A/N: Me? Actually updating a story? I'm just as surprised as you lol. I've had this chapter written for a while but just kinda forgot to post it so...sorry! Anyway, consider this a late xmas present. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday and happy new year! xxx
Two and a half weeks later, Reynie walked through the front door of the Benedict house to see a giant banner with the words "Welcome Home, Reynie!" scrawled across it with green finger paint. He couldn't help but smile, especially when all his family and friends arrived to help celebrate his return. His shoulder was still in a sling, his injuries still hurt, and still he had to go to the hospital almost weekly for check-ups, but all of that paled in comparison to the fact that he was alive and would soon be as good as new again. There was lots of cake and games and laughter, and for a while everyone could forget the terrible accident that befell him and how close they were to having a funeral rather than a recovery party.
It was later in the party when everyone was sitting at the large dining room table, having just finished eating their cake, that they decided to all join in on a game of cards.
"I'll take everyone's plates and clear the table," Kate volunteered, springing to her feet and stacking all of the dishes into a single tower.
"Are you sure you can carry them all?" Mrs. Washington asked, though by now everyone surely knew Kate was capable of that and so much more.
"Don't worry, I got it," Kate assured with a wink before grabbing the tower in her arms and heading out of the room.
Reynie caught himself staring at her as she left, his admiration for her written clear across his face. Ever since their "moment" in the hospital, Reynie began noticing everything about her, whether it be in her personality or even in her looks. He still was unsure of what her feelings were toward him (did she kiss him because she felt sorry for him? Was it to thank him? Or did she genuinely like him?) and he had yet to ask her, seeing as they hadn't been alone together since that day, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. Their kiss probably lasted no more than three seconds at the max, yet it was ingrained in Reynie's mind, and everytime she so much as looked at him his heart practically skipped a beat.
He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shin and stifled a yelp, turning to see Constance smirking at him knowingly from across the table. He quickly looked away, trying to fight the blush crawling up his neck at being caught. Constance had almost immediately noticed the weird emotions emanating from both Kate and Reynie ever since that day in the hospital, but after lots of pleading from Reynie (and possibly Kate? He didn't know), Constance finally agreed to keep quiet on the matter and let Reynie and Kate sort it out for themselves. That didn't stop her from making fun of them behind peoples backs, however, or giving Reynie swift kicks and bug-eyed looks when he was apparently 'too obvious' with his affection for Kate.
When Kate returned from the kitchen half a minute later, the card game began, yet Reynie found it hard to concentrate despite continuously berating himself for being distracted by her, but he couldn't help it. Every time she laughed, smiled, tossed her hair, frowned, stretched, did anything, he was completely captivated. She had been on his mind non stop for the last few weeks, and after some long nights full of mental debates and overthinking every interaction they'd ever had in his life, Reynie finally came to the conclusion that he liked Kate—as way more than just a friend.
At first the revelation scared him. He wondered if it had only been conceived because of her kiss, but then later decided that his feelings had been there long before that, but were just simply dormant. What really scared him now, though, was whether she felt anything for him in return.
Yet despite Reynie's inner turmoil, the party nevertheless continued on, and after the third card game (Milligan, Constance, and surprisingly Mr. Washington had been the three winners so far), Miss Perumal's mother declined another round.
"I'm afraid I'm too cold to sit here for another round," she explained. "I think I'll have to go to the living room and warm myself up by the fire."
Kate, who was sitting across from the older woman and had been growing rather bored of the game, eagerly sprang to her feet, thankful for a distraction. "I'll get you a sweater from upstairs, Mrs. Perumal."
"I'll run upstairs and grab you a shawl, Pati," Reynie volunteered at the exact same moment.
The two teens stared at each other in uncertainty. It wasn't like they were necessarily avoiding each other, just rather avoiding being alone with each other, since it seemed neither were ready to have the inevitable conversation.
"Uh, we'll both go," Reynie said quickly after the long pause. "You can start the next round without us."
"Thank you, dears," said Mrs. Perumal as Reynie and Kate disappeared from the room.
