Heyyyy, so this chapter I changed quite a bit towards the end, but you'll be happy (I hope) to know that this version has even more Kick than the original chapter, and lots of fluffiness. Yay! ^.^

WARNING : lots of swearing and sexual frustration ahead...read at your own risk ^^

...

And then I tickled him.

I rolled him over so that I was straddling him, and I continued to tickle his ribs and his stomach-his glorious, rock-hard stomach-until I was sure he would burst. He was laughing his ass off, and I couldn't help but think about how incredibly sexy and smooth his laugh was, like rich, dark chocolate warming my veins. As we rolled around on the mats I completely forgot about the world around us. Right then, right there, there was no dojo, no Rudy, no homework or deceit. It was just me and Jack, wrapped up in our own little bubble of laughter and contentment.

He took me completely by surprise when he abruptly rolled me over so that he was now straddling me. The intensity in his gaze caused my breath to hitch in my throat, and my heart stopped altogether when I looked into his eyes. Those deep, swirling pools of chocolate that captivated me with every glance. There was such an intensity behind them, even more prominent than when he'd had me previously pinned to the floor during our little match only minutes before. Once again, it was completely indecipherable, and the emotion disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving me feeling abnormally empty inside.

I saw the corners of his mouth lift up slightly, and I could feel his face inching closer and closer to my own, until finally our lips were so close to touching, that we were literally breathing the same air. If I lifted my head up just a fraction of a millimeter, our lips would connect in what I was now positively sure would be the most amazing kiss of my life, and I feared that if he didn't move away soon, that my fantasies would come to life. And I was shitting-my-pants-scared of what I might feel if they did.

"I win."

He said it so simply, so fucking arrogantly, that it was just barely enough to wrench me out of my own head and back into the real world, reminding me of what we had been doing before I had drifted off to Jack-land, and that we were not, in fact, alone. And that we were in the Bobby Wasabi Dojo. Surrounded by people. Who had a perfectly clear vision of my flushed cheeks and lust-filled eyes.

Although it wasn't until we heard the sound of Rudy awkwardly clearing his throat that I actually managed to shake my body out of its mushy state.

Jack was the first to get up, slowly-almost reluctantly tearing his eyes from mine and pushing himself up to his feet. I quickly followed suit before he could offer me his hand, not trusting my body to touch him without dragging him down again for another round of tickle-time.

My head snapped around at the sound of poorly-concealed snickers, and I narrowed my hazel eyes at the three goofs who were huddled together like penguins, looking Jack and I with cocky grins plastered on their pimpled faces.

Those little fuckers.

I took a step forward, fully intending to give them each a healthy dose of atomic wedgies, but Inwas cut short when a strong arm around my waist held me back. Jack.

The look he shot me was surely meant to be scolding, but instead turned out more amused than anything.

I should have given him a wedgie for finding my frustration so amusing.

"Well, I think that it's fairly obvious that you are indeed very skilled in Karate, and it's no lie that having a girl on the team would really help the business," Rudy gave me a wide smile.

"so consider yourself an official member of the Bobby Wasabi Dojo!"

The guys around me all cheered and engulfed me into one great group hug, where all thoughts of lust and wedgies completely evaporated. For the first time in a while, I actually felt like I belonged.

I just hoped with all my heart that I wouldn't end up fucking it up.

When they all pulled away and finally gave me some space to breathe, each of them looked at each other and nodded as if in agreement to something, before placing their right fist up against the palm of their other hand and speaking with loud, confident voices.

"We swear by the light of the dragon's eye to be loyal and honest and never say die. Wasabi!"

I could feel all of their expectant gazes on me, and when I found Jack's eyes, he gave me an encouraging smile.

I took a deep breath and copied their gesture. "Wasabi!"

"Wooohooo!" Jerry did an exaggerated fist-pump in the air. "Time to kick some dummy ass!"

