/AN/
Okay, so this is a little more plotty. I have a backstory for Kat that I would like to start introducing in some chapters. I have the next two or so chapters planned out, I just need to get into the groove of writing this again. It took me forever to post this because I wasn't happy with it. But, you know what, it'll work out. Love y'all. Thank you so much for reading, for faving, for reviewing and following! Makes me really happy to know that y'all like this story. For the next few chapters I may have The Boyfriend edit. Cause, you know, I'm always looking for coupley things for me n him to do. Writing about them is easy. Doing them... Well, we've ended up watching three seasons of Hell's Kitchen together on his couch while also playing Banished. Hey, if you want Jack and Kat to do that then I can write many chapters about it :P

Kat's week:

Monday: Lunch date with Jack not actually a date

Tuesday: Dr. Markus Carter thinks she's insane because she thinks Janessa tried to speak to her

Tuesday evening: Dr. Markus Carter sighs a lot during their over-the-phone conversation

Tuesday night: Kat can't sleep

Wednesday: Jack brings Kat flowers at work

Wednesday night: Kat texts Jack that she wants a very uninteresting third date

Thursday: Pasta night

Friday: Dr. Markus Carter invites Kat to dinner and a movie. It is very interesting

Saturday:

Kat finds herself sitting at a small coffee table waiting for Jack to grab their drinks. He'd been told about a poetry reading and thought it was exactly what Kat meant by 'uninteresting'. She refuses to tell him that a poetry reading actually sounds like an amazing date. Art may not be her thing, but poetry is another thing completely. She's excited to have an hour of poet after poet (no matter their level of experience) gracing the small stage in the coffee shop.

Nephilim, she thinks. It sounds familiar. Not that she visits coffee shops often. The detached familiarity almost frightens her. How could she possibly be connected to The Nephilim?

"Oh well..." She sighs to herself, picking at a button on her shirt sleeve.

"Oh well what?" Jack slides into the chair next to her, slipping their drinks onto the small table in front of them. "Oh well I guess tonight doesn't have to be a whole disaster?"

"No, it was nothing." Kat smiles at him before sipping her drink. She hums, "This is super good."

"Glad you like it. That means this place doesn't completely suck. Now we get to judge the poetry. Are you ready for this?" He grins, showing off his amazingly white teeth. Kat melts, finding him amazingly attractive.

"I think I'm ready? It's been a while since I've been subjected to poetry." A small lie on her part, the last time she'd had a poetry binge was last month. Someone bumps her chair, quickly apologizing without looking her way. The coffee shop is busy, standing room only, but that's really no excuse. She ignores it, somewhat used to being invisible. "If I'm not ready then I guess it'll be that much easier for the epic poets of our generation to blow my mind."

"Now I'm excited." Jack laughs. "I think I could use an epic mind-blowing poem."

"Hey," a man stops by their table. By his uniform Kat guesses he works at The Nephilim. "Are you alright, miss? That idiot bumped your chair pretty darn hard."

"I'm fine." Kat blushes slightly. "No major damage. Little embarrassed, though."

"Don't be. And, hey, just for you I'll give him whole milk rather than skim in his coffee. He won't notice, but it'll be a small revenge for us, huh?" He smiles, patting Kat on the shoulder.

"You know what, I really don't want you messing with anyones drinks. It's okay. I believe in karma. It's bitten me in the butt enough times." She smiles back at him.

"I think you mean chiseled. Sculpted to perfection. And with that I'll be off. Farewell, milady!" He saunters off, his hips swaying a little.

"Wow." Kat can't help herself from watching him go. "He is a really confident person. I like him."

"I guess. Hey, what did he mean when he said an idiot bumped your chair? I didn't see anything." Jack frowns. "I'm really sorry, Kat."

"It's fine. It wasn't as bad as he made it seem."

"He said pretty darn hard. I didn't notice pretty darn anything. I didn't think I was so oblivious to what happens with you." His frown deepens. "Shit, that's messed up."

