Title: Befriending Gone Wrong
Summary: When a new kid comes to Seaford and is looking to join the Black Dragons, the gang devises a plan to recruit him to Bobby Wasabi. But when Kim attempts to befriend him and it all goes wrong, how will the guys react?
Author's note: so I started this story a few years ago and wrote maybe 200 words and I came back to it a few days ago and finished it up. It got a little more intense than I think I was originally intending but it happened and here it is. Also, this turned out so long whoops.
The gang was sitting around the dojo before practice, waiting for Rudy to come in, when Milton brought up the new kid. "So, have any of you met that new kid, Nick?" Milton asked.
Kim shook her head. "No, have you?"
"Not really, but I heard he is looking to join the Black Dragons," Milton explained.
Kim snorted. "And? He's just going to turn into one of Frank's dumb little puppets."
"He's not as cool as me, but he's got some serious swag game. The girls are all over him already. He's even better looking than Jack," Jerry supplied.
"None of that's true," Kim said.
"Except that all the girls are all over him," Milton said.
Kim raised her eyebrows at that. She wouldn't doubt that Jack was easily better looking than the other guys at school. But maybe she was biased because her and Jack were kind of a thing now. But hearing that this new kid had girls all over him was a little shocking. He must be pretty cute. "Really?" Kim asked interestedly.
Jack glared at her tone. "Hey you've already got a man," he reminded her.
Kim couldn't keep in the single laugh that escaped her mouth. "Don't flatter yourself, hon. You may be cute but you are not a man."
Jack took offense to that. "Not a man?" He asked in disbelief. "And why am I 'not a man'?"
"For starters, you scream higher than I do. And I know because yesterday you screamed when we were at the park and you-"
Jack's eyes went wide and he grabbed Kim, slapping his hand over her mouth before she could reveal the embarrassing story of what occurred on their walk the previous day. "Oookay! We get it! Anyways… back to Nick. Do you know how good he is? And why is he going to the Black Dragons?"
Jerry scoffed. "Why wouldn't he go there? It's a way better dojo!"
The others nodded in agreement and Jack started to agree but then quickly shook his head. "Guys! Come on, we're the Wasabi Warriors. The Black Dragons just care about getting an edge and winning. We can't let them get more manpower. Even if he isn't good, he is another body that is going to walk around the school ruining science projects and terrorizing helpless nerds like Milton."
"Well, what are we supposed to do? Tell him to join our dojo? I'm sure he has already signed up for the Black Dragons, and he probably has a good reason why he picked them. I don't think we can convince him just by asking nicely," Kim said.
"Okay, well maybe he's a decent guy, we could use that. Remember Brody?" Jack pointed out.
Kim rolled her eyes at the memory. She didn't understand why they had to bring up that incident again. Jack had told her countless times that he didn't trust Brody and she just wanted them to put it behind them. "Yes, I remember Brody."
"Well, he had to go through a sort of initiation thing, remember? That's why he sabotaged you. We just have to get Nick to see that the Black Dragons are slimy and bullies and then make sure he knows that the Bobby Wasabi dojo is all about honor. That way he can join our dojo if he still wants to fight but at least he will quit the Black Dragons."
"That kid is untouchable," Milton points out. "How are we supposed to convince him to join our dojo?"
"Please," Jerry said. "We're practically equals. Us good-looking guys recognize each other. Give me five minutes with him."
Kim rolled her eyes, doubting Jerry was really the same level as this new guy.
"Are you sure?" Jack asked, sharing Kim's doubts.
"Jack, come on. Wait and see tomorrow, I've got this."
After ten minutes of trying to get a word in, Jerry finally returned to the lunch table.
"No luck?" Kim teased. "What, I thought you just needed five minutes with him?"
"Well if I could get five minutes with him, then he would be at our dojo this afternoon!" Jerry defended. "But he's too busy trying to get all those wannabes to back off."
"So now that that failed, what do we do?" Milton asks.
"We have to be strategic about this," Jack explained. "Play for the long game."
"So one of us needs to befriend him. Someone who is equally untouchable. Someone who he would be interested in. Someone who has a natural charm and attracts charming guys," Milton says as he, Jerry, and Jack all turn toward Kim.
"Me? What? Guys!" Kim sputtered.
Milton scoffed. "Kim, come on. Half the guys in the school drool over you. It's not like you have to date him, you just have to be his frie-"
"You better not date him," Jack butt in, giving Kim a stern glare.
Kim sighed. She didn't want to date Nick anyways.
"I don't know… I don't want to pretend to be his friend. I mean if he joins the dojo won't that be weird?"
"Come on, Kim," Milton pushed. "Just give it a try."
