He cocked his head in the cutest way. "You're not intruding on anything, Kiera."
I smiled and looked out the window and my heart sank again. There was one thing that hanging out with the guys entailed that I wasn't all too fond of, and it was currently walking right towards me. Griffin. I sighed and Kellan noticed what had my attention. He chuckled softly and leaned over to whisper in my ear, "Don't worry. I'll protect you from Griffin."
I blushed a little at his unexpected nearness, but threw him a smile in response. Griffin banged on the window, startling me, and then pressed his lips against the glass, making obscene movements with his tongue, his piercing clicking on the glass. I grimaced and looked away.
Matt opened the rear door from Kellan's side and smiled over at me, his pale blue eyes looking genuinely pleased to see me. "Hey, Kiera, coming with us, huh? Cool." He hopped in and shut the door behind him while I nodded.
"Hi, Matt."
Evan opened the rear door on my side and waved for Griffin to get into the middle seat. "Uh-uh. No, I'm not taking the bitch seat. You take it." Griffin stated indignantly, shaking his head at Evan.
"No way, man. I have to sit by a window or I'll get carsick." Evan sighed, giving him a 'just do it' face, and indicated the seat again. Griffin rolled his eyes and looked over at Matt. Matt smiled back, clearly not going to move. Griffin put his arms across his chest, clearly not moving either. Evan and Kellan both sighed.
"Oh for Pete's sake," I muttered, then carefully crawled over the front seat to sit in the "bitch seat", as Griffin so charmingly put it.
"Sweet!" Griffin quickly slid in the seat next to me and shut the door in Evan's face. I immediately regretted my decision and looked over at Kellan, who shrugged at me. I sighed again and scooted over towards Matt while Griffin got as close to me as physically possible in the big back seat.
Evan got in the front seat, waved hello at me, and we took off for wherever we were going. Luckily, the trip didn't take too long. I only had to smack Griffin's hand from my thigh three times and only once, had to push him away from licking my neck. Kellan watched us periodically from the rear view mirror, but I couldn't quite see enough of his face to know if he was irritated, or amused.
Bumbershoot turned out to be a music and art festival at the Seattle Center. Kellan parked us in the lot across the street and waited to take my hand, which I thought was very sweet of him. As we entered the Center, it was also very practical, since the place was packed. Kellan bought my ticket, insisting that he had invited me along, so he would pay, and we made our way inside the massive campus.
It was amazing. There were art exhibits and performers everywhere. We walked near the Space Needle on the way in, and Kellan pulled me close, telling me we could go up later if I wanted. As we got further inside, the place was overwhelming. There were a dozen or so stages outside, and almost another dozen enclosed theaters, all with different types of bands. Every music style was accounted for, from Reggae to Rock. Even some comedy shows were going on as well. There were a ton of food and merchandise booths, and even an amusement park. I had no idea where to go first.
Luckily, Griffin and Matt seemed to know exactly where they wanted to go, so we followed them through the mob of people. As we got closer to one of the outdoor stages, the crowds got even thicker. I squeezed Kellan's hand and he smiled and pulled me close to him. I was still missing Denny, but hanging onto Kellan was nice. It made me feel kind of...content.
Griffin, Matt and Evan, were moving towards the front of a particularly rowdy group of fans, listening to some rock group that I hadn't ever heard of before. It looked a little violent for me, so I was relieved when Kellan stopped a distance from the chaos. We listened, and Kellan sang along to some of the songs, never dropping my hand. I pressed into his side as people behind us roughly pushed into me, trying to get by. Sensing my jostling, he slipped his arms around my waist, pulling me safely in front of him. Unlike with Griffin, I didn't smack him away. His arms were warm, comforting.
I watched the band for awhile (personally, I thought Kellan's group was better) and then I watched the rowdy crowd. I didn't see the other D-Bags (the band's name still made me chuckle). I looked around and finally found them off to the side, standing with a small circle of people all passing around cigarettes. Only, I had the feeling that wasn't really what they were. Kellan noticed my attention and looked over. I looked up and watched him watch his friends, curious if he would go over there or not. His blue eyes sparkled as the sunlight hit them and after a moment, he looked back down to my curious eyes and shrugged, smiling a little at me. Then he turned his attention back to the show.
I was relieved that he was happy to stay over by me. I started to wonder over that, but then decided he was pleasant to be around (and not too bad to look at), and that was a good enough answer for right now. Besides, I had been so lonely lately and, right or wrong, his closeness was making that feeling fade. Relaxing for the first time in what felt like weeks, I turned and slipped my arms around his waist, resting my head against his chest. I felt him stiffen a little at how closely we were connected, and then relax too, his thumb lightly stroking my back. I wasn't sure why I did that, but I sighed contently at the warmth of his embrace.
We spent the majority of the day that way, making our way to all the different styles of music on all the different stages. Griffin and Matt would lead us through the crowd - Griffin hooting at cute girls that would pass by (some responded, some looked affronted). Matt would occasionally smack him to get his attention and change what direction we were going. Evan strolled alongside Kellan and I, watching the crowds, but eyeing Kellan, who was still holding my hand, curiously. Once up to a stage, the guys would disappear, getting as close as possible to the front, with the more aggressive people, while Kellan would stay by me, seemingly happy and content farther back. I felt a little guilty that he was missing out on what guys considered "fun", but I liked having him near, so I didn't say anything.
