(Continued from Fashion Flare)

Alone. Kealey took a deep breath of fresh air and looked out over the lake. It really was beautiful…and secluded. She’d commented once that it was almost like being around Jacen. The rock she was sitting on was still cold in the slight chill of the morning air and it helped her clear her thoughts. There was definitely something to be said for being somewhere this far out. Quiet moments like this were precious few for Kealey, especially since she’d started staying at the mansion, and for a while she simply reveled in the silence and beauty of the Park. Her last trip here hadn’t ended as pleasantly as it could have, but Kealey still kind of treasured the memory. For a while, she’d considered trying to find the little pool Jacen had taken her to that day, but had decided that it was a far better idea to simply leave that memory in its special little place in the past. The lake shore would be a good place to think.

It wasn’t Jacen that she had missed so much, Kealey mused. That revelation, the distinction, was difficult to have. Everything about him had been so…overwhelming. It had let her be someone else, maybe herself…that was what she had missed. She wasn’t bitter, that wouldn’t have made any sense. Jacen had been a good man, he wouldn’t have left as he had if there would have been another option. Kealey had definitely moved on, though. And she was more than comfortable with her decision. The only problem was that it meant she had to figure things out on her own, with the obstacle of her powers. For what seemed like the millionth time Kealey wondered about that. Could she sort out what she felt from others around her? That was why she was here, with nobody close enough to interfere, she'd have to work things out for herself. She'd have to be sure. Which is what she wanted, and what Shin deserved.

Even though he had mentioned a few specific instances in the cab, it was still difficult for Kealey to pinpoint when Shin's feelings had changed. It might have been the night after the incident on the Ferry. There had been something strange in him that night, maybe it had stuck around and she'd grown used to it?

Yes, Kealey thought. The puzzle pieces had been there, she just wished she'd seen how they needed put together sooner. Before Shin had confessed his feelings in the cab. Maybe then she'd have known the right thing to say. Maybe then she'd have been able to give him something better than "maybe".

Hopping down from the rock, Kealey made her way down to the shore of the lake to found another rocky perch to stretch out on while she continued to think. "Maybe" was a terrible answer. It had been at the time. Shin had been so earnest in what he'd said, she hadn't been fair to make him wait. Somehow, though, she knew it would have been worse if she'd have answered positively without knowing if it was really what she felt.

Kealey cared too much about Shin to take the situation any less seriously. That’s why she’d come here this morning, bribing one of the older mansion students to drive her at what he’d called the “butt crack of dawn.”

The cool air and secluded woods would give her a chance to think, to figure out how she felt.

Kicking her shoes off, Kealey dangled her feet into the chilly water and stared out at its glossy surface. If there had ever been a person who’d been there for her without reservation, it was Shin. He’d drank with her, and he’d saved her life...twice. They’d watched TV together, they’d worked on things for the pokemon tournament together, they’d eaten waffles together at 2 am, he'd been her constant companion through the stalker situation with her sister, he'd worked with her to make a plushie army, and he'd held her in the middle of the night when she'd banged on his door in a sobbing heap. He'd been the one constant good thing, and Kealey couldn't think of anyone she'd rather spend time with, in or out of the Mansion.

Her powers didn’t bother him, and he hadn’t even judged her very harshly when she’d used them on him without permission. He got her, which seemed strange in someone who hadn't ever experienced what it was she went through. The thought reminded Kealey of something else he’d said, that she was worth the wait. It had to be horrible for him, not knowing what she was going to come back and say. The sheer terror, the doubt and uncertainty he'd felt in the cab when she'd been working through the confession he'd made...Kealey winced and looked through the clear water. Those were things she never wanted to be the cause of again.

No, she thought, going back to tracing the small circles in the water with her toes, She'd much rather be the cause of the other emotions. The ones that had nearly made her take back the necessity to think. The ones that had made her feel warm from her head to her toes, even if it had been for such a short time before she'd cast the shadow of doubt. Shin had worried about the way he'd told her, confessed that he'd imagined doing it more eloquently. Kealey thought back on the moment and sighed, it had been perfect timing.

The warm fuzzies in her belly and the bright blush on her cheeks were definitely Kealey’s own, and broad smile spread across her face as she reached up a hand to feel he heat radiating from her cheek. It seemed so silly now, questioning her instincts in this. Shin had said he would wiat though...he thought she was worth it. Kealey pulled her feet from the water and wrapped her arms around her knees while they dried in the sun...the sun which was right over head. When had it gone from morning to early afternoon?

Grabbing her shoes and slipping her feet into them, the blond slid down from her rock and started up the path she'd taken to get down to the beach. She wanted to get home to the mansion. Hopefully Shin would be there, it didn't matter though. Kealey knew where he lived and she'd wait outside the door if she had to. A bright smile crossed her features as she walked. Coming here had been a great idea, and as she made her way back to the car that would take her back Kealey went to work on what she would say. It needed to be good.

(Continued In Definitely, Maybe.)