Katherine sucked in a breath, looking past Hannah where her father was watching them through narrowed eyes. Her eyes then travelled to Jack, noticing how his brows were furrowed in confusion, but his eyes gave away his shock at the news that this man was, indeed, her father.

Looking back at Hannah, Katherine nodded, stepping outside and closing the front door behind her in hopes of blocking out the conversation. She approached her father, whose hands were clasped firmly behind his back as he observed his daughter.

"It's... good to see you, Father," Katherine greeted, attempting a smile despite the fact that his eyes could have burned a whole right through her from such intensity.

"It has come to my attention that you have a different partner than what you were assigned," Mr. Pulitzer began, ignoring Katherine's greeting.

"Really?" Katherine responded nonchalantly, crossing her arms at her chest. "I didn't notice."

"Witty remarks are not going to make your case better, Katherine," Mr. Pulitzer replied. He removed his hands from behind his back, instead using them to reach into his pocket and withdraw a piece of paper. "At first, I had thought that was just a simple mistake that had happened in the system. Stuff happens, right? But, it's been uncovered that it wasn't a mistake at all; it was your doing."

Katherine tensed up at his words. "I'm sorry?"

"Don't play dumb, sweetheart." Mr. Pulitzer folded the paper back up, sliding it into his pocket as if it was useless to bring it out anyways. There was a moment of silence between them before he reached over and opened the door to the backseat of the car. "Get in the car."

Katherine took a step backwards, "What?"

"You heard me, Katherine. Get in the car. You're getting reassigned."

There was no way Katherine could play herself out of this. She would have to fight her way out of the situation, but she wasn't sure how it would work. She had inherited her father's stubbornness, but her father was used to power. Katherine, not so much.

"I'm not going."

"Pardon?" Mr. Pulitzer furrowed his brows, color rushing to his face. He didn't like his power being tested, especially by his own child.

Katherine was the only person brave enough to contradict him.

"I'm not getting in the car. I'm not leaving Jack."

"You're not leaving him?" Mr. Pulitzer gave Katherine an icy stare before a slight hint of amusement glittered in his eyes. "You really expect me to believe you fell in love with your partner after only three months?"

Katherine glared at her father. "You're right, that is crazy," she remarked. "I fell in love with my partner after two months."

Mr. Pulitzer was silenced only for a moment. He took ahold of Katherine's wrist, pointing to the car. "Get in. I should have known what I was signing up for when I decided to have you participate in the Appraisal."

"It's taken you this long to realize that?" Katherine responded. "I didn't ask to be signed up. None of us did. Twelve months isn't time people have to just toss around like you do. So either you'll let me stay, or you can drag me back to New York. Either way, I'm not leaving willingly." When Mr. Pulitzer didn't respond, Katherine turned on her heel and began to walk back to the front door where Hannah was watching silently. She quickly stopped, however, not thinking about this fact until that moment. She slowly turned back around, her brows furrowed. "Wait... why is this called an appraisal? Why not an experiment?"

"For that answer, you'll have to wait until this is over." Mr. Pulitzer's eyes were emotionless as he gazed upon his daughter. Katherine couldn't see what was going on inside of his head. But then again, she never had been able to.

Katherine said the only thing she could. "Have a nice trip back, Father. I'll see you in January."

~•~

Katherine was seated on her bed, staring blankly at the wall as she thought over the conversation she shared with her father. She couldn't tell if he was serious about reassigning her, but whatever he was planning, Katherine didn't plan on being separated from Jack. The two of them had come so far with developing a connection between them. Even if it was confusing exactly what was happening between them, Katherine knew that there was something there.

Katherine sighed, resting her chin on her knees where she hugged them to her body whilst staring at the end of the bed. She wasn't aware that she left her bedroom door open, nor was she aware that Jack was standing in the doorway to the bedroom. When she finally realized he was there, Katherine looked up at him reluctantly. "Do you need something?"

"Just some answers," Jack breathed, stepping into the room and seating himself in front of Katherine on the bed. "I heard everythin' you told your old man."

Katherine tensed up, recalling the conversation. How did he hear?

Jack continued, "And... that's why I wanted ta ask what you meant by... you fell in love?"

"What about it?" Katherine asked quietly, averting her gaze from Jack's.

"Was that just a coverup?"

Katherine's eyes quickly darted back up to Jack, and she quickly took one of his hands, "It wasn't just a coverup, Jack. Sure, I'm not exactly sure what's happening between us, but I know I don't want to leave what we have."

"So was it a lie?"

Katherine shook her head, shifting her body so she was facing Jack. "I probably shouldn't be saying this so early into the experiment, but no, it wasn't a lie. In some ways, it was false, but in other ways it wasn't."

She felt Jack's hand retract itself from her own, and she panicked for a moment, thinking that she may have overstepped her boundaries. But her thoughts were quickly interrupted by the feeling of his hand at the back of her neck, drawing her closer to him.

Their lips connected, and for once things were different. Unlike the day on the couch or the picnic on Valentine's Day, it simply took a confession and an assurance of similar feelings.

Katherine fell back against the bed, Jack's weight hovering above her. Both of them felt secure in each other's presence, as if simply being together could rid them of any stress or misfortune in their lives. For the time they spent connected, both of them seemingly forgot about how Mr. Pulitzer came earlier in the day to separate them.

There was a new feeling there, too: a fiery passion building in both of their guts with a desire to remain together. Whether amorous or subtle, that feeling would remain, even when something—or someone—threatened their relationship.

<><><>

a/n:

it took me eleven chapters to actually develop their relationship into something more

it'll be worth it, though. I promise