"Stop thinking about him," Jenny said, lifting her beer to her lips. "If he wants to be an idiot, let him."

With a heavy sigh, she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "I can't. I've waited for this day for so long. To know that he's so close..."

"He'll come around," Jenny assured. "His panties are just in a twist as usual."

"You can't know that," she whispered with a desperate look to her friend. "What if he decides he no longer loves me? What if the magic is too strange, too different?"

Jenny shook her head. "Well, from what you've said, the witch thing seems to be low on his list of worries. He seems more concerned with who you've slept with than any spells you've cast."

Lifting a hand to her hair, she pushed it back only to realize it was shaking slightly. "I promised to be only his. He has a right to be angry."

"Kat," Jenny groaned, drawing her gaze. She knew she was about to drive her friend crazy, but she couldn't help it. The idea that Ichabod was angry with her, doubting her, was driving her absolutely mad. "You made that promise two centuries ago. I'd say the circumstances surrounding that promise changed a little when he went to sleep and left you all alone. What I don't get is why you let Hawley go so easy. The guy was in love with you."

Rolling her eyes, she responded, "Nick loved screwing me. It was nothing more than that."

"Maybe not for you, Ms. I've got this epic love who just woke up from his dirt nap, but for Hawley, it was. You know, the whole time you were gone, he didn't sleep around...much. He seemed to really miss you."

Though, she tried to deny Jenny's words, they tugged at her. Her eyes ventured to the opposite side of the room where Nick sat, nursing a beer and chatting some half dressed girl up in an obvious attempt to get a rise out of her. She'd never meant to get so entangled with Nick Hawley. It was supposed to be simple. Sex and nothing more. He was a distraction from her thoughts, from her depression. But, then, after a while, he'd started staying over more often than not, and she couldn't deny the fact that he made her feel things she hadn't felt since she'd been with Ichabod. He'd made her genuinely laugh and had given her more comfort than she deserved. By the time, she had fully recovered to her previous self and realized she'd lingered with him for too long, he was practically a third arm for her and in an attempt to begin distancing herself from him, she'd taken a trip that had been meant to be short, but had turned into half a year as she had found herself falling back in love with helping people. Never in her wildest dreams would she have guessed that he would have waited for her after so long. They'd only known each other for about three months before she'd left, but apparently it had been just enough to draw him in. When she'd talked to him a few days before she returned, she'd gotten the sense that her trip hadn't put him off in the least in the ways she had hoped it would. Truthfully, Nick had made her passion explode in their most intimate of acts. However, his best night couldn't compare to the feeling of Ichabod's lips brushing hers, or the way they used to pretend that simply standing next to each other didn't drive them absolutely mad with want of more than shoulders occasionally touching. The way her love made her feel with the simplest of touches. It was as if he set her very soul on fire when he caressed her. As much as she'd tried to put him out of her mind while with Nick, he was always there, letting her know that nothing would ever compare to him, letting her know that her life wouldn't continue in true happiness until he was with her again.

"Look, I'm sorry," Jenny said, pulling her from her thoughts. "I get it. For some reason beyond my understanding, you're in love with Crane. I just think you could have given Nick a little more warning. You kinda came out of it looking cold hearted."

"I know," she whispered dejectedly. "It just felt wrong to string him along when all I could think about was Ichabod. It's what I had been trying to do by leaving and keeping phone calls to a minimum, but when I returned and Nick still..." She ran her hand through her hair in frustration. "I was going to talk to him about it as soon as I got back, but, then, I got here and Ichabod... I thought it best to simply cut ties all together. Plus, I knew if I delayed it, Ichabod would get the wrong idea and I couldn't have that."

"Men. I swear they can get more sensitive about this stuff than we do," Jenny chuckled as she leaned against the table. "But, if it makes you feel better, I talked to your time-traveling, colonial lover today."

She sat straighter. "You did?"

"Yeah," Jenny chuckled, clearly amused at her eagerness. "I called to see if Abbie was there and he nearly bit my head off when he answered. I must have caught him right after you left because he was seriously ticked, like panties in a serious twist ticked." Jenny shrugged a bit guiltily. "It probably didn't help that I asked how his talk with his witchy lover went."

