(Part 11 / 12)

Jeff, Kate, Chris, Anthony, Matt, and Sammie were all sitting around the table the next morning when Fred and Lex came into the kitchen.

“How was your first night as fiancés!?” Kate asked excitedly. “Was it awesome? Were there fireworks?”

Fred laughed. “You’re so nosy Katie,” he patted her head affectionately on his way to the refrigerator and effectively sidestepped her question. “Is there anything to eat?”

“Leftovers from yesterday,” Anthony grinned, “I would not disturb Anna for food at this point.”

“What do you mean?” Lex asked.

“Jeff and Kate were just finishing telling us what happened with Anna and Daniel last night,” Sammie giggled. “They’re together right now.”

“Let me guess,” Lex said tiredly, not looking surprised at all, “They were both kind of drunk, they shouted a lot, they started kissing, and they went upstairs and haven’t come down yet?”

“That was pretty impressive,” Chris grinned, “How did you know?”

“Because it’s what happens every time. They’re the only ones who don’t seem to see the stupid pattern,” Lex nodded, pouring herself a cup of coffee and sitting down at the table.

“Jeff was funny! He said they have a hate-love relationship because they hate that they love each other!” Kate chirped happily.

“Imagine that,” Lex laughed, “Jeff was funny.”

Jeff threw his banana peel at her in response.

“So when do we wanna get out of here?” Matt asked. “Personally, I don’t have to be back to doing anything ‘til Wednesday and we don’t play at that club until next Sunday.”

Chris laughed. “You want to stay a few more days, huh?”

“I’m just saying I’m not in a rush to get back to the city,” Matt grinned, “We can hang around on the beach for the rest of the day, go back tonight or tomorrow or whatever.”

“He wants that pasty white Irish ass to get a little browner so he looks better at the clubs,” Sammie smiled. “You know, because he needs to be attractive to girls. His one girlfriend isn’t good enough for him.”

“Well, Sammie, can you blame the guy? We can’t all have your perfectly tanned skin,” Anthony grinned. “Some of us burn.”

Anna came stumbling into the kitchen just then. She was walking a little stiffly and she was wearing a pair of pajama pants, and a tank top, and her hair was a complete mess. She went over to the refrigerator.

“What happened to you?” Sammie grinned, “Did a truck go through your bedroom?”

Anna turned and grinned at all of them. She raised one arm over head and hung on to the top of the refrigerator door before sliding down on to the floor with the orange juice in her hands.

“Are you okay?” Lex asked Anna, peering over the table to see her where she sat dopily on the ground.

“I feel great,” Anna giggled from the floor. She didn’t seem to be completely aware of the fact everyone was looking at her or that they were even there at all.

“Are you still drunk?” Chris asked.

“What? No!” she exclaimed. “I just, we, it was…”

“You can’t even walk normally,” Anthony pointed out. “We don’t want to know.”

Sammie giggled. “Yes we do!” she cried excitedly, “Anna, tell us!”

“No!” Anna shook her head. “But I promise it was neither gentlemanly or lady like, nothing you see in movies or read in books.”

Everyone stared at Anna. “What does that mean?” Kate asked finally.

“They had passionate, uninhibited sex,” Lex clarified. Everyone now stared at Lex. “She reads a lot and talks in metaphors about Daniel. You learn to figure out what she’s saying when you have to listen all the time.”

“It was epic, like climbing Mount Everest or swimming the English Channel,” Anna smiled dreamily.

“It went on for hours, and at some point, she was on top. They also had sex in the Jacuzzi,” Lex explained.

“Oh gross!” Jeff moaned, “I’m gonna have to clean that now!”

“It was the best sex ever,” Anna finished, though she seemed to be talking to herself more than to any of her friends.

Everyone looked at Lex. “What’s there to explain about that one?” Lex rolled her eyes. “Come on people, at least try!”

Anna pushed herself off the floor, drank some juice and turned to leave. “I’m going back upstairs,” she announced, making her exit.

“So I guess we’re not leaving until she and Daniel decide they’re ready to come down,” Fred smiled as he finished his breakfast.

Chris kind of groaned. “That could be days!”

“It will not be days,” Jeff said firmly, “It will be hours or less. I have to clean this place up before we leave.”

