"I don't know Darce, it feels like a BIG mistake," Katherine sighs as she flops down on to her bed.
"Well, you said it yourself: you didn't really have much of a choice. Either let him continue to think he did something wrong, or tell him what your asshole father said," Darcy's calm voice comes from the other end of the line.
Katherine heavily sighs again as she pulls over one of her pillows to hug to her chest. "I know, but you should have seen his face Darce. He looked so…heartbroken. Like I kicked his puppy or something, but worse."
"You? Kicking a puppy? Never." Darcy chuckled on the other end of the line. "Just text him Kath. The worst he can do is ignore you. Maybe he just needs time."
"But it's been two days. I know he was busy Saturday and I really hope I didn't ruin whatever his plans were and then Sunday just didn't seem like the right time to try and get a hold of him again and now it's Monday and I said on Friday that we should meet Monday but I don't want to screw up-"
"Kath, breathe. Worrying about it isn't going to do anything. Just send him a text – ask him to coffee or lunch or dinner or something and give him time to respond. Not everyone lives on their phone like you like to do."
Katherine groans. "I know, I know. I'm just scared of messing-"
"Scared of what? Losing your illustrator? Or have you finally admitted to yourself that you like him and you're worried about never getting a chance to try that out?"
Katherine buries her head in her pillow before mumbling, "I don't know anymore. You know me too well Darce."
"We've been friend ever since you threw that plastic dinosaur at my head in first grade. Of course I can tell when you're crushing on someone."
Katherine is about to respond when her phone dings, signaling a text message, "One second Darce, I just got a text."
FROM: Jack
Can we talk?
Katherine raises her phone up to her ear and is prepared to respond, but Darcy's already talking.
"So I've got two guesses. Jack or your father?"
"I swear you're psychic or something." She pauses to glance at her screen once again and double checks she hasn't imagined the text. "It's Jack. He wants to talk. What do you think that means?"
"I think it means I should hang up on you so you can text him back," Darcy laughs.
"Uggggghhhh. Fine. Don't forget about lunch on Wednesday though."
"I've never forgotten before. Not planning on starting now. Bring Jack when you guys make up and finally admit you like each other, okay?"
Katherine can't help but laugh at Darcy's optimism. "Sure Darce. If that happens. He could just want to talk about never seeing me again."
She can hear Darcy furiously trying to cover his laugh on the other end. "Stop being so negative."
"I'll stop being so negative when things don't go horribly wrong when I start thinking they are going okay," Katherine retorts.
"Not every is out to hinder your success Kath. Your father is the outlier not the rule."
She groans at the reminder of the man who's put her in this mess in the first place.
"So … I'm going to hang up now so you can text Jack back. And you will text Jack back and sort things out with him so that I will see both of you at lunch on Wednesday."
"Of cours-" she starts, but stops when she realizes that the quiet murmur from the other end of the line has been replaced by the monotone beep of an empty line. "He actually hung up on me," she whines to herself as she looks at Jack's text again.
FROM: Jack
Can we talk?
She hesitates for a moment, before furiously typing and retyping her reply until it is perfect. She's absolutely terrified of saying the wrong thing.
TO: Jack
Yes. When works for you?
Katherine hits the send button without hesitation. If she waits, she'll just keep continuously editing the text and never actually send anything. She assures herself that it is fine. No one replies quickly anyway. He's just stepped away from his phone. That's it. She has nothing to worry about.
This of course doesn't stop her from staring blankly at her phone, waiting for his reply to appear. When the little bubble pops up signifying he's typing, her heart starts to race uncomfortably.
FROM: Jack
Now? I'm at home. Can you come here?
FROM: Jack
Do you remember where it is?
FROM: Jack
Or just google the Larkin theatre. We're next door
Each text comes in quick successions, as if he had not spent as much time painfully poring over the wording as she had. She smiles and jumps up from the bed to find her coat as she texts back.
TO: Jack
Yes. I'm on my way. Be there in ten.