Around mid-day we stopped at one of the numerous food stands and got some burgers and fries. Kellan grabbed my food and smiling, nodded over to an empty spot on a nearby lawn. Matt and Evan sat down and Matt grabbed a water bottle and started pouring something into their sodas. Griffin squatted down in front of him and handed him his drink for a fill up. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but I was pretty sure it was alcoholic, and probably frowned upon here. I sighed, boys will be boys. Matt held the bottle up to me politely. I sat down next to him and shook my head no. He shrugged and looked up at Kellan, who also surprisingly shook his head no. I smiled into my straw as I took a sip of pure soda, happy that Kellan didn't feel the need to "enhance" his fun. Matt shrugged again and taking a quick swig, put the bottle back in his bag.
Griffin stood up from in front of Matt and made a move, like he was going to sit next to me, but Kellan sat down right beside me before he could, sitting close enough that we were touching. I nestled gratefully into Kellan's side and he nudged me playfully with his shoulder. Throwing Kellan a look, Griffin stalked off to sit over by Evan, on the far side of Matt. I laughed at his frustration, and at the fact that we were all sitting in a line on the lawn, instead of bunched together. But as words from the story Griffin started telling Evan drifted down to me, I was mostly grateful. Matt turned to listen to him, but on the words "freaky" and "un-fucking-believable", I quickly turned my head to Kellan, who grinned and rolled his eyes. I concentrated on having a conversation with him, and tuning Griffin out.
Of course, the women here were no different than everywhere else I went with Kellan. Even just sitting on the lawn, eating and chatting with me, he attracted them. But for the first time that I had ever seen, Kellan ignored them. Usually he would, at the very least, smile and make eye contact, but today he just seemed to be happy to sit by my side and talk with me. The guys were more than happy to make up for his lack of attention to the females, and several women were only too eager to move their affections over to the other boys when Kellan appeared indifferent, making our straight line into a strange, lopsided oval of flirty girls. It made me feel oddly wonderful that, at least for today, I seemed to have his full attention.
After lunch, the guys decided to hit the small amusement park. Evan, Matt and Griffin, all obviously feeling no pain, decided to go on this ride that looked terrifying to me. It wasn't just the fact that the ride swung rapidly back and forth, while rising higher and higher into the air, it was the fact that once it reached the top, it held you upside down. I didn't like that at all. I clenched Kellan's hand as we approached it and he looked down at me thoughtfully. He stopped a ways away, as the guys got in line. I looked up at him questioningly, but he only smiled calmly back at me. I nestled close to his arm and put my head on his shoulder, grateful that we were, apparently, not going anywhere near the ride.
The other three guys, all with girls scrunched close to their sides, thoroughly enjoyed the crazy thing. I had to look away as they reached the very top. Kellan chuckled at me, then turned and pulled me towards some less terrifying entertainment. Smiling and laughing with him, we attempted some of the carnival games. Eventually, he won me a stuffed animal at a ball toss game, and I gave him a swift kiss on the cheek in thanks.
As we were leaving the games section, a little girl in front of us started crying as her ice cream cone hit the hot pavement. Her mother tried consoling her, but the girl was having none of it. Kellan watched the exasperated mom and her red-faced child as we walked around them. He looked back once at them behind us and then over to me. I eyed him curiously as he glanced down to the bear he had won for me. "Do you mind?" he asked, nodding his head at the child, still crying over her puddle of ice cream.
I smiled warmly at his thoughtfulness, and handed the bear to him. "No. Go ahead."
He excused himself and walked over to the little girl. With an 'is this okay' glance at her mother, who smiled warmly and nodded, he squatted to the girl's level and handed her the stuffed animal. She immediately hugged it and stopped crying. Clutching her mother's leg shyly with one arm, and her new prize with the other, she thanked Kellan quietly and started giggling. Kellan rustled her hair and stood to face the mother, who sincerely thanked him. Kellan nodded and, smiling warmly at them, said it was no problem. My heart warmed as I watched him walk back to me.
Reaching out for his hand, I smiled a half-grin as he took it and interlaced our fingers. "You're just a big softy, aren't you?"
He looked around discreetly. "Shhh, don't tell anyone." Then he grinned and laughed. Looking down on me he said, "Do you want me to win you another one?"
Thinking that no toy could replace the sweet memory that had just imprinted on my brain, I smiled and shook my head. "No, I'm fine." He smiled sweetly at me and then led me back to where we had left the guys.
When it started getting dark, and I could barely keep walking I was so exhausted, we headed back to the car. Deciding I was not going to put up with Griffin again, I crawled into the middle of the front seat, between Kellan and Evan. I couldn't help but smile as Griffin pouted in the back seat.
The rocking of the car was slowly pulling my body towards sleep, and I laid my head on Kellan's shoulder. A full day of holding hands and having his arms around me had made me feel really comfortable around him. And it was oddly appealing to me to touch him. I was nearly asleep when I felt the car stop and heard the doors open. I wanted to open my eyes and say goodnight to the guys, I just couldn't get my body to respond.
"Hey, Kellan, we're gonna stay at Pete's. You comin'?" I couldn't tell which one had asked it...maybe Evan.
I felt Kellan move a little, like he had looked down at me, nearly asleep on his shoulder. "No, I'll pass tonight. I think I'll get her to bed."
There was a long pause from the still open door. "Be careful, Kellan. You don't need another Joey and...Denny is a friend, man." I wanted to say something to that, my irritation tried to rise, but my tired brain couldn't focus long enough to be able to respond.