FIC: Different for Girls 5 of 7 (Kat/Elliott)
Author: Clio
Title: Different for Girls Chapter 5 of 7: They Can't Take That Away From Me
Pairing: American Idol: Katharine McPhee/Elliott Yamin
Summary: Kat's recent heartbreak has left her a changed woman-and now her old friend Elliott is seeing her in a different light.
Chapter Rating: R
Chapter Length: 2600 words
Disclaimer: People sort of own themselves, don't they? Which means this is a work of fiction.
Notes: Thank you, thank you, thank you lillijulianne. While this story is a sequel of sorts to her sequence of stories about Blake, Chris and Kat, there's probably enough information here to read this on its own. All you need know is that Kat had been engaged to another man at the time she was fooling around with Blake and Chris.
1: But Not For Me | 2: I've Got a Crush on You | 3: Nice Work If You Can Get It | 4: You've Got What Gets Me
Chapter Five: They Can't Take That Away From Me
A week or so after that, she made the call.
Hearing his voice again (his intimate friendly voice, not the one in interviews) was a shock, but at least she'd known it would be. And he sounded mostly the same, thank goodness, all spark and antic energy and conspiratorial inclusion, like you're the only person he wants to pull into that magical space he exists in, even if you know you're not. Only, he didn't seem to exactly know what to say, which surprised Kat, as she'd never known him to truly be at a loss, even when he wasn't getting what he wanted. She suggested lunch, it was scheduled for two days hence, she hung up and picked up her keys and went to meet Tina and Jess for dinner, because she wasn't stupid enough to call him and then be alone.
And then on Tuesday they were in one of those little places where the diners are too obsessed with being cool to actually bother anyone else and the tables are arranged for minimal eavesdropping. They did away with all the easy small talk bits, the what-have-you-been-doings even though they knew, the weirdness of watching another "class" of Idol kids put through their paces, while they were waiting for their lunches.
"I'm proud of you, Kat. I knew you knew what you should be singing better than they did."
"I didn't," she said. "I mean, before you, I didn't know." She reached into her bag, "Here's the rough mix. I really want to know what you think."
"Now that it's done?"
"Blake-"
"No, I'm sorry, that was lame. Thanks," he said, flipping it over in his hands before putting it into his shoulderbag. "Really, thanks."
The awkward pause was covered-thank goodness-by the arrival of their food. She had ordered this cobb with fat free dressing and turkey bacon that Ryan had been yammering about the last time she saw him and it was actually really good. Blake was eating something fried and she wished that Chris were there to join her in her annoyance, though even Elliott would have looked askance at the pile of ketchup-covered golden-brown crunchiness.
Then finally Blake said, "So. Elliott."
"Yep. Elliott."
"Chris says you seem good together."
"I'm glad."
"He treat you well?"
"Of course. He's a very good man."
Blake nodded, twirled the salt shaker. "Understand you?"
"He's a watcher."
"Chris is like that."
"Yeah. But he's not-I mean, he's very stubborn about random things."
"Random?"
"Like, a joke about Britney becomes a long conversation about parenting, or how he hates to sit in chairs and always wants booths or stools at restaurants, or his whole thing with not valeting the car."
"He won't valet the car? Not ever?"
"And he pouts when I do. It's insane, and I'm sure I don't even know the half of it."
"Makes things interesting."
Kat half-smiled. "He said once that he would try to be interesting for me. I'm not sure he realizes."
Blake drummed his fingers on the table, then sighed a bit. "And how is he-"
"Chris already asked me that. Didn't he tell you the answer?"
He looked up. "I wanted to hear it from you."
She put her fork down. "How much do you want to know?"
"God, Kat, I mean, I know it's none of my business-"
"Of course it is. We're friends, right? You're a friend."
"I'd better be," he said, and smiled a little.
"My girlfriends all asked," she said. "Chris asked. What do you want to ask?"
"It's just-look, you were a different girl at the end than you were at the beginning and not all of that was bad."
"No," Kat said. "Not nearly all of it."
"And I don't want you to go back."
"Even if I wanted to, which I don't, I couldn't. Now I ask for what I want."
"Which is?"
"What, you want me to name acts for you?"
"Do you-do you do the things we did?" he asked, leaning forward.
"Not really, no. Safe words and all of that? No."
"It isn't wrong."
"Of course it isn't," Kat said, toying with a breadstick. "It just isn't what I want with Elliott. It isn't what I think of when I'm with him."
