The watch, the ring, the kiss

Christmas came and went to fast. It was already New Year's Eve. Not that Kate cared, she had just planned on staying home and organizing the stuff from the boxes she had packed. They had finally arrived, along with Christmas presents from her dad. Two tiny boxes, with a note on the bigger one.

'Dear Katie,

I'm really sorry for what I did, but I'm sure you know the reason why. In the littlest box, there's something I'm sure your mother would like you to have. It's something to remind you of her and always have her with you. In the other one, there's something to remind you of me, aswell.
Merry Christmas, Kitty-Kat.
Love, Dad'

She opened the tiny box first and saw a silver chain with her mother's ring linked to it. She put it around her neck, finally feeling safe, and opened the other one. She found herself facing her father's favorite watch. 'I'll always wear them' she promised.

'It looks much cosier now.' she thought, looking around her bedroom. She had already finished unpacking and organizing everything when she heard a knock on the door. She ignored it. Her grandparents were downstairs, they could open it.

"Kitty-Kat, there's someone here for you." she heard Phillip yell.

Kate went downstairs quickly to find a shy and nervous Rick on her doorstep, hands in his pockets. She cursed herself for being in her PJ's as she approached him. "Rick? What are you doing here?" 'Damn it, Kate. That sounds rude!'

"I,um... Today is New Year's Eve and I thought that, maybe you would like to watch the ball drop. With. Me?" he asked. Kate looked at her grandfather, in need for permission. He nodded slightly and left the room, so the kids could talk. "But it's okay if you don't want to go... You barely know me and I don't..." he continued, not noticing the exchange of glances between Kate and her grandfather the moment before. He stopped talking when Kate reached for his arm like that day at school.

"Rick!" he just stared at her, his blue eyes pleading. "I'd love to go." she blushed.

"Seriouly?"

"Seriously. Just let me go get changed."

Kate checked herself in the mirror one more time. She was wearing a white polo shirt under a green V-neck sweater and a jacket, jeans and boots. Her hair perfectly waving on her shoulders, framing her face. Her mother's ring hanging on the chain around her neck and her father's watch on her good wrist.

She hugged her grandfather before leaving. In the elevator, when Rick was finally able to keep his breathing steady, he told her she looked beautiful and they both blushed.

"You're not so bad yourself, Rodgers. So... how the heck are we going to Times Square? I bet the streets are very crowded."

"Well, we'll take a cab to 6th and we'll walk from there. We'll get there in about 30 minutes."

The ride went by pretty fast. So did the rest of the night. Rick and Kate were getting along, thankfully. Kate would never admit she was starting to enjoy his company. It was almost midnight. The ball started to drop, slowly moving to the podium, behind the woman who gave NYC the speech.

Their hands were clasped as they counted down with the crowd, happy smiles on their faces. They looked at each other as the crowd went wild. Rick cupped Kate's face and pressed his lips to hers, as costumary on New Year's Eve.

Kate was taken aback, but ended up surrending, kissing back and wrapping her arms around his neck.

He had been wanting to do this for quite a long time. Since he met her actually. She was so different from the other girls he knew, so mysterious, so special, so... extraordinary.

They broke apart, gasping for air, but didn't move. Their foreheads pressed to each others, grins on their faces. Rick was the first to speak. "Wow, this was... wow!"

"I'd go for that one, too. But what about Meredith? It's been only a couple of weeks..."

"Kate, there's no need to rush anything. You barely know me. I on the other hand, know a lot about you."

"Oh, do you?" she raised a brow at him.

"Well, yeah. I've been watching you lately, specially in class. And, I don't know if you're aware of this, but I want to be a writer."

"And does the writer thing have to do with me?"

"Well, everything I've noticed, I've written down. I'm writting a story about you, Kate. I could use some information, like the reason for that sad look in your eyes. Even if your face is glowing, even if you sound happy, those eyes of yours look sad."

Kate froze. 'Great way to start a year!' she thought. "I'd rather not talk about it, Rick. I'm... I'm not ready to talk about it." she paused. "Wait a sec... Is that why you kissed me? So you could get close to me and get all the information you need for the damn book?"

"No, Kate. I've been into you since day 1. I just can't stand that look on your face."

"Okay, whatever, Rick. Can we go home now, please?"

"Sure, absolutely. I'll take you."

The ride back was quite, apart from the Latino taxi driver telling them how excited he was to watch the ball drop for the first time. Kate had tears in her eyes. She couldn't stop thinking about her mother, now that Rick had mentioned her. She let one single tear run down her cheek.

"Listen, Kate. I'm sorry for asking. It must be really bad. You look like a tough one, I never expected to see you crying." she looked up at him, who just reached for her and pulled her to him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, keeping her close. She let her head fall on his chest as he stroke her hair.

They arrived at their building and left the cab. Kate held Rick's hand. He was surprised to see her taking the iniciative. She leaned her head on his shoulder and they walked in together.

By the door of her apartment, they stayed like the first day after school, just staring into each others eyes. Rick leaned and kissed her cheek, the closest to her lips he could get without touching them.

"Until tomorrow, Kate."

"Can't you just say 'Night'?

"I wanna be a writer, remember? 'Night' is boring. 'Until tomorrow' is more... hopeful."

"Well, I'm just an ordinary citizen. Night, Rick." she pressed a kiss to his lips and entered the loft, not knowing what expected her.

A/N - hope you like it guys! I won't be updating for a couple of days, but I promise that on Tuesday there will be a new chapter for all of you! Thanks for reviewing and feeding my ego!

XOXO

Nina K.