Disclaimer: As the world turns...it still belongs to V Roth. I'm just the yahoo tossing astroids at it for my own entertainment.

Chapter 22 - Light Me Up

Eric

I'm not even one step through the door and the plan is about to be blown to hell. Nothing prepared me for the sight of Kat in my bathroom dressed the way she is though.

The casual joke I had been trying for dies on my lips when I see her sitting on my bathroom counter. There's something about her perched there, fresh from a shower and looking like this is something we do all the time, that she belongs there and wearing clothes I had a hand in providing her, that leaves me breathless.

I also go so hard I that I know she's going to look up any second, see that, and freak the hell out. Considering that's exactly what I'm trying to prevent, I almost turn around and order either Zach or Chase to come in here and take care of things.

It's not even really the clothes themselves since what she's wearing is similar to what all the women in Dauntless wear, or have worn, at some point. Most women run around in various combinations of the sports bra paired with a bottom of some kind and may or may not include an open jacket on top of that.

The biggest difference here is that those women make it plain, by clearly stating their intent, that they are wearing it to be alluring and to purposely attract someone. I can't even lie and say my body hasn't responded to their invitations on occasion.

That's not the case with Kat. She's not wearing this to purposely attract me and I sure as hell don't expect her to give me an invitation. It doesn't stop me from reacting like she has.

That's one me, not her, and it has me pausing before I make another move while I make a quick study of her.

I don't call for them for two reasons.

The first reason and the most important one is the fact that she hasn't looked up yet. In fact, she's got her hands trained on her hands intently while she wrings them slightly. That speaks volumes to me, letting me know her state of mind.

The second one, I'm almost ashamed to admit, is that the thought of either of them near her, when she's dressed like this and touching her like I'm going to have to, makes me so livid I'm afraid of what I would do or say to them. It need not be said that of the two, I feel this way more about Chase than I do Zach.

"Did I leave any hot water?" Her lips curl up into a smirk even as she shrugs slightly. "I might have left a tiny amount."

Even speaking to me, she can't meet my eyes but she's trying so fucking hard to push through what she's feeling.

All the advice and coaching my brothers gave me, along with the reminder that Kat is still a girl that came from Abnegation even if she never belonged there, rings in my ears. It makes it easier for me to shove down my lust and discomfort as I move forward. Although I still hope to hell she doesn't notice the obvious sign that I can't push aside as easily.

I reach out and take her hands in one of mine while the other one I move to the side of her face. I'm not supposed to touch her more than necessary. That was the plan anyway. I'm supposed to keep my contact limited until I know she's comfortable or that I haven't crossed a boundary she's not ready to have crossed.

There's just no way that I can not touch her and try to give her something from me I've never cared to share with others but that she always seems to respond to. Even here and now in this completely vulnerable and uncomfortable state, she doesn't do anything but respond willingly to my touch.

I tilt her head to look into her eyes while I stroke her cheek, looking for any non-verbal sign that I'm pushing things too far with her. I know she's nervous right now, I can see and feel it. I know that this is new to her. It's new for me too.

The desire for her that I'm holding inside is raging and riding me hard, just as hard as all the other feelings she inspires in me. A silent war is waged inside of me but I keep it from my being betrayed on my face or in my tone when I finally do manage to speak.

"Are you okay, Kat?"

She nods and gives me a small smile. "The shower helped, though I do still hurt a little."

I shake my head and realize I didn't make my real concern clear. "That's not what I was meaning," A word pops forward and almost slips out before I thankfully catch it and continue on. "Kat. Are you okay being here like this...with me?"

While I curse myself mentally for almost calling her a nickname I've only called her in my dreams, she pauses before answering. Her eyes took on a sadness, maybe even regret.

"I said I trust you and I do, Eric." She replies softly.

It isn't lost on me that she doesn't really answer the question. It doesn't make her response a lie, I just know that there's more going on in that mind of hers and I hate that I don't know what it is. I want to know if my brothers' theory is true, that her own self-doubt is blinding her from seeing what I truly want. My searching her eyes for the answer gives me nothing but time to take in her injuries.

