up with someone who wasn’t his girlfriend. She was a friend—a colleague even. So he took a deep breath and sighed it out heavily.

He spotted Kimmi almost immediately and smiled despite himself. He walked over to her and sat beside her. “Hey,” he said. “You look pretty.” Kale put his hands on the table and folded them together. He didn’t want his hands to be facing anything just in case something happened like fire shot out of them again. If he ever hurt someone, especially the girl sitting beside him, he didn’t know what he’d do.

thanks sophia of caution.

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[kimmi]

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There were so many people that hated to wait. Even if they had to wait for five minutes, they were fidgeting and moving all around the place, making the five minutes feel like five long hours of torture. Thoughts like ‘why didn’t I leave later’ went through their head as they wanted to bash it against the table. Kimberly was not one of those people. Most of the time, when she snapped at someone about time, it was for the sake of snapping at someone. Patience and waiting by herself was actually one attribute that was positive. She could have sat there for a couple of hours and been fine. Honestly, she had no idea why she was fine with it. Perhaps all the years of having to sit there listening to the dumbest people argue and tell her what to do, her sitting there by herself wasn’t just a bad cause. She explored through her phone a little bit, getting texts every five minutes she’d have to ignore. Kimberly was too small to be considered a celebrity, but clearly there was some publicity involved.

She also checked herself a couple of times. Kimmi never ever went out in public without fixing herself up. A picture that could haunt her forever of a day she walked outside without being like that? How embarrassing. The only person, ironically, who had seen her in a different state besides her parents had been Kale. She supposed those one nighters in the morning, but they were used to it. Not just with her but with tons of others around their shoulders in the morning. Most were actually gone by sunrise, so it was less than others had thought. Her foot bounced nervously. Why was she so nervous? Because she was meeting the man who had burned her? It wasn’t if he would be able to tell she was the wolf he had seen the other night just by looking at her. God, poor Kale. She couldn’t imagine what horrible imagine she looked like when she transformed. It wasn’t as if Kimberly had any idea. All she could remember was the horrible face that peered at her through the trees not so many years ago. Her heart beat faster, and she had to force herself to slow it down.

Seeing Kale was hard. Not only because of the overly frightening thing that happened, but also because he was a taken man. A taken man to some low life bloodsucking bitch that Kimberly loathed above everyone else. She had wanted Kale to move on with someone else, but she hadn’t expected it to be with someone like Talia. She thought it would be with someone like… like… Kimberly couldn’t think of a name at the top of her head, but someone poor and sweet. Someone who had nothing else in their life. That someone would have been perfect for him. Not a spoiled princess. She kept her head down, focusing herself on her phone and her own fingers to pass the time. She had been through many of these moments lately. Before, she had been, but she had known nothing else. Now that she had a glimpse of the other side, she really wanted it. It was so close she could almost touch it.

Looking up, she saw that Kale was indeed there. Kimberly smiled at him, feeling like she should wave so that he could spot her, but he found her in a couple of moments. She put her phone away in her purse. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, but she ignored it. A mixture of emotions coming toward her. The usual lovey-dovey can’t believe he’s so perfect feel and a small hint of fear. Not for him. From him figuring it out. She pulled up her sleeve as if it had been falling, bringing her shirt down a little more to expose a little more of her shoulder. She pushed her dark hair back with her hand, moving it to one side. Kimberly had been fully expecting him to sit across from her, so she was taken a little by surprise when he sat next to her. Although she could hardly object.

She received compliments all the time. Not even exaggerating on all the time. However, it always meant something more with Kale. Every time he did it. He smelled like he just took a shower- being able from her werewolf senses. At the thought, a knot cramped in her stomach. Not the usual one either. ”Hey, I’m glad you could make it.” Trying to look cute by putting her hands to the side to look over at him, ”And thank you. You’re always incredible sweet.” Most of the worries she had been freaking out about earlier was gone just by looking at him. Her mind almost felt like it was somehow shutting off. She was no longer aware of all the other complications between them. This was just her and Kale. ”It’s been a while. How have you been?” How long? Too long. That was an acceptable enough answer to her.

