Overland Park, KS, A Morning in May [Wednesday Fandom Time]

[vanillajello]

The stupid thing about going to Kansas was that time was much slower. Kate was painfully aware that while she'd already been gone from Fandom over two days, it had barely been 18 hours for her. Still, after a night at home, she was just about starting to feel a little less raw. The general nausea had abated, at least, as had the panic.

The guilt, however irrational she knew it to be, would probably stay for a while.

Stretching out on her bed, Kate reached to get her phone from the nightstand, then turned it on. For a moment, she thought about making a call – to Bod, to Jack, to Mitchell, to Hannibal, to anyone – but she decided against it, unable to really decide what it was she wanted to say to any one of them. (Except maybe Hannibal. There was a certain amount of I get it now present.) She put the phone down on the bed next to her.

She'd be available now; that'd have to be enough.

[ooc: NFB, but open for phone calls and texts! Whoo, taking advantage of my 1,5 days at home.]

Comments

[vanillajello]

"Thank you," Kate replied, leaning in to lightly kiss his lips. "And thanks for the... texts, too. They made me cry like a moron but thank you."

[therewaslife]

"I didn't mean to make you cry," Bod said apologetically. "I just thought seeing me would do more to make you believe my words than just getting it in a text message."

[vanillajello]

"They were good tears, Bod, or at least better than what I've generally been crying lately," Kate replied wryly. "Though I approve of everything that gets you to come here like that."

[therewaslife]

Bod smiled and leaned forward to steal a kiss of his own. "I would have come sooner but I wanted you to have time to yourself to decompress for a bit. I know being alone with your thoughts is difficult but it was probably needed, at least at first."

[vanillajello]

"Yeah, that might have kinda been the point in running away." Or, it had totally been the point. "Of course, I didn't account for the fact that everything moves slower here."

[therewaslife]

"You still needed the time even if it's been comparatively less time here than it is on the island," he said, starting a slow, smooth stroking up and down her back with his fingers.

[vanillajello]

"Yeah." Kate sighed, leaning into the touch a bit more. "It'd be totally cowardly to just stay here in never go back, right?"

She wasn't entirely serious.

[therewaslife]

"Your parents might wonder why I'm suddenly living here," he joked, smiling briefly. Yes, he was including himself in the whole 'never leaving again' fantasy she was having. "And I think your friends on the island might miss you or at least regret not being able to say goodbye to you."

[vanillajello]

"Not to mention anyone wanting to come by Luke's on a Friday would be pissy." If he wanted to be included, she'd include him. "As would the Saturday bookworms."

[therewaslife]

"I'm sure they'd find other people that could easily fill those positions," he murmured, leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers. "I'd rather stay with you."

[vanillajello]

"I'm gonna move next door," she replied quietly, and that actually wasn't just fantasy, though she wasn't sure he'd be able to catch that. "There's room for you to stay."

[therewaslife]

He didn't catch on immediately. In fact, he thinking too small. "Next door...into your brother's room?"

[vanillajello]

"Yeah, I'm sure he'd like that," Kate murmured, amused, with a hint of a drawl. "No. Next door, to the old Hubbard house."

[therewaslife]

"That...makes more sense," Bod said, looking sheepish. "Are you really going to move over there? On your own?"

[vanillajello]

She shook her head just a bit, and her nose rubbed against the tip of his. "Not on my own. Charmaine bought it."

[therewaslife]

"Your aunt might mind a strange boy staying there," he mumbled, nuzzling his nose against her cheek. He pressed a kiss against the same cheek.

[vanillajello]

"You were stuck in a basement together for the better part of a day, for one," Kate pointed out, sighing softly, eyes closed. "I doubt she thinks you're a strange boy. I'm sure she thinks you're a perfectly polite young Englishman."

[therewaslife]

"If you'd like me to stay," Bod said quietly, running a line of kisses from her cheek to her ear where he whispered, "I'll stay."

[vanillajello]

"No, you should go home," Kate replied, though she sounded beyond reluctant. Kid of like she was saying what she thought she should be saying. "In a bit. I'll be fine."

[therewaslife]

"A - all right," Bod said, having to blink at the change from one extreme to another. He eased back and nodded. "All right. I'll go back."

[vanillajello]

And Kate ended up looking confused, which was aimed almost entirely at herself. Apparently, she only now realized she'd expected him to say no. She wasn't sure why.

"Um, I... don't know if I actually want you to go."

[therewaslife]

Bod was feeling some confusion now too. He chewed on his lower lip. "I...don't know what I'm supposed to do right now. I don't want to go because I don't want you to be alone but if you want me to go so you can have time to yourself and with your family, I will. I just...don't know which I'm supposed to do."

[vanillajello]

Kate was quiet for a moment, mirroring his lip-chewing. Then she took a deep breath. "I can have time to myself with you around," she said. "I mean, I tried having time to myself alone but it's not really working, and no one else here is gonna tell me that wasn't me this weekend because I can't tell them. And I don't care if I have to make up an excuse for why you're randomly here, you can stay, though you're gonna have to act like I'm gonna graduate this weekend."

Oh, look, rambling happened.

[therewaslife]

Bod hadn't exactly expected rambling either. He smiled softly at her, gently, and reached out to bring her close to him again. "I can pretend that you're going to graduate this weekend. I can sleep in your brother's room on the floor and I can help your father do his landscaping if that helps. I'd like to stay so you're not alone even if you need time on your own."

[vanillajello]

Kate slid her arms around him and hugged him tight to herself. "Lionel is gonna get jealous if you sleep in Moosh's room," she murmured.