Or at least she thinks it will be ten minutes. She doesn't remember his apartment being more than a couple blocks away. Locating her jacket on the hook by the front door, she quickly pulls it on as her phone dings yet again.
FROM: Jack
K
The walk to Jack's apartment building was exactly as long as she figured it would be and precisely ten minutes after leaving her own, she is standing at the front door. She hesitantly raises a hand to knock at the worn wood. After a couple of moments spent debating whether or not she should knock again, Katherine hears footsteps approaching the door from the opposite side.
The door opens to reveal a woman who she doesn't recognize. She's wearing a satiny pink robe and her hair is filled with curlers. She's taller than her and exudes a confidence that Katherine has a hard time believing even exists. She's – oh – is also looking down at her with a disapproving smirk.
"Um, hi? I'm here to see Jack. Maybe I have the wrong address-" Katherine begins before the other woman cuts her off.
"So you're the young lady who's got my Jack all in a tizzy," the other woman accuses in a playful fashion.
Katherine winces. "I'm here to apologize again if he'll let me."
The woman doesn't get the chance to reply, as the sound of bare feet slamming on wood comes from behind the her along with Jack's voice yelling, "Sorry Miss Medda, I should have gotten ready faster and answered the door myself."
Jack finally appears off to the woman's side before carefully reaching his arm out around her and waving for Katherine to come in.
The woman, Miss Medda, steps off to the side so Katherine can fully see Jack and the disheveled mess he's currently in. His hair is standing up every which way, his green t-shirt is wrinkled beyond what she thought was possible, and his ripped jeans are splattered with every color paint possible. Dark bags rest under his eyes and she internally winces at the thought that her words caused him to lose sleep.
"Well come on," Jack emotionlessly encourages and starts making his way back towards the staircase up towards his and Davey's apartment.
Katherine glances at the woman one more time before sidestepping around her and following Jack up the stairs. The front door slams shut behind them and afterwards she can feel the woman's eyes boring in to her back. She hesitates in the entryway if the boys' apartment and watches Jack flop down in to the couch.
"You can come in. I did invite you here, didn't I?" Jack asks, his voice once again not betraying any emotion.
As Katherine quietly shuts the apartment door, Jack rests his head back against the couch and closes his eyes. If she hadn't seen him awake seconds earlier, she would have guessed he was asleep. She carefully makes her way around him to sit on the opposite end of the couch, trying her best not to disturb him.
She's not sure how long they sit in uncomfortable silence before footsteps once again can be heard coming up the stairs to the apartment. The door opens to reveal Davey, arms loaded with bags of groceries. It takes him a moment to notice them, but when his gaze finally lands on them, he does a double take.
"Good. He finally called you. I've been telling him he needs to do that since he got home Friday," he says as he dumps the bags of groceries on the kitchen counter.
Katherine looks to Jack when he responds, "Well I texted her – but sure, same thing." He rubs his hand over his eyes and sits up a little to glare at his roommate. "It's not like you wouldn't stop texting me until I did."
Katherine squirms in her seat. It is as if the temperature in the room has instantly dropped ten degrees.
"Well, I'm glad you texted me Jack," she starts and he turns to look at her with a blank gaze. "I-"
Jack is the one squirming now, with her attention on him. He's rubbing at his upper left arm with his right hand and when he nudges his shirt sleeve up, it reveals a forming bruise.
Katherine is about to ask about it when Davey beats her to it, exclaiming, "Jack! What happened?"
Jack looks down at what he's apparently been doing absentmindedly and immediately tugs his shirtsleeve down to once again cover the bruise. " 'S nothing Dave – just wrestled with Spotty a bit yesterday to get out some steam. Stop being such a mother hen."
Katherine's glance at Davey tells her he doesn't believe Jack's story one bit. His following, "Jack…" just confirms it.
"It's nothing Dave," Jack once again insists and Katherine swears she can see him bristling under the attention.
Davey's already rummaging in the freezer by the time Jack says that. When he emerges from behind the door, he's got an icepack in hand, which he immediately throws at Jack. Except Jack isn't paying attention so it lands with a soft thud on the couch between the two of them. Jack ignores it.
