Karen Saves The Universe: Part 2

Can a strange marriage survive?

Based on a post by LingeringAfterthought, in 3 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.

I want you, Red. I need to make you mine; mine forever. I've never felt like this before; I know I never will again. Marry me." Cal pleaded.

"I;” Karen murmured, glancing around their group to make sure she wouldn't be overheard, "I don't know what to say. You're wonderful; and you've done so much for me, but this has all been so fast. We're still just getting to know each other; and half the time it doesn't even make sense to me why you would want me; but I; I just; can I just finish school?" she asked.

"How you can even think about school when someone like me is ready to give you everything you ever wanted, to take care of you completely, it's just crazy;” Cal murmured, sliding his hand up between her legs and brushing along the edge of her panties.

Karen blushed and squeezed her thighs together, looking around embarrassed. "I just; I just worked so hard to get in. Juilliard's been my whole life for so long," she said, looking up into his eyes pleading.

Cal looked at her through hooded eyes, "Keep looking at me like that and we won't be waiting for anything." His eyes heated as he pulled her closer, dominating her with a hungry kiss while she squirmed self-consciously. The couples around the table smirked as Cal grew even more bold in his explorations.

When he released her, Karen hid her face in his neck as the others cheered. They were his friends, happy to see him happy. Cal glanced at a waiter nearby and gestured for more drinks for the table. The opening act on the stage below finished its last set, but the crowd refused to let the show end. Cheers filled the club, with the crowd demanding an encore.

Castor, the lead singer, waited for the crowd to quiet with a grin, then his eyes drifted upward and his face lit with excitement. "Thank you, thanks guys, you're a great audience. For an encore, we'd love to give you a taste of our next album. We've been banging it out in the studio and I can't tell you how excited we are for it to be released. Problem is, it's got this insane keys part that can't be played by just anyone, but I think I see our studio angel in the audience tonight. Kare, baby; will you come help us out?" he asked, reaching upward to where Karen sat.

Cal's friends turned to look at Karen in surprise. "You play? Like, for real?" Cal's friend Tony yelled across the table to her in surprise. Karen nodded in embarrassment, glancing at Cal.

Everything suddenly froze as Karen rose and walked over to the table, standing over her younger self looking at Cal's face. "Look, you little dummy; look at it! It's right there!" she yelled at Young Karen.

"What's there?" Holland asked, craning his neck to try to see what she was yelling about.

"Cal, for all his big words, rich gifts, and grand gestures; he hadn't told his friends anything about me; because nothing of who I really was mattered to him. Only the things he wanted about me mattered to him ; that I was shy, and submissive, and just grateful to have someone pay attention to me. And here ; look at his face! It fell!" she yelled, gesturing to where Cal sat, leaning back in his chair.

"His face appears still to be attached, to me;” Holland said, doubtfully.

"It's just a phrase. His face didn't actually fall, but his eyes; look, he's still smiling, but you see it in his eyes. He's not happy for me. He's not happy because the moment stopped being about Cal and how he was the great boyfriend spoiling his new stupid girlfriend on her birthday. Once the moment became about me; that I was asked up on stage; that I could do something his friends admired; ugh, why didn't I see it?" she moaned.

"What happened?" Holland asked.

Karen rubbed her eyes with her hand. "I was young. I was asked to do something. I was asked for help. I was a stupid ninny that had absolutely no ability to say 'no' without thinking the world would end; so, I went up and played with the band."

"Oh; was that bad?" Holland asked.

"No, it wasn't bad. It was a great song. I played well and I was just tipsy enough to not feel all the eyes that were looking at me, making my skin crawl. And you know; some part of me; I wanted to do it. I wanted to show myself that I could play for people; outside a quiet studio," Karen admitted. "Everyone always went on and on about how I needed to get over being so self-conscious and how it would hold my career back. That, and part of me wanted to show Cal's friends that I was more than just another girl in the long line of girls that he had gone through; that I was worth something."

"Sometimes I wish our crew would see that I was worth something more;” Holland said, ruefully.

