Katie's Escape Ch. 04

Katie shrugged "Sure" He kissed her on the cheek. "Stop being cute, it's obnoxious" She said as she pushed him away.

"You love it. What kind of music do you like?"

Katie thought for a moment.

"Air Supply? Done." He said as quick as he asked the question. The classic cheesy song came on and she looked at him like he was an idiot. He smiled and switched the same station that only plays bands from Seattle; aka grunge music. Katie didn't protest. He gave her a wider smile and backed the car out.

They made small talk along the way to his apartment, which was no more than 5 minutes away.

"Want to come up with me and meet Jake when he is all flustered?" Lucas asked

"I'd love to"

They climbed up the stairs and Katie couldn't help but relive the eternity it took her to walk out of this building just this past weekend. As they rounded the corner, Jake was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know, maybe Dean came home and let him in" Lucas opened the door to his apartment to find it completely dark. He quickly texted Jake, who replied right back.

"Uh, he is up on the roof"

"What? Is he suicidal?"

Lucas laughed "No. We party, sometimes, with our neighbors up there. I'm so sorry. This is not how I planned this night to go"

"It's cool. I've never seen one of those party roofs before. Except on How I Met Your Mother. Let's go!" Katie said with excitement. She really didn't mind the detour, especially now since she was finally crossing off rooftop party from her bucket list.

The roof was about 4 floors up and it was all stairs, which was not what Katie's shoes were designed for, but she silently endured the pain. When they finally got to the top, Lucas pushed open what she assumed to be an extremely heavy door and held it open for her. As she walked out, was shocked at the lack of people. All she could hear was the busy traffic that sounded from the ground level.

Unexpectedly, Lucas took her hand and guided her around a tall brick pillar thing.

Katie couldn't take in all of what she saw. There were Christmas lights strung high over a cloth covered table tucked into a corner that looked like it could fit four people that was set with plates, wine glasses, and two really thick, glowing candles. There were several fake looking trees, embedded with more Christmas lights, set around it to give an illusion of privacy.

"I hope you are hungry" He said, pulling her towards the table while Katie all but gawked at the set up.

"We have a very refined meal, this evening, from none other than Seattle's premier eatery." Lucas was digging inside a cooler of some sort while Katie was still looking around at everything. He turned around and saw that she wasn't even paying attention "Your silence is making me nervous" Lucas finally said "I had it on good authority that this was going to be more or less perfect."

Katie felt a tad embarrassed at all the . . . effort and 'more or less perfectness'. She wasn't sure if she liked it just because she felt like it was more than she deserved. Which, opened an entirely new problem in her head, except there was a glowing smile on her face that wasn't fading. Beyond that undeserving sentiment, there was an overwhelming sense of elation.

Was this, perhaps, The Grand Gesture she had been searching for? It scared her that it might not be enough, but scared her more that it just might exceed 'enough'.

"I -- uh -- that -- Sam helped you with this" She blurted out without thinking. Where the hell did that come from? He puts on this huge thing for you and you say something stupid like that? Now she really felt like she didn't deserve it.

"I'll take that to be the equivalent of 'yes, Lucas, it IS perfect' "

"Let me rephrase that." She broke a nervous laugh "Lucas, this is . . . " She searched a thousand words in her head but only one kept blinking. One word that would be the cherry on top of this cliché sundae, yet fit so perfectly that any other word would have come out insincere. "Lovely. Uh, thank you. I will address the problem of you making me into a sappy girl about this later, though." She said teasingly.

"I'd expect nothing less! Anyway, back to the food." He held something behind his back and had an expressionless look on his face. Katie was a tad scared. She wouldn't put it past him to have a bag of McDonald's.

"Sit" He ordered her. She didn't budge. "Please" With a small, unreadable look, she sat down. Behind his back, he pulled out a plain, brown paper bag. Katie was stifling all the sarcastic comments she could have made about that bag, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Now, I had a lot of options, since you have 90 million favorite restaurants. I thought about fast food, but it wouldn't have been fresh enough by the time we got here. So, I opted for something that could just be chilled. That left about 30 million, just in the Seattle area alone. However, I remembered one place in particular that you mentioned and so, I went with that."

"Nice intro, but you should know better than to withhold food from me." She fisted her fork and held it aggressively.

Finally, he pulled out a tissue wrapped croissant sandwich. Just from the look of it, she knew where it was from. No other bakery had the perfect croissant.

