Summary: Kate goes to her high school reunion and works out a few things. Growing up is harder than simply aging forward. Kamy. Oneshot.
Warnings: Kate/Amy fic. Femslash. One homophobic slur is used. Kate-centric. Reunion fic.
Disclaimer: I neither own nor am affiliated with Common Law in any way.
Wanted to write a Kamy fic, and this is what I eventually ended up coming up with this. Not quite sure how that happened. Anyway, enjoy for Femslash February.
OOOO
Most Likely To
"By taking the time to stop and appreciate who you are and what you've achieved—and perhaps learned through a few mistakes, stumbles and losses—you actually can enhance everything about you."
—Jack Canfield
XXXX
The woman in the mirror frowned and ran her hands over the dress on her hips. It was a lovely dress, knee-length, form-fitting, with a square neckline and butterfly sleeves that shifted when she moved. The fabric looked like a nebula, a rich, satiny black with subtle striations of purples and blues within, brighter streaks of pinks and whites flaring across it. It was absolutely lovely, and it had looked amazing on the mannequin.
Kate frowned and ran her hands over her hips again. "I look ridiculous."
Slender arms wrapped around her waist, and a brunette head appeared over her shoulder. "You look," Amy said admonishingly, resting her chin on her partner's shoulder, "absolutely gorgeous. I know it, and I think you know it. So either you're fishing for compliments, or you're nervous."
The blonde sighed, shoulders dropping. "Sometimes there are downsides to dating a detective."
"This has nothing to do with me being a detective and everything to do with me knowing you too well." Amy slid around, peering up at Kate. "What do you have to be nervous about?"
Kate let out a shallow breath, dropping her head so her forehead rested against her partner's. "What am I doing, going to this? I haven't seen any of these people in twenty years. They weren't even my friends!"
"You're telling me you didn't have any friends in high school?" The brunette raised one eyebrow, her voice saying I highly doubt that.
Kate sighed. "I had a couple of close friends. But none of them were the type to come to a high school reunion."
"Well, twenty years is a long time." With gentle hands, Amy pulled away, tipping Kate's head up so she was looking in the mirror again. "People change. I'm sure in high school you weren't the type of girl who'd go to a reunion, either."
A small smile curled her lips. "That's true enough."
"Exactly." Amy gave her an encouraging smile over her shoulder. "So perk up. The only reason people go to these things is to compare how well they've done against everybody else. You look amazing, and you're a decorated police officer. You're the cream of the crop, baby."
Kate turned, pressing a kiss to the corner of Amy's mouth. "You're the best, Ames."
"I know," Amy teased, grabbing her hands and tugging her away from the mirror. "Now, let's do something with your hair. I refuse to let you just throw it into a tail and call it quits."
Kate suffered the attention quietly, letting Amy fuss and fidget with her hair. The end result was astounding—a gentle cascade of waves all twisted up the back of her skull and fixed into place with a shimmering barrette that matched her earrings.
"Damn, you're good at this," Kate mused, admiring her hair in the mirror.
The brunette shrugged. "What can I say? I like this sort of thing. It's not every day I get a chance to play with someone else's hair."
Kate reached up, wrapping a hand around the back of Amy's head and pulling her down for a kiss. "Thank you."
Amy returned the kiss with vigor. "You're welcome. Now you'd better hurry and finish your makeup, or you're going to be late."
XXXX
When Kate first got the invitation to her twenty year high school reunion, she hadn't even opened it. She had no intention of going, and she'd laughed at the idea. As soon as she'd turned eighteen, she'd been out of there like her ass was on fire, and she'd never looked back. Why would she want to return? She'd tossed the invite in the junk mail and forgotten about it.
But it didn't leave her alone. She found herself thinking about it at odd moments, wondering what it would be like to return. To go back to that little town she grew up in and see the place she'd come from, see the people she used to know, how they'd changed and how they hadn't. She thought about comparing herself, seeing the ways she'd grown and the things that stayed the same as they'd been twenty years ago.
And when she thought about it, she wanted to go, a creeping, nagging thought that kept nudging her brain. She didn't care about any of her former classmates, not really, but still.
Still.
So she'd looked through the junk mail on the entry table, searching for the envelope, and she was a little more upset then she'd expected when she couldn't find it.
Luckily, it hadn't gone far. Amy had pulled it out of the pile and stuck it to the fridge, and Kate had agreed to go before she could back out on it.