"Yeah; it's hard when you're young. You're dying to show the world what you're worth, how you're special, but they mostly just need you to work hard and do as you're told," Karen sighed, looking around the club. "Some people will never see what's special about you. They see what they want and they really don't care about the rest. It's those people that see who you really are; without wanting anything from you; those are the ones you need to hang onto."

Karen turned her back on the club and the room re-formed into her Newark apartment. The intercom buzzed and Dana rolled out of bed to answer it. "What's up?" she asked.

"Hey; um, I don't have my keys. Can you buzz me in?" Karen's voice shakily asked through the intercom. Dana frowned in confusion and pressed the button to allow her entry. Soon, she opened the door after Karen's tentative knock.

"What happened, Kare? I thought you'd be gone all weekend," Dana said, taking in her roommate's appearance. Karen looked unharmed, but her face was puffy and her makeup was streaked from crying and trying to wipe it away.

"I; uh; I played at the club tonight. Castor Graham was the opening act and he asked me to come up for the encore, so I did."

"You played in front of rowdy drunk people? That's fantastic! How did it feel?" Dana asked, offering her back for Karen to lean on while she took off her heels.

"I was scared; but after a while it was fun. The keyboard was facing the crowd and after a while I looked out over the people and; they looked happy. They liked it. It felt good, then."

"God, I wish I'd been there. I'm so proud of you! What did Cal and the entourage say?"

"Um; I; don't know," Karen blinked and looked around the apartment. "When, uh; when I um; when I got back to the table, they were all gone." Karen wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and cleared her throat.

"Wait, what?" Dana said, her tone darkening like a storm cloud, threatening imminent destruction. "Say that again. You get called up on stage to perform, you play in front of all those people; like the freakin' keyboard genius you are; and when you got back, those motherfuckers were gone?"

"I; I think they were gone? The table was empty from what I could see; and the, uh, the security guy; he couldn't let me into the area. He really only knew Cal, and um;” Karen choked and turned her face away, trying to breathe through it and stop herself from crying.

"Karen; that's not; wait, how did you even get home?" Dana asked, unzipping Karen's dress and grabbing a pair of yoga pants for her.

"Well, my purse and phone were gone from the table, so I couldn't call anybody and I didn't have any money;” Karen choked. "The security guy was really nice and said I could use his MetroCard if I returned it, so;”

"Oh, Christ On A Crotch-Rocket!" Dana yelled, throwing a sweatshirt at Karen, who caught it and pulled it over her head. "Kare. You gotta stop dating this guy. He's a piece of shit. Trust me. I didn't know it when I sent you over there to play, but he's walking excrement;"

"It's probably just a misunderstand;"

"And believe me, I'm sure he'll come back with some half-assed explanation, because that's what they all do;"

"And he tells me all the time that he;"

"Yeah. He ‘tells ‘; you pretty stuff. He ‘buys ‘; you pretty stuff. Problem is, words and money are nothing to him. Where the hell is he when you're walking home in fuck-me club clothes from the train station and trying not to lose your virginity, huh? Kare. I know you've been through hell, but you are worth more than this. You need a guy that walks you down the sidewalk and puts himself on the traffic side; just in case, because that's who he is. You deserve that. Don't you get it?" Dana asked, taking Karen's hair down and brushing it out, gently.

"Cal isn't; it's probably just; something;” Karen whispered, biting her lips closed.

Dana stopped brushing and wrapped her arms around her roommate, squeezing her hard. "There is real love out there, Kare; and if you don't deserve it, I don't know who does. Someday, you're going to meet a guy that actually loves you and it's going to blow your mind when the games and bullshit are gone. It's like; when a guy is in love, gravity changes for them, or something;”

Holland jumped up and pointed excitedly at Dana. "She's right! When I met the Zendayans, my tongue swelled up and;"

"Are you listening to my story at all, or are you just fantasizing about pretty girls?" Karen huffed.

"Um; both?" Holland replied, smirking. "I mean, you and Dana were really pretty; and there's just one bed here, and;"

Karen shot him an exasperated look and he shrank back behind the bulkhead. "Anyway;” she said.