[style=padding-top:10px; padding-bottom:10px; width:394px; background-color:#802E4C;][style=color:white; font-family:yanone kaffeesatz; font-size:10; letter-spacing:3px; text-transform:uppercase;]MAH I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN

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[style=FONT-FAMILY: tahoma; FONT-SIZE: 7px]THANKS BROOKLYN!

[KALE ALEXANDER JAMES AUSTIN]

hi

hi

[/style][style=width:400;background:eaeaea; color: navy; font-family:garmond; font-style: italic; font-size: 40; letter-spacing: -5;text-transform:lowercase]love you like a love song baby

Being alone was something Kale had gotten used to once he arrived in Manuka. He didn’t have any friends and the only people in his life were his dad and sister and he had been furious with them for bringing him to Maine. Kale was bad at being alone though. He had always liked having someone to share the day with and create memories with. When he was home in Georgia he always went out with friends and came up with crazy shenanigans to waste their time. But they had a really good time and he would never forget how much fun it was. He wished he had more people in his life that he could do those sorts of things with now, but most of the people here didn’t find fun in the same things he did. He was pretty sure going to an old run down barn for a hoe down wouldn’t really be considered the greatest time since most of the people he knew here liked rap music and not country. And he was pretty sure only half a dozen people in Maine had real cowboy boots that weren’t Armani or Prada. All Kale really wanted in someone was the fact that they didn’t mind getting dirty and knew how to have fun.

So far Kimmi really didn’t mind getting dirty as far as he knew. On their first photo shoot she had gotten right into the water without so much as a grimace. He hadn’t realized it until now, but he really admired her. With a job like modeling she had to be really hard working in every possible way. She had basically transformed her entire life just to make her life more glamorous and had to put up a six-foot high wall around her to keep people at bay so they wouldn’t get to know the real Kimmi. But, he thought, that was one reason why he was so attracted to her. Her spunk had first drawn him in where it might have pushed people away otherwise. If Kimmi hadn’t hooked up with that dickhead Tyler at the party, he was pretty sure they’d be more than friends by now.

But that was all out the window. Kale was now with Talia and he cared about and liked her a lot. Kale would never jeopardize his relationship with her either. He had told himself a hundred times that meeting Kimmi today was something he could do without relighting those old feelings that he had convinced himself were gone. Talia was so amazing and keeping her in the back of his mind would help him get through this as easily as possible. Except right when he saw Kimmi, the thought of Talia all but went right out the window.

Kimmi had to be one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on. Her smile brightened up her eyes and made him grin in return. He sat beside her for reasons he couldn’t explain to her because if he did, he’d probably scare the ever-living hell out of her. The only people that knew were Damon and Kentley and his dad. He needed to tell Talia though. He tried to think of ways that he could do that without making her afraid of him, but so far he hadn’t come up with a good way to explain to her that he was a firetamer.

Kale forgot about all of those worries the second Kimmi called him sweet. Kale, coming out of a sort of daze, smiled and shrugged. He didn’t really know how to reply to that so he just kept his mouth in a wide smile. He looked across the table at the empty booth and wondered if this was weird for her, sitting next to him. If some random person were to walk by they’d probably think the two were dating, but the truth was that Kale didn’t want to accidentally set her on fire. He would have laughed if he wasn’t actually so freaked out about it. To try to eliminate that image from his head, he looked over at Kimmi who asked how he had been lately. He would have told her the truth, but he didn’t want to tell her about what was actually going on in his life because he’d scare her away, too. “I’ve been alright, just not real busy too much this past week.” Kale, who had holed himself up in his room, had basically wasted a week moping and trying to figure out what was going on in his life. And he still hadn’t come up with anything reasonable.

“How’ve you been—?” The word “darlin’” had almost come out and he had to stop himself from calling her that. It was a habit to call people that or other affectionate names and while he still did it to other people, he couldn’t with Kimmi because he thought it would be a little weird seeing as he still had some feelings for her and he was dating another girl. He just didn’t want to feel terrible later for calling her cute names. It might have sounded weird to any other person, but when he talked to Talia later he didn’t want to feel guilty, especially because he knew how much they hated each other.

thanks sophia of caution.

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