A/N: Soulmate AU
Three days have passed since the boys got stranded in Oklahoma. They'd used the money they were going to use for Santa Fe to get a hotel and were trying to figure out how to fix the van.
They didn't have enough money to get someone to come fix it, so they were trying to fix it. But to Jack, it seemed like they getting further and further away from fixing it.
Anyway, Jack and Davey were currently in the hotel room. Davey was on the phone with Crutchie, who was out with Les, Romeo, and Buttons. The four boys had gone out sightseeing and well, now they were lost.
"How did you go so far that can't see the hotel? It's the tallest building in this town!" Davey scolded. Whatever Crutchie said on the phone made Davey sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose. He began trying to give them directions.
Jack was laying on his bed and trying to brainstorm what to do. Then he remembered something that made him shoot up from the bed. The girl from the coffee shop! What was her name? Katie? Carly? Ka… Ka… Katherine! That's it! She gave him her number! Maybe she could help!
He made a mad dive for the suitcases, which had his clothes in them, and Davey just barely made it out of the way without getting tackled. "What're you doing?" Davey asked and Jack began pulling all his clothes out of the suitcase and digging through them.
"Crutch, I'll call you back. He finally lost it," Davey said, not taking his eyes off his friend. He hung up and said, "Jack, what're you doing? You're making a mess!"
"The girl! From three days ago, Katherine! Dang it where's her number?" he said quickly. Davey wasn't sure what to say to that.
After not being able to find it, he growls and slams his suitcase shut. Then he remembered something else. "The coffee shop!" he shouted and darted out of the hotel room and out of the hotel. Davey quickly followed his friend, thinking he was going crazy.
Jack ran to the coffee shop with Davey close behind. WHen they made it, Jack ran in and to Katherine, who screamed and almost dropped the cups of coffee when Jack finally stopped his mad dash right in front of her.
"Jack? What're you doing here? I thought you and your brothers were going to Santa Fe," she said, confused. "We were. Our van broke down though. We've been stuck here for three days. Do you by chance know anyone that can fix cars?" Jack asked. "Yeah. My friends Bill and Darcy. I get off my shift in ten minutes, but I can go early. C'mon, I'll take you to them," she said.
She gave the coffee to the customers then hung up her apron and checked out. "This is Davey by the way," Jack said when she came back, pointing to the confused boy. "Hi, Davey, I'm Katherine. I'm guessing he's on of your brothers?" she asked. Jack nodded. "Nice to meet you, Katherine," Davey smiled. "You too. C'mon, let's get going," she said.
She took the boys to her friends and after Jack explained their situation, they agreed to help. "You guys sure it's ok if ya help? I feel bad 'bout not being able to pay you," Jack said as they headed back to the van.
"Ah it's fine! Any friend of Katherine's is a friend of ours," Darcy said. When they got back to the van, they found Finch, Albert, and Henry on top of the van, with the rest of the boys chucking something at them trying to not them down. When Davey and Jack realized it was rocks they quickly made them stop.
"Katherine, these are my brothers. Boys, this is Katherine, Darcy, and Bill. They're gonna fix the van," Jack explained.
"Are you all biologically related?" Katherine asked, slightly confused. "No. Well, there's a chance Henry and Albert are but other than that no. We live in Kloppmann's Home for Boys in Manhattan," Jack explained as Darcy and Bill began examining the engine.
"Oh," Katherine said. 'So that's why he avoided talking about his parents', Katherine thought to herself.
Jack noticed Crutchie and his group still hadn't come back and called, "Specs! Racer! Has Crutchie called you and say where he is?"
The two older boys shook their heads. "Mush?" Jack asked. Mush shook his head. "Great," he muttered. He turned to Katherine and said, "Um, I gotta go look for some of the boys. I'll be right back."
"Oh, I'll come with you. I know this town like the back of my hand," she said. He smiled at her and said, "Thanks." He told Davey where he was going and the two left. As they searched, they talked and talked and talked.
