"About a Girl"
===================================
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me; I'm just borrowing
them for a short period of time.
Show: Once and Again
Pairing: Jessie/Katie
Rating: PG
Author: Janine
Synopsis: What happens to girl's after their kiss in Jessie's room?
Email: jbstories@h...
===================================
Part 1
Manning Manor
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"What's going on?" Grace asked wandering into the kitchen. Everyone was gathered around the counter not saying anything, simply starring at the table where Jessie alone seemed to be seated.
"Lily's trying to figure out if that was really cold medication she bought for Jessie yesterday," Eli whispered, his eyes never leaving his sisters back for a second.
"Jessie thinks eggs is a funny word," Zoë added from somewhere beneath Grace's right elbow. "She said so, but she's still eating them." Grace looked down at her little sister sighing internally to see that the child had that blasted placemat on her head again, only this time neither her mom or Rick seemed notoriously concerned about it.
"You don't think we should call someone do you?" Rick asked scrunching up his brow in concern.
"Oh my god," Grace laughed looking at all of them like they were insane. "Can't she just be in a good mood?" she asked shaking her head before heading for the fridge. "Hey," she greeted looking at Jessie briefly before reaching for the orange juice container.
"Hey," Jessie responding shooting her a grin before turning back around and bringing her fork down to her plate, seemingly surprised to find it empty. Now intrigued, Grace watched as her stepsister shook her head and smiled with a 'stupid me' expression, then got up, dumping her plate in the sink and headed out of the kitchen. But not before looking at everyone like they were pod people when they moved out of her way collectively. Grace smiled again and turned her attention back to the fridge. It wasn't the medication Lily had bought that was making Jessie act that way, she was sure of it. She doubted that Jessie was actually ever feeling sick to begin with, and if she had been, she'd certainly been fine when she'd gone up to the attic yesterday to deliver the medication, only to find Jessie and Katie standing around self-consciously but happily looking at her like they'd never seen her before. Then later, as she'd gone to leave the attic she'd looked back to find Jessie sprawled out on her bed looking up at the ceiling with a blissed out expression on her face, and she knew instinctively what must have happened between her and Katie.
"What did the warning label say?" Rick asked turning to look at Lily once Jessie had left the room.
"Oh my god," Grace grumbled again rolling her eyes as she sat down at the table. She didn't know if she could take a whole day of this.
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Hospital Parking Lot
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Karen looked back at Eli sharing a brief smile with him as they watched Jessie bound off into the distance in search of the car. As Eli wheeled her out of the hospital, Jessie had run off saying she was going to prepare the car, because while Eli hadn't actually been raised in a barn, he lived like he had been.
"At least you didn't have to sit through her monologue on the beauty of butterflies," Eli grumbled good naturedly before tipping his mother's wheelchair back and running with it momentarily, stopping only when Karen begged him to stop. The action had earned him a slap on the arm, but also a smile, so he figured it all evened out in the end. "I swear it was like she'd never been outdoors before," he continued watching as Jessie's head disappeared behind a van a couple yards ahead of them. "And at breakfast, she actually let that little Hobbit cut her food into the shape of a bunny rabbit!"
"Hobbit?" Karen asked turning in her chair slightly. "Who's a Hobbit?"
"Zoë," Eli responded adjusting their course a bit as he spotted the car. "And before you get mad, Jessie's the one that called her that first."
"Why?" Karen asked bewildered.
"The kid used her favorite pair of socks to make a puppet," Eli responded grinning. "To this day … well maybe not today," he amended, "She stomps out of the room whenever Mr. Buckley Buttonpants of Zoë's third drawer makes an appearance."
Karen smiled, soaking up this relaxing moment with her son, like it was the first day you could outside without a jacket after a long winter. Things had been so strained between them for the past little while, that it was nice to just be able to talk to him, and have him talk to her.
"She's in a good mood," Karen said softly a moment later, watching as Jessie threw some article of clothing out of the backseat and into the trunk.
"HEY! BE CAREFUL WITH THOSE!" Eli bellowed at the top of his lungs as Jessie began to fling some music sheets carelessly into the trunk. "Hey!" he yelled again, when she looked up at him then went back to what she had been doing.
"Eli, please," Karen said wincing as his voice reverberated in her ears.
"Sorry," he said realizing what he had been doing. "It's just that we need those for practice tomorrow," he continued glaring at Jessie as he quickened his step.
"Did anything happen last night?" Karen asked sending him a reproachful look that caused him to slow down once again. He sighed; he was never going to be able to find the sheets he needed tomorrow.
"What do you mean?" he asked absently.
"Jessie, she seemed really upset the other day when she came by to see me," Karen responded. "But…she seems better now. Better than for a long while now," she continued softly.
"Hmmm," Eli said thinking back. "I don't know … that hot chick she's been hanging out with came by…that's about it."
"Eli," Karen said stretching out her sons name with distaste. "Katie's 16," she continued looking back at him. Eli shrugged. "You're sure that's it?" Karen asked a moment later.
"Yeah," Eli responded. "After that she pretty much spent the whole night in her room listening to that CD she's got from prohibition times, or whatever," he continued making a face.
"Billie Holiday," Karen corrected gently. Prohibition times, Karen thought to herself, good grief.
"Yeah, that's what I said," Eli responded finally bringing them to a stop beside the car.
"Said about what?" Jessie asked her head popping up to look at them from across the car.
"You're boyfriend Taaaaaaaad," Eli responded mockingly, making kiss-y faces before pretending to swoon.
"He's not my boyfriend," Jessie responded glaring at her brother, before ducking her head back into the car to toss the last of his crap into the trunk.
"'Oh Tad, I love you and you're gay porn sounding name'," Eli said in response, his voice rising in a crude attempt to mimic Jessie's voice. He was bitter about the treatment she had just given his 'Sex Machine' t- shirt.
