Disclaimer: I do not own The Red Road.
A/N: This is semi-AU of S2 (mostly because only one episode has aired). Phillip did not cause trouble with the guys at the paving company, and Mac has not been murdered.
Phillip would have been happy to just hold Kate for the rest of the day, he rarely felt as peaceful as he did in those long moments. Kate, too, had seemed content to just lie against him, breathing steadily. Their comfortable near-cuddling was interrupted by Kate's thigh muscle twitching violently, a reaction to her foot being stuck in a bucket of salt at a slightly less than relaxing position.
Pushing up from his reclined position, Phillip pulled Kate up with him. One arm curled around hip, Phillip settled his free hand against her thigh, gently stroking the soft skin of Kate's inner thigh as the muscle jumped against his palm. Smiling to himself, Phillip reached down and extracted Kate's foot from the bucket. Her toes wiggled, large crystals scattering back into the bucket with each flick of her tiny toes. Warm hand sliding down Kate's ankle and encompassing her slender foot, cupping the arch of her foot, Phillip meticulously helped slough off the salt.
"Better," Phillip asked as he propped Kate's leg up on his and began to run his hands up and down her calf, gently kneading the strained muscles.
Nodding against Phillip's broad shoulder, Kate pressed herself closer to the shirtless man, inhaling the uniquely manly scent that pervaded the house. "That feels good," she gasped as Phillip's fingers reached her thigh, his digits digging in gently. "Oh," Kate pressed herself against Phillip's back, lips half-open against shoulder.
His hands moved further up, thumbs making warm circles against the slowly relaxing muscle. Pausing, Phillip stared at Kate's creamy skin against his own tan flesh. In an odd moment of fascination, Phillip laced his fingers together beneath Kate's thigh and locked his thumbs together.
"You stopped," Kate breathed against his bare skin, a little whimper preceding the statement.
Phillip smirked, turning his head to look at the redhead who was practically wrapped around him. "Sorry," the hulking man chuckled, hands already back to work, dancing against her skin but carefully avoiding the neat edge of her shorts.
If Kate were any other girl, Phillip would have lifted her up and had her straddling him in a half-second flat. Kate atop him, hair falling around her bare shoulders, as Phillip held the curve of her hips. It was a scintillating image, which was why Phillip was focused on not crossing into a territory he wouldn't be able to turn back from.
After another few moments of massaging Kate's thigh, Phillip straightened and twisted, pulling Kate under his arm. Still in dangerous territory, Phillip quickly stood. That didn't particularly help because he towered over Kate, and she just tilted her head back and looked up at him with those soft eyes, lips in a half-smile.
"So," Kate hummed, "No work today?"
Arms lifting, Phillip ran his hands through his hair, not realizing what that did for Kate. "Tomorrow morning," he muttered, "I have Saturdays off."
"So you just hang around here all day," Kate asked, head cocked to the side as she watched Phillip's shirtless chest ripple and flex as he moved.
Dark eyes sparking with laughter Phillip reached out and pulled Kate up from the bed, causing her to stumble into his chest. "No, I don't just hang around here all day," Phillip tipped Kate's chin up with his index finger. "I'm fixing this place up."
Kate frowned, there in the ceiling was, what she could only assume was a former hole. There were fresh boards overlaying old ones in the ceiling above Phillip's bed. Kate was actually a little surprised she hadn't noticed it before. "Is that safe," she asked.
Phillip chuckled and pulled Kate a little closer, once again flirting with that dangerous line. "Are you questioning my carpentry skills," Phillip growled playfully.
"No," Kate hedged, "I just don't think that the ceiling looks all that sturdy."
"Keep talking, Katie," Phillips smirked darkly, "do you want a shovel to help you dig?"
A blush reddened Kate's cheeks as she shifted uncomfortably against Phillip, her hands, braced against his chest, played across the firm skin and muscle.
"No," her breath fanned across his bare chest, "I just worry about you."
"You shouldn't," Phillip brushed the hair out of her eyes, the silky red curls sliding against his skin. "I'm a bad, bad man, Katie."
She shivered under his touch, the dark rumble of his voice making her squirm. "I don't think you're nearly as bad as you pretend to be," she murmured, leaning closer until she could wrap her arms around Phillip in a tight hug.
Fingers danced against her scalp, threading and tugging through Kate's hair. Phillip curled around her, pressing his nose to her hair. Kate was too sweet, she was too innocent. And, if Phillip hadn't known any better, he might have called her stupid, but Kate was anything but that.
"Come on," Phillip pulled back, "Time to prove you trust me, Kate."
The little smirk playing on his full mouth was devilish in nature. Phillip certainly knew how to intimidate.
"I do trust you," Kate said slowly, trying to figure out exactly where Phillip's brain was running off to.
"Good," Phillip grinned and in a flash Kate was once again in Phillip's hold.
"What," Kate yelped as she found herself flung over Phillip's shoulder, one of his large hands braced against her thigh.
Phillip ignored the yelping and the hands clutching at his bare back, tiny nails digging and scratching harmlessly as Kate scrabbled for purchase. "What are you doing," Kate panted, her cool hair swinging against Phillip's back.
Laughing, Phillip bounced a little, making Kate's body jump a little on his shoulder and silence her. "Making sure you trust me," he purred, his voice rumbling pleasantly against her.
Kate wasn't too worried, at least she wasn't until Phillip stepped outside and Kate began to frantically try to figure out where Phillip was going. She knew she was safe with Phillip, but her rational brain wasn't in control. The rough wood decking turned to wood chips, and then Kat jerked as she realized that Phillip's center of gravity had shifted.
