A/N: Sorry guys. I had major writers block and couldn't really think of anything for this chapter. Don't kill me if it sucks, 'cuz I'm not real happy with how it turned out.
Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.
At 7:00am Jane decided to just give up on sleep and head down to the kitchen. She wanted to confront Casper as soon as possible about the cupcake, and she was sure he was the only other one up at this hour. As expected, Casper was already there preparing breakfast, and a smile formed as she neared.
"Good morning Jane."
"Good morning Casper," she replied, shyness almost non existent now.
They exchanged smiles again before Jane went scourging through the fridge. It was as she leaned against the counter with a glass of orange juice that Jane spoke again.
"So Casper. You make breakfast everyday?"
"Yeah, but sometimes Kat or Dr. Harvey pitch in."
"Your uncles don't?"
Casper gave a look that made her crack another smile.
"Guess that was a stupid question."
The information Casper had given her only served to strengthen her beliefs that he had been the one to give her the cupcake. Not that she really needed the proof, it seemed quite obvious that Casper was the only one nice enough to do something like that for her. Not to say that everyone else wasn't nice. It's just the rest didn't look to have such high quality culinary skills. Even if Casper was only thirteen when he died.
Returning from her thoughts, Jane watched him for a little while before speaking up again.
"Can I help?"
Casper looked over in slight surprise. That quickly faded into a smile however as he gave a cheerful nod.
"Sure! Could you please crack those eggs into that bowl?"
Jane nodded, regarding the eggs for a moment before shrugging.
How hard could it be?
XxXxXxXxX
Stinkie yawned for the tenth time since waking up. Though the ghost technically didn't need sleep, it was a habit from life none of them had tried to break. And because of that, his internal clock had stuck with them, causing their ghostly bodies to follow what it had known in life.
And for some odd reason his internal clock had decided seven was the time to wake up. Usually he wasn't up till eight, about the time Kat was off to school. He just couldn't understand why he was so tired though. Did one hour less really make such a difference? Well, it could have been because he had stayed up half the night…
He had reached the kitchen when his thoughts were cut off by a girlish squeal.
That wasn't Casper…
Going invisible Stinkie floated through the doors, not expecting what he saw next. Indeed, the squeal hadn't come from Casper, but from Jane. She stood at the counter next to the stove. One hand covered her mouth while the other was coated in the remains of what must have been an egg. It seemed as though she had completely crushed it, yolk splattered everything within a two feet radius, even on her clothes. Casper looked over at her from where he floated, trying not to laugh. Jane was embarrassed, probably having underestimated the fragility of the egg. She returned Casper's look with a defiant one, picking up another egg and preparing to crack it.
Or obliterate it, really.
The result was the same as before, and this time Casper couldn't contain his laughter.
"Wow Jane, have you never cracked an egg before?"
She shook her head 'no', and Stinkie found himself absolutely baffled. What kind of life had this woman lived if she had never cracked an egg in her entire life? She obviously had money, that's for sure, so had she been some sort of spoiled rich kid who had everything done for her?
Too bad he didn't realize how right he was.
Coming away from his thoughts, Stinkie watched as Jane switched tasks. Casper had handed her a bowl of pancake batter and asked her to stir it. Jane looked at the electric mixer, pondering how to work it. She finally found the on switch, but her triumph was quickly shattered when she found the spin button already turned on high. Batter flew from the bowl at the beater's relentless speed. Jane yelped once more, dropping the bowl and mixer onto the counter. Stinkie watched in even more amusement as more batter came out of the bowl, hitting her square in the face and the surprise causing her to fall on her butt. He had to leave after that, unable to control his laughter anymore.
Casper had looked around after his uncle left. He was sure he had heard that tell tale 'pop' that sounded whenever a ghost went through a solid object. But then again, he could just be hearing things.
Stinkie had made it a few doors down from their shared bedroom before his nasally chuckles were released. He had held them in, including his breath, so when he laughed it came out in a rush of air, almost a wheeze. Soon the chuckles picked up volume, evolving into full blown 'guffaws' that soon had his brothers up and about to investigate. Stretch was first to leave the bedroom, a sour expression on his face from being awakened.
"What da hell is wrong wid you?" he demanded followed by a slap to the back of Stinkie's head.
Stinkie snorted, the slap having not been as effective as usual. It took him a few more moments to calm down and Stretch had started to get annoyed. He had opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by Fatso's stomach growling. He gave them both a sheepish look and declared he was going to go grab something from the kitchen before breakfast. Stinkie was then reminded of Jane, and he wondered if being seen by him and his brothers would embarrass her. So without saying a word, Stinkie followed Fatso and Stretch towards the kitchen.