Davey's standing in front of Jack now, arms crossed, and overall looking more like Jack's older brother or parent than his friend. "Come on Jack. I know where you were this weekend and it wasn't wrestling with Spot." He pauses and gets no response from Jack. "I can call Spot and tell him you were using him as a scapegoat for your injuries again-"
Jack perks up at that and groans. "Fine. One, I don't think so, and no. Happy?" He glares at Davey.
Davey frowns at whatever Jack's cryptic message meant, apparently understanding more of it than she, before mumbling, "you sure?"
Jack stands from his seat on the couch to face Davey, his face softening a little but he doesn't completely drop his glare. "Yeah, I'm fine Dave. Thanks for asking."
The two stare at each other for a moment longer before Jack seems to remember Katherine's presence. He warily looks back at her and waves her towards the front door. "We're gonna be in the basement if you need me," he calls back as he's already halfway through the door.
Katherine grabs the ice pack from where it landed on the couch and shuffles after Jack. She finds him waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. He glances up to confirm she's following before fiddling with a door under the stairwell and walking down in to the darkness. She waits until he flips a light switch before following.
Once in the basement, Katherine looks around to find what appears to be a large art studio, filled with paintings and all the art supplies she could ever imagine. She doubts she could even name most of them.
"The apartments share this basement with the theatre. I guess forever ago when this place was built they were one building." Jack pauses as he leans back to sit a large wooden chest. "Miss Medda lets me use this place to paint and design sets and what not. It works out well I guess."
Katherine wanders over to where he is sitting and sits down beside him, meekly passing over the ice pack. Jack takes it after glaring at it for a moment and just drops it on the chest on his opposite side.
The pair are once again surrounded with uncomfortable silence. Katherine can't take it anymore and finally speaks, "I really am sorry Jack. My father is an ass-" She stops when Jack groans beside her and sets his head in his hands. "Are you okay?" She carefully asks.
After a moment of not moving, Jack leans back and staring straight ahead, quietly says, "I'm fine. Dave worries too much." He looks down at his hands as he fiddles his fingers together on his lap. "And I ain't mad at you – it's probably better you know now so you can find someone else to work with."
"Jack- nothing's changed. I don't want another illustrator and I'm not mad at you or anything."
Jack slowly turns to look at her, his eyes glazed. "You don't mean that."
Katherine hesitantly reaches a hand out and sets it on his shoulder. "I do. My father's an ass for even thinking it was an okay thing to do in the first place." Jack's still looking at where her hand resting on his shoulder, so she slowly pulls it away and clasps her hands together on her lap.
"Is there something here? Like between us? Or am I just imagining things?" Jack quietly asks.
Katherine, taken aback by the sudden change in topic, stutters nonsense for a moment before replying, "If you're asking if I'm interested in you, then yes." Her mind reels, not believing she actually admitted that.
Jack looks at her, slightly confused, "Wait, but aren't you and that Darcy guy…you know-"
She cuts him off before he can finish that statement. "No!" She exclaims before calming herself. "No, Darcy – well, he – he's not." She pauses to compose a coherent sentence. "I've known Darcy forever. He's really more of a brother at this point. We are not together, have not been together, and will never be together."
Jack softly smiles at that, before slowly falling in to a frown again. "Look," he exhales slowly, "before this conversation goes any farther, I want you to know what my record-"
She cuts him off again, "No, Jack, I don't need to know."
"But now you're wondering and I'd rather have the information out there before you make any decisions."
Katherine doesn't respond. She admits that yes, she is curious, but she stands by her previous statement that she trusts Jack. At the same time; however, if he can't move forward without her knowing then so be it.
