Work Text:
Katherine stared at her phone, chewing on her lip. She didn’t want to seem clingy, but he hadn’t been responding for a while. That wasn’t like Jack.
And it wasn’t like her texting him was new, or anything. They’d been friends for months before they actually got together, so…
Finally deciding she didn’t care what Medda thought of her (that was a lie, she wanted desperately for Medda to like her and think she was good enough for Jack), she clicked send, turning her phone off and throwing it down on the bed facedown.
Not even a minute later her phone dinged, and she reached for it immediately, knowing that if she didn't look at the text right now she wouldn’t ever.
2:34 pm between Medda and Katherine
Katherine: Hey Miss Medda! I’ve texted Jack a couple times, and he hasn’t responded. Do you have any idea where he is?
Medda: Hello Katherine dear! Jack is just at his art studio, working on some of his recent projects.
Katherine was biting at her lip again, scared to-
Medda: Here’s the address: ************
She’d always wondered if Medda Larkin could read minds, but this… this was an entirely different level of that theory.
Katherine: Thank you so much!
Well, she was bored. She had nothing to do. Jack had said he worked better with something happening around him. Medda had provided her with an address. She might as well go spend time with Jack. They were- dating? -at this point.
***
Jack leaned back, considering. The hair was a little stiff. And the eyes weren’t quite right either…
Someone knocked at his door, and he covered the sketch on his easel quickly with another in progress painting he had. Standing up, he checked the time. It wasn’t that late, only around 3:00, so he doubted it was Medda coming to get him home. He’d been using his phone to watch a movie with earbuds, so it couldn't be a noise complaint like he’d gotten before. If it wasn’t that, who could it be?
Jack turned the handle, opening the door, and…
On the other side was Katherine.
Katherine, the girl he’d liked for months.
Katherine, the girl that had taken him out on a date less than a week ago.
Katherine, the girl he’d been drawing seconds before.
“Heya Kath, what’re you doin’ here?” Jack asked, a little dumbfounded.
“Well, you weren’t answering your phone, so I figured I’d come and see you!” she replied, smiling. Then she seemed to deflate a little, “Do you want me to leave?”
“No no no!” Jack hurried to assure her, reaching out to touch her wrist before she could turn around. “No, no, it’s fine, I just didn’t expect ya here. Here, come in.”
Katherine stepped through the doorway, glancing around. Jack’s head still hadn’t caught up, but one question managed to push its way to the front of his mind.
“Wait- how’d you know where to find me?” Jack asked, hoping he didn’t sound accusatory.
Katherine smirked, and Jack’s face flushed. “I have my ways,” she responded, winking,
“Okay then,” Jack muttered, unable to hide his smile.
Katherine looked around, finding a stool and dragging it over to his easel to sit next to him. Jack sat next to her, a little nervous, for whatever reason. It was just Katherine, there was no reason to be so scared.
“What’re you painting?” Katherine asked, tilting her head. Jack glanced at the canvas in front of him, trying to remember what painting he had put up to hide the one he had actually been working on.
“Uhhhh, I’ve got an art assignment for my class due, so I was workin’ on that,” Jack answered, eyeing the paints laid out in front of him. They weren’t for this project, but he could work with them.
Katherine tilted her head, glancing down at the paint colors and then back up at the canvas. Jack could see her mind working, and he didn’t like the look on her face. It was far too calculating to mean anything good for him.
“Isn’t the number one rule in relationships to not lie to each other?”
Jack’s eyes widened, looking over at Katherine to see if she really was mad. Instead he found that her eyes were sparkling, a faint smile on her face. Jack shrugged self consciously, looking back at the painting in front of him.. “How’d you know?” he asked.
“C’mon, Jack, I’m a reporter. I pay attention enough to notice that the paint is dry and none of the colors you have out actually match anything on the painting,” Katherine explained. Jack wasn’t looking at her, but he could hear the smile in her voice. “Why don’t you show me what you were actually working on?”
Jack glanced at Katherine, hesitant. He didn’t want to refuse to show her his art, but he didn’t want to scare her off. And, okay, yes, he was more than a little embarrassed about it. But she was smiling, encouraging him to trust her, even if she didn’t know it.
“Okay,” Jack agreed, reaching for the painting. He stopped just before he pulled it off, still hesitant to fully admit what he had been working on. “Just… promise you won’t find it too weird?”
“Jack,” Katherine started, reaching out to touch one of his hands.. He looked at her, biting his lip nervously. Katherine smiled, interlacing their fingers. “I promise I won’t find it weird.”
Jack nodded, carefully lifting his assignment off of his easel, never letting go of Katherine’s hand. He heard her gasp quietly, and he was almost afraid to look over and see what she thought of it.
“That… is me. You were painting… me.”
