Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned Big Time Rush. And yes, I'm very sad about that.

Guest: You didn't like where I ended the last chapter? *Pouts* Thank you for your review! :)

THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has taken the time to read, or favorite, or follow, or read this story, or any of my stories. I can't even begin to tell you guys how much your support and enthusiasm means to me :) So, an even bigger THANK YOU than normal!

Okay, so I probably shouldn't be updating when I haven't caught up on replying to reviews. But I'm pretty sure I did catch up on my reviews for this story, so yeah...I'm posting it. Anyway, for those of you who don't know, the reason why I've been MIA (as in, none of my multi chapter stories have been updated) for the past couple of weeks is because my laptop crashed. That's also why I got so behind on review replies, though I'm pretty caught up on them with this story and "Take the Heat". I think it's just "Touch the Flame" I need to work my way through.

So, a lot of you really didn't like where I ended the last chapter. What I'm going to say is that there is a reason for what happened in the last chapter (though with my luck, the story will get changed and then there'll be no reason at all), so yeah. And hopefully this chapter will make up for it a little :)

Warnings: Language, underage drinking, mentions of minor sexual assault (if there's such a thing), and something that could be considered cheating.

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter Twenty: New Years' Eve

Katie's POV

The second I realized that I was kissing Jett, I threw up in my mouth a little. Or maybe a lot. Or maybe just in my mind. Either way, I was pretty grossed out.

I was seriously hoping that this wasn't an omen for how the rest of the new year was going to go.

I pulled back, sure that a look of horror was crossing my face. "Oh my God…"

Jett stared at me, before smirking. "I knew you wanted me."

"Ew…ew…ew…ew…ew…ew…I think I'm going to vomit…"

"Why? I bet I was the best you've ever had."

"No, you weren't. The best I've ever had walked out the door with his girlfriend." I sank down on the ground, completely lost. "Where's the beer?"

He gleefully got me one, and I popped the tab on it, taking a long sip of it. "Blech, that stuff takes awful."

"So, wanna talk about James Diamond?" Jett asked, sitting down beside me.

"No thank you."

"Bummer. I bet you'd have some good, juicy stories about him."

"Not a one."

"Really?" he raised his own can of beer to his lips. "Because I've been hearing stuff. It true his brother's a queer?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask James?" I suggested.

"Shane and Kyle were here together, and between you and me, it's pretty obvious Kyle isn't as straight and narrow as he likes everyone to believe."

"They're friends," I said simply. "If they're anything else, than it's news to me. Now stop being a nosy prick, you've already worn out your welcome with Carlos."

"Diamond's right, you really are a bitch," Jett snorted.

"What can I say? It's what I do best. I'm a world class bitch without even trying. It's why James wants nothing to do with me." I took another sip of beer. "I mean, all this sexual tension and I'm still not what he wants. What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing," Jett said. "I mean, your chest is pretty much non existent, but if you're easy enough, then that won't even matter."

I stared at him. "Yeah, I just remembered why I hate you." And with that, I dumped the rest of my beer over his head, got to my feet, and made my way into the kitchen.

"What the fuck was that?!" Carlos cried, dashing after me. "I'm pretty sure beer stains!"

"Make Jett clean it. He's an ass."

"No shit. Pretty much the entire town could have told you that, Katie. I didn't want him here in the first place! Come to think of it, I didn't want any of you here!"

I shook my head and stood on my tip toes, reaching into the cabinet over the sink and pulling down a glass. I got the pitcher of water out of the fridge and poured it into the glass, before putting it back. "Sorry. My bad."

"Right…" He shook his head. "I want all of you out of here."

"And I want a pony. Did I ride here tonight on a pony? No, I did not."

"You also want James. And you wanted to be the one to leave here with him."

"My point remains, we can't get everything we want. I don't get him, you know? He didn't care that I was a bitch before."

Carlos pursed his lips. "You two were never…friendly…when you were a bitch to him. It's like your entire personality changed after the Halloween dance, and suddenly you two were friends. Everyone thought you two were going to end up together. And now…You rejected him, ditched him, broke up with him, whatever term you want to use here. It's not just that you're a bitch, it's that you pushed him away, only to expect him to wait for you."

