ToComeBackHome. ((Kyle))

[Bella McKensie]

Being back in Arkansas was nice. Sure Grandpa McKensie was now gone, but after the school couldn't get a hold of her parents, Bella was sent to stay with a nice old couple in Arkansas. They were friends of her grandfather's that she'd grown up with. But she still couldn't help but feel like it wasn't home. Crescent Hill had been the one place she's started to fell accepted. The people in the Ozarks all saw this idealistic Bella that did no weong and never caused a scene. Back in Hell's Kitchen, if you weren't someone's little floosy then you were worthless. At the accademy, Bella was who ever she wanted tio be, and somewhere there would be someone who liked her that way. Someone she liked back.

The plan ride was annoying to say the least. Bratty kids were seated in front of her, and an angry old narcoleptic woman sat next to her smelling thickly of cats and cheese curds. she spent most of the flight contemplating the likelyness of the plane simply running out of fuel and plummeting to the earth below. She'd even gone so far as to doodle out the pathetic little synario on a coctail napkin. She quickly shoved it in her pocket when they began to exit the plane. Ahh.. Brooklyn. Well the air could have been cleaner but it deffinatly more homely. It was good to be back. She went to the baggage claim right away to track down her luggage, Airport crowds always made her nervous. People were always trying to swipe your bags.

Her eyes scanned all the bags on one rack, looking for hers. After finding hers she turned and happened to catch a glimps of another on the next rotating cart over. The name on the tag was familiar. Kyle Lyufor. She blinked a few times in suprise. Grabbing up her bags quickly she followed the bag and looked up as it was claimed. Her eyes were hopeful and almost longing.

"Kyle?" She spoke his name loud enough so that she was sure he would hear her. She's missed him quite a bit while she was gone and was really hoping he would be returning to school as well. She's dropped her bags to the floor by now and was starring right at him with a slightly dazed disposition.

[Kyle Lyufor]

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.

It'd been...well, nice to get back to Michigan for a while. Well, nicer for his respiratory system, not for him. While he despised New York City and all it held, Holland, Michigan, had changed since he returned. Like for the fact that his friends had forgotten about him since the time he had been at the Academy, like the fact that he was no longer allowed inside his family's home, like the fact that he had to rent a hotel room just to stay off the street and do odd jobs around the town to supply himself with food. He was 16 by now, so he was allowed to live on his own, but still...it was a bit harder than he initially thought.

And then the news told of that one Music teacher, Lisa what's-her-name, getting the New York senate to allow CHA to open again. He'd felt that feeling in his stomach of excitement, of joy, even though he hated that place too. But it offered him a place where he knew people, a place where he could attend school - you thought he could attend school in Michigan? He could barely keep food in his fridge! - and a place where he knew at least one person would be hopefully waiting for him.

The plane ride had been, to say the least, boring. He'd never exactly been one to enjoy flying, but had spent most of the time with all of MCR's albums and songs playing in his ears. He remember having the plane connect somewhere in Arkansas, but didn't really think anything of it, and just continued listening to his music or otherwise writing down some sort of music on a napkin with a spare pen he had found rolling around on the floor of the plane.

Then, finally, it was back to Brooklyn. Well, the air pollution seemed the same, the sights seemed the same, the rude people seemed the same, nothing wrong there. He approached the baggage claim, pushing his way through the crowd, ignoring the protests. Hey, if the entirety of New York was rude, he could be too, right? He crossed his arms, waiting for his guitar and bag, the suitcase containing his clothing and toiletries, and his amplifier to get to him. After about five minutes, he had amplifier and suitcase in hand, but was still missing his guitar.

Dear God, let's move, he thought irritably. Then, finally, he saw it coming. He began to move toward it, at the same time Bella was following its progress, and once by it, he picked it up. He was halfway up from leaning over to get it when he saw her, standing right in front of him. "Bella?..." He said incredulously.

[Bella McKensie]

Struggling to swallow her suprise and shock at the site of him, Bella laughed and smiled. "No, it's the pope." She was sure she was dying. Had her heart stopped? Oh...no. Deffinatly not, as she could feel it pounding against her chest. Either way she hugged him, her arms around his shoulders. Seeing him made her glad the plane had not crashed due to lack of fuel. Though the old lady next to her would have been an expendable asset for sure.

