Disclaimer: If I owned Big Time Rush, the show would still be on and Jatie would be well on their way to being a canon couple. Clearly I don't own Big Time Rush because none of that stuff seems to be happening. *Runs away in tears*

Guest (btrfanfiction1516): That's really good to hear. I don't want to either ;P I can't promise Bailey's going to be leaving anytime soon. She's kind of part of the story so...uh...yeah. Sorry about that! But thank you for taking the time to read and review, I always appreciate it :)

Orange-Coyote: I hope that good feeling persists throughout the story, and I hope the feeling that something's missing really does have to do with the fact that it's still early on...But thank you for saying that, and thank you for taking the time to read and review, I always appreciate it :)

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following! Everything is majorly appreciated!

Okay, so, we're onto the third chapter. The plot kind of starts picking up a little in this chapter, which I hear is always good. A couple of things are also revealed, so it gets a little bit deeper into the story as well. I do need to say this about the story as a whole - things are probably going to seem like they're moving kind of slowly, but things will pick up. It'll just take some time, so I'm sorry for the waiting, but I hope it'll be worth it :)

Warnings: Language and innuendos.

Enjoy the chapter :)


Chapter Three – Full Circle

Katie's POV

Thanks to Kendall's interference, I had sixteen hours to pack before it was time to move out of my dorm. So it was with a resigned sigh that I slipped my earbuds into my ears and began to get my clothes together.

With any luck, my roommate wouldn't even make an appearance, but I wasn't too hopeful. My luck hadn't exactly been all that great lately. I hadn't even wanted to be in this damn resident hall. It was infamous for the parties and the drinking and the hooking up. More girls got pregnant while they were living here than in any other dorm, and I was determined not to be one of them. But it just wasn't fair. The housing office had put me here, and now I was being punished because I was living here. It was ridiculous. It wasn't my fault that the parties could get so loud that I couldn't even concentrate.

And then Kendall went and decided that it would be a good idea to interfere in my life, and he somehow managed to talk James into letting me live with him. And then James talked me into living with him. It all circled back to Kendall. Dirty, rotten manipulating big brother.

It wasn't that I didn't want to live with James, because I did. We had been pretty close when we were younger, but had…shall we say, grown apart…a couple of years ago. And the growing apart had happened in the space of about five minutes. It was kind of incredible if you really thought about it. I knew the only reason why it had even happened in the first place was because he had been a little drunk, but still. What had gone down had ended up affecting both of us. I just wasn't sure James had ever completely forgiven me…I had hurt him pretty badly that night. But at least he seemed happy, and he must have forgiven me for the most part if he was willing to let me move in with him. That wasn't something he would do if he completely hated my guts, so that was good to know.

But…I don't know. The whole situation was just messed up and Kendall didn't even know what had happened. If he had, there was no way he would have suggested that James and I move in together, let alone manage to manipulate us into agreeing to it. Anyway, James was a super hot guy. Shouldn't Kendall have at least been a little bit concerned at the prospect of his baby sister living with a guy who looked like James? Even just the teeniest, tiniest bit?

Hmmph. Some concerned brother he was.

And James really, truly was extremely hot. He looked amazing. Incredible. Better than a chocolate éclair. I wasn't into him, but I had to admit, I was a little bit jealous of his girlfriend. She got to see him naked on a regular basis. Lucky girl.

Not that I wanted to see him naked. It was just that he had really huge biceps and his shirt clung to his abs and I bet he looked amazing shirtless.

Not that I was thinking about it too much. Or drooling. Or wondering if his pecs were really as big as they looked under the thin cotton of his t-shirt.

Totally not thinking about any of that…I would never.

It wasn't my fault he was hotter than every single guy on campus, okay? And it had been two years since I had been that close to him, so of course my hormones were going to go a little nuts. But once I was used to being around him again, they would settle down and remember that he was just like my big brother. Nothing more, nothing less. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

I bit my lip, thinking about our last conversation two years ago. I had told him the exact same thing…

Shaking that thought out of my head, refusing to follow the path it was racing towards, I instead focused on packing. I got my clothes, electronic gadgets, textbooks, toiletries, spare linens, and school supplies stuffed in my suitcases and backpack within a couple of hours.

I headed down to the cafeteria for a late dinner before returning to my dorm for my last night there. My roommate, Darcy, had returned, and I let her know that I was moving out the following day.

"Cool," she said as she reached for her headphones. "I would love to move in with a hot guy."