"Oh my god, what are you doing," Kate's voice was a little more sharp than usual, her breathing a little quicker. "Tell me you're not doing what I think you are."
"Relax, Kate," Phillip's thumb stroked along her inner thigh as he began to ascend the ladder braced against the house.
Following instructions, Kate took several slow breaths and curled her arms around Phillip, hands braced against his chest. "Okay, calm, I can do that, calm," she muttered against Phillip's back, eyes squeezed tightly shut.
"You okay," Phillip asked gently as he climbed onto the roof, kneeling so he could set Kate down on the entirely safe roof.
"Fine," Kate nodded, even as she resisted Phillip's attempts to remove her from his person. "I'm good."
"Then you could open your eyes," Phillip coaxed, settling in behind her and holding her
in his arms.
"I'm good," Kate reaffirmed, curling further into Phillip's embrace.
"Open your eyes, Kate," Phillip breathed against her neck before he brushed his lips against her pulse, sorely tempted to kiss the tender flesh.
Kate shook her head, eyes still firmly shut.
"You'll be sorry if you don't," Phillip teased, "besides, we've been up here for a full minute and we haven't crashed back to earth."
"Yeah," Kate agreed, "but with my luck the world is just waiting for me to open my eyes so I can see my fall."
"Kate," he whispered in her ear, voice husky and warm, "I would never put you in harm's way, so trust me and open your eyes."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Hesitantly, Kate cracked her eyes open and inhaled sharply. It was beautiful, the mountain jutting upward in a series of sloping cliffs and valleys, frosted in a brilliant green. Trees. Trees that had grown into the rocky face, thriving in the face of adversity. Kate had never seen them so clearly, so closely. The view was still obscured by the copse of trees growing around the house, but the view was still stunning. It was unpolluted.
Kate dropped her chin on Phillip's arms which rested on Kate's knees. She relaxed looking out at the perfect stillness of nature. Her fingers itched to grip a pencil, to sketch the details which she had never been able to imagine.
The arms around her tightened, fighting off the brief chill of the racing wind. Everything always seemed clearer, around Phillip. The truth of the world was easier to see sheltered in his arms, safe from harm.
Curled up under Phillip's arm, Kate sat quietly as Phillip navigated the roads in the dark. It was easy to be quiet with Phillip. There was no need to speak. There was no drive to possess. It was enough to just be together, warmth from the heaters and Phillip's body keeping the chill away.
Kate was a consummate rule follower, but Kate hadn't bothered to put her seatbelt on. She trusted Phillip to keep her safe, and he had returned that trust by buckling her in. Kate knew that Phillip would never voluntarily put her in harm's way, and he would do all he could to protect her from the world. With Kate, Phillip had found the one person who trusted him with everything, and he was determined, for once, to prove her right.
One shoe still tainted with blue paint, Phillip had refused to return it to Kate. She had fought him, complaining and pouting, but he had held strong. The shoe was now in pieces, and the other one lost somewhere in his house.
"I missed you," Phillip spoke quietly, his free hand twined with one of Kate's. The words were vague, too encompassing. The words were heavy, hinting at something deeper.
Fingers clutched at each other. Neither liked to think about why they couldn't see each other, the things that stood in their way, the people.
Instead of voicing the sentiments Kate wasn't sure how to, she just smiled up at Phillip and kissed his cheek, "Me too."
He smiled under her touch. It was enough.
When Phillip finally parked down the street from the Jensen house he was hesitant to let Kate go. He was determined that one day he would be allowed to walk Kate to the door, to kiss her, to hold her without fear of being caught or censured.
It was Kate that pulled away first, drawing back against his hold. It tore at Phillip that she could pull away. All he wanted to do was hold her, and he worried that maybe he was too clingy, smothering her.
He didn't want to drive her away, so Phillip let Kate pull away and he got her bike out of the bed of his truck. He hugged her briefly, ducking to kiss her cheek before he stepped away from the barefoot girl.
"I'll talk to you later, Katie," he flashed a small smile before jamming his hands into his pockets to keep them from reaching out for her.
Stepping after Phillip, Kate curled around him, pressing her cheek to his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He didn't move t hold her. She stepped back, gravel and pebbles digging into the pads of her feet.
"Bye, Phillip," Kate put her hand up in a wave and started to walk away, one hand steering her bike alongside her.
When Kate stepped into the garage it was to her father working out. He settled the bar he was using onto the rest and sat up.
"Hey, Sweetheart," Harold smiled broadly at his Baby Girl, "how was your day?"
"It was good," Kate offered weakly as she steered her bike into its spot. "How was yours?"
"Quiet," Harold sat up and looked at Kate. He frowned when he saw her brushing off the bottoms of her feet, "Where are your shoes?"
"One of them broke, so I just tossed them both," Kate shrugged.
"Come here," he patted the bench, "you should have called, I would have come and gotten you."
Sitting, Kate let Harold pull her feet into his lap and inspect them for damage. Kate was fine. The worst of it was small dents and small red spots that would soon fade. Harold's fingers flicked off the remaining flecks of dirt and gravel, tracing the arch of Kate's foot.
It didn't feel the same as when Phillip had touched her. His touch was warm and gentle, and it made her heart race. She missed him. The realization hit Kate sharply. She had never depended on a man or missed a man other than her father.
Missing Phillip felt…she felt empty.
A/N: I know it has been a while, but I've finally finished this chapter! Suffice to say it has been a hectic few weeks, and a few more still to come. Between work, grad school, and terrible headaches I've been stressed and emotionally exhausted. Updates should come a little faster after next week. Thank you for all the support & reviews!