Now, fifteen minutes into the hour-long drive, she was wondering, not for the first time, what had compelled her to RSVP. She'd had one good friend and a few decent acquaintances, so it wasn't like she was going back to see all her old friends. And comparing herself to her classmates? She'd never needed to bother with that sort of thing before, why would she need to do that now? Amy had the right of it—Kate was an accomplished, decorated detective with the perfect girl and legs that still looked good in heels, no matter how infrequently she wore them. Who cared what anyone else thought?
At this point, she'd probably spend most of the night milling about in the corner, saying hello to the few people she remembered and wishing she was at home watching Netflix with Amy.
"This is stupid," she grumbled to herself, but there was no one in the empty car to reassure her, or even agree with her. There was just her and the radio, and neither of those were very good company.
She sighed and stuck in a CD, and tried not to think of what she was heading into. When that failed, she decided to think of it like going into battle. Just another situation she needed to be prepared for.
She wished she'd brought Amy. She couldn't imagine going into battle without her partner backing her up.
Not that Amy hadn't offered, and Kate had been allowed a plus-one. But, for all sorts of reasons that had seemed so plausible at the time, Kate had decided to go it alone. Yeah, that was a great plan.
Oh well. Too late to do anything about it now. Kate sighed and twisted the steering wheel, staring resolutely ahead as the road flashed by, drawing her ever closer to her destination.
XXXX
The reunion was being held in a hotel, which, thank god. Mysterious compulsion or no, Kate didn't think she'd have ever agreed to the damn thing if the event had been held at the high school. She sat outside, staring at the elegant brick building and fortifying herself.
She felt better once she slid her badge into her clutch. She wished she'd brought her gun, too, but that was safe in her gun locker at home, an hour away and totally out of reach.
"Should have brought Amy," she grumbled, looking wistfully at her clutch, which contained, among other things, her phone. After a moment, she sighed and shook her head. Even if she called right now, Amy wouldn't be able to get out here for an hour. As delightful as that would be, Kate had already said she'd be fine on her own. When Amy had offered, Kate had pointed out that Amy wouldn't have any fun surrounded by people she'd never met in her life, all reminiscing about a period she'd had no part in. Perfectly logical at the time, though now that she thought about it, they totally could have snuck out of the reunion and visited all the old makeout spots.
One more reason to curse her short-sightedness.
She exhaled, looking at the hotel again. "Might as well just get this over with," she grumbled, checking herself in the rearview. Her hair had stayed in their delicate waves, her earrings sparkled, and none of her makeup was smudged in any way.
She was about as ready as she'd get.
"It's just a high school reunion, Cafferty," she urged herself, climbing out of the car. "Not the field. You'll be fine."
No. This wasn't anything like going out in the field. That, at least, she knew how to handle.
This was an evening surrounded by catty people she'd barely been able to stand twenty years ago, making small talk and pretending to have fonder memories than she actually did.
"Everything," she hissed under her breath, "I regret everything." So saying, she pushed open the door and stepped into the hotel lobby.
The lobby was nice, full of tasteful gilt and soft music. It even had a small fountain in the middle. There was a sign, just inside the door, pointing members of the Desert Groves High School reunion down the hall to the ballroom. Kate followed the signs.
A table was set up by the double-doors to the ballroom, with a bright-eyed, grinning young woman in a sparkling blue dress behind it. "Hi there!" she chirped as Kate approached. "Are you here for the reunion?"
The table, Kate could now see, was covered in badges. The woman in blue was wearing a badge as well. Kate smiled gamely to keep her true expression from showing on her face. The badge had a name—Mindy Carlisle, Kate had no idea who she was—and it also had a picture. One straight from the yearbook, it looked like, of a younger-faced blonde with a bad eighties haircut.
Kate recalled her yearbook picture and almost wanted to say that she'd gotten lost looking for the bathroom.
Then she thought about what sort of cowardice that was, leaving without even going inside, and she imaged Amy at her back bolstering her up, and she straightened, clutch held tight in her hands. This was nothing to be afraid of. She was a cop. She wasn't afraid of anything, dammit.
She smoothed out her features, tried to make her smile seem more like a smile and less like a grimace. "Hi. Yes. Um, I'm Kate Cafferty?"
"Cafferty…let's see…" Mindy looked down at the table, scanning the badges. "Ah, here we are." Bright as a puppy, Mindy held out the laminated piece of plastic. Kate took it, and this time she couldn't help but grimace at the picture on the badge. God, that was her picture…? With that awful eighties haircut and an angry scowl because her mother had forced her into a dress for senior pictures, and she'd been pulling the 'rebellious tomboy' act for years now so there was no real reason to stop. And that was the picture they put on the reunion badges.
