Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush. End of story.

A/N: So, since this is a one shot, normally it would be posted in "Making Memories", my one shot collection, but this is standing by itself for two reasons. One: It's Dana2184's birthday one shot (happy birthday!), and two: It's set in the "Break the Ice" world. I've been wanting to do a one shot for "Break the Ice" since I finished the story, and I even have part of a companion story written for it, but I didn't have any one shots planned for it. But then Dana messaged me a couple of weeks ago with a story idea based roughly on Avril Lavigne's song "What The Hell", and while I wasn't intending on writing it - I was busy with "Raise The Curtain", another story that hasn't been posted yet, and schoolwork - I immediately connected it with "Break the Ice" (because of the way Dana described Katie), and a couple of days ago the story came together in my head, and now here we are.

This story takes place during James' and Katie's summer between their junior year and senior year of high school. While I don't think reading "Break the Ice" is necessary - partly because I did try to explain everything, and partly because it's a 29 chapter story - if you want to go ahead and read it, I won't mind at all. And if you have any questions about the story, go ahead and ask :) Also, this wasn't supposed to be as long as it is - over 8,000 words - but the story kind of got away from me, so I hope everyone's okay with that.

I think that's about it :)

Warnings: Strong language, innuendos, and non-graphic (really non-graphic, like practically non-existent) sexual content.

Enjoy the story!

Katie's POV

It was days like these when I loved living in southern California. It was hot, perfect sun tanning weather, and everything was perfect.

Well, almost.

I was lounging at the edge of the outdoor community pool, my sunglasses shading my eyes from the bright sunshine, and my skin glistening with coconut scented sun block.

But that wasn't the problem.

The problem was currently standing across the pool from me, keeping an eye on the two little boys he had agreed to babysit, while appearing to flirt with a couple of the girls from our school.

And to think, everyone thought James and I had the perfect relationship.

Newsflash, people. We clearly didn't, otherwise James wouldn't have been across the pool, getting his skank on with those girls. And why the hell wasn't he telling them to back off? Was he trying to piss me off? Because if that was his goal, then he was doing a damn good job of it. Then again, we had been fighting like cats and dogs for the past week, ever since Carlos Garcia had made The Comment.

I was pretty sure he had jinxed James and me.

I watched as one of the girls played with her hair, before nodding to the two little boys James was babysitting. They were currently wading around in the shallow end of the pool, hitting each other with various floating devices.

James quickly jumped into the pool and separated them, pulling them apart. I snickered and raised my bottle of lemonade towards him in a salute. He stuck his tongue out at me, but grinned nonetheless.

I relaxed slightly at the lighthearted gesture, closing my eyes and enjoying the way the hot air seemed to glide over my skin, pebbled by the occasional splash of pool water. Even in the open space the smell of chlorine was strong, and I did my best not to inhale too often. I was used to the clean, cold smell of the ice rink, and I preferred it to chlorine any day. But La Castillo, California, wasn't close enough to the beach to drive down there every day and besides, this was where my boyfriend kept bringing his babysitting charges. Where else was I going to go?

I knew the main reason James kept taking the Thomas boys here was because it was cheap, the cost pretty much non-existent for a resident of La Castillo. There was a wicked water slide that even I had gone down a few times so far this summer; a snack bar – which was where I had bought the lemonade – and there was even a whirlpool. At the opposite end of the pool was a Jacuzzi, and I fully intended on getting James in it at some point this summer. Or maybe I could just get my dad to buy me a Jacuzzi…He liked spoiling me, though he was getting a little more strict now that he and my mom had started dating again. They had divorced when my twin brother and I were twelve, and after five years they seemed to finally be reconciling their differences.

About freaking time.

I rolled over onto my stomach, feeling the damp rubber of the lounge chair stick to my skin as I moved. Ugh. This place needed better lounge chairs.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Chad, one of the lifeguards and a friend – well, more like an acquaintance – of James', eyeing me from the lifeguard post at this end of the pool. His job was to make sure that none of the kids drowned in the three foot end of the pool, and while I was sure it was a glamorous and glorious job, wasn't it the parents' duty as, you know, parents, to keep an eye on their kids? Or the babysitter's job…I cut my gaze towards James, who was still in the pool with the boys, having a splashing war with them. And those two girls from earlier were still practically clutching onto him, doubtlessly hanging onto his every word.

