I wrote this early in the morning so it's not edited. Therefore, I apologize in advance for any mistakes you may come across. But I wanted to get this posted since it's been months since my last update. Sorry about that. My muse wasn't cooperating with me for a bit.

This chapter is a rollercoaster of emotions. It starts off angsty, turns playful, gets a little angsty again, and then ends on another playful note. I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with FDTD...I just like to play around with the characters at times.


Chapter 3


Eyes fluttering open, Kate blinked a few times to get rid of the sleepy haze blocking her vision. Confusion washed over her as she took in the darkness of the room aside from the slither of moonlight peaking through a crack in the curtains. These days she usually only woke up when it was still dark out because of a nightmare. But she was almost completely positive that a nightmare wasn't the cause of her waking up on this particular night.

Kate frowned slightly as she turned her head to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table. 2:01 am stared back at her in bright red numbers. It was still too early for her to be up. But she didn't feel tired enough to try to fall back to sleep. So what was she to do from now to day break?

Feeling something move beside her, Kate sat up quickly and proceeded to stumble out of bed. Staring down at the bed, she saw Seth sleeping peacefully. Running a hand through her hair, she looked around and only then realized that she'd been sleeping in Seth's bed.

It hadn't even occurred to her when she checked the clock that it had been on her left instead of her right like it should've been had she been in her own bed. But how had she ended up in Seth's bed? She was sure that she'd fallen asleep in her own bed. The fact that the bed sheets and cover were in disarray proved her right. So again, how exactly had she ended up in Seth's bed? Trying to wrack her brain for any answer, she came up with none.

Running a hand through her hair, Kate walked over to the window and pulled the curtain back just enough to look outside. Her eyes went straight to the pool area. It was lit up just enough for her to take a night time swim if she wanted to. It was after hours so technically she wasn't supposed to be out there. But she was shacking up with a pair of criminals, sneaking in to the pool area was not very high on her "things considered bad" list. Besides if she did get caught what's the worst that could happen? She would get thrown out of the hotel? Or reprimanded for trespassing?

A smile appeared on her face as she closed the curtain back to it's original placing. Tiptoeing to her bag, she pulled out her bathing suit and retreated into the bathroom to change. She came back out minutes later, a couple towels in hand, throwing her pajamas onto her own bed.

After checking to make sure that Seth was still asleep, she grabbed her room key and quietly slipped out of the room. If she didn't already know she wasn't the same girl she once was, this would be the time she'd know for sure. Only a year ago the idea of breaking into the pool area would've kept her in her bed under the covers, but now the possibility of getting in trouble for something so small made her want to do it even more. She'd definitely spent way too much time in the presence of criminals and culebras.

Walking into the pool area, Kate placed the towels down on one of the chairs before walking over to the pool. She carefully dipped her toe in the water to test the temperature. Satisfied by the feeling of the water, she dove in to the comforting water.

Kate grinned as she came up for breath a few moments later. It had been more months than she could count since she'd last felt this good. She almost finally felt like herself again. Almost being the keyword. She wasn't sure if she'd ever truly feel like herself fully again. But this was a start.

Leaning backwards so she could float on her back, Kate relaxed her body as the water formed a watery cocoon around her. She stared up at the stars and cleared her mind of everything. Her breathing was steady; just in and out, in and out. Her entire body welcomed the feeling of true calm.

Kate closed her eyes and floated for what felt like forever, enjoying the calm; the peace and quiet. Even her mind was the quietest and most peaceful it'd been in so long. She opened her eyes after a while to stare at the stars more, but instead she was met by a figure standing over her.

Losing her calm concentration, Kate sat up quickly momentarily forgetting she was in the water. She went under and came back up moments later gasping for air. She stood up and turned in the water to find that it was just Seth standing there.

"Damn it, Seth!" she exclaimed, her hand shooting up to her chest. "Don't scare me like that!"

He had an amused expression on his face. "My bad. Sorry."

Kate mock glared at him. "You asshole."

"I said sorry."

"Half assed."

"What are you doing down here at this time of morning?"

"Well, I was relaxing."

"Don't stop on my account."

"Too late for that," Kate pointed out. "Speaking of... I could ask you the same thing."

Raising an eyebrow, Seth asked, "Ask me what?"

"What you're doing down here," Kate answered, swimming over to him and leaning against the edge of the pool.

He kneeled down next to her, dipping one of his hands into the water. "I was looking for you."

"Why?"

"You weren't in the bed when I woke up."

Kate eyed him curiously. "You know about that?"

"And you don't?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea how I ended up in bed with you... this time."

