After an awkward beginning, a comfortable kind of peace had settled over the Stratford household and Patrick Verona wasn't sure he knew how to handle it. This was not his normal, though the two women in the room with him looked perfect content as they sat around the family dining room table and chatted about their days. He realized that he felt totally out of place. He didn't do family dinners, hadn't since before he could remember. The closest he ever got was his mother and father eating off of trays in the living room while he sat on the floor and they all watched TV together. And even that wasn't something that happened very often.
To Kat and Bianca this seemed absolutely normal, totally mundane. It was all so civilized, so middle America and he couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth as he listened to them bicker about some girl they both seemed to know and either loathed or admired, depending on which of them was talking at the moment.
They were so different, yet watching them, it was clearly obvious that they came from the same stock. Bianca might be a touch less pronounced when she went into a tirade, but it held the subtleties of one of Kat's rant just around the edges. And while Kat pretended that she didn't believe in romance and fairy tales and dreamy things like that, there was a hidden romantic in her pleading to get out. It was strange, at times, even their facial expressions seemed to match in certain moments.
" What do you look so happy about ?" Kat asked, turning her attention towards him.
" Nothing," He shrugged. " I was just thinking this is nice."
Bianca nodded in agreement. " It is really good. I'm impressed." She told him taking another huge fork full of food and shoveling it into her mouth. " I think you might consider keeping him around." She informed her sister. Then she turned to the man sitting beside her and nudged his shoulder. " What do you think ?"
" I think it's really good, too." Joey bobbed his blond head in answer.
" I wasn't talk about the food." Patrick let the smile spread over his face as Kat reached out a hand for his and squeezed it gently.
" I know." She returned his smile. " And you're right. It is nice."
" That movie we wanted to see is about to start." Bianca said, pushing her plate away and getting to her feet. " You should come watch with us." She suggested to her sister. " I think you'd like it."
Kat glanced at him to see his reaction and he nodded to her with another smile. " I'm up for a movie. Just tell me something gets blown up and there aren't any subtitles."
" Oh, sure." Kat rolled her eyes at him. " Take all the fun out of it for me."
He grabbed her hand again and pulled her to her feet. " Take a night off from yourself. It'll do you some good."
Joey was getting to his feet beside Bianca and he turned to Patrick. " I saw your system set up in there earlier. Maybe after the movie we can all play." He was talking about the guitars and X box that he and Kat had left laying in the middle of the floor before the game of strip pillow fight.
" I'm thinking we can play against them. And the loser can do the dishes." Patrick suggested as they all made their way towards the living room.
" You and Joey against Bianca and I ?" Kat asked.
" Why not ?" He replied wrapping his arm around her shoulder as they walked. " Are you scared ?"
" No, I just think if we're going to play teams it should be them against us. After all, I know how much you cheat and I'd rather have you on my team." She snickered.
He grabbed her tighter and pulled her into his side, running his fingers over a particularly ticklish spot he'd found earlier and she chortled and jerked away from him gleefully. " I don't cheat." He said. " You just suck."
Bianca and Joey were already sitting on one end of the couch, bundled up together when they entered the room. The TV was on and the movie was just playing its opening credits. Kat lead Patrick by the hand to the other end of the couch and pushed him down into the corner before taking her place right next to him and leaning into his chest.
They settled back comfortably as the movie started to play.
It was a good movie. Things had indeed been blown up and there wasn't a subtitle in sight. Patrick approved wholeheartedly.
The game after the movie had turned intense at times. Joey nearly matched his skill on the guitar but Bianca didn't suck quite as bad as Kat so it evened out and in the end it was a fight to the finish.
One, he was very glad he'd won as he sat back against the side of the couch and wrapped his arms around Kat.
They were back to watching TV now, actually she was flipping through the channels and he was pretending to be interested in the things he knew she'd hate. After whining for a few minutes about wanting to watch South Park, he gave up and let her have her feeling of control.
He was too busy thinking about how easy it would be for him to get used to all this. The house, the comfort, the woman laying in his arms. It was all sort of surreal compared to his real life and he had to keep reminding himself that it was a temporary arrangement. Her father would be home in less than a week and it would all be over and he'd be back to trying to decide on whether to sneak into her window or crash on Keith's couch at night.
Then there was the days. There was less than two weeks left of school before the end of the year. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he really hated summer. He hated having to find something to do with his time to keep him away from the jackass.
He had considered maybe getting a job to get him through the next few months. The idea carried even more merit when he added in the bonus of the extra cash he'd have to take Kat out when he wanted, or buy her things.
He'd never tell her that though. She would never approve of him spending money on her like that. That is until he already had something sparkly in his hand to dangle in front of her. That was his Kat, a hard as nails outer shell full of fiery determination, with a soft, gooey center. The lion with the poet's heart. He had somehow managed to find the thing he liked most about himself in the woman that he loved. He enjoyed thinking of himself as marching to the beat of his own drum and it delighted him to know that she was apparently hearing the same one.
He never imagined he'd find someone like her. He had resigned himself to the fact that the woman he dreamed of simply didn't exist. But here she was, biting the tip of her nail as she continued to press the channel button on the remote in her hand while her head rested on his shoulder. The Yin to his Yang, his perfect match and he was extremely pleased that it had come wrapped up in such an exquisite package.