"You've outgrown it or something?"
"No, god-maybe, maybe it was just what we did." She reached over and touched his arm. "It wasn't the same with Chris, either. Maybe that was just us."
Blake nodded, and that was another land mine disabled. "So what are you asking for? Elliott, I mean, I get it-I'd fuck him-but what turns you on?"
She thought of being coy but really, what was the sense in that? "Hair."
"Hair?"
"Yes."
"On his head?"
"I like wrapping the curls around my fingers. I'm glad he grew it long."
"But not just his head."
"I like his beard. It suits him and it's very soft-"
"On your inner thighs," Blake interrupted, grinning.
"Okay, yes," Kat replied, giggling. "And when he bites his lip, it's very sexy." She stopped, smiling and looking down a bit, not sure she wanted to say more.
But of course Blake knew that. She felt his fingers under her chin, pulling her back up to look him in the eye. "C'mon, Kat. Spill."
"So, he's very, um, furry." She took a sip of water. "I like how the hair on his chest and his legs rubs me when we're fucking."
"Soft? You make it sound like you're fucking a muppet."
"No-rough against my breasts, and his ass under my hands."
"Like mine."
"Kinda. More, though."
"More? So his back-"
"Yeah he has that done," she said quickly. "But it's very manly." She sighed giddily; she hadn't really given this much detail to anyone, but this was Blake and she knew he would demand no less. "So the other night …"
"This sounds good…"
"He was tired so I'd just taken care of him and then he was sitting there and I straddled his thigh and I just sort of, rode him." She bit her lip.
Blake leaned in. "You humped his leg like a dog, you mean?"
"Sure," she replied.
"Because he's so hairy?"
She closed her eyes, remembering the strong muscle, how as she got wetter more of the inside of her pussy rubbed against him, the hair rough against the tender inner skin, and how hard she came. "Yeah."
Blake sat back. "Well, Katharine McPhee. That is really kinky."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I'm not going to worry about you," he said, popping a fried thing into his mouth.
"Good," she said, picking up her fork, and thought, I'm not going to worry about you either. "How is your recording going?"
"I won't lie, it's a lot of pressure, and without the backlog of stuff I hadn't done. And this time there's a much bigger tour planned," Blake said, "so I'm, I don't know. Not nervous really but-"
"It's a lot of responsibility," Kat said.
"Yeah," Blake said, toying with a piece of bread.
Kat cocked her head, thinking of what Chris had said. Blake was definitely still magical-it was who he was, always would be-but sitting in that chair he also seemed smaller somehow, just another boy, and she realized how unfair it was of her, in the end, to think of him as being so powerful. She put her hand on his. "You'll be great. I know you will."
Blake smiled. "Thanks. It'll be hard to be gone so long, though. I mean, Chris isn't Linda McCartney; I can't make him just come along. So that will suck."
"Chris will miss you, too."
"Yeah," he said, fidgeting again, and she thought of that Kate Bush song, I saw you as the dream, not the reality, and how different to listen to him talk about Chris now, than it was then.
So she said, "I didn't think you two could be closer but it looks like you are," and smiled.
Blake looked up, sharply, and she knew he didn't miss that, and he said, "Yeah, it just keeps, well, you know."
She shook her head. "Not any more. Tell me."
Elliott was in the studio that afternoon and evening, and Kat had an appearance to make for a dinner thing, so they were just texting each other most of the day, and might see each other late that night if they weren't too tired. Elliott wasn't too tired, himself; they were going to play everything for the label the next day and his body buzzed with nerves and excitement and selfishly, fucking Kat would get rid of some of that. She nearly always exhausted him, but in a good way, at least so far. Sure, she could be a little high maintenance, but he knew that he could be rigid, too, and she was good at rolling with him, so it wasn't that hard to roll with her, at least most of the time, though he did wish she would rinse out her tea mug because she took milk and sometimes it was gross.
Luckily she wasn't too tired, either, and so they ended up at his place around eleven, eating hummos and carrots and pita, and then suddenly she said, "So, about that tattoo."
Elliott swallowed. "I said I didn't care, and I meant it."
"I do."
He picked up his glass from the table and sat back on the couch. "Okay."
Kat sank into the other corner, pulling one leg up on the cushion between them. She picked at the label of her diet Coke bottle. "Well, I said I'd gone through a slu-a loose period."
"Yeah."
"It's sort of a souvenir of that." After a bit of silence, she looked up at him.