Kim sighed. "Fine."
"And no canoodling!" Jack reminded her.
As it turned out, Kim had a class with Nick. And as luck would have it, he sat next to her seat.
While Kim sat down and unpacked her laptop and notebook, she quickly wondered what the best approach would be. Much to her delight, she didn't even need to decide.
"Hey," he greeted cheerily.
"Hey," Kim said back, popping up to smile at him. "You're new aren't you?"
"Yeah. I'm Nick."
"Cool, I'm Kim," Kim offered.
"You know," Nick said, leaning down closer to Kim, "I think I could use some help."
"Help?" Kim asked, confused.
"Yeah," Nick said. "Everyone keeps swarming me like I'm some kind of celebrity and I don't know who to trust or what to think."
"Oh?" Kim asked, not expecting that answer.
"Uh-huh. You think you could give me the run-down on everyone?"
"Oh," Kim said, shocked Nick was asking her the perfect question. "Uh, yeah, sure," she nodded.
"So Mrs. Hansack, is she as old as she looks?"
Kim looked up at their teacher, noticing Mrs. Hansock was indeed wearing an old woman's blazer and struggling to flip through pieces of paper with her shaking fingers. She licked her finger before finally getting a grip and lifting the paper.
"Yeah," Kim chuckled. "She's not the youngest anymore. But she's really funny," Kim explained.
The more they talked, the more Kim felt like she was getting closer to Nick. Maybe they could pull this off after all.
Kim updated the gang on her progress the next day, sharing that they had a good conversation that lasted nearly all of class. She also got his phone number—just to talk about homework, Kim assured Jack.
"Invite him over!" Jerry said immediately.
Kim rolled her eyes, reminding all the guys that normal people didn't just do that. She had to take things slow, let him set the pace for their friendship.
The next day in class, Kim went in with about fifty suggestions from the guys—none of which she was going to follow.
Nick arrived soon after her, taking his seat with a wave.
"Hey, Kim."
"Hi."
"You finish that worksheet yesterday?" Nick asked.
"Yeah," Kim nodded. "The answers were basically straight out of the textbook. It didn't take very long, I did it before practice."
"Yeah, same," Nick said. "Practice? What kind?"
"Oh, cheer," Kim said, blushing. "We have practice on Wednesdays."
"Cool. You're a cheerleader?"
"Yup," Kim said, unsure what Nick would think of that.
"I can see it. But…"
"But what?" Kim asked at his hesitation.
"But you don't seem like all the other cheerleaders. Do you do anything else?"
"Yeah," Kim said, again not believing her luck. Nick was making this so easy. "I also do karate."
"Karate? Really, me too!"
"That's so cool!" Kim said, hoping she sounded genuine and surprised. She was actually neither of those and lying was not her strong suit. She suddenly wondered why the boys ever thought she was the one for the job.
"Yeah, do you go to the Black Dragon Dojo?" Nick asked.
"No," Kim shook her head, almost laughing. "No, actually I used to."
"Used to?"
"Yeah, but I didn't like it there, I had to leave."
"Really?" Nick asked, tilting his head.
"Yeah, but I go to a much better dojo now," Kim said, with emphasis on the much better. "It's the Bobby Wasabi Dojo. I've never regretted switching dojos and the guys are some of my closest friends," Kim explained, realizing this was the time to really hype up the dojo.
"The guys?" Nick asked, confused.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," Kim apologized. "The other boys who go to the dojo. I usually just call them 'the guys' since they're… guys," Kim explained, blushing.
"You're the only girl?" Nick asked, seeming surprised.
"Mhm," Kim nodded.
"That must be hard."
"Not really," Kim shrugged. "It's not like there are any other girls at the Black Dragons anyways. At least, not near my age or belt."
"You keep talking about the Black Dragons, what do you have against them?" Nick asked, slightly defensive and mostly curious.
"They might look good from the outside and brag about their accomplishments, but it's not all sunshine and rainbows there. If you don't show good progress, they kick you out. If you do, they work you until you can't move and when it comes to tournaments, they fight dirty," Kim explained with a frown.
Her years with the Black Dragons sometimes seemed like so long ago, but they never fully left her. It was something she didn't talk about a lot, nobody else had that experience. Nobody else knew what she went through except the Black Dragons themselves. And they showed her no sympathy.
"I was kind of thinking about joining," Nick admits.
Kim has to stop herself from saying I know.
"It can't really be that bad," Nick continues, searching Kim's face to look into her eyes.
"You can do what you want," Kim started. "But you'll do much better with us at Bobby Wasabi."
"I already started my paperwork with the Black Dragons, it'll be hard to start over and pay another application fee."
