Disclaimer: Ugh, nothing.

Author's Notes: Five or six chapters my behind. Chapter 13 and WHOA it's a doozie. Just to keep you guys on your toes, it over laps with the filler, and the scenes overlap with each other. Basically it starts off with a Bianca/Kat scene, then a Kat scene that would overlap with the time period of the filler, then a Bianca scene that overlaps with the Kat scene, and so on and so forth. ANYWAY, it's wicked long and the end, well, it's a little weird, but, bare with me. The story might never end. I might have made Patrick's mom to easy going but this will not be the last we see of her and Dia. So there will be more of a back story to all that. And I'm sorry I didn't add too much of Kat/Dia interaction, but I surely will later on. And more on Bianca&Chastity as well as Bianca/Cameron & Bianca/Joey.

Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts, it means so much to me! And sorry long update, I have A LOT of stuff going on and the next update might be a bit delayed. Happy Readings and R&R. And Thank you Pinkbananasmoothie for the congratulations. A big THANK YOU to everyone, you guys, so the best!

Bianca had spent the better part of her day at school listening as Chastity rambled on and on about how she was better off without Joey and now she could be with Caden. Then Bianca spent the better part of her ride home listening as Chastity rambled on to how she was too good for Joey to break up with her, and she would have to break up with him at school the next day.

Now, it being close to five o'clock, Bianca had turned her cell phone on silent and became very comfortable in front of the television. It was safe to say she was over Chastity for the moment.

The door opened and shut with a merciless bang. Bianca looked over the back of the couch and then turned back to her movie.

"What happened?"

"He was giving that girl a ride on his bike." Kat let out a breath and walked in to sit on the reading chair. "I owe Mandella fifty bucks now."

"You guys betted on Patrick's loyalty?" Bianca made a face. "And you didn't let me in on it?"

"I didn't bet on his loyalty Bianca. I broke her mom's sunglasses. Maybe you're both over reacting."

"You were the one who got in the car and let her drive you to his house." Bianca lowered the volume to the television. "Which, I really wish I could have gone, I think that would have been a lot more fun then anything I had to deal with."

Kat rolled her eyes, kicking her feet up on to the coffee table. "I see it was a fun day with Chastity."

"She's gone off the deep end. One minute she's happy she's not with him, the next she's pissed off that he's not her doting servant, and then she goes off on some rant about how she should break up with him." Bianca shook her head. "You're so lucky you don't have these types of problems." Kat looked at Bianca deadpanned. "I'm just saying."

"I don't know. Are you upset that you had to listen to all of Chastity's craziness or mad because you went up a level in high school society and now you can't have Joey Donner?"

"That, that," Bianca made a noise from her throat. "I don't know what to do! Cameron isn't talking to me, at all. Chastity won't stop talking to me. Joey keeps trying to talk to me."

"Wow, you're a regular Marie-Antoinette. Let them eat cake." Kat smirked as Bianca glared at her.

"That makes no sense." Kat shrugged. "What am I suppose to do?"

"You have to do what you think is right, Bianca. Talk to Cameron, talk to Joey, and talk to Chastity. One of them is bound to say something that will help your decision."

Bianca stared at Kat as if it was the most useless information she had ever received in her life. And, really, it could have been.

"What are you going to do about Patrick?" She leaned back into the couch, looking at her sister who simply shrugged. "You need to go and call him out on it Kat!"

"Call him out on it? This is not a rumble. This isn't even anything. It's probably some friend. You and Mandella need to just, calm down."

"Then maybe you should take a nice heaping of your own advice and go talk to Patrick." Kat looked at Bianca, her lips parting slightly. "If I have to go and confront three people over matters that even I would rather let play over my head, you need to go and talk to your one person. Prove me and Mandella both wrong."

Kat wasn't sure when Bianca had learned this defense mechanism, or rather, weapon of choice, but she was not amused. Before she could say anything or retaliate the hallway erupted with the sound of knocking.

The two sisters stared at each other, both with raised eyebrows.

"Did you invite anyone over?" Bianca whispered.