The rest of the guys hollered in agreement, and made their way over to the training dummies to practice their kicks.

Jack lingered behind for a bit with me and swung his arm around my shoulders again.

"Sooo, what do you think of the Wasabi code? You like?" I gave his chest a playful slap when he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, although I had no idea what there could possibly be to suggest in that sentence.

"I like," I chuckled, "although it is rather contradictory." I admitted.

He furrowed his eyebrows. "How so?"

Was it not obvious? "Well you clearly just said that you would never say die, but by saying that, you did say the word die, at least once, meaning that you have already broken the code on more than one occasion, which is absurd because you can't just promise something like that.

"What if one day you find yourself at gunpoint, your enemies telling you that if you don't say the word 'die', then they will kill you and the rest of your family? How are you supposed to react to that!?"

He gave me a strange look. "You think way too much. Now come on and hit stuff with us."

He guided me over to the dummies, and we spent the rest of the lesson just sparring and goofing around without a care in the world.

Kim : Hey dad :) on my way home, dont wory abt me. Be ther soon xx

I tucked my phone back into my pocket and continued my journey home, happily munching away on one of Milton's home-made cookies. It was dee-licious. I didn't believe him at first when he'd told me that he had made them himself, but I was informed that he and his mother baked every monday, and that he alway brought some with him to the dojo to share with everyone. He really was a sweet kid, and very sensitive, too. The guys teased him about it, but he still stayed true to himself in spite of all that, and I completely agreed; he shouldn't change one thing about himself! Well, he could do with putting on a bit more weight, but I'd work with him on that later.

I noticed that he was mostly paired with Eddie. Weird, chubby little Eddie. He called himself a playa even though he still had yet to talk to a girl without stammering, but I could tell that he had a big heart. Almost as big as his appetite. Man, could that boy eat. He had brought in a meatball sub sandwich, a maxi-sized Coke, two chocolate muffins and a block of Gouda as a snack. Freaking Gouda! But, watching him spar, you could tell that he really wanted to prove himself, and I respected that. Rudy certainly seemed to see his potential, making sure to congratulate him when he got a move right, and guide him when he was having trouble.

Well, that is until his toilet-slash-waffle machine broke down in smoke. After that he had locked himself in his office.

See, that's the thing with Rudy ; from the outside he just looked like an ordinary, tiny little man, but even after just a few hours with him, even I could tell that this guy was obviously dropped on the head as a baby. Several times. I laughed my ass off when he ran out of his office screaming 'Everybody get down! There's a ghost in there and he says he wants my socks!'. That little prank was courtesy of Jerry, resident clown and flirt.

If there's one thing I noticed about Jerry, it's that he was really fun to be around and didn't seem to have a care in the world. Of course, the fact that he was unbelievably confused didn't go unnoticed either. Jack had told me that ever since he arrived in Seaford, Jerry had always been there for him as best friend and partner in crime.

And then my mind inevitably drifted to Jack, my first official 'friend' in Seaford. I had no idea what to make of him, he was like this giant riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. It was like my whole being seemed to gravitate towards him, although I still had no real clue to whom he really was. I had known him for less than a day, yet I was already willing to tell him all of my secrets and deepest fears. It was like an instant connection.

I guess that was just the way some friendships worked.

I kept on walking down the dark street, illuminated only by the few remaining lampposts that were scattered across the narrow path.

It seemed I had wandered into the wrong part of town.

Crap. I reached for my phone again, opening Google maps, or whatever it was called, but it wouldn't work without wi-fi. Damnit.

I shoved the phone angrily back into my pants and ran a hand through my long, blonde hair.

Where the fuck was I?

I searched around for the name of the street, hoping for at least some sort of indication as to where I was. Maybe that was I could call my dad and ask him to come and get me.

No. There was no need to worry him. I was probably just being dramatic, and if I retraced my steps I could probably get back on the right path to go home.