Kim's heart sank, thinking she had failed her friends but also not having the energy to convince Nick after memories of the Black Dragons resurfaced.
"But if you give me a good enough argument, I'll consider it," he continued. "I haven't completely finished my application."
Kim's head snapped up, she still had a chance to convince Nick not to join the Black Dragons!
"Really?" Kim asked, perhaps with too much excitement, spotting closer to Nick.
"Sure," Nick chuckled. "You busy after school?" he asked, nudging Kim's shoulder.
"No!" she answered quickly, before even stopping to think if she was busy. "Oh…" She was supposed to go to the park for something Jerry had set up involving squirrels and a lot of Lincoln Logs. Surely the guys would understand if she was getting Nick to join the dojo. "um… Nope!"
Nick chuckled again, nodding. "Great, I'll meet you out front after the bell rings at the end of the day!"
"Where are we going?" Kim asked curiously.
"That's a secret," Nick said with a wink.
Kim was with Jack, happily, but she understood then why all the girls were all over him and how he had a reputation like his after one day. He was kind of cute...
"Can I invite the guys?" Kim asked suddenly, perking up. "I think you'd like them." If she could get Nick to join the dojo and meet the guys in one afternoon that would be perfect.
"Sorry, this is just for us," Nick apologized. "But maybe after?" he offered.
Kim nodded understandingly. "Okay, yeah."
"Perfect. Meet me out front after school," he reminded her.
Kim smiled as she nodded.
She texted the guys to let them know she couldn't make it because she was going somewhere with Nick to convince him to join. The guys understood and then gave her thirty more ideas of things to say to Nick.
"So, can you tell me where we're going now?" Kim asked eagerly, hoping in her seat as she buckled her seat belt.
"Not yet," Nick said. "You'll know when we get there," he promised, shooting Kim another smile that made her sigh in trust.
Kim sat back in her seat, pulling out her phone to pass the time.
About twenty minutes later, the car slowed and Nick parked the car. Looking up, Kim saw they were at a park in the mountains.
"What are we doing here?" Kim asked, confused. Going up to the mountains wasn't a common thing people did. There were beaches and parks closer to the houses. There was no need to go up to the mountains.
"You'll see. Come on Kim, don't you trust me?" Nick asked, turning the car off.
"Yeah," Kim nodded. "Sorry."
Nick stepped out of the car and waited for Kim to follow.
When Kim ran around the car to meet Nick, he grabbed her hand with a smile and led her along the path.
Kim looked around and hesitated. She had a weird feeling in her stomach and she couldn't tell if it was from her lunch or nerves.
"Nick…"
Nick stopped and pulled her aside. "Don't worry, Kim," he said softly, sensing her fear. "We're just going to a spot right over here. I thought it would be a good place to spar."
"Spar?" Kim asked, looking back up at him.
Nick nodded. "I found this place last week and thought it was cool. I thought it would be a good place to spar. If you win, I'll join your dojo instead," Nick challenged with a smirk.
"O-Okay," Kim agreed, nodding. She hadn't seen Nick fight before, but she was confident in her abilities. She could beat him, probably.
"Let's go," Nick urged, gently tugging Kim along by her hand.
After school, Jack waited in his car for a minute before remembering Kim had plans. He drove her to school every day and they always rode home together when she didn't have cheer practice. Checking his phone out of habit one more time, he sighed and drove to meet up with Milton and Jerry at the park.
When he got there, they were arguing over something stupid that Jack didn't care to involve himself in.
"Guys!" Jack interrupted. "Guys! Hello!"
They finally heard him over their arguing and stopped.
"Jerry, what are we doing here?" Jack asked, eager to get started with whatever he had planned.
"Well, it was more of a four-person job-"
"Kim is doing something more important," Milton interjected.
"Yeah well now this is going to take even longer," Jerry whined.
"Jerry, what are we doing?" Jack asked directly.
"You see that tree over there?" Jerry asked.
Jack and Milton nodded.
"There's a squirrel that lives there. His name is Daryl. There is another squirrel that lives there, Marsha. But Marsha cheated on him with Kevin and now they're divorced and Marsha won't give up Daryl's tree!"
Jack looked over at Milton to make sure they were hearing the same thing.
"How do you know all this, Jer?" Jack asked, not as surprised as he should have been.
"I've been watching him, Jack. Body language, duh."
"That's not what body language means, Jerry-"
"Shut up, Milton. You agreed to help me. As did Jack and Kim and she isn't here so somebody needs to pick up her slack, okay?"
After Jerry's little outburst, Jack and Milton refrained from making any more commentary or criticism.