"No, did you?" Kat got up first, making her way to the door. Bianca jumped up seconds later, tripping over her shoes that she left haphazardly next to the couch. "Really Bianca?"

"Open the door." The blonde hissed, straightening almost immediately as Cameron stood awkwardly on the porch.

"Well," Kat stated, "I guess I need to go and talk to some people." She smiled and patted the tall boy's shoulder, throwing a 'good luck' look over her shoulder to Bianca.

Cameron smiled softly at the brunette, turning and looking at Bianca with a slightly dimmer smile.

"I didn't know you were coming over." Bianca stated, her voice holding a certain amount of caution.

"I need to talk to you. And it couldn't wait any longer." His voice was sullen as his hand ran through his hair.

Bianca side stepped so he could come in. She glared at the sky as she shut the door.

---

Katherine Stratford hated what she was doing. She hated what she was doing, not because it went against her better judgment. Not because it showed that for the span of a weekend she could prove she wasn't just some crazy girl. Not because she really and truly did not want to know the truth. Katherine Stratford hated what she was doing because this proved she cared way, way, too much.

And Katherine Stratford didn't do care.

She had text-ed her father (knowing full well he couldn't text back) that she was going over to Patrick's house. She included that his mother was home and that he had another friend over. They were just going to hang out. She didn't include the part where she beat him and his 'friend' senselessly.

Less then two minutes later she received a two page, perfectly typed, text message in return. All basically saying have a good time but don't do anything. Literally anything. Obviously her father might not know how to text, but those nurses were probably texting champions.

She didn't respond, her brain running too fast to even attempt multitasking.

Confrontation, though very liberating when done with something you believed in, made her physically ill when she had to do it with something she didn't believe in. She sure as hell had not confronted Justin after his little performance in the front hallway. She had spent the entire day dodging him and ignoring him until last period. Which was when she finally handed him a letter she had written during the course of her morning classes and basically handed his ass back to him on a platter.

That was about the time Kat went from that quiet girl with her weird obsessions and a crazy father, to the crazy girl who could kick your ass.

The title of crazy was no stranger to Kat. Even though, especially on days like this, she wish it was.

She had been driving around for at least half and hour and was completely confused as to where he lived. Praying she had found his neighborhood she began driving around, making lefts and rights as she so desired. When she ended up in a cul-de-sac with twelve year olds playing basketball and some Stepford looking wives talking on their million dollar porches, Kat called Mandella to get Jamie's number.

After getting made fun of for ten minutes and then verbally assaulting him for five, Kat was finally heading in the right direction. She had asked Jamie who the girl was, but the skinny boy played stupid and tried to assure her that the only girl Verona was going with was indeed her.

Even though she wanted to believe the car junkie, with his own smooth tongue and loyalty of his friend, she didn't trust him. She trusted Bianca and Mandella, and she maybe trusted Patrick. Jamie, not so much.

It just couldn't be enough that what she was doing could possibly be deemed illegal if taken to court.

The only plan of action she had was to waltz up to his front door and catch them in the act. She wasn't sure why in her brain he would answer his door with them making out, but she had it on good authority to just go with it.

Then again if his mother answered the door she didn't want to give the impression that she was some crazy stalker after her son. For all Kat knew that was the exact description Patrick had given to his mother. What if his mother didn't even care that he used girls like Kleenex? Would that make her the bad guy or both of them the bad guy?

Kat let out a frustrated moan as she parked her car at the corner. She stared at the white house with the blue shutters, his motorcycle gleaming in the setting sun.

How the car turned off, her door opened, and her feet stepped out onto the hard street, she'd never know. She barely remembered walking from her car, across the street, through the soft grass, to the other side of the house, next to his garage. If she remember correctly, which she figured she had, his room was directly above the garage.

Now, how she was scaling the side of his house to get to his second story window, well, that was going to be it's own kind of Kodak moment.

It was easy to climb up and down her window because there was a trellis. Which was one of the reasons she got the room. Not that Bianca was completely brain dead when it came to sneaking out of the house.

Kat stared at the smooth vinyl. There was no way she would be able to climb vinyl panes. It just wasn't possible. She leaned on her heels, staring up to his window.

