The Class Gets Confused
A/N—This one is really the end. I swear. Please review and let me know what you think. I'm not big on cheesy romance and I can't see either Kat or Ethan being much into that, so I'm trying to avoid it. Not sure if I've been at all successful. If the show had really gone on, in reality I wouldn't want these two to be together until at least the end of the second season.
Also sorry to Nicole fans, but there didn't really seem to be a logical reason for her to be in this story.
Chapter 8:
While Ethan waited for what seemed like an eternity, but what in actuality was probably more like thirty seconds, he gingerly placed the pieces of the broken mug into the trash.
Finally Kat was ready to speak. "So you're telling me that you acted like a jackass about Duncan because you were jealous? Not because you thought I was some two bit dirty whore."
Ethan hemmed and hawed for a bit. "Something like that", he reasoned.
"You do know I had no clue, right? I mean, I'm kind of still in shock here. You like women like Joanne and that Sue woman. All perky and happy and bubbly and upbeat. That's not me. Are you sure you're not like confused or something? Did you hit your head recently?"
Ethan continued to clean the floor, in an effort to keep himself busy. "Understatement of the year, but yes, I'm sure and no, I didn't hit my head."
Kat brought her feet up to sit Indian style on the couch. "So now what happens? You and me? Do we actually try this?"
He stopped and sat next to her, pulling her closest arm into his lap. "That's up to you. You haven't told me what you think yet. But I'm taking it as a good sign that you haven't run screaming from the room."
Kat tensed slightly at Ethan's touch, but didn't pull away. Instead she scoffed. "You're asking me to talk about my feelings? Dude, you know how much I totally suck at this. You've seen me in action."
He ran his fingers down to her hand and left his hand there, draped casually over hers. "I'm obviously not all that great at it either if the last few weeks are any indication."
She stared down at the couch as she used her free hand to pick at the fabric, trying to will herself to say the words. "The truth? The truth is I missed you. I missed you a lot. And on the one hand I'm not sure I'm ready for another relationship right now. The Benjamin stuff is still so fresh, you know?"
"I missed you too", Ethan said as he took his free hand and used it turn her face gently towards him, so she had no choice but to look at him. "But on the other?"
Oh God. She could not look into his puppy dog face. He was like an overeager puppy waiting for his owner to take him for a walk, though she had to admit he could also be a really cute overeager puppy at times. God, when did she start thinking he was cute?
Kat took a deep breath, trying to ignore his hand that was quickly heating the skin on her face. "I can't definitely say I have feelings for you." She could see Ethan's face start to fall, so she quickly continued. "But I can't exactly say I don't either."
He considered. "Not exactly a declaration of love, but for now I'll take it." He knew from her, it was a lot.
"You know, you still haven't apologized for what you said yet. You're lucky I let your ass in here in the first place", Kat said. She meant it to come off as serious, but yet she couldn't keep the smirk off her features.
Ethan rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry for calling you a disappointment. You aren't a disappointment. Just completely insane. Better?"
"A little", she relented. "And I'm sorry for calling you a misogynistic hypocritical asshole."
"You never called me that", he stated his thumb continuing to trace the skin on the side of her face, coming into close contact with the corner of her mouth.
"Maybe not to your face. But I thought it. I thought it a lot", Kat said shivering. She tentatively placed her hand on Ethan's thigh, in part to keep herself steady.
It was as if there had always been an undercurrent of flirting to their relationship and their merciless teasing and bickering, that much they had both known on some subconscious level. As seemingly did everyone who knew them. But now it was blatant. There was no hiding it. They were flirting. It was right out there in the open, which for them was new.
Ethan moved closer so that their faces were only a few inches apart. He silently decided that her deep soulful eyes would be the death of him yet. He didn't think he would ever be able to say no to them, though he wasn't about to tell her that. "Hey, I was the one trying to save your butt today and don't you forget it."
"Right. My protector", she mocked as she rolled her eyes. "You know I can still kick your ass", she said matter of factly, trying to ignore the feel of his warm breath on her face. No matter what they were or what they became, she was still not prepared to let him win.
"Uh, hello? Superman?" he reminded her. "Or do you not remember your two hour headlock?"
Kat stopped the flirtatious teasing for a moment, her voice low. "Seriously, is this weird?" she asked, indicating the two of them. "We're so different and what if we ruin the friend thing? Do we want to risk it?"
There was no denying that the temperature level of the room was quickly rising and that any second physical contact would be unavoidable. Ethan considered. "We take it slow. And if it's weird, then we go back to being just friends, or maybe friends with benefits", he suggested wiggling his eyebrows as he drew circles on the inside of her arm. "I think we can handle it."
Again she scoffed. "That's what you think buddy. You know my relationship issues. You've been duly warned."
"I know how difficult this is for you. This is us. There's no way we're not going to fight like crazy. But I would never intentionally hurt you. I'm not Benjamin", he said before leaning in and placing a light kiss on her lips. At that precise moment, he needed to know what they tasted like.
They pulled apart, albeit only slightly. "That is definitely a good thing", Kat added her voice deeper than normal, desire for more evident in her eyes.
This time it was Kat who leaned in to kiss him, but the contact was longer and far more intimate as lips moved over lips. Ethan's hands quickly became entangled in her hair and Kat wrapped her own arms tightly around his neck as the kiss intensified.
She found herself needing to hold onto something if for no other reason then to keep herself from melting into a pool of liquid, as it didn't take longer than a few seconds to realize that despite what the outer package might imply, Ethan Haas was one hell of a kisser.
And she found herself quickly wondering if he was this good a kisser, just what else he might be good at, not to mention what kind of morons Joanne and Palmer had to be to give that up.
Ethan adjusted their position so they were soon laying where they had just sat, Ethan on top of Kat, neither particularly willing to stop the proceedings to come up for air. Finally it became necessity, their chests rising and falling in rapid succession.
"You know your sister and Kyle are going to be impossible to live with now, right?" Ethan murmured as he found and placed a series of travelling kisses down her neck.
"Mmm hmm", Kat agreed in utter contentment. "And you know I'm totally going to find a way to mess this up somehow, right?"
"I know", he answered between kisses. "I'll take my chances."
"Hey", Kat said grabbing onto his arms to force him to stop long enough to look at her. "When you said we should go slowly, that doesn't mean we can't have sex, right?" a slightly devilish look crossing her face.
"Am I turning you on Warbler?" Ethan asked grinning deliciously from ear to ear in a way that sent shivers through her belly. That was most definitely the guy who had left those dirty notes for Joanne. This was most definitely a guy that knew how to give a woman very happy Wednesdays.
She shrugged. "We're going to have to talk about the socks and sandals thing, but the bathing suit is kind of hot, in an incredibly dorky way", she teased as she recaptured his lips successfully, their bodies having already found that they fit pretty well together.
He definitely could get used to this, filing away for future reference the way she looked laying beneath him. "No, no. Sex is a very good thing. Good for the heart. Very healthy. I foresee a lot of it in our near future.
"Good", she breathed with what little breath she had left. "In that case, I think we should go back to bed. I got up very early this morning due to some jerk breaking into my apartment."
He picked her up and threw her onto the bed, stopping to pull his own undershirt over his head. "I'm thinking the jerk should probably be punished", he said jumping on top of her. "Severely."
She laughed. Oh, this was going to be a very happy Sunday indeed.