Jerry directed them this way and that, and they just ignored the strange looks from families passing by.
"How do you think things are going with Kim?" Milton wondered aloud.
Jack shrugged, turning his phone on to check the time and take a break from Jerry's antics. He opened his email to mark everything as read and get rid of all his notifications.
"Hey wait a minute…" Jack muttered, looking more closely at an email that caught his eye.
"What is it?" Milton asked.
"What's that guy's name? Nick?"
"Yeah. Nick Cranston, I think," Milton said, walking closer to see what Jack was looking at.
"That's… weird," Jack muttered looking down at the email again.
"What's going on?" Jerry asked, walking over as he wiped some sweat off his forehead.
"I got an email for the tournament in two weeks. Nick's listed under the Black Dragons," Jack explained.
"How? I thought he hadn't joined yet?" Jerry asked.
"Not officially, that's what Kim said at least," Jack remembered.
"The only way for him to be listed already is if he joined, officially. Like, at least a week ago. At least. If he just joined in the past couple of days, the tournament wouldn't have his information already," Milton explained.
"So he did join the Black Dragons? Already?" Jerry asked.
"Before today?" Jack added. "He joined before he even came to school?"
"Yeah," Milton deduced.
"Wait, but if he already decided to join the Black Dragons, then why did he go with Kim? Isn't she trying to convince him to join our dojo?" Jerry asked, trying to connect the dots.
"You're right, Jerry," Jack said, his heart beating faster and a knot growing in his stomach. "What is he doing with Kim?"
"He never wanted to join our dojo," Milton realized. "He just wanted to get Kim alone!"
"Where are they? Kim could be in trouble!" Jerry gasped.
Jack clenched his jaw as he pulled out his phone and looked at Kim's contact. She had told him Nick said it was a surprise where they were going, but thankfully she always shared her location with him. He never needed it before but now he was extremely glad to have it.
"Her phone is in the mountains somewhere. I can't get an exact spot, she doesn't have great service," Jack said, showing his screen.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Milton said.
"Me too," Jack agreed. "Come on, the sooner we find her the better."
They reached a clearing and Kim was relieved that Nick hadn't lied about that. She was worried for nothing.
"So…" she said awkwardly. "Now what?"
"Why don't we sit down?" Nick suggested, nodding to some logs on the ground.
"Oh, uh, sure," Kim agreed, sitting down.
Nick smiled and sat next to her, ignoring the perfectly good log a few inches over.
"You know, I have to admit, I was a little nervous," Nick said. "Yesterday, when you sat down. I didn't know who I would be sitting next to but when I saw it was you, I kinda got a little flustered."
"Really?" Kim asked.
"Really. You're just so pretty and smart and I'm new but I already heard a lot about you. Then when you sat down, it was like meeting a celebrity."
Kim laughed a little, blushing at the compliments.
"And I have a confession," he said quietly.
"What?" Kim asked, leaning back, a little unsure of what he was about to admit.
"When we introduced ourselves, I definitely already knew your name and who you were."
The thought that Kim had made a cute, popular boy nervous kind of thrilled her.
"Well, then I have a confession too," Kim admitted, feeling like she could be open with Nick.
Nick raised a brow and waited for Kim to continue.
"I definitely knew your name before you introduced yourself too," she smiled.
Nick smiled back, chuckling a little.
Then he stopped and his mouth settled into a smile. His gaze fell on Kim's face and she looked down, feeling slightly awkward. The next thing Kim knew, Nick was in front of her and his lips were on hers, kissing her.
Once Kim got over the shock, she lifted her hands and pushed Nick back, hard.
Nick stumbled back and nearly fell off the log.
Kim hadn't meant to push him so hard, but she had never been kissed by somebody so unexpectedly before and she didn't know what to do.
"I'm so sorry!" She apologized. "I'm sorry. It's just… I have a boyfriend and I'm sorry if I made you think… if I led you on. I'm really sorry I promise I didn't mean to give you the wrong idea," Kim rambled, forcing herself to stop. The second she stopped talking she wanted to wipe her lips off but she stopped, not wanting to offend Nick.
"A boyfriend?" Nick asked.
Kim nodded, scooting an inch or two away. "Yeah, Jack. He's one of the guys from my dojo."
"Well then Jack is a lucky guy," Nick said.
Kim sighed in relief as she looked down at her lap. Thank goodness Nick was understanding.
"But all things considered, I'm quite a lucky guy too."
Kim's head snapped up. "What-"
"I think we should spar now, don't you?" Nick said, jumping up.
"Uh-"
"You win, I'll join your dojo."
"And if you win?" Kim asked, feeling like there was a catch.