Mindy laughed, a warmly genuine sound. "I know. It was the reunion coordinator's idea. She figured it would be easier to remember people."
"That's one way of doing it," Kate chuckled, pinning the badge in place. Having one person commiserate with her was enough to make this situation a little less intimidating, a little more bearable. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Dinner is at seven," Mindy announced, rattling off the itinerary like she'd already done this a hundred times. "There's an hour beforehand, to mingle, and afterwards, there's going to be dancing, and we'll announce the reunion king and queen. Regular drinks are free. Alcoholic drinks, unfortunately, are not, but they're twenty percent off so long as you wear your badge." The blonde's eyes crinkled up as she smiled, and she waved a hand at the wide-open doors to her right. "Have fun."
"Thanks." Kate nodded, stepping around the table, and headed into the ballroom.
XXXX
There were a lot of movies about high school reunions, usually involving balloons and streamers and decorations that wouldn't look out of place at a high school dance. This was a little more tasteful than that. Balloons, yes, in her school's colors, but no streamers or tacky disco balls. A DJ had set up on the stage, playing soft music so people could mingle and talk without shouting over the noise, and there were little round tables scattered across the floor. The bar was in one corner, and people milled with drinks in hand.
All in all, it looked like any random social function, were it not for the large sign proclaiming 'Welcome, class of '84. Go Scorpions!' on a stand in front of the stage.
Really, at first glance, it all seemed alright. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought.
She headed for the bar, scanning name badges as she went. She saw a few people she vaguely recognized, and a lot more she didn't. Even twenty years later, even if people could and did change in that time, Kate wasn't sure any of her friends from school would be caught dead at a reunion. Kate went simply because…
Well. She still wasn't quite sure why she'd come. She'd spent the entire ride over here searching her soul for her own motivations and came up empty. Maybe it was just like Amy said. Maybe she just wanted to see how far she'd come, or somesuch. Whatever the reason, she'd work it out. She was a detective, after all.
And this detective needed at least one glass of alcohol, right now.
She slid into a space at the bar, gesturing to the bartender for whatever he had on tap. Obligingly, he sent a mug sliding her way. As she grabbed it, her elbow bumped into the arm of the woman next to her, spilling beer and foam over both of them.
"Shit. Sorry. My bad, sorry." Kate grabbed for napkins, awkwardly patting the woman's arm where it got wet.
"No, it's alright," the other woman laughed. She helped clean up the mess, then held out her hand. "Hi. Jalissa Moore."
"Kate Cafferty." They shook, and they both took a second to study the grainy pictures on their name badges. Jalissa, back in high school, had had wild, out-of-control corkscrew hair that could barely be contained in the frame of the photo, tortoiseshell glasses, and, it looked like, braces. She was completely unfamiliar.
"Sorry," Kate said, taking her hand back. "I don't think I knew you."
"Same." Jalissa shrugged, taking a sip of her drink—something fruity and blue with a little yellow umbrella. "I was in band. I played clarinet." She made a motion in front of her, like playing a recorder, which didn't tell Kate what a clarinet was in any way.
Kate smiled a little, taking a sip of her own beer. "I tried out for the baseball team."
"Didn't make it?"
"It was the boy's baseball team."
"Ah." Something twitched in Jalissa's face, surprised and bemused and not more than a little entertained. There were half a dozen things she could have said. She chose to go with, "So you were a jock."
"And you were a band geek." The two women shared smiles, and, having established their former hierarchy in high school, swept it aside. It had been twenty years. It really didn't matter.
The detective took a moment to study her companion. She wore an emerald green dress that complimented the dark tone of her skin like magic, and gold bangles and earrings glistened on her wrists and ears. Her hair, so uncontained in high school, was a neat, dark cap on her head, dark as ebony, and her velvet eyes danced with intelligence and humor.
All in all, she was an incredibly attractive woman, and if Kate were single she would definitely be sending out signals.
(She was taken, not blind. She was allowed to look, so long as she didn't touch.)
But since she was taken, she hooked a thumb over her shoulder instead. "Want to go get a table?"
Jalissa smiled and waved for another drink. "Sure."
XXXX
Jalissa was easy to talk to. She reminded Kate a little of Amy; she looked gentle and sweet, but after only a few minutes it was easy to see she had a spine of steel inside of her. She'd fought her way to where she was with tooth and nail, and she wasn't going to give that up easily. And that similarity made it easy to relax around her.
Oh, they weren't going to be best friends after this, but they would probably exchange contact information and like each other on facebook, so there was that.
