Watching the Sunrise
Title: Watching the Sunrise
Fandom: Cruel Summer
Characters: Kate, Jeanette, Mallory
Pairings: Mentioned Kate/Mallory and Jeanette/Jamie
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers up to 1x10
Summary: Kate and Jeanette both look to a new start, however Jeanette is conscious that hers could come crashing down at any time.
It’s easier for Kate now, on her road trip with Mallory, visiting places where she’s not known as That Girl Who Was Kidnapped, where they can blend into the crowds. Sure, she gets recognised sometimes, which she always knew was possible, considering that her story had made national news. But people usually take a moment to recognise her, look at her as though they know her but can’t place why for a second until it clicks, as opposed to Skylin where every time anyone looks at her, they see her kidnap, see Martin Harris, see the whole story of the court case with Jeanette. Kate knows that there are some people who will always look at her and wonder, was she really mistaken about Jeanette seeing her or had she invented the whole story as revenge after finding out Jeanette had stolen her boyfriend and her life, and then come out with the mistaken identity story with Mallory after it came out that she had initially gone to Martin willingly.
Here, anywhere that isn’t Skylin, Kate can finally be herself, can escape from always being associated with the kidnap. And it helps to be with Mallory, the one person who just allows her to be herself, doesn’t try to force Kate to be the same person she was back then, who tries to make Kate happy. After years of events like the birthday parties Joy would throw without asking Kate how she really wanted to celebrate, Mallory allowed her to celebrate her birthday in the way she wanted. Mallory’s been the bright spot in Kate’s life, the person who’s cared about what Kate actually wants, the person who’s allowing her to have a new beginning. As Kate and Mallory watch the sun rise, Kate thinks about how a new dawn is beginning for her.
Jeanette had been through one new beginning back in 1994, when she started dating Jamie Henson, started hanging out with Renee and Tennille. For the first time in forever, it felt like she had met with her mother’s approval; Cindy Turner went on and on enough about how Jeanette should try and be more popular, hinted that maybe Jeanette and Mallory were growing apart, and now at last Jeanette was the person she had always secretly wanted to be as well as the person Cindy wanted her to be.
Now the court case is finally over, with Jeanette exonerated in the eyes of the world and the law, she feels like she’s getting another fresh start. She’s back with Jamie, and although she’s not back to hanging out with Renee and Tennille, she’s good with that; they were never real friends anyway, and Jeanette’s good hanging out with Jamie and the newly reconciled Vince and Ben. There’s probably too much water under the bridge for her to ever be truly friends with Mallory again, but she and Kate have come to an understanding, she and Kate and Mallory can be civil now, and that’s good enough for Jeanette.
She tries not to think about how she had felt secure in her life back in 1994 only to have the rug pulled from under her when Kate returned; Renee and Tennille immediately turning their backs on her and trying to befriend Kate again, Jamie’s initial anger and downward spiral, the whole town turning on her and even her own mother doubting her as Kate Wallis told her story, as Jeanette became the most hated person in America.
Everything’s changed now; Kate’s confirmed that she now knows Jeanette didn’t see her when she initially thought she did, and while she’s not quite got back the same old life from 1994, she’s got the closest she’s ever going to get to it, and that’s good enough for her.
She tries not to imagine a possible future that could bring her new dawn crashing down around her ears; realistically, she knows it’s not likely that Kate will know that Jeanette did, in fact, hear her calling for help from the basement on a later occasion, and turn her back and walk away without reporting it. But Jeanette still fears the possibility that one day this will somehow come out in the open, that her fresh start will be no more, that she will return to the despised Jeanette Turner she was before.
Fandom: Cruel Summer
Characters: Kate, Jeanette, Mallory
Pairings: Mentioned Kate/Mallory and Jeanette/Jamie
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers up to 1x10
Summary: Kate and Jeanette both look to a new start, however Jeanette is conscious that hers could come crashing down at any time.
It’s easier for Kate now, on her road trip with Mallory, visiting places where she’s not known as That Girl Who Was Kidnapped, where they can blend into the crowds. Sure, she gets recognised sometimes, which she always knew was possible, considering that her story had made national news. But people usually take a moment to recognise her, look at her as though they know her but can’t place why for a second until it clicks, as opposed to Skylin where every time anyone looks at her, they see her kidnap, see Martin Harris, see the whole story of the court case with Jeanette. Kate knows that there are some people who will always look at her and wonder, was she really mistaken about Jeanette seeing her or had she invented the whole story as revenge after finding out Jeanette had stolen her boyfriend and her life, and then come out with the mistaken identity story with Mallory after it came out that she had initially gone to Martin willingly.
Here, anywhere that isn’t Skylin, Kate can finally be herself, can escape from always being associated with the kidnap. And it helps to be with Mallory, the one person who just allows her to be herself, doesn’t try to force Kate to be the same person she was back then, who tries to make Kate happy. After years of events like the birthday parties Joy would throw without asking Kate how she really wanted to celebrate, Mallory allowed her to celebrate her birthday in the way she wanted. Mallory’s been the bright spot in Kate’s life, the person who’s cared about what Kate actually wants, the person who’s allowing her to have a new beginning. As Kate and Mallory watch the sun rise, Kate thinks about how a new dawn is beginning for her.
Jeanette had been through one new beginning back in 1994, when she started dating Jamie Henson, started hanging out with Renee and Tennille. For the first time in forever, it felt like she had met with her mother’s approval; Cindy Turner went on and on enough about how Jeanette should try and be more popular, hinted that maybe Jeanette and Mallory were growing apart, and now at last Jeanette was the person she had always secretly wanted to be as well as the person Cindy wanted her to be.
Now the court case is finally over, with Jeanette exonerated in the eyes of the world and the law, she feels like she’s getting another fresh start. She’s back with Jamie, and although she’s not back to hanging out with Renee and Tennille, she’s good with that; they were never real friends anyway, and Jeanette’s good hanging out with Jamie and the newly reconciled Vince and Ben. There’s probably too much water under the bridge for her to ever be truly friends with Mallory again, but she and Kate have come to an understanding, she and Kate and Mallory can be civil now, and that’s good enough for Jeanette.
She tries not to think about how she had felt secure in her life back in 1994 only to have the rug pulled from under her when Kate returned; Renee and Tennille immediately turning their backs on her and trying to befriend Kate again, Jamie’s initial anger and downward spiral, the whole town turning on her and even her own mother doubting her as Kate Wallis told her story, as Jeanette became the most hated person in America.
Everything’s changed now; Kate’s confirmed that she now knows Jeanette didn’t see her when she initially thought she did, and while she’s not quite got back the same old life from 1994, she’s got the closest she’s ever going to get to it, and that’s good enough for her.
She tries not to imagine a possible future that could bring her new dawn crashing down around her ears; realistically, she knows it’s not likely that Kate will know that Jeanette did, in fact, hear her calling for help from the basement on a later occasion, and turn her back and walk away without reporting it. But Jeanette still fears the possibility that one day this will somehow come out in the open, that her fresh start will be no more, that she will return to the despised Jeanette Turner she was before.