"Do you really have so little confidence?" Nick teased.
"Well, no, but I-"
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. If we get to it. Now stand up, let's get going."
Kim stood up shakily. "I don't know, Nick… I think I actually want to go home-"
Kim was cut off by a leg swinging dangerously close to her face.
"Woah!" she gasped.
"Come on," Nick called.
Kim had no choice but to join in.
"That's the spirit!" Nick joked.
And then they were off. Kim could tell Nick had years of experience, but she started off strong and confident. Once she was fighting, all fear flew out the window.
For a little bit, at least.
After a few minutes of sparring, Kim could feel Nick ramping things up a notch. It was getting harder and harder to land a hit.
And then Nick had an opening and brought his foot to Kim's stomach and instead of stopping, actually kicked her.
Kim gasped and fell back. Taken by surprise by the move that she herself had stopped before actually touching Nick.
"I thought we were-"
Kim cut herself off to duck as Nick continued his assault.
Racing to stand up, Kim realized their fight had turned much less friendly. She wasn't sparring now, she was fighting.
"Nick, stop!" She tried, but he completely ignored her.
She managed to kick him back, but not before he had already punched her shoulder.
When Nick kicked her square in the chest, Kim gasped and fell to her back. The wind was knocked out of her as she lay on the ground, gasping for breath. She moaned in pain, trying to roll over.
"Looks like I win," Nick smirked, looking down at Kim. "My cousin was right, you are feisty."
Had Kim been able to speak, she would have asked who his cousin was and probably yelled at him to back off. But when Nick kneeled down, straddling her, she was still struggling to catch her breath.
Before Nick could do anything, Kim lifted her arms and tried to scoot away. Through her coughs, she started to crawl but Nick's hand wrapped around her ankle and yanked her back.
Kim screamed, now terrified of what Nick wanted with her. She was positive now that Nick had planned all of this and she was in trouble.
When Nick dragged her back, he sat down on her stomach, pinning her to the dirty ground.
"Shut up," he snarled in her face. "Shut up or I'll make you!"
"Get off me!" Kim yelled, bucking her hips as she flailed her limbs, trying to do anything to get away.
"I said shut up!" Nick grunted, trying to grab Kim's arms.
The flailing made it hard, but not impossible. Once Nick caught hold of her wrists, he closed them impossibly tight.
Nick's grip was so hard Kim was afraid he was going to snap her wrists. She had never had someone grab her so hard before. Nick was strong and with the death grip on her, using her hands or arms was hopeless.
"Ow!" Kim cried. "Stop, you're hurting me!"
"Good," Nick grunted. "Frank said you were stubborn."
"Frank?" Kim asked, still squirming. "You know… he's your… cousin?"
Nick smirked and slammed Kim's hand by her head. "I've heard all about you, Kimmy."
Nick was Frank's cousin. He already knew Kim, he had already heard about her from Frank. Kim's head spun. Nick probably had no intention of joining their dojo, he was probably already a Black Dragon. He pretended to be interested, to lure her here. And he was successful.
"Let me go!" Kim screamed again, using her legs to wrap them around Nick's torso and twist his body off hers. Nick flew off her but his grip on her wrists was tight and she ended up twisting her arms painfully in her attempt to get away.
Kim cried out in pain as her elbows and shoulder burned from the awkward angle they were at.
She tried to kick her legs at Nick and it was a small victory when she kicked him right between the legs.
Nick swore as he crouched down and let go of Kim with one hand to cradle his crotch.
Kim grunted and tried to use her advantage to get away. She pried her other wrist out of his hand, gently massaging it with her other. Both her wrists were red and irritated and she couldn't move her fingers very well. But she ignored the pain and stumbled to get away.
She only got a few steps before a heavy arm wrapped around her torso and arms.
Nick lifted her off the ground, putting another hand over her mouth and pinching her nose, suffocating her.
"Not so fast," he whispered in her ear, his lips brushing the skin there.
Kim squirmed at his touch, uncomfortable by his proximity and the way he was nuzzling his nose in the back of her neck.
He inhaled her scent, audibly sighing as he did so.
"Is that vanilla?" he asked huskily. "Do you wear that for your boyfriend?"
Kim threw her arm back but it barely moved at all. Without access to air, Kim was getting weaker by the second and was afraid of passing out.
Nick chuckled lowly in her ear, brushing his nose back and forth along her neck, tickling her and making her skin rise. Then he stuck out his tongue and licked her neck, following the trail.
Kim wanted to throw up or pass out or scream. The feeling of his slimy touch was more painful than her worst injuries.
"Crying? Really?" Nick teased, feeling the wet tears fall onto his hand.
