Note: Yay, an update! I wasn't expecting to get another chapter up so soon, but here it is. Also, I won't be exploring Murianthas in this fic if people were wondering.


Kimberly spent most of the drive back to her apartment contemplating. Seeing Jason again was a relief now that she knew he was all right, but for some reason she got the sense that he was not all right. He was cooped up in a cheerless apartment with seemingly no direction in his life, and his initial reception of her was a little icy. Breakfast had been as playful and open as the movie night before, however, nothing he said or did hinted at why he was still in Florida or why he did not answer her calls or why he left Switzerland in the first place. The fact that she was almost a stranger in his life stung, and she felt betrayed because Jason was not there for her. He was within reach, and she did not even know it.

There's also the question of the nightmares... Kimberly mused. She had no idea he had them that bad. Jason had thrashed and moaned for a long time before she could wake him up. There was only one fight that could have haunted him so. The Dark Dimension. It was the one fight no one else had been a witness to, and though she knew Jason would never admit it, it was a fight in which he felt most vulnerable.

It was too soon to seriously ask those questions, she finally decided, especially after she opened up about herself and dropped the bombshell about her breakup with Tommy. Jason would not open up about himself while he knew she was still hurting. He was a gentleman in that way. She would have to start healing before Jason would burden her with his problems. Also, he still did not know the struggles she went through with her teammates and the pressure to stay thin.

It was definitely too soon to have that heart to heart. She would have to confront him at some point, but in the meantime, it was comforting to know that Jason was around.

Kimberly's thoughts turned in a different direction when she drove by a familiar restaurant. She and Tommy ate there when he visited nearly a year ago. Tommy sometimes teleported to see her, even though he was not supposed to. She smiled as she thought back on their haphazard attempts to not be seen. It would have been difficult if word got out that Tommy was in Florida when he was supposed to be heading to class.

Happier times seemed miles away now, and Kimberly lamented her broken relationship. She had developed feelings for a fellow gymnast named Matt and felt guilty for seeing him while Tommy was on the west coast, putting his life in danger every day. So she stupidly broke up with Tommy in a letter.

She rationalized time and time again that she was stressed and had no support group to lean on, and so, she reached out romantically.

However Kimberly decided to rationalize her actions, her heart told her that she did not care for Matt like she cared for Tommy. By the time she came to this realization, it was too late. She heard from the grapevine that, in his excitement, Tommy had read her "Dear John" letter in front of everyone at the Youth Center. There was no going back from that.

To make matters worse, after a less-than-stellar performance at the Pan Globals, Matt ended up moving on to another coach in another state.

So stupid...

As Kimberly pulled into her own apartment complex, she mentally prepared herself to face her mother. Mrs. Hart had come to Florida to watch her daughter perform at the prestigious competition, only to find out after that Kimberly was dealing with the aftermath of a breakup, stress from training, and anorexia. It was hard for Kimberly to keep these facts from her overbearingly intuitive mother. So Mrs. Hart stayed.

For the last four months she lived with Kimberly and made sure she was eating healthy enough to keep on training. It was a deal she had to make after her coach found out that she was intermittently starving herself.

It was nice having someone around for a change, but Kimberly could only handle so much of her mother. She cared too much.

Thankfully, Mrs. Hart would be leaving in a week. She had to get back to France, to her fiancee.

Kimberly parked her car and walked to her apartment. She hoped her explanation of the impromptu sleepover on the phone sufficed.

"Hello, Kimberly," Mrs. Hart was put together as always, and locked Kimberly with a critical gaze. "I see you are wearing the same clothes. You didn't think to pack a bag?"

Mrs. Hart closely monitored her daughter's plans through the day and night, and it was uncharacteristic of Kimberly to suddenly stay at a friend's house.

"Nope, I didn't think I would stay that late, but like I said, we got to talking and watching movies and before I knew it, it was midnight," Kimberly answered as she brushed by her mother. "I didn't want to drive back that late."

Mrs. Hart hummed. "Jasmine, right?"

"Yup," she nodded and shrugged out of her jacket. Kimberly was about to head to her room to change into running clothes when her mother spoke again.

"Does Jasmine by any chance wear aftershave?" Her mother arched her brow pointedly, in the same way Kimberly often did.

"No..." Kimberly tried her best to act confused. Darn it, Jason. Mrs. Hart's sense of smell was acute, and Kimberly was around a freshly-showered Jason all morning. "There was a guy at the bagel place who wore way too much cologne. We could smell him from across the room!" She made a face and hoped her anecdote was convincing.

The elder Hart put her hand on her hip. "Kimberly, I've been thinking about this all morning," Kimberly mentally cringed as her mother was closing in, "where is Jason?"

