Aberrance

Jae pushed open the door and glanced around a little before her eyes landed on Kyo sitting on the ground staring up at the night sky. She debated between simply standing there, content to watch him from afar, or going over there and sitting next to him. Her feet seemed to decide for her and soon she was standing at his side. He still hadn't acknowledged her presence and she found herself thinking maybe it was a mistake to have come out here at all. Yeah because staying away solves things so much better. She sat down next to him, turning her gaze to the sky as well. Her mind kept screaming at her to say something, anything to fill the ackward tension between them with words. Finally she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Say something" she said quietly.

"Like what?" He turned his eyes away from the sky but didn't look at her.

"Did you mean it?"

Kyo shifted uncomfortably. "I..."

"What are you guys doing out here?"

"Nothing Hitomi, nothing at all. I was just getting ready to head back in, let's go." Kyo got up and grabbed Hitomi's hand, leading her into the club. Jae sat frozen in place, blind-sided by Kyo's words yet again. Nothing at all. Curling up into a ball, she buried her face in her hands wondering when Kyo had become so desensitized to her feelings.

Kaoru looked up as Kyo and Hitomi took a seat at their table. "Where's Jae?"

"Outside" Kyo said simply.

Kaoru knew Jae and Kyo didn't talk, the time frame was just too short. He hated that he couldn't fix this, but it wasn't his place. He also couldn't help the anger towards Kyo that welled up from somewhere deep within him.

"I'm going to go check on her" Kaoru said, standing up from the table.

"Can we come too?" He turned to look at Toshiya, as the younger man pleaded with his eyes for Kaoru not to leave them there with Hitomi. Kaoru nodded curtly and started walking to the door with Shinya, Die, and Toshiya following closely behind.

Kaoru slowly pushed the door open, his eyes landing on Jae and Tristan. Jae was curled up in a ball and Tristan was sitting in the same position with an arm slung over her shoulders.

"Wait here" he whispered to the others as he slid out of the doorway quietly and made his way over to Tristan and Jae.

Tristan heard footsteps behind him and he turned his head slightly and saw the silhouette of Kaoru coming towards them. "Mom..Kao's coming."

Kaoru squatted down in front of them. "Hey what's going on?"

"Nothing at all" Jae replied in a monotone voice. Both Kaoru and Tristan frowned.

"She's been mumbling that under her breath every so often since I came out here. What the hell is going on?"

Kaoru glanced towards the door to see three pairs of eyes watching him curiously. "I wish I knew. Anyway, the rest of the guys are standing over there in the doorway and they're worried about your mom too. I didn't want them all crowding around you if you're not comfortable with it."

Tristan looked up into his eyes and smiled. "It's ok, they can come over. Thank you for asking me first though."

Kaoru returned his smile as he motioned the rest of the guys over. They all sat down around in a circle. Kaoru introduced everyone to Tristan and they all sat there gaping at the boy.

Shinya was the first to regain his composure and speak. "I'm sorry for staring before, it was rude of me. You just..." He trailed off as he looked to his leader. "Kaoru...he looks so much like Kyo." Kaoru regarded Shinya solemnly before his eyes flitted to Tristan, who nodded then turned to face Shinya.

"It's alright Shinya, I get that a lot. Besides, shouldn't a son look like his father?" His voice grew quieter with his admission as he offered an ackward smile. They were all visibly shocked but did their best to hide it.

"Does Kyo know?" Die asked quietly.

"No."

All heads snapped to look at Jae. Dejection seemed to hang in the air around her like a fog. "You all know the story of our past. I would tell him now, but first of all, I have no clue how to go about doing that, and second, he's not speaking to me which makes things rather difficult."

Toshiya scooted over and wrapped his slender arms around Jae. "He's not speaking to you? Why?"

"I don't know. Hell, when he was out here earlier he wouldn't even look at me. I don't think I've ever felt so worthless."

Unbeknownst to the group, Kyo stood watching from the crack in the doorway. Hitomi went to talk to a friend so he decided to come out to see Jae and apologize for earlier. Once he got to the door, however, he couldn't bring himself to go out there. He had spend most of his time trying to figure out who the young boy was. His shoulder length black hair was obscuring his face from view. Kyo wondered if this was Jae's son. Just then a man came and excused himself before shoving the door open wider.

"Tristan we need your help in here please" the man yelled out.

"Ok, I'll let myself in around back" Tristan replied, getting up and heading towards the back of the building. Kyo strained to see over the man but he was too tall. He had no idea why he wanted to see the boy so badly but he had a nagging feeling it was more than just curiosity. Shrugging it off, he went back inside to find Hitomi.

"Someone should go in there and talk some sense into Kyo. What the hell is his problem anyway?" Die spat out, looking around the group.

"Die, calm down, it's not our place" Kaoru replied, voice calm but stern.

Jae gave Die as much of a smile as she could muster. "It's ok Die, we'll get it sorted out somehow." She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Why don't you guys meet me back at my house in a little bit? We can order some dinner and have a few drinks."

Kaoru looked around the group and nodded. "That sounds good. Do you want us to invite Kyo and Hitomi?"

"Yeah, we wouldn't want them feeling left out" she replied sourly. "I'm going to tell Tristan that I'm leaving so I'll see you guys back at my house soon." She stood up and made her way inside.

