Kim sends him back home, because 'Jack you parents are probably worried and will ground you.' She mentions something about the fight being on Youtube and he kind of balks at that. He really did not want that. He hopes that whoever posted it, did not name names and that it does not get much attention. He suspects his parents would be less lenient if their name is bandied about because of the fight.
He is in luck. No names, just a tag 'the REAL fight between black belts.' The video is shaky and the only way to recognize either him or Kai is to know both of them personally. The video has a few hundred views, but has not gone viral.
There are tons of messages on his phone and social media and he ignores them all, because he needs to shower and try to get some sleep, because seriously that porch is not comfortable. He also is dying to see Kim's gift. He ran out yesterday after just reading her letter and never even opened the box.
When he does open the box he actually is not sure what he is looking at other than just charms. There is a note attached to each describing the symbol and the meaning. Jack puts it all together and... He won't lie: he gets a little choked up. Kim is so thoughtful and after everything she's given him already this summer; she really did not have to get him another gift, but this one hits him somehow low in the belly. She bought it in Portland. She felt like this already.
He is acutely aware that he does not deserve her.
His parents and Grandpa want to know if he got Kim to forgive him and at his quiet smile and nod, they just smile back. His mom says offhandedly that she'd start making plans for a wedding since Kim is obviously the One. She laughs at his shocked expression and goes on to tease him about talking to Elizabeth, Kim's mom, on whether there is preference as to where to hold the reception.
There is only one more thing he needs to do before his nap.
Later that night in a restaurant at the Seaford Tower, Jack watches Kim across the table, her mostly bare shoulders looking creamy and delicate in soft blue lighting, the lines of her face distorted by the flicker of the candle between them. Outside the window, the streets of Seaford are lit like night sky. There's a murmur of conversations of other patrons and the distant tinkering of music, and Jack hopes that Kim finds all of this romantic (it is also where they had their dance at the Royal Reception of Hakhmakhistan). And it feels romantic, it really does...
She's wearing a slinky navy-blue dress and strappy heels (not black, but he apparently has a thing for heels anyway) and a surprising for her red lipstick and her hair as all wavy and big... Jack's mouth actually dropped open when she came down earlier that night and twirled for him, and like a total goof he kissed her hand while never taking his eyes from hers.
It is romantic.
And even though they've shared dinners together a lot of nights this summer, it feels very much like a Date with a capital D. Because they said those precious words (only eight letter, but oh so important) and because they had a huge fight, but there is something bubbling between them equal part affection and the desire to rip off each others' clothes.
As the waiter removes their empty plates, Jack uses the interruption to take a steadying sip of soda before resuming their conversation.
"You're kidding." Kim says with laughter in her eyes.
"No," Jack chuckles, head shaking in amusement. "Jerry and I were tied up to two chairs with our backs to each other and Leona was going to marry Bobby. And then Jerry had to pretend to be a bride."
"And you helped him into a dress? Is that why you guys have been so close?" She rests her elbows on the edge of the table, propping her head in her hands. "I can see that. Traumatic experience brings the two people together. That's why you and Jerry are having a bromance..."
"Hey. I object to that."
"Why? Sounds to me like you do everything guys in bromance would do together: go to the mall and hang out in sports stores and apparently help each other into wedding dresses... Oooh oooh!" She bounces in her seat, "Does Jerry brush your hair?"
Jack tosses his linen napkin onto the table in mock indignation. "No, you take that back."
"It's okay, Jack. Your secret is safe with me." She is hardly keeping her laughter back.
"Good." Jack pauses from rolling his glass between finger and thumb. "Otherwise he'd try to fight me and I would have to beat him up. I think I've done enough of that for this weekend."
Her face turns serious and a little sad, "You sure you are not in trouble?"
Jack can't help but feel a swell of emotion at that: somehow Kim blames herself for the fighting. Really, how can she? It was all him, Brett and Kai.
His eyes soften as he leans closer to her across the table. "How do you do it?"
She frowns. "How do I do what?"
"You know, let go of the anger at me and Brett. I mean I was such an ass to you..."
"I don't know. Because I have to, I guess." She sighs. "Because sometimes it takes more energy to be angry and negative and depressed and what's the point in that?"
