"Jess, I don't need a date."
"Yes, you do." Jess insisted, popping popcorn into her mouth, her gaze fixed on the reruns of Friends. Her legs were propped over Mark's, who was sprawled on the couch sharing her popcorn, and cleverly keeping out of the discussion, until, "Don't you think so, darling?"
Mark blinked, coming back to earth, "Huh?"
"To our engagement party!" Jess shot him a mock glare, "Don't you think Kate needs to bring a date?"
Mark cautiously reached for popcorn, adjusting his glasses, "Uh, she could bring John." he pointed out.
"Bring her Dad?! That's pathetic." Jess turned to say quickly, "John will be invited, of course. But I fully expect him to bring his own date. Your Dad is--" she rolled her eyes, mock fanning herself, "I would've hit on him if he wasn't your Dad."
"Yes, you told me." Kate said dryly.
"Is there anyone you won't hit on?" Mark interjected.
"Of course, my love. You. Because I wuv you." Jess made kissing faces, and that seemed to mollify Mark, who rolled his eyes at Kate before smiling, obviously besotted.
"So," Jess turned to her, "this brings us to Operation Date. Since you don't seem to be bringing hot hotel dude up to the scratch, I thought we might party!"
"Great, a party." Mark sat up, "I have an excellent one in mind. It's a convention, but you'll love it--"
Jess glared at him, "A nightclub."
Mark frowned at her, "Jess, I'm the man in the relationship...so nightclub it is." he grumbled.
Three hours later, they found themselves gyrating to music and laughing. Jess had let Kate borrow a silk shirt in favor of having to dash to the hotel for a change of clothes, and the shirt was more revealing on Kate's frame than she had realized at first. It was sewn from silver silk so fine it flowed like liquid, cleverly cut so that it revealed a good deal of cleavage, as well as flashes of side boobs as she danced. She kept her arms rigidly by her sides.
Despite his earlier grumbling, Mark seemed to be enjoying himself. "It's because I don't have to impress a girl." he yelled over the music to Kate as they thrashed on spot together, "I can dance anyway I want and I'll still have Jess at the end of the night!"
"Think again!" Jess called, who was infinitely more graceful than the two of them, and attracting a lot more potential dancers.
"She's kidding, she loves me." Mark said, spinning Kate around.
"Yes, she does."
"You don't have to feel pressurized to bring a date, you know." Mark told her, bending his head to talk over the music, as they awkwardly veered about, "Jess just doesn't want you to feel left out. But I know you aren't bothered by these things."
Kate grinned at him, then grimaced when she stepped on his foot. "Ah--sorry. She's just--" she danced around Mark, "trying to help! It's okay. I won't make a bad decision--" she reached forward to squeeze his arm, "I promise."
He grinned, then grimaced slightly, "Well, it won't hurt to try, though." he admitted, "You haven't been in a serious relationship since we broke up, and--"
"Mark!" Kate gasped in shock, laughing, "I see Jess is having an effect on you!"
He grinned shamelessly, "Perhaps she is."
"Drinks?" Jess called, gracefully dancing towards them.
"I'll get 'em." Mark offered.
"No, I'm too afraid you'll drop them." Jess gestured over their clumsy dancing, "I'll get them. Stay here!"
They danced together some more, until Mark was interrupted by phone call, and mumbling when he saw the display, he excused himself. "It's work." he muttered, pulling away from the crowd. She waved him away and danced a little more, but after earning a nasty look for stepping onto a stranger's toe, she decided she'd had enough for the night.
She searched around for Jess, and spotted her sitting at the bar, apparently having forgotten the drinks she'd promised. She was engaged in a conversation with the someone beside her, throwing her head back to laugh.
As Kate moved closer and the crowd shifted from her vision, she realized Jess was sitting with a man. A man with a very handsome back wearing an expensive looking shirt, with burnished white blond hair. Jess was laughing at something he was saying—he just oozed the confident charisma of someone who was good looking and knew it, and the way Jess was looking at him caused Kate to frown and hurry towards them.Sometimes she thought Jess went too far for an almost engaged woman,and this was time for a friendly intervention before Jess did something she would later regret.
The man leaned towards Jess, his shirt straining attractively against his muscular torso, and tilted his head to whisper suggestively in her ear. Laughing, Jess placed her hand on his shoulder—and smartly pushed him away, lifting her hand to show him Mark's ring on her finger, laughing in amusement. Kate slowed down, smiling. Of course her friend had it under control. The man raised his hands good naturedly, shifting away from her, and Jess glanced over her shoulder, spotting Kate, and beckoned her, jerking her head towards her companion eagerly. Kate shook her head in amusement, gauging his easy going attitude. He might be hot, but Kate was certainly not going for a womanizer.
