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As Patrick walked with her, they talked about everything under the Sun.

Then one day she was released, Patrick stopped by her house a few times, but finally he returned to his normal life. For the next year and a half it was work, study, eat and sleep. There was no time or money for dates at all.

He saw Karen with her Mother from time to time, they stopped in for fuel. Several times they had him over for a dinner, that was nice and her Mother could really cook well. Karen attended the same small school he did, but they didn't share any classes since she was taking subjects that prepared her for a nursing career.

+++

Patrick was ecstatic the day he found out that he had won a scholarship to State College. It wasn't enough to live on so he would need to work, but it did cover nearly all of his tuition. With his Associate's degree in hand, he now had one leg up.

Patrick was happy, he knew that Jennifer attended the school, he could hardly wait to see her.

Things hadn't changed much, Jennifer was still always the center of attention. He quickly found out that Terry was in the picture, too. If anything, he had gotten bigger. Patrick did manage to talk to Jennifer a few times, she seemed happy to see him and was tickled that he had won some financing.

When he asked her out, she accepted with a smile. He was higher than a kite all week, looking forward to their date. She looked beautiful when he picked her up, after the movie they stopped at a little cafe for some french fries and a soda. Terry was there, and if a look could kill, Patrick would have died that day.

He dropped Jennifer off, got another wonderful kiss from her. For an instant her tongue touched his, she giggled and then stepped back, saying good night with a sly smile. He didn't even remember the long walk back to his dormitory room, and that night he dreamed of her in his arms.

The next day he was walking down the hall to one of his morning classes when Terry intercepted him.

"Hey, dickwad! Consider this a warning, Jennifer is spoken for!"

"Jennifer is all grown up, she can think for herself!" Patrick retorted, then tried to step by him.

That got him slammed into a nearby wall, Terry grabbed him by the neck. Patrick realized he was about to be involved in his first fight ever, and one he probably wasn't going to win.

Just then Jennifer and Karen stepped out of a nearby room. Patrick was totally embarrassed at that, here he was being manhandled right in front of Jennifer and there was little he could do about it, the jerk was a solid 80 pounds larger.

"You get your hands OFF of him!" Karen waded in, giving Terry a shove. Jennifer stood there with her hand to her mouth, but he noticed she had a smile on her face.

Terry suddenly didn't know quite what to do with this tiny little woman shoving on him, hitting at him with both hands. It was having no real effect other than to make him pause.

He finally turned and walked away. Jennifer came over and asked him if he was all right.

"What was that all about?"

"Nothing. He was just being a bully." Patrick said, still totally embarrassed at her having seen that.

"That's strange, Terry is so nice usually." She still had a silly smile on her face.

Patrick didn't say anything, rubbing his arm where Terry had tried to crush his bicep.

"Well, see you guys later, give me a call after class." She said to Karen.

"What are you doing here?" Patrick asked Karen.

"I just started classes, I am taking up nursing."

"How did you afford it?" He asked.

"I am a pretty good furniture sales person, I saved every penny I made. Then Mom cashed out that annuity that Dad bought years ago, so it's almost enough. Plus I got a job with the same company I worked for back home, it's downtown."

"Great! We can see each other sometimes then." He said.

"Yea, that will be nice. Hey, want to go get a soda?" She asked.

"Sure." Patrick looked at her face, it still bore the scars from the accident, making her left cheek look larger than the right. The lines were much less than they had been after the accident but they were clearly visible. The dress she had on was modest and pretty, it was also clear that she had lost a lot of weight. She also again did not have glasses on, her eyes were a pretty dark blue color. She apparently had mildly tinted contacts in again.

Karen noticed his quick inspection, she flushed slightly but didn't say anything.

They went down to the cafeteria, sat and visited for awhile. He found out her Grandpa had passed away and also left her over $20,000 for college. Even that wasn't enough for everything, but it helped and she was working. With her job working in the department store on commissions, and sharing an apartment with Jennifer, she was making ends meet.

That was a surprise, also. Patrick knew that Jennifer lived off campus, no way could he afford to himself.

"How do you afford that?" He asked her.

"There are four of us, Jennifer leases the apartment and then sublets to us."

"Oh. I wish I could find a deal like that."