XxXxXxXxX
Casper finished helping Jane wash her face, still smiling at her sour look. He threw the dirty rag in the sink, floating back a bit to take in the state of her clothes.
"I think you should change," he commented with a grin.
"Thanks captain obvious," Jane teased. She was about to leave when Casper suddenly stopped her.
"Wait, here, put this on," he said, gesturing to a shirt he held.
"Where'd this come from?" she asked while taking it from him. Holding it up, she found it to be a man's button down shirt.
"Dr. Harvey dropped it in here when he was carrying laundry. Guess I forgot to pick it up. Change here, that way you won't drip egg and batter everywhere."
At the look she gave him, Casper's face went pink, quickly promising he 'wouldn't peek'. Jane laughed, watching as he covered his eyes with his small hands before stripping her shirt. It fell to the floor with a audible splat, the batter and yolk weighing it down. She then picked up Dr. Harvey's shirt, slipping it on and buttoning it up.
"Okay Casper, you can look."
Casper dropped his hands, mouth opening to say something but nothing came. Jane's eyebrows came together in confusion when his eyes went wide, staring at something over her shoulder. Wondering what he was looking at, Jane turned quickly, only to freeze as her eyes locked onto three other pairs.
The trio floated silently a few feet from her, jaws slack and eyes threatening to pop. For a minute, Jane hoped she would spontaneously combust.
"Nice bra," Stretch finally said, causing Fatso to explode into giggles.
Jane felt like she could die, all the blood in her body rushing to her cheeks as they turned an almost violent red. She didn't have anything to retort with, so she opted to keep her mouth shut, turning away from them and gathering her messy shirt from the floor.
"Aw, was'a matta? Did I o'ffend thee?" he continued to tease as she went by.
Ignoring him she said over her shoulder, "I'll be back Casper," before exiting the kitchen.
"What a way ta start da morn'n!" Stretch cackled, floating to his spot at the table while the others followed.
"What was that all about?" Fatso asked Casper once his laughter died down.
"She was helping me make breakfast and ended up making a mess. I told her to change here so she wouldn't drip stuff on the floor," he answered, already handing his uncles their food even though Kat and Dr. Harvey were still asleep.
Stretch and Fatso nodded, stuffing food into their mouth before noticing something.
"Ay, Stink, was'a matta wid you's?" Stretch questioned his brother, the words muffled by the food in his mouth.
Stinkie's eyes shot up to his, an intelligent 'wha?' escaping his mouth. Stretch narrowed his eyes at the silence, leaning over into Stinkie's face as if to inspect him.
"I said, was'a matta wid you's?"
Again, Stinkie was unable to find his voice, resulting in a wide smirk suddenly forming on Stretch's face.
"Look at dis! He's speechless!" he exclaimed, leaning back into his chair. "And all because a some dame strip'n in his kitchen."
The way he said it sort of justified Stinkie's speechless state, but that fact was ignored. Stinkie himself turned red at the declaration, finally enabling him the use of his tongue.
"What?"
However, that was all he could manage.
"Do I gotta spell it out for ya?" Stretch continued, enjoying his brothers flustered state immensely.
"Yeah, what're you try'n ta say?" Stinkie asked stronger.
"I'm say'n you like the girl!"
The statement hung heavy in the air, and the longer it took for Stinkie to deny it, the more it sunk into his mind.
"Not a chance!" he declared finally, not even able to look up from the floor anymore. But after he'd said the words, the bitter taste of a lie stuck to the roof of his mouth. He swallowed, but the feeling was still there, and his ghostly mouth began to salivate the weaker his claim became.
"And why not?" Stretch pushed, completely oblivious to Stinkie's thoughts.
"Cuz she ain't nuth'n ta us! What would I want wid someone who's tear'n our family apart!"
He knew the accusation was false, but all the same, he felt regret. And when he turned, a pair of mossy green eyes caused his stomach to sink. Jane stood silently next to the gaping father and daughter pair, expression blank. Then she smiled, the sorriest smile he'd ever seen before walking right back out of the kitchen.
The Harvey's shouts of outrage and his brothers' growls went unheard as he bolted after her, skidding to a halt in front of her when she reached the top of the stairs.
"Wait!" he shouted, sounding almost breathless even though he didn't need air.
And that's exactly what she did. She waited, silently, and that's when Stinkie realized he had nothing to say.