"Eli," Karen started, really not wanting to listen to two of them argue the whole way home, but before she could get anything else out, Jessie's head popped up again interrupting her.
"How would you know?" she asked, her eyebrow rising challengingly.
"Know what?" Eli asked not really liking the expression on her face. Jessie may have been younger than him, but when she wanted to she could rip anyone a new asshole. He clenched beginning to think that he should have listened to his mother.
"What his name sounds like," Jessie explained. "Been watching a lot of gay porn lately?" she asked grinning at him.
"Alright," Karen said holding up her hands, cutting Eli off before he could respond. "That's enough. Both of you behave." Both of them stared at her for a moment, looking like they wanted to object, then muttered that they would, and set about preparing the car for her. Karen smiled; it was good to be back.
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School
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"No, they sucked," Katie, stated emphatically. "No. No they sucked."
"You're just bitter because Acoustic Soul got shot down like a cougar at the Playboy mansion," Tad responded happily as Russell slapped him on the back.
"Just because you inherited your dad's taste from like the 70s it doesn't mean all of us have light candles at the Shrine of Bono," Katie responded shooting Tad a nasty sideways look. The truth was she was bitter that Acoustic Soul got shut out. "Besides, it was soooo long. I mean what time did it end, like 2 am? In corrupt prisons across the world they're torturing people with Jon Stewart's striptease."
"I thought that was funny man," Russell starting to laugh. "He was all…and then it was like…" he went on almost doubling over from the effort it was taking for him to hold in his girlish giggles.
Katie rolled her eyes, and turned away from the two guys letting her eyes scan the hallways. Catching sight of a familiar face, she broke out into a huge grin, which she then rather conspicuous covered.
"I'll catch up with you later," she called out already heading down the hall.
"Hey," Tad called out. "Are you coming tonight," he asked.
"Maybe," Katie called back almost out of earshot. Then she held up her hand making the 'I'll call you' hand motion and disappeared down the next hallway.
"Alright, meet me outside of the gym after school and I'll give you a lift," Grace said with a long-suffering sigh as she checked her watch.
"Thanks," Jessie responded choosing to ignore Grace's tone. Sometimes with Grace it was best to do that.
"Looks like you've got a visitor," Grace commented a moment later, her previous sulky tone now gone.
"What?" Jessie asked looking up. "Oh," she continued seeing Katie propped up against a wall near her locker, seemingly reading a nearby poster. "Right. Okay, I'll see you later," Jessie responded trying to subtly shoo Grace away.
"Riiiight," Grace responded. "Later," and with that she continued on down the hallway smiling. Jessie was sooo busted.
"Hey," Jessie said coming up behind Katie. "What cha looking at?"
"Intramural floor hockey," Katie responded cocking her head towards the poster and sign up sheet.
"You thinking of joining?" Jessie asked, smiling.
"No. I like my teeth in my mouth," Katie responded, her hands brushing down over her skirt shakily before she finally turned to look at Jessie. "So, the world of academia is glad to have you back," she continued as they headed towards Jessie's locker.
"The feelings mutual," Jessie responded turning her lock slowly. She seemed to be having trouble remembering her combination. "Oh, and tell academia's mom thanks. The cookies she baked were breakfast this morning," Jessie continued knowingly.
"Busted, huh?" Katie asked, leaning against a nearby locker.
"Yes, but it was a valiant effort," Jessie responded smiling. "It's good to see you," she continued, her voice dropping a little as she raised her eyes to meet Katie's.
"It's good to be seen," the girl responded, smiling softly, before turning her head to watch the passing students. "So … you wanna do something later? I have extensive ideas about how to waste time. There may even be a flow chart but I can't remember if I got around to it," she continued glancing at Jessie. They had talked on the phone over the weekend, but hadn't actually seen each other since that afternoon in the attic. And as ecstatic as she was over what had happened in Jessie's bedroom that day, she wasn't sure where they stood exactly. She knew where she wanted to be standing, but it was up to Jessie.
"I told my mom I'd come straight home," Jessie replied closing her locker door. "There's still a lot of stuff to get back in order, I mean the mail pile alone was like a week's worth of work," she continued turning to face Katie.
"Yeah, of course," Katie responded. "Totally. I completely understand," she responded, her shoes suddenly seeming very interesting.
"You should come," Jessie said seeing Katie's expression and knowing what was probably going through her head. "She keeps asking about you anyway. Katie this and Katie that … I swear it's like she wants to marry you or something," she continued smiling at the memory of her mother incessantly questioning her about Katie.
"Really?" Katie asked looking over at Jessie.
"Yeah, apparently I talk about you a lot," Jessie, responded shaking her head self-consciously. "You don't have to, I mean it's probably not going to be a lot of fun. She'll probably have us stocking cupboards or dusting something, but…"
"I'll come," Katie said interrupting her. "I mean, I'd like to go with you. We can do the whole underage illegal worker thing together."
"Cool," Jessie responded smiling, as she adopted a position similar to Katie's against the locker.
"Yeah," Katie agreed a wide grin spreading across her face. "So, you tired of lounging yet?"
"Yeah," Jessie said pushing off of the lockers. "How do the jocks do it?"
"Nobody knows," Katie responded heading down the hall. "But I suspect it has something to do with the numerous blows to the head. That just can't be healthy. Also, it's not very pretty."
"The real reason floor hockey is out?" Jessie asked gamely.
"I stand by my decision," Katie responded grasping Jessie's hand momentarily, letting go as they turned the corner. "My stop," she said glancing at the classroom door.
"Lunch?" Jessie asked.
"Well, that's right around the time I get hungry so you're in luck," Katie replied smiling. "I…" she started to say, looking at Jessie seriously. "Yeah," she continued shaking her head, "I'll see you then."
