Title: The Study of Bruises

Summary: Kim spends the day in forensics acting as an example during the study of bruises. When Jack and the guys see her next, they jump to violent conclusions and overreact all over a simple misunderstanding. Kim has a hard time explaining things as they let their fear of her in danger overrule listening to her explanation.

Guys, I am in freaking college now. Like I'm living on my own, going to class, miles upon hundreds of miles away from my family. It's fun. I like it. Cheers to the first upload from a college student.

Also, remember when I said a wrote a one-shot in like 20 hours? This one is more impressive. only 18 hours. Boom. Honestly, maybe even less, I can't remember when I started it. You're welcome for my incredible speed. Ka-chow.

"Some of you may have heard about this particular lesson from older siblings and I know you're excited, but before we begin with our fun, let's learn a little more about the background, alright?"

Kim found herself nodding softly even though, unlike a few classmates, she had no idea what was going on. All she knew was that the forensics lesson today involved a special guest and an exciting activity that was infamous among forensic alumni.

As Mr. Chesney started up his presentation, Kim listened intently as he explained, of all things, the science and study of bruises and bruising.

Forensics was one of those classes that was more of a wild card. It was only offered to upperclassmen and it was the class you took for an easy A and a good time.

Already, they had done a unit on blood spatter and now, it appeared, they were discussing bruises.

Mr. Chesney wasn't always the most… tactful when it came to gruesome things. He plowed through his presentation, genuinely surprised when four people had run out of the room after he played a video demonstrating the kind of blunt force trauma necessary to inflict various bruises.

Even Kim, who volunteered in the hospital, wanted to be a nurse, and had her own fair share of bruises from karate, had to admit she was a little freaked out by the end. Some more serious bruises were accompanied by the presence of blood and broken bones. It was admittedly quite graphic. Of course, she could handle it, but she did feel sorry for the classmates that couldn't.

As Mr. Chesney progressed from kinds of bruises and their causes to colors and severity, the class was getting anxious. Mr. Chesney seemed to notice and Kim could have sworn he was purposely reveling in it.

"I'm afraid I can't prolong it any longer," he finally admitted. "I'd like to extend a welcome to Andrea Henry who has agreed to visit our class once more. Andrea is a special effects makeup artist so using her talent coupled with our knowledge, we're going to get some real world experience with what we've been talking about."

The entire class seemed in awe, although a little confused.

"So, we just need a brave volunteer. How about… Kim, would you mind?"

Kim shook her head. "Sure," she shrugged.

Kim was somewhat of a teacher's pet in Mr. Chesney's class. He, too, was from the south and he somehow always seemed to bring out Kim's roots. He also liked how she was tougher than most. The gore didn't bother her as much and she was genuinely interested in learning from it rather than focusing on how gross it was.

"Great!" Mr. Chesney smiled. "Andrea will take you back to the supply room and show you what to do."

Kim nodded and followed the woman to the back room. There, Andrea opened a very large bag and pulled out bag after smaller bag of makeup and other odd trinkets.

"This is one of my favorite days of the year, you know?" Andrea said as she continued setting things up, motioning for Kim to take a seat. "Coming to Mr. Chesney's class is always entertaining. Now, while we're back here, Mr. Chesney is going to play a few review games with the class before they get some closer hands-on experience."

"Like what?" Kim asked curiously.

Andrea smirked. "You."

Andrea laughed at Kim's confused expression.

"If you're okay with it, I'm going to create a variety of very real-looking bruises on your skin. Then when you return to the class, they will have to assess the size, color, and shape to determine how and when you got them."

Kim smiled. It actually sounded kind of fun. Plus she didn't mind being on the inside loop.

Andrea was easy to talk to and Kim spent the next fifteen minutes chatting it up. Occasionally she would look down at her arms and had to hold in the gaps at the progress. Andrea was very good at what she did. If Kim couldn't tell her own arms, she would be seriously concerned.

