Katherine sat on the sofa at her sister's house; barely listening to the conversation that Pam and Mark were having with their newest business associate. All she could think about was her argument with JR from a couple of days ago. It wasn't very often that they fought, but when it did happen, it was always just terrible. Katherine had been frustrated by JR's jealous side more than once in the past, but after a lot of thinking, she had realized that the real problem had come from her own insecurities about moving forward in their relationship. Their date at the hotel had brought out all of Katherine's anger and resentment from her past dating experiences with other men who had wanted to sleep with her much too soon for her own taste. But JR was not like them at all. Katherine hadn't seen it at first, but he had honestly not been trying to push her. He had also wanted them to sit down and really talk things out. Reminding herself about just how supportive and understanding JR had been during their whole relationship (and friendship), Katherine now felt really guilty about jumping to conclusions and yelling at him on after their last date on Friday. Now that she had had some time to think things over and examine the situation differently, Katherine had made up her mind to go see JR and apologize to him about how she had treated him.

Katherine was interrupted from her thoughts when Pam had made a comment about Wentworth Industries that she had somehow tuned out completely.

"I'm sorry. What did you say again?" Katherine asked apologetically.

"Victor had asked me if the company was interested in forming a merger with anyone, and I had to explain to him that Barnes-Wentworth is separate from everything that you control." Pam explained. She nodded briefly towards Victor Blaine, their new potential new business partner.

Turning towards Victor, Katherine elaborated further on what Pam had said. "We don't have any plans for a merger. Wentworth Tool and Dye has been a family business ever since my father ran it, and I don't have any intention of changing that. As for Wentworth Industries itself, the board of directors makes all of the final decisions, even though I do have some influence due to my shares in the company." She explained.

"I see. It's impressive that a woman as young as yourself has managed to be so successful with all of this. However, that can't be all that you want for yourself in life? Since you did say that it is a family business, that means that you would have to settle down sometime, right?" Victor asked in a tone that subtly suggested flirtation.

Katherine mentally groaned to herself in exasperation. It had been like this for about half an hour now. At first, Victor had tried to catch Pam's attention. Once Mark had entered the room, he had given up and turned his attention to Katherine. Katherine was tempted to tell Victor about JR so that she wouldn't have to endure anymore of this. But since Victor hadn't actually proposed anything, she decided to just play along with him until the meeting was over and she could finally leave to meet with JR.

"Thank you. I try my best to ensure that Wentworth remains active and successful. So I'm afraid that I don't have any other plans right now. But who knows?" Katherine said with a smile.

Victor laughed. "You're a smart lady. But I wouldn't wait too long if I were you! It's like I always say, better early than never! Right!?" He teased.

Katherine laughed weakly at Victor's joke. Please leave. Please leave. She thought to herself in annoyance.

xxx

After what seemed like hours, the informal business meeting finally came to a close. Katherine had been hoping to find a way to escape to somewhere else in the house to avoid Victor, but that turned out to be impossible. As she was heading upstairs, he caught up with her.

"Katherine, wait." Victor said as he lightly placed his hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"What is it, Victor?" Katherine asked politely while trying to resist the urge to run upstairs.

"I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed meeting you. I don't usually enjoy these types of things very much, but you made it fun. I was wondering, if you're not busy right now, would you like to go somewhere and have a drink with me? I'd really like to get to know you better." Victor said.

"Thank you, Victor. That's really nice of you to say that. But I have somewhere that I need to be pretty soon." Katherine answered, hoping that Victor would take the hint and drop it right there.

"Oh. Well, how about some other time, then? If you're free next week, why don't you give me your phone number so that we can arrange to meet then?" Victor asked, refusing to give up.

"Victor... It's not that. You're a really nice guy, but I'm seeing someone and it's pretty serious. So, I can't really do this." Katherine explained awkwardly. She wasn't used to having this sort of conversation with a man.

Victor looked disappointed, but he quickly recovered and smiled apologetically. "I am so sorry, Katherine. I had no idea. I feel like a total jerk now." He said ruefully.