"Yeah," Jessie said holding her eyes for a second longer. Then she continued down the hall, smiling once she was out of sight. Lunch never seemed so far away.
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Part 2
Karen's House
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"Oh my god," Katie exclaimed flinging herself on Jessie's bed as Jessie closed the door to her room. "I thought you were joking about the packing and dusting and stuff! I haven't worked that hard since dad made us help build crazy uncle Cory's cottage slash whacked out bomb shelter!"
"Bomb shelter?" Jessie asked raising an eyebrow.
"That's why we call him 'crazy' uncle Cory," Katie responded flipping around onto her back so that she could see Jessie. "He once ate nothing but baked beans for like eight months. He wasn't allowed to come over for holiday dinners during that period," she continued sitting up as Jessie walked over to the bed.
"That's a lovely story," Jessie said making a face coming to stop just in front of Katie. "I'm surprised that it isn't told every Christmas with people gathered around the fireplace holding hands and stuff."
"Mock him if you will," Katie responded with a pseudo sigh. "Really. Everyone else does," she continued grinning up at Jessie cheekily, her smile slowly fading away to be replaced by questioning head tilt as she realized just how close to her Jessie was standing. "Hey," she continued a moment later, swallowing heavily as her eyes traveled up Jessie's torso, settling on her lips for a moment before moving up further to her eyes, which were watching her closely.
"I want…" Jessie began slowly, clearly annunciating every syllable.
"I know," Katie responded holding her gaze. "It's okay," she continued. "It's always okay."
And before she could say anything else, she felt Jessie's lips on hers, brushing against her own gently, then with an increasing firmness as she got swept up in the tide, pulling away only when the need for oxygen became too great to ignore.
"It's different when I'm taller than you," Jessie commented softly as she looked down at Katie's seated figure. A wickedly delicious smile creeping across her features as the euphoria hit her. "I like being tall."
"Certainly it has its advantages," Katie responded hers lips turning upwards at well, her reply both teasing and relieved. "But there's something to be said for the view from Midget Town too."
"Midget Town?" Jessie asked, her eyes narrowing menacingly. So she was going to start with the short jokes was she? Not a good move.
"Is Dopey coming by today, he's got my copy of 'It's a small world after all'," Katie answered immediately, her smile growing wider at Jessie's expression. God, she was so cute, like when she did anything. All Jessie had to do was make an expression and it was like the best thing she'd ever seen.
"You are in *so* much trouble," Jessie ground out staring a Katie for a moment, before laughing as she flung herself at Katie, causing the other girl to fall back against the bed, as Jessie landed on top of her, rolling them over, causing her laugh even harder as Katie began to tickle her.
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"What are you doing?" Jessie asked looking down as Katie picked up her hand in hers. They were sitting across from each other cross-legged on the floor. At first they had been talking, about stupid things, about anything, but then they'd just kind of stopped and started looking at each other. For a long time. Then Katie had reached out her hand and picked up Jessie's.
"I'm not sure," Katie responded as she cradled Jessie's hand in her left one, and then began tracing the lines of Jessie's hand with one of the fingers of her right hand slowly. "Wait," Katie continued a moment later. "I know now."
"What?" Jessie asked, her breath coming out surprisingly short. She had stopped concentrating for a moment, and now it seemed as if she'd forgotten how to breathe.
"Learning," Katie said softly, her head tilting up momentarily to gaze at Jessie. "You're hands are so soft…delicate," she whispered softly, almost as if she were in a trance. "Beautiful," she continued her eyes dropping back down to Jessie's palm. "Like you."
"You…you think I'm beautiful?" Jessie asked a moment later, her voice halting with uncertainty as her eyes dropped down to their joined hands.
"No," Katie responded gazing over at her without a moment's hesitation. Jessie looked up at her questioningly, confused, but Katie continued going before she could say anything. "I know it. I'm pretty sure that it's written in stone somewhere," she continued seriously. "Like Gospel. You're name is in italics."
Jessie was quiet for a second, then half exhaled, half laughed, bowing her head down self-consciously as Katie's words washed over her like cool fresh water over pebbles on a summer day. It made her feel tingly inside, like when they kissed; only it was different at the same time. Her mother had told her that she was beautiful before, her dad too. Even Eli had acquiesced that she'd 'probably be a looker' when she grew up. But it had never really fazed her, when she heard it with them, it had just rolled off of the surface and she had never truly believed it. But coming from Katie, it was different; it began to sink into her. And she believed it for second, even if it was only in Katie's eyes.
"Hey, are you okay?" Katie asked concern filling her voice as she looked at Jessie's still bowed head. "I didn't mean to embarrass you," she continued ducking her head down to try and get a better look at Jessie's face. "Sometimes I just talk to much. I won't be planning on saying anything, and then words just come tumbling out of my mouth, and I suddenly wish that my mom would actually buy that muzzle she's always threatening me with."
"You don't talk to much," Jessie said softly finally looking up, her eyes still shimmering as she gazed at Katie. "I mean, I like listening to you talk," she said smirking at her own lameness.
"That works out well then, I think," Katie responded smiling self- depreciatingly seeming not to mind her lameness if there had been any. "You know, I meant it. But I won't say it again if it makes you uncomfortable," she continued, her finger still unconsciously stroking Jessie's hand.
"It's not that, it's just…" Jessie started; momentarily distracted by the feeling Katie's finger was producing in her hand, which then promptly shot through the rest of her body like electricity. "I just, you know never heard that from anyone who's not related to me," she continued a moment later, her head dropping down once more.
"Not even from Tad?" Katie asked, a small smile etching it's way across her features.
Jessie looked up at her then contemplatively. Tad had told her something like that. And she had gotten it from strangers too she supposed, she just hadn't believed them. She hadn't believed anyone who had told her before Katie, not even a little bit. She still wasn't sure, not really, she only knew that she believed Katie meant it, and that was enough for her.
