The sound of running water drew her from slumber, though it took her a moment to remember where she was. But then she glanced around the room and the memories clicked in her mind. She was at Wyatt's house again. Of course she was. She'd spent nearly every night there for the past two weeks. She wasn't sure why this surprised her, she'd been friends with Wyatt for years now and they had stayed over at each others houses before. But this was different and no matter how long she had known him, Jen Masterson had never imagined that she'd call Wyatt Williams her boyfriend. Truthfully she wasn't sure if that was actually what they were, but Wyatt seemed to think so, otherwise why would he ask her to come over every night? She could think of other reasons, though none of them were as pleasing as the thought that he just wanted to spend time with her. Besides, it wasn't like it mattered. Neither of them were in a relationship and they had grown closer during their time in Hawaii, especially after Wyatt's relationship with Marlowe had ended.
In the end Jen decided she was over-thinking things again and moved to get up, wincing at the stab of pain that shot through her ribs. She paused for a moment, shaking her head. It had been a little over two months since she had fallen while rock climbing and she was still recovering. She knew it would take time for her to be back to full health, but she was beginning to get annoyed with the pace of her recovery. But there was no sense in trying to rush her recovery as that would only lead to more problems. Besides, she had made significant progress and that was something to be grateful for. Her broken arm was completely healed and her legs were pretty much healed as well. Even the damage to her spine and pelvis were more or less healed, but she still wore a soft brace on her back, as well as braces on both legs. They were cumbersome, but at least she wasn't confined to a wheelchair anymore. And yet, despite this, she still felt pain from time to time and that was the most annoying part. She knew the braces would come off eventually, but the pain would likely linger for the rest of her life and it was this that annoyed her as the pain made it difficult for her to do the things she loved, like playing sports or going for walks or being active in general.
She felt tears welling in her eyes as she thought about this and quickly forced them back, not wanting to alarm Wyatt. She glanced around his bedroom again and smiled. Even if she wasn't able to play sports like she had before, at least she had Wyatt to lean on. He had become her foundation and she knew she had become his. It made her feel warm inside to know that no matter what happened she had people she could rely on, because it wasn't just Wyatt who was there for her. Nikki, Jonesy, Jude, and Caitlin were there for her as well and she knew they would never abandon her.
It was then that she noticed the water had stopped and she heard footsteps approaching. She turned to see Wyatt enter the room, a towel wrapped around his waist and a smile on his face. "Good morning, beautiful." he said, nodding at her.
"Good morning yourself." she replied, smiling. "How was your shower?"
"Like any other shower I've ever had." Wyatt replied. "It would have been better if you'd been with me, but I didn't want to wake you."
Jen smiled again, appreciating his honesty. "I would have gotten up, you know." she said.
"I know, but you looked so peaceful lying there and I...I guess I just didn't want to disturb you is all." Wyatt said, dropping his towel.
Jen felt herself flush at the sight of his naked body, but she quickly pushed her embarrassment aside and smiled again, liking the poetical way in which he described her sleeping. That was one of Wyatt's gifts, the ability to make anything sound poetical simply by speaking. It was part of what made him such a great musician and Jen found that she appreciated it more now than she ever had before. She had always liked his musical talents, but she found them to be even more astounding now that she was in a relationship with him.
"So, what do you want to do today?" Wyatt asked, his voice bringing her out of her reverie.
She turned to face him again, finding him partially clothed. "I'm not sure." she answered. "I hadn't given it much thought yet."
"Well, we could just stay here." he suggested. "I could make you breakfast and then we could just watch movies or something."
"That sounds great actually." Jen said. It was more than she could ever have asked for, but she knew Wyatt would do anything for her, whether she asked or not. And she found herself wishing this would last forever, this moment of bliss and tranquility.
"Alright, sounds like a plan." Wyatt said, pulling on a T-shirt as he spoke. With that, he pulled Jen to her feet and led her to the kitchen of his small apartment, gently setting her at the small dining table with a smile. She was still dressed in the sweatpants and T-shirt she'd worn to bed the previous night, but Wyatt didn't seem to mind.
After making sure she was comfortable he turned back to the kitchen where he set about preparing a virtual breakfast feast, with eggs, bacon, toast, oatmeal, fruit, and orange juice, covering all the food groups in one masterful stroke. Before Jen even had time to react he was setting a plate of food before her, leaving her in a state of shocked amazement.
"Wow Wyatt." she said, once she'd found her voice again. " That was amazing. When did you learn to cook like that?"
"A while ago." he answered casually as he took his seat across from her. "Some of it comes from my time working at Burger McFlipster's. A fast food restaurant really helps you learn how to cook faster, you know?"
"I guess so." Jen said, still impressed. She had never worked at a restaurant before, but she had worked at the Lemon and she supposed the approach was similar. Regardless, Wyatt's cooking was outstanding and she found herself wanting more, though she felt awkward asking.
"If you want more when you're done, just let me know." Wyatt said then, as though he'd been reading her mind.
Jen flushed again and nodded, taking a sip of juice to keep herself from laughing. Wyatt glanced at her, his expression curious, but chose to say nothing. It was still sort of weird for him to, the fact that they were dating and he couldn't blame Jen if certain situations or comments made her a little embarrassed. There were still parts of this he was unsure about as well, but one thing he did know was that Jen was there for him, no matter what happened or where this went, she was there for him. And he was grateful for that as he still hadn't fully recovered from his breakup with Marlowe. He glanced at Jen then and smiled, and though she smiled back, they would finish their breakfast in silence.
