Here we go again... ;)
Since the only specific preferences I got were for the young Jate one, and since I've got a better idea of how the plot is gonna go (and be original) here is the first chapter. I got the idea from a telemovie of all places -- it was on really late, so I only saw about two scenes, but it was enough to send my imagination racing. I wasn't sure how to write the summary without giving away the twist I've got planned, so I just left it kind of vague. I figure most of you know to trust me by now. ;)
As for the flashforward fic, I'll get to it eventually, although it does have something that should be pretty unique -- Sam as an obstacle to Jate... ;)
Chapter 1. Suburban Warfare
"Kate… Hey, Kate," Jack said, nudging his girlfriend where she sat doubled over the desk with her head in her arms beside him.
"Huh? What?" she stammered, jerking upright, forcing him to jump back to keep from being struck by one of her elbows.
"You were asleep," he told her, letting out a soft chuckle when she blinked at him, rubbing her face with the heel of her hand, her sea green eyes travelling around the lab in confusion.
"No, I wasn't," she insisted, but she glanced down, self-conscious, when he said, teasing her, "Yes, you were – I think you got some drool on your notebook," earning himself hard slap in the bicep when she realised that he was just making fun of her.
"Where's everyone going?" she asked, still wearing a slight smirk, as she watched their classmates gather up their belongings and file out the door.
"Last period's over, Kate – everyone's going home," he reminded her, and she blushed, embarrassed.
"Okay, so I was asleep," she admitted, closing her own books, and stretching as she stood, following him out into the corridor. "What'd I miss?"
"Just the cheat notes for the exam," he assured her, grinning as his words had the desired effect of halting her in her tracks, wiping the smile from her face, her freckles standing out against her cheeks as they went pale.
"You're kidding, right?"
His intention had been to make her sweat until he dropped her off, but the panic in her voice was so genuine that he found himself caving. "Here," he said, sliding the copy of his notes he'd made for her out of his notebook, and handing it to her. "I've got your back, remember?"
"Thank you, Jack," she agreed in a sweet voice when she saw what it was. "You're my hero." She skimmed over the paper in her hand, taking note of its contents, before tucking it between the pages of her textbook, and beaming at him. "I knew there was a reason I keep you around."
"Oh, really? And here I was thinking it was because of this," he teased as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a long kiss in spite of the groans and the cat calls he could hear coming from behind them.
He kept his arm around her when he released her, going with her to her locker, before stopping by his.
But while it wasn't unusual for her to want to be close to him, resting her head on his shoulder, he couldn't help noticing how much she seemed to be relying on him to support her weight.
"You feeling okay?" he asked her as they made their way across the football field to where his car was parked. "You've been kind of out of it all day."
"Yeah," she agreed with a heavy sigh. "Just tired. I didn't sleep well."
"Any particular reason?" he asked, bristling when she lifted her head, giving him a "You-know-what-I-mean" look.
"Did he…? Did he try something?" he pressed when she didn't elaborate, feeling his stomach tighten with fear and revulsion; he hated the idea of her trapped in that house, but he was powerless to change it, at least until they both graduated. Or turned eighteen. He didn't know if he could wait until the end of the school year; anything could happen to her in that time.
"No, but I think he was thinking about it," she confessed with a slight, almost imperceptible, shudder, and his fear was replaced with muted rage as he wondered whether it would be possible to go over there and sort her stepfather out without getting arrested. "If he ever thinks about anything. He had that look…"
"Which look?" he prompted, even though he knew it only too well.
"The one that makes me wanna hurl."
He could see how unsettled she was, so, wanting to keep the conversation light, he said, "Does he have a look that doesn't make you wanna hurl?" succeeding in getting her to crack a smile.
"I can't help it – he's just so…"
"Wayne?"
She joined in his laughter, but he could hear the sadness in her voice as she said, "Yeah." He was no Sam; that was for sure.
They had almost reached the car by then. "Well don't worry – it won't be for much longer," he reminded her, cupping her jaw with his palm, lifting her chin when she stared down at the ground. "We're gonna finish high school and get as far from him – and this place – as we possible. We'll go to college, get married…"
"Have babies?" she teased him, like she always did whenever the subject of their future came up, and he laughed, kissing the tip of her upturned nose with an affectionate smile. He loved seeing her so excited and happy, about anything, even something he still wasn't sure about.