"I guess it just didn't mean anything coming from him," she said softly, her brows drawing together thoughtfully.
"But it does…from me?" Katie asked studying Jessie's face.
Jessie merely nodded, and then turned her eyes up to look into Katie's smiling face.
"We were going to …" Karen began opening Jessie's bedroom, pausing momentarily as she got her first good look inside. There were just sitting on the floor, Katie giving Jessie what looked like a palm reading while grinning at each other, but she felt like she was interrupting something the moment she opened the door and couldn't quite explain why. "Order a pizza, when I realized that I didn't know what Katie likes," she continued as Jessie scrambled to her feet, walking over to the door to help steady her. Eli had carried her up the stairs, and she'd be fine with the walker for the next few minutes, but Jessie always worried.
"Oh, don't worry about me," Katie said getting to her feet as well, rubbing her hands together uncertainly. "Whatever's fine." Man, she thought to herself, did like every parent in the world have the absolute worst timing ever? Was there like a course that they got to take or something?
Karen smiled at her before looking back over at Jessie. "Pepperoni and cheese it is," she said then, turning her head slightly as Eli's voice wafted down to her from further down the hall. "Yeah, yeah, you'll get yours," she muttered under her breath, but loud enough for Jessie to hear as she was standing beside her.
"I thought we were all suppose to behave," Jessie murmured as she helped her mother maneuver out the door.
"You've got your father's sense of humor," Karen responded shaking her head, causing Jessie to laugh a little.
"I think dad's funny," she responded as Karen started down the hallway to her room.
"You would," she heard faintly followed by the soft sounds of laughter, before she lost sight of her mother as she entered her room.
"I think he's funny," Jessie said again turning around to face Katie, feeling somewhat unsteady – in a good way — now that she wasn't holding her mother anymore and therefore able to use her as a distraction from the emotions that had been coursing through her before the interruption.
"I think you're funny," Katie offered conciliatorily before flopping back down on her bed.
"Yes, I'm highly amusing," Jessie, agreed walking over to sit on the bed beside Katie.
"And beautiful," Katie added.
"Well, that goes without saying," Jessie responded seriously looking over at Katie, who watched her for a moment before they both broke out laughing, falling back down on the bed.
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Jessie carefully opened the door to Karen's bedroom, scrunching up her face with intensity as she tried to make a sound. Then, having successfully opened the door she crept inside carefully closing it behind her before walking over to her mother's bed as stealthily as humanly possible. She was like a cat, she was sure of it.
"Hello," Karen said into the dark, having sensed her daughter as soon as she opened the door.
"AH!" Jessie yelled jumping back a bit. "How…" she began, starting to replay her entrance in her head and knowing with absolute certainty that she hadn't made a sound.
"A mother always knows," Karen responded cryptically looking in the direction of Jessie's voice.
"Wasn't that a TV show back in the day," Jessie asked lifting up the edge of the blanket and slipping into the bed, plastering herself to her mother's side and resting her head on her shoulder.
"That was 'Father Knows Best'," Karen responded with a touch of amusement before kissing Jessie on the top of her head.
"Ah," Jessie said softly, almost knowledgably, before asking, "I wasn't alive then was I?"
"No," Karen responded laughing softly. "I only saw reruns."
"Must have been a long time ago," Jessie mumbled her response, her fingers running along the hard outer shell of the cast on her mothers arm.
"I suppose it would seem like that to you," Karen replied looking down at the top of Jessie's head. "Are you settling down?" she asked a moment later feeling her daughter's breaths coming less and less frequently.
"Uh huh," Jessie replied, not seeming notoriously concerned.
"So I guess you figured out what you wanted then," Karen commented taking in Jessie's relaxed bearing. It wasn't often that she saw her like that, totally calm. She realized that she herself had a tendency to worry, and fret over things, and to her chagrin she had noticed the same tendency in Jessie. It caused them both to rather high strung most of the time, so it was rare and very pleasant to see Jessie this way, and feel similarly herself.
"What?" Jessie asked looking up at her mother even though she could barely make out her features in the dark. Had she fallen asleep or something?
"What we were talking about the other day at the hospital," Karen answered, feeling Jessie's head drop back down onto her shoulder a moment later.
"Yeah," Jessie replied, fully awake again. "Kind of," she continued not really sure that she wanted to talk about at the moment, or ever.
"What did you decide?" Karen asked bringing her hand up to brush some hair off of Jessie's face, but then stopping. She actually like how it looked, it was as if Jessie had her own personal halo or something.
Her question was followed by a deep sigh, and Jessie wriggling about like she had ants in her pants for a few seconds, before she finally began to speak. "I guess I didn't really decide anything," she started slowly. "I just knew … I guess. Already," she finished awkwardly.
"So?" Karen prompted leadingly, "What did you realize?" She continued earning another deep sigh and more shifting from Jessie.
"Mom," the girl whined, stretching the words out for as long as humanly possible, before burying her head in the crook of Karen's shoulder as if she was trying hide or find buried treasure.
"I badger because I care," Karen said with a sigh of her own, knowing that she wasn't going to get anything else out of Jessie for the moment. She'd used that exact same tone with her mother more than once and she knew what it meant. Quit embarrassing me and leave me alone. It was a very adaptable whine.
"I know," Jessie replied softly. "Can we go to sleep now, or do you want to keep me up even later on a school night, so that I can't concentrate in class, flunk out and end up selling pencils on street corners for a living?"
"Goodnight, honey," was Karen's simple response.
"Night," Jessie mumbled.
"I love you," Karen added dragging the blanket up so that it covered Jessie's shoulders.
"Mom," Jessie said again, the pitch of her voice even higher than before.
"Alright, alright," Karen replied smiling but trying not to sound like she was.