The room dissolved and re-formed, both girls sleeping in the queen-sized bed they shared, morning sunlight streaming in through the dirty window, when the buzzer sounded. "Day, c'mon time to go," a man's voice sounded from the intercom. Karen's head peered out from under the blanket and she ran over to the intercom, tripping over some bottles of wine that they (mostly Dana) had consumed the previous night, trying to rid Karen of her birthday misery.

"Um; she's almost ready!" Karen replied, then ran to the bed and shook her hungover roommate awake. "Day, someone's here for you; they say it's time to go."

Dana grunted and turned over, away from Karen. "Go do it for me; just say you're me again," Dana grumbled into her pillow.

Karen swallowed nervously, but gamely grabbed Dana's dress, quickly got ready, and ran out the door. Upon leaving the building, she stumbled into the guy waiting outside. "Um; I'm ready! I'm ready! Dana Stevens. Thanks for waiting;” she panted.

The man gave her a quick considering look, then walked her to a large extended-cab pickup truck that looked ridiculously out of place on the streets of Newark. "Miss Stevens," he said, opening the passenger side door and offering his hand to help her up into the vehicle.

"Thanks. Thank you;” she said, precariously climbing up the runner board in her heels until she settled herself up onto the seat.

"Just wait there, a bit," he said, after closing the door. Walking back to the building, he selected a key from his collection, opened the building door and walked in. Not long after, he emerged from the building carrying Dana over his shoulder and carrying a bag stuffed haphazardly with clothes. Opening the door behind Karen, he dumped Dana unceremoniously into the back seat and tossed the bag of clothes on top of her. Dana, still in her pajamas, put the bag under her head and turned away from the sunlight streaming into the cab.

"Dean, this is Karen. Karen, my brother Dean," Dana mumbled, as she draped a pair of sweatpants over her head to block the light.

"Oh; um, sorry," Karen said, flushing red as she glanced over at Dean's face. "I didn't mean to; um, I'll just go;"

"Lock the doors, and get us out of the city, Dean. She's coming with us," Dana ordered. "She's on asshole detox!"

Karen jumped as the truck's doors locked and Dean wordlessly pulled out into the street and started out. She clasped her hands in her lap nervously. She hadn't packed anything. She had no phone. She didn't have time to let Dana drag her to West Virginia for a visit. Dana had been trying to talk her into coming with her to where she had grown up with her grandparents, but in the excitement of her birthday, Karen had forgotten the trip was this week. She knew better than to say anything, though. Dana wouldn't care, and Dean; who knew what Dean Stevens the brother would think. He didn't say much, but he obviously knew better than to argue with hungover Dana, which was something they had in common.

"She knows where we're goin?" Dean asked, checking his mirrors as he merged onto the freeway. Dana grunted in assent. "Why ain't she singin' it, yet?" he rumbled, seemingly amused.

"Because She's Not A Drunk College Kid, Idiot!" Dana howled, holding her head in pain.

Dean smirked and started humming "Country Roads" to himself.

"I hate you so much;” Dana growled, pulling the bag of clothes over her head again. Dean only laughed.

After a few miles of road, Karen looked at her roommate in the back seat, and unbuckled her seatbelt. She began to turn to lean over the front seat when Dean reached over and pushed her back down and pointed at her seatbelt. "Um sorry; I just;” Karen trailed off, horrified that she had done something wrong. She couldn't finish her sentence and sat back down, blinking back tears as she put her seatbelt back on.

Dean glanced over, looking her up and down for a moment. With a sigh, he put his turn signal on and pulled off the road into a gas station at the next exit. "Do what you need to do," he said, curtly.

Karen jumped up, turned around and loosely buckled the seatbelt across the sleeping Dana's hips, then turned, sat down again, and buckled her seatbelt. "Thank you," she mumbled. Dean turned to the back seat where his sister continued sleeping and his face softened. He looked at Karen a second time, sitting with her hands in her lap again, clenched like she expected a tongue-lashing from him for delaying the trip. His eyes drifted down to her feet, where her cold toes were turning pink in the strappy, uncomfortable-looking heels she wore when she came running out of the apartment building on his sister's fool errand. Reaching back, he grabbed a pair of thick socks that had fallen out of the bag of clothes and tossed them to her. Smiling gratefully, Karen removed the strappy heels and pulled on the warm socks as he pulled out onto the road again.