Was she crying? Kim couldn't tell.
"Think you can be a good little girl?" Nick asked condescendingly. "If I let go? You'll be good?"
Kim nodded, maybe. She wanted to, anything to get a breath in. She wasn't sure her muscles actually moved her head up and down though.
Something sharp and hard stung her ear and she realized Nick bit her.
"I said are you going to be a good girl?"
Kim forced all her strength into nodding, resulting in her legs and arms going completely limp.
Nick just laughed at her as he finally let go of her mouth and nose.
Kim greedily sucked in a breath, unable to inhale very much because of the arm restricting her chest. Nick was holding all her weight up and the crying didn't help either.
"Such a good girl," Nick cooed in her ear.
Kim wanted to stop, she wanted to scream and fight and get away, but she was still lightheaded and weak and crying and confused.
"I think you're going to enjoy this," Nick said, carrying her over to the small wooden shelter off to the side.
"No," Kim whimpered, seeing a black bag on the ground. "No, please…"
"Come on," Nick urged. "You like this, don't you?"
Kim didn't know what Nick was talking about. How could she like this? But then she felt something cool tickling the skin at the hem of her shirt. Nick's fingers trailed up, going under her shirt higher and higher until he reached her chest.
He let out a sound of celebration as he pinched Kim's chest hard, then let his hands wander wherever he pleased. As he groped her, Kim shook, finding her legs again.
"Don't touch me!" she screamed, kicking again.
Nick just laughed at her, finding her pain and embarrassment amusing. He turned her around to face him, his hands finding her behind.
Kim pounded her hands on his chest, shoving hard enough that she knocked herself backward and fell to the ground.
"Okay, you go on and play, I have to get this all set up. But don't go too far," Nick warned, looking down at Kim before crouching in front of the black bag.
Kim was breathing hard as she watched Nick pull out a tripod and camera. There were rolls of tape and scissors and something else couldn't quite make out. She wiped her face with the back of her wrist since she couldn't move her individual fingers. Her tears mixed with snot and realized she must look a mess.
She had to get out of there. She wasn't sure where she could go, Nick had driven her that far. But maybe someone was in the parking lot. She just had to get that far.
Kim took a deep breath and counted to herself in her mind.
One…
Two…
Three!
Kim jumped to her feet and ran past Nick.
"You little nasty whore," Nick spat, chasing after her.
"Leave me alone!" Kim cried, tripping over a branch.
Kim fell to the ground, her face painfully slamming into the ground as mud decorated her cheek and a little got in her mouth.
Despite the pain, she scrambled to her hands and knees anyways. She couldn't stop even for a second or Nick would grab her. She could tell he was getting upset with her and she was afraid he might actually hurt her if he got his hands on her again.
She could hear his footsteps getting closer and Kim moved her arms, her knees scraping the ground while she tried to stand up.
"Kim!"
Kim looked up as Jack ran towards her, grabbing her under her arms and holding her up.
He quickly saw the tears, snot, and mud all over her face and the state of the rest of her wasn't much better.
"Kimmy!"
At the sound of Nick's voice, Kim dove into Jack's chest, pressing herself as close to her friend as she could.
Jack wrapped his arms around her, looking down at her face and wiping her cheek. She looked a mess and was shaking terribly.
"What did you do to her!" Jack accused.
"Do? I was just looking for her. We got separated, and I haven't been able to find her," Nick lied.
"You found her?" Jerry called, jogging to the trio with Milton not far behind. "Is Nick th- Nick," Jerry showed as soon as he saw Nick peeking out behind Jack.
Jerry and Milton stood next to Jack, seeing Kim and her state of distress.
"We know," Milton announced. "We know you lied. You never meant to join our dojo. You lied to Kim, you've been a Black Dragon this whole time!"
"You found out, did you?" Nick smirked, no longer denying it.
Kim let out a sob as she pulled back from Jack's chest just enough to face Jerry and Milton.
They gasped when they saw her face, realizing she was far from okay and Nick definitely did something.
"He-He's Frank's c-cousin!" she sobbed.
The guys all turned back to Nick, glaring at him.
"What did you do?" Jerry demanded, looking between Kim and Nick.
They got there as fast as they could but from what he could tell they didn't get to Kim in time.
"Nothing yet," Nick said, rolling his eyes. "But we were about to have a good time. You all can have her when I'm done."
Jack tightened his grip on Kim, not believing the words he was hearing.
"She can do what she wants and she'll be done when she wants to be done," Jack spat. "So we'll be going, now-"
"Ah, I can't let you do that," Nick said, holding a hand out. "I kind of promised some people something and I need her to do some things for me."