"Don't worry about it. It's my fault for not saying anything sooner." Katherine said.

"Well, he's one lucky guy, that's for sure!" Victor said.

"I agree! Thanks for understanding, Victor. But you can still find someone while you're here in Dallas. It's a big city, so who knows what you'll find?" Katherine said encouragingly.

"Quite true. I guess I'll go now. Goodbye, Katherine!" Victor said with a smile. Then, much to Katherine's relief, he finally left.

xxx

After Victor's departure, Katherine stayed at her sister's house for a couple more hours; nervous about apologizing to JR. It was only as she was getting ready to leave that someone seemed to pick up on what was wrong with her.

"Katherine, do you have a minute?" Mark asked.

Katherine turned around to face Mark and smiled. "A few more, I guess." She answered ruefully.

"Oh, good. I know that you have plans with JR tonight, but I couldn't say anything earlier. I just wanted to apologize for inviting you to our meeting today. I didn't know that Victor would bother you like that. It must have been uncomfortable for you." Mark said apologetically.

"No, it's alright. Maybe he was a little bit clueless, but once I explained things to him, he was fine. It was a little awkward, but sometimes that just happens. It's not you or Pam's fault." Katherine said.

Mark looked relieved. "Good. JR's a lucky guy. But for some reason, you seem a little out of sorts tonight. If I'm not prying, do you want to talk about it at all?" He asked.

"Well... JR and I had a fight last week, and I've sort of been dreading having to talk to him again. Even though I know that I have to." Katherine confessed.

"A fight? What was it about?" Mark asked carefully.

"To be honest, it was sort of stupid..." Katherine said evasively.

"Lots of arguments are like that." Mark said gently, not prying any further.

"I feel like it could have been avoided if I had just explained some things better and really talked to him. But instead, I jumped to conclusions and ended up blowing up at him. I feel really bad about it now..." Katherine said regretfully.

"I know how that can happen." Mark said knowingly.

"Yeah. I'm going to explain things to him and apologize. Hopefully, everything will get cleared up between us." Katherine said.

For a moment, Mark looked skeptical. "I'm sure you guys will sort it all out. But if JR ever does give you any trouble, let me know. He'll have to deal with me, and believe me, he won't like that." He said in a tone that sounded light, but at the same time, Katherine could see the seriousness behind those words reflected in his eyes.

Katherine forced herself to laugh. "I certainly wouldn't wish that on JR! Don't worry, though. I can handle him!" She joked.

"Okay, then I guess I'll see you later. Take care of yourself, kid!" Mark said. He gave Katherine a quick pat on the shoulder.

"Thanks, I will! Bye, Mark!" Katherine said as she left through the front door.

xxx

Katherine nervously parked her car inside the Ewing Oil indoor parking complex. Despite her confident words to Mark earlier in the evening, she was still worried about facing JR. Since she hadn't even bothered to call him to say that she would be coming to the office, Katherine felt completely unprepared.

What if he's mad at me for ignoring his calls all weekend? Maybe JR has finally had enough of me and decided that our relationship won't work anymore. Katherine thought to herself nervously.

Deep down, Katherine knew that JR still loved her and that he wouldn't leave her over an argument. After all, they had had arguments before and had only come out stronger after they had been resolved. JR had fought hard just to even get this far with her, and Katherine couldn't see him just giving up.

Shaking off her doubts, Katherine proceeded to walk through the parking lot. Before she got even halfway to the building's entrance, a figure stopped her.

"Fancy meeting you here, Katherine!" A familiar voice said.

"Victor!? What are you doing here?" Katherine asked in surprise.

Victor shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "Isn't it obvious? I came to see you, Katherine." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Katherine felt annoyed. "So what did you do? Follow me here!?" She demanded.

"Yeah, I did. So, what do you say? Care to join me for awhile?" Victor asked with a smirk.

"Cut the crap, Victor! I already told you that I'm seeing someone! I don't have time for these games, so I'm leaving now." Katherine said with an edge in her voice.

