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There was complete silence in the apartment. No one knew what to say or do. The tension was broken when Riddler decided to jump off the couch and make his way towards her mother. Kat mentally sighed in relief and glanced at Mark. She noticed how he was looking around the apartment, refusing to look towards the direction of the adults.

"I should probably pick up my things and go," Mark mumbled, crouching down to pick up his notes and backpack.

Kat felt sad but understood why he wanted to leave. "Let me help," she also crouched down and started to pick up her things.

"You can stay a little longer if you want," Liv suddenly said.

Both of the teenagers stopped what they were doing and stared up at the detective, not believing what they just heard.

"You sure?" Kat asked her mother, straitening up. Mark did as well a second later.

"Yes."

Mark stared at Kat, not knowing what to do.

"We can go to my room and continue studying there."

"Alright, cool."

"Leave the bedroom door open," the detective blurted out. She noticed both of the teenagers blushed as they went to Kat's room. She turned to look at Porter, who was trying hard not to laugh.

"Should we order some takeout?" The FBI agent asked, chuckling lowly.

Liv nodded. She stared back at the direction of her daughter's room. She could hear the low murmurs of the teenagers and the flipping of papers. Olivia wasn't sure whether she should be happy or worried that her daughter was interested in Mark.

"I'm sorry for that very awkward dinner," Kat apologized to Mark.

They were currently waiting outside of the apartment for Mark to be picked up.

He gave her a small smile. "It's okay. I thought your mom was going to kick me out when she saw us on the floor."

Kat blushed, remembering the look her mother gave her. Things were even more awkward during dinner. Her mother surprised them again when she let Mark stay for dinner. The detective kept glancing between them, but mostly at Mark.

Porter had tried to make small talk to both teens, but it was futile. Kat kept giving him short answers and Mark was still embarrassed from been caught, not only by Olivia but also the FBI agent. Porter had left twenty minutes before Mark's dad texted him that he was on his way to pick him up.

Kat happily walked him out of the apartment, ignoring the frown her mother gave her. They both felt at ease without the detective scrutinizing them.

"Well, it's a good thing that she didn't," she smiled up at him.

"Yeah."

They both stared at each other, ignoring the people walking down the sidewalk and the passing cars.

Kat could feel her cheeks getting red again from blushing. Her breath hitched when she saw Mark staring down at lips for a second before connecting his eyes again with hers. She felt her heart starting to beat fast, and her palms sweating, when she saw Mark leaning down towards her.

They were startled when a car honked near them. Mark quickly backed away from her and looked toward the car.

"It's my dad," he mumbled.

"Um yeah," Kat cleared her throat and turned to look at the car. She gave Mark's dad a wave and a polite smile.

The man returned the smile. Kat didn't really know Mark's dad since she rarely saw him, but he was a nice man. Mark looked a lot like him. They had the same hair color, nose, smile and they were both tall. Except for the eyes, Mark's dad had green eyes, almost blue.

"I better go," Mark said. He averted looking at her as gave her a quick hug. He also refused to look back when he walked towards the car.

Kat waved them goodbye, but was sad when Mark didn't look at her. She walked inside the apartment thinking of what just happened. She felt disappointed that they were interrupted when they were about to kiss. But at the same time, she was kinda glad. She didn't want the kiss to be a 'spurt of the moment' kinda thing. Mark had refused to look at her when he walked away or when he hugged her. The whole way up to the apartment she kept thinking about the almost kiss.

Liv threw the magazine that she was reading in the coffee table, when she heard her daughter come back. She had been thinking on how to approach this upcoming conversation. "Sweetheart, why don't you come and take a seat next to me?" Olivia patted the empty spot next to her. "I want to talk to you about—"

Kat let out a groan, interrupting her mother. "Oh god no. It's not what you think," she explained and took a seat next to the detective. "We were just studying and then Mark pushed my arm playfully. I returned the gesture. Then it just became a tickle war. I didn't even realize I was on top of him until you and Porter walked in."

The detective listened to her daughter without saying a word. She was relief that Kat and Mark were just tickling each other. But that didn't mean that she wasn't too comfortable with it. Olivia remembers the time when she and James would have a tickle war every now and then. And what it would sometimes led to.

"It's not something that I was expecting to see, that's all," Liv murmured. "Imagine my surprise when I saw my daughter straddling a boy in the middle of the living room."

"But nothing happened, mom. It was just tickling, nothing more. I swear."

Olivia saw the sincerity in her daughter's eyes. She let out a relief sigh and grasped her daughter's hand. "I believe you. But I don't want to see you in that compromising position again."

Kat was slightly surprised that her mother didn't push her for more questions. "I promise." She forced a smile on her face, still dejected from Mark's behavior, before standing from the couch. "I'm going to shower before I call it a night."

"Okay," Liv nodded at the teen. She knew something was off with her daughter, but didn't push the matter. It was clear that the teen wanted some space.

She watched her daughter as the teen went to the bathroom. Olivia turned to look at Riddler, who was chewing on his toy. "Am I reading too much into it?" She whispered to the dog. "I wish I could prevent her from ever growing up."

Riddler continued to chew to play with his toy but his eyes flicked up stare at the detective.