About an hour later, back at Jae's house, everyone was enjoying take out and beer. Jae sat back, watching everyone from a distance. She was glad Kyo had such a great group of friends. Her eyes flitted to Kyo then, taking in the possessiveness with which Hitomi clung to him. It was sickening to watch, reminding her of an animal who held its prey captive in its clutches. Kyo looked over at her then and she held his gaze for a moment, before quickly turning her eyes away. Excusing herself, she headed outside to the terrace for some much needed air. Hearing the door open, she tilted her head to see Kaoru walking towards her. She was hoping it was Kyo, but he seemed to be evading their situation at all costs so if she wanted to get this mess sorted out, she was clearly going to have to be the one to approach him. Kaoru sat down behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, his head resting against hers. He tilted his head to the side so his lips were resting against her ear.

"You ok?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah" she replied tiredly, "I just wish he would talk to me."

Kaoru didn't know what to say to that so he just pulled her closer to him. He could pull rank on Kyo and force him to talk to Jae, but quite honestly that wasn't his style. He knew Kyo didn't like being pushed into anything so it would probably only make matters worse. He felt Jae sigh and he moved his head down to press a gentle kiss to her shoulder. She turned her head slightly and gave him a weak smile, her arms reaching up to rub his outer thighs.

Hitomi was coming back from the bathroom when she noticed the door leading outside was ajar. She made her way over to it, intent on eavesdropping. She didn't know how long she stood there watching them do absolutely nothing but sit quietly with each other and she was growing bored. She turned to leave when Jae finally said something.

"I'm still struggling with how I'm going to tell Kyo that Tristan is his son. I know that Tristan secretly wishes I would just do it and get it over with but I can't just blurt it out in casual conversation. Hell there isn't even any conversation now. I just don't know what to do anymore Kao."

Hitomi turned back with a catty smirk pastered on her face. So not only is she keeping her relationship with Kaoru a secret from Kyo, but she also never told him about his son. You could almost see her deceptive thoughts cohering together forming into a plan.

"Well remember what I told you before, the longer you wait the harder he will take it. He'll think you never meant to tell him at all" Kaoru replied.

So that means Kaoru knows about this too? I wonder if the whole band knows. Wouldn't Kyo be absolutely livid if he found out all his close friends were lying straight to his face? Having the ammunition she needed, Hitomi made her way back to the living room to spring her plan into action.

Hitomi sat down next to Kyo, practically adhering herself to his side. "Don't you guys think that Kaoru and Jae make a cute couple?"

"What?" Kyo asked incredulously.

"Well...on my way back from the bathroom I saw them cuddling out on the terrace and I thought they looked really good together" she said innocently. Kyo practically flung Hitomi off of him as he got up and stalked out to the terrace. Hitomi looked to the others, a smug smile on her face.

"I hope you rot in hell for this" Die growled out before taking off after Kyo. Shinya and Toshiya glared at her before going after Die.

Kyo's eyes took in the scene before him and he felt something snap inside of him. "What the hell is this?" Kaoru and Jae both turned to look at him, shock registering on their features. "Well? How long were you planning on keeping your relationship a secret from me?" he spat out.

"Kyo, it's not like that" Jae said as she stood and slowly took a few steps towards him.

"Really? How is it then? It just slipped your mind to tell me you're dating one of my closest friends?" he sneered.

"Ok I'm confused so maybe you can help me out. Up until just now you wouldn't even look at me, let alone talk to me, so please, tell me when exactly I was supposed to tell you about Kao and I" she said angrily. Jae drew in a breath to regain her composure and made her way over to Kyo, stopping to stand at the bottom of the small staircase leading out onto the terrace. She spoke softly, trying to keep the emotion from coming through in her voice. "Kyo, I would never deliberately betray your trust that way and it hurts me to know that you obviously think otherwise. You and I have been going through some rough patches and I didn't feel it was right to spring our relationship on you on top of everything else."

Kyo's expression softened for a moment and then his eyes grew cold. "You fucking pity me!"

"That's enough!" Both Jae and Kyo looked up at Kaoru who had risen from the chair and made his way over to them. "It's time you stop making Jae feel guilty about everything. Don't you see how miserable she is?! Stop blaming her and take some resposibility for your own actions Kyo!" Kaoru said sternly.

"Yeah, sure, Leader-sama" Kyo spat back sarcastically before turning and pushing past Die, Shinya, and Toshiya, who had witnessed everything from the doorway. Jae slid down sitting on the step and placing her head in her hands. Instantly, she was enveloped in a huge hug by four different sets of arms.

"What the hell just happened?" she murmured.

"I'll tell you what happened. Hitomi fucking happened, that stupid bitch!" Toshiya snarled.

"What?" Kaoru asked vehemently.

"She came in there telling Kyo she saw you two cuddling out here and how cute of a couple you make and then proceeded to look pleased with herself when he took off to confront you guys" Shinya replied.

"I can't fucking believe her" Kaoru sighed deeply, shaking his head. He gathered Jae into his lap and looked around at the concerned faces of his friends.

Shinya offered a small smile. "I think we're going to head back to the hotel. You two deserve some time alone."

"Thanks guys, we'll walk you to the door" Kaoru replied.

After saying their goodbyes to everyone, Kaoru and Jae curled up together on the couch. He took in her pallid expression. Pulling her closer to him, he voiced his concern. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm tired Kao, so fucking tired" she replied wearily.

He kissed the top of her head. "Why don't you go get some rest?"

She nodded and got up, walking to the doorway. She stopped and turned back to look at him. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

"Of course, I wasn't planning on leaving."

"No...I meant with me in my bed."

"Oh...yeah I will I just need to get changed." Jae nodded and they went upstairs, separating to get ready for bed.

Kaoru crawled into bed next to Jae and she turned over scooting close to him and sliding her arms up to wrap around his neck. She inhaled his scent deeply and buried her face in the crook of his neck. His arms wrapped themselves around her waist protectively. It wasn't long before sleep claimed both of them, each taking comfort in the others embrace.