Breathing him in she smiled more. He was just the way she remembered him. But she grabbed a hold of herself and pulled away trying to hide how much she missed him. She'd actually been terrified that she'd never be able to see him again. She couldn't explain why, she thought she hadn't liked him that much. Well, she know she liked him, but they didn't say good bye and well what if he had someone back in Michigan? Or what if she wasn't the first girl he wanted to see when he got off the plane? Maybe that was why he didn't come say good bye. Damn it. Kyle was for sure getting to her. He was making her soft. And though it didn't seem natural to her, as long as it was with him, she was okay with it.

"So, you decided to come back!" Her smile was happy and bright. "I'm glad." Very glad but if he could see all that in her eyes, then she was not hiding it very well. Not that she really was. Bella was horrible at hiding her emotions. And it didn't help that her mind now traced her thoughts back to that first time they'd kissed. At the pizzaria in Brooklynn Hights. To her it was amazing and it was clouding her thoughts as her brain relived it.

[Kyle Lyufor]

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.

Had he actually missed Bella this much? So, yeah, they had shared a kiss - an amazing kiss - in some pizzeria in Brooklyn, and a great lunch, but the really hadn't spent that much time here...No, he couldn't lie to himself - he had missed her. A lot. A very large amount of a lot, actually. She was really one of his friends - well, more than friends, from the kiss - from this hell hole, and he had feelings for her, that he also couldn't deny. He really liked her too - she wasn't your regular, everyday school girl, and she hated the preps and populars almost as much as he did really. "Oh! Well, welcome to Brooklyn, your holiness," He said, laughing and smiling himself.

He became aware of the fact that Bella was hugging him, and that he still had one arm on his guitar case. He picked that up and laid it down next to his other bags and hugged her back, squeezing her tightly. He almost kissed her as well, but he couldn't bring himself to do that just yet. It'd been, like, a year since they had seen each other really; they hadn't even said goodbye to one another. And what if she had possibly forgotten that kiss? What if...what if...

"Yeah, well," He said, shrugging, studying her to see if she had changed any. She did look a bit different - or maybe she looked the same, but just appeared different because it had been so long? Who knew. "Michigan sorta changed, and not in a good way. But I'm glad you came back too. Arkansas annoy you a bit or something?"

[Bella McKensie]

Had Arkansas annoyed her? "Well... not really." It hadn't changed much and the people still treated her the same. The point was, Bella had been the one to change. She wasn't Little Izzy any more. Isabella McKensie from Arkansa had grown up and caught City Fever. She liked being in a big city with all the people and lights and traffic. The busy atmosphere was like a non-toxic high. Well...mostly non toxic as it was pretty poluted. No, Bella wasn't a small town kind of girl anymore.

"Eh...Let's just say I've grown out of the Ozarks." She made note not to mention "Little Izzy" To him. It wasn't that it was a horrible nickname, just that she wasn't little anymore. She'd actually gone by Izzy until she moved to NY when she addopted Bella as her shortened name. Mostly because she thought it sounded tougher than Izzy.

She could barely do anything but smile. "I um...guess I must have missed it here. The school, the...people." In Bella talk that was, "Well I just couldn't stay away I had to come back, I missed you so much!!" But Bella was notorious for not saying every single little thing on her mind. Especially not in situations like this.

[Kyle Lyufor]

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.

"I see," He said, still looking at Bella. Damn, he had forgotten how pretty she was. The way her black hair fell around her face, the way her - damn it! Why did he have to think about this stuff? It wasn't as if she would magically just think they were boyfriend/girlfriend now that they were back, would they? Besides, what if she had found someone back in Arkansas, or someone over the Internet? Unless she said that she hadn't...a sigh could've escaped his lips if he didn't want to let Bella know of the dilemma his mind was thinking.

"I suppose we should start moving, might get placed in detention for being late," He said, then laughed. "Not that I care. Be a great way to come back to school, though." He picked up his amp and suitcase and moved his guitar case to hanging on his shoulder, then signaled to Bella that they should start walking. His mind was currently a tennis match right now, his want for Bella playing against his common sense, the ball being the millions of questions he had and a whole lot of other things too.

Finally, his want got the common sense to miss the ball, so to speak, earning him a point. "So, what'd you do while we were away?" He asked her, continuing to walk through Baggage Claim, looking for the exit.

[Bella McKensie]

Do? What did she do? Oh no...you didn't do anything in Arkansas. You worked. That was doing something. "I worked in the general store. Saved up a bunch of money." Working there wasn't that bad. The people who owned it had been around when she was little so it felt like family for the most part. And she was the only cousin her age.