The road stretched on. The scenery gradually becoming more rural, the traffic less crowded. Karen found herself relaxing and breathing more slowly as the land passed by. She occasionally glanced at the gas gauge and compared them to the passing road signs to try to discern when they might be pulling over to refill the tank. The third time she did it, Dean shook his head. "Bedford, hon," he chuckled. "You know, you could just ask me. I might be a longshoreman, but I don't bite."

"Not like Dana, then," Karen replied, biting her lips so she didn't smile.

"Hm. Sounds like a story," he said.

Karen nodded. "The first time we met, I was waiting to audition for our agency and I was almost going to leave, I was so scared. Day asked to see what I was playing and I handed her the music. Instead of looking at it, she took my hand and bit me. Said it was 'for luck,'" Karen said, laughing to herself.

"It worked, too. Kare needed to get of her head. She plays better when you throw her off balance, first," Dana said, rising to a sitting position and running her fingers through her hair.

"Is that so?" Dean asked, looking over at Karen.

"Yeah. I think too much. My teacher always said I played things perfectly, but he could hear me thinking about it the whole time. Day's a true performer, though. She doesn't think at all - she plays with her feelings, and that's what an audience connects with," Karen said, smiling proudly at Dana.

"Thoughtlessly playing with feelings; sounds about right," Dean said, chuckling when Dana punched him in the shoulder. "Speaking of, we're coming up on Bedford. Let me know if you need anything."

Dana growled at this but said nothing as Karen blinked in confusion. Soon, Dean pulled off the interstate into a gas station and up to a gas pump. Dean hopped out of the truck and began filling the tank. After noticing the bug-splattered windshield, Karen changed back into her strappy heels and walked over to where the island held the squeegee and mop. Dean watched, bemused, as she diligently scrubbed the dried carcasses of insects off the glass while dressed to the nines. Karen finished and climbed back into the truck, only to have Dana grab her shoulder and start whispering in her ear and pointing at the convenience store. Karen, appearing distressed, blushed and said something back to Dana, who gestured emphatically.

Dean kept watching as Karen seemed to screw up her courage, took her purse, and walked quickly into the store. He shot his sister a flat look. Dana only grinned, stretched, and put her feet up on the front seat. Shaking his head, he followed into the store.

"And what would you be needing all those for, hon?" the guy at the till asked while ogling Karen, who looked like she wanted to disappear under the rug.

"Um; it's uh;” Karen stammered.

"I need to ask for state regulatory purposes," the guy continued, as he put a large box of condoms on the counter and rang it up.

"They're for me," Dean said, as he tossed some drinks, chips and cookies on the counter. "Uncut and hangs to the left. Anything else the state needs to know about my cock?" The till guy cleared his throat and began ringing up the additional items and bagging them without further comment. Annoyed, Dean grabbed the bagged items in one hand and took Karen's hand in the other and left the store. "You know, you don't have to do everything my little sister tells you," he said under his breath as they walked to the truck.

"Then why'd you buy them? Seems like you can't tell her 'no' any more than I can," Karen replied, a little surprised that she had the guts to argue with him.

Dean laughed, "I don't want her knocked up any more than you do." He helped her up into the truck and tossed the bag of items to his sister.

Dana went digging through the bag and retrieved the box. "Wait a minute, these are just regular. Didn't they have lubricated?" she complained. Karen swallowed uncomfortably, searching for an answer as Dean pulled her seatbelt out and buckled it around her.

"Don't need lubricated if the guy does his job right," Dean said, grinning at her cheerfully. "Raise your standards and you won't need so many, either."

"Hum; lower yours, and maybe you'll actually need some," Dana retorted, opening the package of cookies. Karen just shrank in her seat and covered her flaming cheeks as they pulled back onto the freeway.

The scenery turned into wooded hills with mountains growing in the distance. Steering down the curved roads, Dean sighed quietly, a peaceful smile on his face. Karen leaned forward in her seat, trying to see everything as it passed, excitement lighting her face. Dana had fallen asleep again.

