Okay, so this is I guess a companion piece to The phantom's girl story ofIt's OK, the first chapter of A Stranger Relationship. This'll probably make a lot more sense if you've read that. Just as a warning, this chapter has sexual themes as well as swearing.
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Katrina slowly opened her eyes, blinking and squinting at the sunlight streaming through her window. She stretched and glanced at her alarm clock with a sleepy smile. It read 10:03 a.m. It was later than she usually got up, but after last night...
Katrina blushed, smiling bashfully, and rolled over to greet her boyfriend. Only to find the spot next to her empty.
The healer shot up and looked around, panic coursing through her. The space next to her was still warm, so she knew that he had only gotten up recently. Surely he wouldn't have just left her to wake up alone after last night, right?
She spotted his shirt and vest on the floor next to her dress, where they had been left last night, and calmed down. Katrina mentally scolded herself for thinking that Francis would have just up and left her. Still, it made her wonder where he was. He couldn't have gone very far without his shirt.
Suddenly, there was a knock on her door, startling her and causing her to jump. "Hey, 'Trina, are you awake yet?" The voice belonged to Richie.
"Uh, just one moment!"
Katrina threw back the covers of her bed, making a mental note to wash them later, and got to her feet. A mild pain shot up her spine and she let out a hiss. Before she had made the decision to sleep with Francis, she had done research on things to expect so that she could make an informed decision. She had forgotten about the potential soreness she had read about.
"Are you okay, 'Trina?"
"Uh, I-I'm fine!" she replied in a rush, quickly making her way to her dresser to get clothes, "I'll b-be with you in a moment!"
"Okay." She could hear the amusement in his voice.
As quick as she could, Katrina threw on a clean set of clothes. She then opened her door and swiftly closed it behind her so that Richie couldn't see inside, offering the genius a nervous smile.
"Good morning, Richie. Beautiful day, isn't it?"
Richie raised a brow at her obviously suspicious behavior. Clearing his throat, he gestured to her door.
Following his gaze, Katrina's face glowed bright red when she realized that her bra was still hanging from the doorknob. Snatching up the article of clothing, she tossed it carelessly into her room and practically slammed the door shut.
Richie was snickering when she turned to him again, "Have fun last night?"
Katrina's blush darkened, if possible, and her eyes grew wide. The blond wrapped his arms around his stomach as he doubled over with laughter. She narrowed her eyes at her friend.
"Oh, hush!"
"Sorry, sorry." Richie took a deep breath and straightened up, all previous traces of amusement gone. "In all seriousness though, do you... have any regrets?"
It was a question that Katrina didn't need to think about. She already knew the answer. "Not a single one."
Richie smiled, "Good."
Just then, there was a crash from downstairs, startling the healer and the genius.
"Uh... Richie... what was that?"
"Yeah, about that..." It was Richie's turn to look nervous, "... That's the reason why I came to wake you up. When Kat and I came back from laser tag last night, she saw the bra on your door. I pulled her away before she could do anything, but... she wasn't very happy. Francis came into the kitchen this morning without a shirt on and it completely set her off. They had been arguing when I left to get you. I think World War III is about to break out in your kitchen."
Katrina sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She knew that Kathrine wouldn't be happy about it, but the healer had been hoping that she'd let it go as Katrina was old enough to make her own decisions.
"Well, I suppose we should go down there and stop them." she said to Richie.
The two made their way downstairs and cautiously entered the kitchen.
The first thing Katrina noticed was that the cactus she kept on the windowsill above the sink was now lying on the floor, the pot that had been holding it completely shattered. The pebbles that had been in the pot were now floating around Kathrine's head like a halo.
The second thing she noticed was that the batteries from the smoke detector had been popped out of the device, no doubt to prevent Francis from setting it off with the amount of smoke he was currently emitting from his hair and eyes.
Kathrine and Francis sat at opposite ends of the kitchen table, arms crossed over their chests and glowing white eyes glaring at each other. The room was dead quiet, the tension almost tangible.
Katrina took a deep breath, then cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Good morning, everyone!" she greeted as cheerfully as she could, forcing a smile.
Francis' gaze softened as he turned to her, but Kathrine's remained unchanged.
"Katrina Marie Blake, get your butt over here."
Katrina winced. Kathrine rarely, if ever, used her middle name. It meant that she was in real trouble and that this was going to be a long morning. The healer went to stand beside Francis, steeling herself for the conversation ahead of her.
Francis reached for her hand under the table as Richie made his way over to Kathrine, the smoke slowly dissipating. The pyro laced their fingers together, both to remind her that she wasn't doing this alone and also to prevent him from accidentally setting anything on fire. Katrina gave him a small smile.
Kathrine stared at the two long and hard before closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. The pebbles gradually stopped swirling around and lowered themselves onto the table. Opening her eyes, she fixed her sister with a stern look. "What were you thinking?"
Katrina's expression was a mask of stone as she replied, "I'm not sure I know what you mean."
"You know damn well what I mean!" Kathrine snapped, "Having sex, with him? Did he pressure you into it? Take you out to a fancy restaurant so you'd feel obligated to sleep with him?"
Francis tensed up beside her, snarling, "Shut your fucking mouth, you stuck up bitch! She's important to me! I would never and haven't ever forced Katrina to do anything she didn't want to do! That's more than you can say, isn't it?!"
