Soft, high pitched chuckling seemed to be her morning alarm, because the signature laugh she had heard one too many times was the only thing pulling her further and further out of her slumber.

She opened one of her eyes and peered through the scattered strands of brown hair that covered her eyelids.

She heard more chuckling, along with the sound of a crisp page turning.

 Katrina lifted her head and opened both eyes, only to see JC's back turned to her as he stood at the foot of the bed. A book was in his hand.

Another page turned, and JC let out another laugh.

"Oh my God, Kat," she heard him say aloud to himself.

Katrina sat up quietly, confused... And then it hit her.

"No fucking way," she muttered, furiously and scandalously throwing the comforter off her body. Rising up so that she could stand on the bed, she took a step forward and jumped on to JC's back, her legs closing in on his sides and her arms wrapped around his neck.

"What the fu- Kat!" JC yelled, surpised, almost losing his balance from the sudden force. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

"Give me my book!" Katrina yelled back, using one of her arms to retrieve her blue notebook that JC still had.

"I'm just reading!" JC insisted, trying to shake her off, but Katrina didn't budge.

"Give it!"

"Katrina, get off me!" JC demanded, stumbling backwards. A few more moments of the two of them fighting off each other went by before JC fell back on top of her on the bed.

Katrina yelped, feeling JC's body weight smother her. She started kicking around, trying to roll him over to the other side.

"Stop that!" he yelled, lying on his back as he used the hardcover notebook to block his face.

Katrina rolled on top of him and straddled him, trying to use her strength to pin down JC's big arms.

"Give me my book," she commanded, trying to grab the book out of JC's grasp. She had to pull on it for a few seconds before JC surprisingly let go and almost made her fall back from the force.

Before she could get off of him, JC rolled them back over so that he was on top of her, using his arms to hold himself steady while Katrina held her book to her chest.

JC stared down at her, panting. "Well," he started. "Good morning to you too."

"Now it is," she told him, breathing hard. "What were you doing reading this?"

"I found it."

"How?"

"I was looking for my shoes and I found it under the bed. I figured I may as well look into it. It's not like you exactly keep it under lock and key, you know."

"It's private!"

JC couldn't help but laugh. "It's explicit, is what it is."

"You know I write."

"I didn't know you write like that."

"It's fiction," Katrina defended herself.

"Kat, it's porn."

"It's a story I was working on," she muttered.

"I just didn't know you wrote like that, SmartieKat. So..."

"So?"

"Hot and graphic."

"When you can't get a physical release, you may as well write up one of your own."

"Sarah should stay with John, though," JC said, stating his opinion from her story. "But the writing's great."

"John's a dick, much like the guy I have on top of me right now."

"I didn't know I wasn't supposed to read that stuff," JC said truthfully. "I thought it was a really good plot you had going there. I didn't know it was personal."

"If I told you it was personal, would you have still read it?"

JC thought for a moment. "Probably, but I wouldn't have let you caught me."

Katrina rolled her eyes. "From now on, you're not allowed to read any of my material without asking first."

"But I wanna know what happens to Sarah and John," JC pouted. "I didn't even get to the part to see if he made her come or not."

"You're sick."

"I'm curious. And another thing, that other guy is bad at pick up lines."

"Dylan is fine. He's supposed to be a quirky guy."

"You think the ‘angel' line is quirky? It's stale. No girl is so fascinating that a guy has to ask her if she's fallen from heaven."

"You were shot up from hell," Katrina punched him, and JC finally got off her.

"You know you love me."

"Like I said, from now on, leave my writing alone."

"Okay, okay," JC sighed. "I won't read anything else."

"Good," Katrina said, setting the book down on her dresser. "What time is it?"

"Eight thirty."

"Work starts at ten," Katrina said, almost to herself.

"You promised me breakfast last night," JC reminded her, sitting on the edge of the bed.

She smiled, nodding. "I know. I'm thinking."

"About what?"

"About what I can make for us for breakfast."

"What'd you got?"

"Cereal. Bagels. Eggs. I ran out of pancake batter the other day and haven't gone to the grocery store in a while. I'm probably gonna have to do that when I get off work today."

"What kind of cereal do you have?"

"Lucky Charms or Frosted Flakes."