“Yeah,” Jack whispered, flexing his free hand. “I’m sorry, I know it’s weird-”
Katherine laughed, effectively pulling Jack’s eyes to her. She was grinning, like it was the first time Jack had ever drawn her, like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Trust me Jack, there is nothing weird about my boyfriend drawing me.”
Jack froze. “B-boyfriend?” Katherine had just referred to him as her boyfriend. Sure, he’d been wondering about that himself, but she sounded so sure, like she’d never even questioned it. That was Katherine, though, completely sure of what she was doing. She never had to stop to think about things, not if the decision was one that could be made quickly and easily. At least, that’s what it had always seemed like, because looking at Katherine’s face now he realized that maybe she wasn’t so sure of herself. He thought back to what Race had said, that she wasn’t perfect, and that he would just let himself down if he kept thinking she was.
“I mean,” Katherine said, interrupting Jack’s thought process, “If you don’t think we’re there yet, we don’t have to label it or anything-“
“No, no, no, Kath, that’s not what I meant,” Jack assured her, squeezing her hand. “I didn’t wanna think’a us as datin’ without talkin’ to you first, but- I mean, I’m drawin’ you Kath, ‘steada workin’ on my school assignment! Clearly ya mean somethin’ to me.”
Katherine smiled, a sweet, blinding smile, and Jack had to bite his lip to keep from kissing her. She was beautiful, and he was so, so lucky-
“Jack,” Katherine’s voice was quiet now, far different from the bright smile on her face only moments before. Jack blinked until he had focused on her face again. She looked nervous, hesitant, like she was considering her next words carefully. Her eyes dropped to his lips so fast he thought he might have imagined it, but he was sure it had happened. “Never mind.”
“Can I kiss you?”
Katherine stared at him, and Jack started to doubt himself. Maybe he had imagined it in his hope that she felt the same way. He started to pull his hand away, looking away from Katherine. He was so stupid, he should’ve known he was moving too fast-
Katherine’s hand tightened around his, drawing his eyes back to her face.
Katherine seemed to freeze, like she hadn’t expected Jack to listen so easily. Then, slowly, she nodded.
Jack brought his free hand up to rest on her cheek, gently, like he was scared he might break her. Katherine smiled, bringing her hand up to rest on his. Jack leaned forward, a little more sure of himself now. Katherine moved her hand, settling it on the back of his neck and using it to pull him a little closer.
Jack stopped, not fully able to believe that what he had expected to be an afternoon of painting alone in his studio had turned out like this. Katherine seemed to sense his hesitation, because she smiled reassuringly again. He could feel her breath fanning out against his mouth, a reminder that she hadn’t pulled away yet and probably wasn’t going to.
Finally, he leaned in the rest of the way, gently slotting his lips against Katherine’s. His eyes fluttered shut, and he felt Katherine tilt her head to a more comfortable position.
Jack pulled away, opening his eyes. Katherine was smiling as she blinked her eyes open, and Jack was sure he had landed the most beautiful girl in the whole world. Suddenly, he wasn’t so embarrassed about drawing her, because any artist would, any artist would love an opportunity to paint something so perfect.
Katherine moved her hand from his neck, reaching up to brush a few strands of hair out of his eyes. Then she cupped his hand on her cheek again, turning her face to kiss the palm of his hand before pulling it off and winding their fingers together.
“Weren’t you drawing something?” Katherine asked, nodding her head toward the picture in front of them. Jack chuckled, looking down at their hands in his lap.
“‘S a little hard ta draw with both my hands occupied, Kath.”
Katherine shrugged, her eyes twinkling, but still not moving to take her hands back.
Jack brought their joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss against one of her hands, then the other, before gently freeing his left hand. Katherine rested her head in his shoulder, squeezing his hand. Jack looked down at her again, smiling. He took a moment to take it all in, the way she looked curled in a stool next to him with her head on his shoulder, the way her hair fell and caught the light coming in through the window, the way she was tracing designs on the back of his hand with her thumb, all of it. Everything that made Katherine perfect, but not in the way he had thought before. No, she was perfect because she wasn’t, beautiful because she was insecure and knew exactly what Jack needed. She was perfect because she was her, and that was all that anyone needed to be perfect.
Katherine looked up at him when he didn’t start painting, raising an eyebrow. Jack shook his head, dropping a kiss on Katherine’s forehead before turning back to his canvas.
“Hair’s a little stiff… ‘n the eyes ain’t right either…” he murmured, tilting his head.
Katherine scoffed. “It’s practically perfect.”
“Practically ain’t exactly, Katherine,” Jack reminded her, smirking when she rolled her eyes.
“Then I guess you’re lucky you have a model right here, aren’t you?” she quipped.
Yeah, Jack thought as he rolled his eyes fondly and raised his eraser to the canvas, A pretty perfect one, too.