A massive thankyou for the lovely and generous reviews.

Here it is, the aftermath…..

With Jack out of the house, Kathy used that time to catch up with her Brother for lunch. Her reasons blatant and much to her delight Jimmy seemed completely stricken with Kate. Though not for the reason she naturally assumed.

"So do I see wedding bells in the not so distant future?" Kathy casually put the question out there. Knowing it was a long shot in regards to his track record with women in the past, but perhaps that could change if he allowed himself to settle down.

Besides the further away Kate was the lesser of a distraction she would be to Jack.

"Ain't it a little too soon for that?" Jimmy shot back. Pretending to be bothered by the question but he was already secretly considering it.

"You deserve to be happy Jimmy and if being with Kate gives you that then you should do it." Kathy explained with exceeding determination in her tone. "In fact I'll go that one step further and pay for all of it."

Genuinely taken aback by her offer, he then slowly let it sink in with his thought process. Considering her generosity and more importantly using it to sabotage Jack and his sister's relationship.

She held onto him as if he were a lifeline; her lifeline.

Her slightly trembling hands holding tightly onto the sides of his face. Her fingers slowly tracing every inch of slightly stubbled skin as the kiss progressed without any resistance from him. In fact it seemed as if he was willing to give in. Kate taking that opportunity, especially if it was the last time to remember it all.

His taste. His gradual yet distinguishable response; a soft caress applied as he slowly melded into the kiss she wasn't only needy but desperate for now. Spontaneously urged not just by his lack of resistance, but also with the feelings that still ran strong through her.

All Jack could do, in light of fighting his own feelings, was try to make her back down using the grip he had on her shoulders. However all it did was spur her on to deepen the kiss. It almost branching further there and then but Jack's beeper then put a firm stop to it.

Pulling away from her, surprised to say the least, he then checked his beeper and phoned the Hospital. Attempting to be brief with assuring his attendance so that he could talk to Kate about what just happened.

However she was gone by the time he managed to get off the phone.

After having lunch with Jimmy, Kathy proposed to drop by Kelly's apartment but got no answer when she knocked on the door. In the process finding that the door was ajar, confusing her even further but she gave into her curiosity to enter and investigate.

The entire place was ransacked. A few meagre possessions lay here and there, but nothing to suggest that someone was living here.

Stepping back, she accidentally stepped on something. Shattering whatever it was to pieces but the remaining evidence within shocked her. Hunching down she picked up some of the white, powdery substance on the tip of her finger and brought it to her nose. Rubbing it through her fingers and making the decision, cocaine.

The very residue substance Kathy coincidentally found in Claire's glass the previous night.

She felt like a fool. A cheap, insensitive fool and she couldn't dream let alone think of facing Jack again.

"What would he think of me?"

She didn't want to know the answer to that question, especially now. Whether it was due to emotional distress or a last ditch effort to rekindle something, she still didn't see any credible justification in her actions at the time.

"I need to get out of here." She told herself. Knowing now more than ever that it was something she HAD to do.

Adding to the annoyance she was already feeling, her phone started ringing.

"Unknown caller" is what read on the caller display before she answered it.

"Three guesses."

"Jimmy? How did you get this number?" Kate guessed the voice right away, certainly not recalling having given him her home phone number.

"Ah, well I'm a guy of many surprises and I have an even bigger one planned for us tonight if ya interested." Jimmy offered.

"Thanks for the offer Jimmy, but I'm not feeling all that well actually." She lied.

"You look fine to me." Jimmy answered, undoubtedly confusing Kate for the obvious reason and it was the only then she saw him through her window. Smiling and waving right back at her before resuming his conversation on the phone.

"Why go out to eat when you can enjoy it in the comfort of your own home." He commented, physically suggesting towards the bag of Chinese food he was holding in his right hand.

Kate couldn't help but smile at his insistence before relenting to finally award his efforts.

A friendly gesture in her mind but Jimmy had expectations to instigate something more than that tonight.

(Later that evening)

He couldn't think of anything or anyone else but her.

Granted the kiss shouldn't have happened but to a certain extent it sort of felt right. The resurfacing of those old feelings only confirming that and with evaluating them, he started to question his feelings towards Kathy.

"Do I love Kate more than I love Kathy?"

There was no solid answer to that question because he'd never had to question it until now.

With it came a whole barrage of other questions he no longer had the answers to and in an attempt to set things straight he knew who he had to see.

He just hoped that she hadn't already left.

After dinner Jimmy took the chance to get to know Kate a little better. Choosing the game "I never" and he was genuinely surprised to hear that she wasn't foreign to it by any means.

"You ever done anything kinky?"

"You're serious?"

"It's only fair." Jimmy reminded, revealing his experiences as part of the game they were playing.

Playing to the method of the game, she moved to take a swig of her drink but was stopped before she thought to even reach for her bottle by a knocking on her front door.

He immediately sighed in relief when he saw the lights on in her house. His smile brief and fading when Kate opened the door to him and saw that she wasn't alone.

So a bit of a reflection chapter but things are about to change. For the benefit of some and of course to the dismay of others. One to be precise…..

Next Chapter: Jack comes clean achieving surprising results.

I'm back off holiday next wednesday so will try to put an update up as soon as then. In the meantime let me know what you thought about this one :)