"I didn't expect him to wait for me…I just…didn't think he'd end up with Lauren so quickly. I didn't think he'd find anyone that fast. It was pure dumb luck for him that he happened to run into her at the hotel, and complete bad luck for me."

"That's the risk you took when you told him you didn't want him. Okay? You brought this on yourself, and anyone will tell you the same thing. You have got to stop treating people like shit."

"I don't treat people like shit. I treat them how I think they deserve to be treated."

"I stand corrected." He shook his head. "Whatever. You're hopeless."

I bit my lip. He was right. I really was hopeless. I was never going to get it right. I almost had, but then I had completely fucked it all up. And I probably wasn't going to get a second chance. But what if I could get one? What if I could convince James to give me one more? Granted, first I had to get rid of Lauren…And that wasn't going to be easy. James was clearly head over heels for her, but the fact was, they had never once used the closet to make out. Which told me that they clearly were more than capable of keeping their hands off of each other. Completely the opposite of James and me. So…not exactly sexually compatible…I could work with that. I could totally work with that.

Lauren, darling, you're going down.

James, baby, I'm coming for you.

And that was that. That was my final verdict.

A little while later, I rounded up the Jo, Camille, Stephanie, and - gag - Jett. Jett smirked knowingly at me, and proceeded to make some very lewd, suggestive comments. I whacked him around the back of the head but otherwise ignored him as we walked out to my car. Stephanie shoved him roughly into the backseat of my car as I got into the driver's seat, Jo climbing in next to me. Camille and Stephanie promptly had an argument about who was going to be forced to sit beside Jett.

"Ladies, ladies, ladies," Jett spoke up. "I could just sit in the middle. There's enough Jett Stetson for all of you." He whipped mouth spray out from his back pocket and blasted some into his mouth, earning a simultaneous gagging noise from all of us.

"You moron," Stephanie snapped. "We don't want to sit next to you. You're a disgusting pig and we want nothing to do with you. And it should be Jo who has to sit next to you, since she's the one who saddled us with you."

"Don't blame me!" Jo cried. "Blame my mom! It's her fault, all her fault!"

"Rock, paper, scissors," Camille suggested to Stephanie.

"Two out of three?"

"Let's do it."

Two games later, Stephanie found herself buckling up the middle seatbelt while slapping Jett's hand away from her thigh. "I will twist your balls off," she informed him.

He immediately snatched his hand away.

I groaned as Camille got in, buckling up as well. I got the car started and pulled away, thinking wearily that this night had been waaay too long.

Perhaps I thought too soon.

"You know," Jett spoke up, a little too loudly for any of our liking, "the rumors about the Stetson Snake is true. Way true."

"So it's the size of a baby worm?" Steph quipped, rubbing her forehead. "I have a headache..."

"Don't we all?" I said as I reached over to flip on the radio.

"You're not going to listen to that, are you?" Jett asked me as an old Evanescence song came on.

"Yes, I am, because it's my car, my radio, and I can listen to whatever the hell I want."

"But it's crap. All angsty and deep and shit. You should listen to good music."

I gritted my teeth. "And what, pray tell, would you suggest I listen to?"

"Some Kanye West, maybe Lil Wayne. They're true rappers and know what they're talking about."

"I will kick you out of my car."

"Well, la-di-da. Someone's awfully feisty." He leaned forward and made to brush my hair off of my shoulder. Camille slapped his hand away.

"Leave her alone."

Jett held his hands up. "My bad."

"You're an asshole," Jo informed him. "I can't wait to be rid of you."

She was the luckiest. We pulled up in front of her house a couple minutes later, and she scurried out of my car with barely a "bye! See you at school on Monday!". Camille's house was next, and finally Stephanie's. I dropped them off, before clenching my teeth. The ride to Jett's house was not going to be pretty.