"There really isn't much to do there. It's a little spot town. I had to drive this gross old pickup truck for an hour and a half just to go to a shitty little private school where I did absoultly nothing, talked to absolutly no one and learned not one single thing." She smiled at him and started walking with him. She had to stick close to Kyle as no one wanted to watch out for puney Bella. "Not to mention there is no internet out there or any mobile services." Bella looked up to him now with an appologetic smile. "Hope you forgive me for not calling."

[Kyle Lyufor]

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.

He smiled a bit as Bella told him about Arkansas. Honestly, he would've traded her readily for what she had done in the year-long break for what he had done in that period. The two passed by another flight's passengers coming down the escalators to grab their bags and such no doubt. "Sounds interesting," came his reply, along with one of his "signature" shrugs. So, not really signature, but he did shrug a lot. One of his favorite body language motions really. So much better than rolling your eyes.

"Well, the part about the school sounds a lot like CHA," he said, laughing, "but more on the learning not a single thing part." Ah, there he was, always the uneducated skater that he normally was. Speaking of which, his skateboard was packed inside that suitcase as well. He smiled back down on her. "Doubt I would've gotten the call anyways," He said, as the two walked out the doors that lead to the shuttles. "My break wasn't exactly the most enjoyable one in the world."

[Bella McKensie]

That was odd. Why would he not have gotten any calls? Kyle almost always picked up. "What do you mean??" Didn't he have a bunch of friends back in Holland, Michigan? Bella pinched her eye brows together as she squished her way passed some people. Maybe she was wrong but she always thought Kyle had a very good time of his life. Like he made the most of it...what ever it was.

"What? They close down the skate park?" She laughed a little not knowing that his year had sucked more than he lead on. As they were nearing the entrance, she was once more bumped into, knocking her into a railing and dropping her bags. "Watch where you're going!!" She sighed and shoved off the railing. Picking her bags up she glared at the person who just walked off as if she didn't exist. Bella scoffed and turned back to Kyle. "Well, Brooklynn hasn't changed much."

[Kyle Lyufor]

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.

He laughed. "It wouldn't be Brooklyn if everyone suddenly turned nice," He said, nodding. It had been his purpose to say this instead of answering Bella's question right away, trying to think of his best way to answer it. Well, the truth was always a good thing; problem was he rarely told it most of the time. But he liked Bella, wanted her to know, so he just decided to go with it.

"Skate park wasn't closed down, matter of fact," He said, looking around himself. "I suppose I'll tell you my story from the past year while we wait for the standard amount of time of an hour for the shuttle to come." He set his stuff down on the ground, before looking back at Bella. "I think I told you back in....that pizzeria...that I got sent here when my parents found out about the trouble I was getting in. Well, they weren't exactly all that pleased when I came back, meaning that I couldn't stay with them."

"Problem was, my friends weren't that interested in me anymore either. Said that I'd forgotten about them a bit...stuff like that. Said that I'd gone off to some rich, snooty, private school thing like that, which is about as far from Crescent Hill Academy as you can get." He laughed. "Anyways, I couldn't stay with them. So, I was on the street for about a week before some motel owner took pity on me and took me into the hotel. I did odd jobs for him, running errands, cleaning the place...not the most enjoyable working experience of my life." He bit his lip sourly. "In exchange, I got food, bed, and shelter. The motel didn't have Internet connection and we're not big on Internet cafes in Holland. I couldn't afford to pay a cell phone plan either - my parents did that for me, but only if I stayed at Crescent Hill, which I obviously didn't." He sighed, looking at Bella. "I'd much rather not be here, but right now, it's the best I've got for the most part."

[Bella McKensie]

Bella dropped her bags down by Kyle's as they waited on the shuttle. His summer wasn't sounding like it was anyfun at all. At least Bella had decent people to talk to, and there were lots of little out door evening dinner parties when it was warm enough. Her arms crossed in front of her as she leaned against a bike rack. She felt herself getting a little angry at the people who mistreated him. Was Bella getting protective of him? Shifting her weight around a little in a casual way she tried to shrug off the feeling.

"Wow, that really blows. I'm sorry." She wasn't sure why she was appologising. It wasn't her fault his time away sucked. She wanted to hug him and say something like, "Well, we're home now. And I'll take care of you." But like hell she was going to. Though she was sure the gloss in her eyes would give that away. Looking up at him she smiled a little. "So I take it you won't be going back when summer comes either?" Bella hadn't planned on leaving the school when summer came. Arkansas was pretty in the summer sun, but not if she had to be alone. She found herself day dreaming of what hiking in the Ozarks with Kyle would be like but she blinked it away from her thoughts quickly. Her emotions were getting the best of her and she wasn't sure she wanted them to do that. Well not yet anyway. Regardless, she could not stop from staring at his lips, thinking about that perfect kiss they'd shared.

