comment your thoughts bbs

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April 23

~•~

"Have you ever thought o' gettin' married?"

Katherine felt her body stop functioning as Jack asked this question. Heat flooded to her face and she felt the corners of her mouth begin twitching in what she was sure was a mix of a nervous smile and an unamused frown. Her fingers were hovering above the keys of her laptop, and her eyes stared blankly at its screen to comprehend what Jack just said.

Jack noticed her new demeanor, quickly adding in a loud voice, "No, no I ain't proposin', Plumber!"

Katherine let out a heavy exhale, looking back at Jack with a small grin, "So we're back to Plumber?"

"I felt like callin' you that, okay? So, have you—y'know—ever thought about it?"

Katherine scoffed quietly, "Well, of course. Almost every person tends to imagine what their life would be like when they meet that special someone."

"But what about now?" Jack pressed further. "What do you think of it now?"

Katherine hesitated, slowly bringing her eyes to look at Jack before she quietly set her computer on the coffee table and turned on the couch to face him. "I guess I look forward to it. Being able to call someone yours and yourself theirs is such an exciting thing."

"Yeah, I think the same," Jack replied, heaving a melodramatic sigh. "I just can't wait 'til I meet that person."

Katherine slapped his arm indignantly. "You already have!" Jack chuckled underneath his breath at her reaction, causing Katherine to furrow her brows. His expression quickly turned serious, however, and he turned his chin to look at Katherine.

"You think we'll make it that far?"

Katherine gave a silent exhale, "Well, we're going to try, aren't we?" There was silence for a long moment, hanging thick between the two of them that seemed to press in onto the mood. Hesitantly, Katherine spoke up again, "We have seven more months left of living together. Who knows what'll happen during that time?"

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May 1

~•~

"If I remember correctly, you told your father you fell in love with your partner after two months," Hannah said, seating herself across from Katherine in the living room. Jack and Seitz were upstairs in Jack's bedroom, going over similar questions that Katherine and Hannah were reviewing. "So you and him have become close?"

"I guess you could call it that," Katherine said, shifting slightly in her seat. "But then again, we are the only two people in this home and we barely ever contact the outside world. Do we even have a choice?"

"I wouldn't think like that," Hannah said with a soft exhale, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "So far, you and Mr. Kelly are the only subjects to actually develop a romantic relationship."

"Really?" Katherine breathed, leaning forward in her seat. "That's a little... shocking."

"Not to me," Hannah shook her head. "Most of the Institute hypothesized that the Close Distance Experiment wouldn't be successful. You can't force love. However, you and Jack are the only subjects to actually have some sort of chemistry there. The others are either at each other's throats or are just maintaining a friendly relationship."

Katherine looked down at her knees, unsure what to make of this information. Maybe that was why her father wasn't too forceful on having her reassigned.

Then it hit her.

"That's why we passed..." Katherine breathed.

"What?"

"My father was testing me! He was trying to see if I would willingly let myself be reassigned!" Katherine ran a hand through her hair, leaning back into the couch. "How did I not see that?"

"What are you talking about?" Hannah asked, looking up from the paper in her hands.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Hannah," Katherine pronounced. "Each group has three tasks to face, and depending on how we react, we either pass or fail."

Hannah's face remained expressionless, but she never got a chance to respond to Katherine, because the sound of Jack's bedroom door opened and two pairs of footsteps were descending the staircase.

Katherine stood to her feet, the realization leaving her numb. This was exactly what her father would do. He never stopped learning about something he was passionate about until he was certain of the truth, and testing the subjects of his experiment would mean he would know exactly what level of a relationship they were at. How had she not recognized it before?

"Well, this month's checkup is done," Seitz proclaimed as they reached the main floor. "We'll be back next month for June's checkup, but until then, you kids know the rules."

"What are you, their dad?" Hannah asked sarcastically, earning a snort from Katherine. With a single goodbye, Hannah and Seitz disappeared out the front door, leaving Katherine and Jack to return to the silence of the house.

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long time no update

I've had a severe case of writer's block recently and I'm still trying to recover

this is a shorter chapter than usual (800 words), but I'm struggling a little bit

anywhooo

thank you so much for reading 💕