Her mother guessed right. Kimberly weighed her options. She could lie again and say that she did not know where he was (even though that was the truth up until a few weeks ago), or she could fess up.

She decided on the latter, since she was going to visit Jason again anyway, and Mrs. Hart would probably call Jason's mom to verify his whereabouts. She sighed. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Actually, I had breakfast with Jason this morning."

Mrs. Hart hummed again. "Did you stay with him last night?"

"Yes? Not… exactly. I finally got a hold of—"

"Oh Kim, don't tell me you and Jason—"

"No, no, no. It's not like that, Mom." She was hoping against hope that her mother would not jump to that conclusion, but who was she kidding? Her actions pointed straight to that fact.

"Don't tell me what it's like or what it's not like." She shook her head. "I was your age once, and going through boys like that is not the answer, honey. It's not what you need right now."

Kimberly could not believe what she was hearing. "Oh, you've got the nerve to tell me that after Richard, Peter, and Gustav?" She did not forget the train of men Caroline Hart led into her home after the messy divorce.

Her mother recoiled, but regained her posture. "Don't make this about me. I'm here to help you, and you were doing so well before—"

"Nothing happened between me and Jason. He's like my brother, Mom!" Kimberly involuntarily thought of Jason kissing her the way Tommy had, in places no one could see...

"Isn't that how you described Tommy in your letter?" She was ready with a comeback.

Most arguments were like this with Mrs. Hart. There was no way out of this one for Kimberly. She knew she should not have shared that detail with her mother.

"Yeah, but Jason is different. You know Jason."

Mrs. Hart knew the Scott household was a safe haven of sorts for Kimberly when she was growing up. Her ex-husband was verbally and, though she never admitted to her daughter, physically abusive. While she was grateful that her one and only daughter had a reprieve from her dysfunctional household, Caroline wished Kimberly never needed to leave in the first place. It hurt her to know that she was not the best of mothers, and was often jealous of the relationship she had with the Scotts and wary of her closeness with Jason.

"When were you going to tell me that he was still in Florida? After I left?"

Kimberly ran both hands through her mussed up hair. "Mom, I've been trying to get a hold of him for weeks. I had no idea he stayed in Florida after the Games. I just decided to show up at his place yesterday because he was being stubborn and didn't return my calls. I was worried, that's all."

Her mother exuded disapproval. "And I'm worried about you. You should have told me where you were going."

"Why? So you could tell me not to go?"

"Or something. Kim, I don't know why you choose to surround yourself with men like Tommy and Jason. Now, Matt, I didn't mind Matt. He was good for you and would have looked after you."

Kimberly's face was aghast. Her mother had no idea the type of men she held dear. If only her mother knew the countless number of lives they all saved on a daily basis.

Mrs. Hart continued, "What is Jason doing now, hovering around Florida until I leave? He should be in Switzerland, building a career for himself like Trini and Zack."

"He didn't fit in there, so he came back. He's just figuring things out—"

"Like Tommy? What's he doing now?"

Kimberly closed her eyes in frustration. She hardly missed the note of disdain in her mother's voice. Mrs. Hart was the type of woman who liked accomplished, sophisticated men. In other words, men with money. Kimberly did not want that sort of man for herself. She wanted someone who loved her, like Tommy. Somehow her mother did not see that, and despised how... close she and Tommy became.

"Mom, you care about me, I get that, but you have to let me live my own life, not the one you want for me."

She took a step towards Kimberly. "Sweetie, I want what's best for you, and I want you to succeed." Her gaudy jewelry jangled as she stepped closer.

"And I want to be happy. Seeing another face from home is helping with that. My happiness will lead to my success." Kimberly had not been honest with herself like this in a long time, and it was surprising. Her unhappiness led her to make decisions that did not feel right.

Caroline's face softened a bit. She often forgot that her daughter had a mind of her own. "You're a young woman now, and I know you are capable of great things. I just don't want to see you hurt again. You've had enough of that."

Kimberly grew thoughtful again. Was her mother beginning to apologize for childhood? She did not know, and was too done to ask.

"I know, Mom."

Mrs. Hart nodded and reached for Kimberly.

Instead of leaning into her embrace, Kimberly reached for the bedroom door to change. She understood where her mother was coming from, but did not appreciate how she talked about her closest friends.

"I'm going to go for a run now," Kimberly said, and shut the door behind her.

Mrs. Hart was left in the living room, wondering what she said that made Kimberly react that way. She sat down in a chair and glanced out the window intensely before shuffling through her purse, to go over her flight arrangements. She hoped she was not leaving Kimberly too soon.


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