Their walk upstairs was filled with silence. Finally Reynie decided to try and break the ice. "Who do you think's gonna win the next round?" he asked, referring to the card game.
"Not me," Kate snorted as she opened the door the Mrs. Perumal's room. "I'm terrible at this game. If it were checkers, though, that's a different story."
Reynie laughed as he followed her inside. "I don't doubt it. It's the only game you've beaten me at."
"My proudest moment," Kate agreed, before looking around the room and selecting a blue cable knit shawl off of the desk chair. "This one should do." She threw the garment over her shoulder and walked back toward the open door. "Aren't you coming?" she asked when Reynie hadn't followed her out of the room.
Reynie didn't move, and unbeknownst to Kate, an internal war was taking place inside of him. For the first time in nearly three weeks, they were alone together. Now was his chance to finally figure out if she felt—
"Reynie?" Kate prompted again, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Oh, uh, do you want to wait in here for a minute? I doubt they're missing us downstairs," he said, trying not to stumble over his words despite the fact that his tongue felt like lead.
Kate stilled. "What for?"
"Well, since we're here, I've...actually been wanting to ask you something," Reynie began, fighting the urge to start pacing across the carpet in his nervousness.
Kate's face remained impassive, but she shut the door again.
Reynie cleared his throat. "It's about the...well, at the hospital—"
"I'm sorry!" Kate blurted loudly, making him jump. She tossed the sweater to the side and began waving her hands around as she spoke. "I know you're talking about the kiss, and I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or break any sort of boundaries, and I really wasn't thinking and I was super emotional so—"
"Wait," interrupted Reynie, moving closer and placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her rambling. "You don't have to apologize. I mean...I didn't mind." He decided to look at the wall behind her rather than in her eyes as he admitted this. He could already feel his face colouring once the words were out in the open.
"You...didn't mind?" Kate repeated.
Reynie half shrugged, half nodded. Why was he so bad at this? He internally cringed, wondering how he could be brave enough to take a bullet for his friend but couldn't even explain to the same friend how he felt about her.
"I mean, I just want to know what you meant by it, I guess." Reynie finally lifted his head to look her in the eyes. He normally prided himself on being able to read people easily by noticing the subtle shifts in their expression or posture, but he was drawing a blank when it came to Kate, which did nothing to help his nerves. "Was it only because you felt sorry for me? Or because you wanted to thank me? Or…?"
"Or?" Kate prompted. She was standing completely still, which was unusual for her. For the first time Reynie realized she was probably nervous too, and the thought gave him the small bit of courage he needed.
"Or...do you like me?" he finally finished. "As more than a friend?"
Kate blew a stray hair away from her eyes and began fidgeting again. "Well, which do you want to be true?"
The question was unexpected, but not hard. Reynie knew exactly what he wanted to be true, but he'd been hoping to hear it from her first. Yet the way she had phrased the question made it seem like she was open to any option, which Reynie saw as a good sign. Perhaps she was just as uncertain about his feelings as he was about hers.
Reynie took a deep breath. "Well, I'm kinda hoping the girl I really like likes me back," he admitted softly, all the while watching her face carefully.
She paused, before her head snapped up to look at him. "The girl you really like?" she parroted back, her tone almost...hopeful? Reynie couldn't tell, but she seemed excited at his words.
Was this the confirmation he'd been searching for? Before he could begin over analyzing her words and double guessing himself, he blurted, "I really like you, Kate."
For a few agonizing seconds Kate didn't respond. Then the largest grin he'd ever seen split her lips, and she beamed at him. "You really like me? As more than a friend?"
Her joy was contagious, and Reynie found himself grinning too. "Yeah. I have for a while now, but it just took the kiss for me to really recognize it, I think."
"So you're not mad about it then? The kiss, I mean?" Kate asked anxiously, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet.
"Of course not," said Reynie.
Kate let out a large sigh of relief. "You have no idea how much I've been stressing out about that. I was so afraid I accidentally let my feelings get the better of me and had ruined everything, but now—" She gazed at Reynie as though seeing him in a new light. "But now, I don't have to worry."