Suddenly, Victor closed in on Katherine until he was standing right in front of her, placing his hands firmly on her shoulders. "Come on. Don't be like that, honey. I already knew that you're JR Ewing's little whore. Why else do you think I tried for your sister first? But you should at least be up for a little fun!" He said in a hushed tone. Katherine realized that his breath reeked of alcohol.

Katherine delivered a sharp slap to Victor's face. "Don't touch me, you bastard!" She yelled angrily.

Victor shoved Katherine roughly against the back of a car. "Now look here, you little bitch! This is going to happen whether you like it or not!" He hissed furiously.

Before anything else could happen, Victor was abruptly pulled away from Katherine. She was shocked to see that JR had somehow come to her rescue. He punched Victor in the face, knocking him out cold.

"That bastard! Just what the hell was security doing!?" JR yelled furiously.

Katherine was still too stunned to speak. Everything seemed to have gone by in a blur. She looked at JR awkwardly, willing her brain to form some words for her.

"Katherine? Are you alright, honey? He didn't do anything else to you, did he!? I'll kill him myself if-" JR started to rant before Katherine cut him off.

"It's okay, JR. I'm fine. Nothing else happened. I'm just really glad that you showed up when you did. I'm not sure if I could have held him off for much longer..." Katherine said, still somewhat shakily.

JR put his arms around Katherine. She leaned into his embrace contentedly. It felt like it had been forever since she had been in his arms.

"I'm sorry that I didn't get here sooner. Then nothing would have happened at all. But what were you doing here? I thought that you would still be too angry to see me..." JR said as stroked Katherine's hair gently.

"I came to apologize to you... After thinking about everything for awhile, I realized that I was really unfair to you, JR. I've just been making assumptions about you because I was too afraid to talk about some things with you. And then, I just turned away from you without even giving us a chance to really talk about everything like you had wanted to. After how good you have always been to me, I was horrible to you. I can't believe that you still have the patience to even want to stay with me anymore! I'm really sorry, JR..." Katherine said, her voice breaking into a sob.

"Sweetheart, you didn't do anything wrong, and I would never give up on you. If anything, I blame myself for what happened that day at the pool. I got carried away and made you uncomfortable. I'm sorry..." JR said sincerely. Without another word, they both leaned in for a long kiss.

After their kiss ended, Katherine and JR simply smiled at each other for a moment before Katherine broke the silence. "I still think that we really need to sit down and talk about everything in detail. There are things that I haven't really explained to you yet, JR. But first, we need to do something about him." Katherine said with a meaningful glance at Victor, who was still out cold on the ground.

"That we do. We should head inside so that I can make a few phone calls. I also need to have a little chat with the security guard who was supposed to be on duty tonight. Believe me, he will be going the same way as Victor. Away from Texas for good." JR said darkly.

xxx

"Mr. Ewing! I'm really sorry about what happened! I was-" The security guard rambled until JR roughly cut him off.

"I don't want to hear whatever sorry excuse you're about to give me for letting my girlfriend get assaulted! You're finished, Will! Get out now and don't ever come back! And you can believe that I am going to personally make sure that you never get another job in this whole state!" JR practically yelled.

Will did not need to be told twice. He simply headed towards the front door without even stopping to retrieve his things from the security office.

It had been about half an hour since the attack in the parking lot. Before Will had come into JR's office, Katherine had watched JR make various telephone calls at his desk, including ones to the sheriff and other state departments. To put it simply, Victor would not be coming back.

After the last call had ended, JR hung up the phone and sighed. "Thank god that's finally over. I'm sorry for making you wait like that, Katherine. You've got to be exhausted. I'll drive you home now." JR said.

Katherine looked at JR from her place on the small sofa in the corner of the office that she was curled up on. "Thank you, JR. I'd like that. And...thank you again for saving me. You were a real hero." She said softly.

"I won't let anything happen to again, Katherine. I promise." JR said seriously.

"We should go." Katherine said as she stood up from her place on the sofa.

