Disclaimer- i don't own kickin' it

KIM'S POV-

I tried to make the coffee as fast as possible so I could return my attention to Jack, but I was so happy and excited that he was here I could barely focus. You know that feeling? When you want to do something really badly but everything else is taking forever? I hate that feeling. About five minutes later, I set the cup down in front of Jack, and laughed quietly at the face he was making, with his eyes closed and his face scrunched, inhaling the steam that was rising off the top of the dark black surface. I propped my chin on to the palm of my hand and watched him while he watched me back. It was funny, not in the laughing way though, just the cute way. When he finally set the cup down, he leaned forward, his eyes squinted like he was thinking when suddenly,

"Do you wanna come over tonight? We can watch movies or something. Whatever. I don't know." He's so cute when he's nervous, I thought while nodding my head in a yes.

"I'd love to. What's your apartment number?"

"It's 3A. What time do you wanna come over?"

I pulled out my phone and checked the time. It was 3.45, meaning i'd been here for 45 minutes. It felt like forever. "It's 3.45 now, I finish work at 7. How about 7.45?"

"Yeah, that works great!" Jack was so enthusiastic. My insides twisted up with nervousness, but I reminded myself that we're just friends, and we're hanging out as friends.

"Okay, cool! I'll see you tonight then. Do you want me to bring anything?" I asked.

Jack looked zoned out for a second like he was really thinking about the question, but then he answered, "No, just wear sleep clothes or something because that's what o'm going to do and I don't want to be alone."

Oh my god, you're adorable. I laughed, "Okay, sounds great. I'll see you tonight then."

"Okay, see you later." He smiled at me and slid off of his chair. What was it about Jack that got me so happy? I haven't smiled this much in a long time. I watched him make his way over to Jerry and Grace, who were laughing at something Jerry said. I saw Jerry slip a piece of paper over to Grace, and Grace picked it up, read it, and kissed him on the cheek. Jerry looked shocked, like he had just won the lottery. Jack grabbed Jerry's arm and waved goodbye to me and Grace, and Jerry did too but with the same surprised expression. When they were gone, Grace threw her hands up in the air and spun around to me.

"OH MY GOD, KIM, DID YOU SEE THAT! DID YOU SEE JERRY! I THINK WE'RE IN LOVE BUT I'M NOT SURE OH MY GOD KIM!" She started dancing around the kitchen, to the amusement of me and the other customers. Grace looked so happy, with her big white smile and her long tan arms outstretched as she pirouetted and pliƩd her way around the cases showcasing the miscellaneous food items we sold. When she was finished with her little performance, she rushed back to me and started blabbering about the photo he had taken, and the stories he told her, and how god damn cute he was. She was in the middle of talking about his smile when all of a sudden she burst out,

"YOU AND JACK! HOW DID IT GO?"

I bust out laughing and shook my head at her. This girl was all over the place.

"I'm going to his place after work and we're going to watch movies and stuff." I tried to sound carefree and calm about this but on the inside I was screaming so hard. Just like Grace a second after I told her.

"GRACE. You are going to lose us customers, stop it!" I whisper-screamed at her. She stopped screaming, but not smiling or whispering 'omg'. I rolled my eyes and started washing dishes.

Four hours later, I was hanging up my apron and taking deep breaths, prepping my nervous system for hanging out with Jack. I still had half an hour before I had to be at his house, and my mind was racing at the speed of light. When he said sleep clothes, what did he mean? Like sweats? What if I cry at the movie? What do I talk about? How do I resist the urge to jump on him and kiss his face? I locked the door to the cafe and walked away in dismay. When I got back to my apartment, I stood with my back against the door, and exhaled hard. I went into my room and changed into sweats and my old Bobby Wasabi shirt. I put my hair up in a ponytail and paced nervously around my living room. When the clock read 7.40, I went into my kitchen, grabbed a box of popcorn for the hell of it, picked up my cell phone, and headed out the door. When I got to the third floor, I stopped and looked around. I had lived in this apartment building for a long, long time but I had never stepped foot on the third floor, never met anyone on the third floor or anything. To be honest, I didn't exactly know what I was expecting. It looked like my floor, and sad to say, I was a bit disappointed. I quickly found Jack's apartment and took a few deep breaths. I then knocked on the door.

"Come in," A voice from inside called out.

I pushed the metal doorknob and stepped inside. Jack's apartment was nice. It smelled like a boy does, not gross, but just kind of manly, like deodorant and stuff. Jack came out of a room in long pajama pants and an old shirt that had a band logo on it. He smiled once he saw me, and even bigger when he saw the popcorn.

"Popcorn? Kim, you are amazing." He said, leading me into the kitchen. I sat down on one of the chairs by the entrance, not really sure what to do.
"D-do you want me to show you around or something?" Jack asked me.

"Yeah sure." I responded. I stood up and followed him around as he showed me to the bathroom, his aunts room, and finally, his room. I stopped in his room and admired his walls, which were covered in some of the same posters that I had.