Jack's fiddling with his hands again and avoiding eye contact. "Dave says it's not even something I need to be worried about telling people and that telling people means it won't just pop up and surprise me. I – I've just had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that it's always going to be a part of who I am – of how other people see me." He takes another deep breath before slowly continuing, "I grew up in the foster system; I've never known any other type of home. It wasn't a great way to live and you know – I thought I could do better on my own so I ran away. A lot. Enough times that they started putting me and cuffs and taking me in to the station when they eventually found me. Did you know if you run away enough it actually goes on your juvenile record?" He glances over at her. Katherine solemnly shakes her head, not wanting to interrupt. "So yeah, I've got a couple of those – I don't even know how many. Then they figured out that putting me in a home with younger kids kept me there so they did that." He stops talking to take some deep breaths.
"Jack – " she starts, but he cuts her off.
"That's not all. My last faster dad, he was a real jerk. A week before my eighteenth birthday my brothers and I asked if we could go to the movies to celebrate since we pretty much knew I'd be kicked out the second I turned eighteen. Stupid Snyder called the cops on me for kidnapping," Jack stops to darkly chuckle at the thought. "Spent the night in a holding cell until my useless social worker showed up and showed them the text on my phone saying I could take my brothers to the movies and proved to them that I was still technically a minor myself."
Katherine waits in the silence for a moment to be sure Jack is truly done this time before scooting over and wrapping her arms around him. She can feel him trembling in the hug. "Jack. This changes nothing. I'm still interested in you as my illustrator and as a potential boyfriend."
Jack turns in her grip to face her, his eyes watery. He roughly rubs away the tears with the back of his wrist. "You mean it?"
"Yes Jack," she softly giggles. "Now will you join me for lunch on Wednesday? Darcy and I have one planned and he's been not-so-subtly insisting I ask you out. And after the library he wants to properly meet you."
Jack genuinely laughs, bringing a smile to her face. "Isn't the guy supposed to ask out the girl?" He raises an eyebrow at her.
She releases him from her hug to lean back and cross her arms. "Welcome to the 21st century, Jack: where anyone can ask anyone out."
He looks at her bewildered for a moment. "Then sure, I'll come," he chuckles.
"Good," Katherine smiles.
"So how about we go upstairs and steal the TV from Davey to watch a movie?" He asks. "No working," he quickly amends.
Katherine place s finger on her chin as she pretends to think about it for a moment before confirming, "Sure, but only if you pretend for Davey's sake that you actually used that ice pack while we were down here talking."
"Fiiiiiiiiinnne," Jack whines as he picks up the ice pack and haphazardly presses it to his arm. "The two of you teaming up is going to be the death of me," he complains as he starts leading the way back towards the stairs.
She hums, "I think this team up is actually putting off your death, but whatever you say."
Back up in the boys' apartment, Davey is at the kitchen table poring over a book, but he looks up and leans back in his chair when they reenter. "So Katherine's still here? See Jack – I told you that wasn't going to chase anyone away." He pointedly looks at the ice pack Jack still grudgingly has clutched to his arm before turning to Katherine. "Good job getting him to actually use the ice pack for once. I was beginning to wonder why we bothered buying them."
Katherine, not paying attention to Jack, just sees the blue ice pack fly through the air to hit the wall beyond Davey.
"Shut up Dave," Jack's voice comes from behind her. "You were the one insisting I use the damn thing even though I told you it was nothing."
"Except 'nothing' to you is something to just about everyone else on the planet," Davey replies, not missing a beat as he closes his book. "Are you hanging out here for a while?"
"I'm so sorry, are you studying? We can go somewhere else," Katherine offers.
Davey waves her suggestion off. "Don't worry about it. I've spent the last couple of days here dealing with Jack's brooding. I'm going to go out and get some fresh air, maybe some pizza."
"Bye Dave!" Jack calls from the couch, even though Davey has yet to make way for the door. "Thanks for babysitting me," he sarcastically adds on before finishing with, "Now come on Kath, what movie should we watch?"
Katherine flops down on the couch besides Jack and he immediately wraps his arm around her shoulders. "Whatever you want."
Jack smirks, "Harry Potter marathon it is then."
"You're not being serious, right? That's like 20 hours," Katherine only half-seriously protests.
"You said anything," Jack smirks as he presses play for the first movie. "Better get comfortable."
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Thank you for reading! As always, reviews are loved/appreciated/adored!