Liv glanced up at the ceiling and whispered, "Is times like these that I wish you were here to help me out, James." She glanced down at the thin ring on her finger. It was a gift that James got her on their first Christmas as a couple. She lightly traced it with her finger, with a small smile on her face. "Our daughter has been a handful just like you said. And I'm sure that is not going to change anytime soon."

Joe was glaring at her best friend during their lunch break. Kat had told her what happened last night before classes stared. The blonde teen would be lying if she wasn't all giddy about the 'almost kiss' between Mark and Kat. But now was pissed.

When Mark bumped into them in the hallway this morning, he barely said a word towards Kat or even looked at her. She could see the hurt in her best friend's eyes but Kat didn't try to talk to him. Instead, she pretended that Mark wasn't there.

Joe wanted to whack them upside the head and pushed them in the janitor's closet, so they could work out the tension between them. Kat was too stubborn to talk to Mark about last night and Mark made an excuse to not hang out with them during lunch.

She wished Ed was here to help her out. But he was absent today from school because he had a doctor appointment. Joe kept glaring at Kat as they walked towards their usual spot, sitting down under one of the trees in campus.

"I shouldn't have tried to kiss him last night. He just sees me as a friend. Things are awkward now between us."

Joe huffed and crossed her arms in front of her when they reached their spot. "You guys are acting like children."

"Shut up," Kat flopped down on the grass, next to her best friend.

"Just kiss him for fuck sake! He likes you too!" Joe shouted, making some of the close by teens to stare at their direction. "How blind are you guys?!"

Kat glared at her friend. "You were nervous to ask Ed out!"

"But at least I did it and look what happened! We are a couple," Joe glared back. "Just tell Mark how you feel about him. You won't regret it. Trust me."

The dark haired teen stared up at the tree. She was conflicted whether to take Joe's advice or not. She sighed heavily and glanced back at her friend. "I will think about it."

"At least it's something," Joe rolled her eyes, lying down next to her best friend. "I'm going to rub it on your face when you guys start dating."

"Thank you for accompanying me to pick up Cragen," Olivia smiled at Porter as he drove them to pick up her daughter.

They had dropped off Cragen at his apartment early this morning after he was released from jail. He was still a suspect but at least he was free from that awful place. She and the others decided to take him out for lunch and he happily accepted.

"No problem," Porter smiled back at the detective. "I told you that I'm here when you need me."

"I know."

He took his right hand off the steering wheel, and grasped Liv's left hand. "When this case is over, I want to take you out on a proper date. What do you say?"

"It better be a very nice restaurant," Olivia gave his hand a squeeze.

Porter chuckled and kissed the back of her hand. "I know just the place."

Kat and Joe were waiting outside of the school. They were both waiting patiently to be picked up. Olivia had texted Kat that she was going to pick her up after school. Kat would have objected but her mother mentioned they were going to have lunch with the other detectives and Cragen.

She was excited to talk to the detectives, but especially Cragen. He was just released this morning and couldn't wait to give him a hug. Although Porter was going to joined them, her excitement to see her 'gramps' couldn't be extinguished.

Kat felt Joe poke her side, making her loose her thoughts. She raised an eyebrow at her best friend. "What?"

"Look who is over there," Joe nodded towards Mark, who was just exiting the school building. "Just go and talk to him."

"But—"

"Just clear the air between the two of you. If you don't want to tell him about how you feel or about last night, then don't. Ask if everything is cool between you two and then move on from there," Joe shrugged. "But it's up to you if you want to talk to him."

"You're right," Kat put on a brave face. "I need to clear it up between me and him."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

Kat smiled at her friend and marched towards Mark.

He was slightly surprised to see her walking towards him. What caught his attention was the determined look she had on her face. He was startled when she grasped him by his shirt. "Wh—what are you doing?"

"What I should have done last night," Kat said before pulling him down.

Her lips crushed against his. She didn't see Mark's reaction as she kissed him. It took him a couple of seconds before she felt him kiss her back. The kiss was a bit rough but Kat needed to let go of the feelings she has been storing for Mark.

As much as she didn't want to end the kiss, Kat pulled back. She saw Mark blinked rapidly as she continued to grasp his shirt. Her breathing was slightly ragged, and her heart was still pounding fast against her chest. "I have been meaning to do that for a while now."

Mark grinned at her in relief. "So was I."

This time, Mark was the one that pulled Kat in for a kiss. Their eyes closed at the same time their lips met again. It was much slower than the first. They ignored the wolf whistles coming around them.

For Kat, it felt like they were the only people in the world. She felt like she was on cloud nine. She didn't feel the fireworks like it is mentioned in books or movies. Instead, she felt as time stood still and safe as Mark pulled her closer. She never felt like that whenever Dickie kissed her.

Mark felt like his chest would explode in happiness. He felt bad for been distant from Kat all day at school. He didn't want her to feel awkward about last night and wanted to give her some space. He didn't expect for her to kiss him after school today. But he was glad that she did.

They separated when their lungs were burning for oxygen. Both teens were slightly gasping for air when they opened their eyes. Mark could still feel the softness of Kat's lips upon his. He slightly grinned and asked quietly, for only Kat to hear, "Do you want to go out on a date with me on Friday night?"

"I would like that. Very much," Kat giggled.

Their moment was ruined when they heard Joe shout not far from them. "About time you idiots!"

Sometime around this weekend, I will be able to upload a one shot in 'Growing Up'.

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