"Uuuuh…." was all he managed, hands coming up and then dropping uselessly to his sides. Sorry? Seriously? He'd just cut her down (unintentionally) in front of the entire household! What else could he really say to make up for that?
"I didn't mean all dat!" he blurted, noticing her jump at his sudden voice.
She continued to stare.
"I'm sorry!"
Silence.
"Jesus woman! They were tease'n me about like'n ya and I blew my top!"
Stinkie slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes going wide. Jane, however, was not as horrified as he. In fact, she was so pleasantly surprised that a delighted smile slipped unchecked past her façade. Stinkie felt his chest jump start at the sight, as if he had a real, beating heart again. This caused a smile of his own, and he chuckled a little awkwardly as they just continued to smile at each other. Finally, Jane relaxed her stance, reaching out a hand.
"Apology accepted. Friends?"
Stinkie refrained from grinning like an idiot, forcing his lip to pull in a small scowl as he took the offered hand.
"Now don't go spread'n dat around. I gotta reputation ta uphold."
Jane let out a breathy chuckled, shaking firmly before smirking.
"So, you like me huh?"
The undertone of cockiness completely threw Stinkie through a loop, not use to this kind of behavior from her and not sure how to react to it.
"Uh, u-um, well, uh…well, yeah but not in da way Stretch tinks I does! B-but I'm not say'n yer ugly or anyting like dat…yer very um, attractive, and I…um-"
Jane couldn't contain her laughter as he stumbled helplessly over his words. He was just so adorable at that moment that she felt compelled to be closer. So she took half a step towards him, both not noticing the close proximity due to their heads bowed in laughter (Stinkie more embarrassed than actually finding any humor in the situation).
"Anyway's, I tink we should be head'n-"
The slight warmth he encountered when he raised his head stopped his proposal, and it took him a moment to realize their noses were touching. Both were surprised at the unexpected contact and jerked back, jumping even farther away from each other when they realized they had still been holding hands. Jane (for some insane reason) thought it was such a cliché, boy meets girl moment the way they were shifting awkwardly and blushing that she felt absolutely ridiculous. So, taking her sense and shaking the hell out of it she managed to get her mind back on track.
"Let's go," she said calmly (though inside she was anything but) and began walking down the stairs.
Stinkie followed, confused and flustered as hell but not even worried about the earful he was going to get when they returned.
XxXxXxXxX
Kat sat in the "family room" unable to utter anything but nonsense as afternoon Friday cartoons played on the television in front of her. Her eyes continued to dart from Fatso (who resided on a recliner to her left) and Jane (who sat on the love seat to her right) who both held looks of relief. Still utterly speechless, Kat just stood and left, wondering what the hell had just happened.
She'd gotten home from school only an hour earlier, finishing up her homework quickly so she wouldn't miss the new episode of Two Guys and a Girl (a guilty pleasure of hers). During a commercial break, Kat flipped quickly through the channels until a news report caught her eye.
"-as the runaway bride continues to plague family, friends, and fans…" the news reporter had said, Kat having tuned in too late to catch the name. "Though several people have reported to spotting her live and well, many people are having doubts. Could this have been some elaborate plan of kidnapping? Is she being held for ransom? If-"
And that's when Jane and Fatso had come in, and Kat had turned away from the television just in time to see Fatso making a mad dash towards her. Jane as well seemed to have flipped out, yelling as she raced to the television, effectively blocking Kat's view. But she wasn't worried about that at the time, just scared out of her mind when Fatso had suddenly grabbed the remote and began fumbling with the buttons, desperately changing the channels. Then they had both sat down, saying nothing as they watched Tom and Jerry chasing each other across the screen.
The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife, and unable to say anything, Kat decided to just pretend it never happened.
But seriously.
WHAT THE HELL?
XxXxXxXxX
Dinner that night was rather amusing, everyone in the room absolutely baffled as Jane ate her pizza with passion. After going through two slices, she finally looked up, mouth full of cheese and grease dribbling down her chin. She tried to smile sheepishly, but she could barely close her mouth around all the food, and was even more embarrassed when the trio cackled at her disgusting display.
"Dang, the dame can eat!" Stretch proclaimed loudly, raising his own slice as if to salute her.
"Was'a matta? Neva had pizza before?" Stinkie asked, his shyness about talking to Jane nearly gone now.
"Well, I haven't had it in awhile," she admitted somewhat truthfully. If she were to say the whole truth, it would have been that the first and only time she'd had pizza was on the set of one of her movies. She'd loved it so much she'd even taken three boxes of it home. Her mom had caught her eating it and punished her by making her personal trainer push her three times harder than normal at the gym for a month. Up until now, she'd been afraid to even look at the stuff.