I rolled my eyes. Didn't they know that he had a girlfriend – namely me? Most girls in this town made it a point not to cross me. I was known as the Ice Queen at school, and the name fit well. I was the school's bitch, and James was the sweetie pie who had moved to La Castillo from Nowhere, Minnesota last October with his mom and younger brother. Most of the people I knew couldn't figure out how someone who was as nice as James could possibly be dating someone like me. And considering the fact that I had taken several girls down over the past few years, had launched a volleyball attack on the hockey team during PE, and had tried to blackmail James into tutoring me in English, I could kind of see where they were coming from. In my defense, I had just wanted to set James' gay younger brother, Shane, up with my gay best friend, Kyle. Only neither boy had been out of the closet at that point so they didn't appreciate my help in the slightest. And James had gone mama-bear crazy on me, forcing me to back off and being so fucking hot about it even while he was whisper-yelling at me from under our table in the chem lab. Yeah, we had chemistry with each other – in more ways than one.

James and I had been dating since February, after his bitch girlfriend had out-psychoed me and proved that she was bat shit crazy. And I was happy. For some reason, I loved that boy more than almost anyone in the world. It probably had something to do with the fact that he accepted me and had never once tried to change me. Or maybe it had something to do with that old adage – opposites attract. And James and I were complete opposites. He was the north and I was the south. For some reason, it worked pretty damn well, although occasionally we stalled, trying to figure out how to move forward, how to keep from reaching a permanent standstill, how to keep our gears from constantly grinding against each other.

But it was Carlos Garcia's fault that James and I had been fighting so much lately. Right now we were at a temporary truce, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't last. Carlos had made a comment last week while a bunch of us – my twin brother, Kendall, Jo Taylor, Logan Mitchell, Carlos, Stephanie King, Shane, and Kyle – were sitting at Burger Mania, the local burger place, eating dinner after seeing a movie.

"You know," he had said to us as he took a bite of his corndog, "I'm really amazed by you two."

James had taken a sip of his chocolate milkshake, and I in turn had snatched the cherry from the thick swirls of whipped cream that hadn't quite melted into the drink.

"Hey!" James had protested, but I flashed him a grin and wrapped my lips around the cherry tantalizingly. That had shut him up pretty quick. Besides, I knew he had left the cherry for me to grab – he knew how much I loved them, and I knew how much he enjoyed watching me suck on them. He just liked pretending that he was offended that I would dare steal his cherry – the fruit, not the other thing, which I fully planned on taking sometime soon. That is, if we ever stopped fighting.

"Anyway," I had turned to look at Carlos, "what do you mean?"

He had shrugged nonchalantly. "You two had such a rocky beginning, and now look at you guys." He indicated the way James' arm was draped loosely over my shoulders, and the way I was snuggled into his side. He was so big compared to me, but I liked it that way. I always felt so protected and safe whenever I was with him. It was a nice feeling.

"Oh. Right." James had shrugged too, taking another sip of his milkshake as I finished off the cherry.

"I'm serious," Carlos had continued on. "You two are, like, the perfect couple. Everyone wants to be you guys. You could win Couple of the Year. Or Cutest Couple."

"Or The Couple Most Likely to Kill Each Other," James had cracked, while I nodded in agreement. It was a bit of an ironic statement, considering the way we were sitting and the fact that I had just sucked on his cherry, but it was true. We loved each other, but half the time we wanted to kill each other.

"He's right," I had spoken up. "One of these days, James and I are going to get into a blowout fight and we really will end up killing each other."

Shane had leaned over to whisper something to Kyle, and they both cracked up.

"What?" James had shot at them, furrowing his brow.

"Nothing," Shane had reassured him quickly, but he and Kyle were both snickering.

"I'm serious. What?"

"Just that you two will either end up killing each other, or you'll end up fucking each other into next year. It just depends."

"But you two really are the perfect couple," Camille had piped up, looking at James and me. "You two are adorable together. Everyone knows you guys are going to graduate and get married."

So maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was Camille who had made the comment that had completely shut James and me down. But Carlos was the one who had brought the topic of conversation up in the first place, so he still had to take the blame by default.

All I know is that the second the words "you guys are going to graduate and get married" were uttered, the air immediately thickened, and suddenly James' arm felt just a little too heavy around my shoulders and his thigh pressed into mine just a tiny bit too hard. And from the way he had scooted back a couple of inches, I could tell that he felt the same way. It was like suddenly our future was decided for us without our input. He wasn't even seventeen, and out of the blue we were being told that we were going to get married and spend the rest of our lives together. It was like an arranged marriage with a really hot guy. It would have been awesome if I had had any say in it. And it was obvious that James agreed.

Thus the constant fighting.

I sighed as I folded my hands under my cheek to separate my face from the warm rubber of the chair. I knew it was just a stupid comment. I knew that. Camille and Carlos both said plenty of stupid things without thinking, and this time was no different. But it was the principle of the thing. And James and I both had one hell of a stubborn streak when it came to being told what to do, or what we should do. Which meant that we were going to fight about this without actually outwardly agreeing that this was what we were fighting about. And I wasn't sure how long it would go on. I just hoped we could get it worked out soon, because I was getting tired of constantly being at odds with him.

