Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Crash and Burn ❯ Crash and Burn ( One-Shot )

Crash and Burn

 

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Strength is no more than how well you hide your pain.

 

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They stared at him as he walked in. Karen, Shawn, Rylen, Leah, even Kyle… they were all there. Their stares irritated Kaemon to no end, and he was in absolutely no mood for any of their condescending talks, something that he was sure was coming next.

 

“What,” he barked out in a completely un-Kaemon like way. It just wasn't like him to let people get to him, to affect him, but lately he found that he just really didn't care anymore.

 

Shutting the door behind him with a near silent click, he kept a wary eye on the adults gathered around the island in the kitchen. `I probably should have come in the front door,' he intercepted the scathing glare that Karen was throwing his way, `or maybe the window… yeah, definitely the window.'

 

The dog whined softly at his feet, he didn't appreciate the sudden tension in the room. Kaemon ignored him.

 

Thankfully, Kyle thought to break the silence. “Haven't seen you around for a couple days, where've you been?”

 

He replied brusquely, “None of your business,” and attempted to walk past them into the living room. The three men intercepted him. “Get out of my way.”

 

They didn't move. “What the hell is this? Move, now.”

 

“This is my house, since when do you get to tell me what to do in my own house?” was Shawn's reply. Kaemon's face fell. Of course he was right, but at the moment, his statement simply fueled the already blazing fire within Kaemon.

 

“Since when do you get to tell me what to do, period?” he shot back as he forced himself past the three men, all of which who were probably stronger than he was. But Kaemon wasn't afraid of them, brute strength or not, he could take them down easily if need be.

 

Rylen's hand shot out and wrapped itself around Kaemon's bicep; squeezing just hard enough to stop him in his tracks.

 

Rage flickered in Kaemon's eyes. `Let go.' He clenched his fist, steadied his stance a bit and tensed his muscles. The air around him positively crackled with energy. One look at Kaemon and Rylen was beginning to get nervous. Maybe they should have just let him go. Maybe this was a huge mistake.

 

The unsuppressed anger present within Kaemon scared them all. They were not used to this side of him; they were used to the boy that locked all his feeling up within him. The one who's only response to their interventions was a cold stare and the cold shoulder. One that if you only looked close enough, hard enough, you could see the underlying sadness, the guilt. No, an angry Kaemon was something new to them.

 

Kaemon was in mid swing when reality of the situation hit him. He nearly hit Rylen, his brother. He was so close to inflicting harm on the brother he had only just once again began to see as family. Was it really that easy for him to turn on those he cared about? Was he really that weak, that he would let his resolve slip so easily? `No,' his mind whispered.

 

He let his arm drop to his side, and in his frustration he wrenched his arm from Rylen's grip and yelled, “Just tell me what the fuck is going on here.”

 

“I don't know, why don't you tell me?” That was Rylen, apparently the incident hadn't scared him that much.

 

“What the hell is that suppose to mean? You're the one's that attacked me as soon as I walked into the house!”

 

“What I want to know is just where the hell you've been for the last four days. You just up and disappear and don't tell anyone that you're leaving. What the fuck's up with that.”

 

“I don't have to explain myself to you. It's not like you've ever cared what I did before. And for your information, I went home… or have you all forgotten that I don't live here.” Kaemon was beyond caring what he revealed about himself now. His anger, the fury that had been building within him needed some kind of release. “And I don't recall having to ask permission to go anywhere. You all need to stop acting like my parents, and stop pretending to care so damn much about me!”

 

Rylen was taken aback by his statement, but it was too late to stop the ensuing argument. There were things that needed to be said and said soon. “Is that what you think, that we don't care about you. You really are stupid then. We've been sitting here wondering what the hell could have possibly happened to you. The least you could have done was tell someone. Do you have any idea how much you made us worry?”

 

“I don't care!”

 

“Well maybe you should; if not for our sake than Haily's. Or did you forget about her, the girl you claim to love.”