"Jenny," she scolded. Her friend, she had learned, loved irritating Ichabod. In all the years she'd known Jenny, she'd figured out that Jenny enjoyed walking the line, something that aggravated her sister to no end. Though, that very fact was how she and Jenny had become such good friends. It was more so a careless mistake on her part that her young friend had been tracking an artifact down that she, too, had been searching for. It had all been a giant mess and one very long conversation when Jenny had witnessed her next door neighbor use her magic to destroy said artifact. Of course, while she'd wanted to share the whole truth of who she was, she'd known it wasn't the best idea. So, with Jenny thinking she was just a regular thirty-two year old witch, the two of them became thick as thieves. If she was being honest, she had been relieved at her exposure. To finally have another woman to speak with about her life, it was more than she could have asked for. Granted, when Jenny had shown up on her doorstep earlier demanding explanation for her relationship with Ichabod Crane, she'd been forced to give the whole story at last. Apparently, Jenny was more upset about the fact that her surprise over having her own go-to-witch to present to Abbie and Ichabod had been ruined, as well as her surprise to her over her discovery of a time traveler. That was Jenny, though. She didn't get hung up on the details. She just enjoyed the adventure for all it was worth.

"I'm telling you, the guy's just horny. That's why he's so uptight."

Raising an eyebrow, Katrina glanced to her friend. "And what makes you think that?"

Jenny looked at her incredulously. "He hasn't gotten any in two centuries. You tell me. Is he horny?"

Lips pursing as she sipped her drink, she shrugged, her fingernails suddenly becoming very interesting.

"Oh, come on, Kat," Jenny pressed with a smirk. "Don't think I didn't figure out who all those hot sex stories you shared with me were about."

Amused at Jenny's words, she titled her head. "I don't know what on earth you're talking about." Sliding Jenny's beer away from her, she chuckled, "I do, however, think you've had a bit too much to drink."

Jenny leaned back in her chair, clearly pleased with herself. "All the annoying, gentlemanly manners in the world aren't going to stop me from calling Ichy out on what a dirty, dirty boy he is."

Eyes widening, she shook her head. "You can't mention those things to him. He'll die of embarrassment if he finds out I ever spoke of what we did in private."

"Private?" Jenny asked in incredulity. "From what you've told me, the two of you had more sex in public places than you did in beds. Your favorite meeting place to screw was under a tree by the river."

"That was well away from prying eyes," she defended half heartedly.

"Oh please, I wouldn't be surprised if now you told me that Crane has some serious closet kink going on and oh, look," Jenny said, her voice hitting an excited pitch as her eyes trained on the entrance. "Seems we're going to find out."

Turning to see what she was looking at, she saw Abbie and Ichabod walking in. The fact that her breath caught with how handsome he looked was not helping her attempt at seeming like she was put together at all. His hair was down and everything. Of course, now that meant that all she could think about was figuring out a way to get her hands in it.

"Hey, when you two start bumping uglies again, do you think you can use your power of sex to make him change his clothes? He's like a walking museum."

With a glare at her friend, she practically held her breath as the two new arrivals came to a stop beside their table, clearly surprised to see them.

Abbie gave a tight smile. "Hey, didn't expect you two to be here."

There was more than a little tension in her voice and she would have spent more time worrying over if it was her or Jenny who was more so on the receiving end of it if not for being caught up in staring at the man who was obviously trying to avoid her gaze.

"Hey, Abs," Jenny said a little too cheerfully. "What's up, Ichy? You look like you need a drink."

Abbie shot her sister a look that clearly said to step off, but of course all Jenny did was return the look with a smirk.

Clearing her throat, she gave the brightest smile she could muster. "Why don't the two of you join us?" She gestured to the crowded bar. "It's kinda crowded tonight. I doubt you'll find a table."

Both Abbie and Ichabod looked as though they'd rather sit on the floor than join them, but after a quick scan of the room, Abbie sighed, "Alright, Crane, I'll get us something. You take a seat."

He opened his mouth with the obvious intention to object, but Abbie was already half way across the room, leaving him to stiffly take a seat opposite her. An awkward silence fell between them as she stared at him while he stared at a something well away from her vicinity. That silence, however, was interrupted by Jenny, who leaned forward like she had some sort of juicy prey in her sights.

"So, you two, huh?"

Ichabod's gaze slid to Jenny's in a mildly annoyed manner, but he offered no words of either confirmation or denial.

"I'm just saying," Jenny went on. "I'm having a hard time picturing it."

Deciding to throw herself into the conversation, awkward as it may be, instead of dissolving into a mess over why he wouldn't look at her, she said, "Why not?"

