Fighting Dreamer

Jared picks up Kate when she becomes stranded after a disastrous date:
  

Kate shifted in her seat and wondered how much she should confess about her night with Sebastian. Her inebriated tongue may end up revealing too much to Jared and she could find herself admitting how she couldn’t stand to kiss Sebastian because she was falling for him.

Jared seemed to speculate her discomfort could be over some sort of impropriety on Sebastian’s part. She saw his muscles tense as he said, “Kate, please tell me I don’t have to turn this car around and murder this Sebastian kid.”

She shook her head. “No, it was fine. I guess we were kind of on a date. I just wasn’t comfortable with how much he had to drink and where he wanted to take things.” She gave him a dazzling smile before continuing with her explanation. “See, you saved me in more ways than one tonight. My mother is the queen of thank you notes. So, don’t be surprised to receive one from her that displays her appreciation for keeping her daughter’s body and chastity safeguarded.”   

He gave her a long look and she began to guess at how terrible she appeared. She hadn’t checked out a mirror in a long time and Sebastian’s moves on her probably made her resemble someone who recently had a roll in the hay.

“I should get you home,” he said at last. He was pulled out of his reverie and began to drive out of the parking lot.

She sank back into the leather seat and relaxed into the moment. Riding in his personal car in the middle of the night seemed to heighten the intimacy she felt developing between them. She still felt a buzz from the alcohol and his closeness was doing strange things to her. Something was nagging at her and she questioned whether she should disclose anything to him. Her tongue felt loose and she allowed the words to spill out of her mouth. After letting out an exaggerated sigh, she whispered, “I had a vision about you.” 

It was silent for a long moment. His voice didn’t reveal much as he inquired, “You did?”

“It was your first day of kindergarten. You were dressed in Transformers stuff practically head to toe. You were calling yourself Optimus Prime.” She giggled loudly as she visualized Jared as a punk kindergartener.

His silence provoked her to go on and she shut her eyes to recall the vision. “I saw your mother and she was…” she trailed off before saying, “beautiful. Like amazingly so—with not one single flaw. You look like her, you know? Your father was there too and he was snapping pictures of you and her. You were nervous about school and she got down on her knees and told you to not worry. Just close your eyes and she would be there holding your hand.”

Finally opening her eyes, she shifted to face him. “It felt like she sensed that she would die young. Jared, she wanted you to remember she’d always be there for you.”

Kate swallowed hard when she saw how upset Jared looked. His features were tight and the dashboard illuminated moisture in his eyes. “Jared, I’m sorry…” she started, but her sentiment trailed off when he pulled the car over to the side of the road suddenly. Looking around, she realized they were at the end of her street.

He jumped out of the car and placed his hands behind his head. She watched him pace in front of the hood of the BMW for a minute before she slowly exited the vehicle. Approaching him cautiously, Kate asked softly, “Jared? What’s wrong?”

He produced a half laugh and half sobbing sound. “I don’t know, Kate, everything’s wrong. I mean, what are you doing here?”

“What do you mean?” she asked leaning against the hood.

Jared rarely seemed to lose his cool and it made her apprehensive about how he could be feeling. Was he agitated because of the vision? Or was he feeling something for her and he didn’t know how to deal with it?

“I like you, I do, but maybe we’ve been spending too much time together. It’s probably not a good idea for us to be as close as we’re becoming,” Jared said without meeting her eyes.

“I’m sorry I told you about the vision,” she apologized. As she positioned her body closer to him, she raised her voice in agitation. “I warned you this would happen. You’re obviously freaked out that I saw such a cherished memory of your mother. I would’ve never gone into your head if I could’ve stopped it! My visions are usually horrible, I only wanted to share with you that you gave me one of the best ones I ever had.”

“Kate, it’s not about your vision. It’s freaking incredible that you were able to see my parents as if they were still alive. I thought it would be fine for us to be friends, but…”

“But you know I want you?” she asked in her most seductive voice. The way he was protesting made her confident that he was finding it as impossible as she was to fight off their attraction. Putting her hands on her hips and sticking out her chest, she was hoping her sudden loss of inhibitions would pay off with a kiss from him.

Jared stood in front of her and grabbed her by the shoulders. His eyelids were lowered and he moistened his lips. The pull was undeniable and it felt completely natural to close her eyes and move to his mouth for a kiss.

Suddenly, his grip tightened and he said in a husky voice, “Kate, no.”