I know from personal experience that the minutes right after getting them isn't when they look their worst. That's always hours later or even the morning after. Even with the advanced meds from the clinic, it takes time for them to fade. The side of her face that took the most damage is all bruised and swollen with cuts that have mostly closed up and have a faint scab on top. The eye on that side of her face is swollen enough that it's partly closed. All of these are the injuries I've already burned into my memory.

It's the others that I hadn't been able to see but I plan on changing that right this second. I knew when I came up with the plan to wrap her ribs that I was going to be doing this. I tried to tell myself that the only reason, besides helping her out, was because I needed to know where each of the spots she would be most vulnerable when I begin her training. And I do need to know those spots so I can stay away from them as much as possible in the sparring I have planned for her. That's how it starts out when I begin looking her over, letting my hands do their own evaluation as well and burning these injuries into my mind with the silent promise that this would never fucking happen again.

My evaluating touch lasted all of about a minute though.

Kat closed her eyes as soon as she saw my expression changing and the anger beginning to burn again in mine but she didn't protest at all when my hands moved from her face down to her sides. It wasn't until she whimpered that I remembered part of the plan.

"Tell me if you want or need me to stop, Kat," I tell her, scowling and cursing myself internally.

I don't stop and unless she tells me to, I don't plan on it. Almost can't bring myself to. I'm no longer even trying to pretend that I'm touching her sides and ribs searching for injuries.

Now I'm too busy just memorizing her body in general. I can tell her she's much more toned than she looks in how her muscles twitch or bunch when I pass over them and her curves are more tempting than anything I've ever experienced in my life. They're soft, subtle even, and fitting for her frame which is small and petite. At least, until I get to her hips and then everything changes. They flare out to a shapely ass that I'm seconds from grabbing and letting fill my hands.

Her skin can only be described as cream with a hint of peaches in how it's flushed in certain places. It's also so fucking soft under my rough fingertips. She's perfect and flawless in my eyes. Even with the odd freckle here or there and the bruises, those just enhance that feeling in me. I burn them all in my mind, even the tiny ridges of old scars that wrap around her ribs to her back that she most likely picked up while training in some way.

I want to ask her about those until I remember that she never answered my first question and I tear my eyes away from where I'm touching her to look at her face.

"Answer me, Kat," I demand roughly.

My eyes might have moved to her face but my hands are still in motion as they slide over her hips and revel in the way there are tiny goosebumps pebbling her skin as my hand moves against it.

"Yes, I will, Eric. I'm okay though." She gasps her answer, panting softly with her eyes still closed tightly."Don't," She stops and pants a little heavier. "I...please…" she moans softly. "I mean you don't have to stop."

Until now, at this moment, I still had doubts that Kat really wanted me. I doubted Chase when he said he saw the signs in her and thought that when I saw them myself I was just misinterpreting them. That I was just reading what I wanted to see there.

Her gasped and moaned words are hard to mistake and all the signs are here for me to see now. She does want me as much as I want her. I know I should stop. I've gotten the confirmation I wanted and going any further will be taking this to a place that I can't right now.

I should stop, but I don't.

I alternate between watching her reaction to my touch and the places where our skin is in contact. My fingers move up in a light caress and I watch as her breathing becomes even more ragged.

It's because of my split attention that I also see the peaking of hardened nipples straining against the black cloth of her bra. And as if they're some kind of magnet calling to me, my hands start in that direction, aiming to cup her and brush my thumbs against those visible nubs.

Just as I get to the space under her breasts and brush along her tantalizing flesh there she lets out a gasped moan and her head falls back causing my eyes to snap back to her face to see pure pleasure etched across it for one breathtaking second.

It jars me out of the trance I was in and my hands stop when I realize what I had been seconds from doing. I have to close my eyes and get myself under control. My breathing is still fairly hard and my heart is racing, but I opened my eyes back up and look at her.