Near evening, Dean turned the truck down a long, dirt road and reached behind him to shake Dana awake. "Watch for him, Day;” he said. Dana sat up, suddenly alert and scanning the darkening woods around them.

"What are we looking for?" Karen asked.

"Shush; we don't want him hearing you," Dana hissed, squinting into the depths of the wood.

"She's not dressed for it," Dean said, frowning at Karen's clothing. "I'll drive you two up to the house. When I get out and break left, you get her in quick," he said to Dana, who was still looking around the truck with concern. "Karen, get those shoes off. We don't want you falling," he said. Worried, but ever obedient, Karen immediately began unstrapping her shoes.

They came into a clearing in front of a rustic house, and Dean parked the truck with Karen's door facing the house just a few yards away. "Ready;” Dean said, grasping the handle of his door.

"Set;” Dana followed.

"Go!" Dean yelled, opening his door and jumping out, sprinting away from the house. Karen watched in horror as an enormous animal with thick, dark fur streaked out from behind the house and began galloping after him.

"It's a bear!" Karen yelled.

"Out! Get In The House Now!" Dana yelled, pushing her out of the truck. The two ran into the house and slammed the door, shaking the structure.

Karen ran to the windows facing the clearing. "It's on top of him! It's trampling him!" she yelled.

Dana joined her, smiling as she watched Dean wrestle with the wild flurry of fur that was easily as big as he was. "Dean hasn't been home in a while. Boomer will calm down; eventually," she assured Karen, who went up on her toes, trying to see around the truck.

A woman walked into the room, wiping her hands on her apron, and joined them at the window. "Hello, sweet girl," she said, putting an arm around Dana's shoulders and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Nana, this is my roommate Karen. Karen, my grandmother Nana;” Dana said, pulling the curtain to the side to follow Dean who briefly escaped the animal's onslaught and sprinted for the woods.

Karen tore her eyes from the window to greet Nana. "Nice to;” she glanced outside again, "meet you. Um; is Dean going to be okay? Should we go help him?" she asked, watching the beast drag him away from the trees by his shirt.

Nana watched Dean roll on top of the beast and quickly get thrown off, landing near a woodpile. "It's usually best to let those two work things out between themselves. Stay here for a bit unless you're ready to get dirty. Besides, it took me hours to make that dress," Nana said, admiring the line of the bodice with pride.

"Oh, um; I'm sorry I'm not dressed right. I, uh; I didn't know I'd be coming here today. It's a beautiful dress. I didn't mean to;" Karen apologized, smoothing the dress across her hips.

"Well, if you'd like something to change into, Day has some of her old things here that should fit. You two are about the same size. I have a shepherd's pie in the oven if anyone's hungry;” Nana called over her shoulder, walking back to the kitchen, apparently unconcerned with Dean's perilous situation.

Dana pulled Karen away from the window to her room where she started digging through her closet. Pulling out some clothes, she threw them on the bed and pulled off her pajamas. "Get dressed. We'll eat and then I'm taking you out on the town."

"Oh; okay," Karen said, wishing they could stay in the small, warm house in the hills instead.

While they all ate at a small table in the kitchen, Dean opened the door carrying an armload of firewood and was pushed aside by what Karen realized was an enormous dog that entered in front of him. "That's not a bear. What kind of dog is that?" she gasped, as the monster trotted up to her and stared her dead in the eyes as she sat at the table. Karen bowed her head and glanced up at him, uncertain.

"Caucasian Ovcharka and Newfoundland mix," Dean supplied with a smile, stacking the wood next to the fireplace. "Boomer's not a bear, but he's close."

Nana walked over to Dean and examined a tear in his shirt and his general dishevelment with a critical eye. "Didn't even break the skin; he's getting' old, that dog."

"Nah; he just loves me," Dean replied, picking Nana up in a big hug. "He's a good judge of character." At this, Boomer poked Karen with his nose and began licking her face while she squealed and tried to wriggle away.

"Not the face, Boomer!" Dana complained, "She'll have to fix her makeup before we go to the bar if you keep at it. Besides, she doesn't go to first base until the third date."