The bastard made everything look easy.

She looked towards the street and then towards his backyard, her eyes widening as she saw the small six or seven foot ladder. Maybe god wasn't completely against this. She could be just as smooth and rebellious as stupid Patrick Verona.

Or she could look like a complete tool as she dragged the heavy ladder under his window and stared to climb it. She was going to go to jail. One of his neighbors or his mother or someone, possibly a police car, was going to see her and she was going to jail.

Kat stopped climbing, her hand going to her forehead. This definitely surpassed crazy. She should have just used the freakin' front door and risked seeing his mother.

As she got to the top, her hands curving around the empty plant box that was attached to his window, she could see just into the room, which would be Patrick's legs on the bed and the girl sitting on the window seat. Kat gently pulled herself so that she could get a better look, her feet moving from flat to tip-toes.

She found it a little weird that she couldn't hear anything. But maybe she wasn't close enough. Pulling herself, even more, prayers of the plant box being securely attached, she managed to get her elbows into the box and her feet to lose footing.

She popped her head up, causing the girl to turn and fall off the seat and causing Patrick to jump from his bed.

The window flew open so fast she thought for sure she'd fall. At least she swore she'd fall until his hands wrapped around her arms and pulled her effortlessly into his grand bedroom.

As her feet hit the ground, his hand still on her arm, and the girl staring in some corner. A sense of security rang through her body forcing her to feel the heat of his touch and trust she had denied as she drove to his house.

She opened her mouth ready to begin bitching, only to notice her words were about the window and her breath was even. Her brain was working too fast to make sense of anything.

She could just kick herself. And she definitely would, right after she kicked him and his little pixie like bimbo.

---

Bianca watched as Cameron moved around her living room awkwardly. She already knew he was nervous because of his breathing pattern and his hands wringing together. He couldn't be here to ask her out again, right? She didn't think she had the means to explain how great he was and how she wanted him to be her best friend, but she didn't like him like that.

Even though, according to Kat, he was a decent guy. How the hell Kat knew this, Bianca had no clue. But there it was.

"You can sit." Bianca motioned to the couch as she crossed the living room to sit in the chair Kat had just occupied.

"I'm not staying that long." He shook his head and sighed. "I think I need a break Bianca."

"A break?" She stood up too quickly, her lungs filling with air.

"Yeah, I, um," he chuckled, his hand running through his hair again. "I know that you and Joey are probably going to go out. And I know that, maybe not right now, I'm not the one you want like that. But until I come to terms with that, I need a break."

Bianca stared at him, her mouth opening. There was a tight twist in her chest. He was her best friend. The only one she could trust with all her little secrets without it biting her in the ass. The one she ran too when something good happened; when something bad happened.

It was easier when he was gay.

"You don't want to be my friend?" She shook her head.

"I do! I do want to be your friend." Cameron took a step towards her. "But, Bianca, do you really expect me to listen to you drool about Joey or vent about Chastity or call me to listen to all these things that I'm not apart of. I can't be your friend until I'm ok with Joey and you. Or until I'm ready to listen to all these good things and bad things without getting hurt. I just need some time to think."

"Please tell me Patrick didn't tell you to say all these things?" There was a plea in her tone.

"No, he didn't. I told myself to come say all these things." He nodded his head, bending down to gently kiss her cheek, his hand lingering in her hair for less then a second. "I'll talk to you later, Bianca. Good luck with Joey."

She reached out to grab his arm, but stopped herself. "Cameron."

He smiled at her and walked out the front door, his nervousness completely disappeared. Bianca sat on the arm of the reading chair, her eyes staring at the door.

She looked down at the coffee table and noticed her phone lightening up, Chastity's name blinking across the screen. Bianca got up and walked into the kitchen, going towards the freezer where her father kept his secret stash of ice cream.

---

Kat sat in awed silence as she listened to the two cousin fight in the kitchen over which plates to use to serve the food. Apparently Dia thought they should use the 'fancy' dinner plates, where as Patrick thought the regular plates were more then sufficient. Kat listen to all of this going on, looking sideways at Linda who seemed oblivious.