"It's not all that messed up." Kat reaches over and touches his arm. "I mean, it kind of sucks that you don't notice some things. But I just figure it's cause you're enjoying my company so much."

"I do really enjoy your company." He reaches out to hold her hand. "Still, I shouldn't be blinded by that. What haven't I noticed?" He asks her with genuine care.

"A few waitresses at your favorite restaurants hate my guts." She says quickly, hoping to pass over the subject as soon as possible. "I can understand why you wouldn't notice, I mean they only want you to see that they adore you and would do literally anything to be the girl on your arm."

"Is that so?" His bright blue eyes stare down at his steaming drink. "I'm sorry, Katelyn."

Kat tries to remember a time when he's called her Katelyn. She can't. "Don't get so serious, snowflake. We're about to listen to a bunch of serious poetry. You'll want to go into it with an open mind. Which means!" Kat pokes his cheek. "You need to smile a little and see the world a little brighter."

"Did you bring a poem to recite?" Jack asks, face lighting up and his lip twitching into a lopsided grin.

"Maybe." Kat smiles.

"I'd love to hear it."

"Oh, you will. I'm fifth on the sign up sheet."

"Really?"

Kat laughs. "Umm, no. I didn't sign up. Besides, most of my poetry is either super emotional or about pools. Not as great as whatever these usuals can come up with."

Jack pauses. Staring at her with wide eyes he asks, "Do you really write poetry?"

"Maybe." She glances away, towards the stage. "Hey, look. I think it's actually starting. Finally!"

"Answer my question." He demands, poking her arm.

"No."

"Is no your answer or your refusal to answer?"

Kat grins at him. "No."

Every person who walks up to the stage is announced. Most only recite one poem, some two. Jack listens, but seems to be constantly searching for something to do or something other than the stage to look at. Kat tries to hold his hand so it will stay still but he ends up pulling on her hand and playing with her fingers which ends up distracting her. She smiles at him and slowly brings her hand back to her empty cup. One poem brings out a lot of emotion from Kat, and she sinks into her chair a little trying to disappear for a moment. Other than that most are about the beauty of nature, epic heartbreak, and love basically. Jack sits mostly still for those about the latter. Apparently only love can hold his attention for longer than a minute.

Jack nudges her when they ask for last minute additions to the schedule. "If you have poetry, you should go up there. Don't miss your chance, manta ray."

"I didn't bring any poetry, Jack."

"Okay, well, I just wanted you to know that I support you." He touches her hand gently, a small smile on his lips. "So I guess our very uninteresting date is almost over, huh?"

"It doesn't have to be. It's still early. We could, like, go for a walk or something." She doesn't mention that this date has meant a lot to her and that she's been very interested the entire time. She doesn't mention that she doesn't want the date to end, that she would rather go on a trip to Mars just to stay with him for a little while longer.

"Yeah. Hey, I'd like that. Okay, as soon as this place starts clearing out let's go. I don't want to be a part of the rush."

"Me neither." Kat shakes her head slightly.

"-Jill!" Kat hears the name being announced through the microphone and even though it's just a first name a pit forms in her stomach and she finds it hard to swallow. Her eyes turn towards the stage to see her old classmate with the most sinister grin she's ever seen. That can only mean trouble, as the last time they were in the same room Jill spat in her face. Jill's natural attitude towards everyone is "I'm better than you" but towards Kat she's always been much worse.

"We should go." Kat grabs her purse and makes to stand up but Jack holds onto her arm and keeps her in her seat. She struggles for a moment before stopping to listen to him.

"Why? Don't you want to hear more awesome poetry?" He rolls his eyes, trying to be funny.

"Not from her." Kat knows she's being sour and bitter in a way he's never seen from her but she can't help herself. She needs out of there, now. Whatever Jill is planning, with that scary grin of hers, Kat does not want to be a part of it. And she definitely doesn't want Jack to hear what the mean girl has to say.