There were a variety of different colors and shapes. Kim could spot some red fingerprints on her biceps, a likely place if she had been harshly grabbed. She also spotted a dark purple, bordering black, bruise nastily placed on her forearm. That was supposed to be just a day old. On her other arm was a greenish-yellow mark. Andrea told her it was supposed to be 7 days old. A variety of smaller light brown spots filled in almost all of the empty space on Kim's arms. Of course, her natural skin was left in parts for the sake of comparison but if the bruises were real, it was safe to say her entire arm would be extremely tender.

When it was time to present her skin to the class, Kim found herself joking around with her classmates. They enacted a couple possible scenarios, discussed the characteristics of the bruises, and then marveled at Andrea's work.

When Kim's part was done she sat back down and they spent the last few minutes of class watching some entertaining police chase videos. They were so interesting that the class stayed after the bell. By the time the video ended, there wasn't much time to make it to the next class.

Kim quickly gathered all her things, stuffing her papers randomly in her backpack and putting in her jacket so she wouldn't have to carry it.

Kim had been busy after forensics so lunch was her first break in the day. She walked slowly to her locker just because she could. By the time she got there, Jack was already waiting for her with the others.

"There you are!" Jerry groaned, pushing off the lockers. "Took you forever."

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "You okay?"

Kim appreciated Jack's concern, but she was fine. She just had 4 classes with no brain break whatsoever in between. High school was hard, she was bound to walk slow some days.

"Yes. I'm perfectly fine. Let me just drop my stuff off and we can go eat. I'm starving-"

Kim was cut off as Grace came barreling through.

"Kim, where is your Calc folder?" she demanded, not giving Kim even a second to recover.

"Uh-"

"I need your notes! I left mine at home and everyone else took the test yesterday so they don't have them. I have to study before I take it! I know you always keep your old notes, where are they?"

Grace had grabbed hold of Kim's arms, roughly shaking her as the girl's nails dug into Kim's arms.

"Ow!" Kim yelped, whining as she tried to pull her friend off.

"Where are they?" Grace asked again desperately.

"My locker!" Kim shouted, gasping in pain. "Let go!" she grunted, finally shaking Grace off and prying her arms free.

"Sorry," Grace bristled, following Kim with her eyes as she pulled out her notes. Grace snatched them up quickly, thanking Kim as she ran off.

"Are girls always like that?" Milton asked, genuinely confused. It made no sense, why were they so short with each other? Grace was one of her best female friends.

Kim ignored him as she started putting her things back in her locker. Feeling much warmer, she decided she could finally shed her jacket for the day.

The second her jacket was off, Jack's eyes were drawn to Kim's arms. Her purple, blue, green, yellow arms. They were covered in bruises. Different sizes, shapes, colors. It was obvious they were all bruises and they had to be painful.

Jerry and Milton seemed to notice at the same time.

Somebody had done that to Kim. Their Kim.

She hadn't told them, she hadn't mentioned it or even let on that somebody was hurting her so badly.

Kim had barely tossed it into her locker before Jack was angrily storming towards her. Kim stepped back, confused at why Jack would be upset with her.

"Jack…" she said tentatively.

"Kim," Jack growled.

Kim's eyes darted to the others, looking for the confusion on their faces but only seeing shock and concern. What the heck…

"Wh-"

"Come on," he interrupted, yanking Kim forward with two hands on her waist and then pushing her in front of him with a big hand on her back.

Kim stumbled forward, trying to stop and ask what was wrong with him but he didn't allow the movement. Finally, Jack pushed her into an empty study room.

"Jack, calm down," Kim tried.

Jack's eyes flashed dangerously and Kim shut up immediately.

"Who did that to you?" He demanded.

"Did what-"

"Was it Grace? Was it Brett?" Jack spat, crowding Kim into the wall. He was close enough that her back was fully pressed to the wall and she had to crane her neck to an uncomfortable angle to look at his face.

Brett? It had been nearly two weeks since Kim had even talked to Brett. He had cornered her one day about a month before, but Kim handled it and he hadn't even touched her. They just talked. Calmly. Why would Brett do anything to her?

Kim blinked. "I don't-"

Jack swore, he wasn't sure what had gotten into Kim. Why was she hiding this? Who was she defending?