I blushed a little. "I didn't say that James was hot…"

"What does he look like?"

"He's got brown hair, hazel eyes, and he's about 6'1 or so."

"Build?"

"Muscular."

"He's hot."

"Don't you at least want to see a picture?"

"Sure."

I got into my Facebook profile on my phone and switched over to James' page. I showed it to her and she let out a low whistle.

"Damn, girl. How are you not banging that?"

"He has a girlfriend, who he's probably banging right now."

"Ouch. You poor thing."

"Not really." I shrugged. "I'm not into him."

She gaped at me, mouth open slightly. "Are you nuts?"

"Um…"

She pushed her jet black hair out of her face. "If I knew a guy who looked like that, I would be all over him. The guy's fucking hot. You should at least see if you can get him naked."

"He has a girlfriend…"

"How long has he been dating her?"

"Um…a couple of months or something."

"Eh. It probably won't last."

"Yeah, but still."

"Does he like you?"

"He's known me since I was a baby."

"So? Does he like you?"

"I haven't asked him lately."

She cocked an eyebrow, but before she could ask me any more questions, I headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. I set my alarm for eight and, thinking that it was much too early to wake up on a Saturday morning and wishing that I had been smart enough to suggest that I move in the afternoon, crawled into bed.

My alarm blared loud and obnoxious at eight the next morning and it was with a groan that I reached over and smacked the off button on it. From the next bed, Darcy wrapped her pillow tightly around her ears but I ignored her, stumbling out into the hall with a change of clothes and managing to get to the bathroom without running into anyone.

That was one thing I wouldn't miss – having to share a bathroom with everyone on the whole fucking floor. I didn't particularly like taking showers when the slimy guy from down the hall was in the shower next to mine. But luckily it was relatively early on a weekend morning, so the bathroom was completely empty. I managed to take a shower in privacy and dried off and dressed, before blow drying my hair and throwing it into a ponytail. I glazed on enough makeup to actually make me look awake, prayed that Kendall wouldn't mind stopping at Starbucks on the way to James' place, and headed back to my room.

I packed the stuff I had needed last night and this morning, before lugging my luggage down to the lobby where Kendall and I had agreed to meet. He arrived at nine, sharp, looking just as tired as I felt, and together we carried everything out to his car and loaded it into his trunk and into his backseat. It took a few trips, but by 9:30 everything was stored in the car for the time being.

Once I was finished admiring our handiwork, I placed my hands on my hips and turned to face him. "Can we stop by Starbucks on the way to James'?"

"Fuck yes."

True to his word, we stopped by the local Starbucks on the way to James' apartment and got our caffeine fix. I munched on a muffin as Kendall drove, occasionally offering him a bite. At last, he pulled up in front of Sherwood Apartments, a huge white building with pale blue trim and glass doors leading into what looked like a lobby.

Kendall pulled into a visitor's parking spot and we climbed out, taking our drinks with us.

"Okay, so, he's in apartment 4D…" Kendall said as he peered up at the building. "I say we just go in and make sure that he's ready for us."

I nodded in agreement, and we headed into the lobby.

It was decorated in soft pastels with floral prints, a little tacky but homey nonetheless. We grabbed the elevator up to the four floor and made our way down the hall.

"There's 4B…"

"That's 4F…"

"Here's 4D." I stopped in front of the door and knocked.

Nothing.

Kendall and I exchanged looks, before I knocked on the door again.

A couple seconds later, the door swung open, revealing James in…nothing but boxers.

I turned to Kendall. "I'm completely awake now."

"Yeah, gross," he responded, still eyeing James.

James raked his fingers through his messed up hair, yawning sleepily. "Fuck, sorry. I completely forgot to set my alarm. Late night last night."

"Uh uh…" I pushed my way into his place. "Ooh, black leather couch…flat screen TV…How very bachelor pad-ish of you."

"James?" A female voice drifted through one of the doors off of the living room. "Who is it?"

"Kendall and Katie," he answered, and a moment later a gorgeous woman came stumbling out of the bedroom, clutching a men's button up shirt around her slim frame, her hair rumpled and tangled.

I sucked on my coffee as I surveyed her. So that was Bailey, the wildlife biologist, the scientist, the girl who he was dating. He definitely had a thing for petite brunettes.

Bailey rubbed her eyes before giving me a small smile. "Hi, you must be Katie." She held her hand out to me but I didn't take it.

