"Oh, he didn't do anything. I just..." Her lip trembles and she starts to crumble. "I just really miss my best friend," she finishes.
I rush forward and grab her in a hug, pulling her to my chest. I don't even second guess it—I feel terrible, realizing how much I've hurt her.
Kylie is going through one of the hardest things she's ever done...and I abandoned her.
I'm a horrible friend.
I hold her tight for a second, rubbing her back. She feels so small, with no sign yet of her pregnancy, and it messes with my head a bit when I remember why I rushed out of the White Oak the last time I saw her.
Because she's pregnant...with my sister.
Or brother, I guess.
"I'm sorry I'm freaking out," she mutters, swiping at her cheek. "Hormones...they're messing with me. And I'm still working, and it's just...it's a lot."
"Let's go in," I say. "I'm sorry I wasn't here."
She glances down at my suitcase, and her brow furrows as she nods, watching me take out my keys. "Were you on a trip?"
I give her a terse nod, still not sure how to tell her what's going on—or if I even want to. There was once a time when I would have told Kylie anything and everything, but I don't trust her not to break the news to my dad right now.
I miss her, and I hate it...because I know I'm never getting her back.
At least not the way we were before.
"Come on in," I say, opening the door for her. "What's going on?"
"I just haven't heard from you in a while, and I..." She takes a deep breath as she sits down on the couch, twisting her hands. "I don't know, Mads. I impulsively came over here because you haven't been answering my calls."
I come in after her and put my suitcase by the door, then lean against the wall and rake my hands through my hair. It's still damp from my shower at Delia's, and I'm sure I've got at least one visible hickey, suddenly making me self-conscious. "I was figuring things out," I say.
Kylie swallows hard and bites her lip, then looks up at me.
"I feel horrible, Madison."
"Like you're sick?"
"No... about marrying your dad," she says. "About the pregnancy...about everything. I feel like I destroyed us."
Well, she did.
I almost say it out loud, but I somehow manage to keep my mouth shut as the rage surges back. No—I'm better now. I'm dealing with this. I want to repair things with Kylie and my father, and that starts with kindness...
"Mads?"
"What?" I snap.
Kylie flinches, her eyes glimmering again. "I came here to apologize, but I feel like I'm just making things worse."
God...she really is. I wasn't ready to see her. I wasn't prepared to talk about this.
I thought having sex with Quinn would make us even, but it hasn't done that at all.
"Kylie, please don't cry," I whisper, my voice hoarse.
"I can't help it," she says. "It's the baby—"
"I know it's the baby," I interrupt. I rub my temples and squeeze my eyes shut. "That's the whole thing. I just...I have a lot of complicated feelings about this, Ky."