I turned on my heel and headed back the way I came from, still looking out for a street name sign.

When I spotted one further down the lane, I jogged up to it and illuminated the faded writing with the light of my phone.

"Wilson Avenue? Where the fuck is that!?"

"You lost, girlie?"

I stilled. Please don't be a rapist, please don't be a rapist, pleasedontbearapist.

I turned around ever-so-slowly to face him.

Well fuck a duck.

He certainly looked like a rapist.

His dirty scraggly hair hung limply at his shoulders, framing a dirty, skeezy-looking face. He was wearing a old waterproof coat with large holes all over, making it not-so-waterproof anymore, and his grey sweats were soaked at the ankles, turning them a particularly nasty shade of brown.

"Well? Aren't you gonna answer me?" He leered at me and I wasn't sure what made me want to gag the most : His three missing front teeth, or the way his beady little eyes looked me up and down as if he was undressing me with his eyes.

Groooossss.

Before answering, I took a few more seconds to size him up. I could tell that underneath his baggy clothing he wasn't much more than skin and bones, and I knew that I would be able to take him down easy. But when the moonlight reflected off of a sharp metal object in his left hand, I became more wary.

Well of course he has a knife, Kim. Did you expect him to have flowers?

I tried to calm myself down, reasoning with myself that if I could somehow manage to distract him, I could run for the hills and be on my merry way.

"As a matter of fact, I am. I don't suppose you were going to offer to point me in the right direction, were you?" My voice sounded much calmer than I felt.

He flashed his few remaining teeth at me and shifted his creepy gaze down to my boobs.

"Maybe I will," He licked his lips. "For a price."

Okay, that was just nasty.

Inside, I felt like a million little cockroaches were crawling across my skin, but on the outside my face was a perfect picture of boredom.

I tilted my head to one side. "Are you going to rape me, sir?"

He seemed taken aback by my question, his eyes widening and his jaw dropping slightly.

He cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes. "That all depends on how cooperative you are, sweetheart."

I snorted. It was mostly a nervous thing, but I passed it off as mocking. "Please. You really think that I couldn't kick your ass if you tried to touch me? Dude, I've got a black belt in Karate. All it would take is one clean blow to the stomach and that knife would go flying out of your hand faster than you could say 'shit, I just got owned by a chick!'"

His gaze flickered to the weapon in his hand, then back up to my face, obviously reconsidering his options, which were, by now, pretty limited. He could either run or get his ass kicked. Or possibly both, if I was up for it.

His lips pressed into a thin line. "You're bluffing," he accused.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Believe what you will. It's not my balls on the line. That is, if you even have any."

I'm not quite sure what I was trying to achieve with that little insult, but the end result was the creepy rapist lunging at me with his knife pointed straight at me.

I assumed a defensive position, ready to block his impending attack, but the blow never came. Instead I opened the eyes that I was unaware had been closed to find him lying on a heap on the floor, a little pool of blood forming beneath his head, the metallic liquid shining in the moonlight.

But the thing that shocked me the most was the person standing over him, his back hunched and body violently shaking. How on earth had this person acted so fast? One second I was about to be attacked by a creepy rapist, and the next, said skinny rapist was ten feet away from me in a heap on the floor. That shit just didn't happen in real life.

Suddenly, another chilling thought occured to me;

Was he dead? He certainly wasn't moving. And that was a lot of blood around his head...

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! I might have just been involved in an act of murder! And what if the murderer decides that he doesn't want any witnesses and tries to off me, too? Oh for God's sake, Kim, of course he's going to want to kill you as well. You're like, colatteral damage, or something. What's one more life amongst the dozens of others he may have taken before you?! I started to hyperventilate.

My first instinct was to just turn, run home and forget that this whole incident had never happened and hope that the murderer would just let me go, but for some strange reason, I couldn't quite bring myself to turn my back on the person who had, at the end of the day, saved my life.