"Um…no offense," I said, "but I kind of don't know where your hands have been…or what they've touched…" I threw a pointed look at James, who flushed a dark red.

Bailey blushed too. "Right…Sorry…This isn't exactly how I pictured us meeting."

"Yeah, me neither." I propped myself up on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, still sipping on my coffee. "For one thing, we were both fully dressed and you didn't have any traces of James' semen on you."

She glanced at James, who didn't even look at her. He was too busy watching me, uncertainty apparent in his face.

"Um…" She cleared her throat. "I'll just go get dressed and then get out of your hair."

"You do that." I shot her a sickeningly sweet smile before muttering "slut" as she hurried back into James' bedroom. Once the door was closed, I focused my attention on James. "You have a little something right here." I indicated his left hip, where a hickey had fully blossomed. "And up here." I pointed at his right pec. "And probably one on your dick if you're into that kind of thing."

"Katie," Kendall gritted out warningly. "Be. Nice."

"I am being nice," I replied innocently. "I'm pointing out all the areas that he now can't show off out of the house. I wouldn't want his mom to see him shirtless and have a heart attack."

"It's too early for you to be a brat," he snapped. "And James is letting you live here. So back the fuck off."

I placed my drink on the counter and held my hands up in surrender. "Fine. I'll just go back to ogling him. Nice six pack by the way," I added to James as I went back to my coffee. "Does your girlfriend do body shots off of your abs?"

"Bailey doesn't drink," he finally managed to get out.

"Pity. They're just begging to have salt licked off of them."

He crossed his arms over his chest and glowered at me. I smiled brightly at him in return.

"I'm going to go get dressed," he announced a moment later, letting his arms fall to his sides. "And then we'll get Katie's stuff in here." He shot me another glare as he headed into his room. I could hear him and Bailey talking quietly, and I rolled my eyes.

"He forgot to set his alarm…Bullshit. I bet Bailey turned it off."

Kendall scowled at me. "Bailey seems like a really nice girl."

"Who's sucking your best friend's dick."

"Like I said, she seems like a really nice girl. You should give her a chance instead of just jumping to conclusions."

"Of course, Dad. I'll keep that in mind, Dad."

"Father knows best," he shot back.

"Whatever." I finished off my coffee and hopped down from my stool, checking under the kitchen sink for the trashcan. Sure enough, there it was. I tossed my empty cup in and straightened up, just in time to see Bailey emerge from the room.

She gave me a shaky smile. "Hopefully next time we'll meet under better circumstances."

"Sure," I replied. "Hopefully next time you won't have just finished fucking my roommate."

"Yeah, it's too early for a peace conference…I'm going to head out. Um…have fun moving everything in."

"Thanks," Kendall smiled at her, just as James joined us again, unfortunately fully clothed.

He hurried over to Bailey and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her deeply. She kissed him back, melting into him.

Ugh. PDA. I was never a fan of it.

He pulled back a moment later and she pecked his lips quickly before dashing out of the apartment.

Yeah, I definitely didn't like her. If she really wanted to get on my good side, she would have stuck around to help us move everything in instead of just rushing off like the apocalypse was on its way.

James could definitely do better.

I slinked over to him, thinking that maybe it would be more effective if I wasn't in jeans that I had bought from the girls' section at Kohl's. I batted my lashes at him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "Oh, God, James! Whatever will I do now that you're helping your new roommate move in and I'm so helpless and slutty!" I hitched a leg as best as I could around his waist, given the major height difference, and pushed my chest against him. "Oh, baby!"

Kendall stared at me. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Imitating what's-her-face. What else would I be doing?"

"Yeah, this is the way to get someone to want to let you live with them – making fun of their girlfriend. I'll remember that the next time I need to move in with someone."

"You do that."

James gently pried me away from him. "And Bailey is not helpless. Or slutty," he added, throwing me a look like I was the queen of whoreville. Which I totally wasn't, by the way. I had had sex exactly once, two years ago, and I had never regretted it.

"Sure," I rolled my eyes, placing my hands on my hips. "That's why she came dashing out here in just your shirt. And that's why she didn't stick around."

"She reacted, okay? And she has to get to the college."

"The college? How old is she?"

"She's twenty-five. And she works there."

I blinked. "She's a professor?"

"No. She works in their wildlife biology research department." He ran his fingers through his still messy hair.

"Oh. Right. Yeah. Scientist and all that."