===========================================================
===================================
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me; I'm just borrowing
them for a short period of time.
Show: Once and Again
Pairing: Jessie/Katie
Rating: PG
Author: Janine
Synopsis: What happens to girl's after their kiss in Jessie's room?
Email: jbstories@h...
===================================
Part 1
Manning Manor
--------------------
"What's going on?" Grace asked wandering into the kitchen. Everyone was gathered around the counter not saying anything, simply starring at the table where Jessie alone seemed to be seated.
"Lily's trying to figure out if that was really cold medication she bought for Jessie yesterday," Eli whispered, his eyes never leaving his sisters back for a second.
"Jessie thinks eggs is a funny word," Zoë added from somewhere beneath Grace's right elbow. "She said so, but she's still eating them." Grace looked down at her little sister sighing internally to see that the child had that blasted placemat on her head again, only this time neither her mom or Rick seemed notoriously concerned about it.
"You don't think we should call someone do you?" Rick asked scrunching up his brow in concern.
"Oh my god," Grace laughed looking at all of them like they were insane. "Can't she just be in a good mood?" she asked shaking her head before heading for the fridge. "Hey," she greeted looking at Jessie briefly before reaching for the orange juice container.
"Hey," Jessie responding shooting her a grin before turning back around and bringing her fork down to her plate, seemingly surprised to find it empty. Now intrigued, Grace watched as her stepsister shook her head and smiled with a 'stupid me' expression, then got up, dumping her plate in the sink and headed out of the kitchen. But not before looking at everyone like they were pod people when they moved out of her way collectively. Grace smiled again and turned her attention back to the fridge. It wasn't the medication Lily had bought that was making Jessie act that way, she was sure of it. She doubted that Jessie was actually ever feeling sick to begin with, and if she had been, she'd certainly been fine when she'd gone up to the attic yesterday to deliver the medication, only to find Jessie and Katie standing around self-consciously but happily looking at her like they'd never seen her before. Then later, as she'd gone to leave the attic she'd looked back to find Jessie sprawled out on her bed looking up at the ceiling with a blissed out expression on her face, and she knew instinctively what must have happened between her and Katie.
"What did the warning label say?" Rick asked turning to look at Lily once Jessie had left the room.
"Oh my god," Grace grumbled again rolling her eyes as she sat down at the table. She didn't know if she could take a whole day of this.
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Hospital Parking Lot
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Karen looked back at Eli sharing a brief smile with him as they watched Jessie bound off into the distance in search of the car. As Eli wheeled her out of the hospital, Jessie had run off saying she was going to prepare the car, because while Eli hadn't actually been raised in a barn, he lived like he had been.
"At least you didn't have to sit through her monologue on the beauty of butterflies," Eli grumbled good naturedly before tipping his mother's wheelchair back and running with it momentarily, stopping only when Karen begged him to stop. The action had earned him a slap on the arm, but also a smile, so he figured it all evened out in the end. "I swear it was like she'd never been outdoors before," he continued watching as Jessie's head disappeared behind a van a couple yards ahead of them. "And at breakfast, she actually let that little Hobbit cut her food into the shape of a bunny rabbit!"
"Hobbit?" Karen asked turning in her chair slightly. "Who's a Hobbit?"
"Zoë," Eli responded adjusting their course a bit as he spotted the car. "And before you get mad, Jessie's the one that called her that first."
"Why?" Karen asked bewildered.
"The kid used her favorite pair of socks to make a puppet," Eli responded grinning. "To this day … well maybe not today," he amended, "She stomps out of the room whenever Mr. Buckley Buttonpants of Zoë's third drawer makes an appearance."
Karen smiled, soaking up this relaxing moment with her son, like it was the first day you could outside without a jacket after a long winter. Things had been so strained between them for the past little while, that it was nice to just be able to talk to him, and have him talk to her.
"She's in a good mood," Karen said softly a moment later, watching as Jessie threw some article of clothing out of the backseat and into the trunk.
"HEY! BE CAREFUL WITH THOSE!" Eli bellowed at the top of his lungs as Jessie began to fling some music sheets carelessly into the trunk. "Hey!" he yelled again, when she looked up at him then went back to what she had been doing.
"Eli, please," Karen said wincing as his voice reverberated in her ears.
"Sorry," he said realizing what he had been doing. "It's just that we need those for practice tomorrow," he continued glaring at Jessie as he quickened his step.
"Did anything happen last night?" Karen asked sending him a reproachful look that caused him to slow down once again. He sighed; he was never going to be able to find the sheets he needed tomorrow.
"What do you mean?" he asked absently.
"Jessie, she seemed really upset the other day when she came by to see me," Karen responded. "But…she seems better now. Better than for a long while now," she continued softly.
"Hmmm," Eli said thinking back. "I don't know … that hot chick she's been hanging out with came by…that's about it."
"Eli," Karen said stretching out her sons name with distaste. "Katie's 16," she continued looking back at him. Eli shrugged. "You're sure that's it?" Karen asked a moment later.
"Yeah," Eli responded. "After that she pretty much spent the whole night in her room listening to that CD she's got from prohibition times, or whatever," he continued making a face.
"Billie Holiday," Karen corrected gently. Prohibition times, Karen thought to herself, good grief.
"Yeah, that's what I said," Eli responded finally bringing them to a stop beside the car.
"Said about what?" Jessie asked her head popping up to look at them from across the car.
"You're boyfriend Taaaaaaaad," Eli responded mockingly, making kiss-y faces before pretending to swoon.
"He's not my boyfriend," Jessie responded glaring at her brother, before ducking her head back into the car to toss the last of his crap into the trunk.
"'Oh Tad, I love you and you're gay porn sounding name'," Eli said in response, his voice rising in a crude attempt to mimic Jessie's voice. He was bitter about the treatment she had just given his 'Sex Machine' t- shirt.