Her head was bobbing to imaginary music as her nails clicked against the table. Kat wasn't sure if she should be afraid or amused.

Linda shifted to look at Kat directly, forcing Kat to realize that Patrick got his intense eyes from his not so intense mother.

"You have a sister, right?" Kat barely heard her. "I bet you two don't do this."

"Not over kitchen ware, no." Linda nodded her head.

"Gives you a whole new perspective on my delinquent son, doesn't it?" It definitely did, Kat thought, nodding her head gently. "I personally want to apologize for their behavior, you would think," Linda's voice grew louder, "that with company in the house they could behave themselves!"

Silence filled the kitchen as well as the dining room. Linda smiled, proud of herself, nodding over to Kat. A second or two passed and after a very vicious and low 'ow' was produced, the two walked out, one with plates and the other with silverware.

"Oh, look, it's my two little angels coming to set the table." Linda had a mock adoring look on her face. "Blessed is me."

Kat couldn't help the laughter that fell from her lips. She had never been so entertained at dinner. Bored to tears and sometimes disgusted, sure, but entertained, not so much.

Patrick and Dia refused to comment, placing the plates harshly on the table. Linda let out a sigh along with a smile as she stood up and practically skipped into the kitchen.

"This is great." Kat whispered as Patrick sat down.

"Oh, trust me," his deep voice drawled. "It only gets better."

Linda walked out with plates in each hand as well as her arm. They were each filled with mounds of food, much more then Kat thought was necessary. At least that was until Patrick and Dia both dove into the bowls, filling their plates to the brim. Kat sat stunned as Linda leaned back in her chair, her eyes smiling but her lips in a line.

"It's like feeding time at the zoo." She tsked quietly to Kat. "But don't worry," Linda brought a plate that had somehow been snuck onto the table in front of herself and Kat. "I have food for us."

"Shut up." Dia and Patrick stated, both tucking into their food as if it was their last meal.

Kat simply laughed, because that seemed to be the most logical response to everything.

"So, Ms. Kat, what does your father do?" She had served herself and had only been partly paying attention.

"What?"

"What does your father do?" It was weird, usually they asked what her parents did, which brought everyone around to the mother subject, which usually became an instant buzz kill. Yet, somehow, Linda knew to specify.

"He's an OBGYN at the hospital."

"Ah, so I probably know him. What was your last name again?"

"You're a doctor?" Kat was looking at her in a whole new light. She dabbled in vegetarianism, she was funny, perceptive, and a doctor? Her father would like Patrick's mother enough that it didn't matter if he hated Patrick.

"She's a neuro-nurse." Patrick stated, floating up for air from his quickly lightening plate. "She gets to play with people's brains."

Ah, so one of the rumors wasn't completely in left field. Kat looked from Patrick to Linda who shrugged innocently.

"I don't really get to play with brains. I get to watch as doctors play with brains." Kat watched as Linda shook her head, her hair loosely moving over her shoulders. "Last name?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Stratford." The older woman looked up in thought, mouthing Kat's last name like a mantra.

Kat, taking the distracted moment, looked over to see Dia and Patrick who were using their eyes to have a battle over the last piece of bread. They may have been cousins but they were acting like siblings. They were actually acting like crazy people, but Kat thought it better not to think of it like that.

"AH!" Kat turned and looked at Linda, noting that the other two didn't even blink. "He's very funny. I don't know him personally, but I have a friend in the gynecologist wing that was talking about him.

"He's a real hoot." Kat smiled.

"So, Kat, has Patrick taken you to the Ranch yet?" Kat looked over to Patrick who was glaring at his older cousin.

"Um, yeah, a week or so ago."

"It's funny, right? Mr. I'm so scary, don't talk to me, I've killed a man, actually turning out to be the next John Wayne." Dia's smile was taking over the majority of her face. Her fork was in mid air and her eyes were set on Patrick. Kat would be nervous if she was any less of a person.

"I said he needed a hat." Kat nodded, watching as Patrick's head swung to look at her.