Jalissa worked in computers, as the vice something or other for a tiny company Kate had never heard of. "I was into computers back when you could only get access to them at the library. I would spend every afternoon there, looking stuff up and playing around with the programming. It was fascinating." She chuckled, leaning back in her chair. "My father always said it was just a phase, that it would never go anywhere. He still doesn't have an email, to this day."
Kate snorted and shook her head. "My mom is the same way. Sometimes I think she's faking it, because no one could possibly be that bad at technology."
Jalissa shook her head mournfully. "Oh, trust me, there are indeed people that bad." She went on to share some stories that had Kate in stitches.
"Oh, wow." The blonde shook her head. "You should meet my coworker Kendall. Man, if she gets going on idiots with computers, she'll never stop."
Which led to a lively discussion about their coworkers and the various shenanigans that happened at work. It wasn't in any way a contest, but with Mitchell and Marks as the basis of most of her stories, Kate was pretty sure she was winning. Jalissa, for her part, refused to believe the couple's counseling story. "No way," she shook her head. "No way that's real."
"It absolutely is! The captain swears by it!" She took a sip of her drink. "My partner and I—"
"Partner?" The voice that came from behind her was deep, rough with age and probably too much alcohol and cigarettes, but the mocking sneer was intimately familiar, and it made the beer sour in her mouth. "Guess I always figured you for it."
Kate grit her teeth into a rictus, turning in her chair. "Hi, Dick. Still living up to your name, I see."
Richard "Dick" Gorman tucked his thumbs in his belt, sneering down his nose at her. In the contest of who aged most gracefully since high school, Dick lost by a landslide. In his senior photo, he was baseball-fit, with a big, square face and thick blonde hair. Now, he was about forty pounds heavier, his features softened by fat, and his hair was both thinning and receding, which was just an unfortunate combination altogether.
But the eyes hadn't changed. Small, beady, and mean, so unnecessarily mean. He'd tormented her the entire time she was in high school, and she'd done nothing but hurt his pride.
With some men, that was more than enough.
"Look at you, Cafferty." That nasty gaze roamed over her, leaving her feeling slightly dirty wherever his eyes landed. "Done anything worthwhile? Joined any baseball teams?"
"I still play some." She had to force herself not to rise to her feet. That would mean she was accepting the challenge he was trying to provoke. What she really just wanted was for him to go away.
Unfortunately, her mouth didn't get the memo, because faced with her childhood bully she became seventeen again, and she couldn't help saying sweetly, "I see you've kept fit. Still playing? Or did that fail when the scholarship fell through?"
His face turned mottled and red. She could almost sense Jalissa shrinking into the background, letting the confrontation pan out. Kate couldn't blame her. Dick had been nasty back then, and twenty years didn't seem to have improved on his mood. He'd probably bullied Jalissa and her type too.
Kate shook her head, regretting the words even as she'd said them. "Walk away, Dick," she told him, turning back to the table. "It's been twenty years. Let it go." She was a different person. He…well, he seemed exactly the same, but she wasn't the girl who would fight with the boys twice her size just to prove something anymore. She didn't need this.
She shifted to face Jalissa, but before she could utter a word, Dick coughed a laugh, cold and sharp. "Partner, huh? I'm not surprised you ended up a dyke."
It was like the chair felt out from under her. Fury burned her face, made her tremble in her seat. But more than that, there was shame, the shame she'd felt ever since she was a teenager and realized who she was and what that would mean. She'd thought she'd grown out of it—thought that being with Amy, and accepting herself even with just one other person would make it go away.
All it took was one little word from one particular person, and everything came flooding back.
Jalissa's eyes were wide. "But…she's not—"
Now Kate stood, interrupting the other woman. She rose to take control of the situation, to put herself on even ground with her childhood bully. What was that one adage? If you don't stand up to bullies, they won't leave you alone. Well, that hadn't work too well in high school, but then, she hadn't exactly gone out of her way to avoid him. She'd picked more than a few fights herself, just because she could.
She was tired of picking fights. She just wanted him to leave her alone so she could get through this stupid night and go back home.
She turned, staring down at the flabby man. He was shorter than her. He hadn't been in high school. It surprised her.
She took a breath, calming her nerves. The reunion wasn't like going into the field, but this…this was a fight, and she knew how to handle herself in those.
When she spoke, her voice was calm, even if her hands trembled imperceptibly. "I'm a cop, Dick. When I say 'partner,' I mean my police partner." She reached into her clutch and pulled out her badge, glad she'd brought it along. (Though she did kind of wish she'd brought her gun, too. Wouldn't that have wiped the color from his face?) "Detective Kate Cafferty, LAPD Robbery-Homicide."