Jenny shrugged. "Because he's so tightly wound, I'm not sure he would know how to have a good time if it was staring him in the face and you're..." She chuckled. "Let's just say, you're a little more out there."

Ichabod shifted in his seat to face Jenny. "I am not tightly wound. I'm perfectly capable of enjoying myself when the time is appropriate."

With a smirk, Jenny leaned forward. "Perhaps, but you know, British, I learned some interesting things about you."

His eyebrows shot up as he stared at Jenny. "And what might that be? Obviously it wasn't how to properly uphold yourself in a public setting."

Shocked at the return Ichabod had given, she looked at her friend who looked ready to pounce. "Jenny," she bit out under her breath, which her friend ignored.

Ichabod shot her a quick glance before training his eyes back on her friend.

"It's funny you should bring up inappropriate behavior in public and how you know the appropriate time to do certain things because I heard you are quite the skilled man at inappropriate public behavior."

"Skilled?" Ichabod asked with a frown. "What are you referring to?"

"Well, a while back, Kat and I had a conversation about the most interesting places we'd ever had sex."

"Oh God," she whispered, leaning her head to her hand when she noticed Ichabod's eyes grow to the size of quarters.

Abbie, who had just returned, shot her sister a startled look before her gaze flickered to Ichabod. "Jenny!"

"Don't worry, Abbie," Jenny assured, with a reassuring look to her sister. "I'm not gonna tell Crane about any of your adventures."

Ichabod cleared his throat. "I agree with the Leftenant. This is highly inappropriate."

Jenny shrugged. "I just wanted to give you a chance to confirm or deny, Ichy."

Ichabod frowned. "Excuse me?"

Jenny patted her arm causing her to cover her eyes. "Kat shared hers and I was just curious if it was you. I guess it wasn't. You're clearly too much of a prude to get head in a church confessional."

There was a long moment where she was sure all the air had been sucked out of the room as their table went completely silent. Unable to resist sliding her hand from her face to gauge his reaction, she found that what she saw actually worried her. He didn't look as though he were breathing at all. His body was rigid and his eyes were glued to the table as though in a trance.

"Reminiscing, Crane?" Jenny asked, the tone of her voice filled with delight.

Ichabod jerked his head up, his eyes immediately seeking hers out. There was a great deal going on in those blue eyes, but before she could properly pinpoint exactly what was dominant, he suddenly stood, his chair toppling back which made him jump in surprise. With a startled look about the bar, he quickly began walking toward the restrooms.

"Oh my God, Jenny," Abbie bit out, swatting her sister's arm. "Are you off your meds? How much have you had to drink?"

"What?" Jenny asked as though she were talking about the weather. "He was being all high and mighty. I needed to bring him down a peg or two. Besides," she added with a sly smile. "Don't tell me you weren't curious. I was honestly shocked at the things I now know he's done."

"No," Abbie said quickly. "I don't want to know those things about Crane and I certainly did not want the images that are now circling in my head." She shook her head and lifted her glass to her lips. "I feel like I need to brush my teeth or something, now."

"You haven't heard anything, yet. Kat isn't the only one who's ventured south of the belt with her mouth." Jenny looked at her oddly. "Or would it be north of the hem line back then?" She waved her hand as if dismissing the question. "Whatever you want to call it, it's freaking weird to think of that uptight, colonial dude doing it."

With a sigh, Katrina stood. "I'll go check on him. I'm sure he's furious with me." She looked at Abbie. "Don't let her leave on her own."

Abbie cast her sister a not so pleasant look that only a sister could give. "Yeah. I've got her. We're going to have a serious talk about boundaries and what I meant when I said no more secrets."

Hoping that situation didn't worsen in her absence, she began making her way from the tables and was halfway to the restroom when Nick was suddenly in front of her. "Kat, we need to talk."

Perfect. Today was not her day. Bringing her hand up to stop him from touching her, she shook her head. "There's nothing more to say."

When she tried to step around him, he grabbed her arm. "Yeah, there is. You can't just dump a guy with no reason other than it's not working out anymore."

"Dump you?" she asked incredulously. "I never had you to dump you, Nick. We were just friends who messed around."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't care what you want to call it, Kat. We were fine before you left and now, what? We're suddenly not? We talked three days ago before you boarded your plane. We made plans."

