June 18

~•~

Katherine awoke to unfamiliar surroundings. It took several moments before her eyes adjusted to the light in the room, and it wasn't until her mind was fully awake that she was aware of the fact that she was in Jack's bedroom. She turned her head to the side, finding that Jack was already awake and had left the bed for her to sleep.

Katherine had momentarily forgotten what happened the night before to cause her to wake up in Jack's bed, but it soon came back to her.

It wasn't the fact that Katherine had fallen asleep in his bed that shocked her, it was the confession she made to him while he was asleep.

He hadn't even heard her.

She groaned, burying her face into the pillow beneath her.

Katherine didn't know how to face the day ahead of her. After all, the night was spent differently from what she expected.

But overall, Katherine wondered if there would ever be a day she could say the same thing to his face.

<><><>

July 1

~•~

It was the sixth checkup of the appraisal, meaning that the participants were much closer to the end of the 12 months rather than the beginning. Katherine wasn't particularly excited, because she felt things would definitely change once she and Jack left the house. She couldn't help but ask herself if everything would fall apart the moment they went different ways? Was their circumstance simply the result of being alone together for months?

Katherine expressed these worries to Hannah, who gave a soft chuckle and sat down beside the teenager. "That's what worries you? Katherine, do you remember me telling you that you and Mr. Kelly are the only subjects to have developed a relationship with each other?" Katherine nodded. "So, that being said, I think you two automatically have something special."

Katherine gave a soft, subtle nod. Completely unrelated to the conversation they were having, Katherine turned to Hannah and blurted out, "Who is the next house you're checking in on?"

Hannah furrowed her brows, looking down at the files in her hands and flipping through the pages. "Um... it looks like we'll be heading to Mr. Jacobs and Miss Lewis."

"Perfect!" Katherine jumped out of her seat, taking her laptop off of the coffee table and placing it in her lap as she sat down beside Hannah again. "I know Jack is tired of seeing only me every day." She typed into the computer before writing a set of numbers and letters onto a piece of paper.

"Give this to Davey," she said quietly, "and tell him to be ready at 4:00."

~•~

Katherine was sitting in the living room, her laptop resting in her lap as she communicated with the person on the other end of the chat. Jack, intrigued by her actions, sat down beside her and attempted to peer at her computer screen.

"Hey!" She expressed, drawing her computer screen away from him.

"What? I'm just curious." Jack shrugged, still attempting to catch a glance at the screen despite how many times Katherine drew away.

"Jack, I swear I will—" Katherine didn't finish that sentence, because a certain message popped up on her screen.

Is he ready now?

"Okay, okay!" Katherine expressed, setting the laptop on the coffee table and leaning forward. Jack glanced between her and the laptop, evidently perplexed.

The screen displayed a single word: Connecting..., and Jack didn't understand the meaning until the word disappeared, and the image of a familiar face was on the screen.

"Davey?" Jack questioned, instantly leaning forward.

"Hey, Jack!" Davey expressed, a grin growing on his lips.

"You did this?" Jack said, turning to Katherine who had a bright smile on her face.

"I thought you'd like to see him," she said, turning back to Davey. "It's nice to meet you, Davey. Any friend of Jack is a friend of mine."

"How'd you fall for him?" Davey asked with a chuckle, earning a sound of indignation from Jack.

"Who said I fell for him?"

"Hey!" Jack expressed, nudging Katherine with his elbow. He shook his head, turning back to the screen. "How've ya been, Dave?"

"I'm good here," Davey responded. "But these six months have felt like an eternity."

"What about your partner?" Jack asked.

"She's nice," Davey answered. "But I don't think we're fit for—you know—that kind of relationship."

"Why not?" Katherine asked, somehow already feeling like Davey was one of her best friends.

Davey shrugged, looking at something past the screen. "We're good friends and all, and it's not difficult to live with her, but I just don't think we're compatible." There was a pause where none of them knew what to say, until Davey spoke up with a question. "So... what about you two? You both seem like something's there."

"Oh, uh," Jack began, nervously rubbing the area behind his ear. "I guess, yeah."

Katherine gave him an amused look out of the corner of her eye before turning back to the screen. "Yeah, there's something there."

"That's great!" Davey said. "Anyways... Jack, have you contacted the boys?"

Jack shook his head. "Haven't been able to. You?"

"Same here," Davey said, heaving a sigh. "But I did talk to Crutchie and Les a couple of times."

"Really?" Jack raised his brows. "How're they doin'?"

"Same as ever," Davey said with a faint grin. "Crutchie's top of his class."

"'Course he is."

Katherine watched the two for a moment before taking Jack's hand out of the view of the laptop's webcam, giving his hand a quick squeeze before standing, leaving the two boys to their conversation.

Katherine could have sworn she'd never seen Jack this happy.