Author's Note: I'm back! Originally with the airing of the new season and college being back in session, I felt like I had missed the opportunity to finish this story. But last week I went back through and read it again, and realized how much I liked it, and that I couldn't leave it unfinished.

And what better way to get back in the swing of things than with a serious bombshell!

Conquest

And then in the same way things happen

There roles were reversed from that day

The hunted became the huntress

The hunter became the prey

"You ready for this?" Kingston dangled his keys victoriously.

"You dragged me all the way here just to show me that your crappy van works again?"

"Not entirely. Stand over there." He pointed to the curb.

Kingston then pulled a floppy black object out of the back of his van, laying it down on the ground a few feet in front of his vehicle.

"Is this going to take long? Because I do have dialysis in half an hour."

He found Holly J impatience adorable. For a bonus, her irritability meant she was actually paying attention to what he had to say. "I'm making a grand gesture."

He jumped into the car, put the key in the ignition, and floored the van, running over the object in the street. For emphasis, he reversed, running over it again.

She stood there confused the whole time, her mindset in the particular breed of anger that surfaced when she didn't understand something.

Kingston exited his van, and presented her with the flattened victim of his road rage. Once in her hands, she recognized it as his Little Miss Steaks hat.

"Holly J, I'm handing you my official resignation."

She stared blankly at him for just a moment, before slapping him over the head with his hat. "Seriously?" -slap- "After I stuck my neck out for you?" -slap- "Is this some type of joke Kingston? Because you're really not as funny as you think you are!" -slap-

Kingston cautiously moved his hands down from around his head. "Are you done now?"

-slap-

She crossed her arms petulantly. "Now I am."

"Good." He gently pried the cowboy hat out of her hands, making a mental note to never again arm her with anything that could potentially be used as a weapon. "Now that I am no longer an employee of PETA's public enemy number one, I am no longer required to follow a certain employee handbook which has stupid rules like being unable to wear white socks or asking out your boss."

He looked at her seriously, getting down on one knee. "Now, I've never done this before, and I don't intend to ever sink to quite this level of sappy romantics ever again, so I'm only going to ask this once. Holly J, would you please go on a date with me?"

"You quit your job without even knowing if I'd say yes?"

"Well, to be honest, if you say no, I'm going to go buy a new hat and pretend none of this ever happened."

She smiled at him teasingly. "So, if you just quit your job, and you spent all your earnings getting your truck repaired, how are you going to pay for this date?"

Kingston jumped up, putting his arm around Holly J as he led her towards his van. "I'm planning on selling one of my kidneys on eBay."

"Ha Ha!" She proclaimed sarcastically, jumping into his passenger seat. "Now get me to dialysis before I actually have to take you up on that kidney."

He paused before closing her door for her. "So that's a yes then? Can I take you out tonight?"

She thought for a moment before responding."Yeah. It's a yes."

"Awesome." Without giving her time to protest, Kingston kissed her full on the lips.

As he walked around to the drivers side he heard her yell through the glass irritatedly. "Don't make me change my mind."

He chuckled, still pleased with his boldness. "Sorry, I've already abducted you in my stalker van! No escape now!"

Though she refused to speak to him the entire way to the hospital, he smirked every time she dared a glance at him. Oh yeah. She wants me.

As much as he didn't want to be, Kingston was forced to be the one to break the silence. "I don't see any open parking spots."

She sighed. "Just park in the handicapped spot. My mom does it all the time. They never ticket here."

"You should limp on the way in anyway, just to make it look convincing. I'll support you."

"Nice try, but no. You broke the physical contact privilege back in the parking lot."

"No second chances?" He asked as he followed her inside.

"You'd just abuse it."

It was true, the whole time to the dialysis center Kingston had to keep his hands in his pockets to prevent himself from grabbing her butt. The old him would have found no hesitation. But Holly J had cast some spell of decency and chivalry over him. He wasn't sure he liked it. But he was sure he liked her.

"So how long does this usually take?"

"A few hours."

"So...can I sleep?"He could tell she wanted to protest. But as much as he liked Holly J, he couldn't resist irritating her just slightly. It was too much fun, and he loved the way her face looked when she flushed.

"Fine."

He winked before pretending to snore loudly, waking up the elderly patient on the other side of the room. But soon, his fake snores turned into real ones.

He dreamed of heroically cutting out his own kidney for Holly J, and performing emergency surgery using chopsticks and electrical tape in the back of his van.

"My van!" Kingston's eyes snapped open. "I should go move it. Some legal spaces should have opened up by now."

"No need. I'm all finished." Holly J smiled at him from the adjacent chair. "You talk in your sleep by the way. Now before I take back my decision to go out with you, you had better explain what precisely were you inserting into me."

"I was performing surgery...wait, I slept for four hours?"

"Yeah...Kingston, wait!"

He tore out of the facility and towards the parking lot. From his less than exemplary past, Kingston knew that the longer you did something illegal, the greater the statistical probability of getting caught.

He made it there in time to watch the tow truck turn out of the lot with his van trailing behind.

"My van!"

"Kingston!" Holly J, finally caught up to him, grabbed his hand in consolation. "I'm so sorry! I swear they never ticket here!"

He ripped his hand out of hers, his blood rushing to his face. "Look at what you did to my van! After I spent all that money fixing it! After I lowered myself enough to take orders from you and touch old meat!"

"I'm sorry! I'll loan you the money to get it back."

"I don't take charity!"

"Then keep your job at Little Miss Steaks! I'll have my mom drive you from your house to school until you earn the money back!"

"You can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because that van IS my house!" And then Kingston did something he swore he would never do, not that it mattered, because he had already lost all of his dignity. He ran away, as fast as he could, blinking tears out of his eyes the entire time.

He had ignored all the warnings. He had opened up for her, taken a chance. He had let her take the upper hand, for once had let someone else call the shots, and he had lost it all. But above all, the thing that dug at him the most was that he hated how much he couldn't hate her.