"Shut up. You did not go all the way to West Seattle just to get a Bakery Nouveu croissant sandwich." She was impressed, officially. It was even her favorite, turkey and Havarti with Dijon mustard. "I gotta say, I'm impressed. More than impressed."

He smiled, sat the sandwich down on her plate and quickly moved in her a kiss on the cheek.

"You are too charming" She said with a smile, yet a questioning look. Katie took a bite of the sandwich and her eyes glazed over. Sam or no Sam, this was fucking awesome.

*****

The night was fading fast, it seemed as the night slowly crept into morning for Lucas, Katie, Sam, and Maddy. What started out with witty banter, snappy comebacks, and flat out bursts of laughter was now ending with half-hearted answers that bordered on bizarre and obscure laughing at stupid things like when Lucas said "Meal" instead of "meat".

Maddy finally passed out after downing several drinks, Lucas noted. He could see her as the hard partying type. Then Sam kept yawning, which inspired everyone else to follow suit. He was tired as hell, but didn't want to leave or want the night to end. Funny how he thought the same thing last night, but now they weren't even naked. That notion should have scared him, but it didn't. And while Katie seemed to fight his attention towards her, she also seemed to get him just enough to let him know she felt something too. Yet, other times, Katie acted like he was a tree stump. Like when he first arrived.

But again, that didn't matter anymore as the three of them sat around trying to fight sleep and perk up the bags hanging from their eyes.

"Okay, okay. Let me clean some of this up, then we will play one last game" Sam said. Lucas wondered why Sam needed to clean up now and not wait until the morning, but he didn't mention that thought. "Do you need any help?" Lucas asked, hoping like hell that she didn't.

Sam smiled "Naw. I got it." Then walked to the kitchen, repeated herself "One more game!"

Katie's head lightly rested on his shoulder as Sam left, making Lucas form an arrogant smile. His hand came up and smoothed her hair. Katie seemed to fall instantly asleep at the gesture, which he again noted promptly. He carefully wiggled free from her leaning head, which she took no notice to. Lucas took that as a good sign.

He walked into the kitchen in a sleepy haze. His mind wasn't at full capacity, but he knew what he wanted to do.

"Hey Sam. Can I ask you for another favor?" He said quietly.

"If you must" Sam turned and gave a careless shrug. Lucas came closer and whispered low.

"I have this idea for this date I got planned for Katie, but I'm going to need your help."

"Date? When did you ask her on a date?"

"I haven't yet, but I'm going to"

"How do you know she will say yes?"

"I don't."

Sam paused for a moment, then another moment. Carefully evaluating Lucas.

"You are really arrogant, you know that?"

"You aren't the first person to say that, so yes. Anyway, where is her favorite place to eat?"

"Easy. Depends on the day." Lucas gave Sam an unamused look. She rolled her eyes "Fine. If you are thinking fancy, The Palisade. If you are thinking middle of the road, I'd say Chuck E Cheese. Slightly lower, Red Mill. Cheap, I'd go with Dick's." Throughout the conversation he had with Sam, even when sleep clearly engrossed her brain, the sarcasm was still laid on thick.

Lucas thought about all those options. None seemed appealing.

"Does she have like a failsafe?"

Sam thought for a minute. "Bakery Nouveau, probably."

"Never heard of it. Where is that?"

"West Seattle. The baker won the World Pastry Bake off or something like that in France. It's kind of a big deal. Anyway, they have cold sandwiches and Katie's favorite: chocolate hazelnut croissants."

Lucas thought about the shitty drive to West Seattle and almost thought seriously about Red Mill. But, Sam hadn't steered him wrong before, so he wasn't going to question her now. He decided on this bakery place, even though it seemed a tad overwhelming. The two of them hashed out the details, on the assumption that Katie would agree to go on a date.

He returned to the couch, only to find Katie still sleeping. Sam followed and shook her head.

"What an asshole" Sam said while nodded toward a passed out Katie and yawned "I think I'm going to be like the cool kids, though and head to bed too. Feel free to crash on the couch, but be warned that we have a strict rule about not fooling around on the couch"

'How many times have you broken that rule?"

Sam cracked a lazy smile "Let's just say our carpet cleaner has a great upholstery attachment. Goodnight" She replied jokingly.

"Goodnight, Sam"

Sam woke up Maddy before they both dragged their feet upstairs. Lucas looked over at Katie and gently eased into his previous spot. Her head fell on his shoulder, as if he never left and nuzzled there for a moment. Lucas eased his head back and fell asleep almost instantly.