"You like Neck Deep?" I asked him, surprised.

"Yeah, I love them. Why do yo-" he cut himself off and his eyes grew as wide as saucers. He was looking at my shirt.

"YOU WENT TO BOBBY WASABI DOJO? I WENT TO BOBBY WASABI DOJO!" Jack was flipping out. My mouth dropped. This was so cool.

"Yeah, I trained with Rudy. Do you know him?

"Rudy was my sensei too!"

Okay, this was cool. But it was also kinda weird and spiritual, like fate designed this moment. We high fived and started talking about Rudy and some of the stuff he said did, like when he won free falafel for life, or the time when he went through his whole nostalgic 'Just Us Guyz' revamp. We sat on Jack's bed for at least an hour, laughing and talking about Rudy, then stuff that had happened to us at school, since Jack and I both go to different schools and in different grade levels, and other stuff, not even realizing how close we were sitting to each other, or how our hands were so close I could feel his energy vibrating close to me. About an hour and a half later, Jack stood up, stretched, and declared,

"I'm hungry. Are you hungry? Let's go to McDonalds." He extended his hand, which I took and he lead me out of the room, before stopping, walking back into his room with his hand still in mine, and handing me one of his sweatshirts which I accepted with a smile and a 'thanks.' He nodded back at me with his eyes shining and sparking, and we walked out of the apartment, hand in hand.

Jack was a good driver, but he was a little bit impatient. I studied the way his thumbs drummed on the steering wheel when there was a red light, or his look of exasperation when a slow driver switched from lane to lane. I guess I couldn't blame him. I have a terrible case of road rage. We pulled into McDonalds, and the air was cold and sharp but it was electric as well. I opened the door for Jack and he curtsied before walking in to the restaurant, making me giggle. We got to the counter and the lady serving us greeted us.

"Hello, welcome to McDonalds, how may I take your order?"

"Can I get a value meal please? With extra fries?" Jack asked the lady before turning to me.

"Can I just have the chicken nuggets and a Coke?" I asked her. She nodded and typed everything up on the screen. Jack pulled out his wallet, and I did the same, and when Jack looked at me questioningly, I just responded, "First time, we go halfsies." Jack smiled at me and we both payed our half. We sat down in one of the plastic tables that have the swively chairs and talked about random things before our number was called. We sat down and started to eat, and I noticed Jack staring at me from time to time. The first time I caught him, I just scrunched up my nose and went back to my chicken nuggets, making Jack laugh and my stomach turn all warm. When we were finished, Jack decided that we needed ice cream too, so we got ice cream and sat outside eating it. I looked at Jack and he looked back at me, with vanilla ice cream on his nose. I laughed before wiping it away. When we were finished we drove back to the apartment, singing to the shitty pop songs that were on the top 40 radio. Neither of us can sing, but together I thought we sounded pretty good.

"So we didn't watch any movies, but we bonded and had McDonalds, which is like, better." Jack stated as we were walking towards my apartment.

"Most definitely. I haven't had this much fun in..." I thought for a moment, "A long time."

"Why?" Jack asked.

I sighed. Am I ready to open myself up to Jack? I really had just met him...

"It's been a rough past couple of years." I decided.

Jack nodded, understanding. He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then said,

"Earlier today, when I told you my aunt was fine, it wasn't true. The doctors told her four weeks, but she told me she felt like it could be any moment. I just thought I should tell you the truth." Jack said.

I stopped in place, feeling my face drop. "Jack, I-I'm so sorry. That's horrible, no one should have to go through this." I told him, grabbing his hand.

He smiled and nodded. "Thanks. It's okay, she lived a really long life, but she raised me. And it's hard for me to deal with."

I nodded, understanding. "Thank you for telling me this. I'm really sorry Jack, but I promise it will get better. I swear." I told him as I reached the door to my apartment. Jack didn't seem depressed, just a little sad, like he was trying his hardest to keep his head held high. He nodded and smiled at me.

"Well, thank you for an amazing night, miss Kimberley." He said, facing me.

"And thank you for an amazing night, mr Jack." I laughed.

There was a moment of complete silence with my back up against my door and his body so close to mine and I thought we were going to kiss. He began to lean in closer, but my mind had flashbacks to Connor and instead, I just stood on my tippytoes and kissed his cheek.

"Goodnight." I whispered into his ear.

"Goodnight." He whispered back at me, a smile lighting up his face. I unlocked my door and stepped inside. I waited for a minute, checked through the peephole on my door, and when he was gone, I spun around in circles, chanting "yes, yes YES!" over and over again. I was so happy. I was happy when I was taking a shower, I was happy when I brushed my teeth, and I was happy when I fell asleep, which was something that I haven't experienced for a long time.

authors note-

hey guys. hope you liked this chapter. review/comment more please guys i've been getting less than usual and it makes me sad :((((( love ya xo maia