"Okay," he replied, nodding.
"Um …"
"Kat, you don't have to-"
"No, I'm going to do this. It isn't, I mean, I think you'll care about this part. You said it made me this girl, so I want you to know."
Elliott rubbed Kat's ankle and nodded for her to continue.
"You know those movies where people have all this sex and then they fall in love later? I just don't think that happens. You're the good girl or the bad girl from the beginning, right? The madonna or the whore. And I was sick of doing as I'm told and just thought, maybe being bad would feel better. So I did. And I did, um, a lot of things. Things we don't do. With a-with a few people, the same few people, but a lot of things."
"Do you want to do those things with me? Is that why you're telling me this? Because-"
"No-"
"I thought, I mean, it seems like when you want to do something you ask, which, I like that. I like that you ask for what you want."
"Thanks," she said. "I'm glad. But I don't want to do those things anymore."
"Are you sorry you did them?"
Kat thought, and then said, "No. I'm not sorry, I just, I did those things and now I'm done."
Elliott smiled. "I know I said I didn't care, but you keep saying-I mean, I guess I don't want to ask for things you know you don't want to do, right?"
"You want me to-"
"No, you know, no," he said, waving his hand. "Forget I said that. You don't have to say; that's personal."
"Elliott, if you want to know I want to tell you." She took a sip of the diet Coke. "A lot of it was just being with more than one person. I don't want to do that again."
"Neither do I," Elliott said, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice, trying not to get distracted adding this new bit of information to his speculation on That Ex.
"Because Dr. Drew is right; it just leads to a lot of jealousy. I know I would be jealous."
"Yeah?" Elliott asked, grinning.
"Yeah," Kat replied firmly.
"Good." He bit his lip, and watched her lick her lips. "Um, anything else? You really don't-"
"We played domination games."
"That doesn't surprise me actually."
"No?"
"You're very good at asking for what you want."
Kat laughed. "No, no, I was the submissive."
Elliott couldn't hide his surprise this time. "You were not."
"I had a safe word and everything."
"I just-I just can't-really?"
"I guess that wasn't something you were going to ask me for," she said, giggling again.
"I like everyone being equal."
"You do."
"So it shows?"
"You're always so happy when we're really going at each other, or when I surprise you."
"Who wouldn't be?"
Kat smiled sadly. "Some people don't like surprises that much."
Elliott reached down to rub Kat's leg. They were silent for a bit, and then he said, "Did they tie you up? Really?"
Kat laughed again, and Elliott thought she was probably the best girl ever, even if she didn't rinse out her tea mugs.
So he said, "Can I say something?"
Kat looked apprehensive, but said, "Of course."
"I mean, I wasn't going to tie you up or bring someone else in anyway, so it isn't that."
"Okay."
"But, well, about that evil thing? The madonna thing?"
"Madonna or whore," Kat said.
"Right. I just, I guess I don't really, I mean, I see what you're saying? But that isn't how I always thought about it."
"About what?"
"About evil. I think … I really do believe that all evil is, is not being true to yourself, allowing yourself to stray from your path because you were tempted by other things, things that seemed easier or safer or shinier or something. And good isn't out there, it's inside, and becoming that person that God wants you to be, that God made you to be."
"Huh," Kat said. "I think … yeah, I agree. I think that's, well, that's where I'm getting to."
He nodded. "And then evil isn't, well, being bad isn't that tempting, because you aren't trying to be someone else's version of good."
"Like Simon Cowell?"
"You did stare him down," Elliott said, smiling. "And even if it doesn't sell as well, it's your path, Kat. You should be proud of yourself."
"That's what everyone says," she replied, but her voice wavered.
Elliott spread his arms and Kat tucked under one, cuddling against him. "Thank you for telling me," he said, kissing her forehead. "That means a lot."
"Thanks for listening," she said.
The next morning, as Kat was driving back to her house, she checked her messages:
Hey, it's me, and I know I just saw you but I've listened to your CD about six times and Kat, it's, wow. Even better than I knew it would be. I want to listen to it more and talk to you about it so call me. I mean, it's all good, right? We're friends again and calling each other and stuff now. 'Cause … I missed you. Yeah. Call me!
She'd told herself since she went into the studio that it didn't matter, that she was doing it for herself and not to prove anything to anyone. But hearing that she thought, well, maybe it didn't matter from Simon, but from Blake?
"I missed you too, sweetie," she said.
