A/N: Hey All!
Thank you so much for all the nice reviews! We're almost at a 100! :D A really big thanks to those who take the time to leave a comment every chapter, it really means so much to me!
[Ninjabrownie]: I'm so glad you loved that part, it was one of my favourite scenes to write! And thank you for liking my depiction of Cam, I like her too! ;)
[marykateluvsu]: Thanks, I really tried to amp up the 'funny' in that chapter. lol.
[Getlostinthesound]: Thanks for wishing me a happy birthday, how sweet of you! And, that was my intention with Bev's character, because let's face it, not every one of James' girlfriends is going to be a psycho! lol
Disclaimer: BTR does not belong to me...but, because of amazing friends, I do own tickets to go see them in the BetterwithU Tour! :D
Katie woke up the next morning, feeling unusually warm and comfy. She groggily opened her eyes, adjusting to the light streaming in through the cracks of the blinds. She felt a heavy weight draped across her stomach, and something hard pushing against her lower back, causing her to frown immediately. She turned around and let out a tiny scream, rousing the topless man beside her out of his slumber. She quickly grabbed at the comforter, pulling it closer to her body.
The man yawned and stretched, "Morning, Sunshine."
"James!" Katie hissed, "What are you doing in here? And what is with...that?" She gestured furiously to the tent in his sweatpants.
James looked affronted, "You mean, you don't remember? Katie, I'm hurt."
Katie drew in her breath, she knew that they all had a few beers last night, but she didn't think that she drank that much to forget that she had slept with James Diamond. She opened and shut her mouth, unable to say anything.
James let out a hearty laugh, "I told you I would get you back, and don't worry, this is just morning wood." He laughed again, getting up and walked over to the chair in the corner of the room, picking up his shirt draped over it. Katie sat in silence, still uncomprehending the situation. "Relax, we didn't do anything, I just snuck in here to freak you out. You should have seen the look on your face. Nice slip, by the way," he added, throwing his t-shirt on.
Katie looked down at the provocative satin slip, and blushed. She had let go of the comforter in shock. "No one was supposed to see me in it. Pass my robe." James looked back to the chair and grabbed the matching piece and handed it to her. She yanked it out of his hands, "I can't believe that you would come into my room, in the middle of the night, just to prank me. What if I slept naked?" She hissed.
"You were practically naked, yesterday," James countered. "And this is nowhere near as mean of a joke that you played on me."
Katie tightened the belt to her robe and stood up, "A-wha-how," she stuttered, pointed ferociously to the bed, "this is much more extreme than what I did to you, yesterday."
"Did you not see what you did to 'other James?'" James cried, again, pointing to his crotch, which had subsided considerably.
Katie flushed, refusing to look down. She crossed her arms, "Well then, I guess, we're even."
A knock at the door interrupted them before James could answer, Katie quickly shoved James into the closet. She brushed back her hair, and went to crack open the door. "Oh, hey, big brother," she squeaked. Kendall raised an eyebrow, she cleared her throat and spoke normally, "Did you need something?"
"Yeah, I'm making breakfast, did you want pancakes or cereal?" Kendall questioned, still giving Katie a look.
"Pancakes. I'll be out in a minute, just gotta get dressed," Katie said quickly, trying to end this conversation.
"Okay..." Kendall said, walking away, confused.
Katie closed the door and leaned against, letting go of the breath, she didn't know she was holding. She marched over to the closet. Katie opened the door and yanked James out.
"Do you realize what could've just happened? If Kendall saw you in here, he would have a heart attack, kill you, and then die!" Katie exaggerated.
"Okay, I don't think that would have happened, but I do see your point. I'll just sneak out your window, and pretend that I went for a jog," James smiled happily.
Katie crossed her arms again, "Jogging? In your bare feet?"
James looked down, "Crap."
Katie bit her lip, thinking of what to do. "Okay, I need to change, so close your eyes and turn around."
James smirked, "Why? It's not like it wouldn't be any different from yesterday."
Katie shoved him, "Shut up and turn."
James chuckled, but did what she asked. Katie quickly dressed for the day in a green summer dress, she gave James permission to turn around when she was done.
"You look cute," James said, honestly.
She hated the fact that she was flustered because he simply complimented her, she had to remind herself, again, that she didn't want anything more than a friendship with him. Katie thought that these reminders were happening a little too frequently for her liking. Her reaction to the news that James had invited Beverly to join them on their mini-vacation had already set off the alarms that she was starting to become too attached to the man in front of her; she shrugged off her internal dilemma, choosing to focus on the current situation, all the while knowing that she would have to face her feelings eventually. Thankfully, when she returned to the fire pit last night, the conversation had moved on from James' dating life, therefore allowing her to ignore the problem a little while longer.
