Disclaimer: I still don't own Big Time Rush. Song lyrics are courtesy of "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked" courtesy of Ida Maria. Please don't sue. Between gas prices and driving to work, I'm pretty much broke.
HDMASLOWHOUGH: Here you go, you're about to find out what happened :) And thank you for reading and reviewing!

Candice: Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter :) And thank you for reviewing!

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A/N: So, this is almost updated in a timely manner, less than three weeks. I was originally planning to update this on Tuesday, but I got called into work which ended up leading to a bunch of drama, but it's cool. I'm taking advantage of a beautiful Saturday to bring this to your guys' computers, phones, and tables. Anyway, this chapter features both Katie's and James' POVs, and some stuff may not make a lot of sense. It's stuff that should be cleared up in later chapters. Also, please keep in mind, Katie is very confused right now, so if she acts a little...illogical...that'd be why.

Enjoy the chapter :)

Chapter Eleven – The Morning After

Katie's POV

The good news was that when I woke up the next morning I wasn't naked. The bad news was that I was mostly naked.

I slowly opened my eyes, taking in the weak winter sunlight streaming through the hotel room's curtains. A pale gold light painted the room like a portrait. Next to me, James groaned but didn't move. A quick check told me that I had somehow managed to keep my bra and panties on. Also that my entire body was sore. I rolled over onto my back and stifled a scream.

Damn. My ribs hurt like hell. I was pretty sure they weren't broken, though, so that was good. But they were bruised as fuck.

Yeah, playing against the boys was a great idea.

I forced myself to sit up, ignoring my screaming stomach muscles. James stirred, hazel eyes flickering open. He looked over at me and grinned. "So, do I get to wake up to this every morning?"

I groaned in response.

"Fuck, Katie." He let out a sharp breath, eyes on my stomach. "You look like someone took a hockey stick to your body."

"It's an accurate description," I grunted, pushing back the covers and crawling out of bed.

"Maybe you should see a doctor," James suggested, rolling onto his stomach, sprawling out over the bed, blankets draped over his legs and hips.

"Maybe," I said noncommittally. "Hey, did anyone come in here at all last night?"

"You mean after you fell asleep? Not that I know of. But it's a good point. Where the hell did everyone end up at?"

I began picking up the articles of clothing scattered around the room and struggled into them.

James smirked.

"What?"

"You're wearing my shirt."

"What? No I'm – " I glanced down and realized that, yeah, I was wearing his shirt. That was, unless my Abbey Dawn t-shirt had changed to a large plain black t-shirt overnight. "Oh. I guess I am." I was just about to tug it back over my head when James said,

"Wait."

I looked at him questioningly as he got out of bed and padded over to me, wearing only his boxers. Fuck, he looked good.

James tied the shirt's tail up. "It looks better on you," he said quietly, before leaning forward and brushing his lips over mine. And suddenly it was all I could do not to kiss him back, or to wrap my arms around him and rest my head against his chest. As much as I wanted to do both those things, there was a loud, screeching voice in my head reminding me that he. Was. The. Enemy. And I wasn't supposed to be fraternizing with the enemy. Not like this, anyway. I had gotten too close to him last night.

"Thanks," I said, my voice squeaking like a mouse. "I, um, I try. Anyway, um…" I swallowed as I looked up at him, still half naked, hazel eyes soft and hair tousled from sleep. In the morning light, I suddenly noticed how green his eyes looked, even though they were hazel. God, I loved hazel eyes. They could change color in different lights, on different days, or even just depending on the color shirt the person wore. And James had the prettiest hazel eyes I had ever seen, framed by long, dark lashes.

"Um, what?" James asked, looping his arms around my waist and pulling me against him.

"You know we're not, like, together…right?" I asked, my voice still sounding more high-pitched than normal. "We're not…we're not dating…this doesn't mean that we're…boyfriend and girlfriend…"

James pulled back to look down at me. "Yes, Katie. I'm aware of that. I remember what you said last night, that you're not interested in dating anyone."

"And yet you're still manhandling me," I replied, voice strengthening in response to the sarcastic tone of his voice.

He pulled back and raised his hands in surrender. "Excuse me for touching you. I mean, it's not like we made out or fooled around last night. It's not like we probably would have had sex if you hadn't fallen asleep on me."

Heat rose to my cheeks. "In my defense, it's not my fault I fell asleep. I was exhausted from the game, from the party, and from…"

"The orgasm I gave you?" James smirked, clearly enjoying himself now.

"That was hardly a – "

"It was an orgasm. I know one when I see it."