I navigated the roads as carefully as I could, doing my very best to stay alert. That was proving harder and harder as I realized, with a glance in my rearview mirror, that Jett was drinking his damn beer in the backseat of my car.

I swerved to the side of the road, put the car in park, and spun around in my seat. "Get the fuck out of my car."

He leered at me. "Now, really, baby, do you actually want to be like that? We could party, you know."

"Jett, you're drunk, you're an ass, and I'm considering strangling you with your worm sized dick. Now get. Out. Of. My. Car."

"No."

Excusez-moi?

My eyebrows shot up. "Did you just tell me no?"

"That's right. I'm not moving. I'm comfy here. The only place I want any part of me to be moving is my hand under your dress."

"You're disgusting." I reached into my purse, fumbling for my phone. My gut was twisting uncomfortably, and flashes of the many conversations I had had with my parents and brother about date raping were tearing through my head, forcing quick, sharp gasps out of my mouth.

"What're you doing?" Jett demanded.

"None of your business." James...I had to call James...he had told me that if I had ever needed any help...well, I sure as hell needed help now.

I managed to dial his number and put the phone up to my ear.

"You calling to make excuses to your mommy as to why you're not coming home?" Jett grinned, unbuckling his seatbelt and trying to crawl over the seat. I placed my arm on the front passenger seat, blocking him for the moment, as James' phone rang. And rang. And rang.

Come on, James...please...please pick up...

James' POV

I kissed Lauren at midnight.

And it wasn't at all what I had hoped. The truth was, it was too little, too soon, after kissing Katie. Lauren didn't have the same fire. Didn't use the same lip gloss. Didn't have the same taste. Didn't cling to me, yanking on my hair. Didn't respond to me at all the way Katie had.

And as much as I hated to admit it, it was a major disappointment.

But I also knew that Katie wasn't good for me, that she wasn't right. As much physical and sexual chemistry that we had, it wasn't enough. She was still a bitch, and always would be. And I couldn't change her, and the honest truth was that I wasn't sure I would want to. In some ways, she was everything I could ever want, but in other ways, she was everything that I could never be. And I was fairly sure that she felt the same way about me. That hadn't made stepping away from her and walking out of the closet any easier. It had been sheer torture leaving with Lauren when every single piece of me, when every little pore, was screaming to turn around, to go back, to hold onto Katie and never let her go, to ruin her for any other guy she might happen to meet.

And it was terrifying how tempting it was.

Especially since we were both virgins and ruining her for any other guy would be pretty much impossible with my lack of experience and her hymen.

I decided I really didn't want to think about it. Like, at all.

"Are you okay?" Lauren asked as I pulled up in front of her house. "You've been quiet..."

I gave her a quick smile. "I'm fine, just got a lot on my mind."

"Like Katie?"

"W-what?"

"I mean, she showed up at the party and was all over you. Wasn't easy for me to see it...Was it hard for you to fight her off?"

Yes. "No," I lied straight through my teeth, and inwardly cringing. I hated lying, but what was I supposed to say? Believe me, you have no idea the reactions she can get from me. In fact, we made out in the closet, and if Carlos hadn't interrupted us, we probably would have fucked. Yeah, that would go over just fucking-riffic. "Not hard at all. She's not what I want, Lauren."

"Are you sure?" She bit her lip, looking over at me, a vulnerable expression on her face, and my heart broke slightly, my stomach clenching.

"I'm positive."

"What happened in the closet? You both looked a little...um..."

"We whisper yelled at each other." Close enough. That had happened in the closet. So, see? I can talk to her about Katie without lying like nobody's business.

"And nothing else happened?"

You mean besides attacking each other and just completely sending the sexual tension skyrocketing? "Nothing at all."

"Okay." She relaxed, before leaning over and pecking my lips. "Thanks again for inviting me. Tonight was fun...for the most part." She gave me a slightly bitchy sneer, which I knew was directed at Katie, but I had to keep myself from frowning and defending Katie. It was funny. I was used to Katie's bitchiness, and I had long since accepted it. In fact, at times I could almost find it hot. But when it was Lauren...it didn't sit well with me at all.