He did lose some of his color, staring at the shiny gold badge in her hand. He opened his mouth; she didn't give him a chance to talk.
"And whether or not I'm a lesbian, you don't get to use that word. You just don't. And if you use it at me again, I'll drop you. Remember how many times I beat your ass in high school? Bet I can do it faster now."
People were staring. Dick was turning red, shuffling his feet, and Kate knew she'd won. But she couldn't help digging in one last barb. "You're a small, mean little man who never amounted to much and never will. Grow the fuck up and stay the hell away from me."
He was left speechless, face mottled and eyes darting to the watching crowd. It should have felt like a victory. But it just made her feel slightly nauseous. She was seventeen again, picking fights with the bigger boys just to prove she had what it took.
She'd come to this stupid thing to see how much she'd grown, and it turned out she hadn't grown up at all.
She needed to get out of here.
Kate turned to Jalissa. Judging by the look on the other woman's face, the smile Kate attempted to muster up wasn't worth the effort it took to make it.
"I'm going to get a bit of air," she declared, her clutch crumpled in one fist. Her badge was still in her other hand, the edges digging into her palms from how hard she was gripping it. She didn't let it go just yet. Travis wasn't the only hothead in the department, and if Kate didn't have both hands occupied she just might whirl around and punch Dick right in the face.
Her night was already ruined, but she could do her best to keep from ruining the night for everyone else.
Without giving the bully another look, she turned and stormed out of the ballroom, right past a befuddled Mindy at the reception desk.
When she got outside, she leaned against a wall and dropped her face into her hands. She stayed that way for a long time.
XXXX
"Hey, Kate. What's up?"
The mere sound of her partner's voice made something tight in Kate's chest unclench. She sighed, slumping against the wall, the phone cradled against her ear. Oh, how she wished Amy were here. She should have just stuffed her stupid pride and brought Amy as her plus one. She'd been worried that Amy would be too bored in this place full of people she'd never met, never known, but if Amy had been here…
She sighed again, leaning her head back against the brick of the hotel. "Hi, honey."
Her tone was enough to make Amy perk up in alarm. "What is it? What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Kate closed her eyes, a bitter, tired laugh falling from her mouth. "Oh, not much. I stood up to my childhood bully and dredged up some awful feelings. No big."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line. "Are you okay?" Amy finally asked, and Kate was glad she knew her partner so well, because otherwise she would have gotten pissed. She could take care of herself.
But Amy wasn't asking if she could—and had—handled herself against the bully. Amy knew perfectly well that Kate could take care of herself. She was asking about how Kate was feeling, about why Kate was calling right now when she should be in the middle of her reunion.
Right at this moment, Kate wanted nothing more than to wrap Amy in a huge hug and never let go. Oh, if only…
"I'm fine," she mumbled. "It was stupid. Just…a stupid, petty jealousy he never got over."
Amy waited, prompting silently. She wasn't there, but Kate could still feel her presence, supporting her when she needed it, and that was almost as good.
There were decorative boulders in front of the hotel. Kate picked one with a relatively flat top, brushed it off, and sat down, rubbing her forehead. "I was a tomboy in junior high. Like, the biggest tomboy you could ever imagine. I played softball, but it just…it wasn't exciting enough. I wanted more excitement. And I didn't want to pitch underhanded anymore. So freshman year, I tried out for the baseball team." She paused a beat. "The boys' baseball team."
"Ah," Amy said significantly.
"Yeah." Kate reached up to run her hand through her hair, just barely remembering the delicate waves Amy had done for her. She dropped her hand back down with a sigh. "Yeah. It would have been fine if I was lousy at it, I think. They would have just forgotten about me. But I wasn't. I was better than half the guys on that field, and the only reason I didn't make the team was because I was a girl. They knew that, and it pissed them off."
Amy stayed quiet, but Kate could feel her support flowing through the phone. She tilted her head back, looking up at the darkening sky. It was pinks and purples and golds, and it sort of reminded her of her dress.
"Dick never got over it," she continued. "He was the star of the baseball team, and he never got over the fact that a girl was better at his own game than he was. He made high school a living hell. By the time I graduated, I was ready to get out of that school, that town, as fast as I could. I walked away and I never looked back, never thought about him again. And then I came here tonight." She chuckled sourly, closing her eyes. "I didn't expect him here. I don't know why. High school was probably the best time of his life, and those are the people who always show up to reunions. I just…I thought I was over all this, and it turns out I'm really not."
I'm not okay and I really want you here, because I could use the backup, she didn't say. A part of her wanted to, but she wouldn't do that.