James nodded. "Anyway, you have everything in the car?"

"Yeah. Hey, did you remember my Crab Rangoon and rice?"

He smiled a little. "As a matter of fact, I did."

I beamed. "Thanks, Jamie!" I hugged him for real this time before dashing out of the apartment and into the hall. Kendall and James followed closely behind, grabbing the elevator down to the lobby before walking out into the parking lot. We hauled everything up to the apartment, making a couple of trips before everything was out of Kendall's car.

Kendall eyed the bundle of bags on the floor before hugging me and then James. "I'll see you guys later, okay? I'm going to be around for the next week, so have me over for dinner or something. Or, hey, Jo and I'll have you two over for dinner."

James nodded, slipping his hands into his jeans pockets. "Sounds like a plan."

Kendall headed off, leaving me with James.

I grinned at him. "So, should Kendall and I have called?"

"Probably. I'm sorry about that, I can't believe I forgot to set my alarm."

"No biggie, it happens."

He nodded again, silence falling between us, and in spite of myself, I couldn't help but flash back to the last time we had been alone. I wondered if he was remembering it too…hating me for it…

"I'll show you to your room," he offered, breaking the awkward silence, and I gave him a small smile, following him into through the second door off of the living room. I figured the third door was the bathroom, but I glanced towards it anyway. I could see a shower peeking out through the open door, confirming my suspicions.

"So, what rules do I need to follow around here?" I asked as he pushed the bedroom door open.

"Mainly, just clean up after yourself, and if you have a boy in your room, don't be too loud."

I snorted. "For me to have a boy in my room, it would require a boy to actually be interested in me."

He gave me a long look and I knew exactly what he was thinking – that if things had turned out differently, I wouldn't have that problem.

After a long pause, he said, "Weren't you dating someone kind of recently?"

"Yeah, well, it didn't exactly work out," I mumbled, tugging my sweatshirt tightly around me as if to shield my body from the prying questions I knew he would never ask.

"What happened?"

"He didn't like keeping his attention on just one girl. He thought he'd sample a few more, so I decided to sample my popcorn over his head."

"You caught him at the movies?"

"Making out with the girl right in front of me. He's probably still rinsing the root beer from his eyes."

"I'm sorry."

I looked at him, half surprised. "Are you?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"First of all, it's not your fault. And second, I'd think you'd be happy that my relationships aren't working out. I mean, considering what happened…"

"Believe it or not, I really do care about you," James said quietly. "It's why I agreed to let you move in with me. And I don't want you to get hurt by anyone. I just want you to be happy. I'm going to go grab your bags so that you can get settled in." He turned for the door, heading for the living room.

"James?" I called after him.

He glanced over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"I know. You said that two years ago. Forget about it, it's done with." And with that, he made his way into the next room, leaving me wondering if maybe I had screwed up even more than I had thought I had.


James' POV

Once I dropped Katie's bags off in her room, I closed the door behind me and crossed the apartment into the kitchen. I put a kettle of water on the stove, and once it was boiling, I poured it into a mug, slipping a teabag in. Once the tea was strong enough, I squeezed the teabag with tongs and tossed it in the trash. I dumped in a couple of spoonfuls of sugar, stirring it thoroughly, and added a little bit of milk. My dad had always teased me about pouring milk into my tea, but I liked it that way. To me, it added a little extra something to the tea, and it helped to cool it down faster.

I retrieved my phone from my bedroom and sat down on the couch, still clutching my mug of tea. I placed it on the coffee table and got into my address book, clicking on a certain number.

I put my phone up to my ear, listening to the ringing on the other end.

On the third ring, a female voice answered, "Hey, you. Haven't heard from you in awhile. What's up?"

After a long sip of my tea, I replied, "Can we meet up for lunch? I really need to talk to you. It's about Katie…"

"Yeah, definitely. One-o-clock at Carter's Subs?"

"Yeah, that works," I agreed. "See you then."

"See you then."

I hung up, finished my tea, and headed into the bathroom to finish getting ready for the day.

I had explained the situation with Katie moving in the day before to my landlord when Bailey and I had gone back to my apartment, and he was pretty cool about the whole thing. He showed up at my front door around noon with a spare key and a copy of the contract I had had to sign when I moved in. I called Katie out and had our landlord, Dave, go through the contract with her.

While they were going over the specifics and she was paying him a month's rent, I finished cleaning up and grabbed my car keys and wallet.

