Sorry this took SO SO SO long, but I had mono and was still really busy. This is shorter than usual, but expect a long chapter tomorrow! Enjoy!

From where he was asleep, sprawled on his back, an arm thrown over his eyes, Jack felt the cool rush of air hit him where the sheet lifted.

He cracked an eyelid in time to catch Kate fumbling into a sitting position, run a hand through her wild hair, and reach for her jeans on the floor next to the bed.

"Hey."

At Jack's voice, Kate turned sharply, eyes still bleary but guilty. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cleared her throat.

"You're up." Jack continued, quirking a half smile and settling himself up to lean his back against the headboard.

Kate bit her lip. "I should get going. I've got work."

Jack nodded, still smiling. "You know, I promised you breakfast. Pancakes, to be exact."

She blushed, standing and buttoning her jeans, smoothing down the fabric out of nervousness.

"Yeah, well, I guess I'll take a rain-check."

Jack raised an eyebrow, slightly amused by her discomfort.

"Well, I can give you a ride. That's how you got here, you know."

Kate shook her head vehemently. "Nope, that's okay. I think I've embarrassed myself enough."

"So me driving you home is embarrassing?" Jack joked, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and walking towards the dresser, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and smiling secretly at the feeling of Kate's eyes on his bare back.

"No," she replied, "me getting drunk, me crashing in you bed half-naked, and me waking up like a mess—that's embarrassing. The car ride home would just be a ride of shame, so…"

Kate smoothed her hair back from her face before turning towards the door, but Jack stopped her with a gentle hand smoothing up her arm, feeling her skin prick up at his touch.

"Kate—"

"Jack. Don't. This—this was stupid from the beginning. It was never gonna work." Kate breathed, but didn't shy away when Jack slid his hands up to her shoulders, pulling her closer towards him.

"Who says this can't work, huh? So you got a little drunk last night, that's--"

"It's not about getting drunk, Jack."

"Then what is it?"

Kate sighed, considering, but seemed to snap herself out of it, closing her eyes tight and slipping past him. "I have to go."

Jack dropped Kate off after a decidedly quiet car ride. Kate had directed her gaze out of the window the entire ride while Jack tried to make meaningless small talk. When he pulled up to the curb outside her apartment building, Jack put the car in park, turning towards Kate, but before he could say a word, reach for her, Kate had opened the door and hopped out, scampering towards the complex's front door.

Later that day, Jack prepared for his afternoon shift at the hospital. He was pulling his white coat from his locker when his best friend, Marc strode in, a smug grin on his face.

"Hey, loser." Marc greeted Jack with a smile, opening his own locker and stripping off his coat.

"Hey, man, what's up?" Jack said distractedly, adjusting his watch on his wrist.

"Wanna grab a beer tonight?"

Jack smiled. "Nah, man, I got plans."

"What plans?"

He smirked. "There's this girl—woman…Kate."

Jack was torn from his daze by the firm punch to his arm.

"Dude! When did this happen? How did this happen? You've practically been a monk for months."

Jack laughed, reminded of his best friend's enthusiasm and biting sense of humor.

"It's a long story, but she's…she's something. She's different."

"So where are you taking her tonight?" Marc asked, waggling his eyebrows. "Back to your place?"

Jack winced. "Actually, she doesn't really know we have plans. I'm going to catch her at work and convince her that she should go back out with me."

Marc stared at Jack for a long moment. "What the hell?"

Jack laughed again, shaking his head. "She's got some issues…"

"Jesus, man, you know how to pick 'em."

"It's not like that. She's—I don't know. Complicated. But worth it, trust me."

"Hottie, huh?"

Jack didn't answer, instead smiling guiltily and avoiding Marc's eyes, which had turned tiny with a smile.

"Hot damn. I think I gotta meet this woman."

Six hours later, Jack was pulling into the Country Club's parking lot, not even realizing he was sweating, or holding his breath, or checking his watch compulsively as he made he was back towards the dining room.

