Jarrod

I turn to hold her by her shoulders. "Hey, are you okay Kate?" She's pretty upset now and after she doesn't answer, I pull her into my arms again, her head against my chest. I gently smooth her hair away from her face. I'm quite stunned, actually. It's almost funny how through all of this she's kept her composure, and then that bitch says some mean things and she's giving my jumper a thorough wetting.

"Shhh Kate. It's okay," I attempt to calm her. "She doesn't have a clue how far from the truth what she said really was. Don't let her or anyone else get to you; this is exactly what they want." After another minute or so, Kate calms down enough to talk.

"I'm so sorry Jarrod. I'm horrible. You stand up for me and all I do is cry all over your jumper," she sniffles.

"Hey, it's okay. I needed to wash this shirt anyway," I laugh and nudge her in an attempt to cheer her up. I get a small chuckle, which is enough, considering how bad my joke really was. "And you're as far from horrible as it gets, as far as I'm concerned."

At this, she finally picks her head up and looks at me. "Thanks Jarrod."

"For what? The bad joke or the compliment?" I joke again. This time she laughs.

Jillian comes in holding a small wooden box, most likely containing things for the shop. As soon as Kate notices, she takes a step back from me and nervously pulls her hair behind her ears.

"You handled that well, Jarrod. Quite surprising if I do say so myself," she says. I'm caught off guard by her comment and realize I'd completely forgotten she was there; my thoughts were on Kate and how Tasha was affecting her. I'm caught even worse when she continues. "Oh, Kate, please. We're all mature here. I've been waiting for you guys to get together. Now I'm not telling you to go get pregnant, you're smarter than that; but I'm not enforcing a three-foot rule here," she smiles at our obvious embarrassment and busies herself with the things she places on this counter and that. I'm grateful. I felt my face heat up and I'm sure it'd turned the color of a lobster.

Kate lets out a nervous laugh and starts to say something, unsuccessfully. She laughs again. I smile and offer her my hand. She gratefully takes it and smiles, standing next to me, our fingers interlaced.

Jillian straightens, then, looks at us, smiles, and says. "Could I interest anyone in some more tea?"

Kate and I both answer at the same time. She says, "Sure," while I say, "Sorry I can't." Kate looks to me for an explanation but speaks before I can give her one.

"Oh, right," she says. "Family business. Go, and make sure to send our wishes, though you might not need them anymore," she smiles. "Give me a call later, k?"

"I promise I will," I reply, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Then I look to Jillian. "Erm. Bye Jillian. Thanks for everything," I say, a little uncomfortable. I want to kiss Kate, but not in front of her grandmother. Apparently, Jillian notices my discomfort.

"You helped yourself, I just put you in a position to do it," she replies, refusing to take credit. "Bye Jarrod, I hope to see you soon," she says before heading for the kitchen. I have a feeling you're going to be seeing a LOT of me, I think and smile inwardly.

Kate turns to face me. She wraps her arms around my neck and I, in turn, put my arms around her. "I hope to see you soon too," she says.

"Well, like I said, I'll call you tonight, but is tomorrow soon enough for you?" I grin.

"It'll do," she laughs. Then she becomes serious. "Um, Jarrod?"

"Yes?"

"Were you serious about taking me to the party?"

"Of course I was, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, it's a pretty big deal. I mean you heard them. If you wouldn't want to go with anyone else, maybe we could just watch some movies and hang out or something instead."

"Kate, I would like to go. But only with you. If you really don't want to go, I have no problem just hanging out. Just think about how much you care about what they think. As long as I have you, I couldn't care less about them. Just think about it, please." I give her a slow kiss and tighten my hold on her for a moment before I let go and step back. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Jarrod," she replies, and I leave.