 

That cut Kaemon to the quick, if there was anything in this world that he really did care about, it was her. “I do love her; don't even think for a second that I don't.” It came out as no more than a whisper, and the dramatic change in Kaemon's demeanor did not go unnoticed. He backed up a few steps, visibly shaken by the accusation. It seemed that the mere mention of her name was enough to bring him to his senses.

 

“Then act like it. Do you have any idea how you've been treating her lately. She thinks you hate her.”

 

Kaemon leaned against the doorframe and collected himself for a moment. “Where is she?”

 

“As far as I know, in her room.”

 

Not more than a split second after the words passed his lips; Kaemon had whirled around and crossed the living room to the stairs, hell bent on making sure Haily was alright.

 

Rylen was left there, gaping after his brother. He turned back to look at the occupants of the kitchen. Shawn and Kyle had backed off when the yelling had started, and were once again standing by the island. They were looking at him with various degrees of shock, the most notable on the face of Karen. She was already nervous about Kaemon after the altercation with Talon, and she really didn't need anything else supporting her theory that he was dangerous. That was the first time she had seen his temper, the rage that he locked so deep inside, and it didn't bode well for things that Kaemon had basically come undone right in her kitchen.

 

`Things were going so well between them too.' It was true that Karen had finally come to trust Kaemon with her daughter, and had even come to like him, and hopefully this did not undo everything that they had worked so hard for.

 

Glancing around at the four, he stated, “Well, I guess we better go check it out.”

 

The truth was that although they trusted that Kaemon would never intentionally hurt Haily, physically or emotionally, they weren't sure that the two should be left completely alone. Kaemon had not seen the condition that Haily was in and they were afraid that he might do something to upset her, and no one wanted that.

 

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When they reached the top of the stairs, the five adults were greeted with the sight of Kaemon lingering in the doorway to Haily's room. He gave them a brief, pained look and then went back to staring at Haily.

 

Needless to say they were just a little curious.

 

“Did I do this?” Kaemon asked so quietly that they would have missed it if not for the uncomfortable silence.

 

Shawn ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “No, you didn't do that to her.” He paused and leaned into the doorway, getting a good look at his step-daughter. He grimaced, “But you certainly didn't help.”

 

What Kaemon had found upon reaching the doorway had shocked him to the core. Haily lay there, curled up in a thin blue blanket on her side. Old tear streaks from her make-up paired with ghostly pale skin gave her a rather sickly appearance. The tendrils of tangled hair strewn about her face didn't help much either. She looked so small, so fragile, so unlike Haily that he had looked twice, making sure that it was really his girlfriend in there.

 

She didn't look asleep, but he wasn't sure if she was really all that awake either. The tiny body on the bed trembled and shook, causing his heart to lurch, but Kaemon didn't know whether she was actually crying or not.

 

He wanted to go to her, he really did, but something kept him rooted in place. The knowledge that he wasn't around to support her, that she was going through this all alone tore at his conscious. He hadn't the nerve to face her just yet, and honestly, that scared him more than anything. “I should have been here,” he continued a bit louder.

 

No one said anything to him. They didn't need to. He already knew that they thought he was a completely asshole for leaving her. He was too busy wallowing in his self pity when she was the one suffering. He knew that the whole ordeal had been a traumatizing experience for her, but until now, he hadn't known just how bad the situation was.

 

Kaemon was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw Haily raise her head. Her eyes, foggy and unfocused, scanned the room before landing on him. It didn't take him by surprise when they filled with water, causing them to shine. That didn't make it hurt him any less though.

 

She simply lay there, staring at him, like she was unsure what she was supposed to do. One arm came out from under her to help support her weight while the other one lay limply on the bed.

 

He crossed the room in an instant and knelt on the bed. He gathered the girl up into his arms, crushing her against his chest. She was his lifeline, his entire reason for living, and he had failed her. Burying his face in her hair at the crook of her neck, he choked out reassurances, apologies to her. “I'm sorry Haily, I'm so, so sorry.”