Katie and Dave were just about finished with everything, so he headed out and Katie gave me a small smile. "I'm going to grab some things from my parents' place."

"Okay. I have lunch plans, so…"

"In that case, would you mind giving me a ride over? I was just going to ride the bus, but…"

"Yeah, I can do that."

"Thanks. You don't have to pick me up, I'm just going to take my parents' spare car. You know, the old Toyota Camry that hasn't been driven since I started college?"

"Yeah, that one. Isn't it, like, from '94?"

"Something like that. Either way, it needs to be driven and my dad's agreed to let me use it until I can buy my own car."

"Cool." We made our way down to the parking lot and I led her to my car. We climbed in and I drove her across town to her parents' place. Once she was dropped off, I drove over to Carter's Subs, a sandwich shop with the best clam chowder this side of the Mississippi river.

I parked and went on in. Lucy was the only one in line at the moment, and it was with a small breath of relief that I walked over to her. She smiled at me as I approached, holding her arms out for a hug. I pulled her into a tight embrace, sighing deeply.

She stepped back after a moment, fixing me with a reassuring look. "Let's order our food and then you can tell me what's going on with Katie."

"Okay."

Once we had decided what we wanted, we ordered at the counter before grabbing drinks and taking seats at a quiet table towards the back.

Lucy sipped on her soda before raising her head to look at me. Her long black hair was streaked with red as usual, and her black leather jacket was tight around her upper body.

"Well," she said as she leaned back against her chair, "I know you didn't ask me to meet you here for a booty call since you have Bailey."

I laughed a little, taking a sip of my own soda. Lucy and I had dated our freshman year of college, and while it hadn't worked out, we had remained friends while continuing to hook up occasionally when one of us needed someone. It worked for us, and at the end of the day we were there for each other.

"Yeah, I don't really need a fuck buddy right now," I replied.

"So, what's up? You said on the phone that it was about Katie. What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Lucy…I did something really stupid…"

She pressed her lips together. "What did you do, James?"

"It's…Oh God…"

"James?" She was starting to sound worried now. "I haven't seen you look so…messed up…since the morning after you and Katie had your falling out."

"She moved in with me this morning." The words fell from my lips like a proclamation that the world was ending, ringing with hopelessness and vulnerability.

Her eyes widened. "She moved in with you?! You dumbass! What the fuck are you thinking?! You can't just go and let Katie Knight live with you! That is seriously the stupidest thing I've heard in ages. That is the stupidest thing you've ever done!"

"I know. Believe me, Luce, I know that."

"What the hell would possess you to do such a thing?"

"I saw her again."

"James…please don't go down this road," she pleaded desperately. "It almost killed you two years ago. You're just finally doing okay again."

"Katie's not the only one who screwed me up, you know. I had something to do with it."

"We both know she's what triggered it, she's the one who pulled the trigger. I can't believe you're letting her live with you."

"That makes two of us. And she's…she's different…then she used to be…"

"You mean she's no longer a bitch?"

"No, she's still a bitch. She was a bitch to Bailey this morning."

"She saw Bailey this morning?"

"Bailey and I were in bed when Katie and Kendall showed up with her stuff."

"Oh, shit." Lucy clapped her hand over her mouth.

"Yeah, tell me about it. And then Katie got all seductive. I mean, I think she was just making fun of Bailey, but she said something yesterday…She wanted me to get her food from the restaurant that Bailey and I were going to for dinner, and not too long before that she had said that she didn't want to see me naked – long story, I'll explain later – so I told her I wouldn't get her food because she wasn't being nice, and she said that if I didn't have a girlfriend, she would push me into her dorm room and rip my clothes off and have her wicked way with me."

Lucy choked on a sip of her drink. "Holy fuck."

"I know." I rested my head in my hands. "I don't know what I've gotten myself into. Lucy, I'm so fucked."

"Yeah, you are," she agreed.

I shot her a glare. "Thanks for the moral support."

"What? I'm just being truthful. We both know you're fucked."

I sighed. "I don't know what to do."

"James…You said you let her move in with you because you saw her again…Are you still in love with her?"

I bit my lip. "Yeah…I think I am."


So, there you have it. Chapter three. Did you like it? Hate it? Love it? Please review and let me know! Also, Jatieluv and I just posted a Halloween one shot on our JatieFantasy profile, called "Costume Coupling Two-Point-O", so please check that out if you get a chance :)