Jack smiles, hesitates a little before he reaches across the table to touch her hand. His pulse quickens at their touch (she turned him into a freaking poet), the way it always does, and they both stare at the play of their interlinked hands side to side as the waiters hustle a path back and forth beside them.
It's absolutely, one hundred percent romantic. There's just no denying it now.
Jack coughs lightly, seeming to gather himself. "Did I tell you recently how amazing you are?"
She swallows hard and nods. "Yes, this morning."
"Well, I'll say it again. You are amazing."
"You are very charming."
His fingers tighten around hers for just a second. "I'm being serious, Kim."
He looks at her, really looks at her, and feels all this love and desire and just awe. It must be showing in his face, because Kim shifts backwards from the force of it, quietly muttering, "I know," before she reaches out to pat the sleeve of a passing waiter. "Check please?"
Jack presses forward in his seat, eyes flitting from hers, down to her lips and back again. Kim matches his expression, silently watching, waiting, hoping, and eventually Jack whispers a low and unwavering, "Want to get out of here?"
"That's why I asked for the check."
His elbow hits the table with a thunk and he presses his mouth hard against his clenched fist to bite back a growl and she knows she's testing the limits of his control. "Jesus Kim. I don't think... I feel like…I'm not sure you know what you do to me."
Her pulse flutters madly, mixing with the heady buzz of adrenaline beneath her skin. "You could show me."
"I want to, but we are in public..."
"Then let's get out of here."
Fifteen minutes later, he is pulling Kim inside their dojo (a little less romantic, but with their parents at home, this should do) her hair disheveled and her lips kiss-bitten. They stumble upon a young couple making out in the bench in front of th dojo. They spring back from each other and Kim waves her hand, nodding and smiling as awkwardly as strangers do, and Jack ushers Kim close against his chest. She gropes for his hand and takes it just as she looks up at him, and he is shivering with need as they take awkward steps inside.
Kim has a pensive look for a brief moment, but it's replaced with a hooded, dark look the minute Jack tugs her futher inside, thrusting her body against the lockers at the back of the room with a force that has her gasping for breath.
Their lips meet just as frantically as they did in the car when Jack kissed away her lipstick with hungry kisses that are a little forceful. He'd worry that he scared her, but she moans into his mouth as his hands trail up and under her dress, his fingertips grazing her thighs in soft patterns here and there before he fists the hem and tears his mouth way.
"Lift up your arms."
She's a little dazed by his kisses and confused by his request and the way he muttered it almost harshly against her mouth but she complies, shivering as her heated skin meets the cold metal door chilled by the air conditioning. Jack peels the dress over her head, dropping it to the floor as though he's forgotten it exists; his mouth too busy tracing the arch of her neck with kisses and wet flicks of his tongue. Kim fists his hair to hold him close, and he loves how breathy she sounds when he kisses her skin. She pulls his head harder, but Jack growls and takes a step back, his fingers attacking the buttons on his dress-shirt as he watches her slouch breathlessly against the door.
"Take off your panties."
It seems that Kim's too lost, too turned on to do anything but listen, to follow his demands, and she hooks her fingers into the lacy edge of her panties, shimmying them down her legs and kicking them away with an impatient little flick when they get caught around her ankle. Jack yanks off his shirt but pauses in unbuckling his belt to touch her again, trail his fingers down her sternum to the front clasp of her bra.
"I wore it on purpose." She breathes and he twitches inside his briefs.
She wore it just for him.
Kim swallows hard as he unclasps with forefinger and thumb, and the way they cant stop looking at each other as he peels away the cups and the air grazes and tightens her nipples. She shivers at the delicate way he palms the weight of one breast, caressing the swell, teasing the hardened peak with every sweep and brush of his thumb.
Jack mouths kisses against her cheek, peppering a path to her ear before whispering hungrily, "I want to show you everything."
"Yes," Kim moans, fumbling desperately with his belt and zipper now. "Show me."
She trembles as his palm slides down her stomach and gasps when his fingers sweep softly between her thighs. She nods rapidly at a question he didn't ask, and he presses a little harder, a little deeper in response, and Kim writhes senselessly against his hand, her own hands clutching at nothing but air. Her head rolls back against the door with a thunk.