[Kyle Lyufor]

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.

"Don't be; it's not your fault." It truly wasn't - it had been his. If he had never gone to those meetings at the junk yard, gotten into all that trouble with his friends, he'd never even be here right now. He'd still be back home, still living the same life, except maybe better behaved, with the same parents who were still poor, and the same siblings who would take care of him as well as each other. But then that life would not be his, it'd be a stranger's, because Kyle just didn't do well-behaved; and besides, if he had had to live that life, he never would've met Bella, never would've kissed her...No, he needed to stop thinking about that. He'd shared a kiss with her over lunch before they left, then went a year without speaking to each other during the school's little "break." They were just friends now.

Right?

No, they'd never be "just friends." At least not for very long. Kyle had feelings for the girl standing in front of him, and had since that lunch in that pizzeria. He put his hands in his pockets, staring at the street in front of him, awaiting the shuttle, when he just decided to let the universe take action and take whatever may come to him. He turned to face Bella again, but found another question awaiting him. "No, I'm not...think I'll probably be forced to stay in New York, until I get into college." Now, there was an oddity in itself - Kyle Lyufor, talking about college, with the D-B range of grades he currently held? Well, yeah, but you had to remember, he could get in without the help of an academic scholarship - he was, at the very least, going to apply for a musical one using his guitar.

But back to his current relationship dilemma. He pulled one hand out of his pocket and placed it on Bella's cheek. "I couldn't really stop thinking about you, either...or that...time we had in Fascati's..." He murmured.

[Bella McKensie]

Was it bad that she was extremely glad he wasn't going anywhere? That there was an even bigger amount of allotted time for her to spend with him? Maybe...But maybe not. Hearing of college was good. She planned on going as well, but she was insanely out of practice for her idealistic career and desperately needed to get back into shape even to practice. Bella was rather excited to hear he was doing the responsible thing and looked forward to a further education. Making something of yourself was something that was actually very important to her. No one wanted to spend the rest of their life sweeping up the front porch of Mr. Miller's general store every day.

That reminded her...Bella needed to find a job again. Maybe she and Kyle could get jobs together? It be pretty interesting if they both worked in the same place. She could guarantee that she'd have at least one decent fellow employee to talk to. Maybe a drug store, or....the pizza place. Maybe... But suddenly, Bella wasn't thinking of a job anymore.

His hand was on her cheek. She was almost positive her heart had stopped for a second as if it were just waiting for something more to happen. It took all she had to actually hear what he said. With her head swimming she struggled to keep it clear enough to maintain her calm. With an almost uncharacteristically sweet smile, Bella forced back a blush. Had he really missed her that much? Was he being totally honest?

"Really??" She tried not to blush, but she'd so much time away from any decent male her age, or any decent person her age, that she really couldn't help it very much. "To be totally honest...None of the boys back in Arkansas could ever compare to you." She smiled and gently wiggled her fingers into his free hand. Those hands made his passion, music, come alive. To her, they were the greatest of his best features.

[Kyle Lyufor]

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.

Having his cheek on Bella's face felt wonderful to him. He knew he had missed her; it was just this that made him realize how much he had. "Yes, really," He said. "I know it sounds corny, but you were the only thing on my mind for the most part." He squeezed her hand, desperately wanting to do what he knew he should do. The problem was, he didn't know if he should do it. What if Bella pushed him away or...

Well, there was no better time to get the answer than the present.

He looked at her eyes, looking deep into them, not breaking the gaze. Quietly, his hand slipped from her cheek to behind her head and he nervously and hesitantly put his lips to hers. The kiss lasted about a second, and then it was over, and he was staring back at her, quite exhilarated from just that small interaction. Though it was far from small as anything could be....was this love? No, it couldn't be...he'd had a date with Bella, that was it, a kiss or two shared between that point and now, and then he hadn't seen her for a year...but was it possible?

"Wow..." he breathed, letting his thoughts battle while he concentrated on the present. He looked into her eyes again, his hand still in hers, the other one still on the back of her head. "I really like you, Bella," He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.

[Bella McKensie]

Her lip quivered as he pulled her face toward his. She was deffinatly holding her breath longer and longer. As Kyle's lips hit hers she felt the quivering stop only for that second before he pulled away. No. It wasn't long enough, she wanted more. More Kyle, more pizza, more music, more horrible gym classes, more kisses...and absolutly no more agonisingly painful times apart. They'd barely had anything to do with one another before the school closure.