"You were sleepwalking," Seth informed her, chuckling.

"Sleepwalking?" Kate questioned. "I sleep walked into bed with you?"

"It would appear that way," Seth confirmed. "I woke up to you standing over me. But when I tried to get your attention it became obvious you were still sleeping."

Kate had a feeling there was more to it than just that.

"And?"

"And what?"

"There's more."

"There could be."

"What is it?"

Seth laughed quietly. "Then instead of walking around to the other side of the bed, you proceeded to get in bed the harder way and climb over me."

Kate's eyes widened. "That's not slightly embarrassing at all," she said as she hid her face in her hand. "Sorry about that."

Seth shrugged. "No big deal," he replied. "It's not the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me."

"I've been sleeping in your bed a lot lately," Kate said. "I have an inkling of a reason why."

Pulling his pant legs up, Seth sat down on the concrete with his feet in the water up to his ankles. "Care to share?"

Turning around to lean backwards against the poolside, Kate sighed. "I don't have nightmares when I sleep next to you," she admitted. "It's as if you're my personal dream catcher. You keep the bad ones away and occasionally give me good ones, but mostly I just don't dream when I'm next to you. It's just peace and quiet."

She glanced over at Seth to gauge his reaction to what she had just admitted. His mouth was set in a straight line and the rest of his face didn't convey anything either. Kate couldn't even imagine what he was currently thinking. Though if she had to guess she'd guess that he was probably wondering how after all he'd done how he could possibly be her safe haven from the nightmares.

Sighing, Kate turned away from him before speaking again. "You know Amaru was correct when she mentioned my hatred towards you," she confessed and then turned back to gauge his reaction to her newest confession; this time she got what she was looking for.

The expression on his face was pained. All the guilt he felt was shining through, revealing itself as clear as the day. His mouth was set in a frown, his eyes from what she could see were glossy with unshed tears. He'd never let them fall though, he even probably silently hoped that she couldn't tell what was going on in his eyes. They both knew she knew though, but they also knew she wouldn't say anything about it.

Kate turned back around again so that she could pull herself up onto the concrete. She positioned herself so that she was sitting next to him. Reaching forward, she placed one of her hands on his gently. She waited with bated breath to see whether Seth would pull away as he looked down at their hands; he didn't. Kate let out a breath of relief and took it as confirmation that she could continue with the second part of her confession.

"She was right, but the hatred doesn't go nearly as deep as she led you to believe," Kate assured him, squeezing his hand gently. "And I don't blame you for everything that happened like she said I did."

Unconsciously, Seth flipped his hand over so that their palms were touching.

Biting her lower lip, Kate ever so slowly intertwined their fingers. She didn't make any move to fully clasp their hands together; she would let him do that if he chose to do so. The last thing she wanted was to freak him out and have him close off completely. Emotion had never really been his strong suit. He was much more of a runner and a pretender than anything else when backed into an uncomfortable and tight corner.

"My so called hatred towards you was more disappointment than it was hate," she continued when he said nothing back. "I did everything I could for you to treat me like I was your partner. A true partner, but you were either too high or too much into your own head space that to me it felt like... it felt like you just told me what I wanted to hear in that moment, and then when you left me on the road that night... it was as if what I felt had been confirmed."

With her free hand, Kate ran a hand through her wet and tangled hair.

"For a short time it did seem like I hated you for what you'd done, I mean you more or less threw me out like I was yesterday's garbage. At least that's how it felt at first," Kate told him; she wasn't sugar coating anything. In order to move on from the past, she needed to let everything out and leave it all on the table. "But it didn't take long for me to realize that it was indeed disappointment. I didn't know how to handle it. It just seemed easier to disguise it as hate than it did to try to figure out why I was so disappointed. Maybe that's where Amaru got the hatred idea from. Or she knew the truth, but she wanted to screw with me so that I'd give into her so she used it against you."

Amaru had made Kate watch as she tried to take Seth's soul, and he almost let her... but that was something that Kate planned on confronting him about some other time. Amaru had made Kate watch as a way to try to break her because Seth had been right, Amaru had been afraid of her because for so long Kate fought and fought to not give up complete control of herself. But what Amaru hadn't counted on was that what she'd forced Kate to see in Seth's soul would eventually be what helped her forgive him for everything.

Once Kate had time to process everything she'd seen, it'd make it that much easier to work towards forgiving Seth for all the things Kate felt she needed to forgive him for. Amaru's plan to use Seth to break Kate had failed. A look into Seth's soul had given her the answer to every question she'd had after Seth had left her in the middle of the road that night.