"Because you got Devon to orgasm?" I shot back, not even realizing what I was saying until the words left my mouth.

There was a long silence, and then James asked, almost hesitantly, "Are you…jealous?"

I snorted, trying to untie the shirt and only succeeding in making the knot tighter. "Of what? Of her? I don't care what you do with her or with any girl, James. As far as I'm concerned, last night was a onetime deal. I was tired and upset and vulnerable and – "

"And what?" he demanded, anger creeping into his voice. "I took advantage of you? Is that what you're saying?"

"No. I just – " I ran my fingers through my hair. "I don't know what I'm saying. Look, last night can't ever happen again. Okay? I don't have time for – for – for boys and sex and – I just don't. And it's not like we even like each other, so it's not like it even matters."

"I see what's going on here. You were only using me for my body."

I growled. "You're such an asshole."

"And you're such a bitch."

"Just don't tell anyone about last night."

"Who would I tell? No one would believe me. And keep the shirt," he added as I went back to working on the knot. "Like I said, it looks better on you. I'm going to take a shower." James grabbed a change of clothes out of his backpack, which was lying on the floor. "Make up some excuse to explain to the others why we spent the night together. I don't care, just don't tell them the truth, otherwise apparently the consequences will be dire." He wiggled his fingers at me before slamming into the bathroom, leaving me extremely confused.

When I crossed through the portal – AKA the adjoining door – into the Girls' Suite, everyone looked up at me from where they were sprawled out through the bedroom.

"Hey," I said nonchalantly, as if I hadn't spent the night making out with James and touching him and being touched by him. Fuck. I really wanted to go back to last night. "Where were you guys?"

"You mean last night?" Logan quirked an eyebrow at me. "We tried to get into the other suite, but the door was locked."

My eyes widened as I realized he was right. James had locked the door when he had followed me into the Boys' Suite, and I had unlocked the door to get back into the Girls'. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I cried. "James and I didn't even realize – I think he locked the door by accident and we were so busy talking that we didn't even realize. You guys never knocked or anything…right?" It suddenly occurred to me, with a flash of horror, that maybe they had knocked, that maybe they had ended up listening at the door for signs of life, only to hear me whining James' name, or him groaning mine. Oh. My. God.

Logan shook his head. "Nah. We figured you two had crashed or something, and we didn't want to wake you up. You two don't really spend a lot of time acting civil towards each other, so it wasn't really worth breaking up your quality time together."

"Oh, okay," I said, my shoulders slumping in relief.

"Why're you wearing James' t-shirt?" Stephanie suddenly asked, an eyebrow quirking up.

"Oh, um, I accidentally put his shirt on when I got dressed this morning," I replied casually.

"Your clothes for today are in here," Jo pointed out.

"I mean, after I showered," I said quickly. "I showered in the other suite and then got dressed, and I accidentally grabbed his shirt instead of mine."

"How did you grab his shirt instead of yours?" Camille wanted to know. "Weren't you wearing your shirt at the time?"

"Oh, um, he let me borrow this shirt to sleep in last night, since I was so tired I didn't really want to come back in here to change clothes."

"That was nice of him," Kyle commented, lips twitching.

"Yeah," Shane chimed in. "I'm sure it was a real hassle for him, seeing you wearing his clothes."

"Must've been very painful," Carlos snickered.

I fought back a blush. Luckily, James walked into the room at that moment, freshly showered and wearing a change of clothes – jeans and an AC/DC t-shirt.

"What's up?" he asked the room at large.

"Just questioning Katie about why she's wearing your shirt," Shane replied.

"Yeah," Camille smirked. "It was soooo nice of you to lend it to her so that she could sleep in it."

James shrugged. "I mean, I'd already kicked her ass on the rink. I figured it wouldn't hurt to be nice to her for a little while."

"Uh huh. You're truly selfless," I deadpanned.

"What can I say? I'm the male version of Mother Theresa."

"More like the male version of Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Points for the Harry Potter reference, but I'm gonna have to dock you for the comparison to a bat shit crazy witch."

I spread my hands as if to say, oh well.

"Anyway," Stephanie spoke up, "we need to get packing – checkout's at noon."

Grumbling, the others got to their feet, stretching and shuffling off to their respective rooms. Before James crossed back through the portal, I gave him a threatening glare that plainly said, "you say anything, you're one dead hockey player". He blew me a kiss in return.

Jackass.

The last twenty-four hours had been so insane that it was a relief to get out of the hotel and into my car. I wasn't in a hurry to get home, not entirely sure what I was going to say to my mom when she asked if I had had a good time – "sure, it was a blast, especially the part where I made out with James and practically let him get to third base." Somehow, I didn't see that going over too well with the parental unit.

