Disclaimer: I do not own 10 Things, or any of it's characters. If I did, the show would still be on the air!
A/N: This is a oneshot. I've posted other oneshots where people have asked me to continue them and I'm considering it, but this one is best left alone or I'd have to change too much of the cannon storyline. So, just a warning before hand, this will be left a oneshot :) R&R 3
"And maybe you should save some for Anger Management." She heard the only stupid guy in the whole shop who's opinion even mattered to her, say. After that the shop was closed up and she was the only one left. After about another hour she gave up and just sat there by her car wondering what he would say when he realized that she couldn't do it. Kat Stratford couldn't believe that she had actually found a guy that made her care about what they thought. She never cared what other people thought, not when her old school thought she was a shrew, not when her old boyfriend posted pictures of him kissing the school slut two days after she left town, and not even when they moved to bimbo blonde USA (AKA Padua High,) but Patrick Verona had completely shattered her wall and now there was one person in the world who's opinion mattered to her.
That's where he found her around ten when he came back to check on her progress. She was just sitting in a needlessly removed tire and snacking on a granola bar. He decided he didn't want the guys in his shop class to be right about her, and that even if it meant spending time with her, still not knowing what was so captivating about her, he'd do it. For some reason he didn't want her to fail.
"Give up yet?" He said casually as he walked toward the car and picked up his wrench, that she had apparently "borrowed" after he left.
"No, just taking a break." She popped up and grabbed at the wrench but he could see what looked like unshed tears in her eyes, and it broke him. So, being the gentleman no one knew he was, he threw the wrench to the ground and wrapped his arms around her smaller frame. "I know you hate me and want nothing to do with me, you don't have to pretend to care." She said into his chest, hoping he wouldn't leave while she was pushing him away.
"That's not true. I don't hate you, and I only don't want you around when you stab me in the foot or get oil all over my clean shirt." He smirked and squeezed her a little more. "I do care about you…maybe that's why I keep coming back." He'd actually opened himself up and was now feeling very vulnerable.
"Well you were right, I can't do this. I've never worked on a car before, I've got no idea what I'm doing and now all those guys will be right about me and I don't know what to do about that either because usually I prove people wrong not right!" This brought out a smile and Patrick Verona knew what he could do to show her that he cared more than she understood him to.
"How 'bout this? Since I know my way around cars, I'll tell you step by step what to do, and show you how to do it using my truck. Then in the morning when the guys get here ready to tare you down, you collect on the bet, because you will have in fact finished it, and then tomorrow night we'll go for a spin and see how well the new system works? I'll even act impressed in the morning to sell it to the guys." For a moment all Kat could do was stare at the boy, no man, in front of her because she couldn't believe he had just offered to do that.
"What's in it for you?" She knew there was a catch, there was no way this boy would offer to do this no questions asked. Her thought was confirmed when he smirked.
"Go to the beach with me, spend an afternoon getting to know me, away from the influence of the other students. We'll call it even." After a moment she nodded and picked up the wrench he had previously discarded on the floor. She was going to clean up on this bet and then hang out with the only guy who really understood her at the beach. Kat Stratford was sure that her junior year was going to be an interesting one at the very least.