"You're going out? We just got home;” Dean said, watching Karen try to pet Boomer and pull her face away from his enthusiastic tongue at the same time.

Boomer, at the sound of Dana's voice, turned his attentions to her. "My girl just had a shit birthday. I thought I'd take her to Nelson's and do it up right," Dana explained, pushing Boomer's head away from her crotch.

"Is that what she wants?" Dean asked, glancing back to where Karen was trying to re-assemble herself after Boomer's advances. Karen looked up and him and smiled shyly and looked down again.

"If you're so worried, go take a shower and you can be our driver," Dana said, reaching down to scratch Boomer's chest. The beast's leg started thumping against the table, causing everything to shake like there was an earthquake.

That night at Nelson's, Dana and Dean were greeted with an enthusiastic cheer from the crowd. Karen hung back as several men and a few women came up and hugged their old school friends, while looking curiously at her. After some introductions, they were all ushered to a table and soon were surrounded by drinks they thought Karen needed to try.

"I can't drink all these;” Karen said, looking over the table filled with glasses with bewilderment.

"God, I hope not," Dana said with a laugh. "We're gonna play a little game called 'Never Have I Ever.' Each of us says one thing that they have never done, and everyone who has done that thing will have to take a sip of a drink. The point is to think of something weird or unique about yourself that's common to others and make everyone else drink. Got the idea?" she asked. Karen nodded, gamely.

"And you don't have to play if you don't want to. It's a game, not a forced march of fun," Dean said, glowering at Dana as he sat down next to Karen.

"Just for that, you have to do 10 pushups instead of taking a drink," Dana snorted. "I'll go first. Okay; never have I ever;”

"This could take a while;” Dean murmured to Karen, who giggled quietly.

Dana shot him a nasty look. "Never have I ever made out with Laura Drivers behind the activity bus after school!" she yelled.

Dean held up his hands ruefully and dropped to the floor and began doing push-ups. Karen was surprised to see several guys around the table take a drink, as well. "Girl after my own heart;” Garrett the bartender said, nodding wistfully.

Several more people around the table went, and the corresponding drinkers drank. Dean got up from his latest round of push-ups and noticed Karen was still watching everyone quietly with her hands in her lap, still no shine of liquid on her soft-looking lips. She met his eyes and blushed, "I guess I haven't done much;” she murmured.

Dean watched Dana talking closely with Logan and stood up. "Never have I ever made someone cry with a piano," he challenged the group. Dana rolled her eyes and took sips of several drinks, while Karen smiled and reached for one of the glasses near her and took a sip.

Surprisingly, Kirk Tanner also took a drink after this challenge. "Father O'Leary needed my help moving the piano from one end of the sanctuary to the other when they were doing the floors; he was limping for a while."

The night wore on, and once everyone found out Karen had just had a birthday, they all began choosing their challenges with the goal of getting her tipsy. Karen in turn, feeling warm and giggly, had gotten competitive and tried to snare as many as possible with hers.

"All right, you bunch of cretins;” Dean said, surveying the group. Karen leaned toward him, her eyes shining, excited, and slightly out of focus. "Never have I ever; kissed Dana Stevens on the lips!" he yelled. Most of the table groaned and grabbed a drink. "Yeah, I thought so," Dean laughed. "Suffer, fools."

Karen just sat primly, self-satisfied with surviving the challenge, until Dana leaned in and planted a kiss on her lips. "Drink up, Kare!" she cackled, gleefully, as Karen blinked in surprise.

Dean sat back down on the bench with a bounce and steadied Karen as she wobbled next to him. "Sorry about that," he said.

"No, it's okay; we've been sleeping together for over a year now. I should have expected it;” Karen sighed. When the table went silent and Karen noticed everyone staring at her, she realized what she'd said. "WAIT NO! NOT LIKE THAT! We're like; roommates! We sleep ; like ‘sleeping ‘; sleep in;" she fumbled, trying to explain herself.