Kathrine visibly flinched as though struck, guilt flashing in her eyes. It only lasted for a second before anger took over. "Fuck you, you son of a bitch! I made a mistake! A big mistake, but a mistake nonetheless! But you know all about mistakes, don't you? You've been making them your entire life!"
"Enough! Both of you just stop!" Katrina interjected before any more harsh words could be said, "To answer your question, Kathrine, no. Francis didn't pressure me into it. He even told me twice that we didn't have to. I was the one who brought it up. It was my idea."
Kathrine stared at her sister, "Your idea? But... it was your first time. You recklessly went through with it? That's not something you should make a snap decision about."
"I wasn't reckless and it wasn't a snap decision." she argued, "Francis and I have been dating for a little over a year now and I had been considering it for a few months now."
Francis glanced up at her, surprised. This was the first time he had heard of it. They had only ever discussed intimacy once and his only comment had been that they'd only do it when she was ready, not before.
"I did research, you know. On what to expect before I made my decision. I didn't rush into it."
Katrina could tell that her sister was taken aback and there was hurt in her green eyes. "Research? Why... why didn't you just come talk to me?"
The healer sighed, "I thought that you'd try to talk me out of it, or go off on a rant about Francis. Or react like you are now."
"Can you blame me? You're too young to be having sex!"
Katrina raised a brow at her sister's blatant hypocrisy. "Kathrine, there are a few problems with your reasoning. First of all, you and I are the same age. You may be two months older, but we're still the same age. If I'm too young to... have sex," she blushed a little while saying the word, "... then so are you. Now, I know that you and Richie have already slept together and I also know that you lost your... virginity... at an earlier age than I did. Isn't it a little hypocritical of you to be passing judgment on Francis and I for that?"
Richie was blushing as Kathrine gaped, neither of them expecting that response. Francis was leaning back in his chair, a proud smirk on his face. Katrina watched her sister expectantly, waiting for her to respond.
Kathrine opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she finally managed to say, "That's different."
"How so?"
"I'm your older sister. I'm supposed to protect you. I've always protected you..."
The guilt was clear in her eyes and Katrina used a gentler tone of voice. "I know, and you've done a wonderful job over the years. However... I'm not a little girl anymore, Kathrine. I need to make my own decisions and if something happens because of that, I need to take responsibility for my actions. You can't protect me from everything forever. I'm going to have to grow up sometime and... I'm sure you've noticed that I've already started to do so."
Kathrine sighed and leaned back in her chair. Of course she knew that what the healer said was true. With how closely she watched her sister, it was impossible not to notice. Still, she had always held an unrealistic hope that she would be able to protect Katrina from everything.
Kathrine sighed again, rubbing the bridge of her nose in an attempt to fight off an oncoming headache. "Did you at least use a condom?" she asked in a more resigned tone.
Her inquiry was met with silence. Katrina refused to meet her sister's gaze, instead taking great interest in the floor.
"Katrina... tell me you didn't..."
"I'm on the pill..." she answered quietly.
"Katrina, you know that there's always a possibility that the pill could fail! You should use at least two forms of contraceptives, not to mention the fact that you could have gotten something from him!"
"Francis had himself tested for diseases." Katrina replied firmly, "And tell me, Kathrine, do you and Richie always use a condom?"
Once again, Kathrine was gaping at her sister while Richie blushed bright red. Realizing that she wasn't going to win, the older Blake sighed in defeat. She then shot a smug Francis a pointed glare, "If you knock her up before you two are married, I'll cut your dick off. Got it?"
"I got it, sister."
Kathrine gave him a withering look, but noted with a certain level of satisfaction that he had crossed his legs at her threat. Without another word, Kathrine rose from her seat and walked out of the kitchen, Richie following closely behind her.
Once they were gone, Katrina and Francis turned to each other with tired smiles.
"Good morning." he said softly, giving her hand a squeeze.
"Good morning." she replied, "I'm really sorry about that."
Francis rolled his eyes. With a smirk, he uncrossed his legs and pulled Katrina onto his lap, drawing a startled squeak from the healer. He wrapped his arms around her, smirking wider at her blush, and nuzzled her neck.
"Not your fault. 'Sides, I kinda expected her to be like that." he paused to glance at her face, "How are you feeling? Sore?"
"A-a little..." she said quietly.
"Sorry 'bout that. I wasn't too rough, was I?"
Katrina's blush stretched to the roots of her hair as she shook her head, last night's events running through her mind. It was probably a little silly to be embarrassed at this point, given that he had already seen her naked, but she couldn't help it.
Francis chuckled at her reaction and pressed a kiss to her neck. "I'm sorry that you had to wake up alone, too. I figured that you'd be hungry after last night so I wanted to make breakfast for you, but I didn't want you to think that I had just left. That's why I left my shirt and vest in your room. I wanted to be back before you woke up, but then I ran into your sister..."
"You were going to make me breakfast?"
"Yeah. You're special to me, 'Trina. I love you. What happened last night... you giving yourself to me... I wanted to show you that the... importance of that wasn't lost on me." he stopped and gave her a sheepish smile, "I kinda owe you a meal anyway..."
Katrina laughed.
"So, want me to make you breakfast? It won't be as good as yours, but it'll be edible."
"I'd like that." she told him, smiling, "I'd like that very much."