"Oh my god! A hat! I totally forgot about the hat! I'll borrow one of daddy's." Dia smirked, looking down at her food and grabbing some food on her fork. "You can become a cattle rancher with a hat. Like Hugh Jackman in Australia." With food in her mouth, she pointed to Patrick (who looked ready to kill her) with her fork. "Kat could be the Nicole Kidman character. The girl that's too good for you but falls for you anyway."

Linda let out a laugh as she was drinking, causing the splashing noise to echo inside her glass. "I am so sorry. Excuse me." She giggled, placing her cup down, wiping her mouth with her napkin. "Dia, stop annoying your cousin."

Kat, who had never seen Australia, stared blankly between the pixie and raven haired woman. She could feel the annoyance radiating from Patrick. Slowly, very slowly, she turned to see him glaring at Dia who was completely ignoring him.

If he came to school with that glare, Kat was sure the entire student body would freeze and blend into the lockers.

"I am just pointing out some fun pop culture and relating it back to our existence of reality." It was like watching a lioness with your tour guide's jacket in her mouth. Kat felt the danger, but it wasn't completely targeted at her.

"You're just jealous that the best you can do is some Indy film about a pregnant teenager."

Now, if they fought about kitchen-ware, Kat was a little anxious to know how this was going to turn out.

"That's real cute Patrick, adorable." Dia made a face. The next thing that happened caused Patrick to jump, which inadvertently caused Kat to jump and then move closer to Linda, who had placed a hand over her face.

Before she knew what was going on both Patrick and Dia were talking rapidly, their eyes glazed with annoyance and their tones full of irritation.

Linda sighed and stood up, motioning for Kat to follow her.

"I am so sorry about the two of them." Her voice was full of amusement. "I should really discipline them for it, but I swear, they're like two baby bears."

"Yeah," Kat stated, not fully understanding where Linda was going with her bear comment. She did know, for a fact, that Linda didn't have it in her to punish either teenager. She had a feeling that Linda was a very liberal with her parenting. "You're really laid back, aren't you?"

Linda sat on the couch and laughed a little. "I really am. You probably thought, especially with how that boy acts, that I was some delinquent myself." Kat looked at her, wide eyes, shaking her head. "Either that or you thought I was overly strict and that is why Patrick rebels in his silent, prey-ish, way."

"Wow." Mothers were perceptive, that was common knowledge. His mother, was a mind reader.

"I promise, I am not strict in any way, nor do I let him run around willy-nilly. He does have boundaries that he knows he can't cross." Linda grabbed a photo album from underneath the coffee table.

"Is that why you weren't surprised to see me?" Those familiar eyes looked back at Kat, only instead of it being filled with some lust inducing stare, they were filled with laughter and wisdom.

"The boy has climbed through your window how many times? It was bound to happen. That and the neighbor called to tell me a girl was sneaking into my son's room and Dia confirmed it when she came down stairs to get ice for her nose."

"Ah, I figured someone would spot me. Figured they'd call the police, rather then you."

"My neighbors sadly know my son way to well." Linda mumbled. She opened the album and ran her finger tips over the film covered pages.

"You take amazing pictures." Kat stated, looking at all the pictures of complete strangers.

"My husband took most of them, actually, he had a knack with a camera. Patty has the same knack, he just doesn't seem to enjoy it as much as he use too."

"Patrick is a photographer?" Kat looked up at Linda who was still gently moving the pages along.

"That might be too strong of a word for him. He use to take more pictures before his grandfather died. After that," Linda shrugged, pointing to a picture of a younger version of Patrick and Dia, on either side of a cheerful older man. "Who knows what was going through his brain."

It made sense, Kat thought, leaning slightly back into the couch. He did have that whole tortured artist thing, without the tortured or the artist part. Perhaps it didn't make any sense. Maybe Patrick was the crazy one.

"The boy is so busy doing that whole rebel without a cause thing, he has no idea what he's doing with anything else." Linda rolled her eyes, pointing out a picture of Dia holding Patrick in a head lock.

"He's just trying to keep people out and impress girls." She made a ticking noise with her tongue, watching as the raven haired woman let out a laugh.

