Kelly and Madison had just gotten home. The two dropped off their jackets in the entryway. Madison ran upstairs to got take a shower while Kelly went to take Riley out. It was cold out and Kelly wished she had left her jacket on. “Hurry up boy. It’s cold out here. Come on now.” Riley did his business and ran up the stairs into the apartment. Kelly walked carefully up the snowy icy steps and to the door. Just as she was closing it something caught her eye. On the black frame by the lock there were scrape marks. It looked as though someone had tried to get into the house. The metal of the lock was scratched too. Kelly shuddered and quickly locked the door behind her. “What the hell is happening? Why is this stuff always happening to me?” She shook her head and decided that maybe it was time that she go back to the police to reopen the case of her rape. Two strange things in a couple of days was odd and unusual, and Kelly just didn’t feel right. Kelly cleared her head and went out to the formal room. She bent down and turned on the gas fireplace to warm the big area. She walked across to the other side of the room and opened the piano. She definitely wanted to give Kevin the chance to play if he felt comfortable. She went and set up the Playstation on the big screen for Nick. “He’ll probably get bored anyways.” She said smiling to herself. She looked one final time at the room and decided that she just wasn’t finished yet. She went to the hall closet and got out the down comforters and the big pillows. It took her a couple of trips to bring out all the stuff into the room, but when she was done she decided the room was perfect. She knew the boys wouldn’t be coming for 15 minutes or so. Kelly walked out of the formal room and into her room. Riley was asleep on the bed. Kelly kissed him and went into her bathroom to change out of her dress. She slipped it off and hung it back up. Madison would have to take it back to the Versace people tomorrow probably. As Kelly shifted through her clothes deciding what to wear she thought about Madison and Brian. She felt like they would be together forever. “Madison will have a great time with him in Kentucky.” Kelly thougt that maybe she could invite the two over for her family Christmas dinner, “Although, Brian and Madison will probably be spending Christmas with his family and I’ll once again have a nice quiet dinner with my parents.” Not that she minded though, it just would have been nice to have a man to finally bring home. “Yeah, a man like Kevin.” Kelly smiled and laughed at herself for thinking like she was. It was nice to have Kevin around now, but she knew that it was impossible to keep it going once he left. Way too impossible. She finally decided to pull on some tight black running pants and her Standford hooded sweatshirt. “I told them casual, and I meant it.” Kelly pulled on some warm socks and walked into her bathroom. She let her hair down and brushed it till it shined. She put it in a simple twist and put a hair claw in it. She decided to keep her makeup on, because she knew if she took it off she would look as tired and stressed out as she really felt. Deciding that she was ready, she got Riley up and walked into the kitchen. She turned on the coffee pot and got out some chips and dip and other little snacks for all of them to munch on.
Kelly sat down with Riley on her lap in the leather loveseat and turned on the TV. It was on ESPN and she was glad that she had a little time to watch because she didn’t want to miss the hockey playoffs. She had only sat down for ten minutes until Madison came down the stairs looking refreshed and comfortable in pajama pants and a sweatshirt also. Madison joined Kelly on the loveseat and snuggled close. “It’s cold in here. Is the heat on?” Kelly answered, “Yeah. I turned on the fireplace in the other room and brought out all the comforters and pillows. I though we could chill in there tonight. It’s a little more romantic if you know what I mean.” Kelly poked Madison in the ribs jokingly. Madison giggled and poked her back, “For you too missy. I saw you tonight after the show with Kevin. Things seem to be going nicely.” Kelly smiled, “Yeah, well it’s good for the 3 more days it will last.” Madison seemed a little taken back by her friends answer. It seemed like she really didn’t expect anything else for her relationship. She hoped she’d have a little better attitude about it. “Anyways, did you forget your key to the house and have to like break in, because on the outside of the doorframe there’s all these marks. It looks like someone tried to break in. Did you? ” Madison got a frightened look on her face. Her thoughts went back to the phone call. Somebody was after them. Madison didn’t have time to decide if she was going to tell Kelly about the phone call because the doorbell rang. Kelly got up and Madison followed. The girls went to the door and looked through the peephole, just to make sure. It was the guys. Kelly opened the door and let the guys in. They were all dressed in comfortable pajamas too. Aj yelled, “Two hot girls in pajamas, with five guys in them too. This is what I call a pajama party!!” Everyone laughed. Howie spoke up, “We stopped at the 7-11 for some snacks.” Brian and Kevin held up some drinks and food. Madison said, “Howie, Nick and AJ, follow me into he other room. Kelly can take Brian and Kev to the kitchen to drop