 

Haily started sobbing hard, heaving against him as she inched forward on her knees, pressing herself ever closer to his chest, trying to crawl into him. “I'm sorry,” she whined miserably, as if she even had something to be sorry about.

 

Smoothing a hand over her hair, down her back, he pleaded with her. “No, you didn't do anything, nothing at all. I'm the one who's sorry; I never should have left you alone.”

 

“But aren't you mad,” she paused to catch her breath “at me.”

 

“No, I love you so much, don't you know that? How could I ever hate you?” He held her tighter, willing the hot tears forming behind his eyes to stop, but then, he just didn't care. He didn't give any thought to the tears that ran unbidden down his cheeks as he buried his nose in Haily's neck and started sobbing. He didn't care quite how pathetic he must have looked as he repeated over and over “I love you,” to the girl who had final staved back her tears so that she could offer him her support.

 

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He was crying… Kaemon was crying. It was entirely unexpected. It was completely unbelievable. No one had ever seen him cry. But now, they had the privilege of watching him break down.

 

They weren't even sure if the couple on the bed were even aware that they had an audience, or maybe they just didn't care. Guilt touched each one of the adults lingering in the doorway.

 

What's more, Haily had stopped crying. She held him, soothed him, knew exactly what he needed from her and was more than willing to give it. He clung to her desperately, without any shame, without the pride that had fooled the world so many times.

 

They had all spent so much time worrying about Haily that they had forgotten about Kaemon. Sure, they were worried about him when he disappeared, but how often had they stepped back and actually considered his feelings. To them, he had always been a rock, an unshakable one. That's just who they had gotten used to him being. They had never stopped to consider the source of his strength.

 

They had all seen it, little sparks of sadness in an otherwise hard gaze, those few moments when he couldn't contain his emotions. But they were brushed off when he returned to normal

 

They had worried about him when they discovered the truth about his living conditions, but really, how hard had they tried to help him? Every single one of them backed down instantly at Haily's command, not wanting to raise the issue further. It was always assumed that he could take care of himself.

 

Every last one of them did it; they treated him like an adult. They talked with him, hung out with him, and in their eyes, forgot that he was only seventeen. They forgot that he was still just a teenage kid. Just because of his maturity, because of the unmistakable age in his eyes, the ones that had seen what the world had to offer him. Just because of his insistence on keeping everyone at an arm's length. And that only made worse, didn't it, because he was expected to bare his burdens alone.

 

Just like they had expected him to deal with this all alone. They expected him to comfort Haily, to be there for her, because of course, he had the past six years to deal with this. But that was wrong, wasn't it? That didn't make it hurt him any less.

 

How blind could they have been? They had known, but maybe they hadn't realized it. He was just a kid, a kid who had his childhood, his life ripped away from him. He had dealt with it the only way he knew how, to bury it all deep inside of him.

 

Then they looked to Haily. Well, perhaps they had been wrong about her too. She was not this fragile thing that would shatter like glass under the pressure. Now, she was the strong one. She had always known what Kaemon needed, even if he didn't know himself. She had always been there for him and now was no exception. They had warned her in the beginning, told her to be careful. How could they have known that it was her who would save Kaemon? Or maybe, they saved each other.

 

Now they watched as Kaemon broke. Everything, it seemed, was finally catching up with him, every mistake, every crime he had committed, the things he had seen, the memory of his parents and the vision of their brutal murder that was burned in his mind, his perceived failure to Haily, all the suffering he had endure… the past six years of his life. It was all too much. It was so much more than any one person should have had to go through. And at some point, even the strongest break.

 

Now they could only watch as Kaemon's world came crashing down around him.

 

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A/N

 

This is actually a part of a story… one of the last chapters. If you haven't read my story, A Risk Worth Taking, this won't make any sense. Actually, it probably won't even if you have, since I'm not too far on the story and some of these characters haven't even been introduced yet, much less the events that this is based off of. So, just treat this as a stand alone one-shot.

 

The original story, A Risk Worth Taking, is copyrighted to me. Any songs and quotes within the story belong to their respective owners.