"Maybe you can, there are a bunch of tenants there mostly from the College and they are always looking for someone. On the main floor is a common room, it has computers and microwave, a fridge and huge TV set. It even has a pool and deck outside."

"Sounds like a party house." Patrick grinned.

"Yes, a little bit but not too bad, everyone has to study of course. The women are all upstairs and the guys have the downstairs section. Sometimes a few the guys come up, though."

They both laughed at that, college kids being college kids meant lots of parties.

A week later Patrick saw Karen in the hallway, she mentioned a unit share at the apartment building, gave him a phone number. That evening he called, then went over to put in an application.

The deal turned out to be almost $150 less per month than where he was living, a few weeks later he was moved in and settled.

Patrick could have almost done handsprings, Jennifer lived one floor up in the same building.

His room mates were Jack, who had the lease, Marcus, a tall and lanky African guy that had a heavy accent and was on the basketball team, and Jonas who he decided was obviously gay yet oddly on the quiet side.

Jack was a smoker, he had made that clear, watching to see if Patrick was concerned about it. But he was also careful to always go out onto the deck. He told everyone they were welcome to use the deck but he was going to smoke out there and if it bothered them, then don't rent the damn place.

Marcus was nearly always gone, either out of town to a game or at practice. Jonas was always studying and kept to himself, and Jack was a no nonsense kind of guy that was easy to get along with.

Four very different people, yet the apartment was always neat as a pin. Jack was fussy about that, and Patrick didn't mind it at all.

Once settled, Patrick involved himself in his studies, and his attempts to date Jennifer. The last part was not an easy thing to do, but after a dozen attempts she agreed to take in a movie.

Once again, as they stood outside the security door to the upstairs portion of the apartment building, Jennifer slipped into his arms. His head swam when their lips met, the tip of her tongue traced across the tip of his.

Almost automatically Patrick's hands came up and cupped her breasts. They felt firm yet soft, he could feel the shape of them through the light bra she wore under her pullover top.

She allowed that for a few moments, then she leaned back and looked at him. Patrick missed the signal from her, lost in the sensation of actually touching her like that.

"Don't." She said. Patrick let his hands drop instantly.

"I didn't think you were that kind of guy." She told him, a fathomless expression on her face.

"I'm sorry! I just thought...."

"You guys. Always just grabbing. If I wanted you to....I would tell you." She turned and punched in her access code, walked inside.

Patrick was confused, he had gotten completely mixed signals there. Jennifer let him walk her up to her room. Then she turned to him.

"Thank you for the nice evening." She smiled, then tipped her head up and kissed him. Again, her tongue slid slightly into his mouth, quickly she turned with a soft giggle, went in and closed the door.

He went to his room, feeling confused and miserable.

"S'up dude?" Jack asked when he came in, noticing the expression on his face.

"Nothing, really. I just don't get women."

"No shit there, dude. None of us ever figure one of them out. What happened?" He was sitting there flipping cards, playing solitaire.

"I guess I went to far too fast, got out of line with Jennifer."

"Jennifer? That one is hot!"

"All I did was...touch her, she even..let me for a minute, then she....?"

"Got shot down, huh? You and everybody else, except maybe for that Terry prick."

"Terry?"

"Yea, the asshole claims he is hosing that regular as clockwork. A couple of the other jocks claim they got some too."

"I don't think so." Patrick said.

"I don't think so either, but that's what the prick says." He flipped another card.

"Shit! Can't be done!" He picked up the cards, shuffled them.

Terry and Jennifer? The thought of that made Patrick feel sick. He went to bed, and had one hell of a time getting to sleep.

The next morning he came out and Jonas was making pancakes.

"Hey, want some, Patrick?" He smiled.

"Sure."

Jonas liked to cook and all four of them got the benefit of that when they happened to be around.

"You would make somebody a good wife!" Patrick wisecracked, though a mouthful of pancakes.

Jonas laughed, came over with a huge plate and sat down. Just then Marcus came out, took one look and joined them, Jack was right behind.

It was very rare that all four of them were home at once.

"Patrick here has female troubles." Jack piped up with.

"Oh, we had better check him then!" Jonas wisecracked.

They all laughed at that.

"Women, yea? What's up?" Marcus asked, stuffing half a cake into his mouth.

Patrick told them what had happened and Jennifer's reaction.