My gut twists when I see her eyes clenched shut with tears leaking from the sides and her face twisted up, probably trying to stop any more from getting loose. And I know, I don't know how I do, but I know that she's feeling ashamed of herself and like she's done something wrong.

Fuck. That.

I won't allow her to ever feel that way with me.

I move in closer to her, as close as I can get without scaring the shit out of her with the proof of my own desire. I move my hands away from the danger zone but still can't completely break contact as they journey up her body to cradle her head in my hands.

It's fucking torture to be so close and not able to take what I want, but I want so much more than just to lose myself in her body.

I know before I even speak that I'm not going to try and hide what I'm feeling for her. I want her to look in my eyes and see everything I'm feeling right now. I want Kat to look at me and see how hard my breathing is. I need her to know that she does this to me. Even if I can't tell her in no uncertain terms, I want to try and use this to communicate where I want things to go between us.

"Kat, look at me." My tone is forceful, it needs to be to get her attention.

When she opens her eyes they have a haze of desire mixed in with the other emotions. Smug pleasure fills me when I see that, knowing how responsive she is to the simplest of my touches. It takes everything in me to not try and get another moan from her now that her eyes are open just so I can see them burn even more golden than they have before.

I move forward, still broadcasting and know by the widening of her eyes what she thinks I intend to do. As much as I want too as well, that isn't a line I can let us cross right now. So instead of pressing my lips to hers, I do the next best thing and make contact with her forehead.

I groan softly at the jolt of electricity that assaults me as soon as my lips make contact with her skin. But a grumble of pure unadulterated pleasure breaks out of me when Kat's hands shoot out and grasp my shirt in the back in a death grip, pulling me even closer. I willingly go and close my eyes, breathing her in when I wrap my arms around her.

She melts into me. There is no other fucking way to describe how her body meets mine. She sighs where she has her face buried against my chest like she's feeling the same relief I am at being connected like this.

Fuck she feels good here in my arms like this. Too good, and I know I can't hold her like this long before the simple pleasure of holding her is going to turn into some much deeper. It won't be long before I do something really stupid. I've already blown Zach's plan six ways to fucking Sunday and I need to get us back on track.

It's sappy, what he suggested, I even said as much to him and that it wasn't something I ever saw myself doing. He just smirked at me and said that I would when it came time.

Damn him for being right, as usual.

"Has anyone ever told you you're beautiful, Kat?"

I know the answer to this before even asking and it pisses me off thinking about it. I get even more livid after she stiffens in my arms then tries to yank free, I only let her go far enough for her to turn hurt, disbelieving eyes on me that have silent accusation in them. In the space of a second, I see that this is a sore point with her. Most likely from a lifetime of abuse and insults that are generously bestowed on stiffs.

The anger in her slowly melts as I gently stroke her spine and back with my fingertips. Her back arched slightly and her eyes flutter a little. I slowly trace along the ridges of even more scars along her back and wait for her to answer, letting her know with my eyes that I still expect one.

During that time there is something in the back of my mind trying to come forward with every new ridge I discover, but it never makes the journey. I'm too caught up in this moment to want to step out of it.

Kat's face scrunches up when she realizes what I'm still waiting for. "I'm not...no one's ever…" She trails off, shaking her head in answer and to deny my question.

I stop my attention to her back and move one hand, intending to place it at the back of her neck where I could cradle her head in it. Instead, and as if my hand has a mind of its own, I trail my fingers up to the front of her neck and over her collarbone. I watch as I finally get the chance to explore the tattoo that's fully revealed to me. The black ink against her creamy skin is mesmerizing.

"You are, Kat. So fucking beautiful," She shifts against my touch. I realize how close we are and how easy it would be to lean forward and get another taste of her skin against my lips. There's no way I can resist.

"M'not, Eric." She protests in a heavy pant as my lips brush against the gentle slope where her neck became shoulder. The warmth and taste of her have me closing my eyes. "Look at me."

I force myself back, pulling away with a sigh and do just as she asked. Her eyes have a slight shine to them that suggests she's still holding back tears. Despite that, they are still slightly golden with the fire of her conviction that she truly believes she's not beautiful.