I heard one of the girls laugh and I lifted my head up, squinting through the dark sunglasses. The girls had joined James and the boys, and one of the girls had her hand on James' shoulder.

I shoved my sunglasses up so that I could see what was going on without any hindrance.

And yep, I was watching that slut put her hands all over my boyfriend.

Oh, she was going to pay.

I got to my feet and stomped over there. Chrissy Fenson and Veronique Spencer looked up at me as I approached, and one of the Thomas boys – the older one. Whatever his name was – jumped on James' back, sending him flailing.

"Katie, what – " James began as he worked on regaining his balance and not going underwater while the two girls hustled away, probably to get away from his psycho bitch girlfriend.

I sliced my foot through the water, sending a wave crashing down over Chrissy – the slut who had had her hands all over James – and Veronique – the slut who had been giggling like she was afraid it might go out of fashion – and spun around, right into Chad.

"Whoa," he grabbed me to keep me from falling.

"Thanks," I said sweetly, before glancing over my shoulder at James to gauge his reaction. He was staring at me, a look of disbelief spreading across his face. I just wasn't sure if it was because I had just kicked water all over Flirt Number One and Flirt Number Two, or if he was pissed because I had walked into Chad.

"Not a problem." He ran his hands over my bare waist, and I instinctively stepped back, before remembering the look on James' face.

"Are you off duty?" I asked him, tossing my hair over my shoulder and straightening my bikini out with as much subtlety as I could. If James was pissed at me because I had just splashed water all over those girls, then I was going to make sure he paid. After all, if he could flirt with other girls, then I sure as hell could flirt with the smoking hot lifeguard.

"I am, as a matter of fact," Chad replied, and I smiled.

"Good. Why don't we head over to the snack stand? It's so hot out here in the sun," I added with a giggle. Oh, dear God. I sounded like Veronique.

"Katie – " I heard James say warningly, but I ignored him.

I grabbed Chad's hand and led him over to the snack stand, where we grabbed a table. I could see James glaring at us furiously from where he was still in the water, and I knew this was going to lead to another fight, but this time I didn't really care. He had started it by flirting with the sluts in the first place. This was his own damn fault.

"Can I buy you anything?" Chad asked.

"A lemon lime iced tea would be great," I replied, ignoring the fact that I had already bought myself a bottle of lemonade. If James spotted Chad getting me something, he was going to go nuts. Just like I wanted.

"Sure thing," he said at once, getting to his feet, and I took the opportunity to look back over at James. He was currently wrestling with the younger Thomas boy, apparently trying to keep him from killing his older brother, and I waved at him cheekily. He threw me a nasty look that promised trouble later on.

Bring it.

I turned my head to make sure my bag was still next to the lounge chair. I spotted it at once and signaled to Chad that I was going to go grab it. He nodded, and I hurried over there, gathering my stuff together before returning to the table. I plopped down, and a moment later Chad returned, handing me my iced tea.

"Thanks," I said brightly, taking a sip.

"Not a problem." He stretched out, resting his hands behind his head so that his muscles were prominent. He was probably around the same height as James, with dark blond hair and brown eyes. He was hot, but he knew it. And I was kind of starting to wonder what the hell he thought he was doing, flirting with his friend's girlfriend. Then again, what the hell was I doing, flirting with my boyfriend's friend?

Apparently Chad and I were both fucked up.

"I really like your bikini," he commented, and I glanced down at it. It was hot pink with a basic black skull pattern over it. It was James' favorite one – apparently it fit my personality – and I had worn it in the hopes of maybe reconciling with him after he got off babysitting duty. Clearly that wasn't going to be happening, now that I had made a move on his friend right in front of him.

"Oh, thanks. It's James' favorite," I replied, waiting to see what his reaction would be.

He sipped on a bottle of water. "That's cool. Personally, I would have you get a red one because I bet you'd look smoking hot, but that's just me."

I bristled slightly. What the hell did that mean? That I wasn't smoking hot in a hot pink bikini with black skulls on it? That was just insulting. Maybe I had picked the wrong guy to flirt with in front of my boyfriend.

"I mean, you look good," he said quickly, obviously seeing the way my eyes had narrowed, "it's just, you could look even better."

"So, I don't look good enough?"

"James and I have different tastes in things."

"You mean such as, he likes the psycho bitch who wears hot pink bikinis with black skulls on them."

He leaned in across the table. "That's where you're wrong," he said in a low voice. "You're exactly my type."

I wasn't sure whether to feel insulted or complimented. He had just agreed that I was a psycho bitch. I had definitely set myself up for that one.