"Maybe she just wants to know you better before she lets you at her stuff." Jack said.

"Maybe, but we have been dating on and off since high school."

"Women are weird." Jack said.

"No shit." Marcus added.

"So what do I do?" Patrick asked them.

"Just go with the flow, man. She either will come around or she won't, if not then what the hell. The school is full of women." Jack said.

"Not like Jennifer." Patrick said.

"What the fuck, Corvettes is nice but a Buick will get ya there!" Jack grinned. They all laughed again at that.

"Why don't you take out her room mate?" Jonas asked.

"Room mate? Which one?" He knew that Karen lived with Jennifer, so did a tall skinny blond named Barbara and a East Indian girl he didn't know what her name was, having seen her just one time.

"The one with the scars on her face, what's her name, Karen?" He said.

"Karen? She is just my friend?" Patrick said.

"Fuck, guy! Haven't you seen the way that chick looks at you? Besides, she has an ass and tits to die for!" Marcus stuck that in there, a huge grin on his face.

"What? Karen? Oh, come on. We just visit and talk, is all."

"She is in two of my classes, it's Patrick this and Patrick that, the broad is like totally stuck on you!" Jonas said.

"Oh, come on!" Patrick said again.

"Jonas is right, what are you, fucking blind?" Marcus added.

Patrick shook his head, then got ready for class.

Karen? What in the hell were they talking about?

+++

That afternoon Patrick went into the library. Karen was sitting at one of the tables, a stack of books in front of her. Patrick waved and sat down at a different table, opened his own books.

A few minutes later, Karen came over.

"Can I sit here with you?" She asked.

"Sure." He looked at her more closely than he ever had before, what the guys had said earlier stuck in his mind.

She wore a simple blouse and skirt, there were traces of makeup but that was all. He realized that Karen had really slimmed down and she had a nice figure. The angry scars on her face were not hard to see, plus one cheek was larger than the other, reddened. Her blouse was open at the throat, he could see the tops of her breasts although barely, the long scar obvious. The guys were right, Karen was well built for being such a short little thing.

"What?" She asked with a funny look. Then she glanced down at her blouse, thinking maybe it had come undone or something. She realized that Patrick had been inspecting her closely.

"Oh, sorry. You just look so....pretty today." He blurted out, blushing.

Karen's face also turned scarlet, her hand came up and brushed back her hair.

"I....thank you." She said in surprise.

They both studied quietly for about an hour after that, then she closed her book and started to get up.

"Hey, want to go get a soda?" Patrick asked her.

"Sure, that sounds good." She said. They walked side by side down to the cafeteria, like they had so many times before.

Jennifer was sitting at one of the tables with two other girls and Terry. Terry looked up and smirked at Patrick, then looked away.

"Want to go join them?" Karen asked.

"No, let's sit over here." He led Karen over to a smaller table on the other side of the room.

"Really? Usually you want to..sit near her..?" She let that trail off, a surprised look on her face.

"I want to visit with you." Patrick told her. She beamed at that.

Later, after a long visit with chat about classes and nothing in particular, Patrick asked her if he could walk her to her room. Normally they just said good night and that was it.

He took a good look at her as she got up, the guys were right. Karen was in shape, and she had a round fanny no dress could possibly hide. He glanced over at Jennifer who had caught him looking Karen over.

She had a blank look on her face, their eyes met and then she looked quickly away as Terry said something to her.

On the way to their apartment, Patrick reached and took Karen's hand, she looked down and then up at him but didn't say anything, simply smiled.

"Karen?" He asked her when they arrived, she had reached out to punch in the access code.

"What, Patrick?" She turned to look at him, he still held her hand lightly. He reached down and put his hands on her waist, turning her to face him. Her waist felt nice and snug, where did the fat go?

Puzzlement crossed her face for a moment.

"OH!" It took a moment for it to register on her what he wanted. She eagerly slipped into his arms and they kissed. It was just a sweet brushing of their lips but it made his head swim. Then she leaned back, wonder on her face.

"What brought that on?" She asked him with a smile.

"I just wanted to."

"So did I!" She leaned in and kissed him again. A tear trickled down her cheek, she blinked as he reached up and wiped it off with one finger. Then she turned and hurriedly punched in the code. She stopped in the doorway, looked back.

"I really didn't expect...." She said. Then she gave him a shy smile and went inside.