Oh, she called Luke a womanizer, but she had never gotten the sense of easy charm from him that she got from the mere back of the person next to Jess, and she suddenly realized she had mislabeled Luke. She would have to apologize.
Kate slipped on a stool on the other side of Jess, nodding at the bartender, and Jess immediately tugged her elbow, "Brace yourself, Kitty Kat." Jess said in hushed tones, her voice heavy with implication, "This guy--he's hotter than the hot hotel dude."she made little jerking motions towards the man who was already immersed in the woman next to him, his back to them. Kate's eyes widened.
"No way, Jess." she warned.
"Yes way. I know two blonds together isn't the hottest thing ever, but I think this could work. If there's anyone who's going to make you swoon, it's him. The man just oozes se—"
"Jess, no. Seriously—"
"Please,Kate." Jess was saying in a hushed whisper, "What's a little introduction?" she wiggled her brows, "Maybe you could blow off a little steam while you're at it? You've been looking quite...frustrated lately."
"I have?" Kate blinked. Was it that obvious she spent her days battling images of Luke and trying to bring her body under control? She'd even taken up running to her destinations, to help curb the frustration.
Jess looked at her meaningfully.
Kate sighed, but she was in a good mood so she gave a noncommittal grunt. Jess beamed, turned around and tapping the man on the shoulder.
"Hey, there. So, I think you should meet my friend I was telling you about."
Shaking her head, Kate smiled and accepted the shot the bartender slid towards her with a wink, downing it in a gulp. If she was going to make nice with a playboy, she would need it.
"Bill, this is Kate. Kate, meet Bill."
Kate turned towards him, and the man leaned over Jess—sliding close enough to graze her front—grinning unabashedly at Jess as he grabbed Kate's hand into a strong one of his own, drawling, "Actually, it's Will. But anything for you, sweetheart."
His bright blue eyes slid to Kate, his smile easy on an incredibly handsome face that screamed careless aristocracy tarnished by good natured depravity. He had strong features and slight shadows under the eyes indicating one too many nights of pleasure that only made his otherwise too perfect face more boyish and approachable, and a wicked curve to his lips. He was tanned for a blonde and his pale blue eyes glittered like pale jewels in the flashing lights. Kate opened her mouth to return the greeting—
And he ripped his hand away from her as if burned.
Kate's hand fumbled in the air, and she blinked at his face, flushing at the insult.
"What the fuck!"
The words came out of his mouth, and he stood glaring at Kate, in shock,in horror...in recognition.
Kate felt the world drop out from under her.
"What the hell, dude?" Jess was saying sharply, jumping up, "That's no way you treat a friend of mine, no matter how fucking hot you are—"
Kate cut in front of her, stepping closer to him, her gaze devouring his face, finding the features that had graced the boyish version, bowled over by shock, overcome with a feeling of gladness, choked by her disbelief. "Will?" she whispered, and she didn't hear own whimper over the loud music, but by the twitch of pain on his face, she could tell he caught the word. She didn't know why she hadn't seen it first—perhaps because he looked so different from the little boy he had been, not just in age but in attitude. Yet every single feature was exactly the same. It really was him...
"Will." She choked, feeling tears well in her eyes. She had pictured so many things she would say to him when she first saw him. She might punch him for what he had done to her, tell him off for trying to talk to her again, maybe turn her back to him and leave him so that there was no doubt in his mind that she wasn't the Kate who needed him for her own peace of mind anymore. Everything had involved a sharp set down, a long awaited retribution.
Anything but throwing herself in his arms and pressing her face in his chest, shivering under the weight of her emotion. He was her brother. None of the hatred she thought she would feel at the sight of him reared. There was just pain, and loss, and regret, and an overwhelming, uncontrollable joy at finally having him in front of her once more.
"Will." She whispered in his chest, holding him close, but he stood rigid, his hands hanging by his sides, "It's really you."
"Uh, Kate?" she felt a tug on her arm, "This is too fast, honey, even for me. Let's ditch this asshole. I saw another hot guy—and he's been eyeing your ass all night—"
"What the hell?"
Kate pulled away to find Will glaring at Jess. "Jess, he's...it's okay..." she said dazedly. She just wanted to get away to somewhere without so many people, to look at her brother and to hear him talk.
"No, it's not okay, Kate. I know I said you should blow off some steam with him, but—"
Will jumped away from Kate, going a little green.
"Jess, shut up."
Will turned to look at Kate, his eyes blazing with anger as they traveled up and down. Vaguely, she realized he didn't look nearly as shocked to see her all grown up as she to him.
"What the hell are you wearing?"
Jess gawped, "Okay, you did not just say that!"
Will pointed a finger at her, all of his previous flirtatious charm gone,"Stay out of it."