I shake my head and scowl at her. "I am looking at you, Kat." I raise a hand again and lightly graze my fingers over the bruises on her face. "You think that a few bruises will change what I see when I look at you but it only makes it even more obvious to me."

A wince she tries to keep in when my fingers apply a bit of pressure to her cheekbone makes my scowl deepen. I reach around her to where the tube of ointment I set out is and pick it up. I have to use both hands to be able to do it, so I break contact and unscrew the cap while looking over the areas I'm about to apply the ointment.

I work on her face silently. Gently applying the serum and gel combination that will help to accelerate the healing, lessen the swelling and ease some of the pain.

As I'm finishing up with the application to the areas of her face that need it I continue on with our discussion.

"I'm going to completely honest here, I don't like seeing you hurt, Kat. In fact, it pisses me off. Especially when I know you're much more capable than what you demonstrated, but that's something we'll be talking about later."

I pause and eye her meaningfully. She gives a small nod of agreement. I sigh and look over her again, making sure I haven't missed anything.

"Even as angry as I feel looking at all this, it doesn't take away from that. It might even add to it, in fact."

She makes a scoffing sound and looks at me frowning. "How in the world does this," She angrily jabs a finger in the direction of her face without actually touching it "make me supposedly more beautiful?"

I don't know what it is about her argument that makes me so angry, but it does. It could be her refusal to believe me or the fact that I feel like she's thinking I'm trying to mess with her in some way. There's just something in her eyes, a wounded look, that tells me she's afraid to believe I truly mean this. She looks away from me and I use my free hand to take hold of her chin and turn her to look back at me.

"Kat, do I strike you as the type to ever make statements like that, to give compliments at all much less this type?" I demand from her angrily.

She gingerly bites her bottom lip and shakes her head. "No. I just don't…" She trails off and sighs, looking down and away from me. "Why, Eric?" She asks faintly.

"Why am I saying it or why do I find you that way?" I ask in a more subdued tone and wearing a faint smile she can't see since she isn't looking at me.

"Both."

I let go of her chin, not trying to make her look at me while I collect my thoughts and use the excuse of applying a bit more gel to her face in areas I think she needs it. By the time I'm done with those I think I have an answer for her. It won't be everything I want to say but I hope it's enough that she can guess those reasons I can't tell her now.

"Because it's true and while I can't tell you all of my reasons right now, I can tell you this." I pause for a second and take a breath. "There's something about the reason why you got them that I can admit I hate, but that I also admire. A lot. The reason…"

I feel her eyes burning into me and trail off, feeling uncomfortable with the intensity of this moment. I need something to continue but I can't just sit still and do it. So I scowl and gently adjust her so that I can start putting the ointment on her ribs and sides.

She lets me do this without pushing the conversation right away. Until a few minutes pass and she prods gently with her words.

"The reason…"

I huff and it comes out as a sort of growl, but I man up and press on.

"You fought so fucking hard to defend someone you love. Even when I could tell it absolutely wrecked you, you did eventually pull it together, you held on and didn't give up and you fought. You're sitting here hurt more than you'll admit and bad enough that it would have someone else crying or complaining their asses off, but you haven't made a peep about it. The strength of will and character of those actions, they're beautiful to me, and it matches what's already on the outside."

I shrug with a frown, continuing working and not feeling brave enough to meet her eyes as I say all this. Not willing to acknowledge how freaking vulnerable I feel right now.

The silence stretches out between us for a few minutes until she lets out a ragged sigh, breaking it. "Thank you,"

By the time she says this I'm just finishing getting her ribs wrapped and taped up. Once I have it secured I set everything back on the counter, let my hands go to her hips and finally look her in the eyes while she continues.

"I believe you. No one has ever said, well, no one has ever told me any of it."

I smirk a little and tilt my head as I narrow my eyes and look at her. It's one thing to believe that I mean it...but…"Believe that you are or that I mean it?"

She flushes, even her ears tinge with the blush that spreads over her cheeks, and she smiles at me. "That you mean it."

