Disclaimer: Oh, how I wish I owned this show… or at the very least some of the characters.

Author's Notes: It's a little cliff-hangerish at the very end. But that's ok. It's a cute chapter, nothing major goes down and I lightly touched up on Cameron, very lightly. I'll have more Bianca/Joey/Cameron next chapter. ANYWAY Thank You guys, so much, you're all so fabulous, what with the alerts and reviews and everything. Yay, new episode tonight! Boo, it's the season finale. I'm very excited tho! Happy Readings and have an awesome night!!



You know what the problem was, the problem was that she was getting way to close and way to attached to Patrick Verona. She knew this because she had tried on three different outfits and had been trying to style her hair. Katherine Stratford did not, and let's repeat this, did not do these kind of things for boys. Not after what happened with Justin. Not after she learned, the hard way of course, that they were all worthless scums of the earth.

Kat had never been the girl who out did herself to impress them. Sure, sure, with Justin she made a little more of an effort. Not much though. She still wanted to maintain her character. And Justin had always stated how cute she was in her laid back jeans and band shirts, always with a book in her hands. And, yes she had gotten a little more punk rocker in the past year or so, but only because it fitted her new found presence after that summer.

She was a changed woman and no man would ever make her feel like she was beneath them. Because, and let's be honest, no man was ever going to be above her. At least never again.

Kat groaned and fell on to her bed face first. She had spent the better part of the last two days receiving lectures from Mandella and trying to stop thoughts of Patrick from invading her mind. She had spent the better part of today trying to calm down Bianca who had not only tracked down Cameron, but had let it slip that she was going out with Joey Donner. Cameron was unenthusiastic to say the least.

And now it was almost seven thirty, which meant Patrick would be here in less then half an hour and Joey would be here in less then half an hour.

Mr. Stratford had the living room set up to show the boys a video of one of his recent births. Kat was still trying to figure out how to save the raven haired boy and the blonde haired boy from that unnecessary punishment. She just wasn't sure how dramatic she should go.

She sighed and rolled over so that she was on her side, staring at the window. It had been easier a few weeks ago when she and Patrick were at each other's throats, the sexual tension suffocating anyone who was in a five foot radius of them. The sarcastic remarks, the heated looks, the annoyance that spread through her body like a fever, that was normal. That was easily controlled and manageable.

This, whatever you wanted to call this, was completely spastic. The uncontrollable heat that coursed through her veins as his lips met hers and how his hands took over her body, creating streets and paths across her skin. The way her brain instantly shut down when he gave her that look, that smirk, that message of lust with his eyes. Oh, and dear lord, the way his body felt against her, it was way too much to deal with. It was unnatural.

She was no sex fiend, by any means of the word. She had only had sex that one time, because she wanted too, she wanted to prove something. And, it had been a year and a half and she did not think about sex that often. It wasn't that amazing of a thing in her opinion. She could easily live without it for another few years. Piece of cake. At least that was before she met the boy with the overly deep voice who made her whole insides melt like butter.

And Kat Stratford, did not melt like butter for a boy. Or was he a man?

Another growl escaped the brunette's lips.

"Wow, you practicing your animal ritual sounds?" Kat's eyes sprung open from her thoughts to stare at the delicate, perfectly carved face of Patrick Verona. She jumped so fast and so high, a thump from her landing on the floor echoed across the house.

"For all that is good and pure!" She swore from her position on the floor.

"KAT! Are you ok!" Kat's eyes bulged for a second time.

"I'm fine daddy! I'll be down in two minutes!" She listened, carefully, holding her finger up to quiet Patrick, who had no real intention of making noise. Placing her finger down, once she was sure there were no footsteps on the stairs, she huffed and turned to glare at the smirking senior.

"Hey."

"Hey? Hey? Um, hello, you are suppose to ring the doorbell, not climb up to my window!"

"You know, Romeo climbed up to see Juliet and she swooned."

"Juliet was fourteen and had father-daughter issues." Kat retorted, walking over to her closet. "I'm almost eighteen and have father-will-kill-us-both-dead issues."

Patrick rolled his eyes, walking up behind her and peaking into the small area. "You ready?"

"I'm definitely something." She mumbled. Where they were going or doing or seeing was still a good mystery to Kat. Jeans and a gray sweater with her mother's thin string of pearls and her favorite boots seemed like an appropriate enough outfit. It helped that she was also sporting her normal loose hair and her favorite bracelets.

"I think you look very cute." Patrick smirked and fluffed her hair a bit. He turned and walked over to the bed, flopping down. "I really like your bed, very comfortable."

Kat's eyebrow rose. "I'm glad, because you're never going to get to take full advantage of it, get up." She walked over to him, crossing her arms.

