A/N: If it's in italics, then it's in flashback :)
Chapter Three:
The Bait Shop was busy and that was saying something. Ryan pushed his way through the heaving bodies. There was a band playing. Seth hadn't mentioned who was performing tonight but then again, he could have but for Ryan it went in one ear and out the other. He was pretty oblivious, wasn't a big live music fan, not to the extent that Seth was. But whoever these were, they were creating quite a buzz judging by the amount of people watching them. A blonde girl, about his age he guessed, held the microphone and sang into it with unnerving professionalism. She wore faded jeans and a black singlet top, thick silvery blonde hair tumbling around her shoulders and down between her shoulder blades. Her skin was pale, with rose hued cheeks that he thought had nothing to do with make up and more to do with the heat of the lighting. She had the type of voice that honestly sent a shiver down his spine. And he, like countless others stood and watched.
"So this is where you disappeared to? Jeez, the queue at the bar was terminal, I almost died of thirst… here" he felt a cold plastic cup being pushed into his hand and he automatically gripped onto it, still unable to tear his eyes away from the girl on stage.
"Did you hear me? Holy Mother of….who is that?" Ryan turned his head slightly, but not his eyes.
"I have no idea. Who's the band playing tonight?" From the corner of his eye he saw Seth shrug.
"No clue bro'. Maybe it's an open mike night," Ryan grimaced. That would work. The girl opened her eyes and Ryan straightened slightly though unaware of doing so. Her eyes were almost turquoise blue, an eerie shade that he was sure he hadn't seen before. Her song drew to a close and the audience's appreciation was loud. The girl smiled shyly.
A while later and her set was over. She had money in her pocket and a sense of satisfaction buried deep in her soul. Singing was her life, and all going well it was going to be her career. Nothing else interested her in the same way, though her mother's idea of 'doing well' was an advantageous marriage to the son of some well-heeled and equally well-oiled executive. Not if she could help it, the first opportunity she got, she was out of here. She didn't intend to be anyone's trophy wife. She took a sip of her soda and surveyed the crowd. Her last weekend of freedom before school. And a new school at that. Harbor High. It was a ridiculously expensive academy of learning that her stepfather had enrolled her into. Apparently acceptance into the school, coupled with good enough grades was enough to get her into any college in the country, Ivy League if she wanted it hard enough. College didn't interest her but she didn't dare tell him that. The fact that Marshall Cole was her stepfather creeped her out enough as it was. She glanced at her watch and gasped. She was late and her mom would go crazy again. She dumped her drink onto the bar and began to push her way through the heave of bodies. A hand grabbed her wrist. She turned her head. Just what she needed, a surfer boy who couldn't handle his beer. He reeked of the stuff and she doubted he was old enough to indulge.
"Hey, where are you going? It's early," he protested. Kate tried to pull her arm away but instead his grip tightened and he tugged her towards him.
"Nowhere with you buddy, now let go of me,"
"Don't you want to have some fun with me?" his alcohol-laden breath threatened to turn her stomach. She frowned.
"Which part of no don't you understand?" she drawled.
"Don't be such a bitch," Kate felt both angry and a little bit unnerved at the same time. Control, she had to be in control. She opened her mouth to reply but instead a hand appeared, it wrapped itself around the surfer boy's wrist.
"She said no dude, just leave it at that and let her go," the low, male voice intruded. Surfer boy stared petulantly at his new opponent.
"Mind your own business man, I saw her first!" he protested. Kate turned her head and looked at her rescuer. He was a couple of inches taller than she was, shaggy blond hair, intense eyes and, as he tightened his own grip on surfer boy's wrist, very impressive biceps.
"I'm asking you nicely to let go of her arm," he told him, staring at him in a way that sent butterflies off in her stomach. A tense few seconds passed and then blessed relief as the surfer boy realised he was going to get absolutely nowhere and let go. Kate sighed. Her blond rescuer looked at her, a frown marring his brow.
"You okay?" as she nodded, she saw movement from surfer boy from the corner of her eye. Her eyes widened.
"Look out!" she yelled. She watched him turn his head, see the fist come flying and duck. It passed over his head. He turned in reaction and swung a powerful right hook that made a solid connection and his opponent went down. He turned and grasped Kate's upper arm gently.