"Oh, yes, Patrick is very good with the girls." She shook her head, turning to look at Kat. "For what it's worth, and don't tell him I'm telling you this, you're the only one he talks about. He talks about you even more then Ashley, and that says a whole lot."

Kat raised an eye brow, leaning forward as the older woman turned back to her album. "Who's A--"

"We cleaned up the table, can I steal her away? We need to talk." Both women turned to the object of their discussion. He was leaning against the doorway, looking cool and collected with his hands in his pockets.

"Of course. I'll keep Dia from upstairs."

"Don't bother." Dia skipped into the room, past Patrick. "I'm going up to Fisher's Point. Where's the keys to the bike?" Patrick motioned towards the front door. "I'll see you later?"

She looked right at Kat.

"Probably not Dia." Patrick answered for her. "Go, please."

Dia made a face but bounced out of the living room. Linda smiled and patted Kat's knee.

"I'll be cleaning, you two have fun." She made a face and went to correct herself before making a noise and throwing her arms in the air, walking to the kitchen.

Kat stared at Patrick who nodded. "After you."

---

"Bianca! Why is there a stray boy on my porch?" Bianca, who had moved from the kitchen to her bedroom back to the kitchen and now to the living room, looked over the couch.

Her blonde hair had been smushed into a messy bun and she had changed into a pair of sweats and long sleeve shirt. She had grabbed the rest of the ice cream and had been watching 16 and Pregnant, waiting for her father or Kat to come home so she could vent.

"And what did I say about that show?" Her father pointed at the television. "That is a very unrealistic and idea filling show."

Bianca sighed and shut it off, walking to the front door which was closed. She nearly dropped the carton and her spoon as Joey smiled from the porch.

"Yeah your dad closed the--" Bianca shut the door, her mouth wide open. "Ok! I'll be waiting here!"

"And he would be?" Her father questioned, looking at his daughter and then the door.

"That's Joey Donner, he was here Friday!" Bianca whispered hysterically. "What's he doing here?"

"I was just asking that myself." Mr. Stratford mumbled.

"Oh my god! What is today? Harass Bianca day?"

"Do you want me to call the police?" He asked his daughter, walking towards the living room phone.

"No, no, no!" Bianca flew at her father, blocking the phone. "I need to talk to him, daddy. Go upstairs and stay there till you here the front door close again."

"Bianca, this is my house." He put his foot down, crossing his arms. Bianca's eyes lit up.

"Fine, Kat went out to see Patrick, so I can just go out with Joey. Bye Daddy!" She didn't get very far as her father grabbed her shoulder.

"You two can talk in the kitchen, you get thirty minutes and then I am coming downstairs whether he is here or not. No kissing, no touching, no smoking, no talking about kissing or touching or smoking, no--"

"Daddy, this is getting old and very repetitive. GO!" She nudged him towards the stairs, pushing the ice cream into his hands. "And take that with you!"

"My ice cream!" Her father said indignantly. Bianca ignored him, gently running her hands over her head to smooth any runaways.

She sighed and placed on her best smile, opening to the door to see Joey still standing and smiling.

"Hey five head."

"Hey Joey, what brings you down to my neck of the woods?" She made a mental note to work on her greetings as she allowed the pretty boy to step into the house.

"I broke up with Chastity. She admitted to cheating on me." Bianca nodded her head.

"Yeah, I know."

"I told her she was dragon, because she is."

"Yeah, I know." Bianca nodded, leading him into the kitchen. "You want anything?"

"Do you have any green tea? My trainer said that I was looking really bloated from yesterday. It's all this stress."

Bianca looked at him, blinking and then nodding her head. She went to the fridge and grabbed one of Kat's green tea cans. She grabbed a bottle of water for herself and sat across from the jock.

"I'm really sorry to come over. You weren't answering your phone and I wanted to talk to someone who was smart and would make me feel better."

Bianca smiled, leaning back in her chair. "That's really sweet Joey."

"I also wanted to tell you something. I like you, a lot. I think you're really nice and funny and that kiss was amazing." He smiled, causing Bianca to blush. "I don't think I've ever felt that with someone else."