The noise from the TV settled and he glanced up at the screen to see what had captured her attention. It was a news broadcast, of course, about some war in some place he couldn't even pronounce the name of. He sighed in exasperation and snatched the remote from her hand.
" I thought you agreed to take a night off from yourself." He told her as she protested and grabbed for the remote again.
" I was just watching the news." She told him.
" No, there will be no news tonight." He informed her, keeping the remote well out of her reach even as she continue to lunge for it. " There will be no evil dictators, or war in the middle east. No terrorist, no environmental catastrophes. The Middle East, the terrorists, and Mother Nature will just have to get along without you for tonight."
" Fine," she huffed. " Then there's nothing on TV."
" On a Sunday night, what is the world coming to ?" He mocked her. Then he shifted her off of him and got to his feet. " I need to check on Spock. I got him a new kind of food today and I want to make sure he's eating it."
She got up as well and began to trail after him.
" You didn't have to come."
" Like I said, there is nothing on TV." She answered, grabbing his hand as they made there way out the front door and around to the side of the house.
Spock greeted them with a wagging tail as they entered the backyard and Patrick reached down to pat him on the head before giving his ears a scratch.
The big dog leaned his head into Patrick's hand for a moment before turning his attention to Kat and rubbing his cold nose against her leg.
She bent to pet him as well and Patrick walked off to where the dog food bowl was resting against the side of the house.
He had just turned back to them, satisfied that Spock was happy with his new food, when he noticed the dog's back stiffen and his ears perked in alert.
Patrick glanced around quickly, trying to find the source of the dog's unease. Kat was standing back up, watching the huge mutt warily and glancing around herself.
Then he heard it, a movement in the bushes and trees that surrounded the house and gave it shade. He started moving the second the sound registered in his ears, trying to get to Kat. When he reached her, he pulled her in behind him as he squinted into the darkness for a movement attatched to the sound of the rustling leaves.
It wasn't that hard to spot. He certainly wasn't trying very hard to stay out of sight and his drunken stumble was hardly stealthy.
" What are you doing here ?" Patrick snapped as his stepfather's cumbersome form came fully into the light from the streetlamp.
" She's leaving me." He slurred, stepping up to the fence that surrounded the yard and leaning against it heavily.
" Good." Patrick answered, as his hand came around Kat's back and he tugged her more closely into him, trying to shield her from view.
" She's leaving me because of you." Jeff shouted loud enough that Patrick was certain he was disturbing the neighbors in the quiet little cul de sac.
Jeff's blood shot eyes shoot upwards as he took in the house behind them. " You're really managed to get yourself set up." He mumbled almost incoherantly.
" Go over to the patio, get in the shadows and stay there." He whispered over his shoulder at Kat.
He could feel her shake her head against his back. " I'm not leaving you." She told him.
He wanted to yank her out from behind him and shake her.
" Kat," He said warningly.
The tension in the yard was nearly palitable. Patrick could almost taste it, it was so thick. " I need you to get somewhere and stay out of sight."
" She's don't have to leave." Jeff said, catching on to their conversation. " I'm not here for her."
" How did you find me ?" Patrick asked, trying to get his stepfather's attention away from his girlfriend.
" That policeman that you stumbled across the other night. Turns out he'll sell anything if the price is right and he's got a real good memory." Jeff explained, moving his hand to the catch that held the gate shut.
" Don't come any closer." Patrick warned. " In fact, I think you should probably go home now."
" You little shit," Jeff shot back at him. " You don't get to tell me what to do. That's not the way this works. Your momma wants you to come home. She says it's my fault you left."
" I'm not coming home." Patrick told him in a collected, even voice that showed no infliction whatsoever. " You can tell her she's as much to blame for that as you are."
" That's exactly what I figured you'd say." Jeff muttered. " I told her that already. She didn't believe me."
" What do you want, Jeff ? Why are you here ?" Patrick asked, taking a step back. If Kat wouldn't go to the patio without him, maybe he could manuveur her there and make her stay.
Jeff huffed and sputtered at him for a moment before trying to stand up and straighten his shoulders.
" I'm here because the way I figure it, if you weren't around to come home, then your momma wouldn't be so worried about you out here all on your own. Her precious baby." He mocked ridiculously.
But there something about his words that made the hairs on the back of Patrick's neck stand up. He wasn't trying to get him to come home. That wasn't his purpose. The situation was turning decidedly dangerous and all he could think about was Kat stuck against his back like she was made of cling wrap and refusing to save herself.
" Kat, I'm not playing anymore. Go now." He insisted, trying once again.
Jeff made a sudden move, yanking something silver out from his waistband at the small of his back and Patrick felt his stomach drop to his feet.
" Put that away, you drunk idiot." Patrick told him, hoping that a change in tactics might defuse the situation, being calm certainly hadn't help.
He heard Kat let out a squeal from behind him the moment she recognized the object Jeff was waving around in the air.
" You don't want to shoot me." Patrick continued as if he hadn't heard her. He had no intention of purposely bringing Jeff's attention back to her now. " Do you really think she'll take you back if you shoot me ?"
Spock choose that moment to leap at the fence. Then everything happened so quickly Patrick wasn't sure of anything anymore. He knew he felt Kat dart out from behind him. He knew he saw his stepfather pointing the gun at the dog. He knew he couldn't let Kat get between the two of them. He knew he jumped after her, moving so fast he didn't even know he was capable of it. Then his ears were ringing and the only thing he knew was that he couldn't move at all.