Before I could make a retort or dump my iced tea over his head, a couple of other off-duty lifeguards walked towards us. Nick was about 5'9 with dark brown hair and the very definition of husky. He wasn't overweight, just muscular. Jake, on the other hand, was tall and lean like Chad, with red streaking his blond hair. They were both just as hot as Chad, but in different ways. But none of them were half as hot as James.

My stomach twisted, and I realized that I really was regretting this whole thing. I knew I should just go over to where James was standing in the shallow end, keeping his babysitting charges from dunking each other under the water, but I was still upset about the sluts who had been hanging on him.

It was wrong and I knew that. James was friendly with Nick and Jake as well, and he was going to be even more hurt when he saw me with them, but I couldn't back out now. I had to win this.

Sure enough, Nick and Jake took seats on either side of me, and Nick smirked at Chad. "She looks pissed. What did you say?"

"Apparently Chad doesn't think I look hot enough in my bikini," I informed him. "And he also called me a psycho bitch."

"But you are a psycho bitch," Jake responded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But it's cool, because you're hot."

Wow, thanks so much. I feel so loved.

"Gee, thanks, Jake," I replied sarcastically. "I wonder how you'd look with my iced tea dripping down your face…"

Nick reached around to slug Jake in the arm. "Be nice. Katie is not a psycho bitch. Anyway, why are you sitting with her?" he asked Chad. "Shouldn't she be with James?"

"I think she had a fight with Diamond," he said with a careless shrug. "She asked me to hang out, so here we are."

"A couple of sluts were hanging all over James," I grumbled, crossing my arms. "And he didn't shake them off."

"So you're trying to make him jealous?" Nick confirmed, and I nodded. "Well, it seems to be working. He looks about ready to kill us."

"That's his own damn problem," I said fervently. "If he had told the girls to go away – "

"Could he really do that in front of the boys? He's supposed to be babysitting, and I'm sure their mom would prefer it if he's polite to girls in front of them."

"Doesn't mean he can't politely tell them get the fuck away from him."

"It looks like they left," Jake commented, craning his neck around to look towards the pool.

"Yeah, they left right after I kicked up water all over them."

"Oh, you're lovely."

I flashed him a smirk. "Do I scare you, Jake? Freak you out?"

"Yes and yes."

"But you don't mind, because I'm hot."

"Plus, you're probably freaky in bed."

"Good thing you're never going to find out," I heard James growl, and we all spun around to find him standing there, the Thomas boys wrapping towels around their little bodies behind him. "Wow, I have some really good friends, and a really loyal girlfriend," he commented, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, I'm just an innocent bystander here," Nick spoke up, raising his hands in defense. "Jake and Chad are the ones who are trying to get under Katie's top, not me."

"And from the looks of things, she's going to let them. Nice to see you're still a game player, Katie," he added, gathering the boys up and heading for the locker rooms.

"James!" I screamed, leaping to my feet.

"We'll talk later, after I get the boys home," he called scathingly to me over his shoulder, before ushering his charges into the men's locker room and leaving me feeling like a complete fuck up.

"I'll see you guys around," I mumbled to the boys, before grabbing my stuff and heading into the women's locker room. Once I was in there, I pulled on the sundress I had worn over my bikini earlier, and slipped my feet into wedge sandals, fastening them, before walking out to the parking lot. James' car was no longer there, and it was with a sinking stomach that I climbed into mine, positioning myself behind the wheel and fighting back tears.

I drove home and walked into the house. I lived with my dad, but he was rarely home. I figured he was probably at work right now, but I called his cell phone anyway, just in case.

"Hey, sweetie," he greeted me when he answered on the third ring.

I sniffled as I sank down on the couch. "Hi, Daddy."

"Aww, what's wrong, sweetie pie?"

"James hates me."

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you. Unless you made out with one of his friends. Then he probably does."

Way to be helpful, Dad.

"I flirted with a couple of his friends in front of him. Well, no, I mean, I flirted with one of them, and then the other one flirted with me…"

"What?" he asked blankly.

"I screwed up," I said by way of simplifying things. "Basically a couple of guys flirted with me at the pool and I didn't tell them to back off."

"Oh. And James saw?"

"Yeah. And he's really mad. But there were a couple of girls at the pool flirting with him and he didn't tell them to go away!"

"Maybe he did, and they just didn't listen," Dad suggested.

"Maybe," I said skeptically.

"Did he have the Thomas boys with him?"

"Yeah, he's babysitting them every day this week."

"Then maybe he was just trying to set a good example for them."

"Which is what? Be nice and polite and let girls flirt with you even though you have a girlfriend?"

"Uhhh…something like that…"

I sniffled again.

"Come on, sweetheart," Dad said. "This is James we're talking about. He's crazy about you. He would do anything for you. I'm sure whatever was going on with the girls isn't what you think."

"But that just makes it worse!" I wailed. "Because I hurt him for no reason! I'm an awful girlfriend."

