Thank you

As Katie and Jason leave, Wyatt's eyes linger on the closed door. Laura follows his gaze, and then looks back at him, all teasing aside. "So how long have you been interested in Katie?"

Without hesitation, Wyatt answers plainly. "Since she walked through the TJY doors with Scott."

Laura lifts an eyebrow. "You're not exactly avidly pursuing anything."

Wyatt looks down at his tiles, letting his mind work on a long word. "I can't right now."
It was no secret that he had had few girlfriends because of his strict standards he had set for himself to date Christian women. Katie was an extremely nice young woman with a big heart full of compassion. She was smart, funny and Wyatt couldn't help his attraction. But he couldn't go any further right now.

Laura gives him a nod, understanding and respecting him.


Surprise flashes across Jason's face as he accepts the package lamely. He wanted to say 'you didn't have to do that,' but that was pretty obvious. He looks up into Katie's eyes. Why did she evoke such emotions so? He never had been able to figure it out. But suddenly the upper hand had slipped from his grasp once again as he clamored to regain control of his own thoughts and feelings. "I...." He looks up to Wyatt's front door and thinks better of sitting in the driveway for too long. Setting the package down, he puts the truck in drive. "They're gonna wonder why we're sitting here..." It was a lame excuse to prolong the gift opening, but it was the best he could come up with.
Once at the all-night quick shop though, Jason shuts the motor off and picks up the package again. As his thumbs slides under the paper, he ponders Katie's greeting several days prior, and now this. He'd been concerned that their friendship might have been ruined because of his stupidity, yet here she was, not only forgiving him, but giving him another chance at friendship, and even going as far as to remember his birthday. The specialness of the moment brought on a mixture of awkwardness, pleasure and doubt that he could live up to being as good as a friend as that to her.

Jason slowly tears the paper off, discovering the contents. His fingers run across the lettering in the leather, and a faint smile plays at one corner of his mouth as he sees the keychain. He just sits quietly for several moments...why had a gift never meant that much to him?
He finally turns his head to look at Katie, the emotions running rampant behind his eyes. "Thanks, Katie....this is.... really, really special." Swallowing hard, he breaks his stare to add the keychain to his set of keys before the unwanted feelings rose again. A brief image flashes through his mind of the night at his house on the way back from TJY. It had been a battle within himself since then, and he thought he had finally conquered it with logic and practicality. But logic didn't seem much of a match for the heart.

Jason leans back in his seat, letting the awkward silence rule for just a few minutes, unwilling to go into the store just yet. Taking the time to regain control and slip back into the more comfortable state of seriousness, he glances back to Katie. "I, um...I want you to know that from now on, I'm not going to stand in your way. Wherever Reese places you at TJY, or whoever he teams you up with, I don't ever want to ruin any chances for you again. So you have my word that I'll stay out of the way so you can pursue your dreams." He finally offers her a grin. "You've grown pretty popular around the office - I'm not used to taking a back seat. But I think you deserve it."

Taking a deep breath, he lays his hand on the door handle, ready to go inside. "Thanks for not giving up on me, Katie..."