I took my time driving home, going the long way, but eventually I couldn't put it off any longer. I pulled into the garage, cut the engine, and clambered out, grabbing my overnight bag. I hauled it into the house.

Mom and Dad were relaxing on the couch in the living room, watching some ancient black and white movie. They looked up when I walked in.

"Hey, sweetie," Mom smiled at me. "Did you have fun last night?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, it was okay. I'm really sore from yesterday though."

"And this is why it was a bad idea for you girls to play against the boys," Dad told me sternly.

Mom pressed her lips together, not saying anything, but I could tell she inwardly agreed.

"Really? I had no idea," I said sarcastically. "Anyway, I'm going to head upstairs to take a bath."

As I was walking out of the room, my mom's phone rang. "Hey, sweetheart," she answered, which told me it must have been Kendall who was calling. He was probably letting her know why he hadn't gotten home yet. Come to think of it, I wanted to know that myself. He and James had walked out to the hotel parking lot with me. And with all the detours I had taken, I thought for sure that he'd get home before me.

I ended up in the bathroom, running a bath hot enough to make ash melt. I added Epson salt and my favorite sweet pea bubble bath, before stripping down and climbing in. I stretched out in the tub as much as I could, and rested my head against the bath cushion, closing my eyes.

And James promptly invaded my thoughts.

No.

That was not okay. Not allowed.

Yet my brain didn't care. I sank deeper into the bath, feeling the water drift over my bare skin as if it was James' ghost, stroking his hand up my leg, cupping my hip, caressing my chest –

My spine tingled and I sat up straight, gasping. He was here. In the house.

And then I realized how ridiculous that was. There was no way in hell I could sense his presence, especially in a house as large as this one was. Besides, he had his own house to go home to. What the hell would he be doing here?

I attempted to relax again, but my trance had been broken. So instead I washed up, rinsed shampoo and conditioner through my hair, and climbed out. After I had dried off, I padded to my bedroom where I slipped into my favorite pajamas.

There was a knock on my door. "Katie? Can you come downstairs?"

It was my mom. Frowning, I called back, "Be down in a sec!"

I ran a brush through my freshly dried hair, shoved my feet into my slippers, and padded out of my room and down the stairs. I paused halfway down as I came into view of the living room.

James and Kendall were standing there with my parents. James looked up at me and our eyes met. I bit my lip, fighting back a blush. I still couldn't believe last night had happened. And as much as I didn't want to admit it, a part of me – a huge part – wanted to go back and redo the night, so that I could experience it again. And in all honesty, it was driving me nuts.

"What's going on?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice neutral. I couldn't decide if I wanted to run back up the stairs and never come out of my room, or tackle James to the ground and have my wicked way with him.

Both options sounded so appealing.

"James is going to be staying with us for about a week or so," Mom said mildly.

My eyes widened. Excusez-moi?

"Why?" I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest, suddenly acutely aware that I hadn't bothered to put on a bra. "What's wrong with his house?"

"His mom's on a business trip, and she won't be back home until next Saturday, at the earliest."

"So he has to stay with us? Are you seriously telling me that you've never stayed home by yourself overnight?" I asked James.

"Your brother insisted. I got the call from my mom, letting me know what was going on, just before I got in my car to go home. Kendall was there, and he decided to bring me home with him."

"He does have a penchant for taking in strays."

"Katie," Mom snapped.

I held up my hands in surrender. "Sorry."

She sighed. "I'll go make you kids some lunch. And James, don't listen to Katie. You're welcome here anytime."

"Where's your brother?" I asked James as both my parents headed for the kitchen.

"My dad picked him up. They're on their way back up to Crystal Lake."

"Oh. Right."

Kendall patted James' shoulder. "I'm going to go clear a space for you in my room. Come on up when you're finished talking with my sister." He headed up the stairs, leaving me alone with James.

I walked the rest of the way down to the living room, lifting my chin to look up at James. "You know, I could always tell my dad what happened last night. You wouldn't be so welcome here if he knew."

"But you won't do that," James' voice was as soft as mine, and somehow managed to sound both firm and seductive at the same time. "Because you know if your dad finds out, you'll be locked up until you're fifty and you don't want that."

I clenched my jaw. Damn him. Damn him to hell.

He moved past me, brushing my hip with his. "Nice jammies by the way," he added, addressing my Hello Kitty pajamas. "Very adorable."

I blushed again. "Fuck off, Diamond."