She got out of my car and I forced myself to remember that girls were all bitches, at one point or another in their lives. It was how they survived, how they got their revenge, how they got justice, how they got what they believed was rightfully theirs. And of course Lauren would be a bitch about Katie. I mean, who wouldn't? If I had been in her place, I would have been doing some serious bitch slapping.

Her expression still seriously aggravated me, to say the least.

I put the car in gear and drove home, dragging myself up to my room and collapsing on my bed, not even bothering to change clothes.

I must have drifted off, because the next thing I knew, my phone was going off.

I groaned, mentally cussing out whoever had called and woken me out of my peaceful dream. I wasn't positive, but I had the vague sense it had involved Katie and me and my grandparents' empty cabin. Also a fire blazing in the fireplace and a fake bearskin rug, but that was beside the point.

My phone continued ringing, and I finally wiggled it out of my jeans pocket. My eyes widened and then narrowed when I saw who was calling: Katie.

Why the hell was she calling? Did she want a follow up about tonight? Maybe she wanted to make me swear not to tell a single soul that we had made out in the closet. That was fine with me. I hadn't been planning on telling anyone, not even Shane. That was a secret I was going to be taking to my grave.

I hit the call accept button and put my phone up to my ear. "If this is about what happened in the closet, don't worry, I'm not going to say any - "

"James, I need your help!" I heard Katie squeak out, and my senses went on red alert. Katie never squeaked.

"What's wrong?" I demanded, sitting bolt upright in bed. "What's going on?"

"Please...I need you to come pick me up. Or pick Jett up. Or do something. I'm on Spencer Boulevard, and he's - Jett, get off of me - fuck! He's drunk and I'm driving him home - get your greasy hands off of me you fucking fucker! Please - "

I was already climbing out of bed, reaching for my jacket, car keys, and wallet. "I'll be there in five minutes. Hang tight. You have pepper spray, use it."

"Okay - damn it, Stetson, I'm warning you - "

"Talk to me, Katie," I said as I dashed out of my room and down the stairs, out the front door. "And I'm serious about the pepper spray."

"I know. I know...I'm going to fucking kill my friends! I can't believe they left me alone with him!"

"Yeah...I'm going to have to have Logan talk to Camille about that..." I unlocked my car and got in, starting it up. I put my phone on speaker and set it in my cup holder so that I could buckle my seatbelt and, you know, steer the car.

I released the parking brake, shifted the gears to reverse, and backed out of the driveway. "I'm on the road now," I told Katie as I switched the gears to drive. "I'm coming, baby girl."

"Just hurry! His fingers are spidery! It's sheer luck he hasn't figured out how to get to the front of the car yet."

"Katie. Get out of the car."

"What?" she asked blankly.

"You're a smart girl. Get out of the car. With any luck, he'll either stay in the car because it's so cold outside, or he'll follow, and then you can get back in and lock him out."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you."

I smiled slightly, keeping my eyes peeled. "You mean besides my startling good looks and amazing kissing skills?"

"Smartass. And yes." There was some shifting, and a moment later, she said, "I'm outside. Dumbass. He's just sitting in there like a rock. Wait...I take that back...He's getting out..."

"Get into the car."

"I am - No!" I heard her scream, and there was a loud crack. I immediately snatched up my phone and felt my gut twist as I saw call ended flashing across my screen.

Oh, fuck.

I sped up a little, going as fast as I dared. I had no plans to get pulled over by a cop who was pissed off and embittered about being comissioned to work on New Year's Eve, so I knew I had to keep my speed relatively reasonable, no matter how much I wanted to jump the speedometer up to ninety.

Steering with one hand, I called Katie back, putting my phone up to my ear. It went straight to voice mail.

Either her phone was off...or it was broken. Somehow, neither boded well.

I finally reached Spencer Boulevard, and immediately spotted them. Jett had Katie pinned against her car door, holding her arms to her chest as he kissed her. I could see her visibly struggling against him, but his body was pressed against hers so she was trapped, completely trapped.