A jerky shift on the couch woke him up, but he almost couldn't even bring himself to open his eyes. Then he felt a huge knot in his neck that almost made him wince. Next, he noticed a sharp pain in his back. Not the best idea to sleep while sitting up, he noted.

He finally opened his eyes and saw Katie bent over with both hands on her head yawning. She turned to look at him. Although she looked tired, that creamy complexion shone a bit more and gave a certain glow to her.

She yawned again, which caused him to yawn too.

Lucas didn't want to crash on the couch. He wanted to curl up in her bed and draw the shades tight and just sleep. But, there was reality back at the back of his neck, also known as school. She probably had the same thought.

"What time is it?" He asked absently.

"Like 5 I think" It sounded about right, he thought. He reluctantly offered to leave so she could sleep, and selfishly, for him to sleep as well. And stretch his neck, seriously that shit hurt.

But, much to his surprise, she subtlety offered him to stay. The neck thing could wait, and afterall, he was sure that lying down on an actual bed would fix the problem.

They went upstairs, and all he could think about was sleeping. Sure, Katie's company was a strong appeal, but he needed sleep after having so little in the past 36 hours.

His mind quickly changed when she emerged from the bathroom, in short boxers and hardened nipples through her tank top. He also took note of her vaguely untamed hair that gave her a sex appeal he hadn't seen on her before. Suddenly sleep didn't seem so important after all. He could sleep after he died from fucking Katie all day.

Apparently, she could read his expression and he couldn't help but smile that could already pick up on it. He slowly approached her, and got just a little more turned on when she backed away. He realized he would probably always be chasing her, and the challenge was only part of what he enjoyed about her.

They tangled into each other on the bed, and the slightest pull of sleep told him he wouldn't be able to go fast or hard, which she always seem to request.

Penetrating her was just as new and delicious as it had been the first time. He watched her face take him in, saw her face soften as he lingered on a kiss that loomed between them, but never quite meeting. Lucas realized they were in broad daylight and new nuances were revealing themselves. Like the tiny mole on her neck, slightly askew to the dip in her throat. He left the lingering kiss to place an open mouth kiss over that tender patch of skin, then left a trail of kisses from there to her neck to her ear.

He gripped and interlaced their fingers, somehow seeking the connection between them that she kept resisting and he kept fighting for. Between urgent kisses, soft moans, tangled limbs, and some words he couldn't help but utter, Lucas was caught off guard when he felt Katie climax, as it seemed to run through him as well, like he could feel those pulsations that danced along her nerve endings. His gaze fell upon her again, wanting to watch her come over and over again. It was then he felt a shift in her, Katie somehow melted beneath him, but he wasn't sure exactly how or why.

Without a second thought, he moved inside her in deep, slow strokes, feeling himself go deeper inside of her as she wrapped her legs up and around him. The subtle shift made her come again, which allowed him to make full note of her facial expression.

Her hips met him faster and he followed. The circular motion of her hips combined with the vision of her naked form forced him to come suddenly and forcefully, so much so that it stole his breath. He felt a bit shaken, a bit vulnerable right then as he lay on top of her. He knew instantly why, but somehow couldn't admit it to himself. Bringing it to the forefront of his mind seemed too real, too visceral. He rolled off of her, needing the distance to distance himself from those scattered thoughts, yet felt the absence of her like a gap that needed to be filled.

She rolled up next to him, and his mind relaxed, allowing the flow of sleep to overtake his now quiet mind.

After some much needed sleep, he found himself standing at her door. Asking her out seemed so simple to think about and plan, but the whole running it by Katie wasn't anything he worried about. Until now. But, there was also a huge amount of hair just sticking up from her head, like a cow had just licked it. He cracked a smile. Jesus, does she always have to be so cute? He thought.

Hopefully because it broke his fear and he finally asked her. The relief that flooded him once she smiled that he couldn't remember why he had been so afraid before.

Lucas smiled to himself as he left Katie's apartment. Yesterday started out rough, and at first, the night wasn't looking much better. But, now none of that mattered. While he wasn't sure why he liked Katie so much and couldn't stop thinking about her, he did know that he had a date this week and had it all planned out.

The next day, Lucas sat in class and tried hard not to stare at Katie who was passed out the graded papers. She seemed to look even cuter today than usual, he noted. His phone buzzed and he snapped out of the staring contest. It was Sam. 'Hey pretty boy, do you by any chance have access to a roof?'

'Yes. Why?' he texted back

'Oh shit. I'm totally going to get you laid' Sam was like a guy friend almost. She talked like one, at least.