A week later, Ned was still in the hospital but on his feet walking back from the bathroom and Katie was working on an essay on her computer when she asked, "What were you doing? When you got stabbed?"
She moved to stand, but he waved off her hand when she offered to help him across the room. "I was on patrol alone, Jamison was out sick and LeTrai didn't make me take a rookie for once. I was on a routine stop when I overheard a commotion in the alleyway." He stopped halfway, o take a breather and she was already moving toward him. "I should've called for backup right then, but I saw someone was trying to yank a purse off some girl and I just ran up on the street out of instinct. The guy plunged his knife right in my stomach, no hesitation. He shoved me off and knocked me around for good measure."
Katie ducked under his arm to support him back to the bed. "That sounds terrible. I'm so sorry that happened to you, Ned."
"If that girl hadn't stuck around... I would probably be dead." He sighed. "I don't even know if I saved her purse."
"I'm just glad she stuck around and you're alive. Even if it means you're stuck in here for a while." She sighed, smiling at him.
"Not much longer," he grinned down at her. "Your dad said I could probably go home at the end of the week. There are a lot of Netflix marathons and sponge baths in my future, but anything is better than more stupid Jello."
Katie giggled. "And who's going to help you hobble around when you need to use the bathroom once I go back to the city?" She helped him settle back into the bed.
Ned shrugged and looked away. "I'll manage. My mom will probably come over."
She carefully ran her fingers through the tufts of hair sticking up over his forehead. "You know, I could just continue online and help, you know," she said quietly.
Ned played with the sheet, still not meeting her gaze. She knew he wanted to say yes, but he wasn't going to. "You have to go back to the city. I don't want to take you away from that."
This time, Katie slid a hand over his cheek and turned his head. "I can still finish out the year online and send in anything I need to turn-in in person to Olivia or Hannah until you're better. I think my professors understand. I'm staying with you." She paused and pulled back. "Unless you don't want me to."
Ned grabbed her hand quickly and pressed it between both of his. "Of course I do." He hesitated.
"But?" She asked.
"A month ago, you said we might not work. Nothing's really changed since then." He sighed, itching his neck. "I'm still a mess."
"But it has," she said, heart picking up speed. "Everything has changed Ned. Even after everything that just happened, I feel like my bond with you is even stronger, don't you?"
Ned sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I know I still have things to work through, but what if everyone hates me?"
"My parents drove me here from the city. They completely left their date when the hospital called me." She explained. "How could anyone hate you? It was just… stupid long-distance jealousy and drama."
Ned looked down at her hand, tracing the lines on her palm. "I know and I'm so happy that we're working on things together, but am I worth abandoning school?"
"Ned, I didn't abandon school." She explained. "I've been keeping up online. I still kept my grades up. I thought you were going to die and now you need some help getting around. Why can't I help you?"
Ned smiled sadly at her. "I'm not going to fight with you, Katie. I think you know what I meant by abandoning school, but I'll always respect whatever decision you make. If you want to stay, I'd love it if you did, but I'm not asking you too."
Katie sighed and tightened her hand around his. "I know. I just wish everything wasn't so hard."
"I just want you to know that I'm never going to disappear on you again, Katie," he whispered. "I promise. We just need to take everything slow. I think it's for the best. We messed with things the last time we..."
"I know… you're right." She chewed on her lip and then looked up at him. "Are you saying you don't want to be with me?"
"I'm always going to want to be with you, but you know we have a long way to go before things are anywhere close to where we were before I screwed everything up."
"It wasn't just you that screwed everything up," Katie pressed her mouth into a thin line and stared out the window while she blinked the tears from her eyes. Slowly she extracted her hand from his and took a peek back over at him. "I'm still staying with you until you feel better," she said firmly. "I can sleep on the couch."
Ned dropped his head back onto the pillow and stared at her for a long time with a soft look in his eyes before he finally said, "Okay."
It's unnerving, how natural it felt for Katie to be staying with Ned, even if she was sleeping on the couch and he couldn't walk farther than a few steps without needing her help.