"Joey, that is really, like, incredibly kind of you, but, I'm Chastity's friend." His whole face fell.

"You don't like me." He concluded. Bianca's eyes widen, her head shaking.

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I meant that I'm Chastity's friend and she'll kill me." Bianca had leaned forward, her upper body half on the table. "I do like you Joey, I really do. But I just got to a level with Chastity that usually takes longer with a lot more kissing up. I'm seconds from becoming a cheerleader."

She wasn't sure how it happened but Joey leaned over to table as well and kissed her. The butterflies and rainbows busted like fireworks across her stomach. Her hands moving to cup his face.

Someone clearing their throat cause the two to pull away and stare at Mr. Stratford who was now in his pajamas and a robe.

"Hi Mr. Stratford!" Joey greeted enthusiastically. The older man gave him a deathly look, grabbing the back of the blonde's collar and pulling him toward the door.

"Bye Joey!" Bianca waved, dazed and full of excitement.

"See you tomorrow!" Joey smiled back at her as her father shoved him out the door and shut it with a slam.

"Bianca!"

"Breathe daddy."

---

Kat watched as he stepped into his room after her, moving to sit on his bed. He placed his face in his hands, letting out an aggravated sigh. Kat, feeling slightly out of place, walked over to the large collage of pictures on his wall, near the window.

She could only assume the people were friends and family, smiling and posing for the camera. In one corner of the board was a picture of her. Her brown hair was a curtain around her face, her head bent looking at her own camera. As her eyes travel along the board, she noticed the other picture of herself.

It was in the very middle of the board, along with a very old picture of Patrick, Dia, Linda, a woman, and two men Kat did not recognize. To take a shot in the dark she would assume that Patrick was eight or nine and Dia was ten or eleven. They were all smiling brightly. The picture of her was cut so that it was just her upper body and her head. She wasn't looking at him, a smile on her face.

"Where did you get these?" As he looked up she gestured to the pictures of herself.

"The first one was from the first few weeks of school. I was doing a project and had brought my camera to school. I figured it be good to get a picture of the girl who was stalking me, just in case." He smirked as Kat made a mocked face. He stood up and walked over to her and pictures. "That one," he pointed towards the other picture, "was while you were having lunch with Mandella. One of my friends keeps a camera on him, I grabbed it and snapped a shot." He shrugged, his fingers running over the glossy version of her. "I don't even know why I took it. Why I had the urge."

"That's comforting." Kat stated, her fingers going over his and moving it to the picture next to hers. "Is that your dad and uncle?"

"Yeah, as well as my Aunt Sydney. She was my mom's best friend, which is how she and my Uncle George met." Patrick shrugged. "She died a few months after we took the picture."

"Was she sick?" Kat's voice was very small as she looked at the picture. Dia looked more like her father's side of the family then her mother. Except when you looked at the eyes and the crinkle of her nose when she smiled. It was undeniably her mother's.

"She got into a car accident. Dia was in the backseat. It was a frontal crash, so her mom got most of the injury. Dia had a few broken ribs from the seat belt."

Kat turned and looked at him, noting how he wasn't paying attention to her, but rather the picture.

"She also got a bad hit in the head, Dia." He cleared his throat, moving back over to the bed. "She doesn't really remember too much of the accident."

"I'm sorry." Patrick let out a dry chuckle.

"You weren't the one who hit them Kat, it's fine."

"Still." Kat simply said, moving to lean against his cornered desk. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Have you calmed down about this weekend?" She sighed, crossing her arms.

"Just because your cousin came to visit, does not make up for the fact that you were ignoring me." He mimicked her sigh, standing up. "I'm not one of your cheap bimbos. And if that's all you want Patrick, go back to them and leave me alone."

"You have been so freaked out about a relationship, but your acting like I went against one of the ten commandments. I'm sorry I was an asshole."

"It's not about an apology." Kat let her arms drop, moving away from his advancement. "I don't get it Patrick. You're the one who says I'm so different and you want to be with me. You act so kind and then you pull all the same bullshit you probably pull with the rest of them."