Chapter 6: How Long Has This Been Going On?
Title: Different for Girls Chapter 5 of 7: They Can't Take That Away From Me
Pairing: American Idol: Katharine McPhee/Elliott Yamin
Summary: Kat's recent heartbreak has left her a changed woman-and now her old friend Elliott is seeing her in a different light.
Chapter Rating: R
Chapter Length: 2600 words
Disclaimer: People sort of own themselves, don't they? Which means this is a work of fiction.
Notes: Thank you, thank you, thank you lillijulianne. While this story is a sequel of sorts to her sequence of stories about Blake, Chris and Kat, there's probably enough information here to read this on its own. All you need know is that Kat had been engaged to another man at the time she was fooling around with Blake and Chris.
1: But Not For Me | 2: I've Got a Crush on You | 3: Nice Work If You Can Get It | 4: You've Got What Gets Me
Chapter Five: They Can't Take That Away From Me
A week or so after that, she made the call.
Hearing his voice again (his intimate friendly voice, not the one in interviews) was a shock, but at least she'd known it would be. And he sounded mostly the same, thank goodness, all spark and antic energy and conspiratorial inclusion, like you're the only person he wants to pull into that magical space he exists in, even if you know you're not. Only, he didn't seem to exactly know what to say, which surprised Kat, as she'd never known him to truly be at a loss, even when he wasn't getting what he wanted. She suggested lunch, it was scheduled for two days hence, she hung up and picked up her keys and went to meet Tina and Jess for dinner, because she wasn't stupid enough to call him and then be alone.
And then on Tuesday they were in one of those little places where the diners are too obsessed with being cool to actually bother anyone else and the tables are arranged for minimal eavesdropping. They did away with all the easy small talk bits, the what-have-you-been-doings even though they knew, the weirdness of watching another "class" of Idol kids put through their paces, while they were waiting for their lunches.
"I'm proud of you, Kat. I knew you knew what you should be singing better than they did."
"I didn't," she said. "I mean, before you, I didn't know." She reached into her bag, "Here's the rough mix. I really want to know what you think."
"Now that it's done?"
"Blake-"
"No, I'm sorry, that was lame. Thanks," he said, flipping it over in his hands before putting it into his shoulderbag. "Really, thanks."
The awkward pause was covered-thank goodness-by the arrival of their food. She had ordered this cobb with fat free dressing and turkey bacon that Ryan had been yammering about the last time she saw him and it was actually really good. Blake was eating something fried and she wished that Chris were there to join her in her annoyance, though even Elliott would have looked askance at the pile of ketchup-covered golden-brown crunchiness.
Then finally Blake said, "So. Elliott."
"Yep. Elliott."
"Chris says you seem good together."
"I'm glad."
"He treat you well?"
"Of course. He's a very good man."
Blake nodded, twirled the salt shaker. "Understand you?"
"He's a watcher."
"Chris is like that."
"Yeah. But he's not-I mean, he's very stubborn about random things."
"Random?"
"Like, a joke about Britney becomes a long conversation about parenting, or how he hates to sit in chairs and always wants booths or stools at restaurants, or his whole thing with not valeting the car."
"He won't valet the car? Not ever?"
"And he pouts when I do. It's insane, and I'm sure I don't even know the half of it."
"Makes things interesting."
Kat half-smiled. "He said once that he would try to be interesting for me. I'm not sure he realizes."
Blake drummed his fingers on the table, then sighed a bit. "And how is he-"
"Chris already asked me that. Didn't he tell you the answer?"
He looked up. "I wanted to hear it from you."
She put her fork down. "How much do you want to know?"
"God, Kat, I mean, I know it's none of my business-"
"Of course it is. We're friends, right? You're a friend."
"I'd better be," he said, and smiled a little.
"My girlfriends all asked," she said. "Chris asked. What do you want to ask?"
"It's just-look, you were a different girl at the end than you were at the beginning and not all of that was bad."
"No," Kat said. "Not nearly all of it."
"And I don't want you to go back."
"Even if I wanted to, which I don't, I couldn't. Now I ask for what I want."
"Which is?"
"What, you want me to name acts for you?"
"Do you-do you do the things we did?" he asked, leaning forward.
"Not really, no. Safe words and all of that? No."
"It isn't wrong."
"Of course it isn't," Kat said, toying with a breadstick. "It just isn't what I want with Elliott. It isn't what I think of when I'm with him."
"You've outgrown it or something?"