"This is a poem about a friend of mine." Jill starts, making Kat bristle uncomfortably. That high but somehow gravelly voice has been in Kat's nightmares, grating on her last nerve without ever actually being there. "Well, she's not a friend of mine actually. And it's more about her crazy family than about her highness the center of attention. And by crazy... Well, it's less literal in the poem."

Jack stares at Kat as she stands up. He stutters "Are we really leaving?" and makes to get out of his own chair.

"Oh, don't go!" Jill calls to them, making Jack turn to her with his mouth hanging open in shock. He doesn't believe that she is talking about them until she continues, "Don't you want to hear my poem? It's about someone you know! Someone very close to you! You do still have schizo, don't you? Is poor little Katelyn in there somewhere?" Jill cackles. Kat tries her best to ignore Jill as she storms out, having to use her elbows to clear the way. Jack follows her out as Jill, with that annoyingly high voice of hers, starts her poem on the line "No cat was ever sane. Just as an apple from it's ancestry-"

Jack helps Kat onto a bench when they reach a nearby park. He kneels in front of her, staring up at her red face. "Are you alright? What was that about?"

"She's a liar. I'm not crazy. My family isn't crazy." Kat has to take deep breaths in and out, shocked and furious. She can't stop thinking about what Jill went on to say in her poem. If there is any justice in the world, Jill will be booed off stage and kicked out of the coffee shop. But if there was justice in the world Jill wouldn't have any reason to call Kat or her family insane. "She hates me and I didn't even do anything to her!"

"Hey, come on. Calm down a little. I'm here and she's not. Okay? Look around. It's just us." He gestures around them, just trying to find out why she's so upset and how he can fix what ever is wrong.

Kat slowly lifts her eyes, first to Jack and then to the park. The sun is still slowly falling and the light in the park is getting dimmer and dimmer by the minute. The lamp-posts start to flicker on as she looks around, detecting the impending darkness. It's just her, Jack, and a couple walking hand and hand along the path not far from them. She ducks her head a little, from what she was almost put through, and from being somewhat embarrassed at how she reacted. She knows she had to get out of there but a thousand different simulations of what she could have done better run through her mind as she still tries to settle her racing heart.

"See? Just us." Jack lets out a relieved breath. "Can we talk about this?"

Kat shakes her head. "I don't want your opinion of me to change. It's all in my past and... I thought Jill moved to Alaska and everyone else just forgot about me!" She sobs quietly. "Jack, can you just hold me? I can't-" She chokes on her words, several emotions running through her. Among them fear of losing him, anger at Jill for just existing again in her world for a few minutes, and the sadness that always accompanies her memories of her family and what she was put through because of them and because of how people saw them.

Jack perches on the bench, wrapping his arms around her and holding her head to his chest. He whispers to her that everything is going to be okay, that whatever Jill said he doesn't believe a word of it, that he'll never judge her for what may have happened in her past. He doesn't seem confused or angry, he just sits with her until she calms down, lightly rubbing circles in her back. He's patient with her, and she's not sure if it's because he understands what she might be feeling or just because he cares about her.

"Sorry," Kat sniffles, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. "It really caught me off guard."

"It's okay, Katelyn. You needed a good cry. I'm here for you. I always will be." He squeezes her lightly.

"How can you promise me always when we haven't known each other very long? We still don't really know each other." She wants to sigh. She wants to run and hide under a big blanket. She wants to take the question back because it should be too early for the tough questions. But, she thinks unfortunately, being with me at all is a tough question.

He takes a moment to consider it. "I know that I care about you. I know that I will know you. I may never know everything, but I plan to know more than anyone else. I plan to know you for a very long time. If you don't want me to promise you always then I won't. I'll just promise you a very long time. Is that okay? Can I do that?" He asks softly, still clinging to her.

"Yeah. That's okay. Thank you, Jack." Her heart feels like it's fluttering, her stomach doing small flips. Somehow he managed to say the right thing. His words perfectly cocoon her in comfort, allowing her to finally lift her head to look at him.