I nod and lean in, breathing her in as I press my lips to her forehead. Something it seems I can't stop myself from wanting to do since I know I can't kiss her where I really want to. "That's a start, Kat." I hear her breathing me in like I just did her. "This is a start," I mutter lowly against her skin.

"Breakfast is ready guys," Zach's voice seems louder than I'm sure he actually was. I can hear impatience and worry in the tone and I know it's about what might be going on in here but won't overstep and come to find out.

I have to force myself to pull away, and then I have to force myself not to go right back to her when I see the frown on her face once I do move.

I take a few seconds to get a grip on myself and reach for the shirt she still has to put on. Without really thinking about anything other than I know who much getting dressed by herself is going to suck, I start to help her.

It isn't until after I have it slid over her head and I catch a look at her face, which is totally red and she has wide eyes, that I realize what I'm actually doing. But her expression is just too funny and I can't help but laugh and smile at it.

"Sorry, I knew it was going to suck trying to get this on with those ribs. They might not be broken but I know first hand they hurt just as much."

She smiles, while still blushing and works with me to get her first arm through the sleeve. "It's okay, it's just, I think the last time someone helped me get dressed I was three or four years old. It's just new...I guess."

"Yeah, I haven't dressed anyone else besides myself and haven't wanted to before either," I tell her and smirk at the surprise in her eyes and blush that deepens.

Dress, undress...tear your fucking close off and keep you in my bed…..

It's amazing what this girl does to me. My body can go from zero to fucking sixty with her. One minute I'm hard as hell for her but the second I knew she was in pain I might as well have just been dunked in an ice bath that shit went away so fast. But now, it's surging through me again. I'm already more than all the way hard in just these last few seconds.

Don't ruin the moment you asshole.

My inner good guy rages to the surface and it makes me chuckle mirthlessly in my mind. I didn't even know that bastard existed anymore until Kat came along.

Kat's blissfully unaware of this crap going on in my mind. She still has a faint blush on her cheeks and a smile on her lips as we get the rest of the shirt on her. She shifts on the counter and has to straighten up some to tug it down over her torso and when she does it causes her to wince.

Just like that, it's gone again, but she's still off balance right now and I'm going to use this to my advantage. Yes, I am a bastard for this, but I don't care.

"Kat, can you please do us…do me...a favor?" I try not to demand this but I can't help that it still comes out forcefully.

Her smile fades, most likely a reaction to my own being wiped away as soon as I saw her in pain. Despite my instinct to remain hard and uncompromising when I feel so deeply about something, I know I can't take that route with her. It will make her fight even harder against this.

I reach out and lift her braid from the inside of her shirt then lay it over her shoulder and trail my hand back up to the side of her face. I stroke her jaw with my thumb and watch her eyes become clouded with confusion for a second as she tilts her head back to look at me.

"I don't want to say yes to something and then have to go back on that," She responds and shivers slightly when I run a finger of my other hand along the ridge of her ear.

"I have some meds that I would like you to take. It won't be anything that will be heavy or slow your movements but being in pain is only going to end up hurting you worse." I see her take a breath to protest and then change tactics because I'm too damn impatient to try and reason this shit out with her when I know she's hurting. "Besides, think of how it hurts those around you to see you hurting."

Yeah, that was a bit dirtier than I meant to go but if it gets this done then I don't care.

Kat flinches violently like I just hit her or something. In response to that, I move so that my arms are back around her, and just like before she grips the back of my shirt.

In the span of seconds, from when the last word leaves my mouth until now, I watch as he complexion pales then a red tinge starts to bloom across her skin. Only this isn't one I would describe as a blush, because it's all fire and anger. Her hazel eyes are lit with gold from the spark of anger there. She wants to say something to me so bad that she bites her bottom lip. Hard. Trying to stop herself from responding to me.

I realize that I don't want her respectful silence.

I don't want her to hold her tongue and not tell me exactly what's on her mind, and I know just from her look that what's on the tip of her tongue is nothing complementary to me.