The table roared in laughter and Dana demanded she take another drink. Woozy, Karen frowned, trying to think of something that would make everyone take a drink and catch up to her. She didn't like the feeling that she was losing ground. Finally, the perfect challenge came to her;

"Never have I ever;” Karen began, looking around the table at each person, "Never have I ever; had a birthday cake!" she said loudly.

Karen giggled and clapped as almost everyone yelled in outrage and disbelief before taking up glasses from the table and drinking. Her giggles faded when she saw Dean pass a troubled look to Dana, who nodded at him, looking pissed. "You should do double for making Nana figure out how to make a lime-flavored cake, that one time. Get pushing, big brother;” she said, taking a nearby gin and tonic and draining it dry.

Dean completed his push-ups as Karen watched his arms flexing as he raised and lowered himself to and from the floor. Standing after the final one, Dean looked at Karen wobbling on the bench announced that it was time to call it a night and head home. With his arm around her waist, he led Karen out to his truck, helped her up into the passenger seat, and buckled her in. "Wait, where's Dana?" Karen asked, looking around, worried.

"She's okay," Dean said, once he climbed up into the driver's seat. "She's angry and drunk, so she'll probably take it out on Logan in the bathroom. She'll be out in a bit."

Karen frowned for a bit, trying to understand his meaning. Then, she thought about what usually happened when Dana was angry and drunk in New York and her eyes widened with understanding. "Oh; okay," she said, blushing. "Why is she angry, though? Did I do something wrong?" she asked.

"No; you didn't do anything, hon. So, uh; why; why haven't you ever had a birthday cake?" he asked, glancing over at her, then surveying the street around them.

"Oh, um; it's because they didn't really like me; my family," she said. Karen blinked. It was almost funny. She could say those horrible true words, but with the way she was feeling, so fuzzy and warm and removed from herself, the words didn't hurt as much as they usually did. It made her want to say more. "I didn't really understand it for a long time. My family, they had birthdays and Christmas and stuff for my brothers and sisters, but they didn't do those things for me. It's like I was invisible, most of the time. I just got used to it, I guess. I knew it was my fault, though. Something about me. I kept trying to be better, you know; do more so they would like me; or just see me. That's how I started with the piano. I found someone who would teach me for free at the church and I got really good at it. Juilliard good, you know. That's how much I wanted them to; anyway, it didn't work. I found out later that I wasn't my dad's daughter. I was somebody else's daughter. They all knew about it and they still decided to raise me. So, you know, I'm grateful to them. They didn't have to. They still raised me, even though I ruined everything for them, every day," Karen sighed. The words were out of her, but they didn't hurt or embarrass her like they usually did. Being drunk was wonderful! No wonder Dana drank so much. Did people feel this wonderful every day?

She heard a strange noise and looked up to see Dean's hands gripping and twisting on the steering wheel like he was upset. "They should have given you up," he said, quietly.

Karen frowned. "But then, I wouldn't have a home; a family;” she said, confused.

Dean laughed, mirthlessly. "You didn't have a family. What they did; that was fucked up," he said, shaking his head. "If your family couldn't love you, they should have let you go and let someone else adopt you; take you in; love you. Anyone would have loved you, Karen, just as you are. No fucking Juilliard, no piano, no New York City. Anyone would have loved you. Anyone."

Karen felt a warmth cover her when her fuzzy mind finally digested what he had said. "That's a really nice thing to say," she said, smiling down at her hands. She had tried to be grateful for simply existing for so long that it felt almost arrogant to think that life might have been better if she had been raised by others. She breathed in deeply and sighed, happily. "Maybe. I'm definitely not perfect; and sometimes people just don't get along. We can't go back in time and find out. You can never know;”

"You'll know," Dean said, simply. "You didn't get the love you deserved when you were a kid, but that's not the whole story. Never is. You gotta keep going. Kids are supposed to be loved, nurtured just because they're kids and that's what you do; but people get claimed by love at every age. That's how you'll know you weren't the problem; that you deserve to be loved. You just keep being you and wait for it. It'll feel like coming home."

Everything froze in the cell as Karen stared at the two inside the truck. She looked over to Holland who sat quietly watching. "That was it. That was the moment," she whispered.