It was going well so far. Katie had verbally caught him up on a show she was binge-watching and slept through his sports games, and they caught up on the TV shows they used to watch together. It's jarring at the same time for Katie to be this close to him but feel so far emotionally. It almost felt too close for comfort.
She told her mom all of this when she went over to her mom's house to do a quick load of laundry. Melinda had given her some advice, mostly to follow her gut and take things slow. Even if she didn't always want to do that.
By the end of the first week, they'd migrated to watch movies. Ned decided he's tired of the canned soup and delivery food they'd been living off of sent Katie to the store with a list. When she got back, he had water boiling and onions and garlic in oil on a pan.
The entire apartment smelt like the best thing she'd smelt in a long time. Katie had forgotten how good Ned's cooking was.
They sat at the table for dinner for the first time since that day she saw Alyssa's ghost and all the problems got worse. It's uncomfortably close to the life Katie used to imagine she'd have with him in the future. Living in Grandview together, happily ever after.
She managed to smile and keep the talk casual through dinner and stayed calm when Ned sat a little too close to her on the couch when they watched a horror movie afterward.
"You good?" He asked, rubbing her arm. "This is a little scarier than I thought it would be."
It wasn't the movie that scared her. It was her instinct to want to kiss him, to just stop paying attention to this stupid movie.
"I'm good," she said, shrugging. "I've seen worse in some of my visions, trust me."
She knew it would be best if she should take it slow. It was the right option.
"I don't doubt that," he turned away, but his hand moved to rest on her thigh, his fingers extending to rest over her knee.
In response, she leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder. That seemed like enough.
She's in the kitchen, making eggs and toast for a late Saturday breakfast while Ned slowly got dressed.
"Katie?" His voice called out.
"Yeah?" She called back.
She knew his voice was so loud because he left his door open; it made her shiver a little as she whipped the eggs a little too violently.
"Can we go somewhere today?" His voice was as close to whining as she'd ever heard it.
"What? Tired of me already?" She teased.
She imagined him rolling his eyes at her. "I'm tired of my apartment, how could I ever be tired of you?" He called back. "How about the square? Or Village Java? Or anywhere other than here?" He appeared in the hallway, leaning up against the wall.
Katie eyed his jeans and t-shirt, sliding the food onto plates. She handed one to him. "Are you sure you're up to that much walking?"
"I'm starting physical therapy on Monday. I want to be ready." He sat at the table and pat the spot next to him.
"Okay," she relented and sat beside him, smiling lightly. "The square it is."
"Thank you," he breathed a little lighter and squeezed her hand before digging in.
Ned tired quickly, as Katie knew he would. They managed a lap around the square before she suggested they sit. SHe almost wanted to hold his hand, but they were a comfortable distance apart. Should she take that leap? She doesn't do anything, though, and Ned tilted his head up to look up at the clouds.
It almost felt like old times.
"I'm really glad you stayed to help me out," he said, glancing over at her then. "I don't think it would've been as much fun spending all this time with my mom." He laid his hand over hers. "I've really appreciated everything you've done for me these past few weeks."
"Of course I would stay, Ned. I care about you," she smiled softly, squeezing his hand. "Don't worry."
"That's not what I'm worried about," he whispered. "I really want this to work. I don't want to lose you."
Not like old times.
"This is going to work," she reassured him. "We're just taking it slow."
Katie doesn't remember exactly what he said after that. She just remembered that there was definitely a smile on his face. They walked back to his apartment hand-in-hand and she couldn't remember the last time they'd held hands in public.
When they got inside, Ned suggested they watched a movie in the bedroom because he was too sore to try and get comfortable on that couch.
She didn't know if she trusted herself alone with him in his bedroom. She sighed, "I don't know," she said.
"You've got to be sick of the couch by now. I've got plenty of room," he smiled, grabbing hold of her hand and slowly pulling her toward the room.
She reluctantly laid with him, but hardly paid any attention to the movie. It was just too hard to concentrate when she was laying this close to him. And when Ned asked what's wrong, she let him hold her. He cradled her, his arms snugly wrapped around her waist.
"I like this," he whispered, glancing back over at her. "Do you feel better?"
"Much better," she said, turning slightly to face him. "I've missed this, and I think this is a good next step, don't you?"