"Am I hitting a nerve, Knight? Oh, wait, I hit several last night. I must really know how to get you going."

I flipped him off. "You don't know anything about me."

"On the contrary, Katie, I know you better than you think. Maybe even better than you know yourself." And with that he dashed up the stairs before I could throw a pillow at his head.

I locked myself in my room for the rest of the day, coming out only for dinner – after changing into jeans and a sweatshirt.

"No more Hello Kitty pajamas?" James smirked at me as we helped my parents and brother clean up the kitchen after dinner.

"No," I grunted out.

"Too bad. I liked them."

"Which is why I'm not wearing them."

"It's so cute how you care what I think."

I ground my teeth together. With just a few well-chosen words he knew exactly how to make me want to smash his face into the fridge. "I don't care what you think. I just don't want to be seen wearing something that you might wear."

James cracked up. "You know, I've been trying to find Hello Kitty pajamas in my size, but they just don't seem to carry them."

I glared up at him. I couldn't win. I couldn't fucking win. And I hated that I still wanted to kiss him, even though he was in the middle of making fun of me.

Again.

I stormed upstairs, just in time to catch my phone in mid ring. I answered it without thinking. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Camille."

"Oh, hey, Cami. What's up?"

"I'm picking you up tomorrow morning."

"I'm sorry?"

"You're riding to school with me."

I blinked. "Um…I have my own car…"

"I don't care. We need to talk."

"About?"

"You and James. I don't give a shit what lame excuse you guys have come up with, something happened between you two last night."

I didn't say anything.

"Exactly." She sounded satisfied. "So I'll pick you up a little after seven tomorrow. And be prepared to spill all the juicy details."

"Oh, goody."

"Love you too. See you then."

"See you then." We hung up, and I threw myself on my bed. Great. This week was shaping up to be fucking perfect.

The next morning I was running late, which was emphasized by the fact that Kendall had gotten into the shower before I did. Which meant that I had to wait an extra fifteen minutes to brush my teeth and shower. Or I could just use my parents' bathroom.

Since I could hear my dad talking on the phone downstairs, I hurried down the hall with the toothbrush and toothpaste I had just managed to grab before Kendall had kicked me out, and scurried through my parents' bedroom. I could hear the shower going. My mom must have been in it. It was about the right time for it. But hopefully she would hurry up so that I could hurry up.

I knocked on the door. "Hey, your son's hogging our bathroom, so I'm coming in." I pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The door fell shut behind me as my eyes widened.

Maybe I should have waited for an answer.

The shower had turned off in the two seconds it had taken for me to get into the bathroom, and the shower curtain had been pulled back. And it sure as hell wasn't my mom in the bathtub.

James stood there, dripping wet, looking more than a little amused, and – oh yeah – naked.

I blinked, staring at him speechlessly. Well. This was new.

He grinned and reached for one of the towels hanging on the rack next to the tub. "And to think, I always thought we'd be sleeping together before you'd walk in on me in the shower."

I finally let out an embarrassed "eeep!" and slapped my hands over my eyes. "Kendall's in our bathroom and I thought Mom was in here and I'm so sorry!"

"Chill, Katie. It's not a big deal. I have nothing to hide."

I had noticed. I had really, really noticed.

"And I'm decent," he added. "So you can look."

I slowly lowered my hands, blinking at him again. He had secured the towel around his waist and was running a second towel through his hair.

"I'm just – " I swallowed, trying desperately not to stare at his torso. Or his arms. Or his shoulders. "I'm going to brush my teeth."

"Go for it. And hey, shower's free. But since you're so eager to share it with me, we can take one together tomorrow morning."

I glared at him. "I didn't mean to walk in on you. It was an accident."

He shrugged. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah. I believe you."

I frowned, suddenly not liking that. As stupid and twisted as it was, I had sort of been hoping he'd tease me some more. It was his way of letting me know that he was interested. But he had let the subject drop way too soon.

And then I realized that his cheeks were red and he was avoiding my eyes.

So maybe he was a little bit embarrassed, too. Huh. That was new, too.

He exited the bathroom without another word, and I squirted some toothpaste onto my toothbrush. Talk about an interesting morning.

Camille picked me up at 7:10, and I climbed into her car, smoothing out my skirt and shivering. "I knew it was a bad idea to wear tights and a skirt," I said as I buckled my seatbelt.

"So, you decided to suffer for the sake of fashion?" she asked, pulling away from the curb.

"Something like that."

The truth was, I was hoping to erase the memory of my Hello Kitty pajamas from James' brain. And there was also the fact that I had come up with a way to tease him about the incident this morning. And I wanted to make sure that I looked my absolute best while doing it. Thus the black lace skate skirt, pink sweater, black tights, and my favorite snow boots.

