Thinking

Con turns to watch Jamie head to her car. He opens his mouth to say something, but realizes that he has nothing in mind that he could even verbalize. His stomach is in knots and his palms are sweaty. What was happening to him?

As the headlights of the tow truck come into view, Con has to force himself to push aside this evening's events in order to take care of the matter at hand.

Several hours later...

Con tosses his keys onto the table and wanders into the living room, flopping down in his easy chair. His habit was to go for the television remote, but tonight he just lets the darkness settle in. He reaches over to the answering machine and presses the button. He's surprised but relieved to hear Jason's voice. "Yo, Conrad. I'm heading back your way. I, um...well, thanks for your call. We'll talk more later. For now I'll head for Katie...if I don't show up at your place tonight, it means I stayed at the hospital. Talk to you soon."
Con assumes that by now Jason was probably back in town, and apparently he was at the hospital...which hopefully meant his head was on straight and he and Katie were okay. Good for him.

Too quickly, Con's mind is propelled back to Jamie. He didn't think he'd ever had a women tell him they loved him before... He'd had a girlfriend only once in his life, but they'd both been young without much sense of anything, and it had ended quickly. This...with Jamie...it was something he'd never encountered before. What was he supposed to do?

Con knew that Jamie had just poured her heart out to him. She hadn't been lying, and her feelings were obviously real. But...he hadn't even known... he felt more awkward than anything, and he certainly didn't feel what he would consider to be a romantic love towards her. She'd just always been like a sister... His mind replays the scene in the restaurant, then at the side of the road. Con couldn't deny that all of a sudden something had stirred inside of him. He could assume that it was silly surface emotions that boiled over in the heat of the moment, due to his lack of better judgment. But at the same time...it had all been meant to tease...he'd had no further intentions when he'd kissed Jamie. There should have been no feelings at all, no matter her reaction or not. But...there had been. Something had happened. Something electrical.

He leans further back in his chair with a sigh. If someone would have asked him that very morning if he'd ever been attracted to Jamie, he would have told them they were out of their mind. But he'd seen something different tonight...she wasn't the same... or was it him who wasn't the same? Was what he was feeling a genuine attraction? And if so...was it meant to be laid aside as a fleeting surface emotion that needed to be doused with cold water, or was it meant to be pursued...tested?


Jason becomes just a little thoughtful as he takes Katie down the hall. "Yeah...well...it wasn't quite the same without you around either." He helps her into the cafeteria and through the line, carrying her food and getting settled at a little round table.

Tired of the seriousness in the air, Jason attempts small talk, speaking about his time with Clint, seeing some of the other people at the ranch, and what he saw on his way back to Nevada.

Once the meal is over, Jason wheels Katie back down the hall, but instead of heading for her room, he takes to the door. "Now...I'll introduce you to my new baby." He grins as they go through the doors and out to the parking lot. Many cars are parked in the spaces, and from their angle, as he's heading down the row, it appears to simply be all old vehicles. But as they come around a parked van, the space next to it isn't empty as it had seemed to be. Instead, it's taken by a shiny black motorcycle, the chrome glinting in the beams of the parking lot lights. Faint wisps of sapphire blue accent the paint job. It's not a large bike, though its height is adequate for Jason's long legs, and there is enough room for a second rider.

Jason stops, a smile spreading across his face. "Clint took me to his favorite shop last night and helped me pick her out." He laughs. "He wanted to test drive it too, but it was almost too tall for him." He cocks his head at Katie, realizing his want for her approval. "So...what do you think?"