"Yes, I do." He agreed.
She tucked her face into his chest and that was the last thing she remembered.
Katie woke up in the morning with a slight stiffness in her neck and a body slightly under her. Her heart warmed when she realized the weight was Ned and they'd fallen asleep together in his bed. She took too long to decide what to do, and Ned half-woke up and pulled her closer, pressing his lips to her forehead and burying his face in the crook of her neck.
She meant to pull away, to keep things at a slow crawl, but her limbs betray her. She melted into him. This was what she'd missed most. The little things like feeling him next to her in the morning when she woke up were just too good to take for granted.
His lips slightly stirred against her skin, pressing a light kiss to her neck. "Good morning, are you up?" He rested a warm hand on her arm.
He was too close. This was too good. She attempted to keep the air moving through her lungs, but it became harder the more her body started to melt into his from how close he was.
"Babe," he whispered, right behind her ear. "Stop freaking out." He's slightly laughing now.
Katie closed her eyes, frozen in place. Ned's hands drifted around her waist and up her back as he pulled back to look at her. Suddenly the whole situation was very familiar. Except there's the looming question of how they could possibly make it work. And, of course, they were hardly wearing any clothes.
"It's not like you haven't seen me without a shirt before," he joked, though he knew that's not why she's hyperventilating. And although he's doing a pretty good job of hiding it, he was nervous too.
"You said we should try to take it slow." She reminded him, looking over at him pointedly. "This is not helping me want to take it slow."
"I know," he said, pulling away slightly.
"My mom agreed too," she sighed, rolling away slightly.
Her back hit the cold side of the bed without her even realizing she'd been moving that far. Ned slowly moved toward her and pressed lips to hers for a long moment, his hands grasping her face momentarily, before moving back.
"I think for us... this is pretty slow," he chuckled and held her face in his hands.
"Yeah," she said, leaning back in once more for another kiss. She could have that much. It wasn't anything like a movie-type one with the fireworks that surrounded them, but one steeped in a passion that ignites. It was the promise of realness, of the primal desire that lived in them both. When their lips parted, he gently moved out of bed. "I guess this is slow, for us."
He closed the bathroom door behind him and she banged her forehead against her pillow. Slow was the last thing she wanted after that kiss.
Katie went back to the city the same day Ned went back to work. It felt good to be going to class, even though she'd still gotten an A. It was nice to stop for coffee and she bumped into Olivia, who she walked to class with. But she still felt empty, like something's missing. She'd never outright admit that it's Ned that she's missing. The time she spent with him felt dream-like now, and she managed to wait until lunch before calling him.
"How was your first day back going?" SHe asked, opening her salad box and started to put her dressing on top.
"Lots of paperwork so far," Ned sounded grumpy. "Protocol."
She laughed. Ned hated when he had to do paperwork or be on desk duty. "Your stomach's not hurting too much, right?" She asked, her worrying tone catching on quick. "You have your meds with you?"
"I feel fine and yes, I have them with me just in case." He said, his voice calming her. "It's quiet here at the apartment without you, though. I also didn't have you to remind me to grab my lunch this morning and forgot it, so I had to run back."
"Of course you did," she tossed her croutons on top and laughed. "I'm glad everything is going well though. I'm kind of happy you're doing paperwork if that isn't terrible of me to stay."
"No, I understand. I still have to pass my eval with the shrink, so I'll probably go to Eli and get it over with so I can get back out there." He said, and she could almost she see him smile. "Are you coming back to Grandview anytime soon?"
"My dad's birthday is coming up. I'll be home like next weekend." She said, finding her fork and taking a bite of her salad. "Movie night? It's your turn to pick."
"I already got a few in mind," he chuckled. "How's school?"
"Good. My first three classes were pretty blah, but my novel writing class is after lunch and I'm looking forward to it." She said happily, taking another eager bite of her salad.
"I hope you have a good afternoon, Katie." He said. "I have to go. I'll talk to you later."
"Sounds like a plan. Be safe, Ned." She said softly.
"I always try, I love you." He replied happily.
"I love you too," she said.
Katie hung up, smiling brightly and thought about him all afternoon. Maybe they were gonna be okay.