With a knowing smirk, I reach up and pull her chin down then use my thumb to make her release her lip. "Go ahead and say what you're trying to keep in."

"And here I thought no one could top Abnegation with their guilt trips and manipulations." She doesn't even fucking hesitate and her words explode from her in a huff while glaring at me.

Not exactly the response I expected from her but I should have figured Kat wouldn't resort to simple name calling. She knew exactly how to strike back by comparing me to Abnegation in any kind of way.

I should be livid. I mean, I would normally, if this were coming from anyone else. Even Chase and Zach aren't safe when I don't like them telling me like it is.

But I feel this odd sense of pride that she's not just rolling over and doing what I say just because of my status as a leader. That she's not giving in to my intimidation tactics. It's a fucking novelty to me and that's just enough to take the edge off the anger I feel knowing why she's trying to refuse taking medications to help in the first place.

It also, unbelievably, turns me on to no fucking end and even though I know I need to keep things level here, I decide not to. I want to fire her up even more so I can see it in her eyes.

I shrug and smirk at her and get what I wanted when the green of her eyes seems to shrink with how charged up she's getting.

"Look, I'm not going to apologize for going that route with it." I interrupt whatever she was gearing up to say and speak truthfully. "My first instinct, to be perfectly fucking honest here, is to just order you to take the shit. I can admit that I don't want to do that but I also won't hesitate to do just that. I've already told you once that seeing you in pain pisses me off. It also kills me, Kat. So yeah, I said it in a way to try and get you to take the meds but it doesn't make it a lie. Imagine if I'm feeling that way what your friends and sister are going to feel."

She growls at me.

Growls. At. Me.

Her nostrils are flared and she goes back to biting her lip and breathing hard. She clutches my back so hard that her fingernails start to dig into my skin through the fabric of my shirt.

If I wasn't already turned on, this would do the trick. But this isn't the time for this shit and I realize that. So with a quick mental 'down boy', I tug on her lip again.

"Say it, Kat," I order her again, and again she doesn't hesitate.

"You're an ass," She bites out, her eyes widen slightly after she says it as if she realizes what she just said but she doesn't back down either.

"I know," I smirked at her and shrugged when I say this, completely unapologetic. "I'm a completely in the right ass, but yeah, I'm an ass."

Her lips are twitching, which is the only sign that she's fighting to keep angry at me and not laugh at my ridiculously smug expression. When I smile at her, just from the sheer fucking enjoyment of being with her like this, she breaks and laughs while shaking her head at me.

"Fine," She huffs out in irritation after we sit smiling at each other for a few long seconds. "But if I take it and it turns out to be anything too heavy I'm going to…" She trails off and glares at me, leaving the threat she never completed hanging there.

"Going to what?" I lift my chin in a taunt and grin smugly at her.

"Well, I guess I'm just going to have to kick your ass." I lifted an eyebrow in disbelief and then barked out a laugh when she adds a muttered. "Or die trying."

She's not happy about my laughter this time. I roll my eyes and help her off the counter. "You could try, Prior. I wouldn't let it get as far as death. The pain of death, maybe, but not the actual dying part." Once she's standing I look at her seriously. "I meant what I said though. I'm not going to give you anything that would make you out of it or lose control of your body. That goes against the entire fucking purpose and you would just end up getting hurt again trying to function on it."

She looks down and nods, sighing dejectedly. I take that victory and decide not to give her time to come up with another argument. I pull her from the bathroom by the hand into the bedroom.

As we're going, I grab the new jacket we picked up for her earlier along with all the other shit that's now sitting in my closet. The weather is much cooler right now and up on the fence and being on the train, it will be even colder. That flimsy crap she was given first wasn't going to fly for me. The standard issued jackets are what would be called windbreakers.

This one's not fancy, but it is a hell of a lot better than the one all the other transfers are going to be wearing if they didn't pick something else up for themselves. It's one that her little group of friends mentioned her liking at some point over the last week. I know thanks to Zach that she had been refusing to get one and saying she would make do with what she was given.