"I never meant to hurt or disappoint you," Seth said quietly.

Squeezing his hand, Kate turned to look at him and offered him a small smile. "I know you didn't," she assured him. "In the cave when you finally stopped trying to make my decisions for me and you realized that I'm not the same person I was when you first met me... that I wasn't some kid that needed to be protected from everything... it was then that I truly felt like I was your partner, like I was without a doubt your equal."

"You were always my equal," Seth told her, looking at her for the first time since the confessions had started.

Kate nodded. "Back then you didn't always show it," she replied. "But I know it now. I've known it since Amaru was going to take your soul. I saw what she saw. I saw the reasons why you did what you did. Seeing into your soul helped me forgive you completely. I finally understood everything and was able to let go of my hatred and my disappointment about what had happened." She laughed. "I highly doubt that Amaru ever thought that seeing into your soul was going to help me forgive you, that it was going to give me more reason to fight her."

Seth opened his mouth to say something, but Kate had a good idea of what he was going to say already.

"Yes, you heard me right," she said. "You gave me the strength to fight. I was so ready to give up, but after seeing into your soul and seeing that even when on the surface you seemed like you'd given up on getting me back... you never completely thought I was gone. You were afraid of being wrong so you pretended like you had given up in hopes it would hurt less in the off chance that you were actually wrong about it. But when everyone else gave up on me still being here, you never gave up on me and that's worth fighting for."

"Kate..."

She shook her head, signaling for him to say nothing else. "You're worth it, Seth. Do not ever think that you aren't," she told him. "Say it with me."

Seth laughed softly, shaking his head upon hearing her request.

"I mean it, Seth," Kate spoke sternly. "Say it with me. You. Are. Worth. It."

When Seth didn't, Kate smacked his arm.

"Seth Gecko! You say it right now."

Seth sighed and relented. "I am worth it."

Kate grinned triumphantly. "Now was that so hard?"

Seth shrugged.

Kate sighed as she kicked her feet in the water.

After a short time of silence, Seth broke it.

"Do you really forgive me?" he asked, staring at her.

She nodded her head. "I do. If I've learned and retained anything from my upbringing it's that forgiveness is a strength and that's one of the many reasons why I truly have forgiven you," she explained. "Life is too short to hold on to grudges and if I want to move on then I need to leave that negativity behind me, even though in some cases it's easier said than done. Forgiving you is a very good start at moving on."

"I am glad to hear that," Seth said with a smile on his face.

"Plus you have helped me so much with everything so far and things aren't like they were the first time around. I now know that I can trust you not to leave me in the middle of the road at night ever again."

Seth visibly flinched at the reminder of his actions that night.

"It's in the past," Kate reminded him. "Just do not ever do it again or else."

"Or else what?"

Kate didn't have an answer to that.

"I promise that won't happen ever again," Seth assured her. "But I can't promise that other things won't happen in the night."

Wrinkling her forehead in confusion, Kate was about to ask what he meant but her words were put on hold when she was submerged in water. She came back up practically screaming at him.

"You asshole!"

"Shh! You are gonna get us in trouble," he said, trying to sound serious but his laugh gave him away.

"I don't care! That was an asshole move!" Kate exclaimed. "You're lucky I am in my bathing suit and not regular clothes."

Seth was about to retort when a brighter light flickered on in the distance.

Kate's eyes widened as she stared up at Seth.

"Who's out there?!" a voice asked loudly.

"It's the manager," Seth said, recognizing the voice from when he checked in a few days earlier.

Kate slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Oops."

The undeniable sound of footsteps began to get closer and closer.

"Get to the deep end now!" Seth ordered, pointing towards the one part of the pool that was still dark enough for them to use as cover.

"Wait, what?" Kate asked just as Seth lowered himself as quietly into the water as possible.

"Deep end now!" he said again, grabbing her arm and pulling her along with him.

"I told you to keep it down," Seth fake scolding her, even going as far as wagging his finger at her.

"Keep wagging your finger at me and I'll bite it off."

"You have something you want to tell me?"

Kate laughed once she realized what he was implying.

She rolled her eyes. "Like I'd ever be able to keep that a secret."

No sooner had she finished her sentence did Seth lift a finger up to his lips.

"Get closer to the side of the pool," Seth whispered as the undeniable lights of a flashlight appeared on the opposite side of the pool.

Kate squished herself as close to the pool side as she could. It wasn't the most comfortable position ever, but it beat being caught. Especially now that she'd have to explain why she was in the pool with a guy to a complete stranger. She could only imagine the things that would go through the managers mind. Yeah, not a very pleasant thing to have happen. Getting caught was not an option by any means.

