Right Where She Belongs

Chapter Twenty

[Adrian's P.O.V]

The next morning consisted of a greasy breakfast from McDonald's seeing as how both Kat and I lacked skills and knowledge in the kitchen and, therefore, had no supplies for Caleb, the master chief he liked to think he was, to work with.

"Coffee, finally," Kat panted, gulping down her steaming coffee without hesitation. Over the past few days of living with Kat, I'd come to learn that she was a complete nightmare until she had some caffeine in her system. Her eyes widened comically when the heat burnt her tongue, scorching her mouth. "Oh! Ow ow!" she stuck her tongue out and began to fan herself frantically. "Blow! Blow!" she commanded me.

I leaned over obediently and blew into her mouth, offering her some relief.

Dallas perked up. "Now we're talking,"

I heard Caleb growl and knew that Sam's punishment for his wayward cousin would later come in the form of physical harm. I knew this because Sam seemed kind of...possessive of Kat, which was really strange because Sam never got possessive over a girl.

Kat just seemed to strike a cord for him. I didn't even think he realised it, but his actions made it pretty clear he thought of Kat as 'his'.

Might as well have peed on her as far as anyone was concerned.

"Okay," Kat settled after a few minutes, flexing her jaw. "I'm okay. Thanks for that,"

"Yeah," Dallas murmured, sipping on his coke, "Thanks for that,"

I shot him a disgusted glare before sending Kat a smile. "You're welcome,"

"Okay, so seriously," Sam said, leaning forward so his elbows rested on the table. His intense brown eyes met everyone's, lingering a bit on Kat who refused to look at him, staring at the table instead as if it were the most fascinating thing. Sam's mouth tilted into a frown. "What's our plan?"

"Figuring out who Adrian's stalker is, for one," Mumbled Kat into her cup.

Sam's eyes narrowed dangerously at her tone. "That's a given," he snapped, earning him a scowl from me.

"It's Jason," Caleb insisted, pouting attractively. "Is no one connecting the dots? Jason was at the cafe when Adrian received the first threat. Jason asked her out the day that she discovered someone broke into her house - after she rejected him, of course. Jason is the one who, conveniently, cornered Adrian at the place she was working at, forcing her on a date. Does that not scream stalker?"

I frowned but didn't bother trying to defend Jason. Caleb seemed pretty intent on blaming everything on him. And while I didn't entirely believe that was true, it was really suspicious. Everything just seemed to come back around to Jason, placing him in a very bad light and made it seem as if he had an ulterior motive.

But just because I didn't want to believe that of my new friend, I had to face the facts.

Was Jason really TT? The boy who blushed when he tried to ask me out? The boy who accepted that I would never be his because I already belonged to another? I remembered the expression on his face when I told him there would never be anything between us. Sad, yes. Crushed, yes. But he was also accepting. He accepted defeat with slumped shoulders and a brave smile, completely understanding, eyes so earnest when he said he'd welcome my friendship.

I just couldn't see that boy doing anything to hurt me, or Caleb for that matter.

"I don't know," Kat hedged on my behalf. "This Jason guy seems like a pretty good bloke from what Adrian's told me. Is there anyone else who hates Adrian?"