He stopped dead at the sight before him. At the bar was Kate, leaning forward and whispering conspiratorially with none other than Jack's father. He paused a moment, watching, and allowing all the different scenarios about Sarah run wild through his head, but with Kate in her place instead.

He watched his father lean forward and place a gentle hand on Kate's arm, sending her something of an intimate look, all gazing eyes and meaningful stares. Without another thought, Jack strode over purposefully, yanking Kate by the arm and giving her a hard look.

"What the hell is this?" Jack hissed, just as Christian stood, eyebrows hard.

"Jack, settle down."

Kate stepped between them, pressing a hand to his chest. "Jack, wait, just—"

"Is this why you ran out this morning, Kate? Jesus, I thought we laughed about how pathetic my father was, and you're seeing him?" Jack spat, turning away from her and feeling his fists clench, unsure of how to use them just yet.

"Let me explain," Kate tried, touching his arm again, but she flinched when he wrenched it away.

Jack gave her one long look before turning away and striding out the doors of the club, headed for his car. Kate paused a moment, watching him go and biting her lip, before going after him, reaching him in the parking lot and stepping in front of him.

"Just let me explain. It's not what it looks like."

Jack half-turned away from her, hand coming up to rub his forehead.

"Do you know what I thought after my wife left me? I was convinced she was sleeping with my father. It took me months before I could even function again, before I could believe anything otherwise."

Kate listened, eyes sympathetic. "I would never do that to you."

Jack raised an eyebrow, expression no longer vulnerable, only cold. "That's not what it looked like in there."

She sighted, eyeing the ground before looking up again. "There are some things I have to tell you."

Jack laughed. "No shit."

Kate's fingers fumbled to push a stray hair behind her ear.

"Listen, just—I get off in an fifteen minutes. Could you…could you just wait until then and I can show you? Then this will all make sense."

He could see her unease, the nervousness in her face, and almost said no, almost stormed off in search of the bar or a one-night stand, but watched Kate's face change, and stopped.

"Fine. Fifteen minutes." He mumbled.

Kate smiled thankfully. "Thank you. I promise—it's…it's not what you think, I swear"

Fifteen minutes later, during which Jack had silently but loathingly watched his father leave the club, Kate scampered out, looking anxious.

"Where are we going?" Jack asked, as he pulled out onto the main road. He eyed Kate, who was nibbling her fingernails.

"County Hospital."

Jack shot her a look. "Why?"

She swallowed. "You'll see."

Another twenty minutes later and Kate was escorting him down a long hallway of the hospital, quieter than most others, which Jack recognized as the long-term care unit. Hospitals were familiar to him, but this particular visit wasn't sitting well. Kate walked quickly and didn't look at him when she stopped in front of a room at the end of the hall.

"What are we doing here, Kate?" Jack asked, when the silence and crypticness was too much.

She took a deep breath and faced him. "After the night we met, with you dad and the charity event at the country club—the next day your dad came by and apologized. We…we got to talking, and he was telling me how he was a doctor and he offered to help me."

Jack shifted. "Help you? With what?"

Kate swallowed hard again. "That's why I brought you here. I didn't want to—I wasn't going to tell you yet, because things with your dad seemed to so hard for the two of you, but when he offered to help me, I couldn't pass it up. Not on my salary and not with—I just, I didn't want you to think I was using you, or that your father and his connections were more important than how I felt about you or—"

"Kate," Jack interrupted, raising a hand to stop her, "What's going on?"

Kate closed her eyes a moment. She pushed open the door to the room and led Jack inside. In the hospital bed, hooked up to numerous machines emitting steady whirs and beeps, was a woman, older than Jack, blonde, and pale. She was unconscious and the machines hooked up to her indicated that she'd been that way for a while.

"Jack, this is my mother."

So, that's her family-twist. More to come: Jack's reaction, how Kate's mom got that way, what this means for Kate and Jack, etc. Please review! More tomorrow!