"You should really try the Kellogs Frosted Mini Wheats, you know. It isn't that bad. Chelsea buys it all the time."

"That shit is like, seven bucks for a box."

JC shrugged. "It's healthy."

"You two can eat your expensive cereal. I'm fine with my regular cereal."

"Want me to take us to breakfast then?" JC offered.

"Am I going to be late for work if I do?"

"We won't eat much. You need groceries and I don't mind going out."

"Fine."

"I found some more of my clothes over here. I'll just take a shower when you're done."

"Do you have plans today?"

"I'll probably take Chels out to lunch or she'll probably want to go shopping later. I want to spend some time in the studio. Probably check out if there are any parties going on tonight too."

"We better start the day then."

"Brushing your teeth might help."

"Shut up," Katrina told him, throwing a hair band at him. "Watch some TV while I'm in there or something. Or find Pix and play with her."

"Fine," JC sighed. "Hurry up then."

---

 "Kat!" JC shouted her name, banging on the bathroom door. "Open up!"

"What?" she shouted back.

"Your phone's ringing!"

"Answer it then!"

JC looked down at the vibrating phone and started knocking on the door once more. "I don't want to. It's Sean!"

JC heard the water from the shower immediately turn off and the door opened a second later. Katrina stood in front of him in the door frame, her hair wet and her right hand held up the white towel that only covered the frontal area of her body since she hadn't wrapped it around herself.

"Are you done?" JC asked.

"Yea, gimme," she said, taking the phone. She balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear while she tried to hold together the towel behind her.

"Hello?" she answered, moving past JC. She turned around to look at him for a moment and nodded toward the bathroom before saying, "Go ahead."

Shrugging, JC went ahead with his own shower, ever so often hearing Katrina burst out laughing every few minutes. As soon as he had dried himself and wrapped the towel she lent him around his waist, JC opened the door to leave the bathroom, almost bumping into Katrina on his way back to her room.

"Guess what," she said happily, stopping JC in his tracks. A grin was spread across her face.

JC raised his eyebrows. "You still have no clothes on," he told her, eyeing the matching pair of white bra and panties she wore.

"I'm taking this week off, starting Monday."

"Why?" JC asked. "Wait, is Sean coming to see you?"

Katrina shook her head. "Close. Him and Lindsay are leaving for a business trip to the Bahamas on Monday morning so I told them Cody and Cindy can stay with me while they're gone."

JC looked at her, an unfazed expression on his face. "Cody and Cindy...?"

"My niece and nephew? You've met ‘em, remember? When they were younger? Cindy was still a baby."

"Oh, yea. When we were all together for your twenty fifth birthday party... They were cute, but I don't like him."

"Josh," Katrina sighed. "You don't like Sean because you think Sean doesn't like you."

"He doesn't."

"He doesn't quite ‘fancy' you only because he walked in on us that one night when your head was between my thighs."

"My point exactly."

"He's gotten over that by now, I'm sure. And I haven't seen Cody and Cindy in almost three months."

"When are they coming over?" JC asked, following her back into the bedroom.

"Tomorrow afternoon," Katrina replied with a smile. "So that means I'm gonna have to buy extra groceries today, clean the guest bedrooms and explain to my boss why I won't be at the store for the rest of the week."

"Have fun with all that," JC told her, slipping on his boxers under his towel. "At least you're gonna have some company around here besides me and KittyKat."

"Speaking of Pix, I gotta go feed her," she said, buttoning the jeans she had pulled on. "Do we still have time to do breakfast?"

"It's nine o'clock now so..."

"Just coffee or something before work?"

"I'm cool with that."

"Am I gonna be seeing you later today?"

"Probably not," JC said, pulling on a blue t shirt. "It depends on what comes up in my schedule."

"In other words, if Chels wants to do something, I'm definitely not seeing you."

"Yea. And don't count on me being here when Sean gets here tomorrow either."

"Fine," Katrina sighed. "You know, if you weren't such a wuss and would talk to my brother normal, you'd be at some ease."

"I'll pass. And with two little kids here, I doubt that you're even gonna be thinking about me."

----

The next night

Apartment cleaned? - check. Groceries made? - check. A relaxing week's worth of pay? - check. Pizza for dinner in the oven? - check. Kitten fed? - check. G rated movies rented? - check. Extra snacks bought? - check.