the food off.” The three guys followed Madison and Brian and Kevin followed Kelly into the kitchen. “I still can’t get over how great this place is,” Kevin said. Brian giggled, “It looks a lot nicer when it’s clean.” Kelly took the stuff from the boys and set it down with the rest of the food. She gave Brian a punch in the arm. “You’ll never let me thank you enough, will you?” Brian smiled and walked out of the kitchen saying, “Nope Doc.” It was quiet for a second until Brian was heard yelling, “Madison? AJ? Nicky? I’m lost. Where the heck are y’ll?” Kelly laughed as she heard Madison yell back at him. Kelly said, “Kevin? Do you mind helping me set up some bowls for the chips and dip and then take some drink orders?” Kevin smiled and gave her a kiss. “Of course not. I’m a big lug in the kitchen though and I certainly have no clue where the heck anything is in this huge place.” Kelly walked to the other side of the kitchen and bent down to get some bowls. Kevin watched her and enjoyed the scene as she bent over. He was definitely lucky to have found a down-to-earth woman who also happened to be beautiful. Kelly came back over and handed him the bowls. “Here lazy. Start fillin’ them up.” “Yes ma’am Doc,” Kevin said like a soldier. Kevin moved down the counter and started working on the chips. Kelly leaned over and said, “Hey, can you reach me those cookies up there in the shelf above you?” Kevin quickly reached up and then winced. “Owww! Dang!” Kelly was startled and then she remembered. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I completely forgot about the stitches.” Kelly took Kevin by the hand and led him into her bathroom. “Sit down there on the toilet seat,” Kelly said. Kevin sat down painfully. “The shirt’s gonna have to come off.” Kevin started to take it off and Kelly saw that he was having a hard time with it. She carefully helped him and was overwhelmed by how beautiful his chest was. She had almost forgotten. “Thanks,” Kevin said sheepishly, “I don’t usually have to have help. Brian helped me change the dressings the first couple of nights and then I got lazy about doing it and now I think that they might be infected a little.” Kelly got out the first-aid kit form under her sink. She pulled out the rubber gloves and put them on. Kelly carefully checked his stitches that were on his shoulder and decided that they were pretty good. “You know, these actually look ready to come out. This cut is completely healed. Do you mind if I take them out now so you won’t have to in the next town of the tour?” Kevin agreed. Kelly put some Neosporin on the stitches and got out her little scissors. She carefully cut out each stitch. When she was done she rubbed some more ointment on it. Kevin liked the feeling of her hands on him, and Kelly didn’t mind it much either. “Okay, now for the bad ones. Lean against the back of the toilet so I can see them better.” Kevin leaned back and Kelly leaned over him and looked at the stitches. Kevin watched her concentrate as her hands worked across his stomach. She was so beautiful. Kelly looked up at him, “What?”, she asked embarrassed because she had felt him looking at her. Kevin smiled, “Oh, nothing. How do they look?” Kelly clicked her tongue, “Definitely not like I had hoped. They are infected and you popped one. You’re going to have scar there. I have just the thing though.” Kelly went to get her special oil she had used on her stomach when the man stabbed her and she had had stitches. Kevin watched as she stood on her tiptoes to reach a box that was on top of her closet. Her sweatshirt lifted up and he saw her lean tan stomach. Across it he saw a long white scar just above the top of her tight black running pants. He decided to ask her about it feeling already that he knew that answer about where it was from. Kelly walked back into the bathroom. Kevin asked, “Where’d you get that scar across your stomach?” Kelly looked surprised and stammered, “Oh, when I was little. I, uh, fell horse riding on one of the jumps and sliced it open. No big deal.” She quickly changed the subject, “This is the stuff I use to help my scar go away and now I want you to use it. It will clear up the infection along with it.” Kelly started to open the bottle, but Kevin took her hands into his. “You got to see my stomach, now let me see yours.” Kelly blushed and stopped for a second, “Fine, fine, fine.” She lifted up her shirt just enough for him to see the scar. He looked at it and then ran his hand across it. She shuddered under his touch. Kevin looked up into her eyes and saw that her gray eyes were already looking at him. “Trust me.” He carefully kissed her scar and pulled her shirt back over it. “It’s beautiful, and you are too.” He brushed a piece of light blonde hair off her face and she smiled. She answered quietly, “No one has ever said that to me before and really meant it. Thank you.” Kelly bent back down and started silently rubbing the oil on his stomach. She stood back up and put the top on. “Here,” she said as she took her gloves off and started to wash her hands, “Use this stuff before you go to bed and it will make those feel a lot better. We better get back into the kitchen or they’re going to wonder what the heck we’re doing.” Kevin pulled his shirt back on and followed Kelly out of the room and back into the kitchen. They finished up the snacks and brought them out to the others.