“We’ll help you,” Sammie volunteered, “We made most of the mess.”

They began to divvy up the rooms in the house that had to be cleaned up. Jeff had managed to keep a large portion of the house undisturbed, and was very proud that he’d kept anything major from being broken. His grandparents put a lot of stuff that didn’t fit in their Manhattan apartment in the house, including pieces of art – some of which, Jeff understood, were valuable.

While everyone else was cleaning, Jeff, Kate, and Chris had walked over to a UPS place in town and shipped half of Kate’s things home. There was no way they were carrying them on a bus again.

When they returned, Jeff found Anna and Daniel had joined the others. Daniel wasn’t really helping out and Jeff consequently sent him upstairs to clean out the Jacuzzi and change the sheets on the bed. Daniel argued about it until Fred took charge and ordered him to help out; threatening that he would dunk Daniel’s head in the toilet if he refused. Daniel quickly did as he was told.

Jeff found himself alone with Kate in the basement, putting away all the video game equipment.

“Mario Kart is fun,” Kate said seriously as she packed the game up inside the box, “I don’t understand why we don’t play more often.”

“You didn’t play, you were jumping on Matt’s back the entire time,” Jeff pointed out. “If I didn’t know better, I’d be jealous.”

Kate giggled. “Matt’s just the strongest. He’s too blinded by Sammie to let me get in the way anyway.”

“Yeah he is,” Jeff agreed as he carefully finished putting everything away. “I’m not jealous of Matt…although I do wish my biceps could be that big.”

Kate looked thoughtful for a second, and then unexpectedly took a running leap at Jeff. He wasn’t prepared and nearly dropped her, but he managed to hang on. “What are you doing, you crazy girl?” he smiled. Kate’s impulses weren’t new to him and so he had trained himself to be prepared for anything in her presence, but that didn’t mean he didn’t occasionally think she was nuts.

She looked at him with her intense green eyes. “You can hold me up. You’re strong enough. You’re perfect just the way you are,” she nodded decisively. Jeff smiled and tried to put her down, but she squeezed her legs around his waist tightly. “Did you mean it when you told me you loved me?” she asked him.

“Of course I did. When have I ever lied to you?” Jeff asked. He hated admitting his feelings for Kate to most people, including himself. He was so stubborn about it that he nearly lost her more than once. His friends knew, of course, but Lex had to drag it out of him the first time. He still didn’t really like talking about it. But with Kate herself, it was a little different. Once he admitted to himself how he felt about her, he had no trouble telling her.

“You don’t lie to me,” Kate shook her head. “You realized you still loved me when you thought you were drowning?”

Jeff felt a little embarrassed. Not by how he felt, but by how he panicked enough to fear drowning for a second. “Yeah.”

Kate looked at him again with intensity. “Do you promise you’ll always love me?”

He’d loved Kate since he was seventeen. He couldn’t imagine loving anyone else as much as he loved her, no matter what happened in their lives. “I promise.”

“Promise me you’ll never die,” she said quietly, and for the first time she wasn’t looking at him. Her head was lowered and she was staring at his shirt. Jeff was afraid she was getting upset.

“I promise,” he said, with a small smile. She looked up at him and squeezed him again.

“How can you make that promise?” she asked him.

“What are you going to do to me if I don’t come through?” he smiled and to his relief, she smiled too.

“That is a very good point,” she giggled. “But still, Jeffster –”

“I’m not in a big rush to leave you behind, Katie, I’ll do my best not to die for a very long time,” he nodded seriously. “And don’t you leave me either. I can’t get along without you.” He almost laughed as his mind wandered back to dinner the previous night. Lex would be so proud.

“You can’t?” Kate’s cheeks turned a little pink as she said this.

“No,” he shook his head, “I really can’t.”

“Do you want to be my boyfriend again?” she asked boldly. She looked determinedly into his eyes.

“What about Chris?” Jeff asked compulsively. He was so used to asking about Chris and her feelings for him by now that it happened automatically.

“He’ll have to wait his turn,” she said with a little nod, “I want to be with you right now.”

“So you’re asking me out?”

“Yes.”

Jeff smiled at Kate’s honesty and forwardness. He held her closer to him. “Okay."