Katrina sat down on the couch, happy to have finally checked off everything on her mental list of things to do before Sean dropped off his kids. She was ready for the break away from work and was anxious for the company. She didn't see her niece and nephew for more than six times a year unless it was over the computer or the rare occasion of a family event, and Katrina hadn't realized how she had missed being around people she didn't see often until she started counting down the minutes to their arrival.

She hadn't heard from JC since the night before, when he had texted her just to say that he was taking Chelsea out for dinner and hoped he was ‘getting lucky'. She wasn't sure what he had done that day, or what he was planning to do later that night, but she decided against giving him a call in case he was busy at the time.

Even if she was going to give him a call, it would have had to wait because the series of consistent knocks on the door to her apartment quickly drowned out the thoughts in her head.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Katrina chuckled, half walking-half running to the entrance. "I wonder who it is," she teased playfully before swinging open the door.

Before she could even make eye contact with the man holding the two carryon bags, Katrina was practically tackled by what felt like two baby bulls ramming into her legs and wrapping their arms around them.

"Woah," she laughed, putting out her arms to keep her balance. She stooped down and opened her arms to the two children in front of her. "Hey, you two!"

"Aunt Kat," the boy grinned, wrapping his arms tightly around Katrina's neck, while his sister simply held onto her arm.

"I missed you guys," Katrina said, kissing them both on their brown haired heads.

"Miss you too," the girl smiled up at her.

"Don't I get to say hi to your aunt?" the man chuckled, resting the bags carefully on the floor.

Katrina stood up, letting the two children step aside before going to hug her brother. "Hey, Sean."

"How are ya?" he asked, kissing her cheek.

"I'm really good," she nodded. "Where's Lindsay?"

"Home, finishing up the packing. Thank you so much for doing this for us by the way. We couldn't find anyone else this last minute."

"Hey, I'm happy to do it. It's about time I got to spend some quality time with these kids."

"You took care of things at work?"

"Everything's taken care of. I got the week off, so it's all good."

"That's great to know."

"Have the kids eaten?" Katrina asked, turning her head in time to see the younger boy stroking Pixel's head on the couch. His sister stood next to him quietly.

"Not since this afternoon. I was hoping you already had dinner set up."

"I do," Katrina nodded. "Pizza's in the oven ready for ‘em tonight and I'm loaded up on groceries. My week with them is set."

"You're awesome," Sean smiled at her. "And you look great too. How come I never hear about any boyfriends of yours from mom?"

"Because there aren't any," Katrina reminded him. "And don't you and mom have more important things to talk about than my relationships?"

"After she's through asking how the kids are and how I'm doing, you're the next hot topic."

"I'm single and working, thank you very much."

"Hey, I like where you're at, it's her you need to talk to."

"The same woman who's still under the impression I'm going to meet Prince Charming and become an international bestselling author? I don't think so."

The grey eyed man in front of her chuckled. "If you're happy, then just leave it at that. Oh, and not to mention she still thinks you're a virgin."

"The woman's nuts I tell you."

"Because she didn't walk in on you and that JC guy doing it in reverse cowgirl at-"

"Sean!" Katrina stopped him. "That was three years ago on New Years and I knew it was you who came in the room! All this time JC's been trying to convince me I was imagining it."

"You still see that guy?"

"JC? Yea, of course. He's a friend."

"Just a friend?"

"A best friend."

"As long as that's as far as it goes, then we're good."

"Believe me, I agree."

He chuckled, pulling out a piece of paper from the back pocket of his capris. "Here is a list of numbers you can try if you need to get through to either me or Lindsay during the week. It has her cell, my cell, but you already have those, and I added on the numbers to the hotel where the convention is taking place and all that."

"I probably won't need it but thanks. What time's your flight tomorrow?"

"Five in the morning, so I should better leave if I want to help Lindsay finish pack our dental stuff and still get a couple hours sleep."

Katrina nodded, turning around. "Guys, your dad's leaving. Wanna come say goodbye?"

Looking up, the both kids ran past Katrina and to their father.

"You guys are gonna be good for Aunt Kat?" he asked, to which both children nodded.

"We will," the boy promised.