Katie didn't know whether to thank him or tell him to shut up again. She opted for neither. She cracked open her door again, "Okay, stay here, I'll go distract Kendall in the kitchen, and when I give the signal, run to the stairs, and pretend that you just came down."
"Okay, what's the signal?"
"Uh, I'll start coughing," Katie randomly thought.
"Really? That's not really creative," James said, skeptically.
"Just do it," Katie groaned, exasperated.
"Fine," he grumbled.
Katie walked out of her bedroom and promptly went to task of distracting her brother.
"Hey, big bro, whatcha doin'?" Katie drawled out, perkily.
Kendall gave her another questioning look, "Making breakfast, like I said." He put down the pan and spatula, and asked her, "Are you feeling alright? You're kind of scaring me, you're never this perky in the morning...most of the time, you're so cranky that you yell at Carlos to tone down the happy in the mornings."
Katie would have retorted something witty, but the fact that Kendall had his back to the staircase and the hallway was working to her advantage. "Yeah, I don't know, maybe I'm coming down with something, can you feel my forehead?" When Kendall nodded and promptly reached across to check her temperature, Katie let out a loud cough, causing her brother to frown.
"Hmm, maybe we should get you to the doctor or something, let me call−" Kendall started, turning around to grab the house phone mounted on the wall by the stairs.
"No!" Katie shouted, causing her brother to look at her in alarm. "It's probably nothing," Katie said, spotting James tip-toeing towards the stairs. "Maybe I'm just not used to beach weather...or morning allergies?"
Kendall's eyebrows furrowed together, "You live in California, how can you not be used to this weather? And, you don't have any allergies, what's going on?"
James had reached the bottom of the staircase, without Kendall's notice, Katie thought it was the appropriate time to change the subject, she was running out of ideas of how to prolong this fake illness. "James, hey, didn't hear you come down."
James' eyes grew large, but seeing Katie's silent help-me glare, he dramatically stretched his arms above his head. "Morning guys, mmm, something smells delicious," he sniffed the air and frowned, "actually, something smells like it's burning."
Kendall who had turned around to look at James, let out a yelp and immediately turned his attention to the stove. "Dammit, I forgot about the pancake," he muttered to himself as he scrapped off the remnants of the charred batter on the pan.
Three sets of footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Logan appeared first, yawning, "What's going on?"
James, Katie and Kendall watched as Camille stumbled into the kitchen, grunting, blearily looking around for the coffee machine. She had yet to greet the patrons in the room. Logan, albeit sluggishly, went over to help her get her caffeine fix.
Carlos, meanwhile, had bounded down the stairs, and immediately scrunched up his nose, "What is that smell?"
Katie smirked and pointed to the pan, "That, would be breakfast."
"Don't," Kendall pointed his finger at Carlos, when he opened his mouth to say something else, "say anything." He turned to his sister, "This is your fault, you know, if you weren't sick, which you don't appear to be anymore, this wouldn't have happened."
Katie grinned sheepishly at her brother, "I told you, morning allergies." Before Kendall could make any further inquiries about her health, she added, "Hey, after breakfast, wanna walk down the boardwalk?" She batted her eyes at her brother, causing him to grin at her obvious attempt to charm him.
"Sounds like a plan, baby sister."
After swallowing a gulp of her coffee, Camille finally piped up, "What are the rest of us going to do?"
"I want to go jet skiing, I haven't done that in years!" Carlos chimed in.
"That sounds awesome, I think I'll join you, before Beverly gets here," James added.
"Aw, isn't that nice, James, waiting on his precious girlfriend," Camille cooed sarcastically, giving James a hostile look behind her coffee mug, causing everyone in the room to stare at her in shock.
Katie refrained from slapping herself in the forehead, she knew that Camille was only acting this way out of spite, knowing that her friend thought that James was being a complete imbecile, for dating someone who wasn't her. Katie also ignored the bubbling feeling of jealousy that seemed to be rising within her.
She let out an awkward laugh, "Oh Cam, you say the darnedest things when you don't have coffee in your system," she gave Camille a pointed glare, who luckily, got the hint.
"Okay, well," James started, giving Camille a questioning look, "I'm going to head upstairs to change then." He made his way up the stairs, but not without throwing Camille another look.
Katie sighed, and walked to the cabinet to grab a plate for breakfast. Logan sidled up to her, handing her a binder that seemed to appear out of nowhere, "Here's the track-sheet, you have to make sure that you get at least this much dairy and fruits for breakfast," he said, pointing at a nutrition guide he had created for her. "And make sure that when you're out, you don't get tempted to eat a hotdog, that's not going to do you any good," Logan added, knowing that Katie had a weakness for the meat stands strewn across the boardwalk.
Katie rolled her eyes, "Yes, dad," but quickly patted his cheek and said warmly, as she poured herself a glass of milk, "Thanks, Logan, I'll stick to this chart like no tomorrow."