Once they were done eating Wyatt cleared the table and cleaned up the kitchen before helping Jen to the living room, where he gently lowered her into the more comfortable of the two armchairs he had. He then took his seat on the small couch and turned on the TV in an attempt to break the awkward tension in the room.
"You don't have to do that for me, you know." Jen said then, catching him off guard.
"Do what?" he asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Help around like I'm a helpless old woman." Jen answered. "You don't have to do that. I am perfectly capable of moving around on my own, despite the braces."
"I know I don't have to do it, but I want to." Wyatt said. "You're my girlfriend now and I feel like I should be there for you."
"That's nice Wyatt." Jen said. "And I do appreciate your help, but really it's not necessary, at least not all the time. And as far as the girlfriend thing, are we sure that's what this is? I mean, it's only been a few weeks since you and Marlowe ended things and I just want to make sure we're on the same page before we take this any further."
"I understand." Wyatt said, muting the TV as he spoke. "But let's be realistic Jen. We're a couple, there's no denying it. You've been spending pretty much every night here for the last two weeks and it's obvious we have feelings for each other. So let's not beat around the bush and just admit the truth. We're a couple now and we have to accept it."
"Are you sure?" Jen asked. "Are you completely certain this is what you want?"
"Yes." Wyatt answered. "This is what I want. You are what I want. I think you always have been, I just couldn't see it until now."
"Okay, if you're sure, then I am too." Jen said, moving to sit next to him on the couch. "I want you too Wyatt Williams."
With that, she slid her hands beneath his shirt, her fingers caressing the curves of his abs, making him shiver. He pulled her close, his eyes full of longing and then their lips touched, gently at first and then again with a fierce passion that neither of them had experienced in a long time. Jen felt herself surrender to the moment of bliss, but before they could progress any further there was a knock at the door which made them pull apart.
"Ah, fuck me." Wyatt muttered, rolling his eyes as he stood. He glanced at Jen, who nodded towards the door, indicating that he should open it. He nodded and made his way over to the door, muttering to himself the entire time.
"Who the fuck is it?" he asked, once he reached the door, his tone irritated.
"It's Jonesy." a voice said from the other side of the door.
Surprised, Wyatt opened the door to find his friends Jonesy Garcia and Nikki Wong waiting for him. "Uh, hey guys." he said. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good." Jonesy replied, his tone stiff. "What's your problem anyway?"
"Well, I'm kind of busy at the moment." Wyatt answered.
"Busy doing what, beating off?" Jonesy asked, his tone incredulous.
"No, I wasn't beating off." Wyatt answered, his tone irritated. "I was-"
His sentence was cut off by the sound of Jen's voice saying, "Invite them in Wyatt. We can continue later."
Jonesy's eyes went wide and Nikki suppressed a laugh. "Were you and Jen making out?" Jonesy asked, staring at Wyatt in shock.
"Yes, we were." Wyatt answered, standing aside so they could enter.
"Way to go dude." Jonesy said, grinning at Wyatt.
"Yeah, don't congratulate me just yet." Wyatt muttered. "We didn't get very far on account of you interrupting us, you ass."
"Sorry, we didn't know Jen would be here." Nikki said, her tone apologetic. "If we had, we wouldn't have come."
"It's okay Nik." Jen said. "Like I said, Wyatt and I can always start again later. That said, why are you two here anyway?"
"We just thought we'd stop by to see how Wyatt was doing." Nikki answered. "Why are you here, aside from the reasons we've already discussed."
"I've been staying here for the past couple of weeks." Jen answered.
"Oh really?" Jonesy said. "When did this start?"
"When we got back from Hawaii, you idiot." Jen said. "You were there, remember?"
"Oh yeah, that's right." Jonesy said, the memory returning to him then.
"Anyway, we just wanted to make sure Wyatt was doing okay, which he obviously is, so we'll be on our way." said Nikki. "Talk to you guys later, okay?"
"Yeah, we'll meet you at the mall later." Wyatt said. "Thanks for stopping by."
"No problem dude." said Jonesy. "See you later." With that, he and Nikki left, leaving Wyatt and Jen to pick up where they'd left off.
As soon as Jonesy and Nikki were gone, Wyatt and Jen headed for the bedroom, all other things forgotten. They threw themselves onto the bed with a passion unlike any either of them had ever known before and before they could stop to think twice they were fully engaged in the most heated, passionate sex either of them had ever had. And as they entwined Jen felt her spirits soar, all of her worries and pains forgotten, the world melting away into a blur of wonderful color as she and Wyatt surrendered to this moment of bliss and tranquility.
A/N: Well folks, here it is, the first chapter of the long awaited sequel to A Place Called Home. I know it took me awhile to get this up, but I had other ideas I was working on and I needed time to decide what I wanted to do with this story. As you can tell, it picks up pretty quickly after the spot where APCH ended. Jen and Wyatt are now a couple and things appear to be going smoothly for everyone. But, not everything is what it seems (which you should already know if you've read any of my other fics). Oh, and I don't own 6Teen. It is the property of Teletoon, Inc.