"Did your tongue swell up?" Holland asked, his eyes volleying back and forth between Young Karen and Dean, as if he could see the energy between them.

"It tied itself in knots; gravity changed; everything. I was in love. We danced around each other the whole weekend, but it was obvious to everyone; even Boomer. We fell asleep on the sofa watching the fire and he climbed up and slept on my legs, kept me there all night; sleeping on Dean's chest." Karen said.

"I don't understand. How did you become The Karen if you married Dean?" Holland asked.

"I didn't marry Dean. I married Cal;” Karen said, pursing her lips and looking away from the young people in the truck, clearing the room of their memory. "We went back to New York, back to school. Cal was there, full of excuses and 'frantic with worry.' I didn't know how to handle the situation; I didn't know how to say 'no.' I wanted nothing more than to just go back to West Virginia and hide away forever; to call Dean and beg him to take me there. I had promised Cal I would attend a wedding the following weekend with him, so I thought I would do that one last thing for him and then just; disappear after that. I was such a coward," Karen said, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Disappearing didn't work?" Holland asked.

"I never got the chance to see. After the wedding, that weekend; I was pregnant," Karen whispered.

"What? Why did you make a baby with Cal when you loved Dean?" Holland yelled, outraged.

"I didn't choose it; I couldn't even remember it. I just woke up sore in bed with Cal the following day, not knowing what had happened. I was feeling sick and Cal's father, he was a doctor, he made me stay with them until I was better; probably to make sure whatever I was given was out of my system. Naïve fool that I was, I didn't even realize what had happened. Dana was furious with me just for going to the wedding. She was convinced that I rejected Dean for Cal and his money; she wouldn't even talk with me when I came to get my things. She never spoke to me again; and I didn't blame her at all. Thirty years of marriage later, after all Cal's affairs, after four kids, and after Cal turned indifferent once the shine was off me, after I had spent decades of my life trying to make the best of a bad situation; I was set free. The day I turned 50, Cal casually told me that his girlfriend was pregnant and wanted to get married. He asked me to get the house ready to sell because Kaylee wanted something more modern; like it was nothing. Like I didn't matter. Like I was invisible. Just like it was with my family," Karen said, staring at the empty space where Dean had been.

"And then you destroyed him with your Karen powers?" Holland asked, sitting up.

Karen chuckled, ruefully. "No. I was stunned; hurt. I mean, I was used to Cal thinking I was nothing by then. I knew about most of the affairs. I agreed to everything he wanted because I blamed myself. The kids were grown or in college, so it wouldn't affect them much. It was a little while later that I started getting angry. Little things started getting under my skin. Little things like a careless word, or something that showed someone hadn't paid attention. Little mistakes began to hurt me. Little missed details. Little things that showed that what I wanted didn't matter; that I wasn't loved. It all felt so personal; like they had done it on purpose to hurt me. I had wasted my entire life trying to be loved; or accepting that I wasn't. That was when I turned into someone that would scream over nothing, humiliate people who showed the slightest inattention, revel in the fear that came into people's eyes when my temper revved up; that was when I became a monster." Karen looked away from the space Dean had left.

"I'm sorry, Karen," Holland said, quietly. Activating the panel next to her cell, he did something that made the ambient white noise change, and she wasn't surprised when he walked into her cell, facing her. He raised his hands up to her head and gently cupped her cheeks, tilting his forehead toward her until their heads touched. A lightness entered her, as if he was helping her bear the weight of her grief with the simple gesture. She took a deep breath in and let it slide back out of her. It had been so long since she had breathed without the weight of her grief and loss constricting her; like they resented that she continued to live. She sobbed in gratitude and wrapped her arms around Holland in a big hug, squeezing him tightly.

"Ensign Holland!" the voice of Captain Hemsworth filled the room. "We are in orbit around Priam, but they have stopped responding to all our communications. Prepare The Karen for transport to the surface planet-wide announcement room with our away team, full security measures!"

"Aye, sir!" Holland answered. Then, turning to Karen, "Are you ready?" he asked.

To be continued in part 3. Based on a post by LingeringAfterthought, in 3 parts, for Literotica.