Something's gotta give

Kim has a small pile of books near her bed. They have titles like Attack Proof: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Protection and The Elite Forces Handbook of Unarmed Combat. She's sick of being a victim and she needs to remember what she's learned in the past while picking up some new skills. Part of her thinks she should ask her dad for help, but, she wants to do this on her own.

'A sexy foreigner could help...' that little voice whispers and she ignores it, continuing with her reading. She wishes she could fight magic with magic, but instead she's a muggle. So, she just has to ignore that small suggestion that's not even from her mind. The last few days have been a disaster. Although, at least she and Tony had reached a new understanding, and for first time in months she could say that they were truly friends. When she thinks of some of the things she said to her dad though...and she kissed Paul, and...she groans thinking about how much of a mess she's made of things.

She's also sick of this 'don't touch me' feeling she has whenever anyone gets too close. 'You're stronger than this,' she thinks. But maybe she isn't, she's not sure anymore, but she hopes the books will help.

And she hopes that Angela's okay and has no idea what's going on because this could be so traumatizing to her.

She feels bad for not being around Angela and misses her, but probably...being around her right now would cause more harm than good.

As she was telling everyone everything in her mind though, one fact became painfully clear. She loves Chase but right now...something isn't working. She knows she's hurting him and she knows that he's not happy. But, he will never admit it.

Something has to change or she fears they won't last. She's frustrated that he thinks she's angry at him, no matter how many times she tells him that her unhappiness is not his fault. No, it's a battle with herself and she has to win or she'll either need constant protection or meet a bad end.

And she wants to change. Soon, she'll get up and start practicing some of the moves in the books, but for now, she's just researching.