"So," she said, taking a sip of the Starbucks coffee she had somehow had time to stop for, "spill. What happened between you and James on Saturday? Did you two…you know? Do the dirty?"

"No!" I cried. "Of course not! I'm still a virgin, and as far as I know, so is he."

"Oh." She frowned, looking disappointed. "That sucks."

"Gee, thanks."

"Well, it's just, I thought that maybe if you guys managed to get your sexual frustration out, you might get along better."

"Well, we did manage to get our sexual frustration out, and we're still not getting along very well."

Camille hit the brakes as she came to a stop sign, and she turned in her seat to stare at me. "What happened?"

"You can go, you know. It's a four way stop, and you're the only one here."

She screeched through the intersection. "What did you and James do?"

"Does it really matter?"

"It does to me. I'm fucking curious now!"

I sighed, resigning myself to spilling my guts to Camille. "We…you know…made out…fooled around…that sort of thing."

"How far did you guys get?" she asked eagerly.

"Not quite to third base."

"Oh."

"Which is just fine with me. He got to third base with Devon. I know where his mouth and dick has been."

"So, what, you'll never get to third base with him just because he got there with Devon?"

I crossed my arms resolutely over my chest. "It's not like it matters. We're not dating."

"Yet you guys made out for, like, an entire night. I'd say something's going on."

"Nothing worth thinking about." Which was a lie. I knew it was a lie. And from the look on Cami's face, she knew it was a lie. With a sigh, I pulled out my phone and began messing with it.

"What're you doing…?"

I smirked to myself. "Changing James' ring tone."

"To what? Did you finally find a song called 'I Hate Your Guts but I Really Want to Fuck You'?"

"Something like that."

She rolled her eyes. "Something tells me this isn't going to end well."

James' POV

Even though Kendall and I were staying in the same house, we still ended up taking separate cars to school. It was easier that way, though. He and Jo were planning to hang out after hockey practice, and I was intending to just go home once practice ended.

I walked into school by myself, but was immediately flagged down by Logan. "So, uh, what happened between you and Katie on Saturday night?"

I stared at him, very aware of the fact that Katie was just across the hall from us, chatting with Camille. Katie looked so fucking good in that skirt. I loved her legs so much…Wait. Focus. Focus on Logan. "Why do you want to know?"

"Camille thinks you guys had sex. So. Did you have sex?"

"No!"

"Did you get close to having sex?"

I mulled that over for a moment. "Depends on what you consider getting close."

"So, stuff did happen?"

"Yeah. But Katie doesn't want anyone to know, so do me a favor and don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Not a problem. Your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks." I smiled at him gratefully, just as my phone vibrated in my jeans pocket. I pulled it out and saw that I had a text from Katie: "Hey, I just changed your ringtone on my phone. Do me a favor and call me so that I can make sure it worked."

I shrugged and put the call through, knowing that any second I might hear some emo guy screaming about how much he hates someone emanating from Katie's phone. Instead, something else blasted out entirely:

"'Cuz I like you so much better when you're naked

I like me so much better when you're naked

I like you so much better when you're naked

I like me so much better when you're naked!'"

My eyes bugged out and I gaped at Katie, who was leaning against her locker, grinning across the hall at me. That little smartass. The fucking tease.

"How far did you guys get?" Logan wanted to know, clearly confounded by Katie's ringtone.

"Not as far as that song implies. If you'll excuse me, I have a little brat to strangle."

I began stalking towards her, but her eyes widened and she slipped around Camille, dashing through the hall and skirting around people. I followed, moving deftly around people, keeping an eye on her. She glanced over her shoulder and our eyes met. She ducked into what I was assuming was an empty classroom.

I followed, and she grabbed my shirt, dragging me in the rest of the way. She threw her body against the door to close it, before yanking me down and kissing me forcefully. I kissed her back, bracing her against the door. Her arms encircled my neck and I scooped her up. Her legs went around my waist, and I licked at her bottom lip. She opened her mouth eagerly and I slipped my tongue in, groaning as I felt her fingers entwine in my hair, pulling.

And then the first bell ring.

Katie and I broke the kiss, both of us panting hard. She wiggled out of my arms and I set her down before she could fall to the floor. Without a word, she slipped out the classroom door, leaving me breathing hard and by myself, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

Talk about ruining a moment, right? Sorry about that...kinda...Anyway. Thank you for reading, and if you could review, letting me know what you thought of the chapter, I would love it! :)