The new one she's going to be wearing today will keep her warmer. It's a combination of synth-leather and cloth, with the sleeves being long and made of dark grey knitted fabric. It has built-in protection for her head with the same knitted hood while the body of the jacket is made of black synth leather.

Honestly, I almost wanted to put her in full winter crap and Chase even seconded it, helping me to pick it all out. We took an unreal amount of time arguing back and forth on what to get until Zach, rather dryly, informed us that it's barely Fall right now and a light jacket would do.

I still won. Her winter shit is sitting in my closet.

I know that all of that was ridiculous, and something out of the normal comfort zone for at least me and Chase. Zach was loving it and had been dying to be able to get something for Kat because that's how he's always been. He does the same thing for the two of us if we let him.

At the time, the only thing I thought was driving me was my paranoia to be prepared and a competitiveness to one-up Zach who was determined to outfit Kat in anything that's had his eye.

It wasn't until after we got back to the apartment and I had to find a place for everything that Chase pointed out something he was feeling that struck a chord with me too.

We're protective of Kat, almost overbearingly so. That doesn't exactly have a place in Dauntless though. We can't protect her from everything, it's just not going to happen. But we can and will do everything we can to make sure she's prepared to face whatever comes our way.

Last night, talking about everything we did, left us all feeling a bit helpless and like our hands are tied. We couldn't actually do much to fix shit. So, we did what we could.

I look back at her just before we go out of the bedroom into the living room and take in her wearing the result of all that and it feels damn good. Seeing her wearing something I provided her.

It's almost like I've marked her as mine.

I turn my head away so she won't see my triumphant smirk but I know she caught it when she starts muttering.

"You don't have to be so damn smug about it, you ass. I might just decide to take you up on the pain of death now and skip being reasonable about the medication." She grumbles this loudly.

Chase has his head tilted, listening to her and his eyes snap to mine worriedly wondering how I'm going to react to her talking to me like that. Once again, I find myself laughing at something that would normally set me off from anyone else.

"Oh good, she's going to take it." The very obvious and visible relief radiating from Zach completely deflates her temper, bringing home to her everything I said and showing her truthful I was being.

"Yeah, yeah." She grumbles lowly and takes the seat I just pulled out for her after I tossed the jacket onto the back of a chair in the living room. "She's going to take the medicine."

I wisely don't say anything and keep my smile as normal as possible as I take my seat next to her.

Chase grins at her then pours her a cup of coffee but pulls it back before she can get ahold of it. "Pills and water first, then coffee." She shoots him a narrow-eyed glare and he just smirks back and motions with his head to where the pills and water are in front of her. "Bottoms up."

She's still glaring at the three of us as we all sit silently and wait. Her cheeks start to redden but she pulls the napkin closer and grabs the small handful of pills. It surprises me that she doesn't even look too closely at them before she tosses them in her mouth and gulps them down with the water and a grimace. Not that there was anything in there that I promised wouldn't be.

I look at Chase and Zach and see they have the same awed expression at the level of trust she just showed us and she probably doesn't even know it.

She continues to gulp the water down and when she's done, slaps the glass against the table like she's just done a shot and looking at me in a challenge. "I'm not lifting my tongue to show you I swallowed them like a good girl."

Chase's laughter booms through the room at this and he gasps as he tries to get out words. "God damn does she have you down."

I want to be upset about that, but really, he's right. I had been taking a breath to ask her to do just that.

"So it seems. I'm not complaining though." I reach out for her hand that's resting on her lap and smile when she threads her fingers with mine. She blushes but doesn't respond.

Zach gets up, relaxed and smiling as he moves to the kitchen. Chase goes into the kitchen with him and grabs some of the plates that are piled with food. Kat's eyes go wide at the sight of the frittata, plates of bacon and toast.

"Now we can eat," Chase exclaims with a smile. "Fucking finally." He winks playfully at Kat.

Her stomach lets out a grumble loud enough for me at least to hear it. With a chuckle, I give her hand a squeeze then reluctantly let it go so we can all fill our plates and stomachs.