Jack smiles gently at her. "We'll talk about it when you're ready. If you're never ready then that's okay, too. You can still come to me when you just want a distraction, or to be held, or whatever. Anything you need, Kat. It's yours. Just ask. Promise you'll ask?"

"I promise."

"Good. Is there anything I can do for you now?"

"Take me home and watch crappy TV with me till I get tired?" Kat thinks about how it's a random request, but she doesn't want anything more. She just wants to watch TV with her snowflake.

"We can definitely do that."

Sunday:

Kat wakes up to the smell of breakfast. She considers changing out of her pajamas to check it out, but just shrugs on a cardigan while trying to piece together what she remembers from the night before. She remembers the poetry reading, unfortunately. She remembers the park, with a little happy sigh as she thinks of how Jack held her. When he'd brought her home he stuck close to her as they watched TV in a cocoon of blankets. After that, after snacking on what little food was left in her cupboards, her memory breaks off into a sweet dream. She doesn't remember getting tired or crawling into bed. She must have dozed off rather suddenly.

"Kat, hey." Jack smiles as he finishes pouring orange juice into the second cup on the table. The table is covered in food, like a breakfast buffet. A really fancy breakfast buffet, Kat thinks, remembering seeing something like it on TV cooking competitions. From eggs benedict, to omelettes, and even crepes. Kat is both impressed and horrified because either he expects that the two of them can eat all of this, or he's invited a guest. Jack gestured to one of the chairs, "Have a seat. My manta ray must be hungry."

"Kind of." Kat says carefully, letting him lead her onto the chair. "What is all of this? Where did it all come from?"

Jack leans down to kiss her forehead. "I asked a chef friend of mine to make it. So dig in, alright? We don't want to waste fancy food stuffs." He sits next to her, a wide grin on his face. He looks around at the food with wide, pleased eyes. "I totally did this for you. And I would do so much more. I wanted to do more. I wanted to take you to Switzerland for breakfast. Unfortunately my parents would be upset if I suddenly left the country. I promised I'd stay and await their surprise arrival."

"This is incredible, though. And, umm, what surprise arrival?" Kat reaches for food to pile onto her plate. "Your parents are coming to town?"

"Yeah, they are. I don't know when, though. Not for another week at least. So you have time."

"Time? For what?"

"To freak out about it. I know you at least that well, Kat. I'm going to tell you a thousand times not to worry and it's not going to be enough. Oh, and, also, fourth date. We need time for that. It's going to be a million times better than our third. I already have it planned out!" Jack helps her put some crepes together on her plate before helping himself to the meal. "You're going to love it, I promise."

"I believe you, Jack." Kat smiles before taking her first bite. She wasn't even sure what her fork had taken hold of, she just wanted to eat some of it. Apparently, she notes happily, it was perfectly seasoned hash browns.

"Like it?"

"Love it."

"Good, good. Don't worry. You'll get more fancy meals from my chef friend in the future."

"How do you have a fancy chef friend who's willing to cook for you on such short notice?"

"I made the call after carrying you to bed. Chef Dani agreed immediately, of course. She's trying to get on my good side. I'll tell you why on our fourth date but basically... I may be getting her a good job." He takes a bite of crepes and the look on his face is pure bliss. "I need to give her a job. Wow."

Kat nods. "I agree. But..." She shrugs her shoulders. "Right. You'll explain on our next date. I won't ask." She considers it only polite, seeing as he agreed to let her stay quiet about her secret at least for the time being. She knows he's a good person, and she can wait patiently for all the answers he owes her. Kat hopes that he won't mind waiting for her. She's not ready to spill all her secrets, and she's not sure she ever will be.

Jack smiles at her. "Thank you. For trusting me. You're amazingly incredible, my beautiful manta ray."

Kat blushes. "Snowflake, I'm going to need you to stop. It is way too early in the morning to be blushing this madly."

"Probably." He grins. "But it's really too pretty a sight for me to wait for."