"Nick," she groaned, not fully equipped to deal with this, especially considering that his voice was slurred indicating he'd had entirely too much to drink. "We made plans so I could talk to you about ending this. I just...Please, I don't have time for this right now."

With that, she removed his hand and continued around the corner, not even pausing to consider she was entering the men's restroom. She got a few odd looks, but ignored them as she found Ichabod not to be among the patrons relieving themselves. Backing out, she looked down the hallway and noticed the back exit. Hurrying to it, she pushed it open and stepped out into the night air and sure enough, there he was, pacing down the alley, mumbling to himself about what she was sure was her inappropriate behavior. One deep breath later and she was walking toward him.

"Ichabod-"

At her voice, he spun to her and pointed an accusing finger. "Why? Why would you tell her that!? Of all the things in the world to converse about, Katrina!"

Shrugging her shoulders, she glanced to her sleeve which she was picking at as a means to avoid his heated glare. "We were kinda drunk and sharing stories..." She trailed off before looking back to him with a small smile. "She was impressed if that means anything at all." When he didn't seem moved by her lighthearted words, she sighed, "It's my favorite story, Ichabod, and I just wanted to beat hers."

He huffed before dramatically waving his hands. "That was a personal moment between us, Katrina. I cannot believe you told her about our lovemaking."

"Lovemaking?" she asked with a laugh she simply couldn't help. "I had my mouth around your cock in a church, Ichabod. I'd hardly call that lovemaking."

His surprise showed all over his face as he abruptly turned to stare at the wall.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, closing the distance between them in the hopes that if she just touched him she could calm him down. "Jenny was just having a laugh and it probably didn't help that she's a little drunk."

"What else did you tell her?" he asked accusingly, though to her confusion, slightly short of breath.

Another shrug drew her eyes to her boots. "I don't know. All the interesting stuff, I guess. Barns, Alleys, Rivers..." She chuckled. "We really weren't into beds."

The next thing she knew, her back was against the building with his body pressing hard into her. Eyes jumping to his in shock, she found him staring at her mouth and if the desire hadn't already been present in his heated gaze, then she would have known its presence in his pants as he pressed into her intimately.

"Tell me," he whispered, his warm breath washing over her face. "Tell me the things you said."

When his hips jerked into hers, she moaned. "Ichabod, please, just...I need you."

His mouth met the side of her neck with a ferociousness she had missed dearly, his hands sliding up her body and over her breasts possessively. Jenny had been right. He wanted her. He wanted her desperately. Hands sliding up his back, she lifted her leg to slide along his, craving that familiar friction.

"I've dreamed of you being inside me again," she whispered into his ear. "That's what you want, isn't it? You want to be inside me."

His response came in one of his hands finding its way beneath her shirt, his fingers scratching along her side as the other slid under her skirt to the back of her thigh where he pulled it up around his hip, making room for him to thrust against her.

"Oh, God, yes," she moaned as she finally got her hands where she wanted them; tangled in his long hair. With his middle thrusting into her and his mouth sucking at all the available skin he could find, she allowed it all to wash over her. Ichabod had always been such a possessive lover. After they'd finally gotten comfortable enough with each other in the early days of their intimate acts, a side of him she never would have expected had made itself known. At times, he'd taken her so unexpectedly and roughly, she had considered he might be possessed, but then he never failed to calm himself and love her in the aftermath. She only hoped they could find their way back to that. Mouth sliding along his jaw, she pulled him back to her, wanting to taste him. However, the moment her lips finally met his, he was abruptly torn from her. Eyes snapping open, it took her a moment to realize that Ichabod was now on the ground with Nick standing over him.

"Nick, what is the matter with you?" she bit out with force, shoving him away and moving to help Ichabod up. "Ichabod, are you ok?"

"This is the reason you broke up with me so suddenly?" Nick shouted as he righted himself. "Him?"

Once Ichabod was on his feet, she threw Nick a glare. "You're drunk, Nick. Go back inside."

"I'm not going anywhere," he bit out, stumbling forward. "You're gonna tell me what the hell you're doing letting this guy feel you up out here like some kind of whore."

Ichabod tensed beside her and she knew if she didn't get a handle on this, she'd have both of them throwing punches. Hand on his arm to hold him still in case he decided to do something rash, she stared at Nick.

"Ichabod and I..." she sighed as she decided to just tell the truth. "We have a past relationship from a very long time ago. We were together for a really long time, but then we were separated and he only just returned...and we...reconnected."