"You've been acting even crazier since the beach Kat." He stated dryly, his arms moving to gesture around the room. "Maybe you just don't want anyone in your life."

"I am not acting crazier, Patrick." She bit his name off icily. "I'm just saying the same thing I'm always saying. I am not a hook-up. I am not in this for a hook up."

"Then what are you in it for?" His voice was bordering a dangerous place.

"What are you in for?" Kat made a hissing noise as she ended her question. "I wish Dia had been a girl, that way this would have been over and done with."

"What? What do you want to be over with? You just had dinner with the two most important people in my life!"

"That you didn't even want me to meet!" Kat threw her arms in the air. "I don't know, Patrick. I don't. Just, what?" She growled, "did I make it that easy for you? The girl you were going to conquer."

Patrick opened his mouth, then closed it, then placed his hands over his face, a frustrated noise escaping between his finger tips.

"I don't want anything from you that I can't get from some other girl. If I wanted meaningless sex, Kat, I would have gotten it already." His tone was more then enough reason for her to back down. "I'm sorry for acting like a jackass, but you haven't made life any easier for me either. Every time I think we're getting somewhere, you go and turn it around to where I'm the bad guy. Obviously, neither of us is good with all this, good old-fashioned, relationship fun time."

Kat stared at him. Her heart was racing and she felt like screaming or sobbing or whatever seemed particularly appropriate. She sighed and placed her hand over her face. This had gotten out of hand way too quickly. She wasn't even sure what they were arguing about anymore.

"Then why are we doing it Patrick." Her voice was thick with emotion. "Why are we even bothering if it's about sex or not about sex or neither of us know what we want? Enlighten me."

She made a move to leave, to get past him to his door. And as she pasted him, her body swung as he grabbed her wrist, pulling her to his chest. His lips were over her lips before she had time to even think.

And it was wrong, she knew it was wrong. You didn't end a fight by making out. You ended a fight by talking it out. Not that talking had ever gotten Katherine Stratford and Patrick Verona anywhere.

One minute they were next to his door and the next he gently pushed so that her back was against the wood, his hands were sitting on her hip, her hands snaking around his neck. He pressed himself into her, her body being sandwiched between the door and his body.

Her brain shut off as the heat ran through her veins, making her want to jump from her own skin. The heat was burning her from the inside out, making her temperature launch several degrees too hot. His lips left her lips, leaving trails of fire across her skin, causing her to gasp for air.

His hands darted from her hips to under her shirt, his fingertips sending electricity across her stomach and her spine.

It all happened rather quickly, as her own hands left his hair, his lips gently nipping at her neck. She pulled at the hem of his shirt, barely registering as he moved away and she pulled it off of him. Her eyes traveled from his face over his neck, across his chest and stomach, before she leaned off the door, her lips finding his again.

Her hands moved over his chest as they made their way to the bed. Red flags began to raise as she found herself half straddling him, his eyes lazily half closed, his usual smirk across his face. She balanced herself, her fingers moving inward from his shoulders, traveling down his stomach, memorizing every inch of him.

The red flags could go and screw themselves she thought, her fingers finding the hem to her own shirt, as she leaned down to kiss him again. At least she had started tugging up her shirt, her lips almost to his, when a knock sounded harshly from the other side, causing Kat to tuck and roll next to him.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry!" His mother's voice sounded genuinely apologetic. "Your dad is on the phone! He said he tried calling you and it's important!"

Patrick rolled his eyes, pulling his phone from his pocket. "Shit."

"I'm sorry." Kat stated quickly. "I have to go."

What air would do for a person.

"No, I'm sorry, this, that, I'm just sorry." Patrick stood up, his hand running down his face. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." He put his hand out.

Kat, still shaken from what she was about to do, took it, barely feeling herself pulled from the bed. His lips sent a fever through her face as he gently kissed her forehead.

Without putting a shirt on he took her hand and opened his door, escorting her out of his room and out of his house.

She had no idea how she made it home. But she had. She had made it home to a screaming match between Bianca and her father. It was ok because no one noticed as she slinked up the stairs and collapsed on her bed. Her body finally recovering from the heat that had taken her over.