As my breathing turned into panting, it was becoming harder and harder to inhale the oxygen that my lungs so desperately needed. I heard a sort of rustling sound coming from my right, and I just barely made out my savior tugging off his jacket from the corner of my eye.

My body started to sway, my mind overrun with repressed panic, and I suddenly felt myself falling backwards, my vision blackening and my head rapidly approaching the concrete floor.

At least it was better than death-by-psycho-killer.

But my head never did hit the ground. Instead, I felt a pair of strong arms wrapping themselves around my waist, catching me midair and slowly placing me down onto the sidewalk.

Through the dark haze invading my field of vision, I could just about make out a sculpted male face staring down at me as the stranger gently lowered my head onto something soft and plush against my skull. A...coat, maybe?

"Come on," I heard him coo, the smooth voice sounding strikingly familiar. "Come on, breathe for me Kim, that's right, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Long, deep breaths, that's it, just keep that up."

I felt my eyes drift shut as I allowed the calm, soothing voice to coax me out of my little panic attack. I did as he instructed, inhaling long, deep breaths and listening to his melodic voice, enjoying the feel of his thumbs drawing little circles against the smooth skin of my cheeks. At this point, I didn't even care that he could kill me at any second. I just wanted him to keep touching me.

Is that messed up?

"No, no, keep your eyes open, Kimmy, don't fall asleep on me, 'kay? I don't wanna have to haul your pretty little ass all the way over to the hospital on a monday evening. D'you know how packed that place can get? Plus, I think it's gonna rain soon, and I don't want you catching pneumonia on top of passing out, ya hear me?" The voice let out a shaky chuckle.

Wait...he knows my name?...Do I know him?...Shit! That voice! No, could it really be...

"Jack?" I croaked out, finding it hard to believe that the person who had just saved me from a vicious rapist could be the same guy who had willingly participated in a farting contest with his best friend only hours ago.

"If I say yes, will you open your eyes?" I could tell that the comment was meant to be teasing, but I could clearly hear the worry in his voice.

Wanting to dispel his fears, I pried my heavy lids open as much as I could, but I still couldn't quite manage to make out his handsome face through the large dark spots clouding my vision. That couldn't be good, right?

"Jack? Jack, I can't see you. Everything's dark. Why can't I see you? What's happening?" I hated myself for sounding so weak in front of him, but nothing like this had ever happened to me before, and I was freaking out.

"Shh, shh," he soothed. "I'm right here, Kimmy. I'm right here. You feel that?" He took hold of one of my hands and brought it up to his cheek, nuzzling his face into my palm, letting me know that he was there. "That's me, I'm right here with you. The blurriness is normal. You were about to pass out. Just keep breathing, and it'll fade. Remember, deep breaths. You're gonna be fine, Kimmy."

And there he goes with that name again. Damn that creep for making me look so weak, and damn Jack for making me feel so safe and secure. Right now I should have been beating him to a pulp for calling me Kimmy, not thinking about the way the nickname sounded so perfect on his lips.

For the next minute or so, I just focused on steadying my breathing and getting the dark spots to go away as Jack held my hand, speaking reassuring words and making me feel all fuzzy inside.

"Jack, I think I can stand up now," I announced, feeling pretty confident in my ability to not fall over. The blurriness had completely faded, and I could see Jack's face perfectly now, his handsome features even more striking in the pale light of the full moon.

He nodded his head in accordance, getting up from his crouching position and helping me slowly to my feet.

I wobbled a bit at first, but Jack was there to hold me up, not letting me go until I had fully regained my balance.

Once I was stable, he let me go and I slowly walked over to the sidewalk to pick up my bag, and I saw Jack retrieving his leather jacket from where my head was resting on it. He started to put it back on, but paused halfway, seemingly deciding better of it and shrugging it off, making his way towards where I stood.