He stood there for a moment completely confused, why had he done that? Curious, perhaps, due to what his room mates had said?

Patrick had dreams that night, he had Jennifer in his arms, she was holding him. He was reaching up for her, she leaned down to kiss him. The face changed to Karen, he felt that same sensation waft over him that he felt when he had kissed her earlier.

Patrick woke up with a start, glancing at the clock he saw it was 4 in the morning.

What was happening? He didn't understand that, any of it. The conversation with his room mates had put thoughts in his head.

+++

The next afternoon he called Karen's apartment. Jennifer answered.

"Hi Patrick!" She said as soon as she heard his voice.

"Hi, Jennifer. Can I speak with Karen please?"

Jennifer was silent for a few seconds.

"Just a minute."

"Hello?" Karen picked up.

"Hi, Karen. I just want to know if you would like to go with me to the dance Saturday night?"

He sensed her momentary surprise.

"Yes! I would! Thank you!" She sounded tickled.

Saturday night Patrick pushed the buzzer for their apartment. He got the buzzer in return a few seconds later, so he opened the door to their upstairs section and went up.

Jennifer answered the door, smiled and let him in. There were a few minutes of discomfort as he stood there waiting, she didn't say a word to him, just went over and sat down on the couch.

A few minutes later, Karen came out of one of the other rooms.

His jaw dropped, she had on a beautiful dress, it left both shoulders bare. The tops of her breasts showed, way more of her than he had ever seen except for the one accidental glimpse in the hospital room.

She wore enough makeup that there was nearly no sign of the scars on her face, although the line on the left side of her neck went down and out of sight on her left breast.

She saw his gaze, flushed for a moment.

"I don't have any way to hide that in this dress." She told him, almost apologetically.

"Oh, that doesn't matter. My God you look beautiful!" She beamed at that. As they went out the door, once again he saw Jennifer with an odd look on her face. She had her legs crossed at the knees, her upper leg swinging back and forth.

That evening was a marvelous time, they danced all night long. Several other guys came over and asked Karen to dance, Patrick allowed that, and he also danced himself with some of the other women. About an hour after they got there, Jennifer arrived, with Terry of course.

Patrick didn't dance with her, he did notice that several times he saw her looking at him, that same odd expression on her face. Each time their eyes met, she looked quickly away.

Back at the apartment, they once again kissed. Patrick felt his head swim as her lips touched his. The first one was very brief, just like before, then she pressed against him more tightly and kissed him far more seriously.

Patrick was completely aware of her soft bust against his chest.

"I would ask you in, but the other girls...." She smiled again at him, finally disengaging.

"That's OK. Thank you for going with me, that was fun!"

"Yes, it was, thank you."

On the way back down to his own place, he met Terry and Jennifer coming up. She looked at him and smiled sweetly.

"Struck out, huh bud?" Terry smirked at him.

Patrick ignored him. He stopped at his own doorway and waited. Five minutes became ten, Terry didn't come back down. Finally Patrick went inside.

Jonas got home about 20 minutes later.

"Hey, how was the date?" He asked.

"Fine, we had a good time."

"Yea, I saw that, I was there. Karen looked hot!" He grinned.

"Yes, she did." Patrick said, the vision of the way she looked in his mind.

"Hey, Pat? That one is a winner, guy." Jonas said.

"Yes, I think so. Funny, I never even realized, never thought of her...that way."

"You really are a dumb ass! She is fucking nuts about you!" Jonas laughed, went into the living room and turned on the TV. Patrick went into his room and went to bed.

That was the beginnings of a whirlwind period of dating. Karen and Patrick were either at the library, off on a picnic, at the movies, somewhere together.

He carefully kept his hands to himself after the reaction he got from Jennifer that time, when he made his ill conceived pass at her. Sometimes when they walked down the street and Karen had her arm tucked into his, he was acutely aware of her soft breast pressed gently against his elbow.

One day after they had been dating for about a month, she wanted to go on a picnic. It was a hot day, there was a spot down by a nearby stream that they both liked. The bank there was grassy, and it was about a half mile walk to get there. They rarely saw anyone there, most people stayed up above at the park, not wanting to make the trek though trails that had blackberry bush hazards along the way. They picked their way carefully through the brambles sticking out.