"Eli," Karen started, really not wanting to listen to two of them argue the whole way home, but before she could get anything else out, Jessie's head popped up again interrupting her.
"How would you know?" she asked, her eyebrow rising challengingly.
"Know what?" Eli asked not really liking the expression on her face. Jessie may have been younger than him, but when she wanted to she could rip anyone a new asshole. He clenched beginning to think that he should have listened to his mother.
"What his name sounds like," Jessie explained. "Been watching a lot of gay porn lately?" she asked grinning at him.
"Alright," Karen said holding up her hands, cutting Eli off before he could respond. "That's enough. Both of you behave." Both of them stared at her for a moment, looking like they wanted to object, then muttered that they would, and set about preparing the car for her. Karen smiled; it was good to be back.
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School
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"No, they sucked," Katie, stated emphatically. "No. No they sucked."
"You're just bitter because Acoustic Soul got shot down like a cougar at the Playboy mansion," Tad responded happily as Russell slapped him on the back.
"Just because you inherited your dad's taste from like the 70s it doesn't mean all of us have light candles at the Shrine of Bono," Katie responded shooting Tad a nasty sideways look. The truth was she was bitter that Acoustic Soul got shut out. "Besides, it was soooo long. I mean what time did it end, like 2 am? In corrupt prisons across the world they're torturing people with Jon Stewart's striptease."
"I thought that was funny man," Russell starting to laugh. "He was all…and then it was like…" he went on almost doubling over from the effort it was taking for him to hold in his girlish giggles.
Katie rolled her eyes, and turned away from the two guys letting her eyes scan the hallways. Catching sight of a familiar face, she broke out into a huge grin, which she then rather conspicuous covered.
"I'll catch up with you later," she called out already heading down the hall.
"Hey," Tad called out. "Are you coming tonight," he asked.
"Maybe," Katie called back almost out of earshot. Then she held up her hand making the 'I'll call you' hand motion and disappeared down the next hallway.
"Alright, meet me outside of the gym after school and I'll give you a lift," Grace said with a long-suffering sigh as she checked her watch.
"Thanks," Jessie responded choosing to ignore Grace's tone. Sometimes with Grace it was best to do that.
"Looks like you've got a visitor," Grace commented a moment later, her previous sulky tone now gone.
"What?" Jessie asked looking up. "Oh," she continued seeing Katie propped up against a wall near her locker, seemingly reading a nearby poster. "Right. Okay, I'll see you later," Jessie responded trying to subtly shoo Grace away.
"Riiiight," Grace responded. "Later," and with that she continued on down the hallway smiling. Jessie was sooo busted.
"Hey," Jessie said coming up behind Katie. "What cha looking at?"
"Intramural floor hockey," Katie responded cocking her head towards the poster and sign up sheet.
"You thinking of joining?" Jessie asked, smiling.
"No. I like my teeth in my mouth," Katie responded, her hands brushing down over her skirt shakily before she finally turned to look at Jessie. "So, the world of academia is glad to have you back," she continued as they headed towards Jessie's locker.
"The feelings mutual," Jessie responded turning her lock slowly. She seemed to be having trouble remembering her combination. "Oh, and tell academia's mom thanks. The cookies she baked were breakfast this morning," Jessie continued knowingly.
"Busted, huh?" Katie asked, leaning against a nearby locker.
"Yes, but it was a valiant effort," Jessie responded smiling. "It's good to see you," she continued, her voice dropping a little as she raised her eyes to meet Katie's.
"It's good to be seen," the girl responded, smiling softly, before turning her head to watch the passing students. "So … you wanna do something later? I have extensive ideas about how to waste time. There may even be a flow chart but I can't remember if I got around to it," she continued glancing at Jessie. They had talked on the phone over the weekend, but hadn't actually seen each other since that afternoon in the attic. And as ecstatic as she was over what had happened in Jessie's bedroom that day, she wasn't sure where they stood exactly. She knew where she wanted to be standing, but it was up to Jessie.
"I told my mom I'd come straight home," Jessie replied closing her locker door. "There's still a lot of stuff to get back in order, I mean the mail pile alone was like a week's worth of work," she continued turning to face Katie.
"Yeah, of course," Katie responded. "Totally. I completely understand," she responded, her shoes suddenly seeming very interesting.
"You should come," Jessie said seeing Katie's expression and knowing what was probably going through her head. "She keeps asking about you anyway. Katie this and Katie that … I swear it's like she wants to marry you or something," she continued smiling at the memory of her mother incessantly questioning her about Katie.
"Really?" Katie asked looking over at Jessie.
"Yeah, apparently I talk about you a lot," Jessie, responded shaking her head self-consciously. "You don't have to, I mean it's probably not going to be a lot of fun. She'll probably have us stocking cupboards or dusting something, but…"
"I'll come," Katie said interrupting her. "I mean, I'd like to go with you. We can do the whole underage illegal worker thing together."
"Cool," Jessie responded smiling, as she adopted a position similar to Katie's against the locker.
"Yeah," Katie agreed a wide grin spreading across her face. "So, you tired of lounging yet?"
"Yeah," Jessie said pushing off of the lockers. "How do the jocks do it?"
"Nobody knows," Katie responded heading down the hall. "But I suspect it has something to do with the numerous blows to the head. That just can't be healthy. Also, it's not very pretty."
"The real reason floor hockey is out?" Jessie asked gamely.
"I stand by my decision," Katie responded grasping Jessie's hand momentarily, letting go as they turned the corner. "My stop," she said glancing at the classroom door.
"Lunch?" Jessie asked.
"Well, that's right around the time I get hungry so you're in luck," Katie replied smiling. "I…" she started to say, looking at Jessie seriously. "Yeah," she continued shaking her head, "I'll see you then."
