This is a challenge fic, hope someone enjoys it and no, I don't own anything but the idea.
Before Pete had even meet Kat he knew that he didn't like her. After the tenth time Josh has complained about the raging tiger Pete had in fact wondered if he should have some sort of protective gear for the first meeting.
She was sort of cute, in a tomboyish 'come any closer and I'll kick you' sort of way. Pete may have even risked limb to ask her out if not for the fact that that in the first half hour with her Kat had managed to knock someone on their back and pinned them with her foot. After that Pete was just amazed that his best friend could survive being in the same RV as her for months on end.
"She's not that bad once you get to know her," Berto had tried to convince Pete one day as they watched the other two attempt to out-do the other in tricks. "As long as you don't try to compete with her or wouldn't take no for an answer," he'd added a bit under his breath.
It did somewhat sting to have a girl half an foot shorter then him be able to beat Pete at anything, even things he hadn't have considered competing about in the first place. Such as drinking soda with pizza, somehow the chick had managed to turn the whole thing into a game that ended up with Berto being forced to go to the store and buying some more bottles of coke, the living room carpet being sticky for weeks, and Pete trying not to barf as he moved around. After that he tried to stay out of Kat's way though he wouldn't allow himself to appear rude to anyone. So who cared that he was almost always coming over to the house when she was at the gym or a doctor's appointment? And when she was around he just thought of her as one of the guys. One who complained about the toilet seat and had boobs but still one who would kick Pete's ass if provoked and as such was a guy to be avoided at all costs.
Though Pete probably wouldn't have looked across the table at a speed dating event and seen another one of the guys glaring at him.
They spent the first five minutes glaring at each other then Kat had started to pick at the bowl of peanuts in the center of the table and Pete tried to think of something to say that didn't sound like an insult. Not being able to come up with anything he was glad when the timer dinged, less glad when she grabbed his arm and hissed something about killing him if Pete so much as breathed a hint of this to Josh. Pete swore that he wouldn't then beat an hasty retreat towards the knockout blond with her nametag barely clinging to the fabric of what he was sure was a dress top, that or a bikini. The next girl he could see over the shoulders and watch Kat as she made faces at him whenever the man on her table would turn around. This ruined his chances with Toni, who ended up cursing at him and accusing him of just wanting some tail then slinking off with a slick haired man.
"How long until he gets her drunk do you say?" Kat asked brightly as she appeared at Pete's side like magic. He wondered why she hadn't gone with any of the men interested in her then if Kat was just following him around for kicks.
"How long does it take for you to get drunk?" Pete heard himself asking and kicked himself as Kat raised an eyebrow and grinned evilly.
"A lot longer than it's going to take you," she smirked before grabbing his arm and pulling. "I hear there is a nice bar just down the street. Maybe we'll be lucky and Toni and her man will have picked the same place." She kept dragging Pete, protesting that he was still a month under age and that he didn't want to total his car or get arrested, until they were seated in a dim room with shot glasses scattered around the wooden table.
Kat got him started on baseball, than began fighting with him over who was the best team when Pete was ten. After his fifth shot Pete was finding everything Kat said funny, even the parts about Josh being a jerk and needing to learn how to clean up after himself. He even found himself, after a couple more whiskeys, telling her stories about himself and Josh that Pete had promised himself to lock away forever. The good times didn't last very long after his story about Josh accidentally walking into the girl's locker room first day of high school.
"Hey chicky, how about you leave baby boy alone and feel what a real man is," someone yelled at Kat causing her to look up and eyes narrowing in rage. Pete jumped to his feet to hold her back and give the guy yelling a chance to escape. At least, he would have jumped to his feet and grabbed Kat if his legs hadn't of decided that they liked sitting down and folded up, sending his head crashing against the side of the table.
He could hear someone yelling something at him and being smacked against the cheek hard. Pete tried to tell them to leave him alone and let him sleep but that just seemed to make the person yell some more and pour something wet onto him. They grumbled something about not wanting to have Josh yell at them for letting Pete get mugged then Pete felt his legs being lifted and being dragged across the floor. He was a bit more awake when it came time to get shoved into the backseat of his car, though he was paying more attention to the fact that his stomach was starting to cramp up. Though after mumbling that to the person she'd snapped something about him better not be throwing up while she was in the same car then Pete drifted back into blessed sleep.
He woke up the next morning with his first hangover and the thought that not only had he not gotten lucky; he had been drunk under the table by someone half his body weight. After finally managing to wipe the gunk from his eyes Pete was even more embarrassed to realize that he was in his best friend's house and that he was somehow only in his boxers. He was glad to see that he'd been given covers last night and that he was not laying in the same bed, or even room, as any other person, pulling the blanket around himself Pete went looking for the rest of his clothing.
"Hey Pete," Josh leered as the darker haired man stumbled into the kitchen. "Did you and Kat have a good time last night?" Pete glared at him in reply then found his clothing neatly folded on the back of one of the chairs. He wondered if Kat had told the honest story or if she's made up something to keep the others from knowing about her being at a speed dating event. Then he wondered why the hell she had been at the speed dating event.
"I'm just sick of having to hear about how happy the rest of my family is married and having kids," Kat explained as she rocked her skateboard back and forth with her foot. "They act like I have a couple of screws loose for not wanting to compete with my sisters by popping out more then five babies. So I thought I'd snag someone from a speed date, bring him home over the holidays to meet the family, and then break up and act like he was the love of my life and my heart could never be mended. But the whole thing was filled with losers and perverts." Pete wondered which of those she considered him to be and decided it would not be a good thing to ask. It was nice to be able to hang out with her and talk about things, mostly because Josh had been leering at the two of them for a week now. Kat already said she's found a form of revenge and for the first time ever Pete was agreeing that it was the best thing for his friend.
"You could always take me along; I'd be the perfect boyfriend." Pete joked then realized that she might take it the wrong way. "Err, that is if I get cookies." Apparently that had been the wrong thing because Kat's face darkened and she slid away from him. "What did I say this time?" Pete grumbled at her empty spot.
"You know, the offer still stands," Pete mumbled at Kat's back as she threw a couple jeans into a suitcase. He stopped and licked his lips hoping that he wasn't going to end up sounding to much like an idiot and that she wouldn't get offended. "And… um… I was kind of hoping that we could do it for real?"
That got Kat to turn around and look at him, a slightly surprised look on her face and her shirt crumpled in her hand. Feeling that he needed to do something Pete closed the gap between them and kissed her quickly on the lips only to have her snort and start to giggle. He stepped back, hurt and confused when she grinned at him.
"I think you've been spending too much time watching romance movies. In real life all you have to do is ask a girl out to the movies or something." Kat got out between her laughter.
"Fine," Pete felt his face grow hot and jaw clenching. "Would you like to go the movies with me when you get back?"
"Nah, nothing good is going to be on." Kat tossed her shirt into the suitcase and zipped it up and swung it onto the floor. Once she hit the doorframe she stopped and tossed over her shoulder, "Though I'm not going to say no to dinner and a game." Then she was gone, leave Pete to wonder what sort of dinner that she was talking about and when Kat Ryan had ever seen a romance movie.