Authors Note:
I told you all to expect another chapter, and here it is! I can't believe I'm already at chapter 50, but I love where I'm going with this story, and I hope you all do as well! Let me know what you think and leave a review! :)
Chapter Fifty
Time Jump – Three Days Later
Jacqueline POV:
Karina got back a few days ago, and just didn't talk to anyone. Her wardrobe was different, she wore tons of make up, and her nose was pierced, that's for sure. Mom and dad tried to talk to her but she just shut herself in her room and refused to let anyone in. I want to talk to her, but she just won't listen and it was driving me crazy. Tucker and I had just put the twins down and he was getting ready for bed but I couldn't sleep.
"Hey babe, I'm going to go for a walk." I said and he looked at me while he got in bed.
"You okay?" He asked.
"I just want to talk to Karina. I want to help, and understand why she would hurt Aunt Izzy and Uncle Simon that way." I said and he nodded. "I just can't sleep, and I need to clear my head."
"Okay. Don't stay out there too long." He said and I smiled. I walked over and gave him a kiss.
"I won't." I said and he smiled. "Love you."
"Love you too Jack." He said and I left the room.
I was walking around the property and just thinking about what happened the past couple months and just couldn't even begin to try and figure out the drastic mood change. I knew she was struggling, but stealing, that just wasn't K, and I wanted to desperately to figure out what was wrong. It was pretty quiet out, until I hear a twig snap. I looked up and Karina was walking around.
"Karina." I said and she looked up but started walking away. "Hey, wait up." I said as I ran after her.
"I don't want to talk Jacqueline." She said.
"Wow, pulling out the whole name." I said. "I don't think you've ever called me that before." I said.
"Things change." She said.
"Talk to me K." I said.
"Don't call me that." She hissed.
"But that's what I call you." I said.
"Not anymore. Just call me Karina. That is my name." She said with so much attitude in her voice.
"I don't know what's gotten into you Karina but you need to snap out of it." I said and she looked up at me. "I mean, my god, what is up with that make up, and that nose ring, it's tacky. And stealing from Uncle Simon and Aunt Izzy, after the opened their home up to you? What kind of selfish bitch are you?" I said clearly letting my true feelings show.
"Looks who talking. Little miss perfect, never had to suffer through anything in her life." Karina spat back. "You and Patrick both. You have been walking through life getting everything you ever wanted." She said with so much venom in her voice. "You wouldn't know what to do with a problem if it came with instructions on how to solve it."
"You have no idea what you're talking about Karina." I said.
"Please. Your life has been easy." Karina said. "Olympic medals, and great job, and a loving husband, and two great kids."
"Not everything comes easy K." I said.
"You have no idea what it's like to have something bad happen to you. Neither does Patrick." She said.
"Really?" I said. "You remember Ian?" I said and she nodded. "He stalked me. For years. When I finally told dad, I got a restraining order against him, and that wasn't enough, so we got him arrested." I said ad she looked shocked. "And Patrick, he got Sammi pregnant when she was 18 K. Do you know how hard and problematic that is?" I asked. "They fought constantly. Did you know Sammi wanted to put PJ up for adoption?" I asked and she shook her head. "Yea, and Patrick had to fight to keep his son. We've all been through shit Karina, the difference is, Pat and I would never disrespect family the way you did." I said and than I felt a sting across my face. She slapped me. "You little shit." I said and before I could do anything someone stepped between us.
"Why don't we just cool off." Gallagher said.
"She's the one who needs to cool off." I said as I stepped back. "Think about what I said Karina. You need to work out whatever issues you're having, and deal with them appropriately." I said and I turned around and walked away. I get that she went through something traumatic, but what she's doing isn't healthy, and she needs to know that.
Karina POV:
After Jack left it was just Gallagher and I. I can't believe I slapped her, but she was just pissing me off so much. I don't know what came over me, but slapping her just seemed like the right thing to do.
"Come on K, let's go." Gallagher said and I followed him to his cabin. We walked in and I noticed that Justin wasn't there.
"Where's Justin?" I asked as I took a seat on his bed.
"Medical building. He broke his leg on the half pipe today." Gallagher explained. "That was some slap K."
"She was pissing me off." I said.
"If I slapped everyone that pissed me off, your father would have kicked me out of the program a long time ago." He said and I laughed. "There's that laugh I know and love." He said. "What's going on K?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said.
"Come on. You look like Taylor Momsen." Gallaher said and I laughed.
"I love her." I said and he smiled.
"So do I, but that doesn't mean I'm going to start looking like her." Gallagher said.
"I don't know what you want me to tell you." I said. "I just changed."
"There is more going on K. I know you, and this isn't you." He said and I just shrugged. It was quiet for a moment before I looked up. Gallagher was sitting on his bed, so I got up and made my way over to him. I stood between his legs and I tilted his head up to look at me. "What are you doing K?" He asked but I didn't respond. I just leaned forward and kissed him. I could tell that he was surprised but that didn't stop me. He broke the kiss, but I just slammed my lips back to his immediately and pushed with all my might to get him to lay down. I was slightly successful, and then I climbed on his lap. "Karina, stop." Gallagher said but I just moved my mouth down to his throat. "Karina, I mean it." He said and I bit his neck and I heard him moan.