"As many as you want," he agreed, "Just not for about ten years."
"Five," she bartered with an impish grin, making him chuckle.
"Eight. That way we'll both be finished college, and I'll be finished med school."
It was a well-worn routine now, and somehow, even though she tried to talk him down to something sooner, they always seemed to settle on eight. They would both be twenty-five then, which seemed like the right age: young, but not too young. There was never a question of whether or not they'd still be together then.
"It'll all work out – you'll see," he told her, hitting the button on his keys to unlock the doors. "It's gonna be great."
Kate didn't want to go home until she could be sure that her mother would be there, so, since Jack couldn't take her back to his place, they drove around for a while, spending an hour at the diner going over his notes, and another hour working up to saying goodbye, before he dropped her off in front of her house.
His parents were finishing dinner when he passed them on the way to the stairs, sighing when he heard his mother call out to him.
"Jack? Where've you been?" she asked him when he poked his head into the dining room, steeling himself for a lecture. It was the only way his parents seemed to know how to talk to him these days. "I thought you said you'd be home for dinner tonight."
"Something came up," he explained, ignoring the first question, determined to avoid the specifics of where he'd been, and who he'd been there with, but his father, who'd been silent up until that point, decided to answer for him.
"He was with that Austen girl again," he told her, his clear blue eyes never leaving Jack's, assuring him that he wasn't as clever as he thought he was.
"She has a name, Dad – Kate," he shot back, his temper flaring at the dismissive way his parents spoke about her; the same way she spoke about Wayne; refusing to believe that she could ever be good enough for him.
"Her name is not the issue here, Jack," his father continued, and Jack sighed, forcing himself not to storm out to his car and take off for the rest of the night. It was tempting, but it wasn't the way to show them that he was old enough to make his own decisions.
"I know you want to help her, and that's noble, but – and I only say this because I worry about you, Jack – you're too close to her to see that she is not a good influence on you. Your grades are slipping, you're staying out until all hours of the night… lying about where you're going… that's not you, Jack. That girl's whole family is trouble – it's only a matter of time before she drags you down too."
It was the same speech he'd been getting since he brought her over for dinner and announced that they were dating; while his father had the tact – or the cowardice – to wait until Jack took her home to express his disapproval, his coldness towards her had sent a clear enough message, and ever since, she'd refused to come back while his parents were home since.
"And when she does, you won't be there – got it," he finished, having learned it by heart, starting up the stairs without another word.
He could hear his parents debating whether or not they should revoke his car privileges in the hopes forcing him to obey them, but he didn't wait to hear what they decided, shutting himself up in his room.
He wasn't going to let that stop him from seeing her; already, he thought as he dropped his backpack onto the floor, rescuing his homework, college couldn't come fast enough, though he couldn't help wondering how long it would take his father to start using that as a weapon.
He was still sitting at his desk at midnight, contemplating getting up early to finish it, when he heard a soft rap on his window; poking his head out into the hall to make sure it hadn't disturbed his parents, he opened the shutter to find Kate crouched in the tree outside. She never used the front door, not while there was a chance that someone other than him would answer it.
He couldn't see her very well in the darkness, but her eyes glistened if she'd been crying, and when he reached out to help her in, he could feel that she was shaking, in spite of the warm air.
It wasn't until she dropped down from the window ledge, onto the carpet in front of him, that he registered the ugly black bruise forming at the corner of her mouth, her bottom lip split and bleeding as if someone had just hit her there.
"Jesus, Kate – are you okay?" he asked, leading her over to sit on his bed while he tended to her, but he didn't need her to tell him how it had happened, because he knew. It wasn't the first time she'd come to him messed up like this, and it probably wouldn't be the last.
At least he was pretty sure that it wouldn't, until she lifted her pink-rimmed eyes to his with a look he'd never seen on her before, one of undiluted fury. "We have to kill him," was all she said, which was probably for the best, because he wasn't sure he could stand to hear any more.
Next chapter: Why does Kate want to kill Wayne? (I will tell you she's not pregnant this time!) ;)