"Yeah," Jessie said holding her eyes for a second longer. Then she continued down the hall, smiling once she was out of sight. Lunch never seemed so far away.
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Part 2
Karen's House
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"Oh my god," Katie exclaimed flinging herself on Jessie's bed as Jessie closed the door to her room. "I thought you were joking about the packing and dusting and stuff! I haven't worked that hard since dad made us help build crazy uncle Cory's cottage slash whacked out bomb shelter!"
"Bomb shelter?" Jessie asked raising an eyebrow.
"That's why we call him 'crazy' uncle Cory," Katie responded flipping around onto her back so that she could see Jessie. "He once ate nothing but baked beans for like eight months. He wasn't allowed to come over for holiday dinners during that period," she continued sitting up as Jessie walked over to the bed.
"That's a lovely story," Jessie said making a face coming to stop just in front of Katie. "I'm surprised that it isn't told every Christmas with people gathered around the fireplace holding hands and stuff."
"Mock him if you will," Katie responded with a pseudo sigh. "Really. Everyone else does," she continued grinning up at Jessie cheekily, her smile slowly fading away to be replaced by questioning head tilt as she realized just how close to her Jessie was standing. "Hey," she continued a moment later, swallowing heavily as her eyes traveled up Jessie's torso, settling on her lips for a moment before moving up further to her eyes, which were watching her closely.
"I want…" Jessie began slowly, clearly annunciating every syllable.
"I know," Katie responded holding her gaze. "It's okay," she continued. "It's always okay."
And before she could say anything else, she felt Jessie's lips on hers, brushing against her own gently, then with an increasing firmness as she got swept up in the tide, pulling away only when the need for oxygen became too great to ignore.
"It's different when I'm taller than you," Jessie commented softly as she looked down at Katie's seated figure. A wickedly delicious smile creeping across her features as the euphoria hit her. "I like being tall."
"Certainly it has its advantages," Katie responded hers lips turning upwards at well, her reply both teasing and relieved. "But there's something to be said for the view from Midget Town too."
"Midget Town?" Jessie asked, her eyes narrowing menacingly. So she was going to start with the short jokes was she? Not a good move.
"Is Dopey coming by today, he's got my copy of 'It's a small world after all'," Katie answered immediately, her smile growing wider at Jessie's expression. God, she was so cute, like when she did anything. All Jessie had to do was make an expression and it was like the best thing she'd ever seen.
"You are in *so* much trouble," Jessie ground out staring a Katie for a moment, before laughing as she flung herself at Katie, causing the other girl to fall back against the bed, as Jessie landed on top of her, rolling them over, causing her laugh even harder as Katie began to tickle her.
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"What are you doing?" Jessie asked looking down as Katie picked up her hand in hers. They were sitting across from each other cross-legged on the floor. At first they had been talking, about stupid things, about anything, but then they'd just kind of stopped and started looking at each other. For a long time. Then Katie had reached out her hand and picked up Jessie's.
"I'm not sure," Katie responded as she cradled Jessie's hand in her left one, and then began tracing the lines of Jessie's hand with one of the fingers of her right hand slowly. "Wait," Katie continued a moment later. "I know now."
"What?" Jessie asked, her breath coming out surprisingly short. She had stopped concentrating for a moment, and now it seemed as if she'd forgotten how to breathe.
"Learning," Katie said softly, her head tilting up momentarily to gaze at Jessie. "You're hands are so soft…delicate," she whispered softly, almost as if she were in a trance. "Beautiful," she continued her eyes dropping back down to Jessie's palm. "Like you."
"You…you think I'm beautiful?" Jessie asked a moment later, her voice halting with uncertainty as her eyes dropped down to their joined hands.
"No," Katie responded gazing over at her without a moment's hesitation. Jessie looked up at her questioningly, confused, but Katie continued going before she could say anything. "I know it. I'm pretty sure that it's written in stone somewhere," she continued seriously. "Like Gospel. You're name is in italics."
Jessie was quiet for a second, then half exhaled, half laughed, bowing her head down self-consciously as Katie's words washed over her like cool fresh water over pebbles on a summer day. It made her feel tingly inside, like when they kissed; only it was different at the same time. Her mother had told her that she was beautiful before, her dad too. Even Eli had acquiesced that she'd 'probably be a looker' when she grew up. But it had never really fazed her, when she heard it with them, it had just rolled off of the surface and she had never truly believed it. But coming from Katie, it was different; it began to sink into her. And she believed it for second, even if it was only in Katie's eyes.
"Hey, are you okay?" Katie asked concern filling her voice as she looked at Jessie's still bowed head. "I didn't mean to embarrass you," she continued ducking her head down to try and get a better look at Jessie's face. "Sometimes I just talk to much. I won't be planning on saying anything, and then words just come tumbling out of my mouth, and I suddenly wish that my mom would actually buy that muzzle she's always threatening me with."
"You don't talk to much," Jessie said softly finally looking up, her eyes still shimmering as she gazed at Katie. "I mean, I like listening to you talk," she said smirking at her own lameness.
"That works out well then, I think," Katie responded smiling self- depreciatingly seeming not to mind her lameness if there had been any. "You know, I meant it. But I won't say it again if it makes you uncomfortable," she continued, her finger still unconsciously stroking Jessie's hand.
"It's not that, it's just…" Jessie started; momentarily distracted by the feeling Katie's finger was producing in her hand, which then promptly shot through the rest of her body like electricity. "I just, you know never heard that from anyone who's not related to me," she continued a moment later, her head dropping down once more.
"Not even from Tad?" Katie asked, a small smile etching it's way across her features.
Jessie looked up at her then contemplatively. Tad had told her something like that. And she had gotten it from strangers too she supposed, she just hadn't believed them. She hadn't believed anyone who had told her before Katie, not even a little bit. She still wasn't sure, not really, she only knew that she believed Katie meant it, and that was enough for her.