"Wait. Before we go, there's something in here that I have to get." JR said. He rummaged around behind his desk before emerging with a beautiful bouquet of red roses.

Katherine looked too stunned to say anything. After how awful she had been to JR, surely he wasn't intending to give these flowers to her. Was he?

"I was actually planning to stop by later tonight. You wouldn't answer my calls, so I figured that I needed to just show up. I want to work things out between us, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to bring these as a peace offering." JR explained somewhat sheepishly as he handed the flowers to Katherine.

"They're beautiful... Thank you, JR. It looks like we were both ready to make up at the same time, huh?" Katherine said softly.

xxx

Once they had reached Katherine's house, she hesitated before opening the car door, and then turned to JR. "Will you stay with me tonight? I don't mean it like that, I just want us to talk for awhile, and I guess that I'm still a little shaken up after what happened tonight." Katherine admitted in embarrassment. She didn't want JR to get the wrong idea about her invitation. But at the same time, she was embarrassed to admit that she didn't want to be alone after what had happened with Victor. Katherine didn't like the fact that she had been forced to rely on JR to help her. She was used to taking care of her own problems, and this just made her feel weak and helpless.

JR looked surprised by Katherine's request. Clearly, this was more than he had hoped for. "Of course." He replied gently.

xxx

"So, what exactly happened to us?" JR asked Katherine seriously. It was about an hour later after they had arrived at Katherine's house. They were both seated comfortably together on the large bed in her bedroom as they talked.

"You have to understand that being in a serious relationship is a new experience for me." Katherine said.

"But what about Leon? You were with him for two years." JR questioned, struggling to understand.

"I don't consider my time with Leon as a real relationship. He never loved me. He just said and did whatever he thought I would like the best in the hopes of using me to further his goals. So he doesn't count." Katherine said.

"But you could have just told me that you still weren't ready for some things yet. I would have understood. Why was it so hard for you, Katherine? After all of this time, I thought that it would have been easy for us to tell each other everything." JR said.

"Well, in a way, that was part of the problem. You've been my best friend for a long time now, and that didn't change after we started dating. But because of that, I had grown so used to talking to you as one. So when it got to the point where we needed to discuss intimacy, I was at a loss as to how to go about doing that. I obviously realized that we are a couple, but it still felt awkward, somehow." Katherine explained.

"I understand where you're coming from. I was also having trouble deciding how to approach that subject with you. I couldn't tell if you wanted me to just wait until you actually suggested it, or if I was supposed to say something first. And I didn't think that it would sound very good to you if I just asked you straight-out if you wanted to sleep with me. But at the same time, I thought that it wouldn't be a good idea to do nothing at all. I wanted to remind you that I am very attracted to you in that way. In the end, it didn't matter. I was still disrespectful to you. I'm really sorry, Katherine." JR explained.

"Don't be sorry. I never even stopped to look at things from your perspective, and that was wrong. That's what led me to believe that you thought I was easy. I was self-conscious after you found out that I had slept with Leon. I know that it's not unusual to have slept with other men before entering a new relationship. But I have seen how a lot of men around here think in regards to what makes a woman marriage material, and I was afraid that you might feel the same way as them." Katherine said.

"I would never hold that against you, Katherine. I had realized that you've had a life before you met me, and that it might have included other men. I admit that I used to be unfair when it came to my opinions about women. But ultimately, I would never just write out someone I'd fallen in love with just because I didn't have her first. It would not have prevented my first marriage, and it won't matter with you, either. After all, having that sort of condition would make me the world's biggest hypocrite." JR said seriously.

"Thank you, JR. I needed to hear that. Believe me, I wish that I could go back and change things so that you will be my first, especially since Leon wasn't the one. After I went back to New York, I ended up with a lot of guys. I'm ashamed to admit it, but one-night stands were about the only thing in my life back then that made me feel even remotely alive. I had pretty much given up on finding happiness with anything. Family, career, love life... It was all just so...empty." Katherine recalled somberly.