"And you're gonna do what she says and not give her any trouble?"

Again, unison nodding.

"Okay," Sean smiled, high fiving his son and giving his daughter a kiss on the forehead.

"I love you guys, okay?"

"I love you too, daddy," the shy little girl with the two pigtails said softly.

"You too, sweetheart. Cody, look out your sister, okay?"

"I will."

"Okay, I'll see you two in a week. Kat, again, thank you."

"No problem," Katrina smiled, picking up her niece and balancing her on the hip. "We're gonna have fun here, ain't that right guys?"

"Yea!" Cody grinned, pumping a fist in the air, causing his sister to chuckle.

"Alright, good," his father nodded. "I'll call when I can."

A few final kisses and goodbyes were exchanged before Katrina finally closed the door and walked back to the living room.

"Kitty is cute," the green eyed girl said quietly, stroking the fur on Pixel's head slowly and carefully.

Katrina smiled. "Are you hungry, Cin?"

The little girl looked at her brother and nodded.

"You too, Cody?" Katrina asked.

"Yea. What're we having?"

"Pizza," Katrina announced happily. "So let's wash up those hands of yours and let's eat."

"Kitty too?" Cindy asked, hopefully, and Katrina laughed.

"Yea, Pixel can eat with us too."

----

2:46 AM

It wasn't too long after eating dinner and an hour of ‘why mushrooms are better than pineapples on pizza' between Cody and Cindy did Katrina realize that it was bordering eleven o' clock and the two kids were beginning to fall asleep on themselves at the kitchen table.

After cleaning up, washing up, and helping give two tired kids a bath each plus tucking them in and making sure they were comfortable in the guestroom, Katrina herself was ready to just sink under the covers and savour the sweet slumber she was looking forward to.

She had been asleep for only two hours after she had taken her own shower before she heard a loud knocking that startled her from her dreaming.

She sat up immediately upon hearing the noise and waited a moment or two for it to stop but it didn't.

"Damn it," she muttered, flinging off the covers and speed walking toward the door. She didn't want either Cody or Cindy to wake up on their first night alone at her place and have it be a frightful one.

"Who is it?" Katrina asked, her lips almost pressed against the wood of the door. On the small table next to her, she was tiredly eyeing the pepper spray she kept.

"It's Josh," she heard, and Katrina couldn't help but let her forehead fall onto the door. She let out a loud groan.

"Please let me sleep tonight," she practically begged him before she reluctantly opened the door. She was barely even able to identify JC in the darkness of the apartment in addition to her not even being one hundred percent awake yet.

"What do you want?" she asked, smothering a yawn and tiredly leaning her head against the frame of the door.

"I know it's late, and you're tired, but it's important."

"What's important?"

"Can I come in?"

Katrina sighed, moving aside so she could let the body walk past her.

Closing the door, Katrina stood in the darkness, almost mistaking the events for a dream but JC turned on the lights.

"Damn," she muttered, wincing. "What're you doing here?"

"I have to show you."

"What?"

JC stepped closer toward her and removed his hand that was covering his mouth. The side of his lips veiled a dark purple bruise and there was a little blood- some that had dried and some that was still threatening to trickle.

"Do you have some ice or some band aids I can use?" he asked, watching as Katrina became more and more awake.

"What the hell happened to you?!" she cried out, one hand cupping a side of his jaw while the other lightly touched at the bruise.

JC flinched when her fingers grazed past the centre of the bruise.

"Don't touch it so much," he mumbled, pulling away a little.

"Does it hurt?"

"A little," he admitted. "Do you have something I can use to clean it up a bit? I don't-"

"Aunt Kat?" a small voice sounded. Katrina looked over JC's shoulder and saw Cindy's face peeking out from inside the guest room. "What's going on?"

"It's just a friend that came to visit, sweetie, it's okay," Katrina assured the child with a smile. "It's okay, don't worry. You can go back to sleep."

"Y'sure?"

"Positive."

The youngster nodded slowly, before moving back into the room.

"Was that your niece?" JC asked. "Dammit, I forgot they were gonna be over here."

"You, stay right here," Katrina ordered.

JC watched as she sped past him to go into the kitchen and returned just a few seconds later with a frozen bag of green peas and a washcloth in her hand.