On the ground beside them, I could see a beer can, along with Katie's phone. The battery was hanging out.

I pulled over behind Katie and leapt out of my car, making sure to get the ignition off and my keys in my pocket. No way was I risking it being stolen by Stetson or some over greedy car thief. I may have been from fucking nowhere Minnesota, but that didn't mean I didn't have common sense. A hick from the sticks I sure as hell was not.

I raced towards Katie and Stetson, just as his hand slid down to her hip, before going a little lower.

"Hey. Fucker," I greeted him, tapping him on the shoulder. "I think you dropped something."

"What the - " He pulled back from Katie and I grabbed him by his shoulders, shoving him into the fence that lined the sidewalk, before throwing a punch at his face.

"You're drunk, so I'm going to save the lectures about life lessons and being responsible for your actions, since you won't remember it in the morning," I informed him as I took a couple of steps back. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to miss this golden opportunity to kick your fucking ass."

"Diamond!" he half slurred, half yelled. "You - you - you - fucker - !"

"You're worse than Katie," I told him, grabbing him as he tried to dodge around me so that he could make a beeline for Katie. "Nah uh. I don't think so. Didn't your mother ever teach you to treat girls with respect? No? Then I guess I'm going to have to do it for you." And with that, I sunk my fist into his stomach. And fuck, if it didn't feel good.

He doubled over, wheezing in pain.

"Oh, grow a pair, you baby," I tsked. "If you were on the hockey team, you would have had to take a hell of a lot more than that. So I guess it's a good thing you're not on the hockey team. And no you don't!" He tried to ram himself into me, but I grabbed the back of his shirt, steering him away, and throwing him into the fence again.

Poor fence, having Jett Stetson all over it.

"If you were actually sober, I would do a lot worse to you," I growled, walking towards him, fists raised in case he decided to attack me again. "As it is, don't think I'm not tempted to kick your sorry ass from here to Siberia. The only reason why I won't is because you probably won't remember it. Crying shame." I shoved him again, before pushing him down the sidewalk. "Does he live nearby?" I asked Katie, and she nodded.

"Just a couple of blocks away. I was going to make him get out and walk, but..."

"Yeah. I'll get him home."

"I'll go with you," she volunteered.

"You sure?" I asked, surprised, and she nodded.

"Might as well. You know, make it look good." She picked her phone up, examined it, and placed the battery back in it, closing it up. She checked it to make sure it still worked, before nodding in satisfaction.

"Of course." Together, we set off, me keeping a firm hold on Stetson. Every couple of minutes, he attempted to break free so that he could grope Katie, and he managed to make a few lewd faces at her, as well as suggesting what she could do to him, but other than that, the walk home was fairly uneventful.

Thank God.

We dropped him off at his house, with me walking him up to his front door, ringing the doorbell, and then grabbing Katie and running like hell.

We headed back to our cars, and she turned to face me. Before she could say anything, however, I spoke: "I'll follow you home, make sure you get home all right."

She gave me a small smile. "Thanks."

"No problem."

We got into our cars, and I kept a close tail on her. We arrived at her mom's house five minutes later. I parked on the curb and got out of my car, joining her in the driveway.

Katie looked up at me. "Thank you, again. Thanks for everything."

"Anyone would have done the same thing," I said quickly, waving it off.

"You didn't have to come and help. You didn't have to answer. It's late, and you were either with Lauren or sleeping."

"I was sleeping. I dropped Lauren off a couple hours ago."

"Good," she said bluntly. "Because that girl is a closeted bitch and needs to be bitch slapped. She's also a closeted slut."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "And what makes you say that?"

"Isn't it obvious? She totally has that air that tells you that she'd get down on her knees for a guy. Not your type."

"And what is my type?" I asked, my breathing hitching as she took a step towards me, winding her arms around my neck. This was wrong...way wrong...I needed to push her away...Totally needed to...Didn't really want to...Already knew I wasn't going to...Maybe she was just teasing me...Totally just teasing me...Had nothing to worry about...