"Yeah, in your dreams," Milton scoffed.
"Trust me, it will be," Nick chuckled. "Now as for Kim," he said, reaching out again for Kim's bicep.
Jack smacked his hand away, grabbing his wrist and throwing it back as best he could with Kim in his arms.
"Don't touch her," Jack said. Leaning down to Kim, he gently held her above the elbows and looked into her eyes. Her eyes were darting back and forth frantically, she was in a haze, not entirely there. He wanted to stop and comfort her and calm her down but Nick was still there, insistent on having Kim.
"Kim, go with Milton and Jerry, okay?" he directed, pushing her away and into the arms of the others.
"No," Kim whined, clutching Jack's shirt.
"Yes," Jack instructed. "Listen to me, Kim. Go with Milton and Jerry."
Jack pried Kim's shaking fists away from his shirt, finding it easy to break the weak grip she had. He pushed her away, behind him where Jerry caught her. Jerry and Milton each took an arm and held her up, keeping her from falling or from Nick getting too close.
"You don't really want to do this, man," Nick laughed. "All this for the little bit-"
Jack cut Nick off with a punch to the face. He meant to talk things out, but the vulgar words coming out about Kim made him act otherwise.
"Don't talk about her like that."
Nick spat before looking up at Jack and shaking his head with a goofy smile. "They told me this would happen."
"Yeah? And did they tell you I never back down from protecting my friends?"
"We'll see about that," Nick said, throwing himself towards Jack.
Jack planted his feet on the ground, brushing Nick's attacks off. Nick smiled again, he was feeling cocky and it showed.
Nick lunged again, and Jack swung his fist, narrowly missing Nick. Nick punched low, hitting Jack's gut and momentarily winding him. The next time Nick punched, Jack caught his fist and forcefully shoved him to the ground.
Jack walked around Nick to stand in front of him, catching sight of Kim standing between Jerry and Milton.
She was staring wide-eyed at him, frozen in her place. She wasn't blinking, wasn't moving. The fight wasn't pretty and it wasn't Jack's proudest moment and Kim didn't need to see it all.
"Jerry, Milton," Jack breathed, looking at Kim.
The guys looked down at her, making the same observation.
Milton stepped in front of her, grabbing her arms and gently turning her back to Jack. "Come on, Kim. Don't watch that," he said softly. "It's okay. Don't watch them, Kim. You don't need to see that."
Jack nodded, turning back to Nick just in time to catch him swipe his leg under Jack's feet. Jack jumped over them, breathing hard as he watched Nick pull himself back to his feet.
Despite his anger, Jack didn't strike first again. He waited until Nick attacked, and then retaliated, and only that.
When Nick kicked Jack's knee, he groaned as he bent down in pain.
Kim started to turn around, hearing Jack in pain. Before she could look Milton tried to distract her. Jerry stepped to the side to block her view and when he saw Milton had it covered, he turned back to watch the fight in case he needed to step in.
When Nick threw a dirty punch, Jack had enough. He grabbed Nick's fist, yanked him close, and leaned down.
"Don't even think about touching her again. And you can thank your little Black Dragon friends for this. They will always leave you when you need them," Jack spat, throwing Nick to the ground.
He would have left it like that. He would have left Nick with some of his dignity, would have let him take a minute to breathe, and then be on his way. But that's not what Nick wanted.
As soon as Jack had his back turned, Nick growled, standing up again.
Jerry opened his mouth to warn Jack, but Jack already knew. He whipped around just in time to punch Nick's jaw and knock him down hard enough that he was groaning on the ground and unable to get up.
"Come on guys, just let him be," Jack sighed, walking back to the others.
When he reached them he looked over at Kim who immediately began searching his body, looking him up and down.
"I'm okay, Kim," he assured her. "Come here."
He opened his arms and Kim couldn't stop herself from falling into them. While he led her back to the car, Kim could hardly remember anything, she just basked in the feeling of being in Jack's arms.
When they reached the parking lot, Jack loaded her into the back seat with Jerry while Milton took shotgun.
Jack drove them back to the mall where Jerry and Milton could get their cars.
Kim had been silent the whole time and nobody pressured her into speaking.
Milton tried to make conversation, filling the silence with details on his latest science experiment. Usually, Jack would tell him to shut up, but it seemed to be helping Kim so he didn't dare tell Milton to stop.
Only when they had pulled into the parking lot, gotten out of the car, and walked to the dojo, did Milton stop. And not more than a minute later, did a sob escape Kim's lips and she fell to the ground.
"Kim!"
Jerry being the closest to her, caught her head and stopped it from hitting the wall or floor. Jack rushed over and pulled her into his arms.
