AN: You're welcome.

"So, Katherine," Katherine looked up from her dinner plate as her father addressed her. "Will you start seeing that boy, Jack Kelly, again now that he's moving back here?" She faltered. She hadn't even thought of that; she'd been so wrapped up in Jack's safety that they hadn't talked about their fake relationship at all. She supposed they should do that now that he was back in his apartment.

"I'm not sure."

"Surely you've talked about it, you seemed very close."

"Why are you asking? You didn't seem to like him all that much."

"He wasn't our first choice for you, certainly," Katherine's mother spoke up, "but you seemed to be very taken with him, and if you want to make the relationship long term, we can work with him on making him acceptable to join the family." Katherine almost choked on her food.

"I'm sorry, what?!"

"You'll have to make a decision on that at some point, Katherine, why not choose this boy?" Her father reasoned, and she just shook her head.

"I'm a senior in high school, I'm not ready to get married and neither is Jack."

"We're not proposing you get married now, certainly not. You're not getting married until you graduate college."

"I... can we just drop this for now? Please?" Katherine just wanted this conversation to be over.

"Fine. But you talk to that boy."

oOo

After dinner, Katherine waited until her parents had gone to bed to head over to talk to Jack. She really didn't want to go after school the next day, because then she would most definitely be grilled about what had been said. The walk to Jack's apartment wasn't a short one, as her house was on the other side of town, but it was good chance for Katherine to clear her head on the way there. Once she got there, she knocked on the door of his apartment, and she stood there for a solid two minutes with no answer. Assuming he was out with the boys somewhere, she turned and was about to leave when the door opened.

"Katherine?" She turned back around to see Jack standing in the doorway with messy hair and a tired expression. She instantly felt guilty.

"I woke you up." She said, and he shook his head.

"No, I was just resting, you're fine." He told her unconvincingly, stifling a yawn. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I can come back later."

"No, it's not even that late, c'mon." He gestured for her to come in and Katherine rolled her eyes at his stubbornness, but followed him inside and took a seat next to him on the couch. "What's up?" He asked, looking at her, and Katherine sighed, figuring there was no good way to put it.

"My parents want us to get married." Jack's eyes practically bulged out of his head, a look that she would've found quite comical if she wasn't feeling the same way inside. "Not right now, but in five years." She explained, and he stared at her.

"Why? I thought they didn't like me."

"I think they've decided that now that I'm finally 'dating' a boy, they're scared that there won't be any others after you, and they want to get you committed to me while they still can."

"We told everyone we were broken up, didn't we?"

"Yes, but they're just assuming we'll get back together now that you're back. And that was one thing that did get me wondering... do you want to keep this up?"

"What do you mean?"
"This fake boyfriend/girlfriend relationship we had, we can stop it now if you want to, don't you think?" He didn't respond, and she glanced at him, and he seemed lost in thought. "Jack?" He turned to look at her, and she shifted slightly under his intense gaze. Then, he leaned in closer to her, and kissed her. It wasn't anytime they'd kissed before, the fake, quick, emotionless kisses. Katherine could feel the passion, and... something else, in this kiss. And those feelings scared her. So, she pulled away, her heart pounding. She felt guilty after seeing the flash of hurt in Jack's eyes, but she didn't know what to do or say.

"I'm sorry. I- I don't know what came over me, it won't happen again, I... maybe you should go."

"No, we... can we try that again?"

"What?" Her heart began racing again, and she grabbed his face, and kissed him again. It was longer than the first one, but Katherine pulled away again when Jack tried to deepen it.

"I – what?"

"Jack, I think I want to start dating again. But for real this time. If that's okay with you, of course."

"Really?" She nodded.

"Jack Kelly, will you go out with me?"