Katie gave me a cheshire smile. "Someone who fights you and challenges you and makes you want to tear your hair out. Someone who you have insane chemistry with. Someone who you want to fight and fuck at the same time. In short, someone like me." And then her lips were on mine, and every single thought in my head was shut off as I kissed her back for the second time in just a few hours. I couldn't even begin to think about Lauren, or what a bitch Katie could be, or how badly she had hurt me that day several weeks ago.

All I could focus on was her, here and now; the way her lips felt against mine, the way she was pushing her body into mine, the way her teeth were biting and scraping at my bottom lip, and I was returning the favor eagerly. Fuck. Fuck it all. This was what kissing and making out and New Years kisses were all about. This was what should have happened at midnight, instead of the somewhat sloppy, awkward kiss I had shared with Lauren.

Katie whined into my mouth as I caught her bottom lip between mine and tugged slightly, and her hands scrabbled at my chest, fighting for something to grab on. I lifted her up and her legs went around my waist, just like earlier. Her fingers clawed at my coat zipper, getting it undone, but before anything else could happen, the front door was swinging open and light spilled out into the yard and driveway.

"Katie?" Mrs. Knight called from the doorway. "You home, sweetie?"

Katie pulled back from me, panting slightly. "Yeah. I'm home."

"Okay. Well, come on in. It's dangerous out here."

"I'm fine, I'm with James."

"Oh?" She stepped outside, and smiled when she saw me. "Hi, James."

I gave her a smile. "Hey, Mrs. Knight."

"Please, formalities. Call me Jenn. You two enjoy our New Year's Eve?"

A little too much…

"Yeah," I replied, while Katie nodded vigorously. "It was definitely an…interesting experience."

"Definitely," Katie replied.

"That's good. Well, Katie, come on inside, it's cold out here."

Katie gave me a small, sad smile, before heading for the house. "See you on Monday."

"Yeah…see you on Monday."

I watched as she walked into the house. She gave me a small wave, before closing the door.

I had no idea what was going to happen with us, if she was going to hate my guts come the first day back at school, or if she was actually going to be nice.

Somehow, I wasn't too hopeful about the latter.

Monday morning came way too early for my liking. It was with several well chosen cuss words that I crawled out of bed and began to get ready for school.

Once I was parked in front of the school, Shane and I got out and we headed towards the entrance, the rest of the hockey team, along with Kyle and Lauren, joined us, so that we were forming a sort of wall, a barrier, as if to block the ice skaters.

Lauren slipped her hand in mine, and I did my best not to think of a slightly smaller hand, with tiny but thin fingers. Katie...

Our group walked into the school as one, immediately coming face to face with the rest of the ice skaters. Even Jett was there, though I noticed he was keeping his distance from Katie. It was with satisfaction that I noticed the bruising around his eye, dulled by cover up, but noticeable nonetheless.

We all froze at the sight of each other, and I found myself moving to the front, Katie mirroring my motions, a small smirk playing around her lips. She crossed her arms over her chest, and I did the same thing.

"Diamond," she purred.

"Knight," I replied.

She slowly traced the tip of her tongue over her lips. "You guys look like you're ready to go to battle."

"So do you guys."

"Maybe we
are."

"That all you have to say?"

"No, there's one more thing."

"Which is?" I prodded her.

Her smirk widened. "Let the games begin. And may the odds be ever in your favor. Or, in our favor, in this case."

"See, now that's just wishful thinking."

"Oh, you think so?"

"I do."

"We'll see. Don't you remember, Jamie? I always get what I want, and I never lose." And with that, she moved forward, the others following her. She bumped her hip into mine, smirked widely at Lauren, and added, "By the way, your boyfriend is an excellent kisser. Really knows how to use his tongue, if you know what I mean? No? Oh well...that's really too bad..." And smirking so widely I thought her face might break, she spun back around, and headed off towards her homeroom, leaving the rest of us just standing there.

So...wow. A lot of stuff happened in this chapter, and hopefully you guys liked some of the stuff. So, if you guys feel like dropping a review and letting me know what you thought about the chapter, I would love you forever :)