Disclaimer: School of Rock isn't mine.
ooOoo
At school the next Monday morning, the entire band met in front of Summer's locker, as was custom. They'd go over their after school schedules for the week, and decide on when to hold their band practices. Neither Katie nor Freddy had major commitments that week, so they told this to Summer and walked to their own lockers, counting on the fact that she'd tell them their schedule later in the day.
"Brown, what's the deal?"
She frowned. "What are you talking about?"
They came to their lockers. "You totally stole my parking space," he whined.
"You have got to be kidding me."
"No! It was so close to the exit…now I'll have to wait in that huge line to get out!"
She opened her locker. "Cry me a river, Jones. I didn't see your name on that spot. Maybe you should get to school earlier."
He pulled a face. "I already get here five whole minutes," he said as he held up his fingers, "before school starts. How early do you expect me to come?"
"Whatever. Are you done whining now?"
He scowled, still unhappy about his occupied parking space, but nodded.
"You going to that party Friday night?"
Katie furrowed her brow. "Alicia's?"
"Yeah."
"I don't know, probably. Why?"
Freddy shrugged. "Just curious."
"Small talk is not your forte, Jones."
"Yeah, I know." He grinned, before widening his eyes. "Oh, shit, I forgot- do you have that Ramones CD I gave you a while back? Zack's been bugging me for it for days."
She started rifling through the top shelf of her locker. "Uh, yeah, here it is. Sorry, I totally forgot I had it."
The warning bell rang as she handed it to him, and they both gathered their backpacks as they walked towards their first class, chemistry.
The week went by quickly, and Katie soon found herself at Alicia's house, watching kids from their high school class dancing to hip-hop music.
She felt someone behind her and turned around to see Freddy. "Hey, Posh. Music leaves something to be desired, does it not?"
She smiled. "Hell, yes. I'm getting headache as we speak."
He held out his arm. "Let's go outside."
"It's freezing!"
"Just for a little while. Come on, you can have my coat."
Katie took his arm and allowed herself to be led outside to the backyard. Freddy let go of her and flopped down on the grass, patting the ground next to him for her to sit down. They fell into a companionable silence, and Katie tightened her grip on his coat around her shoulders. "What are you doing after high school, Jones?"
"Well, college for sure. I'm seriously thinking about something with writing or English."
Katie looked at him encouragingly. "You should. Your writing is amazing."
He gave her a disbelieving look.
"It is. Seriously."
"Whatever. What about you? Chemistry?"
"Yeah. It just fits for me, you know?"
He smiled at her.
"What'll happen to the band, do you think?"
She shrugged. "I guess we'll break up."
He leaned back on his palms and looked up at the sky. "I guess we will. Damn."
"I know. It was fun, though, wasn't it? I really–"
"KATIE!" Marta was yelling for her from inside the house. "KATIE!"
"MARTA!" She laughed, then stood up. "I'd better see what she wants. Hang on a sec."
"Okay."
She slipped off his coat, handed it to him, and walked inside the house.
"KAT- oh, here you are. I just met this guy who wants to meet you." She grabbed her arm and began dragging in the direction of the kitchen.
"No way, Marta. I don't want to meet some random guy."
"Oh, please, Katie, just come and say hi?"
She rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Marta led her to the kitchen, where through the patio door Katie could see Freddy still sitting outside, staring at the sky.
"Katie, meet Tom."
She turned around to see a good-looking, dark-haired boy about her age, smiling at her.
"Hi, Tom, nice to meet you."
"Hey. I saw your show a few weeks ago. You were really good."
She smiled, uninterested. "Thanks."
"Do you want a drink?"
She shook her head. "No, thanks. I don't drink."
He took a large sip from his cup. She wrinkled her nose. He reeked of alcohol.
"How many of those have you had?"
"I don't know. A few." He leered at her. "Hey, you wanna make out?"
Katie frowned. Marta had set her up with a guy who was drunk!
"Uh, no. Maybe you should stop drinking."
He snorted. "Hell no."
Tom set his cup down on the counter, and proceeded to attempt to kiss her on the lips.
Her eyes widened as he grabbed her wrists and smashed his lips against hers. He released her when she kicked at his shin. "Bitch."
"Get the hell off me." She was speaking loudly now, hoping someone would hear her over the loud music from the empty kitchen. "Get off!"
He grabbed a hold of her again. "I don't think so. C'mere." With that, his hands crept to the waistband of her jeans, all while planting wet, slobbery kisses on her neck.
Katie began to panic. "Get off!"
Outside, Freddy heard the last part of the exchange, immediately recognizing the voice as Katie's. He ran inside the house, to find her struggling in the firm grip of a drunken boy.
He immediately saw red and shoved the other boy away from Katie. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
"Nothing, man. Relax. We were just having a good time," he slurred drunkenly.
"Like hell you were. Stay the fuck away from her."
"You can't tell me what to do!" He swung at Freddy, who managed to dodge the poorly aimed punch.
Freddy was not the strongest boy, but he had worked up some muscle hauling his drums from place to place, and his arms were not to be trifled with- playing the drums as much as he did could be considered serious exercise.
He clenched his fist and punched the other boy as hard as he could, causing the other boy to stagger wildly before falling down, unconscious. He glared down at his victim, and then looked around for Katie.
Her face was ashen, and she trembled slightly. When her eyes met his, she swallowed, stepped forward, and wrapped her arms tightly around him, her face buried in his neck. "He was going to rape me, Freddy. I didn't know what to do…"
She was crying openly now, and he tightened his arms around her waist. "Shh, Katie, it's over now. Look, he's bleeding on the floor." She looked at the prone form on the ground before shuddering slightly, and turned back to the safety of Freddy's arms.
"Come on, let's get out of here. I'll take you home."
She nodded, wiped her face roughly, and allowed herself to be led to Freddy's car. "You didn't take your car here, did you?"
She shook her head. "No, I came with Summer."
Freddy opened the car door for her before scrambling back to his side and getting in. "Home?"
She nodded.
By the time they got to her house, Katie was fast asleep. Once he had parked the car, Freddy looked over at her sleeping form and was becoming increasingly hesitant to wake her. Finally, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Katie?"
She stirred and looked up to see his face. "Are we here?"
"Yeah. Come on, I'll take you inside. Is anyone home?"
"No, Mom's working really late again, and Dad's still on his business trip."
"Okay. You have a key?"
She dug through her purse and produced a key. They got out of the car and walked up the front steps to the door. Katie opened it and then stood the open doorway, facing Freddy. "I don't know how to thank you, Freddy. I don't know what would've happened if it wasn't for you."
"It was nothing. Are you okay? Well, more okay?"
She nodded, then leaned forward and put her arms around his neck. His arms went around her waist and he pulled her close. "Thanks, Jones," she whispered, before kissing him on the cheek. He released her, grinning. "Maybe I should punch guys more often if that's my reward." She swatted him on the arm.
"Shut up." Then she grinned, and Freddy knew she'd soon be all right. She stepped back into the house. "Bye, Jones."
He took a hold of her hand resting on the door and lightly pressed his lips to it. "Later, Brown."
He smiled slightly, then walked back to his car. Katie watched him leave, a small smile on her face and her hand burning where he had kissed it.
ooOoo
A/N: I know you're either going, 'awww' or throwing up from how sappy this was. I'd say I'm in the middle of both. Click on the review button. CLICK!