"Fine, fine, fine." He held out a hand. "Little help?"

Kat rolled her eyes, gently taking his hand. What she hadn't expected, which thinking back on it made her feel extremely stupid for not expecting it, was him pulling her down. She crashed, royally, against his chest. The wind was knocked out of her as he twisted, causing her to be the one laying on the bed, him over her.

To say she was impressed would do no justice to the look of pure annoyance that erupted across her face.

"You're another one on my hit list Verona!" There was a genuine death threat with her words.

"I can't help it." He smirked, his nose gently touching her nose. "I'm just so drawn to you."

"I swear to god if you kiss me I will kick you so--" She was cut off by his face dipping down and capturing her lips in his.

Kat struggled with many inner battles, most of them (especially recently) involved the overly charming, equally annoying boy that now laid across her. Her newest inner battle was one that she had fought against once before. The feeling of another person with her and the emotions it caused in her head, her chest, and her downstairs regions.

"Verona, I'm going to kill you." It didn't seem like the correct thing to say after a kiss, but it was how she felt. And if Kat listened to anything her father had ever said, it was honest was the best policy.

"You're dad will probably do that first."

"Oh, sweet baby jesus, my dad. We have to go downstairs. Joey's going to be here in--" The door bell echoing upstairs caused Kat to frown. "Dammit." She looked at the bemused face of the boy on top of her. "I didn't say dammit."

Patrick laughed and rolled over, allowing Kat to sit up and look at him.

"Stop looking so comfortable on my bed, before I hurt you."

"I'd let you hurt me any day of the week." He let out, what sounded like a yelp, as Kat pinched his side. "I meant in a more, fun, kinky sort of way."

"Get. Off. My. Bed." Kat walked over to her window, gesturing to the balcony.

"I am not sneaking all the way back down just to have to go to the front door." Kat stared at him as if he had a grown another head.

"Ok, that's fine, why don't you just waltz right down the stairs and say hi to my dad." She smiled and did a bit of a bounce. "That will sure make him like you more."

"Why? You like me enough for both of you." Kat's smile instantly dropped.

"Get out."

"My pleasure." Kat's eyes raised as Patrick smirked and walked over to her bedroom door, opening and walking out to the hall.

"Oh Jesus." Kat mumbled, her brain trying to catch up with this short timeline of events. "I'm going to have to go to a convent."

---

Kat sat next to Patrick and Bianca on the couch, her lips in a tight line and her eyes narrowed viciously. She wasn't a hundred percent how Patrick had gotten down the stairs, past thing living room, and out the front door, just to ring the door bell, without her father noticing, but she was not in the mood to find out.

"So, again, no sex, no drugs, no alcohol, no motorcycles, no sugar after nine, no kissing, no hand holding, no sob stories about the army or fatal diseases, no--"

"DAD!" Bianca and Kat looked at each other and then their father who still had his mouth open and a finger raised.

"Daddy, we'll be fine. We have to go and meet our friends, we're going to be late."

"It's better to be late time wise then menstrual cycle wise." Kat placed her hand over her face as Bianca made an embarrassed noise.

"Dad, we promise there will be no fun of any kind." She stood up, grabbing Patrick's arm and gently nudging Bianca's head. "We're leaving now."

"Just remember," Mr. Stratford pointed to the television that was behind him, which was paused on the mother's screaming face and the father's panicked face. "Sex is bad."

Kat nodded and shoved Patrick towards the front door, her eyes staring up at the ceiling. Bianca was hot on her heels, dragging Joey behind her.

Both girls sighed in relief as the cool October air hit them.

"Ok, so, see you at the restaurant." Bianca smiled and, still dragging Joey, made her way to his car.

Before Kat could say anything, since she had no idea where they were going to eat, Patrick gently grabbed her shoulders heading towards his bike.

"Um, no, do you want my dad to have an aneurism?"

"It's a date, I would like to be in charge of transportation."

"Why? Because it's women can't be the ones in charge of a date? Because you'll look like a pansy having a girl drive you around? Because--" Patrick placed his hand over her mouth, bending slightly to be at her eye level.

"Because it was drilled into my head since I was ten, that on a date you are to be treated like a princess. I'm well aware you're not a princess and you can take care of yourself, but it be nice to act like the chauvinistic pigheaded guy, who just wants you to have a good time and do something for you. Ok?" Kat, hand still over her mouth, nodded her head. "How about, you let me drive your car and pay for dinner, and then you can drive to the movies and pay for our tickets? Unless you let me pay for all of it."

He removed his hand and watched as Kat simply stared at him. He expected a rather large argument.

