"You want me to stay over?" I ask, surprised.

"Yeah, it's getting late. I have plenty of space here anyways," he points out, giving me a hopeful look.

"Sure, why not," I shrug. It's just for Belle, I convince myself.

He leads me down the hall to one of the guest bedrooms. We walk in, and I'm amazed at how fancy and huge it is. "This is beautiful," I mumble, looking around, "I don't have any of my stuff though."

"No worries, this room is stocked with everything you need," he shows me the closet, it's full of simple white shirts and sweatpants in various sizes. The room has a bathroom as well, it has plenty of toiletries, and different soaps and shampoos. There are towels and a robe hanging on the wall too.

"Perfect," I say, "I'll see you in the morning."

He nods and leaves the room.

I walk into my room and am surprised to see Belle sitting on my bed.

"Belle? You're supposed to be in bed. It's way past your bedtime," I say sternly.

She ignores me. "I like Katie."

I sit down next to her. "So do I."

"She's nice, we had lots of fun today," she says excitedly, climbing onto my lap, "I want her to stay around."

I chuckle and stroke her hair. "I hope she does kiddo."

She looks up at me with her big blue eyes, giving me a puppy dog look. We really don't look alike. I inherited our dad's dark brown hair and eyes, she has our mom's blonde hair and blue eyes.

"I'm even OK if she's your girlfriend," she says quietly, "I think she makes everyone happy, I want you to be happy too."

I pause for a bit. "I don't think that's going to happen Belle."

"Why not?" she asks, furrowing her brows.

I sigh. "It's complicated. Girls like her don't become my girlfriends. Let's get you back to bed," I say, picking her up.

I finish drying myself off after my shower and sit on the bed. More like sink into it, it's incredibly soft and comfortable. I'm wearing one of the shirts from the closet. I decided not to wear one of the pants though, I find it much more comfortable to sleep in my underwear without bottoms.

I hear a gentle knock on the door. "Katie?" I hear Jason's voice.

"Come in," I call, covering my bottom half with the covers. Jason opens the door and it feels like déjà vu, he's wearing sweatpants without a shirt. His hair is slightly wet, I assume he just showered as well. I do my best not to stare at his enticing muscular body, and bite my lip to avoid saying something inappropriate.

He walks over to me and sits down on the side of the bed. I have no idea why he came in, I decide to just wait for him to speak first. "I just wanted to say thanks for being so nice to Belle, it sounds like she had a lot of fun," he says with a sincere smile. "I've always been very protective of her."

"I don't think you have to worry too much, it seems like she'll grow up to be strong and independent," I smile.

"I agree, it's just that she was born very premature," he says softly with a heartbroken look on his face, "she was so tiny. She looked so helpless and weak in the incubator. My family and I were afraid she wouldn't make it."

I don't think I've ever seen him in such a vulnerable state. It almost makes me happy in some sort of twisted way - the fact that he's willing to open up to me. I scoot over and put my hand on Jason's thigh and give him a reassuring smile, "I'm so happy she did though, she's a wonderful kid."

He rests his hand on mine, returning a smile. "I didn't want anything bad to happen to her after that, so I've always looked out for her since then."

To my surprise, he reaches over and gives me a hug.

He loosens his arms, and I move back. I don't get far though, he's still holding me. I look at him. His eyes rove over me, and stop at my lips. My heart skips a beat at the look on his face. He pulls me closer again and kisses me. It's different from the kiss we shared on the balcony. This one is filled with passion and desire.

He quickly pulls me out from under the covers and puts me onto his lap so that I'm now straddling him. I can feel him smiling against my lips when he feels my legs and butt, noticing I'm not wearing pants. He slightly pulls away and starts to kiss my neck while reaching under my shirt.

"O-oh," I whisper and place my hand against his bare chest. He feels so strong, but I can also feel his heartbeat. It's pounding just like mine.

He suddenly pulls away, "W-wait, I, we can't."

He gently lifts me off of him and places me back on the bed, where I was sitting before. He quickly stands up.

"Good night Katie," he mumbles and leaves the room.

I don't understand. I feel like I'm being led on and teased. There's just something about Jason that I can't resist. I flop onto my bed, and mush a pillow onto my face, to muffle my groan.

Jason

I enter the kitchen in the morning to see Katie and Belle making pancakes. Belle is standing on a stool at the counter, mixing the batter. Katie is next to her, cooking the pancakes. "Good morning girls," I say. Belle hops down from the stool and comes over to hug me, effectively getting little flour hand prints on my shirt. Katie doesn't turn around.

"Anything I can do to help?" I ask. Katie just shakes her head. I know what this is about but I don't feel like addressing it.

"It's OK, you can wait outside, I wanna stay here with Katie," Belle states firmly, pushing my legs. I oblige and go to the living room. I refill Glitter's food and water, and play with her for a bit.

During breakfast, Katie is her usual warm and friendly self with Belle. She's very curt with me and avoids making eye contact. After breakfast, she joins Belle in playing with Glitter. I head back to the kitchen to do the dishes. "Are you sure you don't need a ride home? I'm dropping off Belle soon anyways," I ask Katie.

"No it's fine. I can take the bus."

She heads to the door, and Belle follows her. I watch as Katie crouches down to hug her, and Belle whispers something into her ear. She smiles and nods, and stands back up, before leaving.

__________________

During the next couple of days texting Katie, she's still being a bit curt. I decide to ignore it, and talk to her as if things are completely normal. Eventually, she gives in, and starts acting like her usual self again.

Ignorance is bliss.

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So much unresolved tension 😢 Katie needs a hug.

Thank you for reading!