"You're not an awful girlfriend," he said reassuringly. "You're a teenage girl and you're still getting the hang of things. Anyway, maybe this is a good thing. Maybe James isn't the one for you."

I straightened up on the couch indignantly. "He is to the one for me! I love him and he loves me back and if you can't see that then you can just – "

"Okay, I get your point!" Dad interrupted me loudly. "You two are soul mates, yadda, yadda, yadda."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far…"

"Though I would rather you not date at all and maybe enter a convent…"

"Not happening, Daddy."

He sighed sadly. "A father can dream."

"Naturally."

"Anyway, I have to get back to work, sweetheart. And I won't be home until late, probably. I'm going out to dinner with your mother."

"Should I expect you home at all?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow. I wasn't stupid, I knew what my parents were doing to rekindle the old flame that had apparently never completely gone out. Gross.

"I don't know. Wait – you shouldn't even know that I might not come home tonight!"

"I'm seventeen, and you've stayed over at Mom's a couple different times when Kendall was spending the night at a friend's. I even walked into her house once and found you two eating breakfast in the kitchen."

"Right…I'll just have her text you if I decide to, you know, sleep on the couch…"

"Sleep on the couch? That's the best you can come up with?"

"Yes. Anyway, I'll let you go. Love you, Katie-Kat."

"Love you, Daddy." We hung up and I sighed, tossing my phone to the side. Well, that conversation hadn't helped any. But really. Had I honestly thought that talking to my dad about James would do any good?

Before I could really ponder that question too much, my phone beeped and the screen lit up with a new text. I snatched it up and bit my lip when I saw it was from James: "We need to talk."

The four most feared words in any relationship…

I was so screwed.

I nervously texted back: "I know…"

"The boys' mom just got home and I'm about to head back to my house."

"Okay. I'll just stop by your house, I guess. What time do you want me there?"

"In an hour or so. I need to shower and eat, so…"

I bit my lip even harder as a very vivid image of him in the shower flashed through my mind. Yeah, that was just what I needed to think about when he was probably going to break up with me. It was a reminder of what I could never have now.

"Okay," I resignedly replied. "I'll see you then." I got up and dragged myself up the stairs, figuring that I might as well shower and change clothes. If I was going to get dumped, then I might as well look good and smell nice.

Once I had showered and dried off, I slipped into denim shorts and a dark green tank top. I blow dried my hair, slicked on some makeup, grabbed my purse, slipped my feet back into my flip-flops, and headed outside to my car.

Ten minutes later I was pulling up in front of James' house. The driveway was empty except for his car, so I figured that meant his mom was either at work or on a date with her firefighter boyfriend, Brad. And I had no idea where Shane was, if he was even home. He was fifteen and wouldn't be sixteen until August, so he didn't have his license yet, much less a car.

I pulled up beside James' car and climbed out, heading up to the front porch and ringing the doorbell, clenching and unclenching my fingers nervously. I wished he would hurry up and answer the damn door so that we could get this done and over with. The sooner he broke up with me, the sooner I could go home, curl up in my bed with a pint of ice cream and Titanic, and cry myself to sleep.

But instead I had to get through these damn formalities.

Fucking aye.

The door swung open and I gulped. James had changed out of his swim trunks into basketball shorts and a t-shirt. He was bare footed, and somehow that seemed to get him almost an air of innocence and vulnerability. But I knew it was fake. I was the one who was vulnerable. I was the one who was about to get my heart broken. When would I ever learn that James wasn't someone to play games with? I should have figured that out when I tried to blackmail him into tutoring me. But oh no, I just had to keep on crossing the line and pushing him back towards the edge. And he always pushed back until we were about to topple over the cliff. But this time was different. This time he was going to push me right over and watch as I fell without a safety net there to catch me.

"Come on in," James said quietly, tearing me out of my metaphors and regrets. I shuffled inside, kicking my flip-flops off, setting my purse on the floor, and turning to face him.

"Is anyone else here besides us?"

He shook his head, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his shorts. "Shane is out with Kyle and Brad's picking my mom up at work and then they're going out to eat at some fancy-schmancy country club that's hosting a special dinner for the firemen in our county."

"Oh. That's cool," I said meekly, tugging at my tank top just for something to do.

"Yeah." He looked at me, pressing his lips together. "So."

"So…?"

"Would you like anything to drink? Lemonade? Iced tea? Soda? Water?"

"Why are you offering me stuff to drink?" I demanded. "When you called me over here to break up with me?"

James blinked. "I – you – what?"

"You're breaking up with me!" I wailed. "Because I'm a slutty, ho-bag, game-playing bitch!"

He stared at me in complete silence for several long moments. "You think – ho-bag?"

I nodded, blinking back tears as I wrapped my arms around my body protectively. "Yes. Because I am one."