"No, god-maybe, maybe it was just what we did." She reached over and touched his arm. "It wasn't the same with Chris, either. Maybe that was just us."
Blake nodded, and that was another land mine disabled. "So what are you asking for? Elliott, I mean, I get it-I'd fuck him-but what turns you on?"
She thought of being coy but really, what was the sense in that? "Hair."
"Hair?"
"Yes."
"On his head?"
"I like wrapping the curls around my fingers. I'm glad he grew it long."
"But not just his head."
"I like his beard. It suits him and it's very soft-"
"On your inner thighs," Blake interrupted, grinning.
"Okay, yes," Kat replied, giggling. "And when he bites his lip, it's very sexy." She stopped, smiling and looking down a bit, not sure she wanted to say more.
But of course Blake knew that. She felt his fingers under her chin, pulling her back up to look him in the eye. "C'mon, Kat. Spill."
"So, he's very, um, furry." She took a sip of water. "I like how the hair on his chest and his legs rubs me when we're fucking."
"Soft? You make it sound like you're fucking a muppet."
"No-rough against my breasts, and his ass under my hands."
"Like mine."
"Kinda. More, though."
"More? So his back-"
"Yeah he has that done," she said quickly. "But it's very manly." She sighed giddily; she hadn't really given this much detail to anyone, but this was Blake and she knew he would demand no less. "So the other night …"
"This sounds good…"
"He was tired so I'd just taken care of him and then he was sitting there and I straddled his thigh and I just sort of, rode him." She bit her lip.
Blake leaned in. "You humped his leg like a dog, you mean?"
"Sure," she replied.
"Because he's so hairy?"
She closed her eyes, remembering the strong muscle, how as she got wetter more of the inside of her pussy rubbed against him, the hair rough against the tender inner skin, and how hard she came. "Yeah."
Blake sat back. "Well, Katharine McPhee. That is really kinky."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I'm not going to worry about you," he said, popping a fried thing into his mouth.
"Good," she said, picking up her fork, and thought, I'm not going to worry about you either. "How is your recording going?"
"I won't lie, it's a lot of pressure, and without the backlog of stuff I hadn't done. And this time there's a much bigger tour planned," Blake said, "so I'm, I don't know. Not nervous really but-"
"It's a lot of responsibility," Kat said.
"Yeah," Blake said, toying with a piece of bread.
Kat cocked her head, thinking of what Chris had said. Blake was definitely still magical-it was who he was, always would be-but sitting in that chair he also seemed smaller somehow, just another boy, and she realized how unfair it was of her, in the end, to think of him as being so powerful. She put her hand on his. "You'll be great. I know you will."
Blake smiled. "Thanks. It'll be hard to be gone so long, though. I mean, Chris isn't Linda McCartney; I can't make him just come along. So that will suck."
"Chris will miss you, too."
"Yeah," he said, fidgeting again, and she thought of that Kate Bush song, I saw you as the dream, not the reality, and how different to listen to him talk about Chris now, than it was then.
So she said, "I didn't think you two could be closer but it looks like you are," and smiled.
Blake looked up, sharply, and she knew he didn't miss that, and he said, "Yeah, it just keeps, well, you know."
She shook her head. "Not any more. Tell me."
Elliott was in the studio that afternoon and evening, and Kat had an appearance to make for a dinner thing, so they were just texting each other most of the day, and might see each other late that night if they weren't too tired. Elliott wasn't too tired, himself; they were going to play everything for the label the next day and his body buzzed with nerves and excitement and selfishly, fucking Kat would get rid of some of that. She nearly always exhausted him, but in a good way, at least so far. Sure, she could be a little high maintenance, but he knew that he could be rigid, too, and she was good at rolling with him, so it wasn't that hard to roll with her, at least most of the time, though he did wish she would rinse out her tea mug because she took milk and sometimes it was gross.
Luckily she wasn't too tired, either, and so they ended up at his place around eleven, eating hummos and carrots and pita, and then suddenly she said, "So, about that tattoo."
Elliott swallowed. "I said I didn't care, and I meant it."
"I do."
He picked up his glass from the table and sat back on the couch. "Okay."
Kat sank into the other corner, pulling one leg up on the cushion between them. She picked at the label of her diet Coke bottle. "Well, I said I'd gone through a slu-a loose period."
"Yeah."
"It's sort of a souvenir of that." After a bit of silence, she looked up at him.
"Okay," he replied, nodding.