He looked intimidating as he walked towards me, towering over my height at well over 6 feet. He seemed so much older than his age, like he had seen and experienced so much more than any normal sixteen-year old. It just made me want to get to know him that much more.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't even notice when he came up behind me and slipped the jacket around my shoulders. I was immediately engulfed in his leftover body heat, and the smell of cinnamon hit my nostrils like a drug. I wanted more.

Jack turned me around to face him, raising his hands to cup my cheeks. I let him inspect my face, wanting to put him at ease, and when he finally seemed satisfied with the unharmed state of my skin, his gaze settled on mine, boring into my eyes with an intensity that would have made a lesser girl blush and look away. But there was no way that I was looking away.

"I should have pounded him harder," he growled.

Way to kill the mood.

My stomach immediately sank at his words, suddenly remembering all that had happened with the rapist, and how one minute he was charging me, and the next...

Oh, god.

"Jack...did you kill him? Is he...is he dead?" Please say no, please say no, pleasesayno.

The fear must have been visible in my eyes, because his hard stare instantly softened.

"No," he answered, much to my relief. "But after seeing what you just went through, I'm starting to rethink my decision." The frustration in his voice was clear, and he turned his head to where the old man was laying unconscious on the floor, pinning him with a cold, hard glare.

Yikes.

"What, that guy?" I gave him a small grin. "I had him right where I wanted him," I tried to make my tone sound teasing, but instead it came out all shaky.

"What scared me was...well, I thought that...I thought that you were going to kill me after you'd finished with him." I couldn't meet his gaze. I was too embarrassed.

"I probably could've taken you, though," I added, trying to lighten up the dark situation a teensy bit.

"Shit," he cursed. You mean this -" I assumed that he was referring to my little moment - "was all my fault?"

I shook my head, still not daring to lift my head. "No, Jack. None of this is your fault. You saved me. And I'd choose a little dizziness over rape any day of the year." I felt him flinch when I mentioned the R-word, and I was racking my brain for some logical explanation as to why he cared so much about my well-being.

I mean, sure, he was a good guy who probably would've jumped in to save any old person, but we'd hardly known each other for a day and he was acting as if I was some sort of treasure to be protected and cherished. It was oddly comforting.

I felt A finger hook underneath my chin, lifting my head up to meet his, despite my efforts to resist. I didn't want him to see the emotions that would be written all over my face. I had never been good at concealing my feelings.

But surprisingly, it was what I saw that was most shocking; His eyes, usually such a deep shade of dark brown, were now completely black, as if his pupils had dilated to engulf his whole sclera, eradicating all color from his chocolate orbs.

It was the most unusual thing that I had ever seen, but it was gone in a flash, as suddenly as it had appeared, and his eyes were back to their usual shade, and everything was right in the world once again.

"Kim," he said, bringing my attention back to the matter at hand.

"I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you, okay? I am so sorry that I scared you like that. I should have gone to you the second that creep was on the ground, but I just stood there like an asshole, doing nothing. God, I'm such an idi-"

I couldn't let him finish that sentence. It was unfair for him to keep beating himself up about something that wasn't even his fault. He was amazing tonight, and it pained me that he couldn't see it.

So before he could finish speaking, I threw myself at him, wrapping my slender arms around his waist, pressing my face into his chest and squeezing him for dear life.

For a moment he just stood there, as rigid as a plank, but he soon recovered, placing his own arms around my shoulders, holding me close to him and resting his chin on top of my blonde head.

"Jack," I whispered through the silence. "Take me home."

...

Soooo? Was it better? Worse? Meh? What would you rate it on a scale from one to ten, one being 'Kill yourself', ten being 'kill yourself once the story's finished, it may be crap but I still want to know what happens'?

My mind is so fucked up. Like, seriously. I think I was dropped on the head as a child. Repeatedly. I hope it wasn't on purpose.

Don't forget to comment! It makes me happy, plus if you don't, I'll think no-one's reading and just stop writing this altogether. So yeah.

-CCC