"Ok, fine, that sounds good." Kat nodded her head, taking the keys from her pocket. "If anything happens to my baby, I will kill you."

Patrick took the keys and watched as she walked past him towards the car.

"Sounds good to me."

---

For a sort-of first date, Kat was surprised at how well it had been going. They had gone to a small Italian bistro and sat an ample distance from Bianca and her friends. Close enough to keep an eye but far enough to give Bianca her privacy.

They had kept the conversation to very shallow topics. Cars, bands, her father's inability to be normal, his uncle's ranch, and a very light touch on school. Other then that, nothing of importance had really been discussed. Not that Kat was planning or hoping for anything of importance to be discussed. It was her and Patrick, less was sometimes said with more.

It was slightly past nine and the two were sitting in the movie theatre. Just as Patrick had promised, Kat was allowed to drive to the theatre and pay for the tickets. Patrick, however jumped ahead of her and bought them sodas, and then, once they had been seated went and got her a small bag of popcorn.

How he had known she had a slight craving for the salty treat after seeing a girl half her size hold a bucket of the buttery goodness, Kat would never know. But she was ultimately grateful.

"I'm impressed Verona, you keep stepping up to the plate and hitting home runs." Patrick smirked, his eyes focusing on the screen which had movie trivia and fun facts.

"I have dated before Stratford. I'm not new to the game." Kat made a face, trying to delicately pick up the popcorn pieces rather then stuff her face.

"I'm sure those beach blondes really take you for a whirlwind on their dates."

"I wouldn't really know. I don't really move past the one night stands with them."

"Then, oh wise one, who did you date?" Kat popped a kernel in her mouth and smiled. "I'll have to send her a thank you card for house breaking you."

Patrick's smile, Kat noticed as she looked over at him, was a little less sarcastic and a little more, human? He sighed and leaned back, his eyes meeting hers.

"Just some girl I dated the summer after freshman year. She use to come visit her grandmother, who lived across the street, every summer and, well, that particular summer we just hit it off." He shrugged.

"What happened?" Kat tried to sound nonchalant as she slowly filled her mouth with the popcorn.

"We continued dating for the first two months of school, until she dumped me to go out with my best friend." Kat's mouth opened widely. "I got into a huge fight with him and broke his nose. My mom sent me to live with my dad for the rest of the school year. She was working fifty, sixty hour weeks. She wanted me to be supervised." Patrick lifted his hands and quoted the last few words of his story. He smiled, his arms stretching up and then back to his lap. "I came back to school beginning of junior year to all these weird rumors and shit."

"Like you being a cannibal."

"That one was my favorite, I do love the taste of human flesh." Kat gave him a look, her hand moving back into her popcorn.

"I bet you do."

They both sat in silence, the previews just starting. Kat noticed that Patrick had slid down in his seat, his face parallel with hers.

"What about you? Who made you so tough and perfect?" Kat shot him a look.

"I am not perfect."

Patrick rolled his eyes. "Then who made it so hard to get you to lower your defenses?"

"The guy with a cocky smile and a few good lines." She made a faux-shocked expression. "Just like you!"

"Oh, come on." She looked away from him, her head moving to stare at her popcorn.

"He was just, some guy who you'd think would never like me but, low and behold, used all his pretty words and his expensive smile to sweep me off my feet. He took me to nice places, showed me off, listened to me babble about all my stupid volunteer hours and picket line rallies. He would even read some of my favorite books, to keep up with me I guess." Kat tipped the bag from one side to the next. "And then he spent a summer with his Aunt and I became more involved with my friend Cordelia's sister's feminist group, and I found him frenching Lauren Holliston right in front of my first period class."

Patrick noticed that Kat was holding some popcorn in her hands that were no crunched into airy little pieces.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He stood up and grabbed her hand.

"What about Bianca?"

They both looked down to see Bianca sitting next to Dawn and the boys on either side of them. Joey was clinging to Bianca's arm as, yet another, zombie preview passed across the screen.

"Yeah, I think they'll be fine."

Kat allowed Patrick to drag her out of the theatre, her popcorn still in her hand. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere, anywhere." He shook his head, practically pulling her arm off. "I just want to go and talk."

"Wow, Patrick Verona just wants to talk. I might die of shock."

"Anything to watch your lips move." He looked behind at her, winking with his infamous smirk.

"I hate you." Patrick opened the passenger door, motioning inside with his hand.

"That's ok. You never seem to keep up with that train of thought." He shut the door going around the car. Kat folded her arms, her popcorn still in her hand.

"He's going to be the death of me." She watched him stretch one more time, his profile looking mysterious and sexy as he stared into the empty parking lot. "But, oh, what a way to go."