"I guess it just didn't mean anything coming from him," she said softly, her brows drawing together thoughtfully.
"But it does…from me?" Katie asked studying Jessie's face.
Jessie merely nodded, and then turned her eyes up to look into Katie's smiling face.
"We were going to …" Karen began opening Jessie's bedroom, pausing momentarily as she got her first good look inside. There were just sitting on the floor, Katie giving Jessie what looked like a palm reading while grinning at each other, but she felt like she was interrupting something the moment she opened the door and couldn't quite explain why. "Order a pizza, when I realized that I didn't know what Katie likes," she continued as Jessie scrambled to her feet, walking over to the door to help steady her. Eli had carried her up the stairs, and she'd be fine with the walker for the next few minutes, but Jessie always worried.
"Oh, don't worry about me," Katie said getting to her feet as well, rubbing her hands together uncertainly. "Whatever's fine." Man, she thought to herself, did like every parent in the world have the absolute worst timing ever? Was there like a course that they got to take or something?
Karen smiled at her before looking back over at Jessie. "Pepperoni and cheese it is," she said then, turning her head slightly as Eli's voice wafted down to her from further down the hall. "Yeah, yeah, you'll get yours," she muttered under her breath, but loud enough for Jessie to hear as she was standing beside her.
"I thought we were all suppose to behave," Jessie murmured as she helped her mother maneuver out the door.
"You've got your father's sense of humor," Karen responded shaking her head, causing Jessie to laugh a little.
"I think dad's funny," she responded as Karen started down the hallway to her room.
"You would," she heard faintly followed by the soft sounds of laughter, before she lost sight of her mother as she entered her room.
"I think he's funny," Jessie said again turning around to face Katie, feeling somewhat unsteady – in a good way — now that she wasn't holding her mother anymore and therefore able to use her as a distraction from the emotions that had been coursing through her before the interruption.
"I think you're funny," Katie offered conciliatorily before flopping back down on her bed.
"Yes, I'm highly amusing," Jessie, agreed walking over to sit on the bed beside Katie.
"And beautiful," Katie added.
"Well, that goes without saying," Jessie responded seriously looking over at Katie, who watched her for a moment before they both broke out laughing, falling back down on the bed.
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Jessie carefully opened the door to Karen's bedroom, scrunching up her face with intensity as she tried to make a sound. Then, having successfully opened the door she crept inside carefully closing it behind her before walking over to her mother's bed as stealthily as humanly possible. She was like a cat, she was sure of it.
"Hello," Karen said into the dark, having sensed her daughter as soon as she opened the door.
"AH!" Jessie yelled jumping back a bit. "How…" she began, starting to replay her entrance in her head and knowing with absolute certainty that she hadn't made a sound.
"A mother always knows," Karen responded cryptically looking in the direction of Jessie's voice.
"Wasn't that a TV show back in the day," Jessie asked lifting up the edge of the blanket and slipping into the bed, plastering herself to her mother's side and resting her head on her shoulder.
"That was 'Father Knows Best'," Karen responded with a touch of amusement before kissing Jessie on the top of her head.
"Ah," Jessie said softly, almost knowledgably, before asking, "I wasn't alive then was I?"
"No," Karen responded laughing softly. "I only saw reruns."
"Must have been a long time ago," Jessie mumbled her response, her fingers running along the hard outer shell of the cast on her mothers arm.
"I suppose it would seem like that to you," Karen replied looking down at the top of Jessie's head. "Are you settling down?" she asked a moment later feeling her daughter's breaths coming less and less frequently.
"Uh huh," Jessie replied, not seeming notoriously concerned.
"So I guess you figured out what you wanted then," Karen commented taking in Jessie's relaxed bearing. It wasn't often that she saw her like that, totally calm. She realized that she herself had a tendency to worry, and fret over things, and to her chagrin she had noticed the same tendency in Jessie. It caused them both to rather high strung most of the time, so it was rare and very pleasant to see Jessie this way, and feel similarly herself.
"What?" Jessie asked looking up at her mother even though she could barely make out her features in the dark. Had she fallen asleep or something?
"What we were talking about the other day at the hospital," Karen answered, feeling Jessie's head drop back down onto her shoulder a moment later.
"Yeah," Jessie replied, fully awake again. "Kind of," she continued not really sure that she wanted to talk about at the moment, or ever.
"What did you decide?" Karen asked bringing her hand up to brush some hair off of Jessie's face, but then stopping. She actually like how it looked, it was as if Jessie had her own personal halo or something.
Her question was followed by a deep sigh, and Jessie wriggling about like she had ants in her pants for a few seconds, before she finally began to speak. "I guess I didn't really decide anything," she started slowly. "I just knew … I guess. Already," she finished awkwardly.
"So?" Karen prompted leadingly, "What did you realize?" She continued earning another deep sigh and more shifting from Jessie.
"Mom," the girl whined, stretching the words out for as long as humanly possible, before burying her head in the crook of Karen's shoulder as if she was trying hide or find buried treasure.
"I badger because I care," Karen said with a sigh of her own, knowing that she wasn't going to get anything else out of Jessie for the moment. She'd used that exact same tone with her mother more than once and she knew what it meant. Quit embarrassing me and leave me alone. It was a very adaptable whine.
"I know," Jessie replied softly. "Can we go to sleep now, or do you want to keep me up even later on a school night, so that I can't concentrate in class, flunk out and end up selling pencils on street corners for a living?"
"Goodnight, honey," was Karen's simple response.
"Night," Jessie mumbled.
"I love you," Karen added dragging the blanket up so that it covered Jessie's shoulders.
"Mom," Jessie said again, the pitch of her voice even higher than before.
"Alright, alright," Karen replied smiling but trying not to sound like she was.
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