"Come with me," she told him, and JC followed her into her bedroom.

Waiting for him to be seated on the bed, Katrina closed the door and turned on her light.

"I'm sorry I showed up like this. I forgot your niece and nephew were gonna be here."

Katrina shook her head, completely ignoring what he had said.

"What the hell happened to you?" she demanded, taking a seat next to him on the bed and turned his face to meet her own.

"Chelsea broke up with me," JC mumbled.

"Explain the bruise, Josh."

"She... You remember why you told me to never buy a girl shoes? That she could throw it at you or then leave you wearing them?"

Katrina nodded.

"Well," JC sighed. "She did both."

"God, damn, Jace," she murmured, using the cloth to wipe around the sides of his mouth.  "What happened?"

"She found some text messages on my phone from a couple other girls and they weren't exactly PG, if you know what I mean. She assumed I had cheated on her."

"But you did."

"But I didn't expect her to find out so easily," JC insisted.

"You're such a jackass sometimes," Katrina muttered, leaning in closer to observe the bruise. "The heel from the stiletto hit you hard, didn't it?"

"I guess. I'm just glad my teeth are okay."

"Are you done with her now?"

"I don't want to be," JC admitted, lifting his head a little higher so that Katrina could continue to dab at his skin. "I love her. I know she loves me too."

"It can't be love if you two keep hurting each other like this."

"I know, it's just... I don't know. I know I'm a lot to put up with but she isn't that easy either, you know. We put up with each other. At the end of the day, we're together, but I think she's too tired at this point."

"Can I just ask how you ended up here?"

"Oh, she kicked me out of the car, and this was the first place I thought of. I knew you'd care for what I had to say."

"You and Chelsea are seriously starting to piss off everyone around you, including each other."

"Yea, but it takes so long to break in someone new that's gonna have the same understanding that we did."

"You keep hurting her, Josh. Stop."

"Do you think it's easy for me? It isn't. She hurts me too."

"In a couple more months, this is gonna happen again and you're gonna keep going around in circles. Please, for the sake of everyone around you, break up and move on, dammit. I hate seeing you like this. This bruise is just the icing on the cake."

"How bad is it?" JC asked, turning his head from side to side to give her a better angle.

"The swelling might go down in a couple days if you take care of it right," Katrina muttered. "It's not too bad. And like you said, your teeth are fine."

JC nodded. A few more silent moments had passed before JC spoke up.

"Sorry I have such bad timing in coming over here."

Katrina rubbed her eyes and laughed lightly through her nose. She leaned a head on his shoulder jadedly while he applied the frozen peas to the bruise. "I'm sorry your girlfriend is such a bitch."

JC laughed, shrugging. "Me too."

"Are you okay?"

"I've been better, I suppose. Emotionally, anyways. Physically, I'm just ready to be over with this night. I'm waiting for it to end."

"Hey, come ‘ere," Katrina told him, and JC looked at her.

She held his prickled chin between his thumb and forefinger before gently pressing her lips to his. She pulled away after a few seconds and JC groaned, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Did that make you feel better?"

"Not really," JC murmured.

"Hey, I'm trying here. What's wrong?"

"She kicked me out of the car while I had a hard on, and it never went down. That kiss didn't help things either."

"I see."

"Can we, Kat? Please?"

Katrina was silent for a moment before speaking up. "My niece and nephew are in the room next to this one. It's my first night with them alone here."

"We'll be quiet," JC promised. "And I have protection."

"Are you up for it? Doesn't your face hurt?"

JC chuckled. "The only thing that hurts is your hand pressing down on my crotch," he said, and Katrin immediately pulled her hand back. She hadn't even realized that that was where her hand rested.

"Sorry," she apologized.

"Please," JC whispered into her ear. Katrina knew at that point, and from the shiver that went down her spine, she wasn't going to be able to resist any longer.

Not even attempting a verbal answer, Katrina pressed her lips to his, JC not even caring about the painful pressure she was exerting onto him. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and a slick hand in between her legs.

"Yea," she murmured, pulling away.

"Really?" JC asked, and Katrina used the opportunity to lift off his shirt.

"You want it or not?" she asked, breathlessly.

JC stared into the lustful look she had in her eyes that he hadn't seen for weeks. "Fuck yes."