"Good," Logan said firmly, before too, heading upstairs to change, Camille in tow.
Katie shouted after them, "Hey, if you guys are going to spend the day together, make sure that you don't have the pap on your tail. You're not in the clear yet, Cam."
Camille peeked around the wall, "Ugh, you just had to remind me, didn't you?"
"Hey, it's what you hired me for," Katie replied cheerfully, sipping on her glass of milk and watching Kendall whistle away as he piled pancakes onto her plate.
Kendall and Katie had walked down the boardwalk, people-watching, something that they had always done together. They pointed out the tourists, the down-and-out entertainers, the buskers, and the Californians, who like them, were just escaping worries. They had to take pause along the way when a few fans recognized Kendall and asked him for some autographs and photos, and like in his heyday, he didn't refuse. Katie watched on the sidelines, watching the fans walk away, gleeful.
"Do you miss it?" Katie asked her brother, as he gave a final wave to the fans.
"Miss what?"
"You know, Big Time Rush, the fans, the fame?"
Kendall pulled her to his side, as they continued walking, "You know it was never about the fame. But I do miss the fans, and the band. Heck, I even miss Gustavo blowing a casket every time I talked back."
"Do you ever wish you could go back?" Katie continued to ask, sincerely curious about his answer.
Kendall walked in silence for a couple of minutes, "No, I don't think so. I think where we ended was good, it was definitely time to move on to other things. And look, we're all doing great now; I don't think any of us regret breaking up the band when we did.
Katie nodded in understanding, squeezing her brother in affection, before letting go so they could walk side-by-side. They continued walking until they made their way to the pier-front, where they sat on the stones that separated the boardwalk from the beach.
"I have to tell you something," Katie said, staring out at the ocean, breaking the comfortable silence between the siblings. Kendall waited for his sister to continue.
"A few weeks ago−"
"You were in the hospital, suffering from malnutrition," Kendall interrupted.
Katie turned her head sharply, "How'd you know?"
Kendall smirked, "Logan can't keep a secret if his life depended on it," his smirk dropped into a sad smile, "I admit, I was angry when he told me. I couldn't believe that you had let yourself go, and that you didn't tell me, immediately."
Katie swung her feet back and forth, looking down in guilt, "You're handling this a lot better than I thought you would."
"Yeah, well, Logan also told me why you kept this from me. Katie, I only came out here because I miss you, not because I wanted a vacation...granted the sun and sand is nice," Kendall attempted a smile.
Katie nudged Kendall with her shoulder, smiling, "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to worry."
"I'm your big brother, it's my job to worry about you. But if you ever pull a stunt like this again, Katie, you'll be packing your bags and moving back to Minnesota with me," Kendall warned.
"I don't think you really need to worry about that anymore, I mean, Logan's moving back out here, I can almost guarantee you that he will show up at my place every day, just to make sure I'm eating right."
"I'm counting on it," Kendall said, half seriously. The siblings looked at each other before breaking out into chuckles.
"Hey, I almost forgot to mention, there's a new arcade that opened on the pier. Wanna check it out?" Katie hopped off the stones, excitedly.
Kendall shook his head. "Tell me again, how you're a grown woman?" He asked, standing up.
Katie giggled, pulling her brother along, "You only have yourself to blame, I wouldn't be like this if you played dolls and hosted tea parties when I was younger. Instead, you read me comic books and shoved video games into my hands."
"Well, I had to, mom had you going to those ballet classes and wearing those hideous fluffy pink dresses," both siblings shuddered at the memory. "I had to make you less 'girly-girl' somehow."
"If I recall, you convinced mom to let me drop ballet lessons in favour of kickboxing," Katie smirked, trying to point out that Kendall did more than lend a helping hand to her tomboyish upbringing.
"Which you enjoy," Kendall replied.
Katie's phone buzzed in her pocket, distracting her from the conversation. She checked the text message that Camille had just sent her, "Oh, hey, Gustavo and Kelly will be joining us for dinner tonight."
"Really? Why?" Kendall asked, puzzled.
Katie shrugged, "Come on, I want to try that new cops and robbers game. I hope you have money, 'cause I didn't bring my purse."
Kendall grumbled, "Are you taking advantage of the fact that I can't say no to you?"
Katie smiled sweetly up at her brother, "Maybe."
A/N: This chapter and the next chapter were actually supposed to be one chapter, but because there was too much happening, I had to break it up. So, if you think that this chapter kind of ends abruptly, that's why. Sorry!
I know, again, there isn't that much Jatie, but we are getting super close to the big moment. ;)
Thanks for reading, and please leave a review to tell me what you think of the story/chapter!
-D
P.S. I know I've shameless plugged my one-shot, Waiting for a Miracle before, but for those of you who really need a Jatie dosage in my stories, there is definitely some in there for you!