Helping Out
By: Riley
Summary – Katie is embarrassed after being teased at a friend's party. James decides to help her out. Short Jatie one-shot.
Sixteen year old Katie barreled into the diner that her mother worked at. She pushed open the door so hard that it hit a man, who was standing at the side, waiting for a table, in the back. He grunted and rubbed the back of his head, glaring at her, but Katie ignored him. He wasn't her problem right now.
Katie shoved her way through the crowd, her hazel eyes moving back and forth as she looked for her mother. She finally spotted her at a nearby table, taking someone's order.
"Mom," Katie hurried over to her mother. "Mom, are you ready to go yet?"
"Honey," Mrs. Knight flashed a smile to her customers before turning to her daughter, placing her hands on her hips. She let out a tired sigh. "I got stuck working a double shift, I'm not going to be able to take you home until later."
"What about Kendall?" Katie demanded, her foot tapping impatiently.
"He's at work too," Mrs. Knight replied, running a hand over her face. She then looked hard at her daughter. "Are you upset about something?" She asked gently. "Did something happen at your party? You left kind of early…"
"Everything's fine," Katie swiftly interrupted. "I'm just going to walk home, ok?" She didn't wait for her mother's answer before turning on her heel and pushing her way back through the crowded diner to get to the door. When she pushed it open, someone jumped backwards, letting out a curse when the door almost hit him.
"Katie?" Katie turned to see James duck out from behind the door, giving her a concerned look before smiling warmly. "Did I do something to upset you? You almost shoved the door up my sinuses." He joked. He frowned when Katie didn't laugh. She just shook her head and continued out of the diner. "Katie, wait up!"
"Leave me alone, James," Katie called over her shoulder as she started down the sidewalk, moving at a fast pace. "I just want to go home."
"At least let me walk you," James said, catching up to her. "It's dark and I don't want anything to happen to you. Kendall would kill me, if he knew I let you walk home alone."
"I'm sixteen, I can take care of myself," Katie reminded him. "I have been since I was, like, six."
"Yes, but I'm nineteen, so no one would be stupid enough to try and jump you." James said. He leaned over and looked hard at her. Katie noticed and turned her head away, hoping that he wouldn't see her face. But James was too fast for her. "Come on, Katie, I know something's wrong." He pressed. "What is it?"
"Nothing," Katie grumbled.
"Hey, if there's anything that I know, its girls," James said, placing a hand on his chest before quickly moving it back to his coat pocket. Being in LA for so long he had forgotten how quickly it got cold in Minnesota. "And when girls say that there's 'nothing' wrong nine times out of ten, they're lying."
"Well, I'm the one case," Katie snapped. "There's nothing wrong."
James grabbed onto Katie's arm, stopping her. "I know you, Katie." He said gently. "Someone has upset you. Do I have to go and kill someone?"
"No," Katie replied, giving a half smile. The thought of Kendall, Logan, Carlos, or James threatening to kill someone on her behalf always made her smile. It just reminded her that no matter how old any of them got, they were always going to be there for her.
"At least I got you to smile," James beamed, showing off his teeth. His face then relaxed to a look of intense concern. "Now, what's wrong?"
Katie made a whining sound as she turned to fully face him; her arms crossed over her chest, her face pointed towards her feet, and scuffing her boot against the ground. She didn't answer at first and James stayed silent, giving her time to figure out if she really wanted to tell him. The longer neither of them said anything, the more worked up Katie started to get. Finally, she blurted it out.
"All my friends were making fun of me because I've never been kissed before!" She cried, slapping her arms against her sides. "And because they wouldn't stop I left the party early." She looked up and glared at James. "Happy?"
James merely blinked in surprise. "That's it?" he asked.
Katie snorted. "Oh, sorry, I forgot I was talking to the guy who got his first kiss when he was five!"
"It was when I was four, actually," James quickly corrected her. "But that's not the point. Katie, not having your first kiss isn't a big deal." He shook his head. "Hell, Logan didn't get his first kiss until he met Camille."
"Yeah, but Logan's kind of a wuss at that sort of thing," Katie said, her upper lip curling. "And it's worse if it's a girl that's sixteen years old and hasn't been kissed." She pointed out. "I could see it in their faces, before they started whispering. They were like 'what's wrong with her?'" She pouted as she looked at her feet once more. "And I thought that fitting in was hard in LA."
"It's not the end of the world if you haven't been kissed yet," James said, trying to make her feel better. "Waiting for the person that you really like is probably the better thing for a first kiss. I wish I had."
"Really?" Katie's eyes widened as James nodded. "Who would that be?"
"Ah, it doesn't matter now," James waved a hand. "Anyway, don't worry about those people; they're not really your friends if they're making fun of you for something like that." Katie sighed. "I know it's easier said than done, but trust me on this." He opened his arms. "Now, give me a hug."
Katie rolled her eyes and moved forward into James's arms, wrapping hers around his waist. James wrapped his arms around her upper back, holding onto her tightly. Katie closed her eyes and rested her cheek against his chest, feeling safe and warm in his arms. Her eyes opened in confusion and she looked up at him when she felt James abruptly pull his arms away. He gave her a charming smile before bending down and giving her a kiss.
Katie's eyes immediately closed, she tentatively kissed back as James's lips danced over hers.
It then made sense to her why so many girls were going after James.
He was a good kisser.
James pulled away and Katie's eyes flew open once more. She blushed and looked away from him and started to walk to her house again. James walked with her, his hands in his pockets not saying a word. It wasn't that the silence was awkward, it was comfortable. When they got to her house, he stayed at the foot of the porch as Katie hurried into her house.
She paused by the door.
"James," she said slowly. "Thanks."
"For what?" A mischievous grin slid onto James's face. "For talking to your or for kissing you? Because, frankly, I'd like to say 'you're welcome' for kissing you."
Katie rolled her eyes. "Don't let Kendall hear you say that," she warned.
"Ooh, you're probably right." James laughed. As he turned to walk back to his house, he winked at her. "See you later, Katie."
"Bye." Katie waved before closing the door.
Now that she had her first kiss over with, maybe…just maybe she could admit to James that she had a teeny, tiny crush on him for the longest time.
THE END
A/N: Just a quick one-shot idea that I got while washing the dishes, funny enough. And I hadn't written a Jatie story since Two Is Better Than One and I'm somewhat of a fan of this pairing. I hope you guys liked it.
Cheers,
-Riles