Nick frowned at her incredulously. "What does that even mean, Kat? He's an old boyfriend that you're screwing?"

"I'm in love with him," she whispered, to which Nick drew back in a mix between disgust and what she knew to be hurt. "Nick, I'm so sorry. I never meant..."

"To what, Kat?" he bit out. "So, he's the reason you stayed so closed off from me? I thought you just had commitment issues, not that you were just screwing me until the guy you really wanted came back."

Heart in her throat, she opened her mouth, but no words came out. Try as she may, she couldn't wrap her mind around what was happening. Nick and her, while they had become close, had never been anywhere near close to what he was describing. He was one of those guys that slept around. He wasn't supposed to get so attached, but, once again, it seemed Jenny had been right and she'd just been too selfish and short-sighted to see it.

When she gave no further answer, Nick threw his hands up and stormed back into the bar. The moment the door slammed closed, she turned from Ichabod and ran her hands through her hair in an attempt to sort her thoughts out. Things were not supposed to go this way. This wasn't how the past two centuries of waiting were supposed to unfold.

"Did you know how he felt?"

With a sigh, she turned back to Ichabod. "I don't know," she whispered. "Maybe. I guess...I might have known." She ran her hands over her face. "God, I'm so selfish. I used him to make myself feel better and..."

Ichabod nodded, his eyes falling to his boots.

"I don't love him," she said firmly, clearly seeing the thoughts running through his head. "I meant what I said to you this morning and I meant what I just said to him. It has always been you, Ichabod." He gave another nod, but never glanced up. "It always will be you."

"Forgive me," he whispered softly.

Completely at a loss for why he was apologizing, she stepped closer to him. "What on earth for? You haven't done anything. I'm the one who embarrassed you and got you punched in the face."

His eyes hesitantly met hers before he gestured to the wall where he'd had her pressed minutes before. "I shouldn't have..."

"Oh, Ichabod," she said with a light laugh. "You don't have to apologize for that. It's nothing we haven't done hundreds of times before."

"Yes, I do," he said firmly. "It was inappropriate given our circumstances. I allowed my feelings to control me and I shouldn't have."

Doing her best not to feel too disappointed, she smiled. "Well, even though I find it completely unnecessary, I accept your apology." When he nodded, she couldn't help but add, "But I admit, I do take pleasure in the fact that your feelings told you to do such a thing."

The slight blush that crept over his face as he shifted uncomfortably brought a familiar warmth to her. How many blushes had she brought out of this man in all the time she'd known him? Closing the distance between them, she reached up to touch his cut lip. "Come home with me. I can take care of that."

"Katrina..." he said, clearly about to give reason to say no.

"I can clean you up, heal you, and then take you home if that's what you want," she said, hoping it might be enough to persuade him.

When his eyes returned to hers, a moment of hesitation occurred, but then he nodded. "Alright."

Finally releasing a breath of relief, she slid her hand down his arm and nervously tangled her fingers with his. When he didn't immediately object and pull away, she gave him a small smile which he returned just enough to lighten her heart before leading him out of the alley. As he plopped down into the seat next to her, she pulled out her phone to send Abbie a text, letting her know she had Ichabod.

"This is a nice car," he said, running his fingers over the dash.

Giving him a smile, she said, "Yeah."

"What kind is it? It's not like the Leftenant's."

"BMW," she answered, glad to have a simple subject to discuss. "It gets me from place to place."

He raised an eyebrow as he cast her a sideways glance. "I was under the impression you didn't enjoy material things, especially not expensive things."

Chuckling, she pulled out onto the road. "I never said I didn't enjoy them. I simply never found the use for them if they weren't a necessity."

"Very well," he muttered, fiddling with his seatbelt. "I find the majority of the things in this era of little necessity."

"Is that so?" she asked in amusement, just knowing she was about to get an earful.

Next up: The truth about Nick. What does Ichabod think of Katrina's magic? A meaningful gift from an unexpected person. And the hardship that comes with picking out the right panties.

Also, I just have to say, yesterday, I was struck with a certain clarity about Jenny's character that I'm so completely excited for. Like, the first thought was eww, why would I think that? But then I thought about it from another angle and it totally became yummy(in my head anyway). And now all I can think about is Ichabod's reaction and what it means for him. I keep looking at my outline in anticipation of writing it! Chapter 9 will be the semi introduction to it.