He blinked. "Why would you think that? I called you over here so that we could get this thing straightened out – wait. Did something else happen at the pool? Did you make out with one of them?!" His voice rose from relatively calm to a frequency that satellite radars would be able to freak out. "Did you kiss Chad?! What the fuck did you do, Katie?!"

I stepped back, holding up my hands as if to ward off the accusations. "I didn't make out with any of them! Why the hell would you think that? Oh my God! Did you make out with Chrissy and Veronique?!"

"How would I make out with both of them when I had Benjamin and A.J with me?!" he hollered.

"Who?!" I shouted back.

"The Thomas boys!"

"What the fuck kind of name is A.J anyway?!"

"It stands for Alexander Jacobs!"

"That is so fucking stupid!"

"And shortening your name from Katherine to Katie isn't?!"

I stalked towards him, rage spreading through me like a wildfire. I braced my hands against his chest and shoved as hard as I could. He barely budged; he didn't even stumble back a single step, which just pissed me off even more. "You're such an asshole, Diamond!"

"And you're a bitch, Knight!" he yelled back.

We glared at each other for a long moment, chests heaving and jaws clenched, and then we were kissing, my arms circling around his neck and his arms winding around my waist. I could feel him biting hard at my bottom lip, and I reached up to tug at one of the longer locks of hair that curled down to his neck. He pushed me into the wall in retaliation and I wrapped a leg around his, interlocking our knees together.

James broke the kiss after a moment, and we glared at each other some more. His eyes were blazing with heat, like flames dancing in the dead of night.

"I really hate you," I breathed out.

"And I really hate you. But for some reason, I really fucking love you."

"I really fucking love you too," I retorted angrily, and then I launched myself at him again. This time he scooped me up, hands sliding down to cup my ass, and I wrapped my legs around his waist, moving my hands so that they are at the back of his neck and on his jaw, letting me control the kiss.

James whined as I nibbled lightly at his lower lip, before forcing my tongue into his mouth and sweeping it around, mapping out the nooks and crannies like it was the cheat sheet for an algebra test and I was about to fail. His tongue battled with mine, but I won the fight quickly. It was a rarity for James to actively allow me to dominate him – he liked to be in control – but he always seemed to give in to me anyway, no matter how hard he tried to fight it. He always gave me what I wanted, and this time was no exception.

I finally pulled back, gasping for air, before stroking my thumb down his jaw, feeling the anger seep away like water trickling through my open hands. "God, I love you," I murmured, brushing my lips against his.

"I love you too," he brushed his lips back over mine.

"Good." I kissed him for a moment. "Take me upstairs."

"I – what?"

"Take. Me. Upstairs. No one's home. We have the house to ourselves for awhile, right?"

"I – yeah…"

"So. Take me up to your room."

We had made out in his bedroom plenty before, often when no one was home – although we always ensured that his mom never found out. She was pretty cool as far as mothers went, but after James and I started dating, she forbade us from being upstairs when no one was home, and when people actually were home, we had to leave his door open. My parents had the same rules, which meant that getting actual alone time was a hell of a lot harder than it should have been. But on the bright side, our parents were busy people, what with work and dating, and we could usually bribe Shane into not saying anything when we closed the door when he was the only one home. And when we really were alone, we were usually upstairs in five seconds flat.

Yeah, we were so trustworthy. But we hadn't done anything major. Yet.

But this time was different, and I knew that he could feel it. This time we both knew that once we started, we weren't going to stop. Maybe it was a stupid idea when we had been screaming that we hated each other five minutes earlier, but that was the way we operated. We screamed and hollered and shouted, and then we made out like two thirteen year olds who had just discovered kissing.

"O-okay," James agreed, voice a little shakier than usual, but he carried me towards the stairs nevertheless.

The thing about James and me was that we never based our decisions based on what our brains were telling us. It was like my mind just completely shut off whenever I was around him. All I knew was that I wanted him, and badly, and that if this didn't happen, I was going to go home regretting it.

When you know you're going to go home, regretting it if you don't have sex with a guy, then it's probably about time to take the next step. And I knew James wanted to – we both did, and we knew it. It was just that it seemed like something was constantly getting in the way, whether it was an injury, a fight, getting into trouble, or just plain interruptions.

James mounted the stairs, and I took the opportunity to attach my lips to his neck, sucking hard. He squirmed, groaning as he tilted his head to give me more access, and I tightened my legs even more. If he dropped me, he was in big trouble.

But I knew he wouldn't drop me. He was so much bigger than me. I was probably light as a feather to him. And even if I wasn't, he wouldn't risk hurting me. No matter how many times I hurt him, he was always there to catch me. There weren't a lot of guys who would put up with my crazy bitchiness, and even less guys who would deal with it for months on end without complaint. And maybe James was just insane for staying with me, but most of the time he acted like he was the luckiest guy on earth. I didn't deserve him, yet it was like he didn't think that he deserved me.

