CHAPTER FIVE And I Don't Want You To Leave

Kate hated this. She always despised when people in movies or shows fell in love with someone so quickly. She thought it to be unrealistic. And of course, now she was going through it. His smile kept daring her to fall more.

While Kate sat at the table placed beside the window, she watched from afar as the boys played volleyball. She was never a fan of the sport, her sport was hockey.

She was waiting for Charlotte to show up, and grab the files. The last of the paperwork had been done, meaning no more paperwork. Kate found herself sitting on the porch step, half-smiling when she saw the Porsche pull up. "Thank god you showed up... don't know how much longer I can stare at the papers of hell." Kate told Charlotte.

Charlotte laughed, "you're all done! There's nothing keeping you here now." Right. That was her assisting with training.

With Kate's silence, Charlotte looked at her with confusion. "So, where are you gonna go?" She asked.

"I think I might stay here for a while. Piss off a couple more admirals, keep an eye on the aviators..." Kate answered. Charlotte's eyes followed where she was looking.

"I'm moving." Charlotte told her out of the blue.

"Good." Kate responded without thinking. "I'm not glad you're leaving— I just, I'm sure you're happy to be leaving this place." She corrected herself. Without further notice, Charlotte left.

She hummed the melody of Thunderstruck, as she sat at the table inside. Pete walked in the house, and immediately grinned when he saw her.

"Hello, it's your favourite person in the world." Pete greeted.

"I didn't know Carrie Fisher was showing up." Kate lightly joked.

He moved an inch closer, which wasn't much, but there was still less space between them. Somehow, Kate felt safer with him being close. She also didn't want to admit that Pete was in fact her favourite person. She didn't think it was possible to care about one person this much.

"Kate, you need to sleep." He told her.

"I'm fine—"

"Sleep, please." He urged. Maybe it was the completely glazed look in her eye, or that her face was a bit paler than normal.

He helped guide her to her room, but soon he realised that she was ready to drop at any second, so, he carried her, and gently placed her on the bed. Pete sat beside her on the bed, watching as she tucked herself underneath the covers.

To soothe her, Pete softly cupped her cheek in his hand, and left a soft kiss on her forehead. She subconsciously leaned into his touch, causing him to smile. He brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. "If you want me to stay, I'll stay. If not, I ca—"

"Stay." She mumbled, eyes starting to close.

"Aw, you like me." Pete teased.

"Shut up." She responded.

Pete laid beside her, looking at every detail on her face. "You're staring." Kate knew he was looking at her, even with her eyes closed.

"I'm admiring." Pete retorted.

"Weirdo." She whispered.

THREE HOURS LATER

Kate's eyes opened, somehow happy to see Pete still lying there beside her. She turned on her other side to see him. He seemed peaceful. A small smile appeared on his face, whether he was asleep or not, she didn't know.

"Afternoon to the most beautiful person in the world." Kate fell out of the bed.

Pete was laughing his ass off at that. After the fit of laughter, he got out of bed and helped her stand up. "Are— are you okay?" He asked, his laughter started to die down.

"You scared the living shit out of me! I thought you were asleep." Kate reasoned.

"Food?" He changed the subject.

"Yeah." Kate answered immediately after, getting a laugh from Pete.

As he walked away to the kitchen, he shook his head. He flipped through cupboards, looking for silverware, pots, pans, anything. He looked through the fridge and then the freezer. He grinned when he saw the tenderloin steaks. While the steak was thawing out, he started to peel potatoes and carrots.

Kate stood behind him, looking over his shoulder at the vegetables. She watched him put a pot of water on the stove to boil, and it didn't burn. "How?" She questioned.

Pete turned around to look at her, neither expecting to be that close to each other. "How what?"

She pointed to the boiling pot of water. "How do you manage to not burn the water?"

"You do not burn water— that's just an expression—"

Kate grabbed the second pot, filled it halfway with water, placed it on the stove, and then turned the burner on. Immediately, flames started to form on the surface level of the water. Pete didn't know how to react.

Kate smirked and said, "my call sign's not Kerosene for nothing."

Eventually, it was time to put the food on the barbecue. Kate placed the steaks on the barbecue. She might not be good at the stove, but she was the best for barbecues. She waited for about 15 minutes for the steak to finish, happily sighing when they were. "The steaks are done! We can refuel our sanity, along with coffee."

Pete looked at her, confusion written all over his face. "What?" She asked.

"I thought you would have had whiskey or wine, beer?" Pete questioned.

"No. I drank the last of my whiskey last time you were here, never bought wine. It tastes like dry mouldy cardboard. American beer tastes like piss." Kate answered. Pete nodded in understanding. He almost forgot that she wasn't born in America.

"Yeah, right... which Canadian state are you from?" He asked. She stopped herself from laughing.

"First of all, they're called provinces. Second, Nova Scotia. I'm from a small island off the mainland." She corrected him.

He furrowed his brows, "why did you leave?" He asked.

"Work. More job opportunities, and I was tired of living out West." She told him the truth.

He was always eager to hear her stories, and while sometimes it saddened him when she wouldn't, he never pried. When she did tell him, he'd listen intently, a loving daze on his features. For example, how she got the job as a Naval Aviator from Canada... She had to do immense paperwork, training, and she was interrogated. He admired her for being determined enough to push through that. She told him it had been painful, but it was worth every second of pain.

Time managed to pass them by, meaning they placed the dishes in the sink. Kate stood on the inside of her house, looking at Pete walk away. He stopped for a second, and walked back into the house.

"I know this is going fast..." He started to say, "but, can I kiss you?" He asked.

"Yeah—" She was cut off by him connecting his lips to hers. They pulled away, and smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He said. The grin not leaving his face.

NEXT DAY

Pete sat with Nick, waiting for Carole and Bradley to arrive.

"I told her how tough it is here. My ass is dragging like an old tired dog. I told her you don't even have a woman." Nick told him. "She said, 'he probably doesn't have one, but eight'."

Carole and Bradley showed up, meaning Pete and Nick got up from their seats. Nick went to hug his wife and his son.

"Goose tells me you're in love with Kate Maxwell." Carole said to Pete.

"Did he?" Pete questioned, shooting a look at Nick. Of course, Nick wasn't wrong.

Kate going from denying feelings for Pete to wanting to kiss him.

They >>

Okay, bye!