What felt like an eternity passed by before the manager finally left. Kate was silently thanking God for not letting the manager actually do a thorough search of the pool area. Or maybe the manager was just too lazy or too tired himself to check everywhere. Either way she didn't get caught and that's what mattered.

"We should probably get back to the room now," Kate suggested. "In case he decides to come back and check the area thoroughly."

Seth nodded his agreement.

"I guess it's a good thing I grabbed two towels instead of one."

Seth grinned at her. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were hoping I'd turn up down here."

Kate shrugged. "I guess you'll never know."

~sleepinghabits~

By time they made it back to their room, Kate could feel her eyes getting heavy. All the confessions and almost getting caught had knocked the energy right back out of her. She and Seth took turns in the bathroom. Her first and then him. When he returned from the bathroom, Kate was curled up in her own bed.

Seth raised an eyebrow as he looked from her to his bed and then back to her. "Are you sure you don't want to sleep with me?"

Kate nodded. "You help me a lot but I can't get too used to sleeping with you. I'm a big girl. I can sleep in my own bed," she insisted, she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince the most.

"If you're sure," Seth said, turning off the overhead light. "I'll be over here if you need me."

Kate let out an involuntary yelp as the darkness took over.

Seth immediately flipped the lights back on. "You okay?"

Pulling the cover higher and holding it tighter against herself, Kate asked, "Can you sleep on the side closest to me, please?"

With a sigh and a nod of his head, Seth turned the light back off and rounded the bed to the side next to her. "Whatever helps you."

Kate smiled softly. "Thank you."

"Good night, Kate," Seth said once he was settled in.

"Princess," Kate corrected before she could stop herself.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Good night, Princess."

Kate grinned.

"Good night, asshole."

"Seth."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Good night, Seth."

Kate was pretty sure Seth was grinning, too.

~sleepinghabits~

Kate frowned as she turned her head towards the bed where Seth was sleeping soundly. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't jealous of how quickly he could fall asleep. He'd been asleep a better part of half an hour and Kate had spent that entire time tossing and turning. Maybe she really couldn't sleep alone anymore. Maybe sleeping with Seth was the only way she good ever get a good nights sleep anymore.

Kate sighed and proceeded to turn again just as the room door opened. She had heard the distinct sound of the key before the door opened so she knew it was Richie returning. A few hours early. Kate looked over at the clock, seeing that it was only 4:11. He didn't usually return until right before sun up to get some sleep. But the sun didn't rise until around six. So he was almost two hours early.

Kate raised an eyebrow. "You're sleeping at night?"

Thanks to the slither of moonlight still shining through the crack in the curtain she could just barely make out Richie shrugging his shoulders.

"It is supposed to be rainy tomorrow," he answered. "I won't have to worry about getting burnt to a pile of ash if I'm up during the day."

"If you say so." Kate sighed, sitting up and throwing the covers off of herself. "You can sleep here, and I'll sleep with Seth."

It was Richie's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Don't even start," Kate warned as she got out of bed and made her way to the other side of Seth's bed.

"Neither of you start," Seth mumbled, his voice being muffled by his pillow. "Be quiet, get in bed, and go to sleep."

"Yeah, Richie." Kate smirked at him. "What Seth said."

Richie opened his mouth to retort, but Seth beat him to the punch.

"Kate!" Kate put on a fake smile as Seth rolled over onto his back and stared up at her. "I know you're still mad at Richie and therefore love to poke and prod and rile him up, but it's four something in the morning," he told her, his voice hoarse with sleep. "Save it for later. You have all day."

On the other side of him, Richie chuckled.

Seth turned his attention to his brother. "What? Am I suddenly surrounded by five years olds?"

"She started it." Richie grinned, pointing at Kate.

"Did not," Kate argued feeling the urge to walk over and smack him. "You're the one who..."

"Enough!" Seth interrupted. He sighed, shaking his head and running a hand over his face. "If you keep acting like five year olds, I'm gonna send you both to separate corners for a time out." There was a menacing edge to his tone, betraying his exasperation. "Now both of you go to bed. Argue and act like kids when I'm not trying to sleep."

"Fine," Kate huffed, crawling under the covers next to Seth.

"Whatever you say, brother," Richie responded, amusement clear in his voice.

"Don't make me have to get out of this bed," Seth threatened.

Kate chuckled. "Pot meet kettle," she said. "We're about to have another five year old in here."

"Either go to sleep now, or you sleep outside."

The last noise to fill the room that night was Richie and Kate's laughter.