He was even more shocked when Kim whimpered and pushed away from him.
He let go of her in shock, watching as she buried her face in her hands and cried.
Jack looked between the guys and Kim, all thinking the same thing.
"Kim, what happened to you? Before we got there, what did he do to you?"
Kim shook her head, embarrassed and ashamed at what happened. She had momentarily been able to push it out of her mind but being back at the dojo in silence didn't give her much to distract herself with and memories and feelings of Nick's hands came flooding back.
"Kim," Jack said, voice breaking. "We can't know unless you tell us."
Kim lifted her head, wiping her face. "What do you think?" she said, the words coming out harsher than she intended. "What do you think he did?" she cried.
Jack looked over at Milton and Jerry helplessly.
"What does any guy do when he wants to scare and hurt a girl he's stronger than? He touched me and grabbed and pinched and hit me," Kim sniffled.
"H-he…"
"My chest and bottom," Kim said. "He- stuck his hands… and… grabbed me. He had a bag too. With a camera and tape and- It's- I- oh…" Kim wept into her hands, her face red and hot knowing what she just admitted to her friends.
Jack realized what Kim meant and his heart broke. Of course, they just had to go after Kim. Every time the Black Dragons always went after her. It was easier, he realized, to hurt her. She was strong and fierce, but they could hurt her in ways they couldn't hurt anyone else. She was always at risk of something terrible and he had given her right to them.
"Kim," Jack sighed, reaching out to pry her hand away from her face. "Kim, it's not your fault. He should have- We should have- Kim, don't be embarrassed."
Kim looked up at Jack, blinking through her tears. She could see the genuine concern and love in his eyes and buried her face in his chest.
The force knocked Jack back a little before he wrapped his arms securely around Kim. He brushed his fingers through the knots in her hair, gently smoothing it out.
Jerry brought him a comb so he could brush it better and when he was done, the guys took her to the locker room to help her clean herself up.
When she was all freshened up, face clean and wiped, she felt much better.
"Kim…" Jack said, speechless. "I- We're sorry."
Kim shook her head. It wasn't their fault. It wasn't her fault. It was Nick's fault and Nick's alone.
"It's not you who should be apologizing."
"I guess not," he sighed.
"Good thing Jack got that last hit in," Jerry piped up, recalling the fight between Nick and Jack.
"What last hit?" Kim asked, turning to Jerry and Milton. They had shielded her from everything and she didn't get a chance to see what was going on. She understood why they did it and was grateful for their thoughtfulness at a time when she was vulnerable. But now she wanted to know.
"Oh, Jack-"
"Nothing," Jack interrupted, not wanting Kim to know.
"Jack," Kim argued. "You're not my father."
"Yeah but…"
"But what?" Kim asked. "I'm a girl?"
"Well… yeah, but-"
"I'm weak? I'm a little helpless-"
"No!" Jack groaned. "He hurt you, Kim. I just don't want you to have to think about that. Just like I wouldn't want Jerry or Milton to if it happened to them."
"Well, I want to know," Kim sighed, understanding Jack just a little. "Can't you tell me?"
Jack sighed, defeated.
"Jerry?" he deflected, letting the one who was most excited by the fight explain it.
Jerry smiled and jumped to his feet.
"It was totally sick, Kim. He was all like I'm so buff and don't you dare think about my girl. And then he punched like this-" Jerry exhaled as he threw a punch in the air. "And then Nick was all-" Then he laid down and pretended to be Nick, choking and coughing on the ground. "And then Jack-"
Kim watched as Jerry (very poorly) reenacted the fight. Milton interjected with small corrections where Jerry was completely inaccurate. Jack just shook his head at Jerry's impersonation of him. Kim smiled as she watched, realizing she had great friends. She laughed when Jerry finished, coming close to her as if he was going to kiss her.
Jack scowled at him, shoving him back.
"I wasn't actually going to do it!" Jerry defended.
"Yeah, right," Jack scoffed.
"I would have stopped him anyways," Kim said, rolling her eyes. "I only kiss you."
She punctuated her sentence with a chaste kiss on Jack's lips, patting his arm lovingly.
"Good."
It's long, I know. Also I didn't love the ending, I tried to bring back the characters personalities from the show and I think it ended pretty suddenly and with a different vibe than the middle, but I'm too lazy to fix the writing and you guys don't care right?
I think i'm going to go eat dinner now. since my last 4 meals were: green bean casserole (lunch) then 3 cookies (dinner) then a bunch of m&ms (breakfast) then green bean casserole (lunch).
Should i have a block of cheese, tater tots, another cookie, or bread for dinner?