"So," Fatso cut in, clapping his hands. "We still on for the movie tomorrow?"
Jane froze as a collection of "oh yeah"'s went around the table. Stretch shrugged, claiming he had nothing better to do. Stinkie nodded along with him (a bit too eagerly) and (not-so) discreetly glanced at Jane. Kat and Casper complied as well and Dr. Harvey proclaimed his schedule free.
"So what movie is it?" Kat asked, turning to Fatso.
"Yeah Fatso, what movie?" Jane questioned as well with a distinct bite to her tone.
Fatso just grinned, ignoring Jane's glare and saying they'd all just have to wait and find out. Jane wanted to keep pestering him about it, but one look into his eyes told her he was not gonna budge. Defeated, she continue eating her pizza, slightly surprised when there was only the crust left and she still wanted more. Reaching in front of her with the intention of grabbing another slice, her hand was suddenly engulfed in a pocket of freezing air. Her eyes shot up and was met with Stinkie's, looking as if he'd committed the most taboo thing in the world. But instead of pulling back, Jane let her hand linger in his (literally in since it went right through him) and gave him a blank look. In the end, it was Stinkie who snatched his hand back, giving a sheepish chuckle and looking anywhere but at Jane. She smiled, grabbing a slice before sitting back with a strange sense of triumph.
Through out the rest of dinner they continued to glance at each other. Sometimes it wasn't intentional, there eyes just sort of drifting to one another. But each time they were caught staring, both would look away quickly, a slight smile on their face.
Neither knew what to think of it.
XxXxXxXxX
Stretch closed his eyes, trying to keep his focus as his hands danced across the keys. Jane sat in her chair, slightly more awake than previous nights as she listened to the bright, upbeat melody. Though, her eyes were closed as well, so she didn't notice him glance over every now and then.
What da hell is goin on wid her and my brotha? he thought, unable to bring himself to voice the question. But when he said brother, he wasn't meaning Fatso.
A little after dinner he'd gone back down to the kitchen, having forgotten to demand the daily paper from Casper (he liked reading, go figure). Jane was there as well, and it seemed both were oblivious to his entrance.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to thank you," she'd said, smiling as she helped him wash the dishes. When he gave her a confused look, she elaborated. "For the cupcake last night. It was delicious."
Stretch's jaw almost hit the floor when she'd said that. Casper hadn't made anything last night, because the only one in the kitchen had been…
Stinkie.
Stinkie had made the cupcake…for her?
Coming out of his thoughts, Stretch narrowed his eyes at the girl. Who was she? Though he was no genius, Stretch knew there was more than meets the eye, but she seemed unwilling to give them all the details. Sighing, he wondered what was so special about her, why were he and his brothers reverting to old habits?
Tuning back into the music he was playing, Stretch was startled when he noticed he'd changed songs. This one was slower, but happy nonetheless, and it made him sigh when he realized what it was.
"As I cry in your shoulder and sit upon your knee," he sang softly, the nostalgic words creating a cloud of bitter-sweet memories hanging in the forefront of his mind.
"Mom, you'll always be the one for me."
The music came to a sudden halt, and Stretch whipped his head around to face Jane. She wasn't awake anymore, having muttered the lyrics subconsciously in her sleep. Stretch just stared, barely able to process what had just happened.
How had she known that song? He'd written it himself when he was only a little boy! He hadn't even let his brothers hear it!
Who the hell was this lady?
A/N: Weeeeeeeeeellllll, I know I jumped around a lot in this chapter, but I promise, the next one is going to be awesome! Jane and Stinkie are finally getting friendly, and I can't wait to keep dropping hints about how Jane knows the trio!
P.S: I'm gonna start a review corner now and answer all those that review. Starting with the chapter before this! Though, after this one the corner will be in the beginning of the chapters. Love you all! R&R!
AnimationNut: I'm glad you loved the chapter, and yeah, I wish I could have a cupcake too (sugar helps stimulate my imagination ;p).
Teiaramogami: Stinkie is so smooth ;), and since he's never really even been with a girl, his perverted side will show up even more. Thanks for waiting!
Blackgaz22: Thanks for reading J
Miss Ralts: Hope those *BEEP*s weren't aimed at me! :D Thanks for reading, hope I don't disappoint!
Mana Black: Thanks! I'm trying to get Stinkie's natural shy side out.