"I think that is what happened to me for long time, too. I didn't know how to go about solving the problems in my marriage. Work was a constant battle with always trying to prove to my father that I was good enough to run Ewing Oil. Add all of that to the fact that I can barely relate to my own family, and my life was a mess. I just wanted to get away from it all. And whenever I was having an affair with another woman, I could do that. There was no one to tell me that I was doing something wrong or the need to stay on guard all of the time. Instead, it was just the opposite. It was my own world where I where I was the best and constantly told that in every way. I loved that feeling. It became my escape from reality. Until I started facing my fears about how I look to others, I wasn't able to communicate with a woman in any other way." JR explained.

"I guess that we were both pretty miserable people for awhile, huh?" Katherine said.

"It certainly hasn't been easy for us all of the time in our lives, but I know that we've come out stronger together than we would have if we hadn't gotten grown close to each other at all. You also have helped to change me for the better, Katherine. As soon as I saw just how much my actions had changed your life, I saw that it wasn't always just about me and my family. You have suffered from a lot of the same problems that I've had, and I believe that that has helped us to understand and appreciate each other more than we could have with other people. I love you Katherine, and that is not going to change." JR said.

"I love you too, JR. Let's try not to fight anymore." Katherine said softly.

Without another word, they started kissing each other passionately. JR was laying on top of Katherine, and she didn't protest at all once his hands started to wander underneath the long T-shirt that she was wearing. Her breath hitched in arousal as his hands lightly traced the skin under her bra. Believing it to be a sound of protest, JR pulled his hands back guiltily and quickly sat up.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have just-" JR started to apologize before Katherine grabbed his wrists and roughly pulled him back down so that he was on top of her again.

"Please don't stop now, JR. I want you." Katherine whispered breathlessly into his ear.

For a moment, JR looked shocked, as if he couldn't believe that this was finally going to happen between them. "Really? You're sure?" He asked carefully.

"More sure than I've ever been about anyone in my whole life, JR. I love you, and I'm ready for this to happen now." Katherine answered with conviction.

JR smiled radiantly. "I love you too, Katherine. And now I'll finally get to show you that in every way that I can." He said softly.

Not wasting another second, JR slammed his lips back onto Katherine's. At the same time, she started frantically unbuttoning JR's shirt, not caring that more than a few buttons got torn off in the process. JR laughed wickedly in response and started to remove her clothes, one article after another.

Once he had finished undressing her, JR stopped to stare at Katherine, completely in awe at what he was seeing. Despite her past experiences with other men, Katherine couldn't help blushing self-consciously. No man had ever looked at her like this before.

"God, you're beautiful..." JR trailed off in amazement.

"You're the only one who makes me feel that way..." Katherine said with tears in her eyes.

"And I'm going to continue doing that." JR promised Katherine as he gently stroked her face with the palm of his hand.

After their brief, tender exchange, JR was all over Katherine. His hands and lips were roaming every inch of her body, setting it on fire. They hadn't even gotten started yet, and Katherine was already moaning loudly in response to JR's touch.

"JR, I swear, if you tease me for a minute longer, I'll-" Katherine started to threaten before JR pulled her up roughly into his arms so that her chest was pressed against his. He then kissed her passionately, causing her to moan into his mouth.

"Message received." JR said with a devious grin after their kiss broke. He hurriedly removed his pants and boxer shorts, causing Katherine to smile triumphantly.

"It looks like you have been deprived of pleasure for far too long, JR. But that all changes now..." Katherine said with a devious smile.

JR practically dived back into bed with Katherine, deftly pulling the sheet over them. They made love with a furious passion, not shy about voicing their pleasure at each other's actions. They belonged to each other completely now, and nothing else mattered.

Author's note: Wow, long time no update, huh? Sorry about that. This was the hardest chapter I've written so far, so I ended up hitting writer's block for awhile since it was hard to tell for awhile where I wanted it to go. Hopefully, the scene at the end was okay. I was trying to make it good while not turning it into an actual sex scene since I don't write those. I don't think that it is actually M-rated, so I shouldn't have to move it. Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading this!