As if he knows her legs are about to give out, Jack lifts and carries her to the mats, and Kim stretches out languidly, dazedly, sinking into the familiar mats that Jack is kind of expecting that the next time he sees these mats, he'd have hard time not imagining her like she is now. He stares at her while he undresses and if he flexes his muscle, its only because Kim is very fond of them: the ridges of the abs, the dip of his hipbones and the muscles of his thighs. He is hard already and its only gets worse when Kim reaches between her legs, fingers desperate to finish what he started.
"Fuck, Kim," he says, sounding wrecked, the words ripped from him as he watches her shift and squirm against her own hand and he needs it, he's desperate for it.
"Jack, touch me, now. Right now."
Oh, yes.
He practically drops to his knees and makes his way from the delicate ankles to the top of her thighs, which part eagerly, and he finally put his mouth on her and her sigh is a long and melodious Jaaaack, which makes him feel both fuzzy and horny.
He knows by now what she likes and he does just that, knowing that if she climaxed she'd be more relaxed and it would be easier for her for when they actually have sex. If he were so inclined (and in general he is) he'd be very smug about his size, but it makes it more uncomfortable for Kim, so he isn't. He is determined to make it good for her and he missed her and was worried sick that he'd never have the chance to see her like this and it all makes him very determined and thirsty. It's working, as Kim rolls her head and pushes back at him and drops her hand on his head to keep him right there, Jack, more Jack, and he loves how she stops being so shy and becomes vocal when she is turned on.
He hums his pleasure throatily and the vibration must feel good to her because she starts trembling and her breathing is stuttered and he knows what to do. He curls his finger in her and sucks hard right on her clit adding a little bite and she clamps on his fingers, her hand twisting and tangling in his hair. He keeps at it through the throb and wave of her orgasm, until she pushes weakly at his head.
When he finally pulls away, he growls at the sound of her whispered "Jack" and it's barely an intake of breath before he's rolling on a condom, tugging her thighs and entering her hard.
They both cry out at the sensation and Kim wraps herself around him, and then they are groaning in relief as their tongues finally meet in a wet messy caress. With each desperate inhale she makes these breathless throaty whimpers that has him grinding against her pelvis, eager and without finesse.
She whimpers into his kiss and he pulls back, "too hard?"
He is holding himself back by the skin of his teeth, because she is so hot and tight around him and he wants to die like this, but he also needs to move. Like now.
"Don't stop, Jack. Please more, harder."
Well, fuck, in that case...
He dives right back in, fucking her through the mats and kissing her at the same time and there isn't a millimeter between them and he seriously won't last long. Not if she keeps making these noises, or clenching around him, or moving her pelvis to meet his strokes.
They slide a little on the mats and Jack lets out a near whimper of frustration and moves one hand under her and around her shoulder to hold her in place. Somehow it changed the angle and he feels himself going deeper with each move and Kim's mouth falls open and her head lolls a little to the side. He is so close right now he just need her to come with him.
He is grunting and groaning into her neck, mouthing wet kisses against the flutter of her pulse, cursing and pleading with her.
Barely lit by the threads of moonlight playing shadows across their skin, the room fills with the smell of sweat as they move in a rhythm desperate for release, and when Jack growls, "Fuck, Kim, come for me," she does, clenching around him instantly, drawing out his climax as he shudders and whispers Kim above her, against her, inside her until he feels like they are one.
They collapse back against the mats, sweat-slicked and satiated, muscles trembling, their beaten breaths the only sounds along with the whir of the air-conditioner.
He is a dead weight on her and at some point she kind of whispers, "can't breath," which makes him finally roll off her taking her with him.
She sighs contentedly when he sweeps the hair from her face and dusts it with kisses. It's only then in the quiet dark of their dojo, as he brushes her hair off and she catches his hand with her, weaving their fingers tightly, whispering "Jack" like it's coming from the deepest part of her, that Jack knows, he knows, that she'd be staying here with him.
Because, just as he once decided that Otai would cost him too much, so did Kim.