"You can try and deny it all you want but I know I'm affecting you." I said against his throat.
"I'm not denying it, I just think you need to stop." Gallagher said. He picked me up off his lap and put me back on the floor. "What is wrong with you?"
"Are you saying you didn't enjoy that?" I said with a smirk.
"I think you clearly know I enjoyed it Karina, but this isn't you." He said.
"Well maybe I want it to be me." I said. "Maybe I want to be like this. I want to dress like this, I want to wear my make up like this, and maybe I want to kiss you like that." I said.
"What is this all about Karina?" Gallagher asked in a caring voice.
"He said I was asking for it." I eventually said.
"What?" Gallagher asked.
"That night Peter attacked me." I explained. "He told Patrick the reason he did it was because I was asking for it. So maybe if I dress like this, and look like this, that'll change."
"Karina, Peter was an animal. He used his strength to try and take advantage of you." Gallagher said. "That has nothing to do with how you were dressed. How you do you make up, or anything else."
"I guess we'll never know." I said.
"Karina." Gallagher said but I cut him off.
"Do you even want to kiss me?" I asked and it seemed to catch him off guard.
"What?" He asked.
"I've known you my whole life, or what feels like my whole life. Was kissing me like kissing your sister?" I asked trying to phrase it better for him.
"If kissing my sister gave me a boner we'd have problems." He said and I couldn't help but laugh. "I would have enjoyed it more if you just let it happen naturally K." He admitted and I sighed.
"I have to go. My parents don't know I left the house, and they will probably think I stole their car too." I said as I started walking out of the cabin.
"I'm not coming back." Gallagher said and I stopped dead in my tracks. "This is my last session."
"Why?" I asked.
"Things at home are rough, and I need to be there." He said.
"So that's it? You're just going to leave in 5 days, and that's that?" I asked.
"I might be back, I just don't know yet." He said.
"Have a good life Gallagher." I said and I walked out.
"Don't be like that K." He said from his doorway.
"You made it this way. You're leaving in 5 days. You'll be back in, come to think of it, I don't even know where you live, and I'll be here." I said.
"Seriously? The accent doesn't give it away?" He asked and I glared at him. "Okay, spending most of my life here made the accent a little harder to distinguish."
"The point is Gallagher, you're leaving, and I'm staying." I said.
"K!" He called but I just kept walking. I made it all the way to the bleachers before I just stopped walking. He was leaving, and I slapped Jack, and I was falling apart. I took a seat and just stared at the half pipe. I don't know how long I was there before I heard someone approaching and I whipped around to see my dad standing there.
"What are you doing out this late?" I asked.
"I couldn't ask you the same thing," He said as he took a seat next to me.
"I asked first." I said and he laughed.
"Your mom and I got into another fight, so I decided to take a walk." He said.
"You mean, she kicked you out for half an hour." I said and he nodded. "The fight was about me, wasn't it?" I asked.
"K." He said but I cut him off.
"That's all you two fight about these days." I said.
"We just have different opinions, and you know how hot headed I can be, and how stubborn she can be." He said and I laughed.
"Yea." I said. "I think I inherited that quality from her." I said and he laughed.
"All three of you got her stubbornness." He admitted. "But I love her for it."
"You two will be okay though, right?" I asked.
"Once you're okay, we'll be okay." He said.
"Your relationship with mom shouldn't suffer because of me." I said and he laughed.
"You are our entire world Karina. You and your brother and sister, and all your nieces and nephews." Dad said.
"I thought the facility was your life." I said.
"That's work." He said. "You guys are ours. A product of your mom and I…."
"Ew. I don't want to hear this." I said and he laughed.
"The point is, you mean everything to us. So of course when something happens to one of you, we're going to do everything in our power to make sure you get through it." He said.
"I talked to Jack tonight." I said. "She told me some things that I wasn't aware of before."
"Like what?" He asked.
"That you got her ex boyfriend sent to jail." I said and he nodded.
"He was stalking her. Your mom and I tried to do it the civil way, but he was relentless." Dad said.
"And she told me that Sammi wanted to put PJ up for adoption at one point." I said.
"Yea. She was scared out of her mind, and it caused quite the conflict between your brother and her." Dad said.
"How come I didn't know any of this?" I asked.
"Because you were just a little girl." Dad said. "You didn't need to know how messed up the world could be." He said.
"I slapped her." I said.
"What?" He asked.
"I slapped Jack. Really hard." I admitted.
"Why?" He asked.
"She pissed me off." I said and he laughed.
"Oh sweetheart, if I slapped every person who pissed me off, I'd be in jail." He said and I laughed.
"Gallagher said the same thing." I said with a smiled.
"You were with Gallagher?" He asked.
"He saw me slap Jack, and said I needed to cool off." I said and he nodded. "We went back to his cabin."
"That little shit.."
"He didn't do anything dad." I said before he could finish. "He rejected me."
"What?" He asked.
"I kissed him." I said. "And he told me to stop."
"Since when do you even like Gallagher? Or boys in general." Dad said and I laughed.