How the fuck had I lucked out like this?

And maybe that was why I had told him to bring me upstairs – because this was proof. I had fucked with his head – and he had possibly flirted with other girls, though from his comment about making out with both of them, I doubted he had actually enjoyed talking to them – he had accused me of kissing another guy, we had screamed bloody murder at each other, and we were somehow still together.

And that was in the space of two hours. That said a lot for us.

Most people would look at this whole afternoon as a sign that they shouldn't be with that other person. I looked at it as a sign that no matter what happened, James and I were going to stick with each other.

Carlos was wrong. We weren't the perfect couple. We were probably the most dysfunctional couple anyone would ever meet. But Camille was right. We were going to end up staying together through sheer force of will. And also through insanely hot chemistry. I was high maintenance and James was laid back for the most part, but we must have shared a similar kind of insanity, because that was the only explanation for why we kept coming back to each other.

And I had no complaints.

We finally reached James' room, and he kicked the door closed behind him before laying me on the bed.

"Mmm…" I pulled him down on top of me, kissing him again. We didn't make sense and we never would. But for us, that was the only way we were ever going to work. We lived for the craziness and we both needed it, otherwise we got bored. And as Shane said on a regular basis, one of these days we were either going to kill each other or fuck each other into oblivion. It was definitely looking like it was going to be the latter.

He kissed me back, bracing himself so that he didn't fall on me, but I didn't care. I hooked my legs around his waist and pulled him down so that I could feel him against me.

"So," I murmured as I pulled back, brushing his bangs out of his eyes, "are there any condoms around here, or are we going to have to raid your mom or brother's room?"

"Do not bring my mom or brother into this. They're the last people I want to think about right now," he told me sternly and I giggled.

"Sorry."

"You're forgiven." He reached into his nightstand drawer.

"Wait." I placed my hand on his arm, stopping him, and James looked at me curiously.

"What?"

"What happened with Veronique and Chrissy? Did you – you weren't – "

"I wasn't flirting with them," he confirmed. "They were trying to flirt with me, but I wasn't responding. I was just trying to focus on the boys and they kept getting in the way. Whenever I would try to get them to leave, they would swim away for a couple of minutes, and then they would magically appear next to me."

"Okay. But you got mad at me when I kicked up water all over them."

"I didn't get mad at you about that. I got mad at you because you started flirting with Chad. I mean, yeah, okay. I was annoyed that you sent a wave of water over them, but that was because I was trying really hard not to make a scene in front of Benjamin and A.J," he explained. "And they're already scared of you."

"Oh no. Do they call me the Wicked Witch of the West?"

"The Wicked Witch of the West Coast, actually." He gave me an apologetic smile and I grinned.

"I'm pretty sure half this town has called me worse, so I'll take it."

"But they think you're hot," he added.

"But they're also scared of me."

"Yeah. You tend to have that effect on people. For a five foot tall girl, you're fucking terrifying."

I shoved his chest playfully. "I am not!"

"You are. But it's okay, because that's one of the things I love about you."

"Hmmph." I pouted up at him, and he pecked my lips, before pausing. "What?" I asked warily.

"You still went after Chad."

"Which I completely regret. I'm sorry, James. I was angry and jealous and I wasn't thinking straight. But that's not an excuse." I pushed him away so that I could struggle into a sitting position. I crossed my legs and looked at him. "I am a bitch and I am bat shit crazy. And I don't deserve someone like you. I don't always treat you like I love you, I don't always act like I do. When you love someone, you're not supposed to go out of your way to hurt them, but I keep doing that to you. I'm selfish and I don't think before I act. And maybe it's selfish love or immature love, but it's some sort of love and it's real, I know that much. And if you do want to break up with me, I'd completely understand. But please, please, please don't break up with me!" I added desperately. "Because I love you and I'll change, I promise I will and – mmph!"

He cut me off mid-sentence by way of pressing his lips against mine. I melted into the kiss, relaxing as he pulled me into his arms again.

Once we had pulled away, James rested his forehead against mine. "I'm not breaking up with you, Katie-Bear. I don't like what you did today, but I do understand. I got together with the first girl I met after we broke up – "

"We weren't technically together."

"So I have a pretty good idea what was going through your mind today at the pool," he said loudly, talking over me.

"It won't happen again, I promise. No more games, no more bullshit."

A smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. "There will always be games, Katie. You can't live without them. Just make sure that next time, they don't go as far as they did today."

"I promise," I repeated sincerely.

"Okay." He kissed me again. "So…are we going to do this or not?"

I nodded, my stomach suddenly churning nervously. "Yeah, we are."