She drew in a long and forced breath when he moved away. She almost wanted to be mad at him for ending it. Was it not good? What if she'd lost her touch in Arkansas? Was she not the same kisser she was when they were on that date? Did he just not like her? This question was answered shortly after she brought it to her mind. Bella found herself moving from the bike rack and pushing her body closer to his as their foreheads touched.

"I really like you, Bella,"

His warm breath on her face was calming and intoxicating. "I...really...really..." She couldn't speek any more than that. And after all, Actions speek louder than words. Pulling her hand out of his, she his toward her hip and then put her arms around his shoulders. Her chin tilked up swiftly as she did this all in one fluid smooth movement, and pressed her lips firmly to his.

[Kyle Lyufor]

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.

Bella was, in all truth, an amazing kisser. Well, to him at least; usually when you like somebody a lot you think of them better than who they actually may be. But in his mind, Bella was an amazing kisser nonetheless. He kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her waist and continued the kiss, wanting it to never end. If he could just kiss Bella like this, and never do anything else, life would be amazing; in fact, if Bella was all life was about for him, then life would be better than amazing, it'd be heaven on Earth.

Finally though, the kiss came to an end as he pulled away, breathing deeply, his arms still wrapped around her. "I-I'll take that as you feel the same," He said breathlessly. He heard a vehicle behind him, and out of the corner of his eye saw a shuttle approaching. Damn it, He thought. Well, they'd have time to catch up at least, then go and find a private spot in the school, and then pursue another option there, one that maybe required less talking...

"Guess our shuttle's here," He said, his brain still whirring after the kiss.

[Bella McKensie]

Oh he was more than right in his assumption that she liked him just as much as he cared for her. With a smile growing on her lips, Bella took his hand and squeezed it. "It means... I defiantly want a love affair with music's greatest maker." REWIND!!! A slightly paniced look came to her eyes. For once Bella had spoken her true mind. The one she chose to stuff to the back of her thoughts most of the time. She almost thought she was going to puke. And was very thankful that the shuttle had arrived.

Letting go of his hand she bent and grabbed her bags trying to hide her embarrassment. 1...2...3 Okay.. She'd be fine. Turning back to him she smiled and sighed a little. Bella moved passed him and went to the door of the large shuttle bus. "You coming?" She had looked over her shoulder at him with her typical sassy smile. Not waiting for his answer she climbed on and found a seat. Conveniently, with a second empty seat right next to hers.

[Kyle Lyufor]

Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,
So I'm going home.

He laughed. A love affair? Well, he could certainly deal with that. The fact was that he was so caught up in the moment that he didn't realize that Bella had actually told her true feelings out now, which he had learned at least was something she rarely did, and he would soon forget about the entire thought of it anyways. "Well, that can easily be arranged," He said, smiling a bit. His mind didn't register the fact that she could possibly be embarrassed - but, yeah, he was a skater, and his mind wasn't really one his most used tools.

He smirked. "Naturally," He said, picking up his own bags. He climbed onto the shuttle after Bella and sat down next to her, dropping his luggage under his seat. He put his hand back in hers, wanting to memorize her touch and feel so he'd always know it'd be her...Jesus, did he like her this much? It seemed odd how you could find yourself falling for another person so quickly without having even known the other person or at least made contact with them for scarcely a few days at the least. "So, how do you feel about Mitalka taking over with this new chick, this...Andrews woman?" He asked, looking over at Bella as the shuttle began to head out.

[Bella McKensie]

"Andrews sort of makes me a little wary...I don't like the idea of added administrations. It was hard enough to keep out of detention with just one headmistress....now we have two. But Mitalka isn't that bad...I think. I hear she's fairly leniant. Besides.. she's the music teacher right?? That can't make her that bad." Bella smiled at him. His willingness to hold her hand made her feel wanted.

She sighed. Really she hated to do this to him but she had to ask. "Kyle... not to go all....total sappy girl on you, but um...you said 'Well, that can easily be arranged' what do you mean??? That;s really stupid of me to ask... but I sorta don't just like to blurt out my feelings like that and I'd like to not just be strung along." When it all came down to it, Bella was simple guarding her heart. She liked Kyle very much, she just didn't want to be under the wrong impression. Especiallyin a situation where she couldn't just.. walk away. Here, she was sorta...stuck.