"You don't get bruises like that and keep it to yourself, Kim," Jack hissed. "Who did that to you?"

Kim suddenly realized what had happened. She had been so caught up in her classes, she had forgotten to wipe off the make-up from forensics. Jack thought the bruises were real!

Kim let out a sigh of relief.

"Nobody did it to me, Jack-"

"Kim," Jack growled in warning. She was lying to him!

"Whoever did it, they've been at it for a while. This isn't a one-time event. Some of these bruises look nearly two weeks old," Milton offered.

Kim wanted to roll her eyes. She already knew the bruises looked two weeks old, they had just discussed it in forensics. That was the whole point.

"There are fingerprints on your arms, Kim," Jerry pointed out, his voice unusually clipped.

Jack followed Jerry's eyes to the fingerprint bruises and cursed again.

Smacking his hands on the wall mere inches from Kim's head, Jack leaned down. It wasn't one of his proudest moments, but he thought if he could scare it out of Kim, she would finally give up the name he was after.

"Don't make me ask again. Who. Did. This?"

Kim's heart raced at Jack's reaction. Quietly she shook her head. She didn't understand why Jack was so close and harsh. Had she done something wrong? "Nobody. I-"

"Kimberly."

"N-Nobody-" Kim insisted.

Jack's hands flew to Kim's hands, yanking her arms nearly straight up for everyone to see. Kim glanced at Jerry and Milton who kept quiet, letting Jack have his moment and seeming to support it.

"Then what is this?" Jack asked, although not waiting for an explanation. "You have bruises covering your entire arms. Not karate bruises, I know karate bruises. These are the kind someone gives when they want you hurt."

Jack's eyes trailed up Kim's arms and suddenly he wondered what else she was hiding. He doubted her arms were all that were covered. Without thinking, he took one of her arms in one hand and picked at her sleeve with the other.

"W-What are you doing?" Kim embarrassingly stuttered.

Jack didn't answer as he saw her shoulder was completely bare, there was not a single bruise.

Jack looked at her stomach as his hand flew from her sleeve to her hem. With a question in his eyes, he looked back up at Kim.

Kim seemed to catch on and nodded, deciding it was best for Jack to just get everything out.

As soon as he had permission, Jack yanked Kim's shirt up to expose her stomach. He froze when he saw it was just as blank as her shoulder.

Kim shivered at the cool touch of his fingertips and gently eased his hand down to let go of her shirt.

"See," Kim started. "I told you nobody-"

"Just because whoever this is has some fascination with your arms does not mean that it is not serious. Kim-" Jack quieted as his voice broke. "Please," he begged, lowering Kim's arms and instead pulling her to his chest, whispering in her hair. "Don't be afraid. You can tell us, tell me. You need to tell us. Let us help. We'll keep you safe. We can talk to the principal or the police…"

Kim tried to pull back and explain things, but Jack kept her close and all she could do was arch her back and neck enough to look up at him.

"Listen," she said softly. "Nobody-don't interrupt me-nobody did this to me except Andrea Henry, the special effects makeup artist that came to my forensics class for our lesson on bruising."

Jack listened carefully to Kim's words trying to process what she was saying and what it meant to him.

"You mean…"

"I mean that the marks on my arm are makeup. They are not real. I promise."

Jack blinked and shook his head, not believing her. "Kim, those are real-"

"They're realistic," Kim corrected. "But not real. Feel them."

"Grace hurt you. She pressed on your bruises."

"She hurt me because she grabbed me as hard as she could. Feel them," she repeated.

Kim encouraged Jack and guided a hand to her arm. He was hesitant and unbelievably soft, fingers barely brushing her skin. It felt weird, powdery, sticky. Still, Jack wasn't sure.

"Watch," Kim said. She lifted two fingers to a bruise and slowly pinched the skin. Jack swatted her hand away, afraid she was hurting herself for the sake of her lie.

"Stop-"

Kim shook her head. "It doesn't hurt."

Jack still didn't believe her and Kim turned to Milton for some help. "Can you get me some wipes?"