They searched almost everywhere in the town before Jack called Crutchie. "Where are you guys?" he asked when Crutchie picked up. "We don't know. We were waiting for Davey to call us back," Romeo said into the phone. "Rome? Why do ya have Crutchie's phone?" Jack asked.
"Crutchie's leg is cramping pretty bad," he explained. "Ok. Well what landmarks are you guys next to?" Jack asked. "Um, there's a food place that we're outside of. It's called Doug's Burgers. That's a weird name for a restaurant," Romeo said.
"Do you know where Doug's Burgers is? They're outside of it," Jack asked Katherine. "Yeah, it's not too far from here actually," she said and led Jack to said burger place. "OK, we'll be there in a minute. Don't do anything stupid," Jack said. "C'mon, Jack, have a little faith in us," Romeo said. Jack hung up with a sigh.
They found the boys sitting on the sidewalk. Well, Crutchie and Buttons were on the sidewalk. Les was trying to climb onto Romeo's shoulders. "Les, get off of Romeo," Jack said, making the boys' heads shoot up. "Jack!" they shouted happily.
"Hey guys. How much trouble did ya get into?" Jack laughed as Romeo, Les, and Buttons hugged him. "None, we were good," Buttons said. "I doubt that," Jack muttered.
"Well hello there, miss," Romeo said, walking up to Katherine and tipping his hat towards her. "Kath, these are the rest of my brothers. Boys, this is Katherine," Jack said and Crutchie pulled himself up and leaned heavily on his crutch.
"Hiya. I'm 're really pretty," Romeo said, grinning at Katherine. "Thank you. I'm Katherine. You're also too young for me," she giggled. Romeo groaned. "Dang it," he sighed.
"You ok, Crutch?" Jack asked.
Crutchie gave Jack a pained smile and nodded. "I'll be ok. Let's get goin'." Jack nodded and let Buttons climb onto his back as they began walking off. He would've let Crutchie ride on his back, but knew it probably would've made the young teen a little upset. He didn't like to feel like he was helpless, and he'd told Jack before that being carried made him feel helpless.
Anyway, Jack noticed Crutchie discomfort as they walked but didn't say anything to him about it, knowing he would just blow it off. After Buttons jumped off of Jack's back to chase Romeo and Les, Katherine whispered to Jack asking, "Um, why does he have a crutch? Oh that probably sounds really rude doesn't it, I'm sorry I didn't mean for it to-."
"It's fine, Kath. When he was little he got polio and it messed up his leg real bad. Sometimes it still bothers him and he can't really walk on it," Jack whispered. She nodded and left it at that.
They made it back to the van and saw Bill and Darcy talking with Specs and Mush. "We got it fixed. Turns out there was a shoe lodged in the engine somewhere that was preventing it from starting," Bill explained, handing the shoe to Jack and making Race turn red. "Found your shoe, Specs," Jack said, tossing it to him.
"Thanks, guys," Jack said, patting their shoulders as the left. They nodded and said bye to Katherine.
The boys ran back inside to pack, leaving Jack and Katherine alone. "We're gonna stay in touch right?" Jack asked. "I hope so. When I come to New York next year, you'll have to come show me all the great places," Katherine smiled. Jack chuckled.
Trying not to think much about it, Jack kissed her. It lasted for a minute or so before separating. Katherine, who had kissed him back, was shocked didn't say anything. Jack's cheeks burned with embarrassment and he muttered a quick, "Sorry," before going inside and packing.
When he came back, Katherine was still waiting for him. She was smiling now. "I'll definitely have to come visit you if it means I can kiss you again," she said softly, pecking his lips. He grinned from ear to ear. "Bye Katherine," he said as the boys loaded up. "Bye Jack," she replied.
They kissed one more time before Jack climbed into the van. He waved to her and they drove off. So the trip didn't go how he wanted it to and they didn't get to go to Santa Fe. He got something better out of though. He got to meet Katherine.
A/N: Sorry for the wait, guys! I hope you liked this! Since I made you guys wait so long and it's Valentine's Day, I'm giving you two chapters today! The next one should be up in a bit. Comments would be nice! TTFN!