Amy exhaled slowly, and Kate waited for…god, she didn't even know what she was waiting for. All she knew was that her partner was an hour away and Kate needed something to prop her up so she could go back inside with some semblance of normalcy on her face, and she wanted Amy to be the one to give it to her. Because they were partners, and they supported each other, and Kate could really use some support right now.
Amy finally exhaled. "Your bully's name is Dick?"
Kate laughed. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes and just laughed. It wasn't thatfunny, not even close, but it was just what she needed. A dose of light-heartedness to cut through the frustration and anger churning inside her.
They would still talk about it when she got home, when they were together and they could be close and Kate could hold Amy and draw on her support as she worked through everything. (And Amy would definitely make her work through everything. Do you really want to bottle it all up? she would ask. Look at how well that's worked out for Mitchell. Do you really want to be that repressed all the time? And Kate would just chuckle and shake her head and let all the words be drawn out.)
But right now, this was enough. This was just what she needed.
"I love you," she murmured, once the laughter had died down. She smiled warmly across the parking lot, imagining Amy sitting in the living room, curled up with the phone to her ear. "I love you so much."
"I love you too." There was a rustle on the other end of the line. "Are you going to come home now?"
"No, not just yet, I think." Kate swiveled on her rock, looking back at the hotel. "I already paid for dinner. Seventy-five bucks, non-refundable." She paused a heartbeat. "I'll probably skip the dance after, though. I really don't need to find out who gets crowned reunion king and queen."
Amy chuckled, warm and soft, and it was almost like an aural hug. "I totally understand. I'll see you when you get home, then." She smiled—even though Kate couldn't see it, she could feel the warmth of it spread across her skin. "I'm glad you're feeling better."
"All because of you, hon." She stood, brushing off her dress, and looked at the hotel with a sigh. She didn't want to go back in. She just wanted to drive home and curl up with her partner on the couch, watching something stupid with a decent number of explosions.
But. Well. Seventy-five bucks.
"I'd better get back inside. Dinner's gonna start soon."
"Have fun." They made their goodbyes, and when she hung up, Kate felt better. Still could have gone without Dick's confrontation, but now she felt like she could handle whatever else he threw her way without exploding.
She took a breath, put her game face on, and headed back inside.
XXXX
Dick was at the bar when she returned. Kate hesitated, fiddling with the zipper on her clutch. She ought to go find Jalissa and keep talking with her, because Kate enjoyed her company and it was better to spend time with friends than foes.
But she was starting to get an inkling of why she'd come. Subconsciously, she'd never outgrown that awkward, unsure seventeen-year-old who'd been bullied and shamed for years. She said she was different, she acted like the past was the past, but coming back just reinforced it all; somewhere, deep inside, she was still letting Dick Gorman get to her.
It had been twenty years. It was time to grow up.
She squared her shoulders, took a breath, and headed for the bar.
Dick gave her a nasty sideways stare. "Oh. It's you." He took a long sip of his beer, gaze never leaving her. "What do you want, Cafferty?"
Apologizing had always been hard, made harder because the angry teenager inside her didn't think she'd done anything wrong, but she forced the words out. "I'm sorry, Dick."
His eyes widened, and he sputtered. She barreled on before she could convince herself that was enough, because it wasn't. "I shouldn't have torn you down like that in front of everybody. I mean, you still shouldn't have called me that, but I could have handled it maturely, and I didn't. So…I'm sorry."
He scoffed into his glass, glaring at the table. "Whatever."
She felt a sudden surge of pity for the guy. He was a piggish, mean man who'd never moved beyond high school, sitting here alone at the bar, not a friend in sight. She didn't like Dick, not even a little, but there was always something awful about someone so alone.
"You want some advice, Dick?"
"From you? Absolutely not."
"Grow up." He stared at her; she kept as much condescension out of her voice as possible, because she was actually being sincere. "This isn't high school, and we're not seventeen anymore. Stop hanging onto the past and just grow up already. You'll be a lot happier for it."
Sullen, he went back to his drink, dismissing her out of hand. "Whatever."
Well, she'd done what she could. Kate sighed and turned away, searching the room for Jalissa. It wasn't exactly how she'd wanted things to go, but she'd said her peace. Maybe now, she could move past it too.
It hadn't felt like a victory earlier, but this, in its own way, did.
XXXX
She'd taken perch on the other side of the bar, stirring her Bloody Mary with her celery and absently musing how dissimilar it was to blood. This was the sort of thing she thought about when she had too much to drink on an empty stomach, and she decided to cut herself off after this. She still had to drive back after dinner, because there was no way in hell she was spending the night after all this, but she'd figured one drink couldn't hurt anything.
