Time passed and Jack stayed with Atti.

He would always get ready to leave when Atti would make a small excuse for him to stay, which ended up in Jack making excuses to stay.

She went and retrieved all the rest of his belongings from the subway station, as promised, the day after they met; he had, in turn, done some household chores for her. Though she denied it, she liked having some one clean the house for her and great her as she came home.

Jack's loyalty and pride made her smile, he was so sweet.

Atti's altruistic attitude and knack for art caught Jack's attention just as her smile had. She never asked for anything in return for what she did; he had to fix things and tidy up when she was gone so she wouldn't try and stop him. She fed him and took him shopping on top of letting him stay at her place for no price. She just wanted some one to talk to after a long day, and he gave her that.

For a couple months they lived side by side with nothing really exciting happening.
He praised her art and she took comfort in his helpfulness.

Then it came up that Jack wanted to contribute more. He had graduated from high school and had his bachelor's in accounting.

He decided to look for a job.
Atti frowned some at his proposal at dinner, but didn't tell him no. She supported him and went with it.

The emptiness of letting him leave nagged at the back of Atti's mind; she ignored it.

Let him do as he will.

Jack was contemplating finding his own apartment, but had nulled the idea at the look in the girl's eyes as she washed the dishes. She still wanted him here.

Life moved as it had before Jack started looking for a job. Eventually he found a bank with a position open and picked up a job application for it. When he got home Atti was in the kitchen making something that smelled suspiciously like vanilla cake and chocolate crinkle cookies.

He threw his things by the door and wandered to the kitchen where the rambunctious color head was making an octopus out of fondant, cupcakes and the variety of scraps around her.

He chuckled from he doorway of the dining room; she was so cute and creative.
Startled, she looked up in surprise.
She then giggled and threw her frosting and food dye covered arms up.
"Welcome home Jack! What's up? I'm making a cake, but you can't eat it because I need to use it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

Jack couldn't recall what was going on tomorrow.

"Yeah, my new gallery is opening tomorrow at Galeria de las Sirenas. You already promised to go, and you have to go because there'll be cake."

Jack sat in a chair at the kitchen table.

"Oh, I will undoubtedly go. There's no question about that. I just have a lot on my mind right now, I am applying for a job at the Gotham City Bank."

Atti continued shaping the fondant over the cake and texturing.

"That's awesome, Jack. Need help with filling any paper work out? If you need to skip my gallery to finish all that stuff up, it's okay."

Jack pulled his head out of his hands, ceasing the attempt to rub the pain from his temple.

"No, no, no Atti. I'll go, it's really no problem. You know I wouldn't miss it."

A smile curved his thin lips.

Atti grinned, her eyes sparkling with an unannounced happiness.

"Not for the world?"

"No, not for the world."

She screamed "Octopi!" and flung something at him. The blue fondant smacked him square in the face. He slumped in his chair, a smile on his face.

And Atti was satisfied with that.