"So...you like me too, in the same way?" said Reynie. Even though she'd already implied it, he wanted to hear the words for himself, just as a reassurance that he wasn't imagining all of this.
Kate laughed. "Of course, you goof. I just...after you got hurt I realized that part of the reason I was so torn up about it—well, besides the obvious reason of you almost dying and it being for me—was because I had never...well, I had always felt a little different toward you, like, not in the same way I felt toward Sticky and Constance, but I didn't want to acknowledge it because I thought it was silly but then I realized it was so much more and that I wouldn't be able to tell you and—," Kate paused to take a breath, and then tugged on her ponytail in frustration. "Sorry, I'm just...really bad at this," she explained with an embarrassed chuckle. "Isn't it funny, how I can face ten a dozen Ten Men without so much as a second thought, but when it comes to explaining my feelings I forget how to speak english?"
Reynie laughed, having thought nearly the exact same thing earlier. "Believe it or not, I'm the same way."
"Really?" Kate arched an eyebrow in disbelief. "Reynie Muldoon, the cleverest, most composed person I know, gets flustered talking about his feelings?" She teased with a grin.
"And Kate Wetherall, the most confident, courageous person I know, also gets flustered?" Reynie teased back with a smile.
"I guess we're just learning all sorts of new things about each other tonight," Kate said coyly, taking a step closer to him.
"I guess so," Reynie replied.
For several moments the two simply stared at each other and smiled. Never had they imagined just how happy they could be at learning that their feelings were reciprocated, and neither wanted the moment to end. No words were exchanged between them, but they could see in each other's eyes what words failed to describe. Neither one knew what the future held for them, but both were confident that the devotion they felt for each other would only continue to grow and strengthen their already close bond, eventually turning into a passion unlike anything they'd ever experienced.
As though drawn together by an invisible string, they both leaned in, hesitating for a second only to smile at each other before their lips gently met. It was a soft, chaste kiss, but it spoke volumes between the two of them, physically sealing the feelings they had finally admitted just minutes before. Kate leaned back a moment later and laughed at Reynie's dazed expression, before leaning in again, bringing up her hands to cup his face as his settled comfortably around her waist.
For Kate, kissing Reynie was a ridiculous fantasy she had never believed would actually come true. For so long she had admired Reynie's calm composure, quick wit, and sweet selflessness without realizing it was more than admiration until it was almost too late, but now she was here with him, kissing him no less, and nothing in the world could steal the happiness she felt in that moment.
For Reynie, kissing Kate was an enigma he wished to never unravel. The fact that such a beautiful, courageous girl with a heart bigger than anyone he knew liked him, had chosen him, and was in his arms—it was almost more than he could comprehend, and his heart felt like it would burst with elation. But for the first time in his life he didn't want to know all the how's and why's regarding the recent development in their relationship, and instead just accepted the truth and wholeheartedly appreciated it for what it was.
When their lips finally parted again, Kate slipped her hand into his free one and squeezed it, unable to stop smiling. "So...what should we do now?"
Reynie (who was trying not to wince at the strong grip Kate had on his hand) leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. "I guess the next step is for me to ask Milligan for permission to date his daughter." He chuckled. "Hopefully he won't kill me."
"Oh please, I wouldn't worry too much about that," Kate assured him. "You almost died—there's no way he'll say no to you."
"Glad to know the ability to survive is all he cares about in a potential suitor for his only daughter," he replied jokingly.
Kate playfully smacked his arm, thankfully the one that wasn't in the sling, and said, "You know it's more than that—Milligan loves you, and will probably be thrilled to say yes."
"I hope so," Reynie said, smiling at her again. He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before straightening up and tugging on her hand. "I guess we should get back to the game before someone comes to find us."
Kate's eyes widened and she smacked her forehead. "Shoot! We came up here to find a sweater for Mrs. Perumal and got totally distracted!" She dropped his hand to quickly retrieve the sweater she had tossed to the side. A second later she had it in her arms again and pointed at Reynie accusingly. "This is technically your fault."
"If you say so," said Reynie indifferently, but then shot her a grin before they both headed downstairs, hand in hand again, ready to take on whatever life threw their way.
Together.