"We're getting out of here," he told her and led her out.
The night air was cool as they emerged. He looked over his shoulder and they kept on walking. Kate paused and pulled her arm out of his grasp. He also stopped and looked at her.
"Thanks for getting me out of that jam but I can handle myself," he looked at her.
"I'm sure that you can but you looked as though you needed a little help in there, he wasn't going to let go"
"I would've persuaded him," she assured him and he gave her a look as if to say 'yeah, right'. He then turned his head and saw more people emerging from The Bait Shop and his eyes widened marginally.
"It's time to go," Kate also turned her head and recognised the surfer guy who this time had two or three of his best surfer buddies accompanying him. He saw them, pointed and yelled. Kate grabbed her companion's arm.
"I'm parked not far away, let's go," and together they ran.
He dived into the passenger seat and Kate pulled away with a screech of tyres, laughing out loud as their pursuers stopped running and stared after them in utter frustration, screaming a variety of obscenities. Beside her, he smiled, gasping breath into starved lungs. He could only watch her as they sped away, the breeze tugging her long blonde hair backwards. She was beautiful and utterly fearless. She glanced at him.
"You okay Blondie?" she enquired. He managed to smile.
"I should be asking you that. What's your name?" she glanced at him again and smiled wickedly.
"I'm Kate. And you are?" there was something almost regal about the way she asked. He grinned.
"Ryan…Atwood," he answered.
Chapter Four:
"I can't believe that you bought this place," Ryan stood in the centre of what had been the dance floor area and looked up at the high ceilings. Beside him, Kate smiled.
"I know. But this place meant a lot to me back then. I started here and when I found out it had been closed and earmarked for demolition, I knew I couldn't allow that to happen," she followed his gaze upwards.
"So what are you going to do with it?" she looked at him and then smiled softly.
"Open it up again. The interior needs completely redesigning and as I said, your firm was recommended to me" he looked at her.
"We tend to take on new projects from our own designs, new homes, business complexes, stuff like that"
"I thought you'd be in the market for renovation too. Aren't you a little bit curious?" a faint smile crossed his face.
"Kind of," he admitted. They just looked at each other. Kate looked into his eyes. She'd learned early on that to know what Ryan was thinking, she had to concentrate on his eyes. He bottled his emotions up so completely that the only way to find out what was going on in that head of his was to look into those eyes. More often than not she'd figured him out, but she was starting to think that maybe that had been just a knack she'd had back then.
"Just kind of? Those eyes of yours are telling me an entirely different story Ryan," she murmured. He looked away for the briefest of moments.
"You could always do that," he muttered and then looked back at her. He sighed.
"Let me get back to you with some ideas, okay?" she just nodded, still watching his face. He moved away from her to concentrate on his surroundings.
"This place does have potential though," he agreed.
It had grown dark by the time Kate locked up the premises and dropped the bundle of keys into her purse. Ryan stood and watched her, his hands in the pockets of his trousers. She looked at him.
"Where are you staying?" he asked as they began to walk. He watched her tilt her face to the breeze and breath in, a smile on her face. She then looked at him.
"Not at the house if that's what you're wondering. No, I'm staying in a hotel for the moment, I'm still looking I'm afraid," Ryan paused, a frown on his face.
"You're not staying at the house? Why not?" Kate stopped and looked at him.
"Because I sold it the first opportunity I got. That place was never my home and the hotel suits my purposes just fine," she explained patiently. He nodded and she looked at him, the way the breeze teased at his hair. He had kept it slightly longer than convention allowed and she wondered whether it still felt the same. Suddenly the breeze whipped several strands of her hair across her face and before she could react, he'd reached out and gently moved them out of the way. His fingertips were tender against her skin and she could only look at him. He stared right back and Kate grew a little more frustrated that that seemed to be all he was going to do. He didn't wear any jewellery, no wedding band, just a watch. It didn't mean that there was no significant other in his life.
"I'll walk you to your hotel," he told her.
"You don't have to,"
"I want to, so don't argue with me," she sighed and just smiled.
He stood outside the door to her hotel suite. Kate noticed that yet again his hands were in his pockets.
"Thank you for being such a gentleman," she told him as she unlocked her door. He just shrugged. She pushed the door open and turned her head to look at him.