"Um …"
"Kat, you don't have to-"
"No, I'm going to do this. It isn't, I mean, I think you'll care about this part. You said it made me this girl, so I want you to know."
Elliott rubbed Kat's ankle and nodded for her to continue.
"You know those movies where people have all this sex and then they fall in love later? I just don't think that happens. You're the good girl or the bad girl from the beginning, right? The madonna or the whore. And I was sick of doing as I'm told and just thought, maybe being bad would feel better. So I did. And I did, um, a lot of things. Things we don't do. With a-with a few people, the same few people, but a lot of things."
"Do you want to do those things with me? Is that why you're telling me this? Because-"
"No-"
"I thought, I mean, it seems like when you want to do something you ask, which, I like that. I like that you ask for what you want."
"Thanks," she said. "I'm glad. But I don't want to do those things anymore."
"Are you sorry you did them?"
Kat thought, and then said, "No. I'm not sorry, I just, I did those things and now I'm done."
Elliott smiled. "I know I said I didn't care, but you keep saying-I mean, I guess I don't want to ask for things you know you don't want to do, right?"
"You want me to-"
"No, you know, no," he said, waving his hand. "Forget I said that. You don't have to say; that's personal."
"Elliott, if you want to know I want to tell you." She took a sip of the diet Coke. "A lot of it was just being with more than one person. I don't want to do that again."
"Neither do I," Elliott said, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice, trying not to get distracted adding this new bit of information to his speculation on That Ex.
"Because Dr. Drew is right; it just leads to a lot of jealousy. I know I would be jealous."
"Yeah?" Elliott asked, grinning.
"Yeah," Kat replied firmly.
"Good." He bit his lip, and watched her lick her lips. "Um, anything else? You really don't-"
"We played domination games."
"That doesn't surprise me actually."
"No?"
"You're very good at asking for what you want."
Kat laughed. "No, no, I was the submissive."
Elliott couldn't hide his surprise this time. "You were not."
"I had a safe word and everything."
"I just-I just can't-really?"
"I guess that wasn't something you were going to ask me for," she said, giggling again.
"I like everyone being equal."
"You do."
"So it shows?"
"You're always so happy when we're really going at each other, or when I surprise you."
"Who wouldn't be?"
Kat smiled sadly. "Some people don't like surprises that much."
Elliott reached down to rub Kat's leg. They were silent for a bit, and then he said, "Did they tie you up? Really?"
Kat laughed again, and Elliott thought she was probably the best girl ever, even if she didn't rinse out her tea mugs.
So he said, "Can I say something?"
Kat looked apprehensive, but said, "Of course."
"I mean, I wasn't going to tie you up or bring someone else in anyway, so it isn't that."
"Okay."
"But, well, about that evil thing? The madonna thing?"
"Madonna or whore," Kat said.
"Right. I just, I guess I don't really, I mean, I see what you're saying? But that isn't how I always thought about it."
"About what?"
"About evil. I think … I really do believe that all evil is, is not being true to yourself, allowing yourself to stray from your path because you were tempted by other things, things that seemed easier or safer or shinier or something. And good isn't out there, it's inside, and becoming that person that God wants you to be, that God made you to be."
"Huh," Kat said. "I think … yeah, I agree. I think that's, well, that's where I'm getting to."
He nodded. "And then evil isn't, well, being bad isn't that tempting, because you aren't trying to be someone else's version of good."
"Like Simon Cowell?"
"You did stare him down," Elliott said, smiling. "And even if it doesn't sell as well, it's your path, Kat. You should be proud of yourself."
"That's what everyone says," she replied, but her voice wavered.
Elliott spread his arms and Kat tucked under one, cuddling against him. "Thank you for telling me," he said, kissing her forehead. "That means a lot."
"Thanks for listening," she said.
The next morning, as Kat was driving back to her house, she checked her messages:
Hey, it's me, and I know I just saw you but I've listened to your CD about six times and Kat, it's, wow. Even better than I knew it would be. I want to listen to it more and talk to you about it so call me. I mean, it's all good, right? We're friends again and calling each other and stuff now. 'Cause … I missed you. Yeah. Call me!
She'd told herself since she went into the studio that it didn't matter, that she was doing it for herself and not to prove anything to anyone. But hearing that she thought, well, maybe it didn't matter from Simon, but from Blake?
"I missed you too, sweetie," she said.
Chapter 6: How Long Has This Been Going On?