Definitely should have rethought that. Or at least eaten more bar nuts before downing half the drink.
Jalissa found her at the bar, settling into the stool beside Kate. She waved the bartender over and placed her order, picking at the bar nuts in front of her. They sat in silence for a few minutes.
Finally, Jalissa said, "You know…if you'd done that back in high school, you'd have been a hero."
Kate snorted into her drink, no longer upset about what had happened. She'd made her peace, best as she could. It was Dick's fault if he couldn't take good advice when it came to him. "I wish I had done that in high school. Maybe then he wouldn't be the same stuck-up bastard he's always been." And maybe she'd have been able to move past this all a long time ago.
Jalissa chuckled, tipping her glass in salute. "Well, it may be twenty years too late, but some of us are glad you put him in his place."
Revenge may be petty, but Kate was not a perfect person. She hadn't grown up that much in the past few minutes. She smirked.
"Do you want to join me for dinner?" the other woman asked. "I found a few other ladies who came alone. We can have a girl's table and enjoy ourselves without stupid boys ruining everything."
"That," Kate said, raising her glass, "sounds like a fantastic idea."
XXXX
Dinner was good. The food was delicious—not seventy-five bucks worth, in her opinion, but definitely classy enough to match the hotel—and the company was delightful. There were five of them, seated at one of the round tables, and they were all fantastic women. They talked about everything under the sun; work and family and relationships (a subject which Kate only briefly touched upon, because she loved Amy but they weren't exactly out, and that sort of thing could spread so easily). They even talked a little about high school, reminiscing about the high points and glossing over the parts they all hated.
It wasn't the worst night of her life. By the time they were working through dessert, Kate could even admit that she was sort of having a good time.
Not enough to stay for the stupid dance after, but the dinner was good, and she was glad she met these women.
As she was finishing her slice of cheesecake and they were all rehashing their prom experience, a staffer from the hotel slipped up beside their table. "Ms. Cafferty?" he asked, and Kate raised her fork. "You have a call at the front desk."
Kate had no idea who would be calling her. The only one who knew she was here tonight was Amy, but Amy knew she had her cell. "Are you sure it's for me?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Alright." Kate downed the last bite of her dessert and stood, giving the women at her table a baffled shrug as she excused herself. Maybe there was an emergency? But why would they call the hotel?
She was even more baffled when she answered the hotel's phone and Amy's voice was in her ear.
"Amy?" Kate pulled back, staring at the receiver as though it might have magically turned into her cell phone while she wasn't looking. "Did you lose my number?"
Amy's chuckle was warm and familiar and even more puzzling coming through the hotel phone. "No, nothing like that. Turn around, sweetie."
Kate did, and there she was, standing next to a potted palm, phone to her ear and a small smile on her lips. When Kate hung up the hotel phone and crossed the room, Amy pocketed her cell and held out her hands. Kate slid their palms together, wrapping her fingers around Amy's slender wrists.
"What are you doing here?" she said. Amy's pulse thrummed merrily under her fingertips, and she was real and perfect and here. Why was she here? She should be an hour away, curled up on the couch watching movies on demand, not standing in a hotel lobby at eight at night.
Amy just smiled, thumbs brushing soothingly over the skin of Kate's wrists. "I heard you on the phone, and I thought you might need some backup. Possibly also a rescue."
Kate laughed, leaning down so their foreheads knocked gently. "You are the best partner in the world."
"You are absolutely right," Amy said loftily, but there was humor in her voice so Kate knew she was just teasing. They lingered there for half a minute before Amy pulled away and offered her arm. "Shall we, my dear?"
Kate didn't hesitate, fitting her hand to the crook of Amy's elbow. As entertaining as dinner was, socializing with the other women, she was more than happy to call it a night right here and now. She hadn't been planning to go to the stupid dance anyway. "I can't believe you drove all the way out here," she said, shaking her head.
Amy scoffed. "Oh, I didn't drive out here. I got chauffeured." They stepped out of the hotel, and Kate quickly understood what she meant.
She heard Wes's voice first, that high-handed, imperious, and mildly condescending tone he got when he was frustrated. "—believe we're doing this. We have work in the morning, Travis!"
Travis sighed, and Kate knew exactly which face he was making: the one that said Why do I even bother to put up with you?, with accompanying eye roll. "Man, you've been complaining for the past forty-five minutes, will you shut up already? You're the one who drove us here."