"Want to come in? I could order up some coffee? We could talk about the Bait Shop project" she invited. He shook his head.
"It's late, I'd better be getting home," she turned more fully around to look into his eyes. He was nervous and she wondered what about.
"Someone waiting for you there Ryan?" he paused.
"I'm…not married," he replied.
"Not ever?" he shook his head. It was too big a jump for him to take. Sure he'd had his share of relationships, some long, some not so long but he'd never felt the inclination to share his life with a significant other. He liked his independence, always had and always would.
"Same here…" she answered and a puzzled frown crossed his face.
"I thought you were engaged to…"
"Press hype. We were friends, nothing else," she interrupted. Ryan just nodded slowly.
"It's okay, you don't have to explain yourself to me, it's none of my business," he murmured and Kate smiled at him.
"I'd better get inside. Will you call me when you make a decision?" at his blank look her smile widened.
"Whether you're interested in the renovation project or not? What did you think I meant?" she teased. She had the satisfaction of seeing him blush slightly. She took a step towards him.
"See you around Ryan," she whispered and leaned forwards to press a kiss on his cheek. He turned his head and her lips caught the corner of his mouth. Both of them froze. Kate drew her head back and for the longest second they stared into each other's eyes. Ryan leaned closer to her and gently, ever so gently kissed her. Kate's eyes fluttered closed at the hesitant embrace and her heart fluttered in her ribcage like a trapped bird. She felt his hands span her waist and pull her closer to him as hidden emotion rushed to the surface. She slipped her arms around his neck, her fingers slipping through the blond hair at the back of his head. It felt thick, luxuriant and that quickened something deep inside of her. His hands burned through the thin material of her shirt. He withdrew and she blinked her eyes open and focused on him.
"I didn't mean for that…to happen," he admitted. She tilted her head and regarded him.
"I'm glad that it did," she replied and that reply flummoxed him and she smiled, despite the fact that her heart was beating fast enough to pound its way right out of her chest.
"That got you didn't it? What were you expecting me to do Ryan? Slap you?" she took one of his hands and his fingers twined themselves around hers.
"I liked the way that you kissed me. Trust me, in my business, people believed that they could do far worse," she informed him and he frowned.
"Worse like how?" she placed a finger over his lips.
"Now isn't the time to get into it," she whispered and replaced her finger with her lips. It was the barest trace against his mouth but it was enough for him to want more.
"Call me, okay?" and she was gone, had disappeared into her suite leaving him aching with the memory of a trace of her perfume.
She absolutely hated being the new kid. She hated her parents even more. Her senior year and here she was at preppy Harbor High. Why couldn't her mother listen to her for once and let her finish at Pacific? No, her mother wanted her to get access to an Ivy League college education and in her opinion, Pacific didn't cut it. Kate sighed in irritation. Pacific had a great music program; she severely doubted Harbor possessed the same.
Right now, she was presently the object of curiosity for a couple dozen potential classmates. She was weighed up, her choice of clothing mentally debated and similarly dismissed. Why? Because she chose not to dress in Gucci, Chanel, or one of those other labels? Her jeans were Levi and her t-shirts were vintage and that was enough for her. She looked up as more students filed into class, chattering amongst themselves. As with the others, they checked her out and Kate's eyes sparked with interest when she recognised one of them. Her rescuer from Saturday night. He offered her a brief smile of recognition, which she returned. His companion seemed surprised to see her and she wondered whether he'd been out on Saturday night too, though she didn't remember him.
Ryan concealed his surprise with difficulty. Kate had dropped him off at home after their brief introduction and with a laugh had sped off again, leaving him standing by the road watching the red tail lights disappear into the night. Seth had appeared shortly after, bewildered as to where he'd been and how he'd gotten home before him. Ryan had given him the abridged version of his meeting with Kate and left it at that but all weekend she hadn't been far from his thoughts. He wondered about her, where she was from, if she was going to be performing regularly at The Bait Shop and if he would ever see her again. He'd even spent Sunday afternoon on the pier hoping to maybe see her but there'd been no sign of her and he had been preparing to put her out of his mind, chalk it down to a once in a lifetime thing and that they would probably never see each other again. And here she was instead.