Milton wordlessly nodded as he scurried out of the room.

With Milton gone, Kim was left with Jack and Jerry. Both were breathing heavily and Kim was pinned under the strong gaze of their eyes. She shifted uncomfortably looking at anything but the boys.

"Was it that jerk that ran into you a few days-"

Kim's eyes widened. It was true a few days ago a kid from one of her classes had accidentally rammed into her when he was trying to get her to give him her answers. But it was an accident and she dealt with the kid, telling him she'd be willing to help explain things, but she wouldn't give him her homework to copy.

The guys had been upset about it, thinking the kid purposefully hurt her as a method of intimidation. It wasn't and Kim explained that. She had thought they had dropped it.

Now that Jerry had brought it back up, Kim gulped and took another step away.

"Jerry," Jack snapped. "Leave her alone."

Jerry shut his mouth but still held a firm expression that old Kim he hadn't forgotten.

A few minutes later, Milton returned with some wipes. He carefully handed them to Kim, who gratefully took them.

Kim began rubbing off one of the smaller spots. The colors mixed but she was mostly able to get her skin to return to normal, only slightly reddened.

"See?" Kim said, offering up her wrist.

Jack was fractionally less worried, although Kim was still covered in marks. They couldn't all be wiped off, could they?

Kim saw his doubt and sighed as she got to work on another. She had to rub vigorously and Jack didn't like the way she was treating her skin.

"Be careful," he chastised, taking the wipes out of Kim's hands.

"Jack-"

"I'll do it, okay?" he sighed.

Kim nodded and let Jack continue for her, wiping incredibly gently.

When most of the discoloration was off and Jack was out of wipes, he stopped.

"See?" Kim spoke, smiling softly. "I'm fine, guys."

Jack's eyes ran up and down Kim's arms, relief flooding through his chest. Suddenly, Jack crushed Kim to his chest. She couldn't breath and when she tried to look at his face he brought his hand to her ear and pressed her firmly to his chest.

Kim could hear his heart beating rapidly and felt awful that she was the cause of it, even if she didn't mean to be.

Soon, she felt another body press against hers and then another. Six arms wrapped around her and she had a feeling it wasn't just for her benefit.

Pulling back enough for her to move, although Jack kept his arms firmly on her waist, Jerry scolded Kim. "Don't you dare scare us again like that, chica."

Kim gave him a sheepish smile and shrugged. "Sorry…"

"You gave me a heart attack, Kim. Do you want me to die before I graduate?" Jack sighed, rubbing a large hand up and down Kim's back and shoulders.

"I, for one, am impressed with this makeup artist. Those bruises were spot on," Milton noted.

Kim nodded. "She's been doing it for years. She's had a lot of practice."

"Next time," Jack gritted, "don't volunteer for stuff like that."

"I didn't volunteer…"

"Then if they ask you again, you tell them no."

"Jack…" Kim groaned. "I wasn't hurt. Not even close. I care about your opinion, but your worry is irrational."

"Kim-"

"Don't tell me what to do, Jack," Kim snapped. "Please?"

Jack sighed before hurrying his face in Kim's hair. "Fine…" he mumbled.

"What was that?" Kim asked with a smirk.

Jack mumbled again, even quieter the second time.

"I can't hear you," Kim lied.

"Fine!" Jack groaned aloud.

"Good," Kim nodded. "And Jack?"

"Hm?"

Kim stood on her toes while she brought Jack's face towards hers, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.

Jerry and Milton, usually spared from such blatant PDA, turned red while they looked away.

"I love you too."

Had to end with a kiss and an I love you, didn't I?

Guys if you've made it this far I have a secret... I may or may not have a much longer story in the works. Well, I have multiple "novel-like" stories in the works but one of them is more likely to be finished and actually posted because it may or may not be a rewrite... anyways I went to a Bio 100 TA review today for my first Bio exam and I've got to say it's not that bad. Like I took Bio as a freshman in high school so a good bit of it was review and while I did forget most of it, I'm not completely lost so yay for my high school being concerningly competitive because college is freaking easy compared to my high school... I may regret saying that but whatever.