"I never really thought about it." I said. "But we were in his cabin, and I was sitting on Justin's bed and he was sitting on his, and I just walked over and kissed him." I said.
"I don't know if I can handle this." He said and I playfully punched his arm. He draped it around me and I leaned into him.
"He's leaving." I said. "Gallagher. This is his last session."
"I know." My dad said. "We talk about it at the beginning."
"I'm gonna miss him." I said.
"You two will still be friends." My dad said. "Or is that not what you meant."
"You know how mom always says a kiss can determine everything?" I asked and I felt him nod. "Well, I felt something. Something I've never felt before."
"How many guys have you kissed exactly?" My dad asked and I laughed.
"Like 5." I said and I felt him sigh. "Come on dad, I'm 16."
"You will always be my little girl." He said and I leaned into him more.
"And the worst part is, he rejected me." I said.
"Well, oh god I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you." He said and I laughed. "Was it a mutual kiss?"
"No. I kinda sprung it on him." I said.
"So maybe he was just surprised." He said.
"Doesn't make it suck any less." I said.
"Rejection in any form never feels good sweetheart." He said and I nodded.
"I think I need to talk to someone daddy." I said after a moment.
"Whatever you want Karina. All you have to do is ask." He said and I nodded. "Come on, it's late, and you seem to have had a long and emotional day." He said and we got off the bleachers. His arm was still around my shoulders and we walked to the house together. It was quiet before he spoke. "And since when is this facility a breading ground? Kids come here to train, not fall in love."
"Dad, I'm not in love." I said with a laugh. "I just like him."
"Just be careful. Like I told your sister, the minute you feel uncomfortable, or you feel like he's not treating you right, get the hell out." He said and I laughed.
"I'm gonna take a shower." I said as we got up the stairs in our house and he nodded.
"Goodnight sweetheart." He said and he kissed my head.
"Goodnight daddy." I said and than he left. I walked into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I hardly recognized myself anymore. What the hell did I do?
Jace POV:
I walked into my room and Clary was still awake. She looked up at me, and I made my way over to the bed and climbed in.
"I thought you left." She said.
"Nope. I ran into Karina outside and we started talking." I said.
"She was out?" Clary asked and I nodded.
"She really opened up to me tonight." I said.
"You always were the person she went to for everything." She said and I nodded. "I'm sorry about our fight."
"It's okay babe." I said.
"No it isn't." Clary said. "You're right. We shouldn't force her into anything, especially not therapy. I was just running out of ideas."
"I get it. I want to help just as much as you do but pushing her isn't going to make her want to do it." I said and Clary nodded. "And we don't have to push. She told me that she thinks she wants to talk to someone."
"Really?" Clary asked and I nodded.
"I know you're worried. I am too, but we can't make decisions for her." I said and Clary nodded. "Come here." I said and she scooted over to me and curled into my side. "I love you."
"I love you too." She said. I turned off the lights and we curled under the covers more. It was quiet, and Clary was drawing random pattern on my chest.
"By the way, did you know she likes Gallagher?" I said and Clary laughed.
"I didn't, but I knew Gallagher liked her." Clary said.
"How?" I asked.
"The way he looks at her, and the way he treats her." Clary said. "Plus, after she left, he looked really sad."
"Is there something in the water at this training facility that I don't know about?" I said and Clary laughed. "Seriously, you do realize that Patrick and Jack both married athletes from here."
"I'm aware." Clary said. "I just think they bond so much with them, and when they get older, they have such a great friendship that feelings are bound to emerge." Clary explained. "It's worked out twice already. Three is the lucky charm."
"I don't even want to think about Karina and Gallagher together until they are both adults." I said and Clary laughed. I kissed her head and then I heard the door open. Clary and I both looked up and Karina stood in the doorway.
"Can I sleep with you two tonight?" She asked.
"Of course." I said and she closed the door and ran to the bed. I scooted over so that I was in the middle of the bed. Clary on my left, and Karina on my right. They were holding hand over my stomach, and I kissed them both. I knew it might be a rocky road for Karina, but for the first time in months, everything felt right.
Authors Note pt. 2:
So, I just wanted to address that Karina has always opened up to JAce about everything. Which Clary kinda said at the end of this chapter, but I never really mentioned it before, but I thought I'd let you all know now. Karina is basically Jace's mini. She had his blonde hair, and gold eyes, and his personality, his OCD, and his natural athletic talent, but also she has Clary's stubbornness, which I mention as well! Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up in case anyone was confused! Also, I thought it was good to add that stuff about Ian, and the adoption. I know i never talked about him after the Olympics, but that didn't mean he went away in my mind! Let me know what ya'll think and leave a review! :)
Also, I love Taylor Momsen, totally a girl crush of mine! I just wanted to give you a good picture of how Karina changed, and she was exactly how I imagines Karina's appearance changing. Kinda like how Jenny Humphrey drastically changed in Gossip Girl! If you were curious about how drastic I'm talking! But I do love Taylor Momsen, and her band The Pretty Reckless is amazing, check them out if you want, or don't, but still! They're great! Okay, I think i'm done explaining, and gushing! Enjoy the chapter! :)