He eyed me. "Are you sure? Are you absolutely, completely positive? You're not agreeing to this just because you're scared of losing me, right? Because you won't lose me if this doesn't happen. You know that, right?"

"I do know that," I assured him. "But I want this. And yes, I'm absolutely, completely positive about it."

"You won't regret this?"

"Only if you do."

"I won't," he promised.

"Okay, then let's do this." And with that, I kissed him again.

The sun was sinking low in the sky, pink and gold striping the horizon as I looked out through James' bedroom window from where I was cocooned in his sheets. His arms were around me, his lips pressed against the back of my neck, and I smiled, snuggling closer to him.

"So…how're you feeling?" James asked me, mouth moving so that he could nibble lightly on my earlobe.

"Mmm…with what?"

"With what just happened."

"No regrets, if that's what you're asking. How are you feeling?"

"Pretty fucking good," he replied, and I grinned before rolling over so that I was facing him.

"Glad to hear it."

He grinned back, pecking my lips. "Was it as good as you always said it would be? Because you always said that sex with me would be the best fucking thing ever."

"It was," I assured him. "Which is kind of funny, because I thought it was going to hurt a lot more than it did. I mean, it was uncomfortable and definitely painful at first, but it got better."

"Good." He pulled me closer, kissing me again, and I leaned into him, just as the front door opened and closed.

There was a long pause, and then we broke apart, eyes widening in panic.

"Fuck!" James mouthed, and we practically tumbled out of bed, grabbing our clothes and trying to get dressed as quickly as possible. "Mom said she and Brad would be out until at least nine! It's only seven!" he cried.

"Maybe its Shane," I replied, trying to hook my bra while buttoning my shorts. I wasn't having any luck with either.

"We'll have to bribe him again," he groaned, pulling his shirt on.

"Want me to blackmail him?"

"Don't tempt me. Here." He came up behind me, hooking my bra for me. We had been fooling around enough before today that he had gotten pretty good at it.

"Thanks." I smiled at him over my shoulder as I finally got my shorts buttoned up. I grabbed my tank top and pulled it on, straightening out, before running my fingers through my hair. "Okay, let's go face the music. Wait. Do you have anything you can spray on us? I'm pretty sure we smell like sex…"

"Where's your purse? Don't you keep perfume in it?"

"I dropped it downstairs."

"Shit. Hopefully it's Shane and he'll be so wrapped up in whatever happened with Kyle that he won't notice."

"Let's hope so," I agreed, and took the hand he held out to me. Together, we walked out of his room and down the stairs.

We found Shane and Kyle in the kitchen, putting together what looked like the biggest sub the world had ever seen. They both raised their eyebrows when they saw us.

"What?" I asked, already blushing. Yeah, that wasn't going to give us away at all…

"Did I hear James' bedroom door open?" Kyle demanded.

"Maybe…"

Shane eyed us. "You both look awfully rumpled up…You guys have serious cases of bed head. And you both have this sort of weird…glow-thing going on."

We avoided meeting anyone's eyes.

"No way!" Kyle gasped. "You two didn't – !"

"They did!" Shane breathed out. "They had sex! Ooooh! I'm telling Mom!"

I smirked at him. "Are you really?"

"Duh. This is going to make me look like the good child."

"You have a giant hickey on your neck."

Shane yelped, but before he could cover up the designated spot, I yanked my phone from my shorts' pocket and snapped a picture. "You breathe a word about this to anyone, I'll be sending your mom this picture," I threatened.

"James, your girlfriend is blackmailing me," Shane whined.

James shrugged. "You shouldn't threaten to tell on us. Oh, and by the way," he added with a smirk of his own, "if you do say anything to Mom or Mr. and Mrs. Knight, I'm going to tell Mom that the other afternoon you and Kyle were up in your room together with the door closed. You two aren't allowed up there with the door shut any more than Katie and I are. And you're only fifteen."

I waggled my finger at Shane and Kyle. "For shame!"

"But – but – !" Shane turned to Kyle. "Help me out here!"

Kyle shrugged. "You're on your own here. Just agree to their terms, and we'll all win."

Shane groaned. "Ugh. Fine."

"Good." James and I grinned, and Kyle kissed Shane's cheek.

"So," James turned back to me. "I say we go back upstairs until Mom gets home."

I grinned, wrapping my arms around his neck so that I could kiss him once more. "That sounds like the perfect plan."

So, if you guys remember the epilogue of "Break the Ice", you'll know that part of this was mentioned - the part where James and Katie lose their virginity to each other. Basically what Dana described to me just filled in the blanks, and that's probably how this was born in the first place.

Anyway, happy birthday, Dana! And you guys should go and check out her stories, because they're original and creative and just plain awesome! Come on, it's her birthday, show her some love ;)

Thank you for reading, and please review! :)