"How dare you!" Jess cried out, tugging at Kate, "Come on, Kate, let's leave this asshole—"
Kate shrugged her off, shaking her head, "No, Jess. He's..." She gestured towards Will, the colors around her glittering brighter as her eyes sheened with tears, "He's my big brother."
"What? Oh, baby, I think you've had one too many..." Jess started, then shut up, thunderstruck. She looked from Will's glaring face, to Kate's pale one, taking in the similarities that Kate knew would be blatant once she really looked. Kate was the paler blonde, but they possessed the exact same eyes, varying versions of the same features,and hauntingly similar expressions, mannerisms and speech...
"Oh God. Oh, my God. This is just too weird." Jess stepped back, her mouth dropping open.
Then realization dawned in Jess's eyes, "So is that why you've been so preoccupied, lately? Not because you wanted the hotel dude?"
Will's gaze snapped to Kate. She turned red, "Jess—"
"For fucks—"Will muttered furiously.
Kate found herself spun around—Will had grabbed her arm. "What on earth is going on with you? Seriously, what the hell are you wearing?" he said tightly, and then he surprised Kate by pulling her with him. She followed quietly, still so confused, her gaze running over his face, her heart aching as the picture of the boy she had held dissolved from her mind. He had had an innocent smile and a carefree laugh and next to this sardonic man it was already getting more and more difficult to hold on to his image in her mind.
"Where?" she whispered.
He didn't look over his shoulder as he herded her towards the door, "We're leaving."
"Leaving?" she whispered.
A man bumped into her and she stumbled, and he caught her around the waist, smirking down her top. Will turned around, swinging at the man before dragging her with him again, and Kate gasped, twisting around to look towards the collapsed man. "Why did you do that?" she cried out.
"Do you think I want men leering at my little sister? You're leaving right now." He paused to say something to the guard by the door, and then pulled her out into the night. She walked another few steps with him, and then suddenly stopped, forcing him to halt his stride. He tried tugging her.
"Wait. Will, please."
He stopped, his face tightening with pain at hearing his name from her lips, "I don't want to see you here half naked ever again, do you hear me? Or anywhere, for that matter."
She blinked, dazed with hurt. "That's...that's it?"
He looked at her, and then stepped away, his jaw clenching. "Kate..."
"Eight years...and that's all you want to say?"
"There's nothing to say." He said tonelessly.
She stepped closer to him, and his face snapped to the side as her palm cracked against his cheek. She felt tears drip down her eyes.
"I don't know why I even..." she choked, her chest heaving in devastation, "I don't know why..."
He looked at her, his eyes glittering with agony, "Kate..."
"Don't think you can come after eight years and be my big brother, telling me where and where not to go. I'll do what I damn well please, and you better stay out of my way." Tears dripped down her eyes, "Eight years." Her voice was thick, "Eight years and that's all you want to..."
She turned back towards the nightclub. He caught her arm.
"You're not going back—"
She whipped around, punching him this time, catching him by surprise. He went staggering back on the sidewalk, and she whimpered in response, tucking her hand behind her back in a tight little fist.
"Just stay away, Will." She whispered wearily.
He sat up, touching his cheekbone where a patch of blood had appeared and shot her a measuring look, his eyes too shadowed for her to discern any grief. She turned to leave, and he scrambled after her.
"Look,it's not safe, damn it. This is the absolute worst time for you to be partying around—getting too close to strange men—spending the damned night with them. You have to stay put." His voice was almost pleading, "You have to trust me in this!"
She let out a laugh of disbelief.
"Look, I suck, I know that, okay?" Will said angrily, "But there're people around, people who would want to hurt me and it's not safe for anyone I care about, so—"
She shrugged away when he touched her shoulder, turning to glare at him,"I can't think of anyone safer than I am right now, Will, if the people you care about are in danger. You don't start pretending to give a crap and we'll be good."
"Well,someone might just think I DO 'give a crap'." He said angrily, grabbing her shoulder, "And in that case—"
"I can take care of myself. Or do you need further demonstration of that?"
He winced, looking helpless as he watched her walk away, his hands clenched by his sides.
Kate walked inside numbly, finding Jess and sitting beside her. Jess was still shaking her head, looking stumped, "I know you were adopted,but you never said you had a sibling you left behind." She said faintly, turning to Kate, but when she saw Kate's expression, she placed an arm around her shoulders, her face softening in concern.But the great thing about Jess was she knew when to keep her mouth shut, and she stayed by Kate's side, quiet but supportive.
Kate saw Will slink back inside the club, finding a stool far away from them, and oddly enough, for a man who had successfully avoided her for eight whole years, he didn't take his watchful eyes off of her for a single moment that night.