The two men were leaning against the side of Wes's car, facing the hotel. Wes had his arms crossed and an annoyed scowl on his face, but not like an upset scowl, more like an 'I can't believe I'm doing this' one. (And good god, she'd worked with these two idiots way too long if she was that nuanced in the Ways Of Wesley Mitchell.) Travis was beside him, slouched against the hood, head tipped back as he studied the sky.
Wes glanced over as Kate and Amy walked up, his frown deepening. "I only came because Amy said Kate needed our help, but she looks fine to me."
Travis tipped his head down, the corner of his mouth curling up. "Hot damn, does she look fine. Why don't you wear dresses like that more often, Kate?"
This, this should have pissed her off, but it was familiar, and after the night she'd had, she could use something familiar. (Besides, sometimes she almost thought Travis meant the compliment, even if he made very poor word choices, which was something.)
"You're a pig, Marks," she snapped good-naturedly, rolling her eyes. The two women continued moving without missing a beat, heading for Kate's car.
"One of these days, she's going to kick you someplace you're going to regret," Wes mused, pulling out his car keys.
"She does it in those heels and I won't regret anything," Travis said, and Kate could hear the dull sound as Wes whapped the back of Travis's head. She snickered.
"You brought just the thing to cheer me up," she declared, pressing against Amy's side. "However did you know?"
"Because I'm amazing," Amy purred.
They paused beside Kate's car, and she glanced over at the guys. They weren't paying any attention, bickering about something or other and doing that thing where they pretended the rest of the world didn't exist while they fought.
Kate took her chance and swooped down to press a quick peck to Amy's lips. "You really are, and I love you."
Amy smiled, eyes dancing with warmth. "Love you too. Now in you go. We have to make our escape before the reunion committee realizes you've slipped free."
Kate laughed as she slid into the car.
Amy insisted on driving. Kate was more than happy to let her, sliding into the passenger seat and slipping her heels of with a happy sigh. Within a minute, they'd escaped the parking lot, and Kate leaned back, not caring one whit what the seat was doing to her curls.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Amy asked, and Kate couldn't help but smile again at the gentle concern in her partner's voice. Not prodding or poking, just a simple query. Kate turned her head, studying Amy's face in the ambient light.
"We are so much more well-adjusted then the guys."
"There is no lie in that." Amy's eyes flicked to the rearview, presumably to make sure the guys were following and wouldn't get lost on the way back. She didn't push the question—she just let it sit there, an open invitation that Kate could fill if she wanted to or not. If it were the guys, they'd probably be at the shouting-and-throwing stages of things already.
Luckily, Kate was so much more well-adjusted than either of those two men. She had no intention of shouting or throwing anything. "We can talk later," she promised, and she did want to tell Amy about it, instead of just ranting over the phone. Because it felt like something fundamental changed at the reunion tonight. Like by confronting her high school bully, she closed a page on her past and could move on, or some such.
But that was for later. Right now, she just leaned back in her seat and stretched her legs as far as she could. "Mostly, I kind of want to just shoot something."
"Well, you're in luck." Amy reached blindly behind her, pulling a bag from the backseat which she tossed into Kate's lap. "Put those on and we can satisfy that."
Kate peeked inside; her sneakers and a pair of socks lay in the bottom of the bag. "What's this for?" she questioned, pulling out the socks even as she did.
"Laser tag." Amy's eyes went to the rearview again. "Saw a place on the way here. I figure there's nothing quite as cathartic as thoroughly trouncing the guys in laser tag."
"Oh, I do like the way you think." Kate pulled on the socks, wiggling her toes happily. A nice pair of socks after an evening in heels was just wonderful. "We're gonna trounce them, and I'm gonna do it in my dress. It's going to be amazing."
"Yes it will." Amy glanced over, giving Kate and her dress an appreciative look before turning her gaze back to the road. Biting back a smile, Kate reached out, twining their fingers together above the gearshift.
She really was lucky, she thought. She had the best partner in the world, in any sense of the word, and she wouldn't change it for a thing.
OOOO
Ending is meh, but whatever.
I think I wrote this mainly to get a feel for Kate and what I wanted to do with her character, and what better way to do that than by delving into her past with a reunion fic? This is, of course, all headcanon and conjecture, because we get nothing of her background from the series. That didn't stop me at all.
I totally maintain that Kate and Amy use Travis and Wes as their measure of What Not To Do In A Healthy Relationship. Don't get me wrong, I love the boys to pieces, but well-adjusted they are not.
Anyway, this took forever and a day to write, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It's not my favorite fic in the world, but I think it's a good start, and